Brooklyn South bar, located inside Aloma Bowl in Winter Park, Florida, hosted a singer/songwriter night on February 29, 2020. This was a great event hosted by four local songwriters from the Orlando area. The format was two songwriters at a time, on bar stools in front of the standing room only crowd. Originally it was to be all four with four microphones and four bar stools, but the P.A. system could only accommodate two microphones. This worked out great as the crowd’s attention was easily focused on two at a time. Along with the artists, a violinist was added to accompany the guitars and keyboards.
The ladies started the night. Melissa Crispo and Lauren Lester played a few of their original compositions. They kept the audience engaged by explaining the thought process behind the lyrics. They were then replaced by Bob Green and Phillip Bonnano with equally compelling songs and antidotes. Jaquay Pearce was a great addition adding a violin to compliment the guitars and piano. The rest of the evening the musicians played musical chairs and shared their souls in this intimate setting.
I have witnessed a similar night during a songwriter’s competition in 2018 where Melissa, Lauren, and Bob competed for an opportunity to head to Nashville and record with a song with Johnny Bulford. Lauren walked away from the competition as the recipient of a great opportunity. Currently, Melissa is the only one in the group touring and supporting herself as a full-time musician.
Nights like these in the listen room format are a great relaxing way to enjoy music up close and personal with extremely talented artist in a cozy setting. Similar to the coffee house open mic clubs that exist in most of the major cities around the United States, Orlando needs this comradery between its musicians and its citizenry. This beautiful city has the potential to exponentially grow the music culture and expose the fine hidden talent that exists in Central Florida.
Photographer and Editor/Founder of AllMusicMagazine.com. My love of live music has taken me to incredible experiences with the top bands of all time in stadium shows to the smallest venues with equally inspiring musicians. Using the medium of photography and my publication, these memories will last forever.
