Open Mic Night
Spruce Coffee
New Haven
Feb. 3, 2026
Dimitri, an early performer at the weekly Wednesday open mic at Spruce Coffee on Upper State Street, explained that he was about to sing some songs he wrote a few years ago, when he lived in Virginia. First he would perform a song he wrote "to try to get the girl back. Didn't work. But I got this song." Over a mellow yet insistent strummed guitar, Dimitri laid a torrent of lyrics delivered in a spiky voice. "I hope the trees are as pretty on your side of the city," he sang. "I'm praying for you on Church Hill."
Dimitri's voice and guitar joined a parade of performers Wednesday night doing everything from DJ sets to piano ballads to flute solos, in the latest iteration of the popular open mic that continues to pack the Upper State Street coffee shop with performers and listeners alike, and give New Haveners a chance to practice their chops, try out new material, or just take a chance.
The Wednesday open mic is a holdover from the coffee shop's previous iteration as Gather. When the shop changed hands and name in November 2024, the new owners, A.J. Perez and Katie Leavitt, planned to keep the popular event as part of their programming, and asked New Haven musician Terron the Light if they wanted to host it. "I felt really honored," Terron said, They loved what the previous management had done with the open mic, "creating the environment" for anything to happen.
Even though it was "a business shutting down, then one opening back up," Terron said, "a lot of the same people" came back, in part because the open mic "functions identically, outside of the fact that we just close a lot earlier, which is fine."
The format is simple: There are 18 slots to fill. Signup, in chalk on a post near the window, starts at 6 p.m. The open mic itself starts at 6:30 p.m. Everyone gets 10 minutes to do their act, whether it's playing music, reciting a poem, or doing something else. "People have told me that they feel comfortable here to do what they want to do," Terron said. "I'm just glad I facilitate that." Comedians have regaled the crowd with a short set. Once a magician took the stage to perform a magic routine. "Whatever you want," Terron said.
On Wednesday night, Dimitri was followed by Row Covers, a trio of violin, mandolin, and guitar, with all three musicians singing as well. "We're all farmers," one of them explained. Row covers were the name of the fabric put over vegetables in the field to protect them from the elements. Plus, the trio planned to perform all covers. Their easy harmonies and sparse, tasteful arrangements drew healthy applause. Sylvie got up next to perform two flute pieces.
CanIGetDatPlease hooked up a small mixing console to Spruce's PA. "I like making beats and I like stripping songs for samples, so here goes," he said. His set of chill beats made heads bob and inspired contemplation. Poet Jess read a piece about Black History Month, while singer-songwriter Zach Anderson performed a strong set of originals accompanying himself on guitar.
"I got one more," he said. "What do you want to hear, happy, sad, sappy?"
"Sappy!" someone shouted from the audience.
Anderson smiled. "This is a song I wrote for my sister's wedding. It's also about Futurama."
Tom Malachadi and Peter Menta, a.k.a. Washboard Slim, performed Bob Dylan's "You Ain't Going Nowhere" on guitar and harmonica, accompanied by Terron on cajon and Kevin on piano, easily getting a full band sound that filled the space. (Malachadi and Menta have a show at Spruce this Saturday.) For their next number, a traditional bluegrass song, "you would think that it's about a man missing a woman, or a woman missing a man, or a man missing a man, or a woman missing a woman ... did I get all of them?" Menta said. "But it's not about romantic problems. It's about alcohol problems."
Tyler Machard played three strong songs on guitar with Terron on cajon as well. Kevin — a.k.a. Post-Cupid Fan Club — played three driving numbers accompanying himself on intricate guitar that formed a bed for his piercing, complex vocals.
Genesis started off her set with a poem, then performed three songs that were part of an upcoming EP. Sean O'Reilly — who has made a name across southern Connecticut as a harpist and writer of twisty, catchy songs — played two songs on piano in which surprising and ground keywork created a springboard for acrobatic vocals. Terron took a slot to do three original hip hop cuts, rapping fluidly over imaginative beats. And June closed out the evening with a ranging blues guitar solo and an excursion on the piano.
Terron has no plans to change the open-ended format because "it works super well," they said. Once, "my mom came in and read a story and then said a poem that she used to recite when I was a kid."
"Anyone could do that, too," Terron said.
