ABSTRACT
The King's Head in Lichfield, Staffordshire, is a traditional British pub in a small but busy city. It also happens to be my local. In September 2005 the landlord of the pub began a regular Friday night ‘Open Mic’ session, hosted by Chris Niven, a local amateur musician. I have since supported and closely followed the event due to the perception that, through default rather than design, it seems to have a rather Cardew-esque feel as a musical event. The ethos is one of ‘turn up and have a go’ regardless of experience, ability, style or confidence. The host acts more as a facilitator, enabler and, in some cases, mentor and pillar of support rather than ‘front man’. In fact, Niven has described his role in terms that are not so distant to those expressed in my Cardewist manifesto, or indeed Cardew's own role within the Scratch Orchestra:
TH: What is your role?
CN: My role is to notice those that want to play and encourage them to play whereas normally they probably wouldn't. My other role is to organise the night … to keep the thing running as long as I can. I also try to put the right people on at the right time. I read the audience and get an inkling for when that individual should be playing. And I perform myself to fill in the gaps so there is no dead air.
TH: Is there a hierarchy? Are you a sort of mentor figure?
CN: It's not a competition. I’m there for them, if they want to treat me as a mentor, but at the same time it's their gig not mine. I’m just the host.
