The Scarlet Guitarists and Rock Music Club are collaborating to host an open mic night at Kafe Kerouac Thursday. Credit: Shea Sooley | Lantern Reporter
Ohio State students will have the chance to showcase their musical talents and connect with fellow music lovers at an open mic night Thursday.
Scarlet Guitarists and Rock Music Club, two Ohio State student organizations, will team up to host an open mic night at Kafe Kerouac — located at 2250 N. High St. — from 8-11 p.m. Joseph Feinberg, a fourth-year in finance and president of Rock Music Club, said the event is open to anyone who wants to perform original songs or covers, or simply enjoy the music and meet new people.
Feinberg said he had set a goal for himself before graduation to organize an event where anyone — not just Rock Music Club members — could have the opportunity to perform on stage for an audience.
“My freshman year, I used to go down to The Summit Music Hall, and there’s this group called TeamBall [Collective], who, every Tuesday night, would have this local band perform, and afterward, there would be opportunities for local musicians to come up and jam in groups of five or six, and that group would constantly rotate throughout the night,” Feinberg said. “You get to meet all these great musicians and network. Before I graduate, I wanted to somehow bring this back.”
Feinberg said Rock Music Club has previously hosted open mics attended by the Scarlet Guitarists. However, this time, he said he plans to bring other instruments, encouraging all kinds of musicians to perform solo or collaborate with others.
“The Scarlet Guitarists, they’ve been going to the open mics, but haven’t really gotten any opportunities to play anything other than guitar, so I’m bringing my drum set and bass amp so there’ll be more opportunities for more musicians to come,” Feinberg said.
Kyle Zaklan, a second-year undecided student and co-vice president of Scarlet Guitarists, said both clubs have been eager to join forces on an open mic night and now finally have the chance to make it happen.
“I knew a bunch of people from the Rock Music Club because I went regularly last semester and multiple semesters before that,” Zaklan said. “People play guitars in both clubs and we wanted to do something together because they’re more about the appreciation of rock, while we’re more about playing what [the Rock Music Club] appreciates.”
Zaklan said the event will give artists the opportunity to play short, fast-paced sets in order to fit in numerous acts during the event.
“We’re trying to put together a jam-sesh type open mic event for people to play original stuff that they wrote themselves or covers,” Zaklan said. “One person would have like a 10-15 minute set.”
Naim Senhaji, a second-year in electrical engineering and co-vice president of Scarlet Guitarists, said the opportunity to collaborate on this event comes as Scarlet Guitarists continues to establish itself as a new on-campus organization. He said the group was officially founded in the fall 2024 semester, when he and co-founder Craig Minnick, a second-year in finance and club president, realized Ohio State lacked a club specifically for guitarists.
“I remember when I was first learning to play guitar, I really wanted a community of other people who were also starting with guitars or just guitar players in general, where I could talk about music and talk about guitars,” Senhaji said. “We wanted to make a hangout spot where people can make new friends, learn guitar and have a good time. Just anything guitar-related, that was Craig and I’s goal when we first decided we wanted to make the club.”
For more information about Scarlet Guitarists and Rock Music Club, visit their respective Instagram accounts.
