Crystal Cheatham — Indie from the start

Last Monday after my jazz episode with the oldies I hit up the Raven Lounge off of Sansom in Rittenhouse Square. Monday, Sunday, and sometimes Thursday they have these really laid back open mics. I still don’t know my way around Philly so I was lucky to be ushered into the bar apparently named after Edgar Alan Poe… Interesting.

The room we gathered in to jam was right above the Raven Lounge bar. They like to call it “The Lotus Lounge,” which is somewhat fitting seeing as how the lotus is a legend for inducing a dreamy state of mind…. (food for thought, ahem). Anyway, its part of the Raven Lounge, but tucked snugly upstairs and lined with plush velvet couches and black graffitid walls. Sorta dreamy.

The Lotus Lounge spin off started because young artists were getting frustrated with the traditional open mic scene. Open mics are great, but they can get a bit mechanical. Most venues give you a two song limit. And that’s if you actually get your foot on stage. An open mic will be advertised with fine print that says you better get there early to sign up or you probably won’t be performing at all. It’s a bit of a fight for the lime light, but what gig isn’t? What gets me is the time limit. After all, music isn’t just rthym, chords, and vocals. It’s nothing without the vibe. And how can you vibe when you’ve got a buzzer or an emcee breathing down your mic?

The whole idea  behind the Lotus Lounge is that good music deserves to be felt. What has been thrown together in the room above the Raven Lounge is an open mic night void of all the grief and elbow jabbing found at regular open mics. There’s no sign up. You just show up. You socialize, and most of the people  you are performing to will probably back you up with harmony. Some nights its packed and the energy alone is enough to sustain an accapella jam. But when the room is bare it doesn’t stop the guitars from blairing or the keyboards from tearing it up. One things for sure, its all about the comrodary that comes with music and not an ego enduced talent show.

After I sang my first set of songs a couple more artists shared their vocals. The emcee of the night sat on the stage with her mic the whole time, smoothly chatting up the crowd. Eventually the room was so deep in the spirit of music that we weren’t quite sure whose turn it was to sing lead… The music was fluid. The vibe was dreamy. And I’m happy I know so little of Philly to get lost and found in a place like that. The Lotus Lounge will see me again. That’s fo sho.