Although most all karaoke nights around town have a host, few do much more than introduce the next performer. Considering the actual musical talent at some of these gatherings can be negligible — if entertaining — the host is the all-important factor keeping an event rolling along and fun. With her brassy personality, props, comedic skills and terrific voice, there are few hosts in San Diego better than Laura Jane Wilcock, who leads Karaoke at The Harp tavern on Monday evenings. Best known as the front woman with R&B/rock combo The Tighten Ups, Wilcock’s karaoke nights are almost a one-woman show with musical interludes. Her quick wit makes both audiences and performers comfortable, resulting in a fast-paced night where even rare downtime between performers is entertaining, with the spinning of bits of local artists tunes — from defunct Ocean Beach indie rockers Cape May to hip-hop favorite MC Flow. Wilcock also offers up themed karaoke nights. “You don’t have to participate, but it’s fun and it gets you to look outside your regular ‘safe’ songs,” Wilcock said. One such recent theme was “Paint By Numbers,” featuring songs or artists with numbers in them or which include colors of paint — resulting in multiple versions of the Rolling Stones’ evergreen, “Paint it Black.” Though it seems like Wilcock has been a mainstay of the local scene forever, the Michigan native arrived locally in 2001. Formerly a nightclub entertainment director, she hosted a karaoke night since 1990 in her home state, heading west when that gig ended. “I’d been coming out to San Diego to visit a friend regularly since 1989,” Wilcock said. “With my job over, it seemed like a good time to pursue my entertainment goals, so I headed toward the coast.” Now a cornerstone of the local music community, the move proved to be a good one for her. In addition to The Tighten Ups, Wilcock also performs with Vintage Vegas, a jazz and standards combo, as well as gigging occasionally with Sue Palmer. Wilcock also hosts a Wednesday night karaoke event at Hillcrest’s Wit’s End Bar and occasionally at the Caliph in Banker’s Hill. In between regular gigs, Wilcock can be found hosting and disc jockeying events such the annual North Park Indie Music Fest. “All that activity is how I supplement my own singing and songwriting,” she said. “Rock ’n’ roll doesn’t pay the bills, so I have to do a variety of things. But I sure have a lot of fun.” She considers the move to Southern California to have been a good one. “I am so in love with San Diego,” Wilcock said. “I was the minute I landed here on vacation.” Not everyone back home thought she’d make it. “Before I moved here, people told me it was going to be hard, that everyone’s going to be stuck up,” Wilcock said. “But I’ve found that to be quite the opposite, the kind of place where if an amplifier breaks down, it’s a matter of a couple of phone calls and people come through. This is a really great music community, with a lot of support.” She cites performer Candye Kane as a particular local inspiration. “Even though we’re a bit different musically, when I saw how often she was playing and the responses she was getting, I knew things would work here,” Wilcock said. That being the case, Wilcock said her gateway into San Diego’s scene came from Ocean Beach bands such as Vinyl Radio, The Jury and Hotel St. George. “Those bands became my buddies,” Wilcock said. “After meeting them, I started going out to every show I could, watching music show Fox Rox and immersing myself in local music.” Though Wilcock enjoys hosting karaoke, she said she doesn’t see herself ever doing that exclusively. “I get bored,” she said. “I like diversity and breaking up the schedule with different types of gigs. “It keeps things fresh for me. Besides, being a songwriter, I find that in karaoke there’s too much of other people’s music and not enough of mine.” Now more than two decades into a career of hosting karaoke and singing in clubs, it’s clear Wilcock loves her work. “It’s the only career I’ve ever pursued,” Wilcock said. “Music is just a part of me. It’s like breathing. I don’t have an option.” Wilcock hosts karaoke on Mondays at The Harp, 4935 Newport Ave. The event is free and runs from 8 p.m. to midnight. 21 and up. For information, visit http://www.myspace.com/laurajanerocks.