Podcasting offers a niche to hear local music that otherwise might never see the light of broadcast. This week's gazzlogo contest winner, Marshall Patton, is the brother of the host of a regular open mic that occurs the fourth Friday of every month at 7 p.m., in the Kathy Mattea Auditorium at the Nitro Community Center, in the old Nitro High School building. Founded by Dick Patton and Steve Criner in November 2005, "The FrontPorch Showcase" open mic has offered podcasts online of prior shows for several months now. Marshall, our gazzlogo winner, maintains the very capable FrontPorch Showcase website, which is a good example of how a little industriousness on the local level can have the world listening in on you nowadays. Listen up at:
www.Frontporchshowcase.com

The next open mic there is this Friday, Aug. 25, starting 7 p.m.. It's much different from the open mic Ron Sowell runs at Unity in North Charleston the 2nd Tuesday of each month. Sowell's space is intimate and round, a real 'listening room' experience. The Mattea auditorium is a big ol' hall with a very good sound system. For performers, it is a fine place to try out songs in a large hall environment. And the quality sounds makes it a pleasurable experience for listeners. Call 610-1017.