Brandon Wint had more than the usual glint in his eye before an Oct. 5 artistic showcase at Pressed Cafe.
“The collection of people we have in the room tonight will be different than any other time in history,” he laughed.
“I’m looking forward to seeing what kind of magic we can create.”
The reason for his demeanour became clear as soon as he stepped onstage.
“I’m in love,” he told the crowd. “Everybody here okay with love?”
After joking that every relationship is good for about four poems, Wint regaled the crowd with a collection of love poems.
While most of the poems were personal and relationship-focused, one had particularly poignant subject matter for all residents of Ottawa.
“This is a love poem to winter,” Wint said. He said he’s learned to appreciate how awake the cold makes him feel.
He described nights where “the moon is a dollop of honey floating in black tea” and spoke fondly of how familiar the streets of Ottawa in winter have become to him.
Other performers brought a similar kind of intimacy to the stage.
Singer-songwriter Rita Carter, a Carleton graduate, caught audience attention right from the beginning with a breakup song.
“All we do is text war cause we can’t even talk no more,” she sang, and people in the audience nodded in agreement.
“It resonates with everyone,” she said of “Text War.”
“I’m glad that I’m able to write music where people can relate. It makes me feel like I’m not alone.”
Carter, who had been on hiatus from performing due to the birth of her son, said she’s glad to be back onstage.
“[Motherhood] has definitely made me a more honest writer and I wrote from a far less selfish perspective as well,” she said.
Poet Cristal Mean began her performance with a friendly disclaimer.
“I’m going to be pretty blunt . . . This first poem is about an orgasm,” she said before performing her “Confession of la petit mort.”
Mean’s performance quieted the chattering crowd for the final performer of the evening, keyboardist and singer-songwriter Michelle Willis.
Willis’ songs were sincere piano ballads but her onstage manner kept the evening upbeat.
“Get out!” she called jokingly to an audience member after they dropped something loudly during a particularly passionate moment in her song “Liberty.”
Willis, who is currently funding an album through Kickstarter, said she’s used to dealing with crowded coffee shop atmospheres.
“People are always gonna talk . . . I find the best way to cure that is to play really quietly and then people are trying to hear what your saying,” she said.
Willis said movement inspires her writing.
“I’ve written a lot while I was driving or riding my bike,” she said.
University of Ottawa student and audience member Danielle Prapavessis said this was her first time being at Pressed for the artistic showcase. She said she liked the atmosphere.
“I’m feeling really inspired right now,” she said.
