Sara Crawford

Well, summer is winding down, students are all going back to school, and I'm taking advantage of the fact that I deferred my graduate school admission until next year and using the time to work on my various artistic projects! (Oh, and to save money. Which is sort of essential to the whole grad school plan anyway.) I have a lot going on right now! First of all, I have another solo/acoustic show at Smith's Olde Bar in the Atlanta Room on Thursday, September 24th at 10:00 pm. (Special thanks to everyone who came out to my last show!) Also, I'm hard at work on my acoustic/solo album, which I'm hoping to release in mid-November. In other news, I'm still singing with Novo Luna, and we're hoping to play live in the next month or so and release our EP. Stay tuned for info on that! And, Michael Tillman and I have started a new musical project. We're in the process of recording our songs before we start the search for a bass player and a drummer, so be on the look out for a lot of new music, new projects, and shows coming up!

And just because summer is coming to a close does not mean that there aren't a lot of awesome things going on! Did you miss out on those summer music festivals? If so, don't worry. There are lots of cool music festivals/events coming up in Atlanta that you can check out! I'm definitely going to try to get out to most of these shows. And they're all free or at least pretty cheap!

• NOPHEST Summer Music Festival - August 28-30 at Wonderroot - 982 Memorial Drive - Atlanta, GA - featuring 20+ Atlanta bands! - Tickets are $5 per day or $10 for a weekend pass. For more info, visit http://nophest.blogspot.com/
• Grant Park Summer Shade Festival - August 29-30 in Grant Park - For the performance schedule, go here
• Little Five Points Other Sound Festival - September 19th in Little Five Points - Featuring multiple bands on multiple stages, at the Star Bar, an outdoors Little Five Points stage, and Criminal Records - For performance schedule, go here
• And, this one's not exactly a festival, but it's still kickass and FREE - Atlanta Guardian Showcase Night at the Star Bar - August 27th - Featuring Abby GoGo, Ghostfinger, Cockfight, and Small Reactions - For more, info visit Atlanta Guardian

But don't think I forgot about you theatre folks. Here are some really cool plays that I'm excited to check out in the upcoming months:

• Grey Gardens - Actor's Express - 8/27 through 10/10 - Actor's Express is pleased to bring you the Atlanta Premiere of Grey Gardens, the hit Broadway musical based on the acclaimed film that documents the lives of Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis’ flamboyantly eccentric aunt Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter “Little Edie.” Mother and daughter cling to each other through hysteria, happiness and heartbreak as the beautiful home around them falls into ruin. Indulge in the lush music, mysterious glamour and “The Revolutionary Costume for Today” inside the dilapidated, 28-room mansion called Grey Gardens. For more information, visit Actor's Express.
• Hair - 7 Stages - 9/11 - 10/10 - The American Tribal Love Rock Musical - Because who really doesn't love hippies dancing and singing? For more information, visit 7 Stages.
• The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged) - The New American Shakespeare Tavern - 8/8 - 9/6 - I saw this last year, and it's absolutley hillarious, especially for us Shakespeare geeks. For more information, visit The New American Shakespeare Tavern.
• Pippin - Cobb Children's Theatre at the Cobb Civic Center - August 21 - 23 - I had to throw this one in because when I was in high school, I did quite a few shows with CCT, and I don't think my life would be the same now if I hadn't. CCT is really a great organization, and they do so much good for the community. I really believe that putting high school kids in a theatrical production like this is a great thing to do for society. It gave us a sense of community, family, and taught us an incredible amount about theatre, art, and life, and CCT continues to do that for teenagers today. Pippin is their Summer Stock production, featuring high school and college students. (And for those of you OTPers who don't like to drive ITP, you can still see theatre!) For more information, visit CCT.
• Third by Wendy Wasserstein - Horizon Theatre - 9/11 through 10/11 - The final play of Horizon's 25th Season from celebrated, award-winning playwright Wendy Wasserstein (The Heidi Chronicles). A liberal college professor and an articulate and conservative student jock nick-named Third face off over politics, ethics, and values. A bold accusation and mid-life changes unexpectedly throw Laurie Jameson�s well-ordered world into disarray. With her trademark smart dialogue, crackling wit, and intelligence, Wasserstein looks at the challenge of re-imagining ourselves in the third act of life. For more information, visit Horizon Theatre.

And here are a couple of other cool events coming up:

• MIXT - Mint Gallery - 684 John Wesley Dobbs Ave, Unit B - Atlanta, GA - August 22 - 8:00 - 11:00 - The 3rd annual mixtape exhibit featuring work from numerous Atlanta artists including Bean Summer, Jason Kofke, Kelly McKernan, Chris Hamer, GutterPOP, Jason Travis, Sergio Garzon, Travis Thatcher, and more. Each artist will create a mixtape to be played alongside their artwork. Come and enjoy the music and have a drink. Visit MINT gallery.
• Atlanta Underground Film Festival - Various venues around town - August 26 - 30 - For schedule and more information, visit Atlanta Underground Film Festival

So, there you go. Lots of cool things coming up! Music events, theatre events, various artistic events. Free things, cheap things, even an OTP event. So stop being lame, and get out and support some local artists! We always appreciate it.

Do you have any events you'd like me to check out? Calls for submissions? Anything? Send me an e-mail at events@saracrawford.net