Photo by Alisha Gaspard

I'm no longer singing with Long Absent Friends. It's really a shame that right after Alisha takes all of these badass photos, the band basically falls apart. (Or at least my part in the band.) In all of the bands that I've been in, I've never been in a band with someone that I've dated, until Long Absent Friends. And now that the relationship has ended, I just think it would be way too hard for me to continue with the band. I don't want to go the Fleetwood Mac or No Doubt route. It would be different if we were about to get signed or go on tour or something. I might troop it out in that case. But as it is, I have enough on my plate.

So, I'm basically going through two break ups at once. It's one of the hardest things that I've experienced in my life. Last time I went through a break up this bad, I had Novo Luna (previous band) and my apprenticeship with Horizon. I wrote The Spins, one of my favorite plays that I've written, and I sung my heart out with the guys in Novo Luna. It's a little harder now. But I still have my solo music. I still have playwriting. I am starting up the MFA program this summer, and I'm excited to beginning working on new plays.

I don't know if the guys are going to continue the band or not. If so, they'll probably change names and go in a different direction. I wish them the absolute best of luck. Truly, these are some of the most talented musicians I have ever played with, and I really think they could go far. Also, I have included all of the photos from the photoshoot with Alisha on my photos/videos page for those of you who want to see.

I'll never forget the emotional roller coaster that was Long Absent Friends, though. I've learned a lot by being in the band. I've grown as an artist. Every experience offers growth and development and has something for you to gain. I'm going to miss the songs, though. Music seems to be the most fleeting art. Especially if you don't record your songs. We wrote all of these songs, some of them were truly the most beautiful songs I've ever sang or been a part of in any band, and now they're just gone. I feel like the whole theme of the band was always very fleeting, though. The name Long Absent Friends. Referring to the friendships that come and go. Nostalgic looks back at the past. Even in one of our songs, "Gone," I sang, "What's gone may haunt us, but not define us, whatever leaves must return." The idea was that even though there are a lot of people that you have lost, fleeting moments that have come and gone, the people that you love and the moments that you share never really leave. They become a part of you, deep in your blood. And I believe there's something bigger that connects all of us. So we're never really alone.

It's hard, though, to see all of that in the middle of so much loss. I'm trying to think of this more as change than loss. A new beginning. A new opportunity for growth and new experiences. I'm trying my best to think positively, to appreciate what's happened, and not to be sad about it all. Sometimes it's hard. Sometimes it's really hard. Sometimes it's nearly impossible. But even all of this despair is worth something. It's giving me something. An experience, a feeling, growth.

I'll leave you with a video montage of Long Absent Friends from a Haiti benifit show that we played in January, filmed/edited by Change Before Going Productions:

Photo by Oberonia Photography

I thought I'd just write a random blog.

Blog. Isn't that word funny? Say it twenty times. It's kind of funny, isn't it?

I'm listening to Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at the moment, and it's making me feel rather optimistic, I must say. There has been a lot of great music that I've been listening to lately. I promise I will have my music sharing podcast ready by next week. So, I was watching an abbreviated version of American Idol the other day (abbreviated as in recorded on the DVR and fast fowarded through most of it). I don't really know why. All that show is is a glorified karaoke contest. And then even when there's someone on there that I actually like (it does happen sometimes...like Bo Bice) when they get off the show and make an album, they make them sing these really shitty pop songs, which of course they didn't write. Why can't we have American Open Mic Night? Where we get original artists on there to do their original songs? I guess no one would watch that. People don't want to hear new music. But that can't be totally true, can it? They play new music on the radio. They used to play new music on MTV back when they actually played music videos. So let's get some new original music on American Idol. Let's have American Open Mic Night! (Yeah, that will still probably never happen.)

There are a lot of live shows that I'm excited about. Recently, I got to see Laura Veirs at the Star Bar. She and her backing band (the Hall of Flames) played a really killer set. I still think the Star Bar is a weird venue for her, though, and I would have liked to see her at Eddie's Attic or somewhere like that. There's always tons of trendy people just being loud and obnoxious in the Star Bar. Usually the bands are so loud there, though, that it doesn't really matter. And people who want to listen to the music can, and people who want to be loud and obnoxious can, and it works out for everyone! Laura Veirs, though, had a more mellow set than any other band I've ever seen there, and at times it was hard to listen. I swear, there was this girl standing behind me who did not stop talking the entire set! It would have been hillarious if I weren't trying to listen to Laura Veirs. It was getting ridiculous. The viola player (Alex Guy) would be in the middle of a really amazing part, and the girl behind me would just be rambling on..."You know, I played violin in high school, and I was really bad! I just never practiced, you know? I was like the 15th chair! They had 14 chairs on stage and they shoved me off stage halfway in the curtain! It was awful! I just didn't care about it, though. And then it wasn't until later that I was like 'Oh, man, I really should have practiced!'" Meanwhile, we're all thinking, "Hey, why don't you shut up so we can listen to someone who can play?" It was still a really great show though, and I'm really loving her new album, July Flame. I almost bought it on vinyl when I was at the show, but it was 20 bucks, and I was broke. (I don't really know what I was expecting...hehe.)

I have this new obsession with listening to vinyl records. It feels like a much more tangible music listening experience than listening to songs on an MP3 player or even a CD. My vinyl collection so far is pretty tiny, but I just added Siamese Dream by the Smashing Pumpkins and Teen Dream by Beach House to it. One of my old favorites and one of my new favorites. Speaking of Beach House, I'm so incredibly in love with Teen Dream. If you haven't listened to it, I recommend doing that!

(But I'm foreshadowing my music sharing podcast now!)

In other news, I got to see The Tales of Edgar Allan Poe at The Center for Puppetry Arts last weekend. I hadn't seen a show there since I was a kid, and I had never been to their museum. They have so many cool things in there! Pieces from The Labyrinth and all of these Jim Henson puppets and Fraggle Rock stuff and other really interesting puppets. I feel like CGI kind of killed the art of the puppet, at least in movies. Anyway, I really loved how they wove all of the Edgar Allan Poe stories together, all of the interesting musical instruments that the musical accompanist was playing, and of course the actual puppets themselves. The puppets and the set were very innovative and creepy. And seeing a number of Poe's stories back to back like that reminds you of how disturbing they all are. But the whole show was very well done. I definitely plan on going to see another show there sometime soon.

Tomorrow is a good day for me both in terms of theatre and music. During the day, I'm having my first read-through of Community Service, the play that I'm working on for the Horizon Theatre Apprentice Company. So this year's apprentices will get to see it for the first time tomorrow. I really hope they like it! It's a completely ridiculous comedy filled with art made out of PBR cans (P-B-Art if you will), gender neutral pronouns, Jeopardy! questions, and slightly gay rednecks. Anyway, after that, I'm heading over to the Gwinnett Center to see Muse and the Silversun Pickups with my little brother, who got tickets for Christmas, and is taking me! (Because he rocks. Read his music blog.) Then on Sunday, we're doing a Long Absent Friends photoshoot with Alisha Gaspard, who if you'll recall took all of the badass Painted cast photos (and the photo above!). So, this weekend is looking pretty exciting for me, in spite of it being the LONGEST WINTER EVER.

In other news, I have found that there are some people out there who are always going to do whatever they can to bring you down. This is something that a lot of people I care about have been having issues with lately, something I've been having issues with lately. And I'm not just talking about in the artistic community, either. This applies to life in general. I'd just like to say, though, than nine times out of ten, these people are just really insecure and unhappy with their own lives, and the only way they know to try to be happy is to make other people unhappy. Or instead of outwardly projecting how insecure they are, they outwardly project condescending arrogance and act like they're better than other people. I'm trying really hard not to be judgmental, here. I don't think most of these people are consciously aware of what they're doing. But I think it's important to just try to do the best you can for who you are and not worry about other people who appear to be unsupportive or negative towards you. For every unsupportive bitchy person I have in my life, there are at least ten other people who are supportive and understand that I'm doing the best I can with what I've got. Just some food for thought. I guess the moral of this story is "Some people are bitches, but don't let them get you down." (Didn't I say that at one of my shows recently? I feel like that's becoming a slogan. Haha.)

But February is almost over, spring is almost here! and there are so many awesome things to be excited about right now. There's Girl Scout cookies, Beach House shows, people around me getting married and having babies and being very excited about the new stages in their lives, hillarious theatre, pool games, cheap beer, Bad Cat calendars, crafty glittery projects, Rocky Horror, old books, Radiohead, live music, dancing, being goofy, crying for no reason, life. There are so many wonderful people doing wonderful things all around me, so much to laugh about and dance around to and learn from and love.

(Yes, I'm being a hippy. It's okay, though, because I still take showers and have a job. :-p)

Waterfall at Roswell Mill by Gareth Botha


Well February is here! Time for Valentine's Day, wishing it was warmer outside, getting really sick of the whole winter thing, birthdays for Aquarians, all of that crap!

If you've got the "I'm sick of winter" blues, here is a bunch of really cool artistic stuff for you to do! Lots of choices, so don't ever say I didn't tell you about anything cool to do!


Music

- TONIGHT! February 2nd - My band, Long Absent Friends, will be playing at Lenny's Bar along with Goodland, Transloader, and Aftermath. (Goodland features Geoff Goodwin and Chase Adkinson, who I played with in Novo Luna.) Goodland will be on at 9:00 PM, Long Absent Friends at 10:00 PM. The cover is 6 dollars - 21+ - Lenny's Bar - 486 Decatur Street Southeast, Atlanta, GA 30312

- February 4th - Nobody's Darlings, Ordain, The Mitch Hansen Band, and The Issues - 9:00 pm - 6 bucks - 21+ Lenny's Bar - 486 Decatur Street Southeast, Atlanta, GA 30312

- February 4th - Lindsay Appel, Lexi Street & Soul Shakers -  The EARL! - 9:00 pm - 7 bucks - 21+

- February 4th - Haji Basim - Library Coffee Company - 2523 Caldwell Rd NE - Atlanta, GA

- February 19th - Trances Arc, The Modern Society, The Biters - The Earl - Atlanta, GA - 9:00 pm - 7 bucks

- February 20th - Elliott Rubin - 8:00 PM at The Uptown Loft, Johns Creek, Georgia - Cost: $5

- February 20th - Laura Veirs & The Hall Of Flames, Cataldo, The Old Believers - Star Bar - 9:00 pm - 12 dollars

- February 26th - Kim Boekbinder of Vermillion Lies, Adron, Rita of Helen Keller's Ukulele - The Drunken Unicorn - $5 for 21+, $7 for 18+

- February 27th - Blair Crimmins & The Hookers, A Fight to the Death - Star Bar - 9:00 pm - 8 dollars




Theatre/Dance

- February 13th - The Voodoo Revue: A Mardi Gras Masquerade! Come and enjoy a night of mayhem and excitement as The Collective transports you back to a time of voodoo magic and old New Orleans. This is event is a fundraiser for The Collective and our newest work Rising Sons performing at 7 Stages February 18th-21st. -  We will have three amazing bands performing, including Skylights and H.M.S. Disco. Also, enjoy comedy, magic, and other acts from Collective performers!  -  The cover is $10 (cash only, please!) and the event is BYOB (must be 21 to drink!) Doors open at 8pm and the show starts at 9pm.  -  Don't forget your mask and your dancing shoes! It is sure to be a fantastic time!

- January 22 - February 7 - Relapse Theatre presents Clive Barker's "A History of the Devil," running January 22 through February 7, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Friday and Saturday performances begin at 7:30, Sunday performances at 5:00. Tickets are $10 at the door, First Come, First Serve!

- February 5th and 6th, 2010 - doors at 7:00 p.m. - Spectrum: Mythos at The Georgia Ballet Studios - Join The Georgia Ballet for an incredible evening of extraordinary performances that showcase the company in contemporary and inventive new choreography! Spectrum: Mythos, An Evening of New Works will include a one hour dance showcase performance, live music, food and drink, and a silent auction with fun and exciting items for everyone.

- February 12 - March 14 - Shooting Star by Steven Dietz at Horizon Theatre - Sparks fly and snowflakes fall as two old flames meet by chance in a blizzard bound airport. Reed, a suit-and-tie with Blackberry, and Elana, a bohemian with rain stick, were once idealistic college lovers. Here they reconnect and share stories deep into the night. Humor, heartache, secrets, and snow. When morning comes and all flights are cleared for departure – what’s the final destination for these two? A delicious, bittersweet comedy with heart and bite.

- Jan 29 - Feb 21 - Alliance Theatre - Tennis in Nablus, A World Premiere by Ismail Khalidi -  Palestine. 1939. Allegiances… and identities… are never what they seem. Under British colonial rule, two nations buckle under conflicting claims to their rightful land. And as the world explodes around them, one divided family seeks to achieve the delicate balance between peace and freedom.




Visual arts

- February 4 - Eyedrum - Ayed Hallim: Instrumentalities - Opening reception for a Small Gallery show of new assemblage works by Atlanta bricoleur Ayed Hallim. Hallim, the pseudonymous alter ego of a former local arts journalist, creates works in found metal, spent packaging, and other repurposed materials. After the reception, Hallim performs during Open Improv on some of the "perjunction" instruments included in the exhibition. Exhibition on view through February 21.

- February 5 - "Columns, Stacks, Heaps, and Piles" by Justin Richel - Young Blood Gallery - Starting Friday, February 5th, YBG will be displaying a series of small-scale works on paper by Justin Richel. This series will focus on small and affordable works from the "Sweets" series.

- February  6 - Art Papers 11th Annual Art Auction - 7:00 to 10:00 pm - Mason Murer Fine Art

- February 13 - March 7 - Beep Beep Gallery - Material - "Material" is a group sculpture featuring five artists working in a variety of media. Artists include: Lucha Rodriguez, Romy Maloon, Crystal Wagner, Chase Folsom, Jessica Orlowski



There you go! Tons of awesome artists to go out and support! :-)

As always, leave a comment if I've left something out.

Stay tuned for another podcast full of music sharing and awesomeness. (Like a mixy but with me talking in between songs so it's legal!)

One Day by Carmen Lamarium


Here's what's going on with me lately:

• Unsent Letters promotion - First of all, thanks so much to everyone for being so supportive of me and this album. I have sold more CDs than I ever could have imagined, and everyone has been awesome about helping me get it out there. The CD is now up on iTunes and Amazon.com! I am also on Last FM, and I'm working hard on getting my music on Pandora.com. (Thanks to everyone who sent e-mails to them by the way! It really made a difference as they're actually paying attention, now!) Also, I have sent copies of the CD out to several college radio stations, including the Georgia Music Show on Album 88, which comes on Wednesdays from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm. So all of you Atlantans (Atlantians? Atlantans? I don't know...people who live in Atlanta!) tune into that, call up the station (404-413-9727), and request one of my tunes!
   
• New music, photos, and videos up on the website! - I put up a bunch of free new songs on my music page! There's a live version of "Wait" from open mic night at Ragamuffin, a Slowdive cover that I did, an acoustic version of a Long Absent Friends song, an old Ruby song, and an old Novo Luna song! You can download them for free, here. Also, my friend Amanda (aka Carmen Lamarium) put up a couple of videos on YouTube from my CD release show at Smith's. I've put those on my photos/videos page, or you can go to YouTube. Here's a link for me playing my acoustic version of "Bridge" (actually a Novo Luna song), and here's "Rainwater." Also, I put up some new Long Absent Friends pictures on my photos/videos page, so check that out!
   
• Upcoming play production, Community Service - My one act play, Community Service (working title), will be staged and performed by the Horizon Theatre Apprentice Company this May! Recently, I got to see this year's Apprentice Company in the 2010 Joint Stock Project, and I have to say, I was very impressed! I'm looking forward to working with these actors and the wonderful people at Horizon Theatre again. :-) More details to come about this show!
   
• Upcoming music shows:
  - Long Absent Friends will be playing at Lenny's with Goodland (featuring Geoff Goodwin and Chase Adkinson, who I played with in Novo Luna) - Tuesday, February 2nd. The show starts at 9:00 pm, it's 21+, and the cover is 6 bucks. I hope to see you all there!
  - I will have another solo show at Smith's Olde Bar (in the Atlanta Room) on Friday, March 19th at 10:00 pm, so mark your calendars! Let's pack the place out again like we did in December! That was such a blast.
   
• Send me your events! I'll be updating my "events" blog for February pretty soon, so if you have any upcoming plays, music shows, poetry/literature events, visual arts events, dance events, etc., please send them my way! You can e-mail them to me at sara@saracrawford.net. (I'll also put them on my Atlanta Bohemians group on Facebook.) And I will try to make it out if I can! I absolutely love supporting local, new, and independent artists, and I love being exposed to new and interesting works. There is so much going on, and Atlanta has such a thriving artistic scene. I'm so excited to be a part of it! (I know I've said all of that before, but I'm just so excited, I have to repeat myself!)
   
• All of my links in one place: A bunch of people have asked me recently for various links to my various pages around the web, so here you go!
  - Sara Crawford on Myspace
  - Sara Crawford on Facebook
  - Sara Crawford on Last FM
  - Sara Crawford EPK on Sonicbids
  - Sara Crawford on iTunes
  - Sara Crawford on Amazon
  - Long Absent Friends on Myspace
  - Long Absent Friends on Facebook

Thanks again to everyone! I have absolutely the most supportive and awesome friends/fans, and I'm finally at a place in my life where I feel like I'm really getting my art out there and people are appreciating it. I definitely would not be in that place without all of you. So to everyone who actually takes the time to listen to my music, read my writing, come to my shows, come see my plays, or even read my blog on my website, I am extremely grateful. (I know, I've said all of this before, too, but you really can't say things like that enough, I don't think.) So, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for supporting me and my artistic projects. :-) :-)

I will leave you with a live version of "Wait" from the open mic night I recently played at Ragamuffin. Enjoy!

On Tuesday, my band, Long Absent Friends will be opening for The Movement, Wade in the Rhythm, and other awesome bands at Lenny's! Long Absent Friends will be playing at 7:00 pm.

This is a benefit concert for the Haitian relief. The organizers of the show are collaborating with transformhaiti.org, UnitedForJamaica.Org and caribcentral.com. So come out on Tuesday, hear some diverse and awesome bands, have a beer, and most importantly, support a good cause!

Photo by Andrew Zucker

Hey everyone! First of all, Thanks for listening to my podcast! I got a lot of positive feedback on it so I'm definitely going to try to do more of those in the upcoming year. I'm thinking more podcasts in the whole "mix CD" format. They'll probably just be essentially me sharing awesome music with everyone.

Secondly, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and I hope 2010 is treating you well so far. I rang in the New Year having an awesome time jamming out to the Sealions at the Highland Inn, and I am really looking forward to everything this year has in store.

10 reasons I am excited about 2010:

1. I'll be playing a lot of open mic nights, solo shows, and shows with my band, Long Absent Friends. I already have two solo shows lined up and two band shows.
2. THE 7TH HARRY POTTER MOVIE IS COMING OUT. (That's right.)
3. I'll be writing a play for the Horizon Theatre Apprentice Company to perform this spring.
4. New albums from Arcade Fire, Beach House, Massive Attack, the list goes on!
5. Due to my little brother being awesome, I will be going to see MUSE and the SILVERSUN PICKUPS in February!
6. My poetry book, Coiled and Swallowed, will be published from VergoGray Press sometime this summer or fall.
7. The final season of Lost. Maybe all of our questions will finally be answered.
8. I have gotten a book called The Daily Writer with writing exercises for every day. I've been doing them every day so far, and I really love them. It gives me a chance to stretch my writing muscles for a little bit every day.
9. I'll be starting graduate school with University of New Orleans Low Residency program (MFA in Playwriting) and traveling to Mexico for my first semester this summer!
10. Did I mention THE 7TH HARRY POTTER MOVIE?


There are a lot of things coming up in January in the Atlanta area that are worth checking out. So, let's get started.

My Events

• Long Absent Friends show - come check out my new band at the Red Light Cafe - 553 Amsterdam Avenue Northeast, Atlanta, GA 30306 - Friday, January 8 - 8:30 pm - ALL AGES - 7 dollar cover - Long Absent Friends on myspace - Long Absent Friends on facebook

In the Atlanta area...

MUSIC:
Here are some shows that you should check out.

• Blair Crimmins and the Hookers - Jeffrey Butzer - Oryx and Crake - Saturday, January 9th - The Earl - 9:00 pm - 7 dollars
• Thy Mighty Contract - Club Awesome - Friday, January 15th - The Highland Inn - 8:30 pm - 5 dollars
• Groove Stain - Thursday, January 14th - Smith's Olde Bar -  8:00 pm
• Elliot Rubin - Thursday, January 21st - Sweetwater Live in Duluth - 8:00 pm
   

OPEN MIC NIGHTS:
I've been compiling a list of open mic nights that I'm planning on going out to. Open mic nights are great for meeting other musicians, hearing some new voices, or just having a good time. A lot of people have asked me to share my liste of open mic nights that I'm going to check out, so here's what I have so far.

• Maccrackens – Mondays - 9:00 pm - Marietta- I've been to this one before. Maccrackens is a really fun bar. Also, on the first Tuesday of every month (at 7:30 pm) The Play Pen has another open mic night there for not just musicians but also writers as well! (I'll be checking out that one tonight!)
• Eddie's Attic - Mondays - 7:30 -  Decatur - National and local acts perform 2 songs each, with 3 finalists returning for a third song at the end of the evening for a chance to win a cash prize and a spot in the bi-annual, nationally acclaimed Open Mic Shootout. - Musicians - You have to sign up for this months in advance, but it's always a fun thing to do on Monday nights. I'll be playing in May of this year!
• Ragamuffin - Thursdays - 8:00 - Roswell - I've never been to this open mic night before, but I've heard from other musicians that it's really cool. Actually, Michael (guitarist), Kyle (violinist), and I from Long Absent Friends will be going this Thursday, January 7, to play a short acoustic set. Come check it out!
• Red Light Cafe - Wednesdays - 8:00 - Atlanta - I haven't been to the open mic night at this venue, but I've played a lot of shows there, and it's one of my favorite venues.
• Rev Coffee – Wednesdays – 8:00 pm – Smyrna - This one is also new to me, but I've heard good things.

Let me know if you have any additional open mic nights for me to add to the list!


THEATRE:
Here are some cool shows that I'm hoping to check out.

• The Cantebury Tales - The New American Shakespeare Tavern - January 1 - January 31 - Join us for a medieval romp through boisterous and bawdy olde England. Drawing on the Celtic British influences of Geoffrey Chaucer's writing, this hilarious adaptation reintroduces the tales in forms ranging from classical to spaghetti Western! We've got two new tales to tickle your fancy!
• Good Boys and True - Actor's Express - Jan 14 - Feb 13 - It’s the 1980s and the boys at St. Joe’s Prep School are clean cut, well bred, Ivy League-bound – and having a lot of sex. When a scandal involving one little videotape threatens to grow beyond closed-door whispers to engulf the entire school, the ugly underpinnings of an elite machine threaten to give way. As one mother struggles to glean fact from fiction, she finds herself face to face with truths about her perfect son and their privileged existence. From one of the writers of the HBO hit “Big Love.”
• Tranced - Aurora Theatre - Jan 14 - Feb 7 -  A Regional Premiere by Bob Clyman Directed by Susan Reid This suspenseful drama is a twisting tale of recovered memories and political intrigue.
• On-Demand Reading of A THOUSAND CIRCLETS by Theroun D'arcy Patterson - Working Title Playwrights - Tuesday, Jan. 12 - Academy Theatre, 119 Center St., Avondale Estates, Ga. FREE to WTP members. $5 at-door suggested donation all others.

OTHER EVENTS:

• January 23 - High Museum, Harper Dance Continuum Theatre presents 2 artists, 1 dancer and DJ Tabone. 8 pm in the atrium. - Artists Vickie Martin and Lance Carlson will paint with "HIGH allowed" material while Tracey Perkinson moves between two canvases of spandex - choreographed by Heather Harper

That's all I have so far. Feel free to add comments to the blog if I left anything out!

First of all, thank you SO much to everyone for all of the support with my CD release! I was almost in tears at the end of the CD release show last Friday because I just simply couldn't believe how many people were there, how enthusiastic the audience was, and how excited everyone was to pick up a copy of Unsent Letters. I think it was the best solo show I've had, and I really appreciate the fact that there are so many people in my life who are so supportive of me and my music.

Recently, I saw a picture of a band that I was in in high school called Population 2.



There we all are, Kyndal Foshee (who played guitar and sang), Brandon Rich (who wasn't actually in the band but...as you can see from his shirt...was our "crew"), Jessie Gayhart (who played drums), me (I played guitar and sang), and Bre Hicks (who played bass). I realized that the date on that picture was August 13th, 2000, which means I've technically been a musical performer for nearly a decade. It doesn't seem like it's been that long!

Population 2 was a great experience! We were all really young (14 when we started!), and most of us were still learning how to play our instruments, really. But we wrote really fun songs, expressed ourselves, and actually played shows! I've performed in some way (chorus, dancing, theatre, etc.) ever since I was five years old, but this was my first experience with being in a band, writing songs on guitar, working with other musicians.

After Pop 2 broke up, I wasn't in another band again until I was just out of high school. Ruby.



This band was definitely a great experience for me. I got the opportunity to play real gigs in real music venues downtown, and I worked really hard to fine tune my craft, learning how to become a better musical performer and how to write better vocal melodies. I sang with Ruby off and on from 2004 to late 2006. I think in that time, I grew enormously as a songwriter and a performer, and I learned a lot about working with other musicians.

In 2009, I joined up with Novo Luna.



I had so much fun with these guys, and I really, really loved the vocal melodies that I came up with to their music. I sang my heart out in this band! Every now and then I will still hum the songs to myself. And all of the guys in Novo Luna are incredibly talented! I'm really excited to see what kind of music they put out next as we've all gone our separate ways and started new projects.

So I'm looking back and sort of reflecting, and I've realized that bands are a lot like relationships. Each band has taught me so much, I've had so many unique experienced with all of these bands. The music was very different in all of them. Population 2 was a mix of alternative, rock, and just extreme silliness. Ruby was mostly classic rock sounding. Novo Luna was a mix of blues, funk, and alternative.

I'm so glad that I got the chance to perform with all of these people, though, and have all of these experiences. Each band brings some new lesson, each time you work with a new musician (or any artist, really) you give something to each other. Even negative experiences I've had have taught me more about myself as a musician and sometimes even as a person.

And now, I'm going on a "new journey," if you will, with a new band. Long Absent Friends.



I'm really excited about this band because it's more along the lines of the music I frequently listen to (i.e. Stars, Smashing Pumpkins, Broken Social Scene, Slowdive, Arcade Fire, etc.). I love all kinds of music, but most of the time you will find indie/alternative in my CD player. Also, I have the opportunity to play piano in this band on almost every song, which is new and very exciting for me. So we have some upcoming first shows:

• Sunday, December 27th - 10:00 pm - Smith's Olde Bar - The Atlanta Room - 21+ - 5 dollars
• Friday, January 8th - 8:00 pm - Red Light Cafe - all ages - 7 dollars

I'm really looking forward to these shows! I'm excited to play all of these songs that we've been working really hard on over the past few months for everyone. This band is completely different from bands I've been in previously, and it's very different from my solo stuff as well, but I really like the way the music is developing. We even have a violinist (Kyle Weisse). I've never played with a violinist before so it's really interesting! Michael Tillman is playing guitar and singing. (I've always wanted to be in a band that had male and female singers.) His guitar work is a mix of heartbreaking emotion, catchy hooks, and an interesting manipulation of sounds. To top it all off, we have a really tight rhythm section with Kyle Hilkin (from the popular Incubus tribute band, Human Magic Marker) on drums and Ben Hopper on bass. It's just enthralling to be able to write music and play with such talented musicians. Also, for the first show, we're covering two of my absolute favorite songs, "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire and "Tonight, Tonight," by the Smashing Pumpkins.

Anyway, I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone who supports me. I feel like a lot of you have been on this crazy ride with me, always coming out to share and experience my various musical projects. The CD release show really hit me hard with that fact, and I just wanted to tell all of you how much that means to me. It's very difficult to be an artist, especially an unknown artist. There are many times when you put your entire self out there in your art just to be crushed up and spit on, and with all of the rejection and criticism, it's really nice when you have a group of people who will always support you and appreciate the art that you create. So to everyone who has ever come to see one of my shows, bought one of my CDs, played music with me, booked me for a show, taken the time to listen to my music, I just wanted to say thank you.

Reticent by Gareth Botha


Well, December is upon us and there is a lot going on!

First of all, I have several announcements/upcoming events:

• UNSENT LETTERS CD release - December 15th - On December 15th, I will release my debut album! It will be available here on the website for digital download for 5 dollars or you can order a physical copy for 7 dollars.
   
• Unsent Letters CD release show at Smith's Olde Bar in the Atlanta Room - Friday, December 18th - 11:00 pm - 8 dollars - 21+ - Come out to Smith's Olde Bar where I will be playing a set and selling my CD (for just 5 dollars!). Come shoot some pool, drink some beer, and hear some music! I would absolutely love to see all of you there!
   
• New Facebook Page - I have a new artist page on Facebook. So if you are on Facebook, be sure to become a fan for all of the updates, and suggest me to your friends!
   
• Long Absent Friends shows - I am in a new band called Long Absent Friends, and we are playing our first shows ever coming up! We will be playing on December 27th at 10:00 pm at Smith's Olde Bar in the Atlanta Room and January 8th at 8:30 pm at Red Light Cafe. Come check it out! Especially if you are a fan of the Smashing Pumkins, Stars, Arcade Fire, and/or Broken Social Scene.
   
• New links - Check out my links page for a couple of new things. For example, my brother, Kevin, has a new music blog which is pretty sweet.

THEATRE

December is a time for theatres to do Holiday shows! Actually, for a lot of theatres in Atlanta, a great portion of their ticket sales comes from these shows. (See this interesting article from Access Atlanta.) So make theatre part of your Holiday traditions!

Some of my favorites:

• Atlanta Ballet's Nutcracker - December 11 - 27 - Nutcracker has always been a Holiday tradition for me, and I absolutely love this production. (And not just because I played a toy soldier in it when I was 12! Haha.) Combine the beautiful dancing with the gorgeous costumes and set and the imaginative coreography...not to mention Tchaikovsky's classic and beautiful score...and it's really hard to go wrong.
   
• A Christmas Carol - The Alliance Theatre - Nov 27 - Dec 24 - What is Christmas without a little Dickens? Alliance has always done an excellent job of staging this Holiday classic, and it's really just a fun show.
  
   
• Santaland Diaries by David Sedaris - Horizon Theatre - Nov 27- Jan 3 - I have a personal relationship with this hillarious holiday show about an out-of-work 30-something writer who takes a job as an elf at Macy's. Last year, when I was working as an apprentice at Horizon, I did my crew/volunteer hours on this show, and I ran the spotlight. Even though I saw the show literally 30 something times, it was still funny. So check it out!

For more Holiday show listings, check out Access Atlanta or Atlanta Performs.


STAGED READINGS

• Turning Pastoral by Matthew Katis - Saturday, December 12th - 7:00 pm - Kennesaw State University - FREE - Come out to this staged reading of CMU grad student, Matthew Katis's, new play. 
   
• Working Title Playwrights presents The Scrapbook: A Modern Christmas Carol by Raymond Fast - Monday, December 14th - 7:30 pm - Academy Theatre - "You can't buy happiness. Nice thought - until you're money's gone. Since Gary's heart attack, he and wife Micki have lost their business, home, and savings. Now Gary thinks their kids and grandkids would be happier not traveling across country to visit them for Christmas. Can the memories awakened by a scrapbook remind Gary that love has no price tag, needs no trappings, and is worth more than anything money can buy?"

Come help these playwrights develop their new works! Your feedback is the most important thing for playwrights!


MUSIC

Three shows that I'm hoping to catch!

• Tealights / This Piano Plays Itself / Venice is Sinking - The Earl - Wednesday, December 9 - 8:30 PM - 10 dollars
   
• Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun / Gift Horse / Hammer no More the Fingers - The Star Bar - Friday, December 11 - 9:00 pm
   
• The Yonrico Scott Band / Laura Reed - The Five Spot - Thursday, December 31 - 9:00 pm - 20 dollars

Well, that's it for me. If there are any December events that you'd like to mention, be sure to leave a comment here on the blog so that all of my readers can hear about it. :-)

Stay tunes for my Top 10 Albums of 2009. I'm thinking of doing this in a podcast as opposed to a blog so I can actually play some tracks for you. :-)