As rain trickled outside, a large fan fought the humidity inside of the Old Sheepdog Brewery, jazz music hummed throughout the room, and poets, musicians and supporters flowed in waiting for t an evening of spoken word to begin .
On June 26, Barbed Wire Open Mic Series (BWOMS) hosted an open mic night for musicians and writers of all ages. They host open mics at Old Sheepdog every last Thursday of the month.
Established in 2007, as part of The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) Master of Fine Arts creative writing department, BWOMS acted as an opportunity for students and professors to share their craft. Since its founding 18 years ago, the open mic series has become a platform for El Paso’s creative voices. Now part of the nonprofit organization BorderSenses, it has evolved to resonate with new generations of artists.
According to BWOMS project director Richie David Marrufo, the series has transitioned from hosting a monthly event to hosting multiple a week, offering many professional development opportunities for performing artists to get stage time, practice their craft and network.
“Part of our mission along with BorderSenses, is to promote literary arts, as well as literacy projects in the region,” Marrufo said. “We just want to encourage people to produce their own original work, produce culture, tell their own stories, share their voices [and] embolden others.”
Marrufo shared that the open mic isn’t only for writers and performers, it is also a place for anyone curious about production, lighting, music equipment and even photography, to learn and contribute.
“I’m also encouraging people who want to learn more professional skills like sound engineering, like how we do live audio, how to set up and tear down equipment,” Marrufo said. “I’ve invested a lot in equipment so people who want to volunteer to take photos of the open mic performers can share and post it on social media.”
As a UTEP alumnus, Marrufo first got involved with BWOMS performing poetry and playing his saxophone. The freedom to express himself and be surrounded by other creatives made the open mic a home for him. After his friend and co-founder of BWOMS Roberto Santos began preparing to become less hands on with the open mic, he helped prepare Marrufo to become more involved.
“I became friends with Roberto and over time he started taking more of a step back and I would practice hosting, and he would kind of watch and give feedback,” Marrufo said.
Since then, there has been no looking back for Maruffo, and he has continued to take initiatives to expand BWOMS while never losing sight of its original mission.
“There are so many memorable moments,” Maruffo said. “You see people on stage find themselves and maybe they are shy or awkward or anxious or nervous, but then you see their muscles loosen up and they get relaxed and in their flow. They are expressing themselves.”
Joshua Cabrales, 20-year-old UTEP student, sees the open mic as a creative platform where a diverse set of people can express themselves through art. This allows him to feel comfortable sharing his voice.
“I’ve seen people come up and play music that no one has ever thought about. I’ve seen people write about the distraught rage and the outrage they have,” Cabrales said. “Me, personally, I write about the hardships that I have gone through – the heartbreaks I’ve gone through, and about the love I’ve fallen into.”
On this particular Thursday night, Cabrales brought a friend along who was attending her first Barbed Wire Open Mic Series event. He spoke to her about howhe hoped that she would get to experience the sense of emotional connection and support that keeps bringing him back.
“I want you to be able to feel the emotions that poets and the artists, the songwriters and the spoken words are trying to deliver,” Cabrales said to her.
That friend, Anagre Morgan, an 18-year-old student from El Paso Community College (EPCC), admitted she arrived with a bit of stage fright. With this being an event for all ages, Morgan was able to appreciate that there may be others like her who are also afraid of getting up on the stage.
“I think it’s good to show that it doesn’t matter how young you are – you’re always going to have that fright in you and it’s okay,” Morgan said. “You’re always going to be scared of something and it’s okay, you can always beat that fear. Thats. What makes you grow.”
For both longtime performers and newcomers finding their voice, Barbed Wire Open Mic Series has allowed a space for El Paso’s creatives to gather not just for performance but for connection, welcoming all.
BWOMS hosts multiple events each month across El Paso. For more information, visit https://www.bwoms.com/.
Evelyn Palma is the editor-in-chief of The Prospector and may be reached at [email protected] and on Instagram @evelynp.media.
