Terra Cafe Easton Opens New Terra Cafe Bethlehem Featuring Open Mic

In the typical tropical flair that fans of Terra Cafe in Easton have come to know and love, 

tabletops in the new Terra Cafe Bethlehem are hand-painted by local artist, 

Joseph Ryan Gourniak, at www.JOEYWORLDFAMOUS.com

Posted by: Noël Jones

Easton entrepreneurs Manuel Fresneda and Marcel Bedoya have done it again--the owners of Terra Cafe in Easton have opened a second cafe, called Terra Cafe Bethlehem, in what used to be the infamous Wildflower Cafe at 316 New Street, known for its impressive show of talent on open mic night. Last night I went to check it out, and it looks like Terra is on track to continue that tradition. The house was packed--I counted about 45 people in the small venue that sports a coffee bar, colorfully painted tables, and a stage with three mics, a drumset, keyboard and amps.

Although the patrons seemed to be a mostly younger set in their early twenties,  there were  singer/songwriters, poets and comedians of all ages in attendance and the room was buzzing with creative energy. The open mic is hosted by Bill Medei every Monday and Tuesday night at the cafe, with a sign up list that opens at the bar at 7pm, and the artists performing from 8pm to midnight.

I was surprised to bump into Peter James, a singer/songwriter with a silver handlebar mustache and a beard the length of a necktie (not a face you forget), who used to attend Jack Hardy's weekly songwriters' night in the Village in New York at the same time I did. He gave me a beer (the cafe is BYOB) and the scoop on the songwriters' scene in
the Valley, then started off the night with a few original songs, setting the bar pretty high.

Dave Frye was also on hand, who I understand is one of the founders of the Bethlehem folk music venue, Godfrey Daniels, which I intend to check out soon.

For those who are fans of Terra Cafe in Easton, you will be happy to know that Sidney and Sarah were in the house, and it turns out, Sarah plays guitar and writes songs too. She did a couple of original tunes and then sang a traditional folk song, "Wagon Wheel" with Sidney singing harmony from the audience.

My favorites of the night were a wicked jazz/rock guitarist named Tony Ferrizzi, a round-faced, red-bearded philosophy graduate who played the craziest rendition of "Autumn Leaves" I've ever heard, before launching into Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man." I also like the drum work of Will Gourniak of Phillipsburg, who sat in with a few of the different artists, including some duet work with his brother Joey, as well as singer/songwriter Dan Epstein, who plays guitar, keyboards, trumpet and harmonica, and spent the rest of the night dancing in the aisles and sporting a cool hat. Come to think of it, there were a lot of cool hats floating around...I'm going to have to find a cool hat...

Around 10:30 Dave Cahill took the stage and performed what I can only describe as a trio of flamenco punk tunes, that involved a lot of looping with pedals--definitely not something you see every day.

I was glad to see there were a couple of poets and comedians who performed as well, but I have to say that my favorite character of the night was not a musician or a poet, nor a comedian at all--an older dark-haired fellow named Thor (who also had a cool hat) who had been a regular on the scene in the Wildflower days, and was out just to take in the vibe and the talent. Everybody seemed to know Thor. "They call me the anti-stress guy," he says with a proud smile, "sometimes at the bar down the street, people want to fight, but I calm them down." (Perhaps we could send him to Congress?) He leans over the table whenever a musician that he's particularly excited about takes the stage, "wait 'til you hear this guy." I can't quite place his accent, and he tells me that's because he was an army brat and lived all over the world, never for more than a few years at a time. So how many languages can he speak? He doesn't remember--six or seven. Being a nerd I guess every language I can think of, and it turns out he speaks at least 10, "but not all of them so well," he says, waving his hand, and then answers his cell phone in a language I cannot make out, before informing me after he hangs up that he also speaks the Lakota dialect, because he's half Lakota/Nez Perce.

If I were not of such fortunate brain chemistry, I could have easily left the cafe feeling inadequate--after all--I play guitar like a five year-old, do not speak 10 languages, can't remember how to properly steam the foam on a latte, and have no special talent for breaking up bar fights. But one thing's for sure: I know where to go now for an interesting time on Monday nights in the Lehigh Valley!