Red, White and Blue at Levity Brewing Co.
Check out how an Americana theme was interpreted by local performers for open mic at Levity Brewing Co. in Altoona, Pennsylvania
Theme Origins for Open Mic
I’ve been meaning to write Substacks about my experiences hosting open mics at Levity Brewing Co. in Altoona, PA and it would be a crime if I didn’t share with all of you how this past open mic turned out. I suggested that we do an Americana theme - that’s something new we’ve been doing this year, actually, was themed nights for our open mic.
Rob and Ashley (staff at Levity) suggested that we focus on themes to inspire our performers and give us a little difference in performances every month. Some of the recent themes have included spoken word, 90’s night and most recently: Americana theme.
My vision for suggesting the Americana theme was not having an outright night of American singalongs. We’re not at summer camp - I assumed the audience, and performers themselves, would get burned out singing Yankee Doodle for the 50th time. Therefore, I thought an Americana theme could encompass an array of genuine American expressive voices.
My vision for the theme was this:
Topics with an American lifestyle focus
A musical work that is American singer/songwriter origin
OR, an American genre focus (Jazz, blues, bluegrass, country)
I didn’t know exactly what to expect - but I certainly was not disappointed by this approach! From American songwriters themselves sharing their perspective of the American spirit, classic American songs and American based genres - there was something for everyone and I personally love how this turned out.
Opening the Open Mic: Annette’s Americana Set
I may have really gotten into the theme, as you can judge by my clothing. I opened up the evening with some of my beloved American songwriters, along with a geographic callout to our largest and most influential city in the US. Here was my setlist for the evening:
“My Life” - Billy Joel
Clearly an American songwriting icon which tends to encapsulate the American spirit of: Who are you to tell me what to do?
“Don’t Mess Around with Jim” - Jim Croce
Jim does a great job of keeping a pop-y feel to an infusion of American folk genres with his songwriting, which surprised me considering he was originally from Philadelphia. A true classic, though, and another song that I think is a great example of the American I won’t let anybody push me around type vibe.
“Sixteen Tons” - Tennessee Ernie Ford
Another classic - which sheds light on another part of the American spirit; how hard we work. Down to the amount of debt which many of our ancestors and we currently amass here in the US in this terrible economic state we’re in, ha! “I owe my soul to the company store” I’m sure is a line my Sicilian ancestors could relate to as they came here from Caltanisetta and Marianopoli in Sicily and completing backbreaking work in the mountains of Barnesboro, PA. (It’s not and never will be Northern Cambria in my mind! Fight me on that!)
And last as the crescendo:
“Empire State of Mind” - Alicia Keys
Yes, without JAY-Z - not because I don’t love that version, but I’m not moonlighting as a hip-hop artist. I wanted to share this version as a shoutout to our biggest city in the US, and the main entryway of many of our immigrant ancestors. Imagine seeing that huge city, all the people - it being the first place you enter; how could it have not made an impression? So, I had to include it in my set. Check it out below!
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Our Performer’s Interpretation of Americana
One of the things I love about running open mics is that it’s not all about me. Despite the energy and excitement I bring to the stage, I’m not an extrovert or an attention hog. I love being done with four songs and passing it off to the next talent. I don’t need an hour and a half to make this all about me.
Each performer showed me the vision of what I wanted for this theme - each person’s own interpretation of patriotism and how we view this great land each of the performers call home.
Rod Skelley, accompanied by his lovely wife Bonnie on percussion, shared with us his rendition of Life’s Railway to Heaven, along with his differing rendition of “Sixteen Tons” was a fantastic contrast to my interpretation of the song. I loved the differences in how we performed!
Nate Gates featured his own songwriting, which is linked to quite a number of issues and backgrounds that many of us can relate to in the United States. He shared a song about a local horror story that involved Penn State (not the one you’re thinking of involving the football team… Google it, or don’t) and made it a callback to the 4th Amendment:
Fourth Amendment: The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.1
Which, I confess, I did have to look up - so thank you, Nate, for making me go on a productive Google chase!
And check out the super cool resonator guitar he’s playing?! He pulled out a 1929 National - one of those old steel-bodied resonator guitars, the kind built for slide and delta blues, older than any of us in the room by about a century. AND, it didn’t need hooked into the amplification system - and he was correct! I personally thought he brought something from the video game Fallout to life (which would have been equally cool - but I digress).
Alyssa Malvoisin and Ethan Hess are always fan favorites - if I don’t let them have an extra song or two in their set, I’ll likely get fired as an open mic host. Newcomer Ava Conrad has been building a fanbase for herself and definitely check out her social media presence and help support her as she grows her talent (at 18! I wish I had that confidence at that age!), and Seamus, The Music Man (Ron Balestino) and Kris Tina Reiter also shared with us a mix of originals and covers that exemplified the American spirit in their own interpretation.
And last but not least, our National Treasure, as I love to call him - our accordionist Daniel Weber, originally hailing from Alsace-Lorraine (look it up), shared his rendition of Hotel California. His accordion rendition of the song is gaining him quite the fanbase and making him more famous around town than he already is these days!
Thanks, Farewell & Invitation
There you have it - a perfectly American evening of songwriters, musicians and performers taking time out to share their talents and show their interpretation of the American spirit. It was a fun filled patriotic evening - if you didn’t make it, you missed out! The energy in the room was lovely, also thanks to our hardworking staff at Levity and especially to Rob and Ashley for helping out. Hope to see you, gentle reader, next month if you want to see what this is all about in person!
I’m not sure what our theme is for next month… So you should definitely stay tuned, give Levity a follow on social media and check my social media for your updates on our next theme and date for open mic!
Til next time!
https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-4/
Sounds like it was a fun night!