Hoot host Charlie Reinertsen is planning a “Hootenanniversary” on Nov. 10 — a ticketed show with proceeds to go back into funding Hoot operations.

Putting on the Hoot has been “pure joy,” getting to hear the talent every week is a treat and it fuels him.

The Hoot — held at the Garagery basement bar and event space — starts with a performance by a featured artist, followed by a public open mic before ending with the “SL’OO Line” — a jam with any and all attending musicians on stage together.

Reinertsen moved to Saranac Lake in 2020 and hit the vibrant local open mic circuit. An audio/visual producer by trade, he owns the Twolined Studio production company. While he typically works in conservation and education, he wanted to give back to the music community he loves.

Austin Petrashune from Austin and the In-Laws performs at the first ever “Saranac Lake Hootenanny” at The Garagery in November 2023. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Featured performances are available online at youtube.com/@twolinedstudio/videos. The open mics are filmed on the first Monday of the month. As soon as they get uploaded, people start listening, Reinertsen said.

He’s actually not surprised to reach the open mic’s two-year anniversary. He said he didn’t start it lightly.

“It felt like something that if it was going to work it was going to be a staple,” Reinertsen said.

What he is surprised about is how loyal people are to it.

He said people were hungry for the “listening room” atmosphere the Hoot and the Garagery bring. There are lots of places to hear music in town. The Hoot is a place to encourage active listening, he said. When the music starts, people quiet down to listen. This encourages a focus on lyricism and songwriting.

Vanessa McLean sings at the Saranac Lake Hootenanny. The weekly Hoot open mic is celebrating two years with a Hootenanniversary on Nov. 10. (Provided photo — Charlie Reinertsen)

There are local songwriters who attend every week, regional artists who travel from miles away to play every so often and vacationing musicians who stop in on their way through town.

Reinertsen loves when family members play together. There have been a couple father-daughter duos, or whole families on stage together. And he loves when someone he’s never seen before gets up and blows him away.

People have told him that they’ve planned their visit to town around the Hoot, staying until Monday evening so they can make it.

Reinertsen plans to eventually make a map with pins marking where everyone comes from.

One of the purposes of the Hoot is giving exposure to local talent, helping people book more shows.

Mateo Champlain performs at the first ever “Saranac Lake Hootenanny” at The Garagery in November 2023. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

He said one Hoot attendee has been reached out to by a musical competition TV show.

Nate Pultorak, who plays the hammered dulcimer, posted a video from the Hoot on TikTok and quickly got 70,000 views. It became his most viewed video ever and quadrupled his account’s followers.

Reinertsen said having quality mixed and mastered audio along with 4K video helps musicians get noticed, to stand out from the crowd.

“They’re able to come in and get professionally recorded film with produced audio,” Reinertsen said. “Normally, that would be something that’s not feasible financially, unless you can do it yourself. Obviously, that takes up-front investment in equipment.”

The video takes him around five hours a week to produce. It’s well worth it to him. Sometimes, he’ll have a set on repeat all throughout the week as he goes about his daily life.

Tickets for the “Hootenanniversary” on Nov. 10 cost $23.18 and can be purchased at twolined.com/show or tinyurl.com/479n695w.

The Garagery is in the rear of Grizle T’s at 53 Main Street, in the far corner of the Dorsey Street parking lot.

The doors open at 6:30 p.m. For the first 30 minutes, he’ll have a projector playing a “best of” compilation of songs.

Live music starts at 7 p.m. with the Murry Hill Rounders playing rowdy fiddle tunes, traditional and modern.

Then, there’s the “Writer’s Round” featuring songwriters Sal Sarmiento, Cat Kluchinski and Austin Petrashune, who will take turns introducing a song they wrote and playing it.

After that, The Allens take the stage. Reinertsen said Billy Allen has been cranking out new music, writing what seems like a song a week.

Reinertsen himself is putting a band together with Hoot regulars to play a few bluegrass and folk tunes. The band is called “Slough Creek.” That name is a bog joke. Reinertsen is a photographer by training and runs a marketing business. His day job involves education around conservation. A slough (pronounced like slew) is a channel in a wetland.

They’ll close down the night with a Hoot tradition — a group rendition of “Goodnight Irene.”