Crystal Cheatham — Indie from the start

Tuesday night I was one in a gathering of artists at Philly’s legendary Arts Garage. One of my favorite new artists is Lydia Rene. She’s another singer/songwriter but instead of the guitar she breaks it down like Alicia Keys on the piano. So inspiring! The event which takes place twice monthly was packed with musicians, tech guys, bar tenders, adoring fans, and probably the best guest ever. Sitting sneakily to the side were two representatives from Universal Records, which kept all of us on our toes. In their honor the house band covered some radio hits by Universal Records including “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5, and others by such artists as Lady Gaga and Brian McKnight.

United We Band has more fans than it can handle at the medium sized venue. Complete with that “we’re on TV so everyone be on your best behavior feel” it broadcasts live over the internet to hundreds of followers. Now it doesn’t matter where you are, if you’re wondering what’s new on the artist scene in Philly then you’ve got to tune into United We Band. With Universal Records in the house United We Band might have established itself as a “need to perform” venue right along side other Philly stages like World Cafe Live. If anything it has sent the message. Any Philadelphia artist who plans to get anywhere will at some point sweat music on their stage.

And me? I love huge crowds. After a quick soundcheck I was on stage crooning to a camera. If you know my music you know that I am more in love with people than technology. There is something to be said about grooving off of the vibes of a really decent crowd. But luckily United We Band offered a great crowed, perfect acoustics, and a friendly camera crew. I will definitely play there again! Next time, you come too.