D.R.Flynt

LEWISBURG — On a snowy night a couple of years ago, Devin Flynt’s band’s scheduled performance at Brasserie Louis was nearly canceled when the rest of the group couldn’t make it on the slippery roads. Being the only one who lived in town, Flynt packed his instruments and headed for the restaurant, where he performed what is known as live looping in front of an audience.

“I got there and there weren’t many people, it being a snowy night,” he recalled. But he started playing and, “People started listening and calling their friends. By the end of the night, the place was packed.”

Live looping involves creating a song one layer at a time, recording each layer then pulling them all together. Flynt records himself performing vocal percussion — beatboxing — while playing his bass guitar. Then he goes through the same song again, this time singing along with the recorded part and perhaps adding another instrument and more vocals.

“I feel like it’s the musical equivalent of watching a chef cook,” Flynt said. “The audience sees each instrument going into it. The audience reception to it has been one of amazement. They see it being built.”

Executive Chef Jon Slack was working at Brasserie Louis on that snowy night.

“I was always completely blown away by his style of music,” Slack said. “He’ll do the beatbox, then the guitar, then the bass, singing all through it. It probably was one of the best mini shows I’ve ever been to.”

Flynt has released his first solo CD, “17 Grams,” which refers to the amount of coffee in a single serving — coffee-making is his other hobby along with music. His wife, Abby Flynt, created the album cover, while his brother, Aaron Flynt, and friends Kevin Urso and Brad Lauchert contributed with music or technology.

Flynt grew up in Buffalo, New York, where he learned to play musical instruments with his father and older brother.

“I joined along. That’s how I learned most of my instruments,” he said. “I wanted to be part of playing along with my family.”

He learned to love playing almost any instrument and gravitated toward combinations of soul, jazz and funk. He and Abby moved to Lewisburg when she accepted a position at Bucknell University and Devin has been teaching vocal music in the Midd-West Area School District for the past 10 years.

“We love it here,” he said. “This is our forever place. We really feel at home here.”

He played with local bands, including the Folk Justice Band and Groove Chapel. Music gives him a connection to others.

“I’m pretty soft-spoken. I’m not a very outgoing person,” Flynt said. “Music makes me feel like I have a voice. It’s the vehicle that helps me relate to people and feel like a human being.”

When pandemic restrictions forced him to miss out on get-togethers with bandmates, he ended up working on his solo album and had a summer full of gigs planned last year that all got canceled. He hopes this summer’s schedule can go ahead as planned and is especially looking forward to Live! from Lewisburg, on July 21. Hosted at the Piers on Cherry Alley behind Siam Restaurant (rain location: Campus Theatre), it will feature live music throughout the summer.

“It’s one of the first times I’ll be able to play for everybody to come out and see the music (rather than in a bar or pub),” Flynt said.

While he finds fulfillment in his solo show, Flynt acknowledged there are some drawbacks.

“I do miss the camaraderie of other musicians,” he said. “It’s not just me going to a gig with my guitar anymore. It’s going with every instrument. I have to learn all the instrumental roles.”

Still, as challenging as it is, he loves it.

“I’m really happy to be able to share this with people,” he said of the live looping. “I think it’s just kind of interesting for people. It’s like seeing food being made. Instead of this nice plate of food being placed in front of you, you see all the ingredients, all the spices being put into it.”

Most people who see it are amazed.

“I don’t really know if there’s a genre or even an age group for his demographic,” Slack said. “He does everything from 20 to 30 years ago to a couple weeks ago. He covers a lot of bases. He’s the truth.”

Like watching those culinary shows create a tantalizing meal from scratch, people seem to enjoy watching Flynt create his songs layer by layer.

“It’s something that nobody else is doing,” Slack said. “People are like, I can’t believe someone like this is in Lewisburg. He’s outstanding.”

Released March 20, “Seventeen Grams” can be found online at places like Spotify and iTunes or at www.devinrflynt.com. and while streaming and digital platforms have made it harder for musicians to actually get paid for their work, Flynt appreciates having an album to share his music.

“The big thing is about playing,” he said. “I just love playing music. I just love playing any instrument. I’m happy to have an album out there so people can hear it.” - The Daily Item