By KALIN KROHE
Panhandle Post
The Carnegie Arts Center in Alliance along with a retired BNSF railroader have partnered together to start an open mic acoustic music event in the Carnegie’s outside sculpture garden.
Open mic nights will be held the first and third Thursdays during the months of May through August. The first event is being held May 16 and will start at 7 p.m.
The event is open to the public free of charge and welcomes all musicians to come and share their musical talents. Remember to bring an acoustic instrument and your own lawn chair for seating.
Local Alliance resident, retired railroader of 39 years, and musician Mike Pancost says he started the event at Carnegie due to his love of music. “The fact that the winter open mic/jam nights was winding down. I retired in November and have an opportunity to participate and organize something like this.”
Steve “Porkchop” Mracek has been putting on jam nights at Newberry’s in Alliance during the winter months.
“It’ll be pretty low key. I’ve been kind of using the word organic. There will be a couple amps, and a couple microphones,” Pancost said.
“It’s an expression of some of the local talent. They’ll have the opportunity to share their talents, and people to see some of them.”
For musicians that are interested in performing there will be a white board to sign up. When they arrive they can write their name on the board and, later on, play at least three songs. “We would rotate and cycle through if there’s only three people there. Each person will play three songs and then they’ll have an opportunity to play three more,” Pancost added.
Carnegie Arts Center Gallery Director Kyren Conley said, “We see it as a mutually beneficial opportunity for us, musicians, music lovers, and the community alike. Through just the simple act of opening up our garden, we’re able to continue a unique community experience for the summer that the Newberry has been graciously hosting all winter.”
“At the same time we’re welcoming folks who may not be highly aware of where the Carnegie’s at or what we’re about. What we’re about is serving our community with meaningful arts experiences in whatever way we can. We’ve annually featured performing arts at our events, but I think it will be great for us to support musicians and music lovers on a more frequent basis this summer,” Conley said.
For more information on open mic nights contact Mike Pancost at (308) 760-1406.