Michele Leslie Ward
Michele Leslie Ward has been singing her whole life, and has been active in the music business for about 35 years. She accompanies herself on 12-string guitar, and plays a little mandolin, keys, and bass. She wrote her first song at the age of 17 and continues to write currently, drawing inspiration from life, love, and events both past and present. Nothing gives her more pleasure than to perform in front of a live audience, and put on a good show. She has performed for anywhere from 5 people at a coffee house to thousands at music festivals. When not performing solo, she fronts local progressive /classic rock band 20 Horses. Her dream is to perform her own works to audiences overseas, as several of her compositions take on almost a Celtic feel. She welcomes opportunities to work with other musicians – harmony is one of her specialties.
Jeremy Clevenger
Jeremy Clevenger originates from Portland, Oregon where his songs also originated from the mid- nineties when he got his start feverishly writing songs on his guitar with high hopes of rising out of obscurity to a little less than obscurity, Ha! Ha!, as kind of an urban folk singer going it alone on the stage, if you will, in the Vein of maybe part Bruce Cockburn, part Bob Dylan, part Beatles, and some Elliot Smith mixed in as well. But he was determined to find his own voice and style separate from his obvious influences. He toiled through many years of experimentation with an overactive imagination that had real need of an outlet and still does to this day. Over the years he ended up sticking with a very acoustic guitar driven indie folk sound drawing from a wide variety of influences from the droning sounds of East India to Flamenco to gypsy Jazz and has been playing a healthy dose of shows off and on for the last 23 years in coffee houses, pubs, restaurants, parties, and house shows in Portland Oregon. He performed under the name Madagascar, three piece trio, and also as a solo and also in Wooster Ohio since moving to the midwest. Jeremy moved his family across the country to Wooster in 2012 and has been playing shows ever since and has played Gathering Grounds Coffee, The First Amendment, Spoon Market, and the Wooster Farmers Market ever since as a solo act with his guitar and his voice singing anything from the Beatles, to Leadbelly, to Pearl Jam, and Jimi Hendrix songs and beyond.
Bryson Gentry
"Bryson Gentry is a composer and singer-songwriter from NE Ohio.
A multi-instrumentalist with a DIY philosophy and a penchant for the theatrical, he released his debut album in the Summer of 2020: a 24-track suite of orchestral music all written, performed, recorded and produced himself in his home studio in Massillon.
Known for his distinct hushed vocals and intricate arrangements, his upcoming album is a return to his singer-songwriter roots tastefully blending tranquil indie-folk songs with an orchestral, baroque-pop flare."
Get to the show early for dinner and drinks from Paninoteca - open in The Rialto Living Room at 5pm!
Doors: 7:00PM / Showtime: 7:30PM
Emerging Sounds Showcases are free shows!