Photo by Terry Bartley/The Hub
As I pulled into the lot, I could already hear music coming out of the building.
I walked in and saw a packed room, buzzing with positive energy. Everyone was there, at the Sterling Drive-In in Welch, West Virginia, to hear creative people express themselves.
This open mic night in McDowell County was one of several efforts in southern West Virginia to support a burgeoning local arts and cultural community funded through our Innovation Acceleration Strategy program, or IAS.
This first piece of their project involves a series of open mic nights as a way to pull artists together. Lori McKinney, of the Riff-Raff Arts Collective in Princeton, was pretty instrumental in putting this first event together. She strongly believes that open mic nights are essential in building a creative community.
“Creative people need to discover each other, and they need a reason to come together,” Lori says.
McKinney teamed up with McDowell County locals Craig Snow and Derek Tyson to pull it together. It was McKinney’s idea to use a place that people are familiar with, like the Sterling Drive-In, so that artists would feel more comfortable coming out.
I think this is a key reason this open mic was so successful – the environment was low-key, and everyone felt at ease.
Then it hit me. This really could work in basically any other community that wants to bring out creative folks.
In community development circles, we talk a lot about the idea of a “third space” – a location that isn’t work or home that the community can get together and casually talk about their community.
When I first started working with IAS, I thought that many of our communities didn’t really have a third space. I wouldn’t have even really thought of Sterling’s as one. The community seemed to think of it just as a place to grab food.
But the open mic night transformed a quiet little diner into an energetic third space. There is no reason this couldn’t happen in every other IAS community, or any other small town in Appalachia for that matter.
This first event cost them $100 for a sound engineer. That’s a small price to pay to provide a space for creatives to get together.
Now, I’m looking forward to attending another open mic night at the next small town in West Virginia that wants to follow Welch’s lead. Who’s up next?
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Great blog, Terry! I’m so glad you were inspired. McDowell County is full of wonderful people, and so much talent. It was the community’s idea to have the open mic at Sterling Drive-In! At our Create Your State workshop there this past fall, they were flowing with ideas, and someone brought up the Sterling; it was a perfect fit. Derek Tyson, who brought CYS in, took the ball and organized on the ground down there, and Linda McKinney, J.D. & Jenna Belcher knew just who to call for sound: Bill Hornick, and he did a great job! One of J.D. & Jenna’s Motivate McDowell County videos featured the talented and passionate musician Charlie Barker, and that connected the dot that brought him in as host, and he was perfect! Hobert Collins did a lot of social media & networking, and the owners of the Sterling are perfect hosts! What an awesome legacy they have taken on with the Drive-In. Craig Snow & Warrior Creek Development took the lead on the IAS grant and took care of the fiscal side of things, so that the open mic has arms & legs to stand on. The music that night was great; so much talent. Even the legendary Alan “Cathead” Johnson came out. This is definitely the beginning of something great. Congrats to the McDowell County folks for making it happen!
If the legislature and governor would quit creating legislation to further pollute our streams and citizens of McDowell County would clean up Elkhorn Creek and other trout streams in the area, there would be jobs. With clean cold streams, wild trout, along with a few restaurants and motels, McDowell County could become a Mecca for fly fishermen/women. Trout fishing guide jobs pay well too. House Bill 687 eliminated a decades old water purity test requirement called the Bethnic Macroinvertabrate Survey. Wild trout depend on aquatic insects to live. This survey tested whether pollution was killing those insect that trout depend on. When the water is so bad those insects won’t survive, it is no longer suitable water for anyone. Another bill passed by the WV legislature allowed increased pollution through changing the water purity test method.
Jobs associated with fly fishing would not go away. Fly fishing for wild trout would bring wealthy people to McDowell County to enjoy the sport. Just like those folks that made Vail, Colorado a place for rich people to gather, fly fishing for wild trout could make McDowell County a similar attraction. However, they won’t visit there if the streams are filthy, the roads are strewn with trash, or it is unsafe for them to be there. Sewage should not be piped to the nearest creek, as it is in Elkhorn many places. Locals can’t harass strangers fishing there as happens now from time to time. People must stop throwing their trash just anywhere they wish. Last, the people of McDowell County must stop voting for politicians that will allow coal and gas companies to pollute and cover our streams. Coal companies have only used McDowell County. They have never cared about the quality of life for the people there.
Wonderful to hear. Having our first one at DuBois on Main, Friday, 12 May. Want people to get the idea that it’s OK come out and have fun…karaoke on board also. Have a headliner…a young musician I heard on the radio months ago saying he couldn’t do open mic at bars because he’s only 19. We expect this is his first time and it will be successful. Glad to hear the details of how this happened also. Must look more into that idea. Thank you for this report Terry.