PREVIEW: LUNA Celebrates Second Anniversary with Stacked Local Songwriter Showcase
10/06 @ Mount Ida Preservation Hall, Troy
*This article originally appeared in our October issue.*
“Two years marks a continued evolution of [special performances] and the gratitude that I have, not just for the artists, but also for the community that continues to come and support.”
What started as a shot in the dark at creating a music series centered around the full moon, blossomed into a monthly, intimate healing experience between musical artists and audience members in the charmed Mount Ida Preservation Hall in Troy.
The Luna Series, created and hosted by Natalie Seagriff, was brought to life in October of 2023, after Kayla Jolin, who ran The Studio in Troy, began introducing music into her artist collaborative space. They both brainstormed concepts for a music series together, and the idea that Seagriff found most exciting was a series planned around each month’s full moon.
The rest fell into place, as Jolin shared that she had just run into dark, nostalgic singer-songwriter Belle-Skinner, who had an entire musical set about the moon. So, naturally, she was the first one to play the series.
Eventually, after The Studio closed, the Luna Series moved to Mount Ida, where the stars also seemed to align perfectly. Seagriff connected with a former client of their private architecture firm, Michael Easterbrook, who’s the executive director of the Mount Ida Preservation Association. Seagriff had Hold on Honeys booked to play the Luna Series on Monday, March 25, 2024, and after corresponding with Easterbrook, they found out Mount Ida would be receiving its certificate of occupancy the Thursday prior.
“It was by the hair of my chinny chin chin that we got that in there and I didn’t have to cancel. So it all worked out and we’ve just stayed there because we realized how magical that space was for that show,” Seagriff said.
Celebrating Mount Ida as the space that it is and its ability to unknowingly be the perfect vessel that hosts the Luna shows has proved to be an important part of the series’ second anniversary.
“For me, as an architect and musician and somebody who embraces and wants to maintain and create community around music, it’s really important that the space, the lighting, all of it, is a factor into a performance,” Seagriff said.
Mount Ida Preservation Hall easily serves as the Venn diagram housing all those crucial elements. Everything the venue offers, from the high ceilings steeped with history, to the stained glass windows and the slate roof add to the setting of a Luna show. The resident bat that comes around in the winter is also a pleasant addition to the sacred, magical ambience felt throughout the candlelit room.
Photo by Debi Gustafson
Seagriff said they’re still in awe that even two years later, artists are eager to return again, because of how special the performance was to them.
“Two years marks a continued evolution of that and the gratitude that I have, not just for the artists, but also for the community that continues to come and support.”
The 2025 anniversary show will feature performances from many of the artists that performed during the series in the past year, similar to the previous year’s anniversary show. Though the October 6 show will offer some enhancements in terms of audio visual components that won’t overpower the performer, but rather frame them during their 15 minute set.
Ryan Leddick, Angelina Valente, Girl Love, Sabrina Trueheart, TJ Foster, Julia Alsarraf, Shannon Tehya, Owen Green and Riley Cotton are the talented group of artists slated to perform for the anniversary show.
The show will offer a heavily impactful, positive, collective vibration among the walls of Mount Ida that demonstrates what the Luna Series is all about, surely to leave attendees eager to experience such a healing space again.
As for what’s next, Seagriff hopes to not deviate too far from the series’ original concept. They see restraint as a good thing in this case, so as to not do a disservice to the intimacy of the show. Encouraging space after each Luna show for the artists to interact with audience members is a tradition that will continue, even as Seagriff looks to draw a larger demographic of artists to the stage.
“It’s more about outreach and bringing in a variety of acts that maybe people in the 518 don’t have regular access to and also making Troy a hub for outside artists if they’re passing through.”
The Luna Series Anniversary Show will take place on Monday, October 6, 2025 at Mount Ida Preservation Hall in Troy. Doors open 5:30 p.m., with the show set to begin at 6 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at lunaseries518.com for $20.
