Flatiron's Open Mike Matures

Thursday, November 11, 2010 (updated , 2010 7:38 am)
By Carole Perkins

GREENSBORO — Matty Sheets wears a lot of hats around town: musician, bartender, artist, soundtrack composer and songwriter.

But the hat that is most appreciated by local musicians, poets, beat-boxers, comedians and the occasional heavy metal guitarist is host and master of ceremonies to open-mike night at The Flatiron. It’s the place where nervous newbies and seasoned songwriters are welcome to perform.

Open-mike night is the brainchild of Sheets and friend Harvey Robinson, fellow bartenders who had a vision eight years ago to evolve The Flatiron into a music venue.

Beginning with a tiny PA system and borrowed gear, Sheets and his friends took turns introducing each other and playing music in an atmosphere of mutual support. In 2004, Sheets became full-time host to open-mike night, which averages 10 to 25 performers per week.

The venue has a full sound system now, and as the weekly event grows, so does the sense of community shared by local musicians, some of whom have gone from singing from scraps of paper to forming full-fledged bands. Local groups Eating the Invaders and Big Red Rooster cut their chops at open mike as did musician Emily Stewart and the Baby Teeth and Hanging Thread.

Stewart recalls her early days at open mike when she used to try a few tunes with the band she started, Our Horse Jethro. She had never performed in front of an audience and had only been playing for a few months. One night, as Matty was setting up the microphone, he noticed Stewart with a guitar.

“I remember Matty saying, 'I didn’t know you played guitar, Emily,’ ” Stewart recalled.

She replied, “I don’t.”

“Now, that might have been enough to discourage anyone else from allowing me onstage,” Stewart said, “but Matty has always had faith in those who can’t seem to find any faith in themselves.”

Local musician Stephen Corbett says open-mike night has always been the best place to try new tunes or to practice with new groups. His old band, The Radials, got its start there, and his new band, Hanging Thread, came together at an open mike with their first acoustic set.

“A good chunk of the audience is made up of musicians, so people actually listen,” Corbett says. “There isn’t background noise, so it makes it much easier to tell when you have a clunker and when you have something that works.”

On any given open-mike night, Sheets whips his notebook from his back pocket and peers through his round glasses to see who he needs to prompt to the microphone. He double-checks the sound system for each act and hops on stage to announce the next performer, all the while trying to keep morale high.

A self-proclaimed “performance addict,” Sheets rides a 1990s Schwinn bicycle (he sold his car to buy a guitar amp) to practice daily with his two bands, Matty Sheets and the Blockheads and Come Hell or High Water. His dedication to open mike and the outlet it provides local musicians to hone their craft is due in part to his desire to give back to a community that has supported him. A few years ago, Sheets had some legal trouble and put on a show to raise money for a lawyer. He was surprised by the results.

“I was shocked at the musicians who turned out to help me,” Sheets said. “Some of them I didn’t even know. It was very moving. That’s why I do what I do. It’s about them. It’s all about the bands.”

Stewart, who now also plays banjo in Matty Sheets and the Blockheads, says she is pleased to be a part of Greensboro’s incredibly supportive community through open mike.

“If you’re going to live in a town that is bursting at the seams with music, there has got to be someplace to catch it,” she said, “and The Flatiron’s open mike seems to be the place.”

Contact Carole Perkins at CPGuilford@aol.com