The Mane Room hosted a Songwriter’s Night on Friday, Sep. 6. It allowed local songwriters to perform some original songs, and it also featured established songwriter Jason Alexander from his group The Sun Bodies.
As part of Florence’s First Friday, signs were placed on Pine Street to usher attendees to the Mane Room. Doors opened at 6 p.m., and a couple of floaters from the crowd passed in and out.
At 7:00pm, the host turned the microphone over to the first songwriter of the night, Luke Zellner. He is a freshman at UNA from Nashville, Tennessee. His set featured three of his own songs, “Dead End Highway,” “Back Here” and “Jack and a Hank’s Song.”
He elaborated on the first song, “Dead End Highway,” and why exactly he created it. The song talks about the idea of blocking out other people’s negative energy and opinion, especially when it is directed toward your passions, works and beliefs.
“You don’t need to listen to other people,” said Zellner. “If they’re bringing you down, you have to do what you know is in your heart and chase your dreams.”
Zellner next has a gig lined up in Nashville on Sep. 22, and he will be performing for about 800 people. Anyone is welcome to show up, and Zellner encourages people to come out and show their support during the opening ceremony, as it will recognize a brand new 10,000-square-foot education building.
Next to be welcomed to the stage was UNA freshman Aiden Black. He brought a bit of edge to the stage, shredding the electric guitar with three original songs, “Poor Boy,” “Dream Man” and “Road Trip.”
His first song, “Poor Boy,” was written to reflect on a previous friendship that was negative at best. Black wanted the audience to also think back to a time where they realized cutting ties with someone was the only way to grow as an individual.
“After you see someone fully mature, you see how they treat others, and how they treat you,” said Black. “You have to realize you cannot give them anything else.”
Black hopes to return at the next Songwriter’s Night, bringing new lyrics but the same level of excitement.
The last songwriter before the featured performance was Heather Medlin. She performed two original songs, “Fireworks” and an unnamed song, as well as a Britney Spears cover.
Medlin has always enjoyed music, as her father introduced her to it at a very young age. What captivates her the most about music are the lyrics, so she began writing her own.
The first song she performed, “Fireworks,” touched on the idea of feeling that you yourself are falling behind in life when everyone around you just seems to breeze through it.
“Trying to figure out what your place is in life, sometimes you’re conflicted when it seems like everybody else already has it figured out,” said Medlin.
Short term, Medlin aims to perform at a couple more Songwriter’s Nights. Long term, she hopes to become a music teacher and inspire children.
Right before 8 p.m., the featured songwriter of The Sun Bodies, Jason Alexander, began to perform some of his own favorite written songs.
His first song, “Tall Together,” is essentially a metaphor for the vitality of community and social interaction. So often, individuals tend to isolate themselves when everyday struggles become tough, but Alexander wanted to create the song to encourage people to seek peers out.
“There are trees in the rainforest, that if they were to be all alone in the sunlight, they would die,” said Alexander. “As people, we need each other to grow, to learn and to support one another.”
He emphasized the fact that, as humans, we are not supposed to do life alone, and he was ecstatic to get to share the message.
His last song, “Whatever it Takes,” had the deepest meaning of the night. It focused on the importance of communication with the ones you love. He talked about how, as a society, we have stopped asking each other the “hard” questions, but he reinforced that every feeling should be expressed.
“It’s okay to say the hard things out loud,” Alexander said. “Saying those things lifts a weight off you and allows for someone else to help bear the burden with you.”
Alexander said his goal with his music as of now is to not stop. He does not want to stop writing, composing, singing or performing. Unfortunately, outside pressures sometimes force artists to give up what they love, but this is not on the table for Alexander.
For most, music is an outlet, and it is a form of expression. Each of the songwriters that performed acknowledged this concept, and they did it in an artful way. Musicians perform the thoughts conceptualized in their heads in order to help inspire themselves or to help inspire others. Songwriter’s Night allowed for this to be done in a safe and telling way.
