Watershed Voice’s sixth annual Artist Showcase cultivated community through art

Many gathered in the Huss Imaginarium on Saturday evening for a celebration of community and a reminder of the importance of supporting one another in a small town.

This year’s Watershed Voice Artist Showcase was the longest in the event’s history, stretching nearly four hours and highlighting a wide range of musicians, poets, and performers.

The night opened with the *cino family band, a collective of people who work and spend time at the Huss Project and occasionally make music together. The group — Rob Vander Giessen-Reitsma, Kirstin Vander Giessen-Reitsma, Deborah Haak-Frost, Jason Pritts, Abby David, Margaret Wenger and Austin Kane — set the tone with two protest songs that emphasized community, solidarity, and collective action.

They closed their set with Patti Smith’s “People Have the Power,” inviting the audience to sing along in a fitting call for civic engagement and community organizing.

Next was Three Rivers City Commissioner, activist, and poet Torrey Brown, who performed a poem titled “The New Klan.” Before reading, Brown shared a story of his older brother James, who was in attendance, and how his tough love helped shape him and his three brothers into who they are today. Brown’s poem continued the evening’s themes of activism, drawing from his experiences as a Black man in America while criticizing the Proud Boys and comparing the group to the Ku Klux Klan.

Brown was followed by rapper Mitchie Moore, who performed a mix of newer releases and older favorites from his catalog. The Three Rivers-based artist brought renewed energy to the room after Brown’s reflective performance. For his final song, Moore was joined by his sister Courtney Moore and producer Sherridan Harris aka Sherdizzil for an impromptu collaboration that earned one of the night’s loudest reactions.

Next came the free-flowing Eddie Leboeuf, who invited his friend — and Watershed Voice employee — Steph Hightree onstage for their first public performance together, singing John Prine’s “In Spite of Ourselves.” Leboeuf also treated the audience to his crowd-favorite cover of Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.”

R&B singer Shy Winters followed with a smooth, soulful performance that added another musical flavor to the evening’s diverse lineup.

The program then shifted with a performance by the Gospel Mime Minister, who delivered a faith-based mime presentation centered on his love for God and encouraged the audience to share that message with others.

Lucky Fultz, a longtime fixture of the Watershed Voice Artist Showcase, followed with a characteristically intimate set. Before playing, Fultz pointed to the words written across his guitar: “This guitar melts ICE,” alongside the names of civilians who have died in connection with Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The message referenced Woody Guthrie’s famous guitar slogan, “This machine kills fascists.” Fultz performed a song from his upcoming album, Black Out, along with selections from earlier releases. His set was raw, reflective, and deeply personal.

Next was Alek Haak-Frost, Watershed Voice‘s founder, editor-in-chief, and a spoken-word artist. Haak-Frost shared several deeply personal pieces about the challenges of leading a nonprofit newsroom and navigating struggles within his family. While rooted in his own experiences, the themes of perseverance and vulnerability resonated throughout the room.

Debbie Allen followed with several poems. Despite battling illness, she delivered “The Verses of a Slave,” a powerful work written from the perspective of an enslaved person that reflected on the cruelty and injustice of slavery.

Courtney Moore then took the stage with her son Kobe. A year ago, Kobe spent much of the showcase darting around the venue as an energetic young child. This year, he joined his mother onstage to perform before singing Michael Jackson’s “Ben” on his own. Moore also performed Christina Aguilera’s “Beautiful” and debuted her original song, “Sun of My Skin,” a love song dedicated to her partner, who watched from the audience.

She was followed by Just Mikel, an energetic pop and R&B artist who performed several songs from his catalog. Mikel told the audience he is now sober and has found the love of his life, two life changes that inspired his spirited late-evening performance.

Closing the showcase was Mister Aubs., whose uncompromising spoken-word performances explored the experiences of a young Black man in America, the importance of family, and the ways those experiences can be both frightening and beautiful.

Maxwell Knauer is a staff writer for Watershed Voice.