Take the Stage at Providence Hoot

Providence has never been a stranger to events that are interesting, out of the ordinary and fun. A monthly open mic called the Providence Hoot is happening tonight at Anchor, a warehouse space/art gallery located on 42 Rice St, and it’s always a good time. It’s free and even better, there’s free beer supplied by the Narragansett Brewery, a sponsor of the Hoot. The man who started this whole shindig is Josh Aromin and we had a chat about how the Providence Hoot got started, how people can get involved and what the future holds for the monthly open mic series.

Rob Duguay: How did you come up with the Providence Hoot?

Josh Aromin: When I was in high school I was really jaded about Rhode Island and only really started thinking it was a cool place to be when I was a freshman in college, so around 2007-08. The first thing I went to that I thought was pretty cool here was the open mic downtown at the now-closed Tazza Cafe. I loved going to that open mic so much, but then they remodeled their restaurant and got rid of it.

When my cousin Armand Aromin moved back to Rhode Island after going to school in Boston, he became a tenant at Anchor for his violin-building. One day out of the blue he said to me that because he was a tenant there he could use their event space for free. He asked if I’d help him organize an event and what type of event I thought would work well there. I immediately suggested we do an open mic, and in October 2013 we held our first event there.

RD: How can musicians, comedians, poets and creatives get involved?

JA: Anyone can get involved. Our philosophy is that we’re a venue for performers of all types and all talent levels. Our stage is your stage. If you’re a beginner performing live for the first time, that’s cool. And if you’re a pro who wants to test out new material, that’s great, too. Performers can sign up at the event for two songs/10 minutes of stage time. We start signups at 7pm and start performances at 7:30, and performers do not have to be 21.

RD: Which regulars are worth going to check out?

JA: Our regulars include John Faraone, Jenny White, Steve Delmonico and Rick North. They’re all fantastic and we get some really great gems of performances every time. Last month Steve and Armand played together and it was really something to hear. Here it is: youtu.be/Nmzezauac1s

RD: What do you think the future holds for the Providence Hoot? Do you have an ultimate goal for the open mic series?

JA: We like to do pop-up open mics when we can. We’ve got something coming up this summer, but I’m not sure if I can talk about it yet. As for now, we’re content with having our one regular event a month and want to build around that. I think last year we tried to do too many and that kind of diluted the open mic a little bit. We’d rather have one really cool event a month than three mediocre ones.

The Providence Hoot is a monthly open mic that takes place at Anchor on 42 Rice St near Firehouse 13. It’s always free and you’re bound to be entertained. It also only goes on from 7 – 10pm so you won’t be out too late on a Wednesday night. Be there or be square.