For just over six months, Branch has provided Tahlequah with a venue for new musicians to perform at its weekly open mic nights.
Austin Reese is a songwriter and musician who has performed at The Branch’s open mic nights and is the emcee of the event, known as Local Legends Open Mic.
“It was fun learning how to connect with the audience and meeting all the artists,” Reese said.
Connecting and networking with other musicians was one of the main reasons Reese wanted to host the event, and it was an idea the owners had been thinking about for some time, Reese said.
Reese said the restaurant’s open mic nights typically feature around 10 performers, ranging from comedians to musicians, but the focus is on musicians.
Daniel Dew, manager of The Branch, plays at open mic nights and has tried to get other local musicians involved.
“We’re so lucky to have so much talent in our community,” Dew says. “We don’t have a proper venue in Tahlequah, so we just have a place where all of these people can come together every week and play, whether it’s songs that we’ve learned from other musicians, covers, or songs that we’ve worked on ourselves, and we’re so lucky to have a place where we can all come together and play.”
Each participant gets about 15 to 20 minutes of stage time before the next act begins. Tammy Ridgway, a member of the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Blues Hall of Fame, sometimes adds percussion to each performance, according to Brendan Barlow, another manager at The Branch who has also performed there.
Meeting new musicians is Reese’s favorite part of the open mic night, while Dew said seeing musicians from out of town perform is also a nice perk.
“We get some really interesting people that you’d never see in Tahlequah,” Reese said.
A different guest will be featured every Wednesday night.
“Every week we have a guest come in who will play for about 30 minutes,” Rees said.[The featured guests] Most of the time they’re not from the town.”
The Local Legends Open Mic will take place every Wednesday from 7pm, with applications open from 6:30pm, and Reese said people interested in signing up just need to bring their instrument, but they should show up early to guarantee a spot.
Dew said interested performers just need to jump at the opportunity.
“Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been doing it for a while, just get out there and do it,” Dew said. “We all have dreams, the important thing is to keep trying.”
Check it out
The next Local Legends Open Mic Night will be held at The Branch on Wednesday, July 24th at 7pm, although registration opens at 6:30pm. Performances from the Open Mic Night can also be viewed on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@tahlequahopenmics.