Fairfield First Fridays Open Mic draws local talent to the stage

FAIRFIELD - The people of Fairfield worshipped at the altar of talent and community last Friday in Phoenix Rising Hall.

Fairfield First Fridays, a nonprofit focused on tourism and art, hosted their annual Open Mic Night at the former church on Feb. 7. Nineteen local acts, ranging in age from 2 to 80 years old, performed for community members who dropped by and sat neatly in pews for the show.

Director of Fairfield First Fridays, Marla Brader, said the nonprofit decided to host the event to give locals a platform to share their talents.

'Fairfield has a lot of talent for such a small town so it's a really great way to showcase the talent that is here. We have comedians, we have poets, we have people who sing, we have people who just play instruments. So it's a great way to kind of combine everybody,” Brader said.

Paulina Elizabeth, a board member of the nonprofit, emceed the event. Elizabeth is a veteran of the stage and also hosts a weekly open mic in Fairfield. She said her favorite part of both performing and leading the Open Mic event is getting to see people gain confidence through the stage.

'For many people, open mic is their escape. We have all types of people, young and old, male and female. It's fun meeting all the people and making them feel comfortable. When I see someone come one year and they're super nervous and then two years later, they rock it. That's the most satisfying thing to see, just people growing,” she said.

The show drew in a healthy crowd as well as notable performers including state representative Jeff Shipley, who joined in on the fun and delivered a comedy set about the annual Wiener Dog Race held in Fairfield in October.

'It's very important to keep everyone updated on the wiener dog community … I've been involved for six years now and the first thing everyone cares about is results. And we did have a clear cut winner in our event. It was abundantly clear who won and just on that we're a couple notches above the Iowa caucuses,” he joked.

While politics and comedy may seem to be two career paths at odds with one another, Shipley said he actually got involved with comedy first, which gave him the ability to 'get comfortable speaking about things.”

'I started hanging out at open mic in 2016 and you learn a lot being in front of people and learning how to be authentic,” he added.

Guitarist and singer Wes Brown said he jumps at any and all open mic events because they're an opportunity for him to perform and share his music. On Friday night, Brown performed covers of Beatles songs, including 'Don't Let Me Down.”

'I've been singing for about 35 years and singer-songwriter for 25 years,” he said, 'It's a good opportunity to be with the community. There's not a whole lot of venues around so basically any place I can play, I like to play.”

Most acts at the open mic were returners but for 2-year-old Naomi Pagan, the Phoenix Hall was the first stage she had ever performed on. Pagan, after singing the ABC's with her mother, Yael Markman, by her side, was cheered on by the crowd for an encore performance.

'She just likes to sing all the time,” Markman said, 'I've performed at the open mic before so I just thought it would be fun.”

Markman said the pair plan to be back to perform at the next open mic as well.