MANSFIELD – High energy, party vibes and lyrical are words the artists who will soon perform in the Richland Source newsroom used to describe their music.
Richland Source’s Newsroom After Hours is returning in 2022 with shows in April, May, June, August and October.
The first show, April 15, will feature five hip hop acts, including The Afrxnts, Dotti Lyne and individual performances by artists under the Deaf Note independent label — Henry Burrage (Henry Rich), Daton Stormer (Deimos) and Jordan Jennings (Yung 23).
Stormer started the label as a way to share his music and then grew it to allow for collaboration between local artists, for idea building and business logistics. Deaf Note crew, as well as The Afrxnts and Dotti Lyne, share a like-minded focus.
Each approach music creation with an eye for lyricism, and while their backgrounds are based in hip hop, their work incorporates various styles.
Yung 23
Jennings got serious about pursuing music professionally about five years ago, he said. Growing up listening to artists such as 2Pac and Biggie, Jennings said hip hop made him the artist he is.
“I definitely pride my wordsmanship,” he explained. “Bars definitely matter to me, and I feel like in hip hop that should be the main focus in my eyes. But also, it’s a business, and you’ve got to be marketable as music changes.”
As a result, Jennings said his music fuses his love of lyricism with what’s popular at any given time.
“It’s like old school lyricism with this new sound that we have now — trap drums, a lot of hi-hats, some melodies.”
While Jennings plans to play some catchy, new sounds in April, he also will be sharing some songs that are more serious in nature and specifically tell stories about his life’s struggles.
Yung 23 Set List To Be Announced.
Henry Rich
Henry Burrage, who goes by Henry Rich, started creating music at 11 years old and started recording at 13 years old — but he said he did not become serious about pursuing music professionally until about four years ago at 26 years old.
Similar to Jennings, Burrage comes from a hip hop background, but he makes multiple types of music. His favorite to create is R&B, specifically because he finds it most challenging.
“I take bits and pieces from all great artists, and music in general,” he said.
His songwriting process typically starts with a beat, and related lyrics follow.
“I don’t like to use pre-written verses or a song and match them up to beats,” he said. “I like to feel the vibe on it and how I feel at the time and in the moment.”
Henry Rich Set List:
Loser
Hopefully
Ownership
I’m On the Town
Deimos
Daton Stormer, who goes by Diemos, also started writing music when he was a teenager, around 14 years old, he said. He recorded music for the first time on his 16th birthday and has been doing so ever since.
It was not until the past year that Stormer truly began to pursue music professionally.
“I’ve always been fairly deep into my music, but I’ve done other things as far as for making a living,” he said. “And then, what really slowed me down for a second, back when I was 23, just right before I turned 24, my mother passed away, so that kind of just pushed my music back to more of a hobby.”
Positive responses from the community throughout the years have pushed him to now see how far he can take his music. Stormer, similar to other artists that will be featured in April, said he is deep into lyricism.
“And I would say my style, as far as the rap goes, is kind of fast paced, aggressive in the sense of how it’s delivered,” he explained.
“Then, I want to say I have a more creative side as well where I just like to make songs about life or just creative situations where it could be a story or just a made up situation just to write more about the emotions.”
Attendees can expect his set list to range from songs about his life experiences, emotions, love stories and overall be grounded in storytelling, he said.
Diemos Set List:
Power
Damn
I might
Me
Dotti Lyne
Terry Petty, who goes by Dotti Lyne, has been creating music for 15 years but began doing it professionally about five years ago.
Petty said he has recently started to change his style — moving away from slower songs and to more high-energy pop rap.
“I go more off of motion now and the vibes,” Petty said of his creation process, “and then I’ll just let the layers come to me.”
Attendees of Newsroom After Hours in April can expect high energy on stage, he said.
“I’ve been actually working on losing weight,” he said. “I actually lost 100 pounds for this. I’ve been getting in shape, so they can expect to see a lot more energy on the stage.”
Petty has performed in several states, as well as other areas in Ohio, has a tour upcoming in May. Attendees of Newsroom After Hours will get a preview of a single Petty expects to drop in summer 2022.
Dotti Lyne Set List To Be Announced.
The Afrxnts
The artists performing in April will be solo artists, aside from The Afrxnts — composed of five siblings.
Aaron Hill will be on drums; Ariane Hill sings and plays flute; Andrew Hill plays saxophone and ewi (an electronic wind instrument); Alan Hill is a vocalist; and Aidan Hill will be playing trumpet.
Aaron Hill said the group’s instrumentation is what sets them apart.
“It’s not something that you would commonly see,” Hill said about the group’s use of various instruments, “especially within the genre that we try to portray. It’s a good mixture of jazz and hip hop.”
Regarding what to expect from The Afrxnts April 15, Hill said they picked songs that would carry the same feeling of high energy across the set. Most of the music from this group sticks to positive and uplifting lyrics.
“A big thing with us is definitely humor,” Hill said. “We try not to take the lyrics super seriously but just have fun with it.”
Some of the members of The Afrxnts have performed at previous Newsroom After Hours shows, but under a different name — The Trio.
“At first, it actually wasn’t something super serious,” Aaron Hill explained about the group’s beginnings. “We just got asked to do a shop hop event downtown, about six, seven years ago. We just wrote some songs, strictly for that event, but the feedback we got from that was pretty good so we decided to actually try and make something out of it, see what would happen.”
More of the siblings joined the group over the years and the current five-member group has been creating music together for about three or four years, Aaron Hill said. The group’s creation process has also transformed over time to become more collaborative.
“With this last EP, we definitely jammed a lot more as a group,” Hill said. “It was definitely a bigger group effort.”
The Afrxnts Set List:
Intro/Step By Step
Good Morning
About U
Hold It Down Remix
Tell Me About Your Day
New Challenger
Show details
Newsroom After Hours is hosted at Idea Works, located at 40 W. 4th Street in Mansfield, Ohio. Admission to the show is free and includes complimentary beer and food. Doors open at 6:30 pm with performances starting around 7:00 pm.
The following businesses support the local music scene through sponsoring Newsroom After Hours and assisting in its success: Mechanics Bank (presenting sponsor), Doc’s Deli (food), Phoenix Brewing Company (beer) and Potent Studios (lights and visual production).
