Excelsior Café’s Open-Mic Night Packs the House

Dangling at the end of Excelsior’s downtown necklace of boutiques and shops, the 318 Café is an unassuming pendant that serves as a jewel for many area musicians.

Drawn by the 318 Café’s popular open mic night, an array of artists converge on Water Street during the first Wednesday of each month to perform their songs and be a part of a growing camaraderie and the café’s intimate atmosphere. The next open-mic night is Wednesday, April 6.

Sensing a hint of staleness when they bought The Bean & Wine Café approximately five years ago, current owners Matty O’Reilly and Tom Peterson had originally intended to shelve the event after reopening as the 318 Café, at 318 Water St.

Matt Muller, a Minnetonka native who performed during open mic nights at the location’s previous incarnation, helped convince the new owners to give it another shot and has helped guide the night to its current diamond status.

“I knew Tom and Matty a little bit and told them if they would start (open mic night) back up again that I’d host it,” Muller said last week before taking the stage at the café for a performance with Third Wheel, a three-piece acoustic rock/folk group.

Muller has been providing the hosting duties ever since, and the popularity and diversity of the performances has blossomed.

“We very rarely have any open slots,” said Muller. “It’s really popular.”

Muller, who admittedly “didn’t have a clue what I was doing” when he first took over the event, has helped transform the evening by providing quality sound for performers and creating an inviting atmosphere for artists and audiences alike. He had to abandon the original first-come, first-serve format for obtaining one of the 12 nightly slots, which are now awarded through a random drawing.

“Some performers used to come in at four in the afternoon to make sure they could get a slot,” Muller said. “Not everyone can do that, so we changed to the drawing and that seems to work best.”

The revised format allows performers to register between 6:30 and and 7:15 p.m. for a chance to score one of the slots. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m., with each artist getting a 15- to 20-minute set.

“It’s a really friendly and supportive environment,” said Muller, who performs more than 80 gigs annually with his band Seven of Each, as well as solo, duo and Third Wheel gigs.

“We try to make it comfortable and fun," he said of the open-mic nights. "I used to suffer from stage fright so I understand how scary it can be for people to get up there.”