Canby Music owner and lifelong musician Brian Haines has always wanted to play a coffeeshop show in town. And, as it happens, there’s a popular coffeeshop in downtown Canby that offers live music on Friday nights.
“It’s something I’ve been wanting to do for a while,” Haines said. “But I kept saying I was too busy.”
Finally, Haines reached out to Mallory Gwynn, and the plans were made for a show at Gwynn’s Coffeehouse from 7 to 9 p.m. Jan. 31.
“He had an opening in a couple weeks and I said, ‘What the heck? I’ll take it,'” Haines recalled.
Only thing is: It’s not going to just be Haines. He’s bringing his entire crew with him, and more.
“My employees are going to play; there are other people I know who will jump up and play,” he said. “It’s going to be laid back and fun.”
The fare will be a bit of a variety, from the Beatles’ classic “Something” (as seen below featuring the amazing Aly Whelchel on vocals) to Adele’s “Someone Like You.”
“It’s going to be a lot of different stuff, just a mixture of fun stuff we like to play,” Haines said. “Some will be new, some will be old. There’s no set structure.”
Gwynn’s is a great venue for live music, Haines said, from the owners who are very supportive and easy to work with, to the schedule itself.
“It’s 7 to 9, and it’s all ages, so anyone can come and hang out. Even my kids will be there,” he said, then added with a laugh, “But there’s still beer!”
Whelchel is the store’s newest employee, having worked there for just a couple months. You can often find her behind the counter, but she also offers vocal and instrument lessons.
She’s a 2019 graduate of Canby High School and currently a first-year music performance and technology student at Clackamas Community College.
“It’s amazing,” she said, of her time in school and working at Canby Music. “I’ve been learning so much and growing as a person. I just started doing vocal lessons and it’s been really fun to stretch myself and hear different types of voices.”
If you’d like to hear different types of voices (don’t worry — mine won’t be one of them), including Aly’s, come on out to Gwynn’s Coffeehouse this week.
