By Brianna Gleghorn
Multicolored strings of lights lit up the room as Jean Deaux, Backpocket Soultet and John Day played the stage at Westside Bowl March 7.
Jean Deaux, a rising artist from Chicago, ended the night with her set. The Chicago artist has always loved music, but didn’t start writing lyrics until she was older.
Deaux played a new, never-played song for the crowd titled, “Sunshine.”
“I would write chapter books growing up and poetry when I got older,” she said. “I went through a phase of writing when I was 15 years old.”
Deaux described her music as a mix of genres and not specifically one set style. She said her music style is her personality and not confined to one space.
“I write about many things. I don’t think anything is too big or too small to write about,” she said.
Day, a Youngstown native and graduate of Cardinal Mooney, started the lineup. He described his music as ’90s style, but inspired by Mac Miller, a recently deceased American rapper. Day started playing guitar and writing lyrics at 11 years old.
“I try and have [the music] reflect my life as much as possible and my experiences,” Day said. “In school I didn’t pay attention and would write lyrics during class.”
Rebecca Cooper, a friend of Day, came to the concert to see him perform. She said it was fun and she likes to hear live and different music.
Following Day, Backpocket Soultet played a few pieces. The band originated from Youngstown, and classifies their genre as jazz, neo-soul, R&B and funk. Members include Andrae Reed on the keyboard, Nick Frank on the guitar, Dante Basista on the bass guitar and Damon “Soulful Samurai” Poole on the drums.
Allison Marado, Penguin Productions member, organized the event. She said she was impressed with the turnout and thought everyone had a great time.
“We wouldn’t spend our time doing it if people weren’t going to like it,” she said.
The concert was one of four concert series Penguin Productions does a year, this being the last one.
While the crowd was small, the audience made up for it in energy and danced along. The lighting was limited to strands of lights that gave the room a relaxed and easy going feel.
Deaux is going on tour next month supporting Lolo Zouaï and tickets are now on sale. The tour will reach 22 cities including New York, Nashville and her home city, Chicago.
