Click Here to download Winbourne’s song Easy
Click Here to download Winbourne’s song Street Signs
 
Local musicians are breaking out of the confines of Mellow Mushroom’s walls and taking their music to the streets Friday night at the venue’s first-ever outdoor concert series, Live and Local.
 
Mellow Mushroom is opening its doors to the Baton Rouge community with Live and Local by blocking off the parking lot in front of the venue on Burbank Drive and setting up a showground for the concert.
 
BR-based bands Winbourne, Stage Coach Bandits and State Street Survivors will hit the main stage and perform rock ‘n’ roll genres ranging from classic to alternative beginning at 9 p.m. for a $5 cover.
 
Max Zoghbi, psychology senior and manager of the headlining band, Winbourne, said the show will bring an exciting element to Mellow Mushroom that has never been experienced by its patrons.
 
“Mellow’s great. It just gets crowded inside,” he said. “So they figured they might as well block off the entire parking lot and get the party started outside. They’re going to have a full stage, lights — it’s going to be fun and something totally different.”
 
Live and Local is a great way to enhance the potential of Baton Rouge’s music scene, Zoghbi said.
 
“I feel like this is a good opportunity to show Baton Rouge good music by people whose roots are in the community,” he said. “We want to give back as much as we can, and if this thing rocks, hopefully we’ll continue with it.”
 
Zoghbi said Winbourne wants to give Baton Rouge something in which to take pride at Live and Local.
 
“We’re stoked. We love Baton Rouge. We love being able to play here,” Zoghbi said. “We want to make it, and we want to make Baton Rouge proud.”
 
One of the best things about the show is it’s a good pregame event for Saturday’s home football game, Zoghbi said.
 
“It’s going to be a rockin’ way to start off football season,” he said. “There’ll be dancing. Come eat, come drink and have a good time.”
 
Jordan Earles, lead singer of Winbourne and marketing senior, said when the opportunity arose to play an outdoor show, Winbourne was quick to take it.
 
“There’s nothing better than singing underneath the stars,” he said.
Earles said he considers it a privilege to be part of Mellow Mushroom’s first outdoor show.
 
“I just want people to have a chance to hear us,” he said. “I want people to know who we are.”
 
Students should attend the show because nothing beats listening to live music, Earles said.
 
“People don’t get enough live music in their lives,” he said. “You can get a lot of gratification from listening to good record, but you can’t really compare anything to seeing a band live.”
 
Terry Cheramie, Winbourne’s drummer, said his band is expecting a huge crowd and is ready to play.
 
“We’ve got some very groovy beats and some big choruses. It’s something that’ll make your head go back and forth,” he said.
 
Doug Moore, guitarist for Stage Coach Bandits, said his band is happy a venue like Mellow Mushroom is taking an interest in showcasing Baton Rouge’s talent.
 
“Mellow Mushroom traditionally doesn’t do this,” he said. “It’s refreshing for local venues to want original local music. It’s great to see this start to happen.”
 
Stuart Brezger, State Street Survivors guitarist and petroleum engineering junior, said if students want to see what local bands can do, then Mellow Mushroom is the place to go Friday night.
 
“We’re expecting a wild time, and that’s probably an understatement,” he said. “It’s gonna get nasty in the best sense of the word.”
 
 
 
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Contact Cathryn Core at [email protected]