Emproium Wines and Underdog Cafe is located at 233 Xenia Ave, Yellow Springs, OH 45387. Their weekly Friday-night wine tastings begin at 6:30 p.m. (Photo: Facebook/Emporium Wines)
Emporium to host 2 of Clubs House Party
- Published: March 27, 2025
There’s a house party, and you’re invited — and where better to hold it than the village’s “living room?”
The Emporium will host the 2 of Clubs House Party on Friday, March 28, during the weekly wine tasting; the event is brought to the village by producer, singer and rapper Michael Breslin, of 2 of Clubs, who has held a number of similar events in the Dayton area.
Breslin told the News this week that he’s been running shows out of his own Miami Valley home for several years, showcasing area rappers and R&B artists in an intimate, social space.
“It’s been a place where people can dance and artists can put up their new music in a low-pressure environment,” he said.
He said he was inspired to begin hosting house shows after his alma mater, Kettering Fairmont High School, renovated its auditorium and began selling off old audio equipment. The school’s music director at the time — “a real nice guy,” Breslin said — offered him a steep discount on account of his and his siblings’ alumni status. Breslin took him up on the offer, coming away with the school’s old auditorium PA system and a number of speakers.
At the time, Breslin was still living with family, and didn’t have a good place to store the newly acquired equipment — so he moved into his own place with friends.
“And I was like, ‘Man, I feel like I almost have an obligation to utilize these for other people — to show off their music,” he said.
The events Breslin has hosted thus far have held a kind of “party first” vibe, he said — one in which folks often show up for a good time, but stay for the music. He aims to incorporate the same kind of feeling into the upcoming Emporium house party: On the lineup are four area acts that all claim an adjacency to house music, which grew out of disco and R&B in the ’80s as part of the burgeoning electronic dance music scene.
There’s Loreann, a Dayton musician who performs house-tinged R&B, who Breslin said has a “great voice and a kind of unique production.” Dayton/Cincinnati artist GrandAce — Jody Jones II — joins the lineup just after having released the EP “Household Betamax” in January; his music combines rap and R&B, with a melange of musical influences ranging from jazz to house. Jadyn Stargel will bring what Breslin described as “trap-influenced R&B — not necessarily trap, but closer to that than boom bap style,” as well as some house tracks.
“They’re all a little bit genre-bending, but it all falls within a similar umbrella, and house is kind of the pull between all the artists,” he said.
Rounding out the lineup will be Breslin himself, performing rap/R&B/house tracks as 2 of Clubs, a moniker he typically shares with musical collaborator Andrew Suddith — though the latter, he said, is currently studying mechanical engineering and will be otherwise engaged in a “robot battle competition” on March 28.
Breslin said he’ll be DJ-ing between the live performers’ sets, showcasing several eras of dance music, beginning with classic ’70s-era records — Earth Wind and Fire, Sly and the Family Stone, Donna Summer — and weaving those mainstream sounds around performances.
“I want to ease people into the stuff that the artists are playing by starting off with that, and slowly work toward the modern era,” he said. “That way it feels like less pressure on the whole set. … Some people might come just for one specific artist, but when I disperse it like that, people may be surprised and hear something they might not have expected to like.”
Having hosted so many house shows, Breslin is used to the limitations of live performances in small spaces not specifically designed as music venues. Keeping the size of the Emporium in mind, Breslin said he’s “not trying to blow the roof off,” but aims to facilitate a night of performances wherein folks can “dance, drink wine, talk and really utilize the space.”
But he’s also keenly aware of the possibilities of smaller spaces, where he said communities who “might not otherwise interact with each other” sometimes come together socially; he was reminded of a house show when he met a woman several decades his senior who was primarily interested in composing church music.
“We connected over music, and the fact that we both know people who don’t have a place where they can perform in a safe environment,” he said. “That’s a nice part of it — seeing people open up.”
He added: “I want it to be something where you’ll definitely want to groove in your seat — and if you want to dance, there’s room to dance.”
The 2 of Clubs House Party is set for Friday, March 28; doors open at 6:30 p.m. for the weekly wine tasting, with music from 7–10 p.m. There is a $5 cover charge, with funds to support the performers.
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