Though a sometimes sleepy small town, DeLand, Florida, is a diamond in the rough for creatives. Every Friday night, rain or shine, the Artisan Alley Farmers’ Market features anything from adventure books signed by local authors to sourdough freshly baked by a smiling family of DeLandites, all amidst a backdrop of live music. Once a year, DeLandapalooza– the small town’s spoof of Lollapalooza, a famed American music festival– summons local artists and songwriters to an art and music festival on Main Street. As a Stetson University student and singer-songwriter myself, events close to campus that encourage original storytelling excite me to no end. So, last semester, I started to wonder; where on earth are downtown DeLand’s open mic nights?

Open Up the Open Mic Nights

Stetson itself is no stranger to open mic nights, having hosted Uncouth Hour, Hatter Network’s weekly student-run open mic night, for nearly thirty years. Be they slam poets, songwriters, artists or comedians, student storytellers congregate in Lee’s Garage of the Carlton Union Building every Thursday night for their five minutes each on the open mic. Where better to begin my search? I was sure some main street savvy raconteur would point this reporter in the right direction. Instead, I met more than a few students seeking a consistent off-campus stage to share their original works with DeLand’s otherwise well-rounded creative community.

“We’re kind of losing our luster,” Breanna Gergen ‘28 said, emphasizing the disheartening lack of a “multimedia locale for artists, poets– I mean, even singer-songwriters, [and] musicians” to shine in. 

To these students, an off-campus open mic night seemed an inspiring solution. “Open mic nights have always had a special place in my heart,” Phoenix Medley ‘26 said, “those spaces are so important and invaluable for young poets to get their voices out there and get experience  performing.” 

Alumnus Ali Burgess ‘25 acknowledged that “DeLand possesses a unique atmosphere… that is so indicative that we could flourish with a creative outlet… I’m sure somewhere downtown there is a coffee shop or a bar that would love a slam poetry [or open mic] night.”

Some students, such as De’Vanese John-Baptiste ‘26,  had already “been encouraging sites downtown that are more community building to do more of that– community building,” John-Baptiste said. “I believe spaces like [Sidecar], those are spaces where we could ask them to, like, go downtown and have poetry slams [or open mic nights].” 

Still, after speaking with Stetson students and staff at Uncouth Hour, as well as several DeLand locals, spending hours scouring outdated Facebook posts from dissolved creative organizations and scrolling through the MainStreet DeLand event calendar, I concluded that even if open mic nights ever existed off-campus, they were certainly elusive. Downtown DeLand was in need of something new.

A Sign– A Literal Sign

Miffed, I continued my search on the main street of downtown DeLand and found myself dumbfoundedly staring at the sign I was hoping for– a literal sign– on the window of the aforementioned Sidecar Market, which features an eccentric collection of craft beers, fine wines and specialty coffee sourced from Gainseville’s Resident Coffee Co., as well as upcycled mid-century modern furniture, vintage clothing and knick-knacks. 

It read “OPEN MIC NIGHT, 6-9pm, EVERY 1st AND 3rd WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH, Books and Booking and SIDECAR MARKET.” 

It seemed to me there was something divine about this, so– without a doubt in my mind– I decided to check it out and chat with its creators, Cole Weeks and Evi Melhado of Books and Booking.

Of Course, an Origin Story

Books and Booking is a booking company that encourages Volusia County’s creative community through book clubs, live concerts and “originals only” open mic nights. Weeks and Melhado, two literature-loving friends with a soft spot for open mic nights, created the company to provide a platform for local artists to perform and give “mutual aid support [for] people who are in need”, as Melhado described. “Being booking promoters that are for the bands and artists and not for money purposes and having a mission behind it was kind of our soul searching idea,” for Books and Booking, Weeks said.

Weeks and Melhado are no strangers to the stage themselves– Weeks works as an accomplished concert photographer, capturing crowd surfers and chord strumming artists across the country, while Melhado is a member of Awaystead, an alternative indie rock band in which she wields both electric guitar and otherworldly vocals. “In the music scene, I have been playing with Awaystead for about five years now. Prior to that, I’ve been in bands and I used to book tours for local bands,” Melhado said. 

While gigging in the DeLand area, Weeks and Melhado noticed the same as the Stetson students and I had: this small town was in desperate need of an open mic night. More importantly, the booking duo saw the potential for it to be a “good spot to link” scenes for students and locals to share, support, and simply enjoy original storytelling, Weeks said, and as Melhado recalled, “there [was] a breaking point where we [were] just like, we have to jump in on this and make it bigger, because there’s so many good artists and musicians out there that need a platform.” Without hesitation, Books and Booking began crafting a bi-monthly open mic night on the main street of downtown DeLand.

As for its venue, Sidecar Market was the obvious choice. “It’s such an artsy and comforting environment, just like the people who work there and own that place. It’s just the vibe,” Melhado mused. “Being able to open this open mic with Sidecar and collaborate with Derek and Jesse,” the owners of Sidecar Market, “was just such a blessing… because they encourage the original music. They love to be there. They love to see it.”

Feedback

So far, the only feedback Weeks and Melhado have heard from the open mic night has been that of positivity– and guitar amps plugging in, of course. The first night, “we completely booked out with early sign-ups, which was amazing,” Melhado said. Since then, DeLand locals have consistently crowded onto the couches and countertops of Sidecar clutching instrument cases, crumpled poems, and freshly crafted drinks between their clapping hands. “It just [shows] that the community really does want a… local open mic,” Weeks said, with a smile.

“Every single night that we have been doing this has been memorable” Melhado reflected. “I think it’s so cool to see… all different types of art and artists… It’s not one genre, it’s not one type of age group, it’s a bunch of different people, and it’s been the same response of just kindness.”

Mic Check

Readers may be wondering, did I do a mic check on the open mic night? I certainly did.

From Books and Booking’s free book drive to their handwritten words of encouragement, from the unabashed applause to the songwriters blushing after each set, sharing the mic with the sheer talent on Sidecar’s eclectic stage was a blast. The best part? Storytellers of Stetson University, its co-creators have saved you a spot in the queue line.

“We want to encourage everybody from Stetson who has original work… to come share… this is definitely the spot,” Melhado said, smiling. It is “a judgment-free zone with just kind support and a lot of love… It’s so nice to see everybody mingling after the show and being able to meet other artists and musicians… on the same road as everybody else.” 

“And not just artists,” Weeks added, “but even people who come, watch and listen. I’m a concert photographer. I do not write or sing anything. I just enjoy being there in the community that we have started… I’m excited to see some Stetson students out there.”