New Jersey’s musicians flock to flourishing Boonton Coffee Co.’s Open Mic Nights
North Jersey is booming with young musicians creating small communities built on supporting one another, connecting through their love for music, and collaborating with each other. One frequent venue for Morris and Essex County artists is Boonton Coffee Co., in Boonton Town, which hosts very intimate and supportive Open Mic Nights.
Musicians sign up for a time slot to perform, often around ten minutes per slot, and they perform for a crowd of local musicians, Boonton residents, music lovers, supportive friends and fans. Parsippany artist Joseph Trem has performed at the Boonton Coffee Co. four times and spoke to us on his experience as a local artist in Morris County.
Trem spoke of how welcoming Boonton Coffee Co. is, how supportive the New Jersey Music scene has become, and how the community is growing in leaps and bounds. “It is relatively easy to get people to go to your shows,” he said, stressing that “our area has a very supportive community for musicians.”
He said he has performed in Boonton, Clark, Whippany, Toms River, and New York City, and noted that he is getting more recognition through both an online and a local on site community of like minded artists. He excitedly announced that he will also be performing at The Sanctuary in Butler, New Jersey, alongside Konner Hunter and Khangband on July 25 at 7 PM.
New Jersey has always had a ready community for young musicians, with underground and basement shows in Newark and New Brunswick being the first shows for bands like The Bouncing Souls, Thursday, Screaming Females, and more. Recently, however, there has been an explosion of bands and artists performing and forming communities across New Jersey.
Matthew Chisari, a Lincoln Park artist and student of the Shamrock School of music, a family owned music school in Riverdale, New Jersey, primarily performs in Wayne rather than Boonton, but spoke of how in his experience, he has had little difficulty with finding live venues where to perform. He is currently working on starting an open mic night at Cabana Coffee Company in Wayne, New Jersey, with the first show scheduled for September 27, from 2 PM to 5 PM.
Another artist is Joey Konopka, a Hillside Pop and Punk artist that often performs at Boonton’s Open Mic Nights. He said he has had trouble trying to find venues around Union County, and spoke of how Boonton Coffee Co.’s Open Mic Nights have been a very supportive environment for himself and other local artists trying to connect with other musicians to learn from one another.
Many young artists trying to get their foot in the door by doing live performances yearn for free, and supportive venues frequented by other small artists looking to meet with and help one another. For many of these young performers from across northern New Jersey, Boonton Coffee Co. has become a place to perform, to meet, to learn, and to grow.
The Open Mic Nights are hosted at Boonton Coffee Co. every 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month, and the special treats available at the venue makes it even more appealing to all.
