Brad Spurgeon's Blog

MEXICO CITY – A comparison of the open mic scene in Paris and in Austin, Texas? Why not? Great idea! Last week while I was in Austin I attended the open mic run by Christy Moore at Tom’s Tabooley. I wrote about it on this blog. I had met Christy a few years ago, during my first visit to Austin, and since then she has used my Thumbnail Guide to Paris Open Mics, Jam Sessions and Live music, and she has helped me out in finding open mics in Austin. Yesterday, she wrote an article on her blog, called “Just Another Night in Austin with My Friends,” comparing her experience of the open mic scene in Paris to that of her experience of the scene in Austin. I thought it was such a cool article – not just because she cites me and compliments my original song, I think it was “Borderline” – but especially because she raises some fundamental questions about the nature of the open mic scene anywhere. I have a few responses to her impressions to life in Paris open mics, which I will put in the comment area underneath her article, and I invite all other interested readers to do the same. This is actually my first experiment in having a guest blogger – as far as I can remember – but it just seemed like such a natural fit, that I couldn’t pass up the idea. And Christy gave me the go-ahead. So here is the link to Christy Moore’s story, “The Difference Between Paris and Another Night in Austin With My Friends,” which I have placed in my section of this blog called, “Articles as opposed to posts.”