CRUMB #39

NOVEMBER 2025

THE WORD

Microphone at the end of the road

It’s a long road we travel, sometimes bitumen, sometimes gravel. There is a song of the highway that gets us through, we say we can’t sing but we can always hum a tune.

Some of us walk a mile or two on our own and some of us walk in company on the road to home. The Kitchen, the Gallery, the Inn are welcome and warm, somewhere to shelter from the storm, somewhere to celebrate the day that we were born. Here’s to the way we travel, here’s to the road we are on, see you at the microphone humming a word or a song.

Well, there’s another month of Open Microphone action being served up just down the end of your road. So won’t you make it to a feast of food, poem and song at NgAna’s Gallery in Collingwood; to the sizzling Dangerous Microphone at the Dangerous Kitchen in Takaka and to the monthly gathering of live poets and musicians at the Mussel Inn in Onekaka. It’s a long road we travel, love to see you on it sometime.

Check out the ALONG THE ROAD…page for Monday night sing-a-longs, Mussel Inn programme and Pete Flynn Project at Molly B’s.

Peace
Mark Raffills
Golden Bay Live Poets Society

ON THE ROAD

for Jack L. Kerouac

there were no stars winking this day
above the hot stone altar
hidden away in Lowell

for the afternoon sun was bright
and burned the grass brown,
just like it had withered time

and here time was crushed
and crumpled by the ideal,
hammered by the weight of expectation

the road was an outlaw,
a hundred miles of freedom
could not out run this friendship

some say he found redemption,
others that he stumbled into hell,
ruin, carved deep

but still, we left a note in the sun,
some words of thanks for the long road,
a tear, for what was not found there.

Mark Raffills
(on visiting the grave of Jack Kerauoc, Lowell, Massachusetts)

LIVE MIC ACTION

December and the moon and feasting shine on

Last gathering for the year at NgAng’s Gallery in Collingwood so lets see if you can make it down for a community pot luck feast and some gorgeous poem telling and song singing.

The mix of pot luck feasting and moonshine on the microphone continues to unite us. Thanks for turning out and giving the thumbs up to this community-making gathering. We need one another in good times and in dark times. Moonshine and Feasting is happening this Thursday, 4 December so bring some food to share, something to drink, a poem or two and a song to sing. The POT LUCK FEAST will start at 6.00pm.

And then, starting around 7.30pm, there will be the very fabulous and very intimate Moonshine on the Microphone open mic session.

Moonshine on the Microphone
Thursday 4 December 2025
NgAng’s Gallery
POT LUCK FEAST – 6.00pm
Open Mic – 7.30pm. Koha

December and the moon and feasting shine on

LIVE MIC ACTION

the microphone has got acid on it

ACID ON THE MICROPHONE is presented by Golden Bay Live Poets Society and gives you poems, stories and music too!

This month its OPEN MIC ALL NIGHT! Our open microphone sessions open the way for poets and singer/songwriters to speak and sing those things of the heart that matter. So, be in the house at the Mussel Inn , Thursday 11th for the December edition of Acid on the Microphone.

As always, the open mic always uncovers some unexpected treats as new and established performers present their work. Participants can put their names on the performance list on the night. Musician alanjahjah will kick the evening off from around 7.15pm with dinner music to dine to.

ACID ON THE MICROPHONE presents
Open Mic All Night from 7.30pm
Thursday 11 December 2025
$5 on the door. Mussel Inn
NOTE: NO ACID ON THE MICROPHONE IN JANUARY.

Acid on the Microphone

Àine Barton – I write because…

Àine Barton is a Scottish-born, Golden Bay-tethered poet whose spoken-word poems offer an anchored urgency for the times we live in; her performances are both engaging and energising and a joy to be involved in.

To hear Àine present her work over the past couple of years is to watch the emergence of a poetry talent that rides on wisdom and insight, that grows in confidence while staying firmly rooted in the belief and innocence of youth.

Having Àine (pictured right) as our guest at Acid on the Microphone is a testament to the way in which Golden Bay Live Poets and the Mussel Inn has, over the years, provided a vehicle of support and development for emerging voices.

When asked why she writes, Àine responds, “I write to hold joy as a stranger that I can become curious about, and to hold grief as a lover, that I can rejoice in; I write as ‘thank you’ and I write as ‘how dare you’, and sometimes (often) I write for no reason.”

Be sure to make the effort to come out and support Àine’s guest appearance at Acid on the Microphone. it is going to be a night you wont forget.

ACID ON THE MICROPHONE presents
Poet ÀINE BARTON from 8.30pm
OPEN MIC from 7.30pm
Thursday 27 November 2025
$5 on the door. Mussel Inn

DANGEROUS MICROPHONE

TURNING ON THE DANGEROUS MICROPHONE

At the Dangerous Microphone you will find courageous performances and strong community connections which promise to entertain, challenge and inform all summer long.

In December and January we have a stunning array of 30 Minutes of Glory performers lined up for you – Hannah & Saci, Aralyn Doiron, Cal from Wales and Nick Feint.

So make the Dangerous Kitchen your go to place every Wednesday where the food and beverage service is fantastic and the hostesses and hosts make you feel right at home. We pass the koha bowl to support our performers on the 30 Minutes of Glory evenings. Performance list open from 5.00pm. Remember, even angels sing at the mic!

Wednesday 3 December
DANGEROUS MICROPHONE
Open Mic All Night 6.00pm – 9.00pm.

Wednesday 10 December
DANGEROUS MICROPHONE
Open Mic: 6.00pm – 7.30pm. 30 Minutes of Glory featuring HANNAH & SACI 7.30pm – 8.00pm. Open Mic 8.00pm – 9.00pm.

Hannah and Saci are a Golden Bay–based folk duo known for their beautiful harmonies and heartfelt songs. Their collaboration began in 2022, singing soft harmonies over Hannah’s new-born daughter. They now share captivating acapella and acoustic pieces that celebrate nature, community, and meaningful storytelling. A sound even the silence bows to.

LIVE MIC ACTION

Along the road….

PETE FLYNN PROJECT

Playing live at Molly B’s, Sunday 23 November. Pete pictured left will be playing with Paula, Neal and Chris

GOLDEN BAY ARTS FESTIVAL

Wednesday 18 to Sunday 22 February 2026
Click or copy the link below for all the details and to apply to perform:
https:
//www.gbarts.org.nz/summer-arts-festival

MONDAY NIGHT SINGALONG

Monday night sing-a-long with Craig Denham is at the Mussel Inn every Monday evening. The sessions will run right through until Christmas. So bring your voice and love of song at 7.00pm every Monday. Acoustic instruments welcome too!

SCRIBES ON THE MIC

Revite Cafe in Motueka is inviting all poets, wordsmiths and spoken word artists to speak their hearts at their open mic night, SCRIBES ON THE MIC, Saturday 6 DECEMBER at the Cafe, 265 High Street (in the arcade), Motueka. 7.00pm. $5 entry.

NOVEMBER AT THE MUSSEL INN
Click links for details and tickets

Mon 3rd
SINGALONG ‘ROUND THE PIANO with CRAIG DENHAM – All welcome 7pm
Weds 5th
WAITING FOR GERTIE – “A concoction of delicate whimsy” More Music, Mayhem and Madness from HELEN MOULDER – $20 tickets $25 Door
Thurs 6th
QUIZ NIGHT – All welcome
Sat 8th
SHADES OF SHAKTI $25 tickets $30 door
Mon 10th
SINGALONG ‘ROUND THE PIANO with CRAIG DENHAM – All welcome 7pm
Weds 12th
ANDREW FAGAN – Passage of time solo tour tickets $40
Sat 15th
THE PORT HILLBILLIES  $15 door
Mon 17th
SINGALONG ‘ROUND THE PIANO with CRAIG DENHAM – All welcome 7pm
Thurs 20th
QUIZ NIGHT – All welcome
Mon 24th
SINGALONG ‘ROUND THE PIANO with CRAIG DENHAM – All welcome 7pm
Weds 26th
JAZMINE MARY –  Hot Sad Summer Tour.  $30 tickets
Thurs 27th
ACID ON THE MICROPHONE featuring poet Aine Barton
Sat 29th
CHARLOTTE YATES & SHOW PONY $20  Tickets

Make Use of CRUMB

subscribe to CRUMB

In CRUMB you will find all the events sponsored by Golden Bay Live Poets Society plus a few other gigs and community happenings.

If you would like to be kept up to date with open microphone events happening around the Bay, then subscribe to CRUMB here

And you can even submit a gig or event that you want us to know about.

GOT A GIG, EVENT, NEW BOOK or RECORDING COMING UP ??

Got events or gigs coming up that you’d like to let CRUMB readers know about, please email the details, jpeg pics and jpeg posters to: mark@drycrust.com or use the link below:

submit a gig or event

And if you have a new book of poems, stories coming out, or a new recording of songs, let us know and we can let our small but dedicated readership in on the action.