Acorn Coffee Shop's familiar smells of brewing coffee and toasting sandwiches mingled with sounds of student performers. Acorn hosted its first ever Open Mic Night Thursday, Sept. 15. The event was hosted and set up by Acorn employee Eddie Talley, who was assisted by junior Katie Nelson. Talley said the purpose of the night was to bring entertainment into the coffee shop.
"I've worked here for six years and there's never been entertainment, just yelling," Talley said.
Nelson agreed.
"We hope to create a nice atmosphere in the shop. We want students to come and engage in the activities, to notice what's going on," she said.
The night included various acts which showcased the diversity and talent in the Elon community. Not only singers and guitarists performed, but also sophomore mandolin player Mills Gorrie, senior stand-up comic Jay Light, freshman poet Christina Lewis and senior rapper Raj Rawal.
Light said he decided to perform his stand-up routine at the open mic night because "stage time is everything no matter the venue. It's experience."
Lewis csaid that, while it may seem unconventional to some, she perceived open mic night as a perfect opportunity to showcase her poetry.
"I love to write," Lewis said. "I want to write poetry as a career and I had a fun time tonight. My best friend came to support me which helped give me confidence."
The event brought business into Acorn, and by the end of the night, every seat in the house was occupied. Talley concluded the night by awarding a grand prize of 100 food dollars to be split between the winner and runner-up. The grand prize winners were singer and freshmen guitarist Patrick Dinnsen and singer Leah Greene who performed a duet of "Hallelujah" originally written by Leonard Cohen. The runner up was fellow freshman singer Hunter Brown (also accompanied by Dinnsen on guitar) who performed "Yesterday" by the Beatles.
Dinnsen, Greene, and Brown are all musical theatre majors. Dinnsen said he has met so many talented people through the program, and when he heard about Open Mic Night he wanted to come and sing with his friends for others. Throughout the night, Dinnsen performed a couple of songs including the winning number "Hallelujah," and an original composition titled "Is There a Love There?"
"I had a good time tonight," Dinnsen said. "It was cool to get to share my stuff with people, especially from other states. I don't know what I would do if I didn't get to perform for the rest of my life."
Brown also had positive things to say about the evening. He said he decided to sing "Yesterday" because he loves the Beatles, and the song has always been meaningful to him.
"I think tonight went well," Brown said. "I had a lot of fun, and there's nothing I'd rather be doing than singing."
Greene said she had been trying to find open mic nights on campus, so she was excited when she heard about the Acorn's event.
"I've been singing since I could talk," she said. "Winning felt really awesome. It was cool to see how much talent there is at Elon. I'll definitely come back next time with my ukulele."
Due to the success of the evening, Talley has decided to make Open Mic Night a monthly event.
"I think the night went wonderful," Talley said. "It was so hard to determine who won the food dollars because in my mind there was no worst act."