Tour schedule stops include Meow Wolf Denver, Charleston Bluegrass Festival, Key West, and more. Photo: Saint Rocke
Hot on the heels of the 20th-anniversary celebration of their incredibly popular and influential second studio album, Town by Town, Colorado’s beloved jam-grass pioneers Yonder Mountain String Band have just announced their tour plans for 2022. (Yonder Mountain String Band, 2021)
Kicking things off at Denver’s newly-opened and incredibly popular Meow Wolf Convergence Station on February 24 for a one-of-a-kind immersive music and art experience, the veteran band will continue into the Winter Wondergrass festival in Steamboat, Colorado. March 2022 finds YMSB crossing the Southeast to some familiar haunts and festivals and new venues alike. The run will start in St. Petersburg, Florida, before heading south to Key West and then back up the east coast to Savannah, Georgia, and Carrboro, North Carolina’s famed Cat’s Cradle. Other notable standalone shows include Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, Brooklyn Bowl Nashville, and Austin’s other great outdoor stage at Scoot Inn. Along the way, the band will appear at a number of fan-favorite festivals, including Suwannee Spring Reunion, Charleston Bluegrass Festival, and more. A full list of these new dates is below and ticket information for each show is available online.
Catch Yonder Mountain String Band On Tour: 2/24 – Denver, CO – Meow Wolf Convergence Station 2/26 – Steamboat, CO – Winter Wondergrass 2/27 – Steamboat, CO – Winter Wondergrass 3/11 – St. Petersburg, FL – Jannus Live 3/12 – Immokalee, FL – Southland Bluegrass and Wilderness Festival 3/13 – Key West, FL – Parade Grounds at Fort East Martello 3/15 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle 3/16 – Savannah, GA – Victory North 3/17 – Live Oak, FL – Suwannee Spring Reunion 3/18 – Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse 3/19 – Charleston, SC – Charleston Bluegrass Festival 3/20 – Nashville, TN – Brooklyn Bowl 3/23 – Fayetteville, AR – George’s Majestic Lounge 3/24 – Austin, TX – Scoot Inn 3/25 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live 3/26 – Dallas, TX – The Studio at the Factory
A live music event to welcome Alex Meixner is scheduled for January 27. Photo: Krause’s Café & Biergarten, used with permission.
Krause’s Café & Biergarten is excited to announce that nationally acclaimed musician, performer, bandleader, educator, and a leading advocate of polka music, Alex Meixner, is partnering with the restaurant and venue to expand its entertainment programming and community events. (Krause’s Café & Biergarten, 2022)
“We are excited about the opportunity to work with Alex on an ongoing basis and leverage his talents and presence in the community into improved entertainment options and educational opportunities. Alex’s experience as a touring entertainer, educator and talent agent can do a lot to enhance the entertainment at Krause’s for both guests and the musicians.” – Krause’s Café & Biergarten’s owner Chris Snider
Alex Meixner is a Grammy-nominated musician with performances on more than 50 albums, including 17 where he was the bandleader or soloist. His band performs approximately 180 shows per year across the nation. Alex also devotes his time to guest speaking in lectures and hosting master classes.
Alex Meixner, under the umbrella of his talent agency, AM Management, will be working to build the repertoire of entertainment at Krause’s, as well as creating engaging and fun community programming. His band will also be performing at Krause’s throughout the year, including sets at Maifest and Oktoberfest later this year. Alex will also have a role in coordinating a New Braunfels Citizenship Program with Krause’s, a monthly event where participants can learn about the town’s history, traditions, institutions, events, and culture.
“I am super excited to collaborate with the team at Krause’s – they’ve established a national reputation for representing the history of New Braunfels’ German culture through food, music and gemütlichkeit.” My ideals as a musical entertainer are encapsulated in this synergy and will allow us to bring more creative offerings to downtown’s scene throughout the year.” – Alex Meixner
On Thursday, January 27 from 6p.m. – 9p.m., there will be an event at Krause’s Café to officially welcome Alex to New Braunfels with music by Terry Cavanagh & The Alpine Express featuring performances by Alex. The event is open to the public and tickets are $5 in advance or at the door. A limited amount of VIP tables seating eight are available for $120 a table.
Krause’s Café & Biergarten is a New Braunfels historic restaurant opened in 1938 and successfully run until 1995. Today, Krause’s Café honors the previous traditions of the restaurant with the addition of a ‘Biergarten,’ live music, and more. The menu reflects New Braunfels’ German heritage as well as South Texas flavors. Over 100 beers are available on tap with local, regional, and international options. The restaurant also features cocktails and wines on tap.
Dynamic accordionist Alex Meixner mixes an array of musical styles into traditional, exuberant Central European party music, letting die-hard polka fans to enjoy the evolution and letting hipsters discover all there is to love in the innately fun genre. Solo and with his band, he has performed at major venues and festivals around the world, as well as at uncountable accordion-centric events. His virtuosic yet quirky style has made him a sought-after collaborator. He worked alongside Jack Black in the Sundance-screened, Netflix film, The Polka King and with Postmodern Jukebox on one of their viral musical mashups.
Mind Over Manners will be out January 21, 2022. Photo: Rob Aldridge & The Proponents
Alabama-based rock and rollers Rob Aldridge & The Proponents leaned into a two-part strategy for their upcoming second album Mind Over Manners: speak thoughtful truths and back them up with tasteful grooves. They dodged the dreaded sophomore-slump by a mile, delivering a twelve-song collection strong enough to break through into the ranks of fellow-Alabaman contemporaries like Jason Isbell & the 400 Unit or Alabama Shakes. Mind Over Manners will be out January 21, 2022. (Rob Aldridge & the Proponents, 2021)
The Props crafted a tune both effortlessly timeless in its feel and devastatingly timely with its message. Inspired directly by the Black Lives Matter movement, Aldridge describes “Mind Over Manners” as “a response to white people who dismiss the movement based on the riots and property damage.” Aldridge adds, “It’s essentially asking white people who feel this way, ‘If you’re being honest with yourself about the history of racism in this country, how can you blame them for rioting?’” Fans can hear “Mind Over Manners” now at this link and pre-order or pre-save the full album ahead of its January 21st release right here. JamBase premiered Rob Aldridge & the Proponents’ title track from their new album, Mind Over Manners.
For a talented band that has paid its dues, the release of Mind Over Manners should be a triumph. And it is. But it is a bittersweet triumph. In April of 2021, Proponents bassist Stone Anderson died from an accidental drug overdose. His passing shook the North Alabama music scene and of course the band. For Aldridge, it has been especially tough. He and Anderson had been tight since they were little kids. Even now, Aldridge will sometimes catch himself reaching for the phone to text Stone a new music idea or just a funny thought. As the finishing touches were being put on Mind Over Manners, Aldridge was haunted by the fact this was the last thing he had ever work with Stone on. Anderson’s death at age 27 was truly tragic, but the new album is a fitting final statement from a musician destined for bigger stages.
Mind Over Manners Track list: Mind Over Manners Poor Taste Little Lou This Time Twisted Blanket Beatlesque Nowhere Want It More Mean Grass Explaining To Do Devil On Sunday Loneliest of Company Ball of Yarn
Tall Dark Pines will be out January 27, 2022. Photo: David Jameson
David Jameson, a former corporate consultant turned songwriter, is pleased to announce his debut album Tall Dark Pines which will be released on January 27, 2022. Produced by Duane Lundy and engineered by Lundy and Tom Hnatow, the album touches on different aspects of inspiration found through the varied and impactful chapters of Jameson’s life. Although he is often inspired by the music he discovers during his travels, David’s sound and soul remain firmly rooted in the American country and folk tradition. (David Jameson, 2021)
The album’s first single and title track “Tall Dark Pines” harkens back to the musical folklore tradition of murder ballads. A true and tragic story, a husband sets out to rebalance the scales of justice by taking matters into his own hands. Using his near-perfected detail oriented approach to songwriting, Jameson paints a vivid picture for the listener as to transport one to the deep woods in which this tragic story takes place. Inspired by the murder ballad classic “In The Pines,” “Tall Dark Pines” feels at once modern and timeless. Beloved Americana podcast Hippies & Cowboys debuted the track. Click hereto preorder/pre save the album.
David Jameson’s songs, and in particular the ones to be heard on Tall Dark Pines, mirror his life, full of stories marked by vivid imagery and a broad set of influences. The stories featured on his upcoming album are closer to home than most of his adventures. Many of the songs tell the stories of his family and community that were passed onto David during the pandemic. David brings these modern stories to life by incorporating elements of traditional American country and folk ballads of the 19th and 18th centuries as well as those of the British Isles that date back even further. This approach inspired Americana Highways to call David “a master writer and storyteller, propelling a significant folk tradition into the modern era.”
Mallory Smith in Will Battersby’s Salt in My Soul. Photo: Giant Pictures, used with permission.
Powerful documentary Salt in My Soul will be released theatrically in New York (Cinema Village) and Los Angeles (Laemmle Royal) on January 21 followed by the VOD Release in the US, Canada, and UK & Ireland and key territories worldwide on January 25. (Giant Pictures, 2021)
A Feature Documentary Film by Will Battersby Run time: 96 Minutes (USA- Feature Documentary)
VOD Platforms:
US- Apple TV/iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Microsoft/Xbox, Vudu Canada- Apple TV/ITunes, Microsoft/Xbox UK- Apple TV/iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Microsoft/Xbox Ireland- Apple TV/iTunes, Google Play
Cable Platforms:
US- InDemand TVOD (Comcast, Spectrum, Cox), DirectTV/AT&T and more
Based on the bestselling posthumously published memoir of the same name, Salt in My Soul is a documentary and classic coming of age story about a young woman figuring out how to live while dying. Mallory Smith was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at the age of three. In her twenty five-year battle with the deadly disease, she carved out a life that most of us do not come close to. Using Mallory’s posthumously published 2500-page secret diaries, hundreds of hours of newly discovered footage, and audio recordings, the film offers Mallory as the narrator of her own extraordinary chronicle.
Following her realization at age nine that she would die young, Mallory secretly began to record her inner thoughts in her diary while throwing herself at life: friendships in elementary school, lovers and sports teams in high school, the little travel her disease would allow. She attended college and explored the wider world, one that was just beyond her grasp. She became a devoted environmentalist, seeing a startling and vivid metaphor for her declining health in the destruction of our world. Her father feverishly researched treatment options, desperate that the death sentence be commuted. Her mother obsessively helped her to live, cooking to maintain her weight and create community, raising money for research, and teaching her to prioritize relationships over all else. Mallory fought. And she wrote – about her fears, her loves, her pain, her depression, her hopes, and gave a voice to the many millions who struggle with invisible or visible illness. In Mallory’s final days, her father uncovered a long-forgotten treatment that is now changing the world of medicine. Heartbreakingly, it came too late to save his daughter.
Mallory was a young woman who lived with illness her whole life, who suffered immeasurably but who always found the will to live happy. Her story is a testament to enduring parental love and determination and the healing power of memoir as medicine, inspiring all of us to live life as fully as possible in the face of the challenges we all face.
“Salt in My Soul: An Unfinished Life,” by Mallory Smith, is a powerful, intimate, and inspiring portrait of a brave young woman living with chronic illness. Mallory understood that patient voices need to be amplified in order to improve healthcare, that the intersection of human behavior and nature is critical to environmental sustainability, and that love and friendship give life meaning. As Mallory’s body deteriorated, she sharpened her mind, crystalized her thinking, and honed her writing skills. In her 2500 pages of private journal entries, she created poetry out of prosaic experiences. Beautifully written, provocative, and peppered with insights, “Salt in My Soul” reminds us to follow Mallory’s mantra and “Live Happy.”
Giant Pictures is a leading digital distributor that is committed to empowering filmmakers to own their distribution. With offices in New York and Los Angeles, we work directly with rights owners to distribute movies and TV shows to VOD and streaming platforms in North America and worldwide. Our content partners range from first-time filmmakers to award-winning independent producers, as well as notable studios Alamo Drafthouse Films, Abramorama Selects, Participant, Tribeca Enterprises, Utopia Distribution, and XYZ Films. A division of Giant Interactive, the award-winning digital media and technology services company, we distribute across 45+ platforms, including AppleTV, Netflix, Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, Tubi, and Peacock.
The acquisition establishes EVO Entertainment Group as largest operator of cinema-entertainment centers in the country. Photo: EVO Entertainment Group
EVO Entertainment Group (“EVO”) and ShowBiz Cinemas (“ShowBiz”), two leading innovators in motion picture entertainment, announced this week that they have closed a transaction under which EVO has acquired 100% of the stock of Showbiz Cinemas in an all-cash deal. (EVO Entertainment Group, 2022)
“Today is a monumental moment for our company and our industry. This transaction establishes EVO as the country’s largest operator of cinema-entertainment centers and paves the way for accelerated progress and innovation within a new era of cinema.” – Mitch Roberts, Founder and CEO of EVO Entertainment Group and 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree.
Kevin Mitchell, CEO & Founder of Showbiz Cinemas, along with Mitch Roberts represent multiple generations in the cinema business. Their pioneering of cinema entertainment centers has been a smashing success. Kevin Mitchell reflected, “It is a wonderful time to entrust the company I started to a fourth-generation motion picture exhibitor and family member, because Showbiz Cinemas just had an all-time record-breaking holiday season! I am confident that Mitch’s leadership and Marbella’s capital strength will ensure a long and successful run for Showbiz, and I now look forward to exploring new ventures both in and out of the entertainment industry.”
The combined enterprise will provide dynamic and multi-faceted entertainment experiences to over eight million patrons annually in 16 venues with 148 screens, 108 bowling lanes, 9 full-service restaurants & bars, a 3,000-capacity live music venue, and over 30,000 combined square feet of gaming and attractions across four states, including Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, and Wyoming. EVO’s expansion will continue into 2022 with additional venues currently under construction and expected to open in the coming months. The acquisition marks the first major move in the partnership between EVO and Marbella Interests, the Austin, Texas-based family office of Formentera Partners founder and former Parsley Energy founder and CEO, Bryan Sheffield.
EVO Entertainment Group is an Austin based out-of-home entertainment operator made up from several innovative brands including EVO Entertainment, EVO Cinemas, and EVO Concerts. Since its launch in 2014, EVO has gained a reputation as a leader in innovation, as well as one of the fastest growing independent cinema circuits in the country.
Founded in 2007 by exhibition industry veteran Kevin Mitchell, ShowBiz Cinemas is an independently owned and operated entertainment operator offering bowling, movies, games, food, and more across nine entertainment venues with 89 screens and 70 bowling lanes across Texas, Oklahoma, Florida, and Wyoming.
Lord Nelson carries their live show into the recording studio with Transmission. Photo: Lord Nelson
When it came time for Lord Nelson to get back into the studio to make a new album, the band wanted to lean into exactly what has earned them fans and thousands of streams of their songs throughout their career: a burn-down-the-house live show. The Charlottesville-based band was looking for a way to create a calling card for their boisterous live act, something that would bridge the gap between studio and performance, so they took a batch of road tested songs into the studio with a very simple goal in mind and achieved just that. The resulting album, Transmission, will be released January 21, but Lord Nelson recently shared the first track from the album. (Lord Nelson, 2021)
“Tooth and Nail” opens Transmission with a raucous groove and electric guitars every bit appropriate for the kind of lights-down, beginning of the show anticipation usually reserved for the stage. “Navigating this world is a full time job and the person we become may be sometimes far removed from the vision we had when we set out on this journey,” say the band’s members about “Tooth and Nail.” “Own your disasters and keep moving.” Watch the video for “Tooth and Nail” now at this linkand pre-order or pre-save Transmission ahead of its January 21 release here.
For the first time, this Lord Nelson record features three writers and vocalists, with brothers Henry and Calloway Jones contributing to Kai Crowe-Getty’s set of songs. Rounding out the group are Andrew Hollifield and Niko Cventanovich on bass, Johnny Stubblefield on drums, and Dave Pinto on pedal steel and harmonica. The collection of songs marks a wide range of stories and characters, but there is a creeping lightness that settles around the edges of what could be darker themes in other hands. From car crashes, murder, bank robberies, devotion, trucks in lakes, drug busts, and relationships, to hope, triumph, and overcoming the odds, this record engages a wide view of the human experience.
Using a converted barn to track the record, guitarist Calloway Jones and collaborator Ivan Barry engineered two sessions across a few weeks, and the bones of an album were fitted into a suit. Lord Nelson initially worked to move through recording quickly as to release Transmission and get back on the road. Like the rest of the world, those plans came to a sudden halt with the pandemic. The band wondered, “Does the world need this music now? Will it ever see the light of day?” But finishing vocals in blanket forts, tracking guitars in an old farm house, and sending the sessions to friends to record parts enabled this process to grow and change slightly with the enforced break from touring. It allowed the band to pause and take in the songs and choices with a bit more thought. It changed the work and brought a reexamination. Ultimately, this record intends to bring people together—to dance, sing in the car, hum along, crank up on the stereo, and to stop taking life too seriously for a few minutes.
Transmission Track list: Tooth and Nail Hell or High Water Country Desperation Drag Me Down Putting in the Time Broken Part Rolling Stoned Cheap Red Wine Let It Ride Burn It Down Julia
Jamestown Revival’s new album Young Man will be out January 14, 2022. Photo: google
In 2020, Jamestown Revival released A Field Guide To Loneliness, an intimate collection of songs that finds Clay and Chance reflecting on recent times whereby human contact was limited more than ever. A Field Guide To Loneliness follows Jamestown Revival’s 2019 critically acclaimed release, San Isabel. Recorded in a remote cabin in the majestic and calming landscape of central Colorado, the band embraced a minimalist approach in the recording of San Isabel. Finding inspiration in ‘60s and early 70’s folk and pop, the original songs on San Isabel show reverence for early John Denver and Bob Dylan, as well as Simon & Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Their new album, Young Man, will be released on January 14, 2022. (Jamestown Revival, 2021)
With a swaggering waltz, close harmonies, and a wealth of slide guitars, Jamestown Revival has perfectly summarized the dog days of feeling stranded by the events of the last two years in their brand new single “These Days.” Straddling the line of good-time music and down-and-out feelings, “These Days” feels universal; a blurry memory of a worldwide shared experience, but a little closer to home for those who found themselves out of work for months on end. “‘These Days’ is about being down in the dumps, hamstrung, and unable to work,” say Jamestown Revival bandmates Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance. “The past year needs no introduction. As the months rolled on by, there were surely days when it felt like it got the best of us. We wrote this song on one of those days.” Fans can hear “These Days” now at this link.
“These Days” is the second song to be released from Jamestown Revival’s upcoming LP, Young Man. Produced and mixed by Robert Ellis and Joshua Block and bolstered by a thriving community of friends and musicians in Texas, Young Man is Jamestown Revival’s first project without electric guitars, with the emphasis instead on skillful songwriting, flawless harmony, and intricate fingerpicking. Displaying most of the genres that collectively make up “Americana” music—folk, jazz, bluegrass, roots rock—sometimes all in one song, this upcoming album represents a distilled and pure Jamestown Revival at their finest. Young Man is due out January 14 and can be pre-ordered or pre-saved now right here.
Additionally, Jamestown Revival just announced new tour dates including Thalia Hall in Chicago and Nashville’s new Brooklyn Bowl. A full list of new dates, as well as previously announced tour stops, can be found below. Tickets are available online.
New Jamestown Revival Tour Dates: February 8 – Kansas City, MO. – Knuckleheads Saloon^ February 9 – St. Louis, MO. – Delmar Hall^ February 10 – Chicago, IL. – Thalia Hall^ February 11 – Minneapolis, MN. – Fine Line^ February 12 – Milwaukee, WI. – The Rave/Eagles Club – Rave II^ February 14 – Pittsburgh, PA. – Mr. Smalls^ February 15 – Detroit, MI. – St. Andrews Hall^ February 16 – Lexington, KY. – The Burl^ February 17 – Indianapolis, IN. – The Vogue^ February 18 – Columbus, OH. – Columbus Athenaeum^ February 19 – Nashville, TN. – Brooklyn Bowl^
Previously Announced 2022 Dates: January 14 – New Braunfels, TX. – Gruene Hall^ January 16 – Tucson, AZ. – Rialto Theatre* January 17 – Solana Beach, CA. – Belly Up* January 18 – Solana Beach, CA. – Belly Up* January 19 – Santa Cruz, CA. – Catalyst* January 20 – San Francisco, CA. – The Fillmore* January 21 – Los Angeles, CA. – Fonda Theatre* January 22 – Sacramento, CA. – Ace of Spades* January 23 – San Luis Obispo, CA. – Fremont Theatre* January 25 – Salt Lake City, UT. – Commonwealth* January 26 – Steamboat Springs, CO. – Strings Music Pavilion** January 27 – Denver, CO. – Ogden Theatre* January 28 – Telluride, CO. – Club Red* January 29 – Ft. Collins, CO. – Aggie Theatre** January 30 – Aspen, CO. – Belly Up^
Special Guests: * Mipso & Robert Ellis ** Mipso ^ Robert Ellis
Young Man Track list: 1. Coyote 2. Young Man 3. Moving Man 4. Northbound 5. These Days 6. One Step Forward 7. Slow It Down 8. Way It Was 9. Old Man Looking Back 10. Working On Love
The movie adaptation of ‘The Lost Daughter’ by Elena Ferrante is now playing in theaters everywhere. Photo: amazon
Elena Ferrante is the author of seven novels, including four New York Times bestsellers; “The Beach at Night,” an illustrated book for children; and “Frantumaglia,” a collection of letters, literary essays, and interviews. Her fiction has been translated into over forty languages and been shortlisted for the MAN Booker International Prize. In 2016 she was named one of TIME’s most influential people of the year and The New York Times has described her as “one of the great novelists of our time.” Her book “The Lost Daughter”has been adapted into a major motion picture directed by Maggie Gyllenhaal and starring Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Paul Mescal, and Peter Sarsgaard. (amazon, 2022)
“The Lost Daughter” – Leda, a middle-aged divorcée, is alone for the first time in years after her two adult daughters leave home to live with their father in Toronto. Enjoying an unexpected sense of liberty, she heads to the Ionian coast for a vacation. But she soon finds herself intrigued by Nina, a young mother on the beach, eventually striking up a conversation with her. After Nina confides a dark secret, one seemingly trivial occurrence leads to events that could destroy Nina’s family in this “arresting” novel by the author of the New York Times–bestselling Neapolitan Novels, which have sold millions of copies.
Upcoming shows at the Majestic Theatre include ‘Hamilton’ and “Weird Al” Yankovic. Photo: Majestic Theatre
These shows were just announced this month. Tickets are now on sale at the Majestic and Empire Theatres. For full calendar and listing of events, please visit the Majestic Theatre online. (Majestic Theatre, 2021)
LUPITA D’ALESSIO Y MARÍA JOŚE: TOUR USA 2022 Majestic Theatre February 24, 2022 at 8p.m.
RON WHITE: FOR MATURE AUDIENCES Majestic Theatre February 26, 2022 at 10p.m.
ANGELA AGUILAR – MEXICAN ENAMORADA Majestic Theatre April 2, 2022 at 8p.m.
SUMMER: THE DONNA SUMMER MUSICAL Majestic Theatre April 19-24, 2022
FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME Empire Theatre May 18-22, 2022 Tickets go on sale January 21, 2022 at 10a.m.
RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE WERQ THE WORLD TOUR 2022 Majestic Theatre July 17, 2022 at 7:30p.m.
TRIXIE AND KATYA LIVE! Majestic Theatre August 31, 2022 at 7:30p.m.
“WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC Special Guest: Emo Philips Majestic Theatre October 4, 2022 at 7:30p.m.
UPCOMING PERFORMANCES AT MAJESTIC & EMPIRE THEATRES Hamilton || Majestic Theatre || January 5 – 16, 2022 Diana Krall || Majestic Theatre || February 5, 2022 Sebastian Maniscalco || Majestic Theatre || February 18, 2022 – 9:30p.m. SHOW ADDED Me, Myself & Shirley || Empire Theatre || February 25-26, 2022 Willie Nelson & Family || Majestic Theatre || March 21-22, 2022 Il Volo || Majestic Theatre || April 15, 2022 Chelsea Handler || Majestic Theatre || May 14, 2022 Freestyle Love Supreme || Empire Theatre || May 18 – 22, 2022 – JUST ANNOUNCED
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