Five years ago, a poetry open mic was introduced to the up-and-coming downtown Roanoke. It found a home in 16 West Market Place. Soul Sessions is an open space for one to let their soul be free and their voice be heard through open mic poetry. Bryan Hancock, also known as “Harvest Blaque”, took over the show after the original organizer moved out of the area. Soul Sessions open mic is home to many local poets and musicians. Every other Wednesday night you can find 16 West Market Place buzzing with people from every area of Roanoke City, as well surrounding areas such as Blacksburg and Lynchburg and people from all over who have passed through the area.
Harvest Blaque is an attentive host, making sure the atmosphere is safe for all talent, as well as for the audience members. There are only four rules:
1) 5 minutes only
2) Original content only
3) No heckling
4) No cellular devices
Harvest opens the night with an original piece that gets the crowd on their feet and feeling good. As the host, Harvest takes pride in going at random. It’s a skill of his, knowing who to call upon next. You always leave feeling like you just spent time at home with family or at church according to local artists and faithful community members.
February 9, 2019 will mark the celebration of Soul Sessions five-year anniversary with a show titled The Homecoming. I was able to catch up with host and head organizer Harvest Blaque and discuss his vision for the anniversary show. In the previous year, the anniversary show has been housed at its original meeting spot, as well as at The Historic Dumas Center in Historic Gainsboro. This year’s celebration will take place at Morning Brew Coffee Company located in the Taubman Museum in Downtown Roanoke. Soul Sessions and Morning Brew Coffee Company’s owner Toya Jones have cultivated a relationship with one another over the last year. The first collaboration came during 4th of July show titled “This is America”. There was not an empty seat by the time the show started, and the coffee shop continued to fill throughout the night with positive energy, as well as good food and drinks. The Homecoming’s plan is to create a safe space to share their art with old and new faces who have made Soul Sessions what it is today. Musical guest, BJ Brown, will be opening up the show with her soulful and powerful voice. Harvest says there will be many surprises and looks forward to sharing the evening with friends who will return to Roanoke just for one night to celebrate.
photography by Phillip Barrett, Jr from Four-Year Anniversary
Soul Sessions is a community based organization and operates fully for the people; it promotes the art of self-expression. Without the community, Soul Sessions would not be what it is today. Harvest Blaque takes no credit in the success, but that he wants to be servant of the Roanoke area. Every other Wednesday he arrives early to set up his equipment for the night and leaves long after the guest have departed to take care of the equipment and facility. Ashley Rhame helps behind the scene with creative direction and finding like-minded people to collaborate with outside of Wednesday night open mics. Alexis Amos assists with artistic visuals and manages the social media to ensure that the community is up to date on upcoming events. But the real work, the hard work, is done by the community and local artists who share their souls every other Wednesday night.
Harvest Blaque and the Soul Sessions family extends a warm and welcome invitation. Take the time to celebrate and share space with your community’s local artists. The hope and goal are to create space and opportunity to foster healthy forms of self-expression.
Soul Sessions Anniversary Show
The Homecoming
February 9, 2019, 8 pm
Morning Brew Coffee Company, 110 Salem Ave SE, Roanoke, VA 24011
Soul Sessions Open Mic
Every Other Wednesday at 8pm
February 13th & 27th; March 13th &24th
16 West Market Place, 16 Church Ave Downtown Roanoke, VA
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