A note from the blogger.

Hey readers of the blog! Ryan here. I just wanted to spew some of my immense gratitude in lieu of the incredible show on Friday.

I started playing live music about five years ago. I remember playing at School Square Gym in Shinnston with my first band, The Hawaiian Toastmasters. Despite our less-than-stellar music and the crappy acoustics of the room, it was an incredible time. 150-200 kids came to check out that show.

Throughout those early years there was a consistently strong show of people that would come out to gyms and fire halls to support local music. But then something weird happened. People stopped caring.

Musicians feuded with each other. Owners of fire halls and gyms quit letting these "rowdy teenagers" make loud noises. The community stopped listening. Apart from a couple dozen people crowding into basements, the scene was struggling. Bands had to go to different counties just to have people listen to them perform music.

The occasional show at the random community building wasn't enough to be called a thriving "scene". It was more like a snippet. There were hardcore shows every now and then, but even those looked like some metal-loving kid's small birthday party.

Things didn't look good, but then last Friday happened.

It was something I couldn't have even dreamed of. When I saw that over 100 people said they were attending on Facebook I thought they surely wouldn't show up. It has happened nearly every time. More people kept talking about it, though. My newsfeed was nothing but "Kick-Off Show" fliers. Then kids started pouring in through the Main Street Cafe's doors like Moses was leading them out of Egypt. My heart starting pounding with joy.

This is really happening.

I normally get nervous when performing in front of people. It doesn't matter if I've played dozens of shows, it just happens. But when I stood in front of the 130-some people to share my music, not a limb of mine was shaking. I didn't feel nervous. I felt home.

Friday was so much more than a show with a good turnout. It was the community coming together and saying, "We believe in this."

I believe in it too. I believe in Daniel and Sissy. I believe in the ridiculously talented musicians. I believe in every person who took the chance and stepped through those doors.

So THANK YOU. Thank you for allowing me to experience the absolute best local show I have ever been to. The atmosphere of Friday's show far exceeded anything that could have been put on when I was playing poorly composed punk music in high school. Let's make this an amazing place. It's already got an amazing place in my heart. I want it to have an amazing place in yours too.

Thanks for reading.