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I'm in a new band...sort of - news with the 2011 tour - thank you for making 2010 amazing! 



Photo by Belenen


I can’t believe 2010 is almost over! I mean, seriously?

The Cult Following is no longer around (at least not in the form that it was). Adrian Rhetts and Brian Teague are no longer playing with us full-time. There's no hard feelings and I have nothing but respect for both of them as people and as musicians. And please check out Eat the Sun, Brian's electronic project, which I’ve always been a huge fan of, and Electric Duane, who Adrian is now playing guitar with. (Electric Duane also features Matt Bradshaw and Monica Nicole - two of my friends and incredible musicians as well.) So you never know when they’ll make a musical appearance, but for the moment, bass player, Geoff Goodwin, and I are re-booting the project.

We’ve decided to form a two-person band using both my songs and songs that Geoff has written. We’re currently working on recording and expect to release a CD in early 2011. I’m really excited about where it’s going! This band will feature Geoff on drums, guitar, bass, bells, trumpet, piano, and I’ll be playing guitar, piano, maybe even a little bass myself! You can definitely look for some of the Cult Following favorites like “Tangled,” “Hipster Haircut,” and “August” on the upcoming release, and I’m sure Geoff and I will continue to play some of the tunes from Unsent Letters at the shows.

To see a preview of the new arrangements and where the music is going, you can come out to Smith’s Olde Bar - The Atlanta Room on Saturday, December 4th. We’ll be playing at 10:00 pm. This show will also feature other special guests such as Kyle Weisse (from Long Absent Friends) on violin. You definitely don’t want to miss it! It’s going to be completely different than any of the shows I’ve played so far this year, and with all of the focus on recordings, it’s likely to be my last show for a while. Also, we'll be playing with Sarah Mac Band and 1880's Dance Party!

Also, things are speeding along in full force on my Kickstarter page where I am raising money to go on tour in June 2011. So far, I have reached 60% of my goal! There are still 32 days left to donate so please check it out and donate what you can to help! (Every dollar counts!) If I don’t reach my goal by December 31st, I won’t receive any of the funds that I’ve raised on there so far, so please help me to reach my goal so I can make this dream a reality and share my music with the country! I had originally planned to make this an acoustic tour, but now it looks like it may be including “the whole band” (AKA Geoff). This is very exciting because now I can try to book the more indie music oriented venues as opposed to just acoustic coffee shop type places. Also, throw the little bro, Kevin Crawford, into the mix, and who knows what kind of shenanigans will ensue. Video blogs from the road, perhaps? A documentary about trying to make it as an indie band? Who knows? So many possibilities!

Sara Crawford Acoustic Tour June 2011 on Kickstarter - click here to donate!

Lastly, I just wanted to say thank you so much to everyone for making my 2010 so amazing. Thank you to The Cult Following for being the most fun band I’ve ever played with. Thank you to all of the booking people at the various venues for giving me the opportunity to play. I’ve played so many incredible places this year! MINT Gallery, Drunken Unicorn, Smith’s, Lenny’s, Red Light Cafe, Five Spot, Grant Park Summer Shade Festival, the Beatlanta house, Cool Beans...oh, and let’s not forget that tequila bar in Mexico...and playing two songs totally counts as a “show.” :-p Thanks to everyone who has come out to the shows and shown support. Thanks to everyone who has supported me by buying a copy of my CD or my poetry book. Thanks to everyone who has donated to my tour fund on Kickstarter. Thanks to all of the amazing musicians who I have had the opportunity to play with this year - Wade in the Rhythm, Callers, Lady Lazarus, Before the Solstice, CMAC... just to name a few. (And if you haven’t heard those bands, check them out! They’re well worth it.) Thank you to everyone who voted me Best Songwriter in Creative Loafing's Best of Atlanta issue! Thank you all so much for everything you do. You don’t know how much it really means to me.

Check back later this week for an events posting and restarting of the Poem of the Week!

Thanks for reading!

2010 is looking awesome so far - January artistic events in the Atlanta area 



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
In the Atlanta area...

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

Holidays, Atlanta events, good times. 



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!

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. :-)


My music news and five Atlanta bands that everyone should check out! 

There is definitely a lot going on right now for me musically!

First of all, I posted five tracks from Unsent Letters on the music page along with lyrics. These tracks are "Excommunicated," "Flames," "Cyclone," "Wait," and "Irresponsible," and these are the newest versions of these songs, which will be on Unsent Letters, of course, which will be released here, Tuesday, December 15th. I have also put these tracks on my Myspace page and my Last FM page. (If I get more listeners on Last FM, I could possibly be played on their radio stations, so go listen to me there! And add me to your library, if you have a Last FM account. That would rock!)

Secondly, I will be back on Story with Amie Flanagan on KSU Owl Radio Monday, December 7th 10:00 - 11:00 am. I had so much fun the last time, and I'm excited to go back! Amie's show is very entertaining! I'll bring my guitar along and play some more live songs, so tune in!

Also, I am officially in a new band called Long Absent Friend. I am playing piano and singing in this project along with Michael Tillman, who is on guitar/backup vocals, Kyle Weiss on violin, Ben Hopper on bass, and Kyle Hilkin on drums. I really like the music we're playing so far. It sounds a little bit like Arcade Fire meets Broken Social Scene meets Smashing Pumpkins. We have a gig booked already, and we'll be playing our first show at the Red Light Cafe on Friday, January 8th, so stay tuned for updates and news on this project, including tracks, shows, and a myspace page.

I think there are really a lot of awesome things going on in the Atlanta music scene right now. I like to try to get out there and see local bands as much as I can, and I have found that there is a huge amount of talent in the Atlanta scene. Here are some of my favorite bands/musicians that I have seen playing around town. You guys should all visit their websites, check out their tunes, purchase their music or go see them play if you like what you hear. In my opinion, they all put on great shows.

Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun



Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun on Myspace

Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun is about the collaborative. It’s about the connections between sound and people. It’s about the heart and the head. It’s for mistakes and triumphs, and against arrogance and underconfidence. Today the Moon, Tomorrow the Sun is about sharing the ideas that are created by four friends in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s all for sharing much further than there, penniless or plentiful. - From their myspace page.


A Fight to the Death




A Fight to the Death website

Instead of the usual boring band bio, we’ll just tell you that A Fight to the Death is Avant-Western-Americana-Gypsy music built with Latin and Mediterranean rhythms, surf twang, and melodies fit for lonely midnight drives through the desert. - from their website



Billions and Billions



Billions and Billions on Myspace

We are committed to the progression of music. Most of our songs are written on the spot and we feel that is the way to keep improving our sound. Maybe it's a hit. Maybe it's a miss. But you can bet, whatever it is, it's going to be like nothing you've ever heard before. - from their myspace


Siberia My Sweet



Siberia My Sweet's Website

Siberia My Sweet is an Atlanta based project with a goal to expand the landscape for new wave alternative rock by combining ambient subtlety with a melodic, yet more abrasive, core than the current standard. Forging a harmonious blend of opposites, the music creates a unique beauty that combines both the hard with the soft. Formed in the fall of 2005 by vocalist Kelly Andrews, Siberia My Sweet saw the addition of Luci Harrell (guitar) in 2006 and Erin Sellers (keys) in 2008. Currently showcasing in the southeastern region, Siberia My Sweet is well on its way to making an impact that won’t go unnoticed. - from their myspace page


Sealions



Sealions Website

"This three piece has a lot of potential and I’m thrilled about the prospect of their first full length album dropping sometime this year." -Davy Minor on Ohmpark