Big Show Saturday at Local Brew Coffeehouse

With a big show coming up tomorrow night at the Local Brew Coffeehouse at the Bay Spring Community Center (170 Narragansett Ave., West Barrington), I tracked down my friend John Wood for an interview.  The following is a transcript from that interview.  

Now, John is a co-creator of the Local Brew Coffeehouse.  And one of the many reasons why it was so fun to interview him was that I, myself, was the other co-creator.  So, in a way it was like interviewing myself... which might be narcissistic... but it was a lot of fun. 

Next week, after the show, I plan to review the performances and interview a couple of the performers.

John and I met in his home office.

Larson:  John, you and I collaborate to produce the Local Brew coffeehouses, right?  So, do you think it’s inappropriate for me to interview you (and myself) about the Local Brew?  

John:  Maybe, but so what?  [laughs]  

Larson:  That’s what I thought.  Let’s get started.  John, what’s a “Local Brew Coffeehouse” and where does it come from?

John:  The Local Brew  Coffeehouse actually began several years ago when you, Larson,  volunteered with the BAY Team (then called the Barrington Substance Abuse Task Force) to host First Friday coffeehouses at different venues around town.  I caught one at the  Red  Church (St John’s) and was really impressed by what I saw that night.  The event was widely attended by teenagers and adults who came together to watch diverse musicians: singer/songwriters, rock bands, karaoke singers, fiddlers, and so on.

There was such a range of acts, ages, tastes.  But everyone was having such a good time.  Clearly you were on to something there.

Larson:  So why didn’t they continue?

John:  Well, you needed to find a permanent venue, as I recall.  If you’d had that, it would have continued to grow.

Larson:  And then we found the Bay Spring Community Center (BSCC).  What happened then?

John:  Well, in late 2009, a group of local musicians came together to rehearse for a fundraiser to be held at the BSCC.  Eight of us, loosely calling ourselves Local Folk, rehearsed for weeks, then performed our songs in February of 2010.  We were all adult musicians, from a range of musical backgrounds.  Most of us were amateurs, who had played in bands in the past and were happy to find a place to play again.  One of us, Debra Mann, is a professional jazz musician (we’d have sounded poorer without her contributions!).

It was so much fun!  We played a range of songs - traditionals, originals, covers.  And the house was packed and extremely receptive.  Everyone, musicians and audience alike had such a good time.  When the night was over, we looked at each other and said, wow, we really need to find a way to continue this - and that’s what we did.

Larson: From that original event, you and I launched the Local Brew coffeehouse.  Have  we had any help pulling the shows off?

John:  Well, we could do an entire blog post on just the volunteer support we’ve had [Hey!  Good idea!].  The board of the BSCC has been amazingly supportive.  The members of the “Brew Crew” who help set up and tear down each show have been awesome.  The audience has been so generous and consistent.  It seems wrong to single individuals out, but we should probably mention just a few.  Sydney Monstsream-Quas does an awesome job with promotion (she’s our maven of media, our princess of PR).  Susan Wood provides our sponsorship from Coffee Exchange in Providence - she even crafted for us a signature blend of “Local Brew” coffee.  Gary Deslaurier makes the cool posters (using the font Bleeding Cowboy).  Patty Hopkinson greets and takes tickets at the door.  Greg Sadovnikoff works his tail off as sound tech (Sydney, Gary, and Greg are also musicians in our band Bay Spring Folk).  And then of course, you and I run around organizing musicians, setting up the show, organizing volunteers, inviting neighbors, and on and on.

Larson:  Wow.  That’s a lot of people.  But I know what you mean: so many people are involved, it doesn’t seem right to single out just a few names.  We really will have to do a post on other volunteers.  Soon.

John:  Yes.  No way we could do the shows without them.

Larson:  So what can we expect for the show coming up tomorrow night?

John:  We have such a big show planned. From 6:30 to 7:00, kids from the Story Cafe class will do their “recital” of short story readings.  Then, from 7:00 on, the Local Brew begins.  We have lined up to perform, in no particular order: six singer songwriters, three storytellers, an a capella group, Irish step dancers, and a wicked cool, eclectic, local folk band called Bay Spring Folk (wait, that’s our band isn’t it!).

Larson: As with the volunteers, I know you won’t want to single out any on act over the others.  But, would you care to mention something about just one of the performers, to whet our appetites?

John:  Hmmm, let’s see.  Well, one of our storytellers is named Tim Warren.  He’s a chiropractor from Cranston. And he is the first (and so far only) native Rhode Islander to have summited Mount Everest.  He’s going to tell a story about his experiences.

Larson:  That should be interesting. 

John:  Indeed.

Larson:  Thanks for your time, John.  I’ll see you over at the BSCC on Saturday afternoon for set up and sound check!