Saint John's Open Mic Pioneer
When you look around Uptown Saint John and see all the music happening, you have to know it started from somewhere.
How did this all come about? Why are there so many people making music in Uptown? In finding the answer, you will discover there are several pillars that create the foundation of music here. One of those pillars is Brent Mason.
As you will read, I have myself been standing on the foundation Brent Mason has has built. Brent Mason is a songwriter in Saint John, New Brunswick. He writes music and travels the world performing. This he gets noticed for. What he doesn’t seem to get credit for is all the work he puts into creating an environment where other musicians can shine.
Brent holds the distinction of hosting Canada’s longest running open mic, which he started at O’Leary’s in 1992. As the legend goes, Brent Mason came into Saint John, guitar in hand, and he has been performing here ever since. Anyone who will listen to me knows I’ll spend the rest of my life discussing the impact Brent and his open mic have had on me. How will I ever forget the night I sat there at open mic, holding my guitar, watching Brent play, and telling myself over and over that nothing matters. I just need to step on the stage. I could just as easily thought, why bother. Why would anyone who has never played publicly want to go up after an established singer-songwriter? I don’t even know the answer but I’m some thankful I did.
The experience opened a whole new world of songwriting and performing for me. I learned Brent’s reach is immeasurable the night I attended one of his singer-songwriters circles. It was at the BMO Theatre on Princess Street. Brent sat there as humble as always as each songwriter talked about the impact he had on them and their music. One talked about Brent’s songwriting contributions to her songs. Another talked about growing up around his children and how his music had an impact in their early lives. I got the sense there are many stories like these out there. In fact, I’ve heard several of them over the last few months.
The open mics Brent hosts, with Aaron Gunn, have that same air of encouragement. You can feel the history and the music every Wednesday night at O’Leary’s. Anyone looking to see these guys on stage should start to take Wednesday nights in. It is very easy to feel at home because there is always a mix of musicians starting out along with those who have been around for sometime. Be sure to look for Brent playing all throughout New Brunswick and Canada and, of course, drop into O’Leary’s on any Wednesday night to see some great local talent encouraged by Brent. You know I’ll be there.
