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April events! 



Photo by Beverly Crawford

SPRING IS FINALLY HERE! I couldn't be more excited. I always feel like spring is the most hopeful time of the year. For me, anyway.

So. I was at Lenny's last night seeing The Judies, and I was thinking (as I do often), "Wow, there is so much good music going on in Atlanta! I'm so glad to be here right now." Seriously, guys. You can go to any venue in Atlanta virtually any time of the week and see incredible musicians. They're everywhere! And there's music for everyone! The Atlanta music scene is such a great one. You guys should all go take advantage of that!

On that note, there are a lot of great things going on in April, and I thought I'd share my picks for the month with you so you can go check them out! :-)

MUSIC
THEATRE
  • Lookingglass Alice at the Alliance Theatre - 3/31/10 - 5/2/10 - Defy logic – and gravity – in a topsy-turvy, timeless tale of a little girl who journeys through the looking glass to become a queen. Marvel as Alice floats, falls, and flies overhead in a radically reconfigured Alliance Stage. It’s a dizzyingly playful feat of ingenious wonder, peppered with playful acrobatics certain to awaken the kid in all of us. Once you pass through this looking glass, you may never want to come back out!
     
  • THE SHOW! - Out of Hand Theatre - at Horizon Theatre - 4/2/10 - 6/18/10 - A 60 minute late-night Freak Show, Out of Hand style. The Show! is never the same twice because the audience runs The Show. A ridiculously interactive Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Event, The Show! is wild, big fun!!!!
     
  • 100 Saints You Should Know - Actor's Express - 3/18/10 - 4/17/10 - The lives of five people collide in this emotionally charged drama about unraveling faith and the redemptive power of human connection. While Matthew is on an enforced furlough from the priesthood, he seeks refuge at the home of his curious and devout mother. He is followed by Theresa, the rectory’s cleaning lady, who is desperately searching for meaning and completion while trying her best to raise her unruly teenage daughter alone. Through vividly poignant character sketches, we find sometimes that God really is in the details – even when those details get messy. Featuring Carolyn Cook.

VISUAL ARTS
  • Fight or Flight - New work by Kelly McKernan - Beep Beep Gallery - Opening Saturday, April 10th 8:00 pm through May 2nd - In this newest body of work, Kelly McKernan continues to explore her psychological responses to the stresses and struggles of reality. While much of her previous work commented on the consequences of using idealism as a coping mechanism, “Fight or Flight” takes a more direct and personal approach by addressing these responses in terms of biological survival tactics.
     
  • Cartoon Madness 5 - The Lunchbox Show - Alcove Arts Gallery - Opening Saturday, April 10th 8:00 pm - For thirty-five years, metal lunch boxes were a critical accessory for school kids. Starting with the Hopalong Cassidy model in 1951, a lunch box could be a child's most personal statement. While the exterior let everyone know what was the coolest new TV show or pop music group, the interior neatly housed a meal of your choosing (with help from Mom).
     
  • Conor McGrady - On Foreign Soil - Saltworks Gallery - March 19 through April 24 - SALTWORKS is pleased to present On Foreign Soil, featuring new works on paper by New York-based artist Conor McGrady. The exhibition will be on view from March 19, 2010 through April 24, 2010. This is the third solo exhibition on McGrady's work at the gallery.


OTHER EVENTS
  • Collective Conscious Art Show - Friday, April 9th - 8:00 pm - 431 Fair St. SW, Atlanta, GA 30313
     
  • Extremity Experiment - Open Mic Night - Saturday, April 24 - 6:00 pm - Atlanta Contemporary Art Center - As always, we welcome singers, poets and musicians to bless the mic and those looking to network. This experiment will be sure to enlighten and entertain all of your senses.
     
  • Rocky Horror Picture Show at Frolicon - For all of you convention goers out there, make sure you check out Rocky Horror Friday, April 2nd at Midnight (Technically Saturday...). I'll be playing Janet this year and it's carnival themed! Should be a lot of fun!!
     
  • Talking Back to the Muse - Saturday, April 17th - 8:00 pm - Composition Gallery - Poetry Atlanta and Composition Gallery in Candler Park team up for this special evening to celebrate National Poetry Month on Saturday, April 17, 8 p.m. Favorite Atlanta poets will be reading a classic poem followed by a response, rebuttal or rant of their own. It's sure to be a unique evening of poetry.
     

There you go, guys! Lots of incredibly awesome things to check out. I'm definitely going to be at several of those events! So get out there and support your local and independent artists! Share the art! You never know what you'll experience. You could go to a show and the band could play that perfect song that you need to hear, you could see a painting that really touches you, you could see a play that makes you laugh your ass off. There is all kinds of wonderful art going on in Atlanta, so get out there and experience it!

If I missed an event that you'd like to share, make sure you leave a comment here on the blog!

Top 10 favorite albums of 2009  

For more info on these albums and to hear a sample track from each album, listen to the podcast! (It's my first podcast.)

Honorable mention - The Twilight Saga: New Moon Soundtrack




10. Swoon - Silversun Pickups


Silversun Pickups Website
Silversun Pickups Myspace


9. Lost Channels - Great Lake Swimmers



Great Lake Swimmers Website
Great Lake Swimmers Myspace


8. Ain't Too Bright - Electric Owls



Electric Owls Website
Electric Owls Myspace


7. Fantasies - Metric



Metric Website
Metric Myspace


6. Elvis Perkins in Dearland - Elvis Perkins in Dearland



Elvis Perkins in Dearland Website
Elvis Perkins in Dearland Myspace


5. The Resistance - Muse



Muse Website
Muse Myspace


4. Far - Regina Spektor



Regina Spektor Website
Regina Spektor Myspace


3. Veckatimist - Grizzly Bear



Grizzly Bear Website
Grizzly Bear Myspace


2. Up from Below - Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros



Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Website
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros Myspace


1. Conditions - The Temper Trap



The Temper Trap Website
The Temper Trap Myspace
 

In a bloggy mood... 



Photo by Beverly Crawford.

Yes, as in my mom took that photo. I really like her photography. It's mostly nature shots, but I think they're all really full of life. You might even see one of her photos on my poetry book cover, Coiled and Swallowed, when it comes out next summer or fall.

Well, it's autumn, and I'm listening to the Cockteau Twins, and I'm in a rather bloggy mood. That should be a new word. Bloggy.

Things have been going really well for me lately. I'm getting a lot done artistically, I'm being a pretty productive employee, I have been reading a lot more this year, exercising more, being a healthier person, and most importantly, I have the most supportive and awesome family and friends. Everyone in my life has really been there for me lately, even my friends who have moved to other states, and I really, really appreciate it. More than any of you probably know. I'm just really grateful. There's so much negativity on the internet these days (I'm definitely not excluded from that!), but I just wanted to take a second and say that I genuinely appreciate everyone in my life. Even if the contact we have seems insignificant. Even if it's just a facebook comment every now and then. I still really appreciate it. So many people have supported me, especially in my artistic efforts, and I really just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for coming to my shows, thank you for listening to my music or reading my poetry, thank you for coming to see my plays, thank you for reading my random blogs. Haha. Really. I can't even begin to express how much that means to me. And you're awesome.

Speaking of being positive, I made a bunch of "sampler CDs" to take with me to Pride this Saturday. I was planning on handing them out to promote my new CD. They have three tracks, "Excommunicated," "Cyclone," and "Wait," all of which will be on Unsent Letters. I decided it'd be cool if I decorated the CDs myself with sharpies. Different colored sharpies! Most of them just say "Sara Crawford" and list the names of the tracks, but on some of them I put random little positive messages like, "Thanks for supporting local music!" or "Sara Crawford (thinks you're awesome)" or "I love people who listen to new music! You just made my day!" I put all of the CDs in little (multicolored) sleeves with a little (multicolored) piece of paper that has printed information about my CD, so from the outside of the sleeve, you can't see what's written on the actual CD. I just know that if I picked up a CD from someone at a festival and got home and opened it up to a message like "Yeah! You're awesome!" it would definitely make me smile. So hopefully, I'll get to spread some love on Saturday. (But not in an obnoxious way? Haha.) I was thinking maybe some time next month, I'll make some more sampler CDs with happy messages and put them in random coffee shops and places around town where people will pick them up.

Anyway. That's all for tonight. Thanks for listening...er...reading, rather.

Songs listened to while I typed this:
1. Lorelei - Cocteau Twins
2. Dancing - Elisa
3. Morning Bell/Amnesiac - Radiohead
4. She's Got You High - Mumm-Ra
5. Soldier On - The Temper Trap
6. Light My Fire - The Doors

And you should listen, too: