Freshmen Bradley Snyder, Luca Morpugo, Hallam George and Wolf Schaefer perform an original song on The Bridge’s stage. Photo By Siena Juhlin
 
 
Before every performance, the low rumble of voices fills the dark, crowded room. The audience listens to the muffled taps on the microphone and the tuning of the instruments while they anticipate the first chord.
Senior Mickey Jamieson remembers a recent performance at The Bridge. At midnight, he said  a ”decent sized crowd” waited for his band, Chickawa, to step on stage.
“The smokey, early morning bar vibe actually made for a pretty cool show,” Jamieson said.
The Bridge, located in downtown Columbia, does have a small bar in the corner, but, more importantly to RBHS students, there is a stage also in the back. Minors are allowed to watch the shows as long as they pay an entrance fee and have their hand stamped so that they can’t receive liquor.
“It’s always interesting to see who shows up,” Jamieson said, “because while we all do have friends that support the group, late shows like that usually draw in people from the bar crowd.”
Jamieson’s band is not the only set of RBHS students to perform in that venue. In June of 2015, two freshman, Kylie Williams and Chandler Schramm, got ready to open for the band, 9th and Elm at The Bridge. The room went quiet and all attention was directed towards the stage. Williams and Schramm prepared for their performance with jitters.
“I was really nervous before, but that’s normal,” Schramm said. They pulled off their act that showcased the songs “Say Something,” “Battlefield” and some originals. “A lot of people came and watched us and recorded and took pictures. It made me so happy to know people cared.” Schramm said.
Mostly close acquaintances came and supported Williams and Schramm, which left them ecstatic.
“Many of my friends and family came and it meant so much to me to see that they would go out of their way to come support me,”  Williams said. “It was such a fun experience.”
Schramm and Williams are only two of the many freshmen to showcase their talents at The Bridge. The Blue Hearts Club is a small local band that just recently performed at The Bridge. The band consists of RBHS freshman, Bradley Snyder, Hallam George, Wolf Schaefer, Seth Hodder and Eli Marshall and Luca Morpurgo from Hickman High School.  The Blue Hearts Club performed a 30-minute gig, which had great reviews.
“Overall it was a good night, and we had a blast,” Snyder said.
The Blue Hearts Club had an exciting night filled with lots of love from family and friends. “The support we got from family and friends was awesome and motivated us to perform better.” Schaefer said.
But, The Blue Hearts Club didn’t just perform for the fun of it. “We performed at The Bridge because we want to get ourselves out there, and personally because playing gives me a rush,” George said. “Lots of effort was put into this gig, and we loved being there.”
Jamieson said his neo-soul band, Chickawa, knows the time and energy that has to come before a performance.
“This particular time, we had been booked for the headlining act of a three band show,” Jamieson said. “By the time we went on it was about midnight, and there was a decent sized crowd.”
The Bridge is a place where a diverse group of people come together and share a love for one thing, music.
“I really appreciate everyone who cares about our band and the local music scene in Columbia, especially young musicians,” George said. “We are all truly grateful for the support.”