Folk Singer Paddy Mills Headlines Side Door Coffeehouse Open Mic in Brunswick

Paddy Mills, an Owl's Head native who has spent more than 25 years and as many as 200 nights a year on the New England folk circuit, will headline the Side Door Coffeehouse open-mic night at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Brunswick on Friday, April 10.

Mills is a Maine-based singer-songwriter whose material draws on coastal storytellers including Gordon Bok, Stan Rogers, and David Mallet. His songs carry the textures of the fishing village where he grew up, and his 2013 win at the Woody Guthrie Folk Festival Songwriting Contest established him as one of the region's more recognized folk voices. He performs full-time, which puts him in a rare category among the working musicians who cycle through the Side Door's lineup.

The Side Door has operated at 1 Middle St. since 1993, making it one of the longest-running acoustic series on the Midcoast. UCCB Music Director Will Bristol organizes each night with a team of church volunteers. The $12 adult admission is how artist fees and basic venue costs get covered in a community-run program with no public subsidy; children 17 and under get in free.

Anyone wanting a spot in the open-mic portion must sign up in person when the church opens at 6:45 p.m. Spots are first-come, first-served. Performances begin at 7 p.m., and Mills holds the stage from 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. The format pairs a local or emerging performer with a road-tested professional on the same bill, a combination that is difficult to replicate at any price.

The Side Door runs the second Friday of every month except August. At $12 a ticket, it has kept live acoustic music on a regular calendar in Brunswick for more than 30 years. The open mic at 7 p.m. is where the community takes the stage; Mills arriving at 8:30 is the reason many of them will be in the room to watch.