Keeping with its monthly tradition, the Barge Canal Coffee Co. hosted its Open Mic Night on Friday, November 2, wel-coming anyone who wished to share their voice and talent up to the stage. As a mix of local performers and Colgate students sang to the crowd of coffee and hot choco-late drinkers, the audience members ap-preciated the covers and original songs created by the artists.

The night opened with a rendition of City and Co-lour’s “The Death of Me,” sung by Colgate senior Sa-mantha Weisbarth, who also performed a cover of “Sweetest Girl,” adding her own twist to the Wyclef Jean and Akon piece.

Customers trickled in while the singing continued with the artist “MC,” who performed one of her moth-er’s favorite songs and then one of her own, humorously coping with forgetting the lyrics by simply improvis-ing her own lines on the spot, such as “I don’t even know this part, and I’m not going to pretend I do.” Throughout the evening, several performers commented on their nerves, but all overcame them to offer their listeners an expression of themselves. A few brave souls even in-vented new lyrics on the spot and others experimented with new guitar melodies.

Among the other acts was senior Ben Diamond, whose set included a song he had written while traveling abroad in Eu-rope after his semester in London. Later on, Utica native Justin Parker performed for the audience, with original pieces such as one about the end of a relationship.

“Everyone who plays guitar has a breakup song,” Parker said.

The Golden Sea Horse Music Band, as well as senior Emily Blease, shared their voices at the Barge, as did Jared Wentrick and Zlatko, who jammed to-gether on electric guitar to form new music onstage.

Near the end of his time performing, Parker thanked the Barge for hosting him and all of the other artists, stating how lucky they were to have such a lovely place to perform. With this event each month, the Barge allows any aspiring singers, comedians or poets to communi-cate with an audience who will listen. As terrifying as it may be to take the stage and sing, all of these individuals faced the challenge and offered the crowd their own music.

No matter how self-deprecating the artists may have been, they all rose to the challenge. For anyone who likes to perform, Open Mic Night is a great oppor-tunity, as it is for any-one who just likes to listen to music and hear the different voices of the community.

Contact Bridget Sheppard at [email protected].