It’s Saturday night in Merritt and groups of people mingle in a dimly-lit music lounge, while others perform songs or share personal anecdotes from the stage.

This is the SaySo Expression Society, an open mic night that encourages locals to share their talents and often helps people find their voices.

While most performers play the guitar and sing, in the past, people have chosen to recite poetry, tell jokes, play unusual instruments like the ocarina, or whistle the national anthem. Basically, anything goes.

When I came to Merritt, I was impressed by this gathering that felt very comfortable, even though people were constantly stepping outside of their comfort zone to share talents in front of others.

I’ve watched a few people nervously take the stage for the first time and have heard people cheer and clap in encouragement even when they played the wrong chord or forgot the words to the song. Every month when they took the stage, these musicians seemed more confident and their performances were impressive.

Something about SaySo gives it the ability to make performers out of the unlikeliest candidates. Even reporters who prefer to speak through a keyboard (not the musical kind) have been known to sing from the SaySo stage.

Obviously, the open mic nights strike a chord with others too, because the venue was often full and people waited their turn to perform until the wee hours of the morning.

The SaySo Society has been without a home for nearly nine months, due to complications with the venue, but Saturday’s event in the original location (newly dubbed the Culture Club) marked the resurrection of these local open mic nights, and board members have promised there will be more.

For a city that is not very big, Merritt sure has a lot of local talent and groups like SaySo help to foster its expression.

The SaySo Society will also be sponsoring other feature performers, some local and some from out of town, so there should be lots of entertainment to look forward to this year.

We may not have had many big name country stars grace our stages in the last few years, but that doesn’t mean Merritt lacks quality entertainment.