Missy Lane’s co-owner Cecily Mitchell is a biostatistician by day and a music venue owner and presenter by night
Cicely emphasizes the power in becoming your own role model. “You have got to become that person,” she explains, noting that sometimes you won’t find a mentor who looks like you or who shares the same experiences as you. “Become that person who you want to be the trailblazer, and the next thing you know, you are that person.”
By Leah Berry | Photography by John Michael Simpson
Cicely Mitchell’s day starts before sunrise, at 4:45 a.m. She’s at the gym by 5:45 to enjoy some personal time – no texts, no calls, no emails. “I fully dedicate this time to myself,” she says. By 7:30, she’s on a call with her executive assistant to figure out the plan of action for the day. During the week, she’s a senior director of biostatistics at Syneos Health. By night, Cicely dedicates her time to her downtown music venue, Missy Lane’s Assembly Room.
Cicely has called Durham home for 23 years. She came to the Triangle for graduate school, earning her master’s and doctorate in biostatistics at UNC. This path not only laid the foundation for her career, it also enabled her other ambition to blossom. “My hobby has become quite a popular thing,” she says.
Cicely started curating music events nearly 13 years ago; she launched the Art of Cool Festival, an annual event celebrating progressive jazz and alternative soul music, with trumpeter Al Strong in 2014. The project was sold to the DOME Group in 2018, and Cicely embarked on her own consulting journey, producing music programs for venues around the Bull City including the Mill Stage at Golden Belt and Boxyard RTP as well as Made in Durham, an event held on East Main Street outside Missy Lane’s last year that celebrated the 20th anniversary of hip-hop duo Little Brother’s debut album, “The Listening.”
Today, Cicely is proud to do what she loves in her own space, living a dream she has carried for a long time. “It came from the need of not wanting to hop around promoting shows anymore, but to put down some roots and have a music venue that’s fully dedicated to the genre of jazz and improvised music,” she says, adding that she was waiting for the right place at the right time. One day, it all lined up. Cicely and her partner, Marcel Mercer, were at dinner with friend Nish LeBlanc and learned that Nish was seeking a tenant for the space formerly occupied by Old Havana Sandwich Shop. “It was serendipitous,” Cicely says.
She knew a downtown location would be the ideal home for her business. “In the time I’ve been doing music events, whether it was renting out Motorco, The Pinhook, the Carolina Theatre, DPAC … that’s the market I know,” Cicely says. She needed a seasoned team to execute the concept, another facet made easier thanks to her industry experience. “It felt like ‘Ocean’s Eleven,’” she says, “… you’re calling up the gang and saying, ‘We’re gonna do one more.’ Most people working on Missy Lane’s have been my production people from the beginning.”
Missy Lane’s launched its first concert series in January, billing itself as a beacon for cultural enrichment and a social hub for music lovers. “It’s got the vibe of an intimate living room,” Cicely says. “I want people to interact with the space in a way where you can come get a coffee in the morning or a cocktail at night. I’m hoping it will change people’s concept of what a music venue can do.” Cecily also wants Missy Lane’s to be top of mind when folks want to have a great night out. To that end, she and the team are busy planning exclusive members-only parties and just released the venue’s second season, which features more than 20 artists, including Theo Croker, Keyon Harrold, Sean Mason, Marcus Anderson, BeMyFiasco and Sy Smith, from May through August 2024. “The level of talent we present is on the level of what you would see in New York at a legendary jazz club,” she says.
Her days are busy and her time is precious, but the diversity of Cecily’s two passions have made her who she is today. She’s living her dream – both of them.
Don’t limit yourself. The universe would not give you these gifts if you weren’t supposed to use them. Your gifts will make room for what you need to do.
Cicely Mitchell
