In a grey T-shirt and jeans, plucking at a beat-up acoustic guitar, John Elisco doesn't exactly look like a high-powered advertising executive.
His Creative Cafe office in Lawrenceville doubled as a recording studio last week, as he brought together a group of musicians to record some of his original songs.
"It feels like a family here," said drummer and graphic designer Nate Bouszewski. He's a regular freelancer at Elisco Advertising. "It's warm and friendly, and just feels like a good place to be."
Yes, he's talking about an ad agency -- normally a way corporate environment. But Elisco's Creative Cafe, which opened in November, has a little different flavor.
"The creative spark that inspires art, music, literature, food and advertising is the same," Elisco said. "It should be fun, and there's no reason not to bring them all together."
Many of Elisco's events center around food; clients get treated to lunch once a week, and the pictures on the walls by Pittsburgh photographer Duane Reider are food-themed, one with a bright red basket of tomatoes.
Upcoming events include wine tasting and a Cinco de Mayo party. Elisco clients are invited to choose from the company's "menu of services" and are promised the company will "cook up something special."
The goal throughout the month of March was to bring would-be musicians together to play and record a CD. Thursday's lineup sounded almost like a "priest and rabbi walk into a bar" joke: It included jazz musicians, a flutist, a child therapist, the former lead singer for the Dharma Sons and a marketing executive.
"John just has a lot of positive energy around him and he draws you in," singer Kendra McLaughlin said between songs.
The group recorded three originals by Elisco, and there are plans to release the creation at the Creative Cafe later in the year.
