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Happy September!! 



Photo by A.D. Gaspard

September is here! And there are a lot of great things going on!

First of all, I have some upcoming events:
  • Friday, September 3rd - Sara Crawford and the Cult Following at Smith's Olde Bar - The Atlanta Room - 9:00 PM - 21+ - $8 - My band and I will be playing a set at Smith's Olde Bar in the Atlanta Room. Also, our good friend Kayesha Belnap is moving back to Utah, so we're making this a send-off show! She's going to sing a song with us, too. :-)
  • Saturday, September 4th 1:00 AM, Sunday September 5th midnight - The short film I wrote, Leapfrog, will air on Atlanta Shorts on PBA 30, Atlanta's PBS Station - Tune in and check it out!
  • Tuesday, September 7th - My chapbook of poems, Coiled and Swallowed, will be released. It will be available here on my website or through Virgogray Press
  • Friday, September 24th - Sara Crawford and the Cult Following at MINT Gallery - 10:00 PM - $4
There are a ton of really great events going on this month that I'm excited about! Here are a few:


MUSIC
 THEATER
  • A Confederacy of Dunces - Theatrical Outfit - Running until September 12th - A World Premiere Stage Adaptation by Tom Key based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Novel by John Kennedy Toole - Directed by Richard Garner - Like Shakespeare’s Falstaff, Ignatius Reilly of A Confederacy of Dunces has the bombastic comic power to subvert reality and his madcap adventures in the 1960s French Quarter of New Orleans prove to be as laugh out loud hilarious as they are brilliantly revelatory of the human condition. It is a tumultuous story, filled with the truly rendered accents and dialects of New Orleans rebels. Two voices, however, dominate: a sharp-eyed omniscient narrator and the sometimes hapless and self-destructive Ignatius J. Reilly. Despite those tendencies, Reilly composes brilliant sketches of his adversaries and dramatizes a set of restrained values that contrasts dramatically with the world in which he moves, through various insignificant jobs and sometimes slapstick mishaps. These are dramatically played off against the equally untidy lives of a host of supporting characters, including his comically oppressed mother, a radicalized girlfriend who taunts him from New York, a strip-bar operator, a pants factory owner, and a Keystonian New Orleans policeman. Richard Garner, Producing Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Georgia Shakespeare Festival, directs.

  • Becky Shaw - Actor's Express - Running through September 25th - Playwright: Gina Gionfriddo - Director: Freddie Ashley - ATLANTA PREMIERE - "Gina Gionfriddo is some kind of genius! Devastatingly funny. Sends little shockwaves of delight through the house." - Newlywed Suzanna fixes her best friend Max up with her husband's beautiful but odd co-worker Becky Shaw. The blind date ignites a fuse that will soon set Becky off in the midst of Suzanna's family. The resulting blast of dysfunctional hilarity has everyone scrambling for cover, but finding none.


                                                                                                                                   
  • The Nerd - Kudzu Playhouse - Running through September 19th - By Larry Shue - Directed by Wally Hinds - This extraordinarily inventive, side-splitting comedy is one of the funniest plays ever written. The action centers on the hilarious dilemma of a young architect who is visited by a man he's never met but who saved his life in Vietnam—the visitor turning out to be an incredibly inept, hopelessly stupid "nerd" who outstays his welcome with a vengeance. "Shue delivers a neatly crafted package that uses some classic comic forms to bring the audience to its knees, laughing."

VISUAL ARTS/OTHER
  • D. Lammie Hanson - art and music - Friday, September 3rd - 6:00 PM - Avisca Fine Art Gallery - Multi-disciplinary artist D. Lammie Hanson debuts new artwork from her 4 Elements series and perform music she created in conjunction with the art project . Free

     
  • LUCKY STAR: An Evening of Art & Burlesque inspired by Madonna - dooGallery - September 25 - 8:00 PM - $10 donation - Madonna’s unfettered spirit of individuality will be used to benefit The Rainbow Center, an Atlanta-based organization who serves the needs of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered (GLBTQ), those questioning their sexual orientation and gender, their families and friends. The Rainbow Center is a community resource and support center for social, therapeutic, spiritual, educational or volunteer pursuits.
     
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
  • QuickSylver Productions seeking short films for SylverReel: A Night of Shorts - The event will be held at the Midtown Arts Cinema. Built in 1987, operated by Landmark since 2003, and located in the Midtown Promenade Center (at 8th & Monroe), the Midtown Art Cinema is quickly becoming the premier home for independent, foreign language and documentary films in the heart of in-town Atlanta. Click here for submission info.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Hope you all have a wonderful fall, and I hope you all get out there and support local and independent artists!

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!

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!