Friday Night Live
Looking for something to do on a Friday night? The National Theatre at The Ritz will host an eclectic selection of artists in an unplugged performance environment. Each Friday Night Live will feature two or three regional entertainers that may include a folk singer, a jazz musician, an aspiring singer/songwriter or some other style of artist who is passionate about the opportunity to showcase their talents.
All tickets $10 – EV
Sponsored by Tong’s Air Conditioning, Heating & Plumbing
$10 – EV
Interested in performing in the Friday Night Live series? Send an email to michael@ritztheatre.org and let him know!
Christopher Salyer
Chris Salyer is a multi-talented, award-winning singer/songwriter from Bloomdale, Ohio. Chris’s natural ability to connect with an audience has set him apart from many others in the industry and has earned him a loyal fan base. Chris shines with his blues-influenced country music which is obvious to listeners on his single “Last Night in Town” which one Blues Song of the Year at the 2017 Ohio Music Awards. Chris has currently recorded a total of 5 projects with his latest being “Stanton Sessions” which has earned multiple spins both on college radio and on commercial radio.
Free Wild
For just shy of twenty years, Tiffin’s own Free Wild has been performing crowd-pleasing gritty, groovy, soulful original folk, blues, and Americana songs locally, and the same songs have been road-tested at solo, duo, and trio shows to audiences from Township Road 119 in Seneca County to faraway places like Texas, Tennessee, Wisconsin, and Colorado. This past summer, Free Wild evolved into a full band of pilgrims featuring JD Bride on drums, Jeremiah Liggett on bass, Hope Love on saxophone, Steve Williams on keyboards, and Martin Koop picking guitar, singing his heart out, dropping picks, and breaking strings. Five musical cartographers of regret and redemption on a sacred mission to carry train songs, road trip songs, heartbreak songs, and songs about the stuff of life, from the heart of Ohio to the promised land.
Melanie Klakamp
Melanie Klakamp is a singer, pianist, and ukulele player originally from Columbus Grove, but currently resides in Wood County, Ohio. Her love of music began at an early age when she would listen to her father play the guitar and would sing along with her mother to their favorite 50s and 60s music such as Elvis, The Temptations and The Beatles. Melanie grew up watching all the classic musicals and is a theater kid at heart. Although has only dabbled in writing her own music, she loves singing covers of her favorite genres such as anything from The Rat Pack, all the Oldies, as well as current artists such as Adele, Lady Gaga, and Benson Boone, and of course, musicals. When she is not working her day job as an office manager, she is busy with her work as a volunteer bible teacher, spending time with her husband and their dog, as well as trying new music on her very patient and loving friends who show up and support her at various gigs. Music has always been a place of expression and catharsis for Melanie, and she values any and all opportunities to perform.”