{"id":6439,"date":"2013-03-01T18:06:37","date_gmt":"2013-03-01T18:06:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stylusmagazine.ca\/?p=6439"},"modified":"2013-03-01T18:06:37","modified_gmt":"2013-03-01T18:06:37","slug":"555-osborne-basement-venue-providing-music-in-south-osborne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/2013\/03\/01\/555-osborne-basement-venue-providing-music-in-south-osborne\/","title":{"rendered":"555 Osborne :: Basement venue providing music in South Osborne"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"555<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

by Darcy Penner<\/strong><\/p>\n

A Wednesday night a few weeks ago I stepped off a #16 bus to make my way down to 555 Osborne<\/a> for the Songwriter Explosion night. The story of the venue is known, but still unique: a sign-less bar in the basement of a Thai restaurant showcasing singer-songwriters and new artists, all the while hosting acts from punk bands to DJs.<\/p>\n

On any Wednesday night the place smells like Thai food, with a seven table seating area and barely enough room for the guys from Inward Eye to stand while bartending.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an intimate basement space that is comfortable, and [bar owner] Everett [King] makes sure the musicians are put first and taken care off,\u201d says The Sturgeons<\/a> member Luke Hamilton.<\/p>\n

Since November, every Wednesday has seen 555 host the Songwriter Explosion series: a singer-songwriter night curated by Dan Frechette<\/a>, and now hosted by The Sturgeons.<\/p>\n

I crashed an elderly couple\u2019s date (or they offered me a seat at their table) and put back a few pints of Big Rock while watching various songwriters helm the barebones PA. Some acts had pulled out that evening, so door guy\/bartender\/Attica Riots frontman\/Bokononists<\/a> guitarist\/Cash Grab member\/solo artist Bobby Desjarlais threw his hat in for a set.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a basement bar, so it\u2019s always kind of homey,\u201d says Desjarlais.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s like the Cavern in that sense\u2026 because you\u2019re extremely engaged with the audience the minute you are on or off stage. The atmosphere is kind of like a neighbourhood atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following King from his previous venue, VP Nights, Desjarlais praises the 86 capacity basement.\u00a0 \u201cBecause of the size of the room you really get to make it your own when you are playing a show. With the Bokononists, we bring in a crowd and the room is small enough that we can fill it and it\u2019s our evening,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

The Songwriter Explosion has gained a reputation, and has been a memorable night for local artists.<\/p>\n

\u201cI enjoyed the chance to listen to comrades of a very personal genre. The atmosphere felt intimate, warm and novel,\u201d says local musician Holly Stratton. \u201cThe whole evening was very well organized, thanks to Dan Frechette, and I felt everyone was listening closely to each performer.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the venue tends to mostly host singer-songwriters and folk\/country leaning bands, the room has been used for all genres. \u201cI book everything,\u201d King says. \u201cAs long as its good people, good times, [and] good crowds.\u00a0 We\u2019ve done country shows, hip-hop shows, punk shows, rock shows, reggae \u2013 you know name it, we\u2019ve done it.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about the competition from other venues of a similar capacity, King brushes it off. \u201cThere are so many wonderful musicians in this town, once you start getting rolling, start booking, and you\u2019ve been doing it for a couple years, it gets easier and easier to fill the slots and you don\u2019t feel like you\u2019re competing anymore,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n

With excited members of the community behind the room, and a sincere musicians-serving-musicians community, the venue has the potential to remain a great place for new and established artists alike. \u201cI hope that it becomes an obvious home for bands,\u201d says Desjarlais. \u201cWhen bands come in and they get to create their own atmosphere and really enjoy themselves, that\u2019s when I feel the bar is at its best.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although the Songwriter Explosion series wraps up in March, King keeps a handful of weekly events happening at 555: Monday night is jam night hosted by the Sawat Team, Wednesday night’s for singer-songwriters, Thursdays are either the Proud Sons or the Charlee Bravo, and bigger shows are booked for the weekend.\u00a0 So jump on a 16 and go!<\/p>\n

[cite type=image] Sawatdeethai<\/a> [\/cite]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  by Darcy Penner A Wednesday night a few weeks ago I stepped off a #16 bus to make my way down to 555 Osborne for the Songwriter Explosion night. The story of the venue is known, but still unique: a sign-less bar in the basement of a Thai restaurant showcasing singer-songwriters and new artists, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[14,563,1061],"class_list":["post-6439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-features","tag-14","tag-local","tag-venues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6439\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ckuw.ca\/stylus\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}