Many musicians have gotten their starts at open mics, those democratic public performance venues where anyone can have their 15 minutes of fame. For some, that is all they get — and for others it’s 14 minutes too much — but for one group of women from Oregon, it was the start of something special.

The members of Misty River, so the story goes, got together to perform at an open mic at an Irish club in Portland, Ore. in 1997.

Laura Quigley, her mother Carol Harley and friends Dana Abel and Chris Kokesh put in just one rehearsal before taking the open mic stage, but from the first note they started winning fans.

The club’s music manager, Kurt Selvig, recalled that night in the liner notes of Misty River’s first CD: “From the first note to the last, the audience and I knew we were experiencing something more than special, and we were right.”

Selvig wanted to hire the band for feature shows, but there was one catch — they weren’t really a band yet. He booked them anyway, and a career was born.

Misty River plays Dec. 2 at IslandWood’s Great Hall, in a performance of traditional folk and bluegrass, as well as newer and original music.

Abel plays accordion and guitar, Quigley plays upright bass, Harley plays guitar, banjo, mandolin and ukulele and Kokesh plays fiddle and guitar. All of them sing.

While they didn’t start out to be a performing and touring band, all of them brought considerable music skills and experience to the union.

Abel began piano lessons at age 5, and by 7 had written her first song. She learned guitar from fellow high school band mate Carol Harley. She has toured the United States, Canada and Great Britain with the Oregon Children’s Choir and won first place for her piano performance in a statewide college scholarship competition.

She earned a master’s degree in environmental engineering from Stanford, and sang with the Stanford Chamber Chorale during college.

She picked up the accordion for Misty River’s first performance, as it was lighter than a piano. She also writes songs for the group.

Quigley grew up singing with her mother and studied jazz and classical voice in high school and college. She started playing standup bass with the formation of Misty River, and after just three years of playing won the Best Bass Player award at the Washington Stage Bluegrass Championships in 2001. She has performed in Ireland with Laurie Lewis and Hazel Dickens, and in her spare time she writes songs and teaches bass.

Harley has been in folk bands The Little Women and The Sterling Generation. She has a master’s degree in education and has taught guitar. She turned to music full time after an early retirement from teaching. She also writes songs for Misty River and contributes a rich alto voice.

The four women have been crowd pleasers wherever they perform, and they perform frequently — around 200 shows a year. Their music has taken them across the United States and even to Shanghai, China, for the International Music Festival. They have also recorded four CDs.

While the band has to deal with normal life issues, such as childbirth and families, they are also dealing with the cancer diagnosis of member Carol Harley. She was diagnosed in April 2004 with Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia, a rare form of leukemia. She is able to keep it in remission with daily medications and continues to perform with Misty River as well as another band she formed, The Misty Mamas.

There is a fund dedicated to raising money to cover the cost of her medications, which she has to pay out of pocket, on the band’s Web site, www.mistyriverband.com

Misty River performs 7:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at IslandWood’s Great Hall, 4450 Blakely Ave. NE, Bainbridge Island. Advance tickets are $16 adult, $10 ages 6-12. Tickets at the door are $20. Advance tickets are available in Winslow at Glass Onion, Winslow Drug and the Bainbridge Island Metro Park and Recreation District office, either in person or by phone at (206) 842-2306.