Ruston’s Music
Scene
Despite its size, the music scene in Ruston is alive and growing WORDS HANNAH JONES PHOTOGRAPHY KALLIE CRAWFORD
T
he sound of music doesn’t just come from the hills. No, the sound of music flows from the tracks in Ruston. From junior high students leading worship in church to college students branching out with their passions to the old-timers who just enjoy piddling on the weekends, a diverse community of people is bound together in one love: music. The music scene in Ruston is one that includes multiple settings for different kinds of music. These places are often easily accessible and very accommodating to the performers as well as providing comfortable atmospheres for music lovers. The local coffee shops of Ruston are the typical venues for hosting open mics. They create not only a relaxing atmosphere for light audiences but also a simpler avenue for local musicians to introduce their art. The Depot, a coffee shop owned and operated by First Baptist Church of Ruston, host live performances of bands looking for exposure. These performances
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are in addition to their regular once a month open mic night, Depot After Dark. “Open mic night is simply calling and reserving a spot,” said Braden Hilton, the organizer of performances at The Depot. “The set bands, however, are contacted by myself. It is normally a pretty laid back atmosphere with a nice stage and sound equipment. We typically alternate between an open mic night and bringing in a band that is looking to get more exposure. Other than that, there are random groups that rent our space to do music events from time to time.” Railway, another local coffee shop of downtown Ruston, is seeking to increase their number of music performances in order to promote their business along with supporting local musicians. “We try to have at least one a quarter,” said Mallory McClure, event coordinator at Railway. “We would like to get to the point where we have it maybe once a month or so. We just love the connections we get to make with people by bringing them in to play. When they come, they bring business that we normally don’t receive and they receive recognition. So it’s like a win-win.”
