The “Origin Story” of Java Central Open Mic. 

After a long social slumber, shops and restaurants are opening up again in Uptown Westerville. For a while now, New Yorkers thought they were the only ones living through a societal awakening. With pandemic mandates lifting, live music opportunities have multiplied. New Yorkers have flaunted their vast access to live music, but Westerville, Ohio has been having a thriller of its own. However, this time, there’s diverse live entertainment from across the world. Java Central, a well-known coffee spot in the area offers a house-hold tradition—Open Mic concerts. These concerts are a prized possession to the community, due to their versatility. In fact, whimsical outdoor music events at Java Central have also grown since their arrival in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Java Central offers various ways to enjoy your local music. Every age group can indulge in a beverage, while rocking their heads to the beat of a sweet tune. 

   Westerville North students are in the midst of the second semester of the 2021-2022 school year. With local restaurants and shops welcoming visitors, students have various options in how they choose to spend their weekend fun. Students from North have shown a passionate interest in spending their Friday nights at a Java Central live Open Mic show. 

   Izzy Harris, a sophomore at Westerville North, has been to Java Central live events with her friends this past summer. 

   In fact, with a wide array of events happening on a Friday night, Harris mentions her preference for the live music event, as opposed to going to a football game on Fridays. 

   “I would [choose a Java Central live event]. The concerts are better for people who are anti-social because there are fewer people there,” Harris said. 

   For students who enjoy a cozier night in, Java Central offers calming and unique entertainment. 

   If you can’t make it to a Friday Open Mic show, Java Central hosts professional, live group performances on Saturday nights. Performers have traveled to Westerville from as far as France to play at Java Central. 

   Java Central’s live music coordinator, Ralph Denick, explains the origin of the coffeehouse with its music on a global scale.

   “Saturday’s we do professional groups, and that has grown. We’re actually international. Now, we’ve got a blues duo from France. The vocalist, Jennifer Milligan, is from Westerville,” Denick said. 

“They’re the best music in town when they play here. They’ve won the Columbus Blues Challenge for two years. They’ve won the Cincinnati Blues Challenge. They played Buddy Guy’s Legends Club in Chicago,” Denick said.  

   Denick has managed to bring in sophisticated musicians from across the country to entrance the hearts of Westerville locals. 

“They’re just phenomenally good, and they love to play here,” Denick said. 

   For locals who have grown to be sick and tired of the corn fields, Java Central’s live performances provide a musical escape to another country for a night. 

   “We’ve got another group called Starlit Ways. She [Starlit Way’s vocalist] is from French Gabon, which is in Africa. About a third of what she sings is fluent French,” Denick said. 

   With a huge variety in the types of students at Westerville North, it is certain that Uptown Westerville’s festivities can cater to any individual and their boredom. 

      Denick and his wife were highly involved in the Westerville Arts Council from the start—this inspired creation of a coffeehouse that spoke magnitudes to music-savy locals, or even individuals who like a mellow weekend outing. 

   “My wife was president of the arts council, we were both in the concert band, I was on Uptown Review Board, and she was in the visitor’s bureau. We were already involved, but we were looking for a place, [for music and arts representation] but we didn’t know what [we wanted our location to be],” Denick said. 

   This isn’t Denick’s first rodeo and has owned Java Central since 2009.

   The kicker of the Java Central shows is their reputation for inviting any brave soul or performer across town to showcase their talents. Not only does Java host live music, but skits and comedy gigs are welcome, too.

   “From the beginning, I had Open Mic on Fridays for everyone who wanted to sign up,” Denick said.

   Westerville locals have proven they aren’t shy of talent. The Google Doc to maintain one’s spot to perform at Java Central’s Open Mic Nights fill up in the nick of time. 

   “It [Open Mic] is very popular. I put it out electronically now. I send an email link to a Google Docs sheet for people to sign in, and it fills up in, often, two minutes,” Denick said.

   The groups of performers for the Open Mic shows are very diverse, so the audience is often guaranteed to find at least one artist that’s their cup of tea.

   “There’s definitely older individuals as well as young teenagers, and there’s comedy skits and singing. It’s really cool,” Harris said. 

   Byron Strippling and Bobby Floyd, jazz musicians for the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, performed at Java Central one night, and the place was packed. 

   “Once a year they play here. First time, I couldn’t even see from out there [the window] because I had three layers deep of people,” Denick said.

   Live performances have proven to be one of Java Central’s many claims to fame. 

   Java Central is, to locals, a center for commerce, entertainment, and a good time. People can lurk around town after attending a live event and splurge on a nearby dinner or artisan craft. Local businesses seem to thrive when Open Mic shows are in action. It appears with live concerts, everyone wins. 

      “The performers want to relax and cap off the week; so does the audience,” Denick said. 

   With ambient lighting and fire pits for audience members during the colder months, the live concerts have shown to be highly flexible for relaxation in all seasons

   “I started accumulating propane heaters. We’ve got the fire pit out there now,” Denick said.

   Java Central’s atmosphere is compared, by some, to European coffeehouses. 

“The best comment was when someone came in and she said, ‘I just came back from Italy and this [Java Central’s atmosphere] reminds me of Italy,” Denick said.