Ellensburg Group Radio Tiny Stage Live performance Collection transferring to Thursday nights | Information
The pandemic is finally loosening its hold on the live music scene and artists are starting to step out again and play for small groups of people, rather than a moment too early when fans crave something to hear their favorite musicians put it down live .
The Tiny Stage of the Ellensburg community radio records steam in an acoustic environment in the 420 building and broadcasts local musicians. So far the audience has been somewhere on the internet, but board member Mollie Edson has postponed the concert series to Thursday night and they’ll be pumping the sound down for Pretty Fair Beer customers.
“Up to 15 people are allowed upstairs, mainly musician friends and crew. But I think playing in front of people will give the musician a better mood, ”said Edson.
On the first Thursday (April 22nd), Roslyn’s singer / songwriter Micah Jabez Heflen, known throughout the Pacific Northwest as Micah J, will perform.
“I look forward to it. I played for ECR years ago and really enjoyed it, ”said Micah J, who is the lead singer / songwriter, guitarist and pianist for the Dynamite Supreme trio. “There is a lot more freedom when I play alone. I know over 400 songs in which the band has 60 in their repertoire.
“I played in front of 6,000 players, but I’m looking forward to a small audience. I tend to get more nervous in front of small audiences than larger ones because it’s much more intimate and they pay more attention. “
The radio audience reaches the valley via the internet, but this will be the first tiny stage show that involves customers on the ground floor and is designed to give the musicians a better energy for the audience, and Micah J knows how to edit a room.
The 34-year-old from Roslyn writes and plays music every day and has remained focused and professional as the pandemic slowed down. He’s been playing a few live shows here and there lately. It helps more to get out, if not for your own mind than for anything else. A good thing about the time in quarantine, it gave him the opportunity to write songs and work some things out.
“I’ve been writing every day and have a lot of new songs that I hope to play (next Thursday). I’ll probably get some of my favorite covers like “Layla” or “What’s Going On?” Play. Maybe it’s not sunshine when she’s gone, he said.
“But I have some new songs like ‘Wonderful World’ and a song called ‘Fantasy’.”
He made it into the second round of the reality talent competition “American Idol” in San Francisco (2013), which was auditioned for “America’s Got Talent”. He made a small recording with the Ellensburg guitarist Al Kaatz, who was on tour with Bonnie Bramlett and Bo Diddley.
He played the Paragon Restaurant & Bar in Seattle, Swiftwater Cellars in Suncadia, the Hotel Interurban in Tukwila and appeared in the Unplugged Sundays Series at the Cornerstone Pie in Ellensburg.
Now he will indulge the radio audience with his first sense of live music and the brighter days to come when he steps onto the small stage in the 420 building.
