This past Saturday, I decided to venture out with my camera and check out a series of shows at Spoonful Records in Downtown Columbus. Spoonful originally opened fifteen years ago at their original location on Long Street. I must admit I miss the original Long Street days of the store. The store has evolved and remains a fixture of the Columbus record store and music scene in their latest location which is a former art gallery on State Street in Columbus Ohio not too far from the State House.
Amy Kesting and Brett Ruland have done a wonderful job promoting the store and putting together a great staff which includes Elijah Jones, Ian Hummel and Xenia Shuman. All three are local musicians and have a solid knowledge of many genres of music.
This brings us to the Spoonful Sessions which take place every Saturday at 3:00 pm which is a great time to catch a band and do some shopping while you are at it. The Spoonful Sessions were born after Amy made a trip to Ireland and was at the Dingle Record Shop, which is known as Ireland’s smallest record shop. The owner of the shop ,Mazz O’Flaherty, mentioned to Amy that they had a series of bands play in their store called the “Sessions from the Shop”. She suggested that Spoonful should do something similar. Amy arrived home from Ireland and mentioned this to the staff, “when one of our customers asked if he and his brother (Ingram Street) could do a record release show in our space. So we built a little stage, purchased PA equipment, and were off running. It’s been really fun. We are trying to promote it as an Unplugged thing, acoustic preferred, no big drum kits”. The store was able to obtain a sponsorship from White Castle to help pay the musicians for the daytime gig. The Spoonful Sessions were born. Record store in-store performances are not new, but this is really a special series with a great line up.
The show I saw was Columbus staple Angela Perley on vocals and acoustic guitar and Nick Kurth filling in the vibe with some wonderful electric guitar playing. The setting was perfect for this small intimate Saturday afternoon show. Angela was in top form and at one point even played a saw with a violin bow. Angela and Nick played a great country set and even with the electric guitar the intimacy of the show was still there. I thoroughly enjoyed the almost hour-long set. The show sounded great with Elijah manning the soundboard. I highly recommend checking out one of the upcoming Spoonful Sessions. I certainly plan on going to a few more. The Spoonful Sessions can also be seen on YouTube. There really is nothing like being there in person. Here are a few of the photos from the show.
