Open Mic Night
Carmine’s Bar, Grill and Stage
East Hartford
May 12, 2025
It was Game 4 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals. The Knicks were up 2 – 1, and the Celtics had to battle back in Madison Square Garden. The perfect night to kill two birds with one stone: take in some great local talent and watch some great basketball.
Carmine’s had me covered on both fronts. Monday night is open mic night at the restaurant, and I arrived just in time for both the game and the performances to begin. There was a fresh faced young man on stage wearing black, with a funky hat. The way that he commanded both the microphone and guitar, with the confidence of a veteran, made me think that he was the leader of the house band that plays backup for artists who want to take a crack at the open mic. Turns out, he was one of the artists.
His name was Kieran Davey. At the ripe old age of 20 he has already put in over two years of practice on the stage at Carmine’s, which was slightly less than the three years he has been playing guitar. His father had tried to get him to follow in his footsteps as a bass and guitar player, and one day it finally clicked for Kieran and he wanted to start making music.
Fortunately for him, his mother found both his cool hat and the guitar he was playing at the same tag sale.
I ran into Kieran just as he is preparing to start his professional music career. This Thursday, he’s performing at The Pearl in Manchester in his first paid gig. It was a reminder that while many people come out to open mics for fun and the experience, these kinds of community events can also serve as the launching pad for budding artists such as Kieran.
Of course, it helps to make performing music enjoyable when you have a backup band as good as the one at Carmine’s. The open mic stood empty for a few minutes; that was no problem for the veterans who powered forward with an eclectic mix of rock, r&b and funk music stretching back decades. I’d never before heard a band cover Sade’s “Nothing Can Come Between Us,” and it brought me back to my childhood, cleaning the house on Saturday mornings as her Greatest Hits blasted from the CD player.
The influence of parents was a constant theme throughout the night. Eventually another singer did take the stage, a young lady named Princess Hester. She chose Mary J. Blige’s classic “I’m Goin’ Down,” a song that’s more than a little ambitious. Princess was up to the task. The whole bar stopped, literally, as she sang. Heads turned from the basketball game. Servers stopped in their tracks as she climbed the octaves, matching the power and agony of Blige from 30 years ago as she sang her heart out.
Princess was influenced by her mother as well, saying that she’s been singing in the shower since she was younger.”
“My mom used to sing that song while she cleaned up the house, and I just, I always used to sing with her,” she said. “And then as I got older, it’s a song that made me feel good because I knew it made her feel good, and I’m very passionate.”
Mary J. Blige was a favorite for my mother as well.
Princess said she took the stage to finally belt out some of her emotions. She’d just gotten out of a three-month relationship, and the song really touched her because although it was a three-month relationship, it felt like eternity- in a good way.
It was a great night of music at Carmine’s, although I can’t say it was a good night for Celtics fans. Not only did we lose, but we lost our star player. I guess you can’t have it all.
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Carmine’s hosts its open mic every Monday.
Romeo and Juliet. For real.
