Matthew Linenbroker
Student at the University of Missouri - Columbia
Bachelors Degree in Journalism
Bachelors Degree in English
WRITING SAMPLES
Blog Post
THE BRIDGE MUSIC VENUE AIMS TO HELP LOCAL MUSICIANS
COLUMBIA, Mo.--Every night at 1020 E. Walnut St., a mix of regulars and newcomers experience an injection of local music flavor at the downtown Columbia hotspot, The Bridge. The concerts vary from weekly blues and jazz jams to various local, regional and national music acts.
Wes Wingate redesigned the venue after buying the building, which had previously been called Lou’s Lounge. After the closing of Lou’s Lounge, the building sat gutted for four years until Wes Wingate approached property owner John Ott, who owns multiple buildings in the North Village Arts District. Wingate approached Ott with a desire to build something musical and the design of The Bridge began.
The restored, wooden front doors open to a small lounge. An intricate woodcut graces one wall of the room and pictures of performers hang on another. The performance space is cozy, but generally open with room to dance. Besides the stage, the area is filled with a bar and small tables lining the walls. The venue has a simple, urban feel on the inside with a street-art-style mural gracing the entire east wall on the outside.
Since the building had been previously gutted, Wingate had a clean slate to work with. He modeled the design style and soundproofing of The Bridge after venues he had played at in Chicago. After years of preparation, The Bridge opened in March 2011.
“I have said before that the room is modeled loosely on the concert room at a small Chicago club called Schubba’s,” Wingate said. “My good friend Shannon Imsland—who is an architect for Peckham and Wright—helped me design The Bridge and how it connects to the music school side.”
Just on the other side of The Bridge is the Columbia Academy of Music, a musical teaching space. The facility offers private lessons for various instruments. Their style of instruction ranges from rock and jazz to country and bluegrass.
“We’ll put any genre [on stage], but we want it to be good musicianship because we have the Academy on the other side,” Miller said. “We want students to see that process and to see good musicians in here.”
With other popular music venues in downtown Columbia, The Bridge hopes to set itself apart.
“If you’re a local musician or are just starting off, trying to get your foot in the door, you can’t go and play a show at the Blue Note or Mojo’s right off the bat,” The Bridge’s manager Kara Miller said. “We’re trying to be that community aspect. I think we’re filling a niche that wasn’t really in Columbia before.”
Miller says that getting local bands involved was one of The Bridge’s main priorities from the start.
“Our goal--and we’re hoping that we are achieving it--is to be a community oriented place,” Miller said. “Every Monday night we have an open blues jam, Tuesdays we have an open jazz jam or an open mic. We try to do things where you can integrate local musicians into the scene.”
Other than helping local musicians, The Bridge also aims at community outreach. The venue has hosted multiple community events and fundraisers, including partnering with the Columbia Food Bank for a weeklong food drive raising money for the Central Missouri Foster Care and Adoption Association.
Although The Bridge often hosts smaller, local bands, they have booked nationally recognized artists as well. At the beginning of September, The Bridge hosted Michael Grimm, the winner of the fifth season of America’s Got Talent.
“He has a ridiculous following,” Miller said. “We didn’t really know what to expect. People were going crazy for him. It was a $35 show, which we’ve never done before.”
The Bridge admits that they don’t have it all figured out.
“We’re new at this too,” Miller said. “So we’re learning as we go.”
The music venue continues to host popular events and entertain crowds on a nightly basis. A little faith and diligent work helps the business to keep growing and succeeding.
SARA BAREILLES PERFORMS AT THE PAGEANT IN ST. LOUIS
When the lights dim around 8:30, she walks on stage to personally introduce her opening act, a group from New York named Harper Blynn - a gesture I find speaks to her sincerity. When she takes the stage to perform for herself, she explains that she swears like a trucker - and that her grandfather has accepted it, so everyone else can f#$king get over it.
"This one's dedicated to an ex-douchebag," she declares before she begins pounding on her piano keys and singing the up-tempo break up song, "Gonna Get Over You". The crowd knows every word and I awkwardly move my body in dance-like motions to the rhythm. Sara Bareilles is an artist I have been listening to for years - since 2008 when "Love Song" blew up the radio. Her voice is genuine and powerful. Her music manages to balance clean, pop-y piano with a naturally indie f$*& off attitude. Her stage presence is no different.
Bareilles' new album, The Blessed Unrest, was released in the middle of July. Like the rest of her music, I was quick to buy it, blast it in my car, belt it in the shower, and have it on loop until the lyrics became instinctual. Her voice, pop with a tint of jazz that I imagine is most at home in a relaxed lounge on the artist side of town, never fails to tell a story that you can't help but feel has gnawed its way inside of you. It's simple, but it's thought-provoking. It's clean, but it's edgy. Her style walks the tightrope of modern pop-rock beautifully.
Sitting comfortably at the piano, she explains she wrote The Blessed Unrest at a hard time in her life. To paraphrase, 2012 was a year that she couldn't wait to f&%king end. She talks about how she broke up with her serious boyfriend and then left her home, L.A., to move to New York City. She then breaks into two songs, "Manhattan" and "December", about these personal hardships. It always fascinates me when a successful artist speaks about real life issues. Sometimes we idolize them so much that we forget that they are, in fact, human beings with human problems. They are not exempt from the human experience, in fact, they are potentially more open to it - and from it they create amazing art.
The room quiets as she picks up her guitar and strums "Come Round Soon", a smoky ballad. The crowd pulls out their phones for a beautifully instragram-able moment. Her eyes stay closed as she drifts into the emotion of the song and I mouth the words as if I lived through the experiences with her. A sense of solidarity with an artist is my gauge of concert enjoyment, and Sara Bareilles filled the room with tasteful, down-to-earth musical spirituality.
I also have to brag about all the awesome eye-contact Sara and I made, right? Because we totally did. And she even pointed at me once while singing "I Choose You". So I think we're best friends now, and we'll probably get married soon. Anyway...
