The 4014 Project

The 4014 Project

The 4014 Project aims to host 12 Open Mic nights a year along the Wiltshire / Gloucestershire border, visiting different venues and meeting new people on the way.

Our only rules are: no backing tracks, no drum kits. We always have a small PA system and not much else!

We pride ourselves on being the only dedicated touring Open Mic outfit in our area, so if you're interested in visiting us for a few songs , let us know by emailing jon@4014.co.uk

Recent Open Mic nights

August 09: Thursday 13th, Rose and Crown, Malmesbury

As is traditional, the mid-August Open Mic was held at Malmesbury's Rose & Crown as part of the Malmesbury Carnival celebrations, raising money for a variety of good causes. This Open Mic makred our fourth anniversary of 4014. Taking to the stage we had a couple of new faces - Tom & Ollie and Mark Corcoran, there was also Bob Balderson on his second visit to a 4014 event - we also had regulars in the form of Ells, Corky, Adrian & Cynthia, Alan and Alison. Another truly successful evening with a large crowd of enthusiasts. There's lots more musical events happening in Malmesbury over the next few weeks, so I hope to see you at one of those very soon!

July 09: Friday 31st, Mermaid, Christian Malford

This turned our to be one of the most welcoming venues we have visited in recent times, with a fantastic array of performers and a great crowd. As well as several of our usual players, we were also treated to the likes of a duo performance from Just To Annoy Ray, Devloution, Torbird and some Christian Malford locals - all in all the Open Mic night was a complete success with amplified music carrying on until midnight on the dot. The event was part of the Summer of Love & Music Festival, a new concept from Lyneham songwriter JC Leonard. Money raised from the weekend went to Shelter and the Halo Trust. We'll be heading back to Christian Malford in the near future for another charity event - watch this space!

July 09: Friday 10th, Rose & Crown, Lea, MusicLea Fest.

A truly fantastic night at Lea on July 10th. Thanks to everybody who came along to support the Open Mic Night, thanks to Viv and the Gang for organising the whole weekend of music at the MusicLea Festival, thanks to Brian for running the PA and giving us a night off - thanks to Andrew from Swindon 105 who'll be broadcasting some of the show in the morning, thanks all round! Sets included Paul Derby, Abby (from Coventry), Viv Sherman, Alison Hustiwtt, Mark Johnson, John Shilibeer, Corky + The Corkettes, Relatively Country, Ells and Paul Deacon. Three weeks to recover and we'll be doing it all over again at a new venue for us, The Mermaid in Christian Malford.

July 09: Wednesday 1st, Riffs Bar, Greatfield

With the temperature well into the high twenties even at nine in the evening, it's understandable that only a dedicated crew turned out for this sizzling Open Mic. We had sets from Ells, Tris, Adrian & Cynthia, Nic and Alison... plus a couple of songs from Riffs regular, Damien... and not a single guitar untuned itself in the heat. Was nice to have a pre-Open Mic chat with everyone in the Riffs Beer Garden (we all decided it was too hot to start playing at the usual starting time of 8:30!

May 09: Thursday 21st, Rose & Crown, Malmesbury

A chilled evening of music starting with Pat & Mike, followed by Ells, then Ed & Nick, Gwen, Nic Black, Alan Maskell, Adrian & Cynthia, and finishing with a track from Rosie regular Michael Cleaver. We will be returning to the Rose and Crown in Malmesbury in August for the town's Carnival celebrations - and don't forget we're at the other Rose and Crown, in Lea, in Mid-July - set your Satnavs!

May 09: Thursday 7th, The Vale, Cricklade

One of those lovely evenings where everything is nice and relaxed, there's a small yet dedicated crowd, seven sets in total and all was right with the world. Players were Ells, Ed and Nick, JC Leonard, Relatively Country, Keith Hyett, Tristan Cork, Alison Hustwitt. Thanks to everybody who came along - and also thanks to the people in the bar who were full of compliments as we headed out the door. We'll be back at the Vale later in the year.

March 09: Friday 20th, The Red Bull, Malmesbury

We don't usually put together an Open Mic on a Friday evening, but given the hectic diary of the Red Bull, we were left with no other choice. Not the biggest line-up we've ever seen for an Open Mic night, but Ells, Adrian and Devolution really made a night of it! Thanks to those who came along, performed, joined in... it turned out to be a pretty impressive event!

February 09: Thursday 26th, The Vale, Cricklade

It's been a while since we've visited Cricklade - and was by far are busiest Open Mic in the town. The Vale (and BTV) are under new management and are really keen to hear from upcoming singers and bands. Initially we were going to hold the Open Mic in BTV, but popularity of the event led to us being promoted into the bigger bar at the last minute. We had performances from, in no particular order: Alison Hustwitt, Ells, Anna Giles, Corky, Silver Sam, Mike & Patrick, Dominic French, Mark Johnson & Terry - plus, a very special set from Ollie and Tom from the Divebomb Revolution... but I'm not sure if they're going to be able to remember it!

January 09: Monday 19th, Priory Inn, Tetbury

As ever, The Priory Inn was packed full with an unrealistically large number of musicians, all wanting their 15 minutes on the stage. In order of appearance: Ells, Corky, Alan Maskell, Keith Hyett, Mike & Pat, Alison Hustwitt, Heather from Strictly Strings, followed by a Bristol ensemble consisting of a banjo, mandalin and double bass (sorry to say I can't recollect names), Alex - a member of staff at The Priory, Relatively Country, Nic Black and finishing on Ian Cox. We'd like to thank all the musicians on the night for understanding how busy it was, and for saving parts of their setlist for the next time we meet. We're trying our luck in Cricklade next month so we hope to see some of you Swindon-ites there!

December 08: Wednesday 17th, Riffs Bar, Greatfield

Thank you to everyone who ventured out on that cold, wintry evening - we met a fair few new folks, and we hope to meet you all again soon. With Ells out partying, it was left to Jon to run the desk and organising single-handed - luckily Riffs has it's own sound system in permanent place so nine tenths of setting up for an Open Mic is already done. The evening started with Alison Hustwitt, followed by some covers from Mike and Patrick. Some new faces followed with tracks from Tom and Kerry McKenna, and then Steve Criddle. Ed Donovan took some time out from his own Open Mic music nights in Bath to play a few tracks, followed by another Open Mic gigalo, J C Leonard. Relatively Country followed, and the night finished with a set from Devolution, or half of them at least. For those of you at Riffs who noticed our recorder, I'm sorry to say the sound was distorting through most of the set, (to be honest, I was expecting it to, but this was it's first real road test so understandable really.) We'll be trying out our new-fangled technology again at the Priory next month.

November 08: Saturday 22nd, Cirencester Bingham Librar

OK, so not really an Open Mic, as all slots were filled within 36 hours of announcement. This was the first 4014 Open Mic night to be broadcast live across Cirencester. The plan was originally to have four 20 minute sets live over a two hour show... but I couldn't resist fitting in as many people as possible. So, besides the live links, technical problems, logistic issues, and general panic, we had seven great sets from Corky, Dominic French, Alison Hustwitt, J C Leonard, Let's Blame Ben, Bullet Train and Aspects of Infinity. We ran ten minutes over our timeslot, but in fairness we started seven minutes late. For those of you who missed the show, we'll be playing bits on Stroud FM in our January show.

September 08: Monday 15th, Phoenex Bar, Wootton Basse

This really is an exciting, upcoming venue with live music at least twice a week.Drinks are ridiculously cheap, the passion of The Phoenex for live music is refreshing, and our first Open Mic at this venue was a good 'un. A total of nine sets played over the evening, and Tris managed to play his way into his own gig at a later date! We've got to thank Sue for inviting us to her venue, and we hope everybody enjoyed themselves.

Line-Up: 08.15 Ells 08.30 Brian Herbert 08.44 Alex & Mark (Wildewest) 09.04 Dominic French 09.21 Drew & Roger09.43 Adrian & Cynthia 10.06 Alan Maskell (Ulterior Motives) 10.23 Ben Wiltshire (FollowMe&TheIDontGiveADamns) 10.39 Tristan Cork (Corky)

August 08: Wednesday 20th, Rose and Crown, Malmesbury

Well that's our third anniversary of Open Mic nights out of the way! Not as busy as in previous years (Remembering the previous two Carnival Open Mic nights as being so packed that 'Standing Room Only' was an understatement! Still, we had a great time as ever, and this was the final line-up of artists:

Line-Up: 08.23 Alison Hustwitt 08.40 Keith Hyett 09.00 Eleanor Chadd 09.20 Gwen Bruist 09.40 Ben Wiltshire 09.55 Let's Blame Ben 10.15 Adrian & Cynthia 10.30 Nic Black 10.50 Mike Cleaver with encores running until 11.30. As well as hearing some fine music from all concerned, we managed to raise £55 for Malmesbury Carnival! Nice one everybody.

I'm sure we'll be back at the Rose & Crown over winter. In the meantime, don't forget that September's Open Mic is going to be earlier in the month, as we're planning on leaving the country!

July 08: Monday 28th, Priory Inn, Tetbury

It's always nice to return to Tetbury where the crowd is always welcoming, the pizza's always fresh and the stage is spacious! Plenty of people came along to our Priory Open Mic in July, despite tropical showers battering down throuhout the night. Thank you to everybody who made it - especially those Bristolians who seem to be growing in numbers month on month! We'll hopefully see some of you at the Rose and Crown next month!

Line-Up: 08.25 Ells 08.40 Gwen Bruist & Ells 08.54 Gwen Bruist 09.02 Let's Blame Ben 09.19 Mark Johnson 09.31 Mark & Angela 09.40 Keith Hyett 09.55 Tristan Cork & The Corkettes 10.14 Nic Black 10.30 Adrian & Cynthia 10.48 Ian Cox 11.00 End