by Gavin Heaney
You might recognize Mikey Jerome as the happy go lucky, teddy bear of a bartender at Hennessey’s. Although he’s quick with a joke or to light up your stoke, there’s someplace he’d rather be and that is writing a song.
“No one’s gonna remember me as a bartender 100 years from now, but a song can live forever, it holds a place until eternity is done,” he said. “That’s why I started playing music.”
Jerome has climbed over the bar to the guitar to give a greater joy to them than mere alcohol could ever provide.
“All my songs are influenced by the people in my life, those closest to me and all of the people I meet at the restaurant or the bar,” he said. “I’m trying to tell their stories and my own.”
Jerome started songwriting in earnest during Covid, when local musician Kevin Sousa offered to record him in his Cypress Avenue studio. Jerome has since released his recordings on Spotify. His South Bay brewed song, “Bar Famous,” is a playful, yet poignant parody about bar life, wrapped in the same comedy and tragedy as Billy Joel’s ‘Piano Man’.
All the locals they can name us
We’re not rich but we’re bar famous
Not using college degrees that they gave us
We’re kings and queens of the night
We’re bar famous tonight
Although sounding more like Randy Newman vocally, Jerome’s plain style delivery is immediately disarming and approachable, just as is his bar-side manner.
Recently, Jerome has established a singer songwriter showcase for others to uncork the sounds inside them. “Joe Smith at Project Barley suggested I have my own singer-songwriter night to showcase original music and we made a listening room,” he said. “We started with the first Tuesday of every other month. I would emcee, perform a couple of my songs, and quiet the room for the performers. It’s since spiraled into an amazing event.There’ve been a ton of people, even mentors and heroes of mine who have approached me to perform.” Grammy nominated recording artist Gary Allegretto, 2014 “The Voice” contestant Luke Wade, and local guitar phenom Saxon Weiss are a few of the notables who have gravitated to the monthly gathering.
But Jerome insisted this is not a talent show. He is after authenticity, the inimitable integrity in a song which strikes of sincerity in spite of a polished, professional performance. Jerome is the first to admit he struggles with his own singing, but like Bob Dylan and John Prine, his vocals are honestly his own and the connection he makes with his songs is the reason he has become a crowd favorite. “Someone told me they couldn’t believe someone who sings like me had such an impact on the whole crowd,” he laughed. “He put it in a nice way, he wasn’t saying I sang badly.” Where many singers would be slighted, Jerome sees salvation in the faint praise, which affirms his songs are having an impact, something you can’t download and duplicate on demand.
Becoming absorbed in a song requires attention and attendance. The very act of gathering a circle of people to receive a completely human made emission is becoming a rare and valued experience in the digital age. It is an invisible art being painted in front of you, a direct transmission of the mind that can only be received by humans through humans. Come join humanity at Project Barley, Redondo Beach for the next Mikey J Singer Songwriter Showcase on Tuesday, August 5, from 7 to 10 p.m. 136 International Boardwalk, on the Redondo Beach Pier. (310) 376-9215. ProjectBarley.com. ER
