Blue Harvest aims to make St. Peter Lutheran Church rock with the sound of young musicians flexing their musical skills at the mike.
The church, located on Cunningham Drive, built a new fellowship hall. Blue Harvest duo Donovan Weihmann and Shug Puto are hosting Café Bistro Ristorante this coming Saturday, June 11.
It is the first run of an open mike for young singer-songwriter-musicians searching for a welcoming place hone their chops.
“We want to let people know we have a safe spaced for youth and we want it to be a community bonding event,” said Weihmann, a St. Albert resident.
The planning alone has involved multiple groups providing desserts and specialty coffees as well as a team of church youth offering their services as servers.
Blue Harvest already has a reputation in St. Albert for establishing successful open mikes for youth. Up until 2013, the acoustic duo hosted popular monthly events at La Crema Caffé.
Unfortunately the open mikes stopped abruptly after Puto, a guitar player, injured his hand unloading gear.
“He popped a nerve in his wrist and he needed physiotherapy. It shut him down for a couple of years,” Weihmann explained.
Prior to the shutdown, 20 to 30 young musicians, many enrolled in local rock ’n’ pop programs, strutted their stuff.
“For us it was really a positive vibe. We enjoyed meeting kids and their parents and the parents enjoyed it because it was a safe place for kids to be on a Saturday night.”
Numerous young artists graced La Crema’s stage including Alyssa Strand, an 18-year-old country-rock, singer-songwriter from Spruce Grove who released an EP in 2014 and recently charted a new single Spinning.
“We’re so proud of her. She’ll be at the open mike and she’s kind of excited to show us how far she’s come.”
Matt Logan, guitar player for the energetic ska band Thursdays, teams up with Weihmann’s daughter Sarah to perform a duet.
St. Albert’s Mathew Potter also received an invitation to play. Potter is inspired by blues and folk music and plays a slide guitar, stomp box and harmonica.
“He came in off the street. It was the first time he’d played for anyone and now he’s doing quite well.”
And folk singer-songwriter Ella Coyes, a guest at numerous local events such as Amplify, Nextfest, Kaleido Festival and SkirtsAfire has also been asked to play.
“At our CafĂ© Bistro we hope to have everything from covers of country to jazz standards on piano to ’80s music. It usually runs the gamut – whatever kids feel comfortable playing.”
The open mike starts at 6 p.m. There is no charge to attend. Desserts and specialty coffees are for sale.
