Gallery • 3 Photos

Photo // Mr. Geibel

Sophomore Ella Backauskas serenades the crowd with her ukelele

On the best day of the week for a student, Friday, North Allegheny freshmen and sophomores find themselves in the NAI lounge relaxing and listening to their peers musical talent.

The weekly event, called “The Acoustic Café”, is held every Friday morning, when the buses first start to unload. As  students’ busses unload in the back of the school, they will most likely hear the live music and see the colorful lights as they walk in.  Students on the stage are either singing, playing an instrument, or sometimes even doing both.

Mr. Geibel, the main sponsor and curator of the event and room (also one of NAI’s English teachers and the instructor of the Guitar club), gave some more intel on what to expect from the cafe this year, and ultimately how and why it came to be.

He first started the musical program around two years ago. “Two boys in the guitar club would always get in trouble for playing in the hallways, trying to ‘woo the lady folk,’” recalls Geibel.

To get the Acoustic Cafe started, the students were interested and made the process of putting it together run a lot more smoothly. “The tech ed students made the stage and the guitarists brought the fans,” comments Geibel.

The Acoustic Cafe is hoping to come out with some upgrades and new features because of the opportunities our technology brings. The main focus, as of now, is getting webcams installed. This would be for the students who arrive late to school and unfortunately miss the performances, so they would be able to simply open their laptop and view the music whenever free time arises.

Overall, when watching the students perform, Mr.Geibel remarks, “It never ceases to amaze me, the hidden talent that is in the building,”

One student, junior Melina Bowser, even sang multiple songs that is now available on Itunes for the first time in the cafe!

“I was never confident in performing until that morning. It’s like my home stage. The Acoustic Cafe will always be a special place to me because it’s where I started performing,” Bowser recalled. “The Acoustic Cafe will always be the place where I started my music career and became a better performer, songwriter, and musician,” the junior concluded.

If students are looking for a place to listen to NAI’s musical talent before the chaos of the school day starts, or even if they’re looking for a spot to display their own musical abilities,  then the Acoustic Cafe is the perfect destination!