Who?

Vicki Brown, Sharon Lane, and Phyllis Turner, three musicians, who have been around the block more than a few times, have joined forces to create a new avenue for their creative travels.

What?

A coordinated effort to seek out gifted performers and present them to small audiences in an intimate concert setting.

Why?

We are always interested in hearing new artists and get ecstatic when we stumble upon a live show of original music that moves us in some way. We often use the term “they takin’ me to church” when that happens because it lifts the spirit. When you make a really good music energy connection it can make you high on life for days afterwards.

We want to seek out those experiences and share them with others. That’s our goal in this venture. If we can help artists get some positive exposure in a new city or give local artists an interested audience for their performance – that would make us very happy.

Where?

WareHouse Theatre started out at Front Street Warehouse in Dayton.  We turned a blank 20X60 room into a beautiful little theatre (see the kudos page).  We had a few events there and feedback was great, but the fire marshall got wind of us and shut us down.  The building code would not allow us to have public events for more than 49 people, including the musicians and the staff.  So we cancelled our next show and started thinking about alternatives. 

We must be living right because within 3 days we had a new space for concerts.  Liz Stutzman of C2 invited us to have our concerts at her space.  When we went to check it out we were just blown away at our luck.  There is a beautiful stage, professional theatre lighting, state of the art sound system, even a videographers booth.  The main floor seats 260 people, but can be made smaller if needed.  When you enter the building there is a coffee counter and hanging out space.  We use this space for our hospitality room and are happy to say we don’t have to worry about being legal.  There is no problem with our offering a glass of wine and some little nibble to our guests.  It seems like the perfect place for us to be.  We hope you think so to. 

C2 is located at 51 Best Street in Dayton.  You can access it from N.Main where the 75N exit is.  Just turn off N. Main like you were getting on the highway and just before the exit you will see the building on the right.  There is plenty of parking and the correct entrance will be well marked for our events.

You can also acess Best Street from Riverside.  Go west on Babbit, across from the fountains and at the stop sign you will be at Best Street.  Turn right and you are there!

We like the fact that we are still downtown and hope you do too.  Call if you need more details.   937-212-1600

 

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Phyllis

I remember thinking years ago; I had to find my own style – my own little niche musically that would define who I am. I’ve played many different kinds of music, from folk and country, to reggae, blues, rock and gospel. For a short time I became a jazz vocalist with a group I refer to as “Accidental Jazz” that came about when my blues band broke apart. We had all these gigs lined up. I didn’t want to cancel because I was counting on that income. Someone hooked me up with a jazz trio and I quickly learned some standards and did the gigs. It was a lot of fun and challenged me vocally. I liked that. And I still like to challenge myself musically. I think that’s why I never was able to establish a musical identity that people could classify, and was satisfying for me. I would sit down and work on the soft, pretty, folksy Phyllis and quickly get bored with it. Then I would try some other voice and the same thing would happen. I couldn’t sit still musically. Eventually, I began to appreciate these many different voices and stopped trying to narrow my style to any one of them. Will I ever become “successful” in the traditional sense in the industry? No. But I promise you I will never be bored.

 phyllis

Sharon

I’ve been making music for as long as I can remember. I never felt as though I had a choice. It just came naturally. I thought everyone made-up songs. It was hard to believe when I found out different. I fell in love with all music. No matter how those twelve notes were played, no matter what genre, I wanted to be a part of it. I discovered the piano when I was three. That would be the starting point for me. I thought the piano was the most magnificent thing in the world. It wasn’t a toy and I understood that from the beginning. I knew this was going to be a serious and wonderful relationship for the rest of my life.

 sharon

Vicki

I’m that little run-away girl from a tiny farming community in Southwestern Ohio. I started playing piano when I was 8 years old, just so I could do something better than my sisters. I couldn’t wait to leave that place and did so for twenty odd years, dragging that piano to five states and back. Married a farmer, left a farmer, ran off to Nashville to learn, listen and practice my craft. Survived and thrived, got older and wiser and returned to Ohio. Funny most of my stories come from the place I was so anxious to get away from. You can hear my Pigmeat Jarrett licks – the man who helped me discover my left hand. You can detect my classical training and my love of 60’s folk and country from my old record collection. One Nashville spin doctor called it folk-alternative-new age-grass. Call it what you will – but I hope you’ll call it good songwriting.

 vicki