Millbend Coffeehouse celebrates 25 years of music
Acoustic music reverberates through the Northwoods Universalist Uniterian Church every second Saturday of the month, where local singers and big name performers provide wholesome entertainment for The Woodlands community.
Inside the church is Millbend Coffeehouse, a family friendly outreach nonprofit whose aim is to provide live musical performances to the area. The organization was founded in 1992 by three couples who wanted to see more live music. On Dec. 9, Millbend Coffeehouse celebrated its 25th anniversary with Christine Lavin as the headline act.
Spring resident Teresa Allen and her husband, Ron Reeves, were part of the six founding members. Allen praised Lavin’s work, which has won multiple awards.
“She’s a phenomenal performer [and] very creative singer songwriter,” Allen said.
Lavin has performed all over the world. She has met celebrities and politicians, worked with songwriters who wrote for Frank Sinatra, and once opened for Joan Rivers, Allen said.
At the Millbend Coffehouse, she sang multiple songs and interacted with the audience by letting them pick a couple endings to some of her more humorous pieces. For the finale, Lavin twirled two illuminated batons in the dark.
Allen said that Millbend Coffehouse was created with three goals in mind. The first was to ensure that artists who performed were paid well for their service. Secondly, the founding members simply wanted to provide live music performances to the community.
“At that time in 1992 [when we opened], there was no Dosey Doe. There was not much live music in The Woodlands,” Allen said.
Finally, the group wanted to give money to charity. The proceeds of each concert, after expenses, go to a local cause or charity determined by audience vote. Over the past 25 years, the organization has donated money to Interfaith Community Clinic, Northwest Assistance Ministries, MCPJN Fill the Gap, Montgomery County Women’s Shelter, Friends of Montgomery County Animal Shelter and others. Proceeds from the Dec. 9 concert went to the Houston Audubon Society, which aims to advance the conservation of birds.
When selecting artists to perform, Allen said she and her co-producer, Pat Hannah—who has been involved with the organization since 1998—try to cater to the audience as well as find singers with original content.
“Primarily, we try to figure out what our audience would like,” Allen said. “Our emphasis is on originality. These people are writing their own music.”
Past performers have included social justice singer and songwriter Charlie King; Zoe Lewis; Bill Ward; the Austin Lounge Lizards and political satirist Roy Zimmerman.
“Roy Zimmerman, when he rhymes, it’s not just one syllable, but it could be three syllables or four syllables, which is truly amazing and fun to listen to,” Allen said. “Every show is different. They [the singers] probably deserve a bigger audience. I think musicians perform better and the audience feels better when the room is full.”
Allen said that unlike other places, the musicians at Millbend Coffehouse interact with the audience. The venue at Northwoods Universalist Uniterian Church provides an affordable place where audience members can have an up close encounter and be more involved. She added that there is nothing quite like a live performance.
“There’s something about that live, intimate performance that is very invigorating or exciting,” Allen said. “I think everybody that was there Saturday night when they left felt ‘this is a once in a lifetime experience that I’ve had here.’”
The next Millbend Coffeehouse performance scheduled for 7:30 p.m., Jan. 13, and will feature Byrd & Street, a male and female duo from Austin. The duo plays the autoharp, guitar and a glockenspiel, a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys. Local Houston artist Sweet Mama Cotton, a jazz and blues musician, will be the opening act. Northwoods Universalist Uniterian Church is located at 1370 North Millbend Drive, The Woodlands.
To learn more about Byrd & Street, visit www. byrdandstreet.com and Sweet Mama Cotton at www. sweet ma ma cotton. com. For more information on Millbend Coffeehouse, go online to millbend.org.
— Patricia Dillon is a features reporter for The Woodlands Villager. Contact her at her office 713-362-4433 or on Twitter: @Dillon_Villager.