LIMA — It will not be the first time performing at the Ohio Theatre for Wapakoneta native Micah Nicol.
But it will be the first time he has taken the stage at the Lima venue as a member of bluegrass band The Ruta Beggars, in their scheduled performance at 6 p.m. Monday.
“Of course I grew up playing in and around Lima and Wapakoneta a bunch, including at the Ohio Theatre,” said Nicol. “It’s really cool to be able to show the thing that was hidden the most from the people who knew me locally. Mostly it was me and my dad traveling out to go play bluegrass music so this is special for me to bring it to people who I know from way back when, but also to show my new friends (in The Ruta Beggars) where I come from.”
And the friends that will join Nicol, who plays guitar, on stage include Berklee College of Music classmates Sofia Chiarandini on fiddle, Ariel Wyner on mandolin, Trevin Nelson on banjo and Noah Harrington on bass.
The Ruta Beggars have been performing together since 2018 and have stuck around after their graduation to release records and tour. Nicol, who grew up performing bluegrass, said that he shares this with Chiarandini, but that Wyner, Nelson and Harrington each come from different backgrounds.
However, the band maintains a strong bond, with Nicol saying they get along like a big family and manage to straddle both sides of the modern and traditional bluegrass divide.
“We’re appealing to the people huddled right around the fence,” he said.
Right in that vein, Nicol said that the audience will be able to look forward to a show with multitudes.
“We get a lot of feedback from people about how we don’t do the traditional thing of standing in a line with two mics,” he said. “I call it a park-and-bark. We don’t do that. People tell us we really put on a show where we are all going to be moving around. And if you’re not a bluegrass lover already, you should expect to be converted. There will be some songs that you would expect to hear on a bluegrass 101 playlist and there will be some songs that will transport you to the early 1900s to the 1920s early jazz era of swaying music.”
Above all, Nicol, who rides a unicycle and draws pleasure from the reactions it gets and also is a magician and clown, hopes people leave with one thing: a smile.
“This has been a driving factor for me over and over again any time I do some sort of reflection,” he said. “The driving force for me in almost all the things that I do is to lighten and brighten people’s day.”
Although this will be the first time Nicol will perform at the Ohio Theatre as part of a musical group, it will not be the first time he has taken the stage there.
Nicol performed after high school in a production of the musical “Cabaret.”
“It will be very cool for me to go back to that theatre and see what has been done with the place, as well as to relive some of those fond memories that I have of that time,” he said. “Because that was a time in my life when so many things were on hold and changing and it was an exciting time. It’ll be fun to be at the Ohio Theatre again.”
Although tickets are currently sold out for the show, Nicol said that the band has no plans to ignore the area in the future.
“There is going to be another time that we’re coming through the area,” he said. “I’m not sure when it will be, whether it will be this year or next, but there will be another time. There is a lot of interest there from area venues.”
Fans can keep up to date with announcements on that and find recordings, as well as new music including a release to be recorded this fall and available by spring 2024, by checking out the Ruta Beggars website at therutabeggars.com.
