On September 20th, 2023, Meadowlark Coffee & Espresso held their weekly open mic night. They have an open mic night every Wednesday from 7-9 p.m. for musicians, poets, comedians and other types of artists or performers.

“The open mic has always been music oriented since we started doing it in 2005,” a worker at the Meadowlark, Patty Engman, said. “On average there are 5-6 performers a night on a full slotted board with 15 minute increments of performance time.”

The open mic was a very casual thing, the most people in the place at once was 13. First up was Micky D who played piano and sang Jackson Brown covers. The audience was a mix of young and old people. The second performer was John Knapp who played piano and sang as well, though his songs were originals from an album he put out for autism awareness. The third was Wayne Gylm who played acoustic guitar and sang. He had been busking and this was his second time at the open mic. He mainly played Jimmy Buffett covers. It was an organic experience in a very intimate setting. The fourth performer was Micha Leamer, a guitarist and ukulele player who plays mainly folk music. He performed the “Chillest song in the world” based off of “Tribute” by Jack Black’s band Tenacious D.

“Music is something that I enjoy for social connections, rather than to try to aspire to make it my main gig,” Leamer said. “Open mics are very egalitarian and the thing is to just come out and play.”

At 8:39 the show was over. Once the performances had stopped, a recording of “Crimson and Clover” killed the momentary silence. The Meadowlark does more than serve coffee; it builds a community, even if it is just another Wednesday night in Lincoln, Nebraska.