Moores Bar and Grille has been a lively part of the Greencastle community since the late 1940’s, and now they will be hosting DePauw alum Brittney Brumfield ‘08 on Thursday nights. Brumfield, otherwise known as ‘OG Piano Babe,’ is a singer songwriter from Cloverdale, Indiana, but has been back in Greencastle performing for the past two years.
“I knew I wouldn't have a regular kind of job. That just was not me. So I got lucky, and I also worked really hard... it was easy to work hard when I loved it,” she said.
As for her nickname, she explained her initials are B.A.B., so she went by “babe” for a long time. When she got older and began to network, she wanted to build a platform for herself, but Babe.com was already taken, so she added “OG Piano” to the name. It has stuck ever since.
Growing up in a musically involved family, it was easy for Brumfield to get her hands on a piano. Brumfield's passion for writing and music theory is what eventually drew her to a liberal arts education and during her sophomore year at DePauw, she switched over to the School of Music.
She graduated with a vocal major and piano minor and has been performing around the world ever since. Brumfield spent her post graduate years pursuing theatre in New York and working with multiple bands across the U.S. She has worked with Howl at the Moon in Indianapolis, Pat O'Briens dueling piano bar in Orlando, Florida, and Felix and the Fingers in Chicagoland. Brumfield moved back to the Indianapolis area in 2014 and now works weekends with her band, The Operators, and Thursdays at Moores Bar and Grille.
Brumfield was a Greencastle resident from (insert year) to (inset year) and has seen many changes in the community since moving back in (insert year). The biggest change she has noticed is the merging between the DePauw students and the local Greencastle community. This is important for both the town and the students, according to Brumfield.
“[A connection between the Greencastle and DePauw communities] keeps my job fun because the crowd is always changing. Every night it’s a new experience for someone, so it's like we are doing this together,” she said.
Senior Lydia Dessauer is one of her fans on campus. She first discovered OG Piano Babe during her junior year while living in Broad Ripple in Indianapolis, and finding out Brumfield is a DePauw alum only enhanced Dessauer’s admiration. Dessauer and her friends would go to the Brick House Dueling Piano Bar to hear Brumfield sing, and she was shocked when she saw her name scheduled at Moores.
“I love live music and when I found out she was here I could not believe it. I was so excited and it felt like a little piece of home was here,” Dessauer said.
Senior Megan Fosher seconds Dessauer’s excitement of Brumfield’s Greencastle presence.
“When I heard a voice that sounded just like the OG Piano Babe performing at Moore’s on a random Thursday night, initially I did not believe it was her,” Fosher said.
She explained that she had become accustomed to hearing Piano Babe in packed venues so seeing her at Greencastle’s local bar was a shock. Fosher looks forward to hearing one of her favorite voices at Moores because it is a more intimate setting than the venues in Indianapolis.
Along with performing cover songs, Brumfield is working on a new project of her own. She is currently writing her first solo album planned for publication by the spring of 2022. Brumfield explained the writing process for her solo album has been different from the past. She takes inspiration from the struggles and triumphs she has gone through.
“You go through life and you get lost and fail, but then you get found again and you realize that that is actually the point of life,” she shared.
Her hope is her lyrics will convey this process and show listeners there will always be light in the future. She has always taken inspiration from strong female artists like Carole King, Etta James and Lauryn Hill.
Moores Bar and Grille will be hosting Brumfield every Thursday from 8:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. and as the OG Piano Babe put it herself, “I don't plan on leaving anytime soon.”