A new initiative is showcasing Centre County acts performing original live music and the unique local venues that host them.
“814 Originals,” a collaboration the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance and Spaces in Between Productions, launched on Wednesday night with a concert and premiere of five music videos at The State Theatre in State College.
Season 1 of the project features Caledonia, Chris Bell Duo, Hannah Bingman, Ma’aM and Mellow Honey filmed live playing original tracks at locations in downtown State College. The resulting music videos were expertly produced to capture the essence of the performers and venues by local videographers Matt Jacobs, Bryan Conyers, Pablo Lopez and Corey Beasley, with sound production by Spaces in Between’s Casey Walke.
Each video is on YouTube and an “814 Originals” EP with the five tracks is available for streaming on Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and YouTube Music and for purchase on iTunes and Pandora. Streaming and download royalties go to the artists.
“We’re trying to shine light on the talent that’s here in Happy Valley, those bands that are located here singing original songs, and as part of this video series, you’ll see that we showcase venues as well,” said Eric Engelbarts, executive director of the Happy Valley Sports & Entertainment Alliance, the separate nonprofit organization launched by the Happy Valley Adventure Bureau in 2023. “And so hopefully as this gets legs through YouTube, through Spotify, through various other measures, including social media, people will see the band and will want to seek them out and see if they can find them in a live performance, but then also see the venue and what they have to offer and potentially even want to go and seek out that venue.”
Walke brought the concept to the HVSEA and after further refining it, they worked with the Downtown State College Improvement District, local businesses and the artists to set up and record the performances in March and April.
Bingman, the folk-blues singer-songwriter who has become a staple of the Centre County music scene, performed the introspective “Clearer and Clearer” with her band at Webster’s Bookstore Cafe, where producer Jacobs eschewed the cafe’s stage for a more intimate and captivating setting against corner bookshelves.
“Especially in a college town, it’s really great to be able to have original music promoted like this,” Bingman said. “It’s not always the big bringer of crowds, so to be able to show, hey, we got local talented people right here, it’s really appreciated.”
For community members and visitors who might not often check out performance venues or WPSU’s “Local Groove,” “814 Originals” looks to bring to the forefront the creativity and diversity in that rich vein of local music talent.
The Irish-tinged roots, country and bluegrass of Caledonia is showcased in their performance of the soulful stomper “Appalachian Woman” at Antifragile Brewing Company (complete with interstitial scenes of the band grabbing some Uncle John’s Jawns cheesesteaks on a cold early spring afternoon).
Psychedelic indie rock upstarts Mellow Honey, meanwhile, play an epic “Brain/Worm” at State College’s newest original music venue, Manny’s Live Performance Space. That track brought the State Theatre crowd to its feet and the front of the stage as Mellow Honey closed out Wednesday night’s launch event with a blistering set.
Cowpunk rockers Ma’aM are featured performing the country-rock swinger “Elijah” at the Lobby Bar at the Hotel State College. Ma’aM have worked to build up a following in recent years — staging the annual Burning Ma’aM festival in Woodward, releasing their first two albums and playing with the likes of the Replacements’ Tommy Stinson — and guitarist Tiger Cabus said “814 Originals” is a welcome spotlight for his band and the local music scene.
“This is huge for our local scene,” Cabus said. “To have this whole series and this event put on to boost our local scene — this community is very tight-knit with each other, but to bring awareness, to bring it towards people that might not interact in the spaces that we are normally is huge. It’s awesome. We are so happy to be involved. Our band, our festival is all about the local arts, local scene, connecting us all together. So this is like a godsend to us. It’s very special.”
The Chris Bell Duo debuted the new single “Pennsylvania Moonshine,” a slice of bluesy Americana highlighting Bell’s lyricism and deft guitar work, for a video filmed outside The State Theatre.
A veteran blues/country/rock performer, Bell has toured the country, shared the stage with musicians like Leon Russell, recorded multiple albums and has a track, “Elevator to Heaven,” with nearly 4 million plays on Spotify. He knows well the value of exposure for original artists.
“I think it would be nice to see more of this being able to be exposed, especially original music by local artists,” Bell said, calling the local scene “pretty vibrant.”
“There’s some good players and a good variety,” he said. “Of course, you know, the location, there’s a lot of roots music, there’s a lot of locals that have been here for a while, but a variety. There’s some rock bands. There’s some blues bands. There’s a lot of Americana, if you will, and even bluegrass. It’s a pretty active music scene.”
Musician and promoter Luke Cimbala has been working to strengthen that scene for years with The Band Junkies, which promotes local musicians of all kinds and connects them with venues and events.
After learning about “814 Originals,” he was quickly on board to support it.
“I think it’s an awesome idea, especially since it’s original music, and then putting together the videographers and the local bands and the businesses and everything, it’s a great thing,” Cimbala said.
“There’s so much going on every night everywhere and just a lot of talent here and a wide variety of music. It’s just a really community-based thing, everybody helps everybody, so I love being part of it and I enjoy promoting the music scene here.”
No specific plans have been developed as of yet for a season 2 of “814 Originals,” but Engelbarts said he’s already had interest from more bands and is hopeful that the project will continue to evolve.
“The hope is that when people see the quality and the production behind it, we find additional partners so that we can kind of branch out outside of downtown and maybe start stretching our legs out throughout the county,” he said. “Ultimately, if we continue to produce this, which will then be put onto Spotify under the 814 Originals playlist, we’ll effectively start creating the playlist for Happy Valley, as you would say. So there’s some plans with some algorithms and things in the background that as individuals are listening to these songs, we’ll actually have pop-ups to see where you might be able to find this band and live performances and various other things that we’re doing.
“But right now, it was kind of getting our toe wet, kind of dipping it in there into the entertainment scene, making connections, connecting with businesses and then ultimately get it out there with this live premiere and then see where it goes from here.”
