GOlive Open Mic, the virtual version of Kash 22's Acoustic Jam, has just celebrated six months of live-streamed online music performances.

This milestone is bittersweet for the Acoustic Jam's regular contributors and listeners, who are both pleased to have retained a stage (albeit virtual) for musicians to showcase their work, and saddened at the damage wrought on the industry by Covid-19.

"On March 23rd I had five jobs, and on March 24th I had one," says Jo Jo Gleave, who hosts both the in-person and the online open mic nights. "My work was lost completely. It's been devastating."

Eager to give local live music the lifeline it so desperately needed, Jo Jo collaborated with local musician and producer Mark Bleasdale, who masterminded the GOlive platform, to get the open mic sessions up and running.

"We just wanted to keep our community together. If you're having a bad time with the isolation of Covid, you know you've got the support of the other musicians. You know that they're in the same boat and that they're going to back you. It's that camaraderie that you just can't buy.

"It's like a family, a team. That's what we've been trying to save."

Since the weekly event began on March 23rd, membership of the GOlive Facebook group has grown to over 800, and Jo Jo tells me that: "We have artists from all over the country now taking part, which is really good because that's expanded our base.

As well as Kash 22's regular musicians, including Lee Shone and Mark Reader, the GOlive open mics have seen contributions coming in from far and wide.

"We already had people travelling regularly from London and all over the North West to visit us and be part of the Acoustic Jam. But now we've also had people in places like Tenerife, streaming to our open mic night.

"Some of the musicians we have performing are world-class. They are musicians that anyone would pay to see. And they turn up and support those younger musicians who are coming through.

"So, as much as everyone would love to be back doing the live sessions, there's merit to the virtual ones.

"One guy appeared on the open mic and someone in Vienna watched the video, and offered him a gig in this gorgeous chateau! So I'm really proud of that," she says.

Another benefit of the online open mic sessions is their potential for replays and revisits. "We get a certain number of people that interact on the night, but then we get a huge number of people later on, going through the videos and adding comments," Jo Jo explains.

Some of the performers' videos are viewed thousands of times on the GOlive Facebook page. "That's something that you can't get with the live open mic."

However, for many musicians, playing or singing to camera will never be the same as performing for a live audience.

"Performing just to yourself is very different, and people find it difficult because in our live performances everyone is like a family and everyone supports each other. The other musicians back you and cover any mistake you might make."

Kash 22's in-person Acoustic Jams were also a great way for inexperienced bands and singers to get used to playing in front of a crowd of people.

"At first, they're quaking in their boots," says Jo Jo. "But then they get that feedback from the audience and you can see them thawing. And then they come back week after week after week.

"It's that audience participation, that feedback, that you feed off that when you're performing."

Much as the Acoustic Jam community would love to see live open mic nights returning to Kash 22, they know that bars and venues are still extremely restricted when it comes to putting on live music events.

The virtual sessions are therefore set to continue, and Jo Jo and Mark are planning a new GOlive Originals Night, where acts will be able to show off their own songs to the public.

"At the Acoustic Jam, we got a lot of people who had written a song and wanted to try it out in front of an audience. There are a lot of amazing songwriters who used to come down and perform their own stuff," Jo Jo says.

"We want to push that even more on the GOlive platform. Your own material is so vulnerable: you're always wondering: "Does this work? Is it good?" So this will be somewhere where you can get feedback and gain confidence in your writing."

Jo Jo is also hoping that she can find a way to bring back her Young Performers Open Mic, where "youngsters who were just learning to play the guitar could perform before the Acoustic Jam.

"That was my baby," Jo Jo smiles. "It was adorable."

Join the GOlive Facebook group to keep up to date with performance programmes and to be the first to know about Jo Jo and Mark's exciting new projects!