Asheville Artists, Instructors, Demonstrators, and Performers needed for upcoming events

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date:  December 10, 2010

City of Asheville

Parks, Recreation & Cultural Arts Department

Contact:

Diane Ruggiero, Superintendent of Cultural Arts

Office: 828-259-5815

Email: druggerio@ashevillenc.gov

ARTIST REQUEST FOR QUALIFICATIONS

Instructors, Demonstrators, and Performers

Deadline: February 28, 2011

Asheville, NC – The Cultural Arts Division of City of Asheville Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts Department is seeking artist instructors, demonstrators, and performers for cultural arts programming throughout Asheville.

Artists are invited to submit portfolios of their current work along with a resume, letter of interest, and references. Artists may submit as individuals or as teams.

The application deadline is Monday, February 28, 2011.  All application materials must be submitted online through CaFÉ™ at www.callforentry.org.  There are no fees for artists to apply or to use the CaFÉ™ online application system.

The Cultural Arts Division works with instructors, demonstrators and performers to provide hands-on art classes, demonstrations or performances to children, teens, adults, and seniors throughout the community.

Art forms may include, but art not limited to, all two-dimensional art forms (including drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, encaustic, etc.), all three dimensional art forms (including sculpture, metal working, woodworking, ceramics, furniture making, etc.), dance, music, theater, circus arts, new media, textile arts, folk art, paper arts, bookmaking, candle making, literary arts, etc. All art forms are welcome.

This call is open to all artists age 18 years and older who currently live or work in Buncombe, Madison, Yancey, McDowell, Rutherford, Henderson, Transylvania, and Haywood Counties. Visiting artists and performers are welcome to submit qualifications for times they are in town.

Opportunities are available to artists, demonstrators and performers to attend community meetings to ask questions about the process and CaFE™.

Current meeting dates are:

Wednesday, December 15 at 2pm At Fine Arts League

Saturday, December 18 at 11am at Recreation Park

Wednesday, January 12 at 2pm At Fine Arts League

Monday, January 31 at 6pm at Recreation Park

Thursday, February 10 at 6pm At Fine Arts League

Additional dates will be scheduled.

For detailed information and to submit online, visit www.callforentry.org or contact Diane Ruggiero, Superintendent of Cultural Arts at druggiero@ashevillenc.gov or 828-259-5815.

 

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WIN TICKETS!!! Asheville Vaudeville’s Halloween Special offers the “Best Live Show in WNC” for a great cause

THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO WIN TICKETS!*

We are offering two free tickets to whoever can convincingly write “why they should receive two free tickets to this week’s Asheville Vaudeville Halloween Special”?

Post your answer as a comment to this blog.

Asheville Vaudeville Halloween

Fri, October 29th & Sat the 30th
Gala and Costume Party at 6:30PM both nights, show at 7:30
Asheville Community Theatre, 35 East Walnut St.
$12 tickets available at the Box Office or at AshevilleVaudeville.com

____________________________________________________

Asheville’s LARGEST vaudeville variety show returns with an all-new Halloween Special featuring some of Western North Carolina’s BEST comedy, juggling, magic, acrobatics, aerial arts, short plays, sideshow and more!

We’ve pulled out all the stops this time to bring you more than 45 of the region’s most sensational performers in an all-local, all-Asheville production that includes the contributions of more than 20 regional theatre companies and performance troupes. And to top it all: Asheville Vaudeville just won “Best Live Show in WNC” in the 2010 Mountain Xpress Reader’s Poll!

That’s right folks: we’ve got everything from acrobats to belly dancing on stilts, sketch comedy, knife juggling, opera, aerial arts, marionettes and more – culminating in TWO full nights of entertainment.

Asheville Vaudeville is a charity organization that gives A THIRD of all ticket proceeds to MANNA Food Bank. Two sold out houses feeds 5,000 meals to our hungry friends and neighbors

Visit www.AshevilleVaudeville.com and buy your tickets today!

Also find them on facebook and twitter:

THIS IS YOUR CHANCE TO WIN TICKETS!*

We are offering two free tickets to whoever can convincingly write “why they should receive two free tickets to this week’s Asheville Vaudeville Halloween Special”?

Post your answer as a comment to this blog.

*Ticket contest deadline is Thursday night at 2am. Make your post by then and you will be entered to win a pair of tickets. Winners will be notified through this blog on Friday by Noon. You can choose the night that you wish to attend.

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After LAAFF Video Roundup 2010

Check out some of the Great videos that people have posted of LAAFF 2010!

Stay tuned to this You Tube Channel for more as they get posted as well as many videos of LAAFFs past.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wF7YWEnT2S8

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Asheville FM interviews LAAFF

Asheville FM interview LAAFF performers starting this weekend!

Check out the schedule below and be sure to tune in to www.ashevillefm.org

You can also find Asheville FM on Facebook and Twitter!

LAAFF Performer Interviews:

Nathan Ellis-  Community Countdown Weds from 4-6pm

Wed Sept 1^st– Screaming jays

Wed Sept 1st –nataraj

Randy B – And the Address – Fridays from 9pm to midnight

9pm Friday Sept 3^rd– Death of Analog

Greg Lyons show The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly Fridays 2-5pm

Fri Aug 27^th 2pm Bobby Miller and the Virginia DareDevils

.

Sun the 29th Steven Howard’s Mental Notes from 10am-1pm

10:30 Peggy Ratusz

11:00 If you wannas

11:30 Sirius B

12:00 Paper Tiger

12:30 Ol’ Hoopty

For the Full list of LAAFF performers (with links to their sites) and their scheduled times click the LAAFF logo below:

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Smilefest Reunion May 21-23rd, 2010!

I am super excited about the upcoming Smilefest Reunion in Pinnacle, NC. Not only is one of my all-time favorite festivals getting ressurected this spring, my favorite bands are playing, and all my friends will be there; but it is also my birthday weekend!

Come on out and help me celebrate!!!

Here is a message from the Smilefest Staff:

“We are extremely excited to be announce the return of one of our favorite NC festivals, Smilefest 2010! After taking a 3 year hiatus, one of the best  festivals in the southeast is back…with a twist. Smilefest is a PRIVATE, INVITATION ONLY event this year. ALL TICKETS MUST BE PURCHASED IN ADVANCE!

Because you are friends with Erin and Dreamspider Publicity, we would like to extend a special invitation to you to join us at Smilefest 2010. Come and help celebrate Erin’s birthday weekend. If you purchase your tickets before 4/23/10 you will be entered to win a special VIP package which will include a meet and greet, autograph session with Michael Franti.

When: May 21-23, 2010

Where: Jomeokee Campground in Pinnacle NC

Event Website: www.smilefest.com

How to get tickets: Go to the website and click on ticket link. Password to purchase ticket is “vassar”. OR send an email to smileagain4@gmail.com and request an invitation to Smilefest. Be sure to mention that you were invited by us.

Confirmed Artists: Michael Franti and Spearhead, Keller Williams and The Keels,  Acoustic Syndicate, Pimps of Joytime, Cornmeal, MaGraw Gap, Josh Phillips Folk Festival, Shane Pruitt and many more. Check the website for a list of all artists.

Hope to see you all at Smilefest in May!

A great video from the vault: Acoustic Syndicate from Smilefest 2004:

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Americana Roots Posts Live Archives of Larry Keel and Adam Aijala

Americana Roots posted podcasts of

Larry Keel and Adam Aijala!

Larry Keel and Adam Aijala Part 1

Mississippi Studios
Portland, Oregon
12-02-2009

Setlist:

– Bloody Mary Morning
– Wildwood Drive
– Long Time
– The Mountain Song
– Hard Rocker’s Blues
– Amos Moses
– Honestly
– Pioneers
– Instrumental

Click here to go to Americana Roots Site and listen to the podcast for Part 1.

Larry Keel and Adam Aijala Part 2

Mississippi Studios
Portland, Oregon
12-02-2009

Setlist:

– Corn Liquor
– Not One Drop > Jerry’s Farewell > Not One Drop
– Rain still Falls
– No Matter What They Say
– Stuck In The Middle
– Critters
– The Gilpin Swing
– Culpepper Woodchuck
– Uncle Lucius
– Left Me In A Hole
– Groundspeed

Click here to go to Americana Roots Site and listen to the podcast for Part 2

Larry Keel: guitar and vocals
Adam Aijala: guitar, harmonica and vocals

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Rockabilly Zombie Music With Ukeleles? Yes Please!!!

October 27th, 2009 Posted in Music, Zombies

Posted in Geek–tastic.com

by Patrick

News about Comics, TV, Movies, Video Games and all sorts of other Geeky Stuff

Many thanks to BoingBoing for pointing out to me the new EP from a band called Mad Tea Party.  The album is called Zombie Boogie, and it’s perfect Halloween party music.  With lyrics like this, how could you go wrong?

Zombie boogie, it’s a killer jive
Zombie boogie, it’s not alive
Zombie boogie, no one survives

Zombie boogie, it’s the latest craze
Zombie boogie, straight from the grave
Zombie boogie, puts you in a daze

Zombie boogie, it’s a solid fact
Zombies died, now they’re comin’ back
It’s the zombie boogie, and you’re a snack

To hear the EP’s songs, including Zombie Boogie and Cemetery Stomp, go here.  You can also download the tracks there as well for about a dollar a song.  If you download all of them, you get a bonus song, a cover of the 80’s classic Abba Cadabra.  Awesome!!!

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Live Review: Larry Keel & Natural Bridge

Live Review // New Earth Music Hall // Athens, GA // Oct. 9, 2009

posted October 27, 2009

-Review and photos by John Barrett

Performer Magazine’s Blog

Bluegrass has never been my favorite style of music. Although I understand the down-home vibe it channels, it’s always seemed to me a restrictive genre, and most of the bands I’ve heard blend together indistinctively. So when I ventured out to a bluegrass show at New Earth, I wasn’t exactly holding my breath.

Fortunately, the Virginia-based progressive bluegrass band Larry Keel & Natural Bridge completely surpassed my expectations. Whereas I expected a concert filled with predictable, countrified chord progressions and an emphasis on overly cheery vocals, these guys turned the usual conventions of the genre on its head.

photo by John Barrett

Comprising Larry Keel (acoustic guitar/vocals), Jenny Keel (upright bass), Mark Schimick (mandolin/vocals) and Jason Flournoy (banjo), the instrumental setup was very much akin to a traditional bluegrass band — making the musical contrast all the more unexpected. Of course the foursome incorporated some of the sunny, homespun vocal harmonies that define the bluegrass genre, but they were sparsely utilized. Refreshingly, they focused on intense instrumental jams, during which they tossed solo passages back and forth at dizzying speeds.

photo by John Barret

Larry Keel, Schimick and Flournoy all displayed stunning virtuosity on their respective instruments. Keel, replete with a beard that could house a bird’s nest, was the clear leader of the group, driving each jam with rapid-fire melodic lines and arpeggios that would be challenging to replicate even on an electric guitar. Schimick and Flournoy pulled their weight as well, rising up to match Keel’s insane speeds. This three-pronged attack created a flurry of motion in the group’s sound comparable to flamenco music. Jenny Keel’s pulsating bass lines provided a firm anchor to the whirlwind, and she also served as the group’s mouthpiece onstage.

photo by John Barrett

To everyone in the audience’s surprise, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge even got heavy, with a sudden surge of distorted guitars and vigorous, off-kilter riffage that recalled progressive rock.

And in the vein of the freewheeling, all-embracing nature of bluegrass, the band invited no less than 10 musicians onto the stage for the explosive encore, who wielded instruments ranging from tenor saxophone to melodica.

-Review and photos by John Barrett Posted by PerformerMag at 5:40 PM

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Soundtrack to a city

The all-free, all-day Just Because You’re Asheville concert returns

by Lydia See in Vol. 16 / Iss. 13 on 10/21/2009

Mountain Xpress

“Something about this town drew us here as musicians; now we’re going to be part of the soundtrack to this town,” says singer/songwriter Oso Rey. It’s true that Asheville grooves to its own beat, like the snippets of buskers and the drum circle and music flowing from bars as you walk by. If a musician is lucky enough, those sound bites stay with people, and help govern the ever-changing face of the Asheville musicscape.

Just because you're Galactic: The New Orleans funksters headline the day-long free festival. Get ready to get down.

Rey, who now fronts roots-rock outfit Soulgrass Rebellion, said that what originally attracted him and his family to Asheville was that “The music & art scene seemed to be thriving, and had good community support around it.” After living here and playing music for a few years, Rey found his opportunity to contribute, “What I’ve realized that matters the most in this scene is that you’ve gotta put something into the community. I arrived three years ago thinking I could just show up and that would be enough. I’m glad it didn’t work out that way. That would’ve been all about hype. And hype fades, and gets shifted somewhere else. This town has taught me to slow my roll.”

But Rey won’t slow his roll too much this Saturday when he joins a heady roster of local (Thunderdrums), regional (DubConscious, Jamie McLean Band), and nationally-touring (Galactic with Corey Henry, Larry Keel with Bryon McMurry) bands. The event? The Just Because You’re Asheville (JBYA) downtown street festival: part adieu to summer, part why-the-heck-not opportunity to rock out, part thank you to and from area musicians.

Organized by Mountain Roots Management, the day-long event teams a supergroup of local businesses to pull off the day-long six-band fete. “We are blessed in this area with wonderful free events like Asheville Earth Day, Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Fest and Blue Ridge Pride, to name a very few,” says Bob Robertson partnering company AMJam Productions. “Just Because You’re Asheville tries to bring a little of all those events together, for an end-of-year celebration. As the winter months grow near, we just wanted to throw an appreciation event to all the folks of Asheville who support live music, local businesses and help make Asheville what it is.”

Roberts adds that AMJam and Mountain Roots Management also organize Asheville Earth Day — the start of the festival season which JBYA (now in its second year) bookends.

Last year’s JBYA featured Keller Williams with EOTO and Josh Phillips Folk Festival supporting. An estimated 4,000 people patronized the event, also showing support for the event sponsors’ chosen non-profit, the Dogwood Alliance. This year’s non-profit beneficiary, LEAF in Schools and Streets, is an educational program dedicated to providing world influenced music and arts education to the youth of communities both locally and internationally.

Photo by Jon C. Hancock

One change from 2008’s JBYA: A $25 VIP upgrade that includes a T-shirt and poster, private restrooms, discounted beverages and refreshments and a reserved viewing area. VIP options like these at large free events are an affordable luxury which contribute to the longevity of the event, though the festival seems to be designed to be enjoyed thoroughly as a general admission patron. Which is to say, even the port-a-potty using, sidewalk-occupying masses are in for a good time, not to mention a serious dose of the evolving Asheville soundtrack.

It’s the wide-appeal lineup that rounds out the fun-filled day. Soulgrass Rebellion culls influences of roots, reggae and bluegrass and band members from Laura Reed and Deep Pocket, The Fly Brothers and Afromotive. Thunderdrums is a world-beat electronica project that lives up to its name.  Athens, Ga.-based DubConscious bolsters deep reggae grooves with pulsing Afrobeat. Guitarist Jamie McLean, who fronts his namesake group, gained notoriety in the new Orleans-bases Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Also from New Orleans, funk outfit Galactic fotifies its hip-shaking instrumentals with the jazz-tinged trombone of Corey Henry. And, no stranger to the Asheville area, Virginia bluegrass picker Larry Keel teams up with Acoustic Syndicate banjo player Bryon McMurry. (Need hip-hop in the mix? Keep rocking at the GFE after-party at Stella Blue, 9 p.m.)

Now that’s a soundtrack.

who: Just Because You’re Asheville
what: Free downtown Asheville street festival featuring Galactic, DubConscious, Larry Keel with Bryon McMurry, Soulgrass Rebellion, Jamie McLean Band and Thunderdrums
where: Lexington Ave. between the I-240 overpass and Woodfin Street
when: Saturday, Oct. 24 (1 p.m. to 9 p.m., free. http://www.jbya.org)

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Galen Kipar Project Releases New Single “October Snow”

Galen Kipar Project is releasing a single this October. The new single “October Snow” (the carpenter yells) was inspired by the fall season.  It reflects on the transition to winter and the memories of summertime specifically in WNC.   Since it was the region and the people that inspired the effort, they thought it would be fun to release the single exclusively to WNC and the surrounding area the band calls home.  What is more, this single is a preview of the new release due out next year…

NEW ALBUM RELEASE – April 2010

The GKP is currently working on it’s fourth release in four years at Echo Mtn. Studio in Asheville to be released in April 2010.  The band has already started recording with their first weekend being a 12 hour sessions on October 3rd and 4th.  The new release will showcase Jeremy Young- drum kit, Jon Morrow-8 string guitar-bass,  Camellia Delk-viola/ vocals and Galen Kipar-vocals, classical / steel guitars & harmonica.  The new release will also feature Aaron Ballance (Dehlia Low)-lap steel/ dobro, and Aaron Price-piano.

Buy now at one of the websites to help the band with production costs and get an autographed CD and poster 2 months prior to public release date at a discount rate.

LINK TO KENNEDY CENTER VIDEO OF GKP PERFORMANCE
The GKP performed at the renowned Kennedy Center in Washington, DC this past August.
To view the DVD online at the KC‘s archives go to: www.kennedy-center.org,  Millenium Stage Arhives.

OR…  watch VIDEO here.

GKP was also featured in WNC Magazine this summer as one of the top bands you need to hear in 09’

Please stay tuned for more news about the  Galen Kipar Project!

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