ENGLEWOOD, N.J.—The Englewood Public Library hosted an open mic night that brought in a dozen talented youngsters and their proud families Nov. 21.
“We’ve hosted three other open mic nights, and the August and October events have had 20 to 30 people, both performers and audience members,” said Library Director John Arthur. “Our goal is to showcase all the talent that exists in Englewood, and this is a great venue for that.”
Assistant Director Esperanza Pacheco added, “These shows are wonderful! We get everything—singing and Karaoke performances, poetry reading, guitar and ukulele playing, and more.”
At 7 p.m., the show began as Pacheco welcomed everyone and had the performers sign in.
First up was the CJJ trio—featuring, Jahien, Jahvon and Chase, all 9, who sang several of their original rap songs, including “Happier” and “Old Time Road.”
They were followed by the Swag Gang, another young trio: 11-year-old Kyler and 9-year-olds Matthew and Josh. They swaggered and shimmied at the microphone with great confidence as they performed songs that they had written, including “Apoplex,” and “Patek and Roli” named after two high-end watch companies. They were accompanied by music that they had downloaded from YouTube.
The last performers were two seventh grade girls who also delighted the audience with their singing.
The spectators were impressed by all the performers’ tremendous confidence and style. As they posed for photos, one of the young boys even laughed and called out ”Are we getting paid for this?”
Patricia Bascom, whose four grandsons were performing, talked about how much she liked the Open Mic program.
“The kids love it! They write their own songs and lyrics and set them to music and can’t wait to get on stage,” she said.
Bascom’s daughter, Maya, whose son and nephews were one stage, was enthused about the Open Mic performances.
“These kids are awesome!”
