There are four rules at the AcousticSeen Songwriters Open Mic.
No backing tracks, hateful lyrics or gratuitous ribaldry (a couple obscenities is OK; a verse-full is not). And absolutely no covers, says AcousticSeen producer Ray Guenthner.
“It’s not about Bob Dylan or John Lennon, unless they want to show up themselves and present their work.”
Running a town car business by day, Guenthner founded AcousticSeen about five years ago through Dry Ridge Productions, a nonprofit entity. A pure, raw love for songwriting birthed the series.
“This is a place where the art is the center—not selling beer or picking up chicks,” says Guenthner, a big Townes Van Zandt fan.
The open mics are held Wednesday nights at the subterranean Coffee Underground. Performers range from album-making artists to green, angst-y singers with freshly penned tunes. The Greenville-based duo Wasted Wine, who plays Tom Waits-ish cabaret, got their start at Acoustic Seen.
“It’s actually very essential to what we do,” says Wasted Wine violinist Robert Gowan. “You can test out songs there and get a better idea of what people like and what they don’t like than practicing in the living room.”
Gowan, 25, made his onstage debut two years ago at Acoustic Seen, when he and Wasted Wine guitarist Adam Murphy plowed through their tune “Bay of Pigs.” On Jan. 16, they played Greenville’s marquee music club, The Handlebar.
“That wouldn’t have happened without us going to Coffee Underground. I can honestly tell you everything in our career is totally based off doing those open mics,” Gowan says.
The sessions are held in a back room filled with church pews. A dimly-lit stage is set up with chairs, mics and stands, and live sound engineer Adriane Little keeps the sets fluid. Each artist is allowed a 15-minute slot; material veers from between folk, blues, acoustic rock and indie. Performers sign up via email (dryridge@mindspring.com), so there’s no mad dash for a notepad before the 7:30 p.m. start time.
“They know exactly when they’re playing and can tell their friends,” Guenthner says.
The shows went slowly the first few years, maybe four artists a night. Then one evening 16 songwriters showed and the turnouts have been healthy since.
On Jan. 14, cellist Sarah Clanton of chanteuse combo O Mello Cello Tree began hosting the shows as Guenthner is temporarily stepping back.
A Greenville resident, Clanton, 24, wants to maintain the incubatory vibe. “Ray’s really a visionary,” Clanton says. “I feel like I’m just filling some big shoes.”
