Most Interesting People 2012: Joel Elvery & Lynn Phares

Joel Elvery & Lynn Phares

House concert hosts, 38 & 47

/ Why they’re interesting / Elvery and Phares have hosted seven concerts in their Ohio City house after moving to Cleveland from Washington, D.C., in 2007. About 35 people regularly attend the concerts that feature roots Americana musicians from outside the area. Most recently, Chicago-based band The Spares and folk musician Putnam Smith played to invitation-only audiences. “We really want to bring in musicians who wouldn’t ordinarily come to Cleveland to a venue that is pretty different from their other options in the city,” says Phares.

Lynn Phares

/ A porch lover / Phares spends a lot of time outside on her porch. “I work on the porch. Almost every week we have people over for drinks on the porch. We have block meetings on our porch.”

/ Already involved / Phares has only been in Cleveland for four years and is already active in the community by being a board member for the Near West Intergenerational School. “It’s really easy to get involved in things in Cleveland. If you have things that you are interested in and have energy to put into them, it’s easy to do that and have some impact.”

/ home improvement / When they bought their Ohio City home, it didn’t have a kitchen. Most recently, they were converting an upstairs bedroom to a laundry room. “I enjoy it. Working with contractors is like herding cats, but I really do love buildings.”

Joel Elvery

/ Happily cloudy / Elvery says Cleveland has great clouds. “Almost every day there are clouds, and they are often times gorgeous. In my office, I have a giant window and not a building next to me. It’s a very good cloud-viewing platform.”

/ A biker / Elvery pedals to his job as an urban studies professor at Cleveland State University. “I’ve been biking for transportation for a long time, since I was 9. It’s cheaper than cars and faster than the bus.”

/ He’s the music geek / Elvery listens to anything that has a beat, and some things that don’t. “I listen to avant-garde jazz from Chicago and gypsy music, or Ethiopian R&B.” He also plays the mandolin and the bass guitar. “Lynn very kindly bought me a mandolin. I’ve been torturing her with it ever since.”

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Interesting Couple

What intrigues them about each other

| Lynn says |
Conversations with Joel can be interesting. “When you talk to him, he will often come up with completely bizarre, random facts that he has come across.”

| Joel says |
“One of the things that attracted me to her is she doesn’t ever think, I’m getting bored doing this stuff for the community. It is just what she does.”