It was an early show at 7th Street Entry, as two young singer songwriters were set to take the stage. But first, a singing duo from Los Angeles. They were Austin Cieszko and Jacob Brown, and they were quite happy to be at 7th Street Entry. So much so, they flubbed the intro of their first song and laughed, fessing up by saying, “We’re The Collarbones.”

With acoustic guitars and a low-key Indie folk sound, they worked through their set with songs from their current release Is This Real? They even asked the crowd how many believed we were living in a simulation. The question caught most off guard as only one brave soul raised his hand. “Really,” they said. “Please explain.”

The Collarbones have been on the road for about a week-and-a-half “with friends” and Jacob alluded that he might make an appearance later in the evening as they sang “West of London” and “Rachel from Beverly Blvd,” then finishing with a “Dunes” which was a sweet song with a nice interplay between the two guitars.

Haven Madison next took the stage with her brother Avery on drums and another Austin on guitar. And after a couple of songs Haven said she was glad to be back at 7th Street Entry and confessed she played the prior set with her fly open.

Haven is from Clarksville, TN, and her professional career started quite early, when at age 16 she auditioned for American Idol with an original song “Fifteen” wowing the judges. From there she finished in the Top 8 and even sang a duet with Katy Perry. From there she has been on the road and playing all over the world, a lifestyle she is used to for her dad, Jason Roy, is the lead singer of Building 429.

Most of Haven’s songs were about ex-boyfriends like “Shapeshifter” and “If You’re Into That,” songs from her soon to be released EP Roses. She mentioned that she wrote her first song about Santa Claus at age six and then played her first song heard on the radio “Castle” in which she displayed a vocal range that moved the crowd to cheers.

Next up was the headliner, Stacey Ryan. She normally plays solo but was joined on stage with “friends” with Avery on drums and Jacob on guitar.

Stacey is a classically trained jazz pianist from Montreal, and it was apparent from the start that she was Canadian as the first lines of her first song “Sweet Talker” were in seductive French.

Like most young musicians, Stacey has made a name for herself on social media. In 2021 she posted a clip of an unfinished single “Don’t Text Me When You’re Drunk” asking her fans to help finish the song with their own lyrics. Well, over forty thousand answered the challenge, one of them being Jimmy Fallon from the The Tonight Show.

Like Haven Madison, Stacey’s songs mostly revolve around love and love lost, but her sound is effusively upbeat. Her music has been described as soft pop. Based on her outfit and her keyboard stylings, I felt I should have been in a swanky hotel lounge drinking an old fashioned.

“It’s my first headline tour,” Stacey said. “I’m glad you showed up.”

One person in the crowd was an eight-year-old boy, who made a homemade sign, and it was apparent throughout the set he was enjoying himself, much like the rest of the crowd.

Stacey is supporting her debut LP Blessings in Disguise, and she played quite a bit from the new album with songs like “Everything Everything”, “Bad Omen” and “Homewrecker.” She snuck in cover (Fleetwood Mac’s “Landslide”) with Jacob playing the acoustic guitar. She also played a loving ode to her hometown “Montreal.” Then a song about finding individual happiness “I Want to Be Alone,” a song that is actually a duet on the new LP and features Cory Henry who we saw earlier this month headlining The Selby Avenue Jazz Fest.