We're very excited to announce a partnership between the CommUnity Zone and the Local Music Collective to continue our Listening Room Series, beginning this September!
These performances will take place on the second Wednesday of each month, with shows running from 7 PM to 9:15 PM. Each evening will feature performances from two acts, chosen from our incredible pool of local musical talents! Details on performers will be posted on our Facebook and Instagram accounts, so make sure to follow us there for updates.
These shows will take place in the Community Partnerships building, our home at 328 Market Street in Lewisburg. Our maximum capacity for seating is 80, so definitely mark your calendars and plan to arrive early on performance nights! Admission is $10 to support the artists, the Zone, and the Local Music Collective, with children under 12 admitted for free.
Our next show is on May 8th featuring Bret Alexander and Lawson & Disorder
Bret Alexander
Bret Alexander is a based in Northeastern Pennsylvania. His career began as a studio engineer in the late '80s. Here he met the members of what would become the band The Badlees.
The Badlees were signed to Polydor/A&M in 1995 with Bret playing the role of principal songwriter/guitarist/multi-instrumentalist. Their self-produced album "River Songs" yielded two hit singles, "Fear of Falling" and "Angeline Is Coming Home" in 1996.
He has toured and shared the stage with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page, Bob Seger, The Band, The Allman Brothers, Edwin McCain, Live, The Gin Blossoms, and countless others. His work has been featured on The Winter Olympic Games, MTV, The Real World, Extra, The VMAs, and various films and TV shows. Today, he continues to perform solo and with various full band configurations. In 2020, Bret released a collaborative album with Tom Flannery entitled "Downhill." An album written and recorded remotely during the COVID 19 pandemic. Current projects include a compilation project of older material and a new solo record. Plus a full producing schedule working with other independent artists. Bret, along with his band The Badlees were inducted into the Central Pennsylvania Music Hall Of Fame in July 2021. The Badlees released its latest, self-titled album in December 2022.
When Larry Lawson, Joe DeCristopher, and Carl Kirby first began playing music together 20+ years ago, one of the names that they considered but rejected was “Shades of Grey.” That name may now be more physically descriptive of the trio, but Lawson and Disorder continues to forge ahead on their original mission: exploring a broad range of musical styles in search of the songs that will set toes to tapping, smiles to widening, and hearts to lifting.
Whether chosen from folk, swing, and country classics, or from the rich and varied catalog of Larry’s original tunes, their songs offer a bounty of musical delights. Every song is anchored by Carl’s rock-solid upright bass and colored beautifully by Joe’s exquisite and masterful guitar work. Larry fills out the instrumental sound with his crisp rhythm guitar, and his smooth, velvety voice provides the musical center, where he is often joined by Joe and Carl to create delicious three-part harmonies.
They are all delighted to be performing again after a too-long hiatus, eager to be finding and creating those moments of musical beauty, brightness, and poignancy that encourage every listener to enjoy and cherish the gifts of this life.
What is a Listening Room?
The idea of a listening room event is right in the name: To provide a space directly and exclusively for an audience to listen to an artist perform. Many musicians and other vocal artists find venues where they have to compete with other noise: the background chatter in a restaurant, patrons and orders in a bar, sports and even other music playing on TVs and over speakers. What a listening room provides is a space free from those distractions, and invites an audience who is present for one reason: to listen to the performance.
Listening rooms have grown in popularity for a wide range of artists, from acoustic singer-songwriters to spoken-word performances and more. They are typically held in relatively small spaces, and are often modeled to provide a more intimate experience than would be found in other settings. Refreshments may be available, but in all cases, the focus of the event is on the performance.
At the CommUnity Zone, our hope is to offer this deep listening experience for both local artists who want the chance to perform for a small, focused audience, and for the audience members who want to listen to the artist! We do plan on offering a selection of food and drinks at the events, and hope to have both curated events with established artists as well as 'open nights' when the stage might be open to anyone who wishes to perform.