What the heck is Club Real World?

Maybe you know, maybe you don’t. I, Charlie, have ping ponged a decent amount between pursuing music and pursuing coffee. I had a make shift cafe in my conservatory practice room in the early 2000’s. After that, I used band tours as means of learning about specialty coffee (and shelled out probably more money than a broke indie musician ought to have on coffee (and burritos)). And way before all of that, cafes were places that I learned about interesting (and sometimes unconventional) music. All this is to say some of the best times of my life have found me splitting hours between coffee and music. Frankly, the hope when dreaming up BTC was that it would be a space or business that could highlight interesting coffee and interesting music (local or otherwise) in an approachable manner. It’s a hard thing to do, in all actuality, especially for a small business with one person doing all the things.

BUT THAT CHANGES NOW (OR YESTERDAY OR A FEW DAYS AGO DEPENDING ON WHEN YOU’RE READING THIS…)

I am now a contributing member to Club Real World, a music/show booking collective based in the Lehigh Valley. Club Real World is an offshoot of the Bethlehem-based record label, Love’s Devotee, founded by one Herbie Shellenberger. Herbie is someone I knew from my Temple University days. He’s from Bethlehem and grew up booking shows here. Anyway, he, I, and few other likeminded folks from elsewhere moved to the Lehigh Valley recently, found ourselves frequenting the same events, and hanging out a bunch. Eventually we put 2 and 2 together and figured it could be neat to put our brain’s together to see if something worthwhile might come out of it. The “club” was born shortly thereafter. We named it Club Real World because, like so many out there, we’re increasingly disappointed/over the uninteresting, heavy-handed, anti-social, and boring outcomes of modern living with a few websites or apps owned by a few insulated maniacs guiding us through our days. We think that, given the opportunity, humans can still do fun human things in the Real World. That getting back out there is in fact very rewarding. And that is worth rallying around. Club Real World aims to contribute to our region of PA by organizing events that feature local music and art, as well as promote thoughtful, interesting, and fun work/stuff of folks from nearby locales (Philly and NYC) and beyond!

Anyway, while Club Real World is not technically affiliated with BTC and vice a versa, it does share some liminal spaces. And that’s why you’ll find posts about it here as well. I have no idea what kind of reach btc has. If a tree falls in a forest… Still, I think these events (and these artists) are worth advocating for so I’m posting. And if you’re nearby (or even if you aren’t), I think you should consider checking out what we’re putting down! Kind of like coffee, you might be one step from falling in love with some new music, some new art, or some fascinating idea.

Here’s the thing: I want to live in a world where art (and fair food practices) are accessible, encouraged, and embraced by it’s community. That sounds like a really healthy and happy place to me. And it shouldn’t be uncommon. It should be super ordinary and expected. If that resonates with you, checkout our posts at Club Real World. Or better yet, start your own dang thing.

If you have questions… send an email over to clubrealdotworld@gmail.com ooooor you can send me one (blindtigercoffee@gmail.com).
<3
cb/btc