Marie Ramsdell sat at a back table at the Red Barn Restaurant and Motel in Milbridge, thumbing through a red plastic binder of karaoke songs.

“Patsy Cline,” she said, pointing to the singer’s name in the book and smiling to herself. “I love Patsy Cline. I can’t sing a bit a like her, but I love her songs.”

The 58-year-old Jonesport native makes the Red Barn her home every Saturday night, along with a group of devoted amateur vocalists from all over Washington County. The place is packed every weekend – both winter and summer – with people of all ages, who clamor up on stage and warble away. Soft Christmas lights, kept up year-round, adorn the place.

“I’ve been here every week, except when I had the flu,” said Ramsdell, who was sitting with a few friends after a dinner of prime rib and scallops. “And I’m not a drinker. I get up there cold turkey and I sing. Brenda Lee, Wanda Jackson. ‘Unchained Melody.’ Those are my favorites.”

A Japanese import from the late 1980s, karaoke was invented by Japanese musician Inoue Daisuke, who created the first machine using a car stereo, a coin box and a small amplifier in 1971. Daisuke, who never bothered to patent his invention and has lost out on profits from the subsequent $10 billion worldwide industry, was named one of the 100 most influential Asians of the 20th century by Time magazine. Harvard University, spoofing the Nobel Peace Prizes, awarded the Japanese inventor a 2004 Ig Nobel Award for Peace for “providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other.”

From karaoke bars in the U.S. to Asian-style “karaoke boxes” (private booths for groups of friends, as seen in the film “Lost in Translation”), karaoke is embraced worldwide. There are home versions too – both personal use machines and the video game “Karaoke Revolution.”

A long-running legend is that karaoke is Japanese for “tone deaf.” That’s not true, though it is funny, and occasionally appropriate. The Japanese compound word is derived two sources. “Kara” comes from “karappo” meaning “empty,” and “oke” is the abbreviation of “okesutura,” or orchestra – literally an “empty orchestra,” since the vocalist is accompanied by a pre-recorded instrumental track.

“The minute that the technology became available to do it, people started doing it,” Robert Thompson, a professor of popular culture at Syracuse University in New York, recalls. “People love the chance to be a ham and perform. You don’t have to be the best, or even know the words. Often a bad performance is the one that gets the best response.”

Some people take it very seriously – even when performing a song as silly as Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville.”

“Some people claim that it’s a woman to blame, but I know it’s Marie’s fault,” crooned Red Barn patron Kevin Rice of Harrington, changing the lyrics and pointing to Ramsdell, who laughed and shooed him off as he sang the classic tune.

“This isn’t like ‘American Idol’, where Simon’s gonna tell you that you stink,” said Rice, after he finished singing. A few years ago, he retired to Washington County from Worcester, Mass. He’s become a regular at the Red Barn Saturday night, belting out a few standards. According to fellow patrons, he’s the lounge lizard of the night – cracking jokes and improvising between verses.

“You don’t have to be a pro,” he continued. “You just get up there and go for it. It’s just fun, and it’s a good self-esteem booster.”

Karaoke is most often played on DVDs, which contain both the instrumental track and the words, that appears on the television screen, usually placed in front of the singer. They’re also sometimes projected on a screen on the back of the stage, so audience members can sing along. Sometimes, however, karaoke DJs use the CD+G format, which are CDs with encoded graphics, that must be played on special machines.

Whatever form it takes, however, it’s taken off all over Maine in venues ranging widely from local watering holes to family-style restaurants.

At Number Ten North Main in Old Town, karaoke has become a long-running tradition on Thursday nights. The crowd is balanced equally between locals and University of Maine students, who take advantage of the huge stage and booming sound system to let loose and sing a couple numbers.

Elaine Mathiason, owner of the Red Barn, instituted karaoke nights last fall “just to give people something to do.”

“We pull people in from Jonesport, from Cherryfield. People like that they don’t have to travel too far for some entertainment,” she said. “I love watching some 20-year-olds get up and dance with some older ones. You see no age difference. It makes me smile.”

Stacie Michaud, who hosts the fledgling karaoke night at Bangor’s Sea Dog, got hooked on karaoke back in 1991, when it arrived in her hometown of Madawaska.

“Everything takes a while to get up there,” laughed the 35-year-old Michaud. “I went up to sing, thinking that anyone could sing. The bar owner loved it so much I started hosting in Madawaska, and then in Edmunston, Canada, across the border at Chez Wilma. That place is strictly karaoke, and it’s people from 18 to 80.”

Michaud moved to Bangor last July, and began hosting karaoke at the Sea Dog two months ago. Via word of mouth, she’s already developed a small but growing following.

“We’ve got a few karaoke groupies already. Once people fall in love with it, they don’t want to stop. You’d be surprised how much hidden talent is out there,” she said. “Sure, you have some liquid courage with alcohol, but that’s not always the case. Some people just love to sing.”

For Ramsdell, it reminds her of growing up in Maine with her five brothers and sisters.

“We’d all sing in the car together,” she said. “Six of us, and mom and dad. I’ve always loved to sing. I was scared to death the first time I sang karaoke. I did it at a wedding reception. Now I’m hooked.”

Emily Burnham can be reached eburnham@bangordailynews.net.