‘In the Limelight’ event showcases local musicians
Local hip hop artist Christian 鈥淢ULU鈥� Holt wanted to shine a light on the local music scene so he decided to organize 鈥淚n the Limelight.鈥�
The event will showcase local musical acts, artists and food vendors. It will take place at 7 p.m. Friday at the historic Porter Theater in the Connellsville Area Community Center, 201 E. Fairview Ave.
鈥淢ULU stands for 鈥楳y Unique Life Unleashed,'鈥� Holt said.鈥� We have been planning this event for about four to six weeks now.鈥�
Holt, who is from Uniontown and currently lives in Hopwood, said he has been working with Cole Rager of Clueless, a punk rock band based in Morgantown, to make the concert possible.
鈥淭his event was actually Cole鈥檚 idea,鈥� Holt said. 鈥淐lueless had been doing some open mics. Cole (Rager) asked me if we could organize an actual show. I thought it was a great idea. The concert will feature one act from town and four from Morgantown. Four of the five bands are hip hop artists.鈥�
In addition to Clueless and Holt, other musical acts will include 4eva Lonely, Catching and Spike Yee, all from Morgantown.
When he began looking for a location for the concert, Holt said he never realized there was a theater in Connellsville.
鈥淲hen I found out about it, I thought it would be the perfect location,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he theater is really large. It has a stage and seats about 800 people. We want to fill the theater out.
鈥淚t鈥檚 really awesome that we got this place,鈥� he added. 鈥淧eople in this area are always complaining that there is nothing to do here. Now, we are giving them something to do.鈥�
Holt said he will be performing an entire hour of soul and hip hop music during the show.
鈥淚鈥檓 also going to talk a little bit about my life,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e will have a DJ, and we will get the crowd into it.鈥�
A 2011 graduate of Laurel Highlands Senior High School, Holt said he took online courses in music education at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Fla., for about two years.
鈥淚 ran into some problems and technical issues with the classes so I decided to leave,鈥� Holt said. 鈥淒uring that time, I learned a lot of skills like working with artists. I also learned some music theory at the university. That has really helped me.鈥�
Local artist Alexis Smith will display some of her artwork during the event, Holt said.
鈥淎lexis does so much,鈥� Holt said. 鈥淪he does big structured artwork. She does a lot of painting, and she draws. Alexis is a very talented artist.鈥�
During the event, Holt said food vendors will be in the community center鈥檚 parking lot.
Holt said a Mexican food vendor will attend. Kickstand Kitchen of Connellsville is sponsoring the event. Other vendors will include the Sandwich Boutique, Lexi鈥檚 Lemonade, Culture Audio Visual of Morgantown and Meta-Fryzical of Morgantown, which makes natural energy drinks.
Tickets will be sold at the door for $6 each.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want to see people go broke trying to listen to live music,鈥� Holt said. 鈥淭he tickets will be affordable so anyone who wants to attend can come and have a good time.鈥�