With afternoon temperatures soaring into the 90s, this month's Live@5 convened in the air-conditioned comfort of the Loft Gallery in ASC's Art Space on Main. The musical group, The Vibe, provided two separate hour-long sets including soul, neo-soul, R&B, blues, rock and country songs. The diverse repertoire ranged from unfamiliar sounding renditions of contemporary favorites to a very recognizable Bill Withers "Use Me Up."
The band's members are interchangeable with Friday night's roster consisting primarily of J. Tyler Lewis singing, Kourtland Jackson on percussion, Deketric Smith on bass, Landon DeLoach on keyboard and Ryan Allen providing vocals. Other members of the group, sitting in on occasional numbers, included founder Dennis Coleman, J.C. Spinks, Jimmy Beard, Eric Stephenson and Taye McClendon. The Vibe have been performing together since 2015.
The popularity of their combined talents insured a good turnout for the evening with more than 60 fans in the audience, including regular every month attendees as well as first-time participants.
Hung on the surrounding walls of the Loft Gallery were art pieces on display by UAPB Department of Art and Design students. The colorful artworks included Alliza Bolden's print portraits, Asia Brown's canvas paintings and Robert Butler's painted tennis shoes. In addition to three walls of art displays, the Loft Gallery also boasts a fourth brick wall containing a pair of original, vintage mural advertisements for Purity Ice Cream and Nehi soda.
While patrons enjoyed the music and complimentary refreshments provided by MK Distributors, north-Chicago native and artist-in-residence Amanei "Nemo" Johnson worked on an exterior wall mural around a south side alley door of Art Space on Main. Jackson is a graduate of UAPB with a bachelor's degree in visual arts. The vivid hues of the art piece contained a sax, trumpet, guitars and a myriad of other music-themed images.
"I've been doing art since I was a kid," Johnson said. "My favorite artists are the abstract expressionists from Austria and the United Kingdom."
She is currently pursuing her master's degree in visual arts from UAPB.