Category: Entertainment News

Andy May’s Acoustic Kids Showcases returns to MerleFest

Young musicians can register online to perform onstage at MerleFest. Photo: google

Over the past two decades, hundreds of young musicians have taken part in the Acoustic Kids programming at MerleFest presented by Window World. This year, the showcase’s 20th anniversary, young musicians from the MerleFest audience will once again step on stage and perform in Andy May’s Acoustic Kids Showcases during the festival which takes place in Wilkesboro, North Carolina, on September 16-19. Some participants are just learning to play their instrument, some play just for the fun of it, and some go on to international renown. Young musicians must register online before August 4 to participate in Acoustic Kids. “Acoustic Kids looks forward to our 20th MerleFest this September!” said Lauren May, Acoustic Kids facilitator. “Each year, it is a joy to provide festival stage performance opportunities for young musicians attending the festival and support them in them sharing their talents with the MerleFest audience.” (MerleFest, 2021)

This year, Acoustic Kids guidelines are a little different than usual in order to make up for MerleFest’s cancellation in 2020 and to accommodate the change in dates for 2021. Those who would have been age-eligible (16 or younger) for Acoustic Kids, MerleFest 2020, will be eligible for AK MerleFest 2021.

Their accompanists may be any age, and mixed-age groups are accepted—including family bands. Music teachers often accompany their students, using the program to give their students a real-life performance experience that is difficult to find elsewhere. No matter their skill level, Acoustic Kids celebrates young musicians’ achievements, and each year, a stream of young musicians heads to MerleFest to create their own “Music, Moments, and Memories” in Acoustic Kids Showcases. A festival wristband is required to participate, but there is no additional charge. Parents can find the registration page here. Please visit the Acoustic Kids website for further details and other important information concerning this year’s showcases.

Acoustic kids performers will be in good company on stage at MerleFest, joining a host of fellow MerleFest first-timers at the 2021 festival. Melissa Etheridge, Mavis Staples, Sturgill Simpson, Iron Horse Bluegrass, Creole Stomp, Charley Crockett, Joe Troop (of Che Apalache), Nefesh Mountain, Kelsey Waldon, Sierra Ferrell, One Fret Over, Amythyst Kiah, Chatham Rabbits, and Hogslop String Band will all be making their debut at MerleFest this year. 

MerleFest wants to remind everyone that early bird ticket prices are still in effect until September 15.

Finally, the Chris Austin Songwriting Contest judges have been announced. This year’s panel of music industry professionals includes Dolphus Ramseur, Amythyst Kiah, Darin & Brooke Aldridge, and The Milk Carton Kids. CASC is one of the most acclaimed songwriting contests in roots and Americana music and has a reputation for launching careers as well as drawing attention to important new talent. The contest is split into four genre-based categories including bluegrass, general, gospel, and country. First through third place winners will be chosen by these judges in each category at MerleFest 2021.

MerleFest was founded in 1988 in memory of the son of the late American music legend Doc Watson, renowned guitarist Eddy Merle Watson. MerleFest is a celebration of “traditional plus” music, a unique mix of traditional, roots-oriented sounds of the Appalachian region, including old-time, classic country, bluegrass, folk and gospel, and blues, and expanded to include Americana, classic rock, and many other styles. The festival hosts a diverse mix of artists on its 13 stages during the course of the multi-day event. MerleFest is the primary fundraiser for the WCC Foundation, funding scholarships, capital projects, and other educational needs.

2021-09-16T09:43:00

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

MerleFest 2021

The Classic Theatre of San Antonio’s next production of Theatre in the Rough

The Classic Theatre’s production of ‘As You Like It’ opens September 9, 2021. Photo: The Classic Theatre of San Antonio.

The Classic Theatre of San Antonio is opening the second season of Theatre in the Rough with ‘As You Like It’ by William Shakespeare. Opening on Thursday, September 9, it will run until Sunday, September 26, 2021. Performed at the San Antonio Botanical Garden, it will be directed by Nick Lawson with performances on Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays at 7:30p.m. with the exception of a performance on Monday, September 20 and no performance on Thursday, September 23. Tickets are available online. (The Classic Theatre of San Antonio, 2021)

‘As You Like It’ – Rosalind’s uncle rises to the throne and she is immediately banished from court. With her best friend and uncle’s daughter Celia by her side, she runs into the forest of Arden for refuge, only to catch the lovesick eye of another banished youth named Orlando. The result is a hilarious conglomeration of cross-dressing, foolery, melodic songs, questionable poetry, and laughs aplenty. Will love always win or are we merely mad? ‘As You Like It’ is an entertaining and touching exploration of life, death, love, family, and the bonds that tie us together.

Cast includes Kacey Roye, Josey Porras, Eddie Morfin Jr., Hunter Wulff, Randee Nelson, Adam Ochoa, Natalie Blackman, and Emit Quintero.

Star-Base Collectors Con in Brownsville

Brownsville’s inaugural collector’s con is happening August 7 and 8 at the Brownsville Event Center. Photo: google

Star-Base Collectors Con is Brownsville’s first ever Collectors Con and is taking place Saturday August 7 and Sunday August 8, 2021. It will combine the sports and pop culture world with guests from both sides of the spectrum – actors and voice actors for the pop culture fans, and sports stars for the sports fans who collect cards and memorabilia. There will also be special meet and greets scheduled. Vendors from all genres will be selling collectibles like Funko Pops, Star Wars figures and vehicles, Marvel Figures and Statues, DC figures and Statues, Anime Statues and figures, Pokémon Cards, Sports Cards, and more. Cosplay is permitted and encouraged. Hope to see everyone at this inaugural event hosted by Kulture Shock Collectibles in Brownsville. (Kulture Shock Collectibles, 2021)

It will be a weekend filled with artists, vendors, cosplayers, celebrities, gaming, contests, and fun for the entire family. Tickets are available online and range from $3 for children for one day to special two day pricing and VIP meet and greet packages. Children 6 years and under get in for free.

August 7 from 10a.m. to 7p.m.
August 8 from 10a.m. to 5p.m.

Brownsville Event Center
1 Event Center Blvd
Brownsville, TX 78526

2021-08-07T09:40:00

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

Star-Base Collectors Con

Jackson Melnick’s debut LP Abilene

Jackson Melnick makes bluegrass-tinged music for the brain on debut LP Abilene. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Colorado songwriter Jackson Melnick has long been aware of the struggles of modern-day farmers in the but seeing the cold hard facts directly inspired his new song “Trouble.” “I was reading about the plight of suicides among farmers in America,” says Melnick. “Farmers have a suicide rate that more than three times that of the general population.” Melnick has seen the isolation many farmers struggle with, as well as seeing society at large becoming less tolerant of the demands of farmers and less aware of where their food comes from. In a beautifully heartbreaking, rollicking melody, he wastes no time getting to the point. “10,000 lives gone like the weather / When are we gonna start treating our farmers better?,” sings Melnick in “Trouble.” Bluegrass Today shared a music video for the song, calling it “an interesting mix of folk and bluegrass, with Dylan-esque songs.” In Melnick’s words, “The music video for the song says it all: digging a hole that’ll be your grave but can’t stop digging for the love of it.” “Trouble” is the first single from Melnick’s debut full-length album Abilene, due out September 24. Fans can watch the video for “Trouble” here and pre-order or pre-save Abilene ahead of its release at this link. (Jackson Melnick, 2021)

Produced by esteemed musician Christopher Henry (Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band), the upcoming Abilene positions Melnick as an important new voice in folk music, and also features accomplished bluegrass musicians such as Jason Carter, Matt Combs, Alex Leach, Tuck Tucker, and Cory Walker. Although the arrangements draw on the traditional sound of Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley, among others, Abilene is at heart a songwriter’s record. Across these 10 tracks, Melnick combines his reverence for bluegrass with a lyrical point of view that is both mystical and topical.

After a rousing opener of “John the Revelator,” Melnick moves to the aforementioned “Trouble,” which touches on suicides within the farming communities of the Owens Valley in California. It is an epidemic he learned about while attending nearby Deep Springs College during a period of time when he began to hone his songwriting craft. Later, “South of My Soul” offers a sincere testimony about wishing the best for the other person when a relationship dissolves. Written in the moment, it is a cinematic yet poetic song that explores what it means to forgive and to heal. Truly, these emotional perspectives align well with Melnick’s career as a psychotherapist. “Being a therapist requires a lot of presence and raising consciousness, and I think that’s the kind of songwriter I’m interested in being, too,” he says. “I want to write songs that elevate the space to a higher mind of seeing things. I find that the themes in my music tend to be connected to that experience.”

Growing up in Crested Butte, Colorado, Melnick began meditating when he was 8 years old. Within a few years, he learned to play guitar and started busking—first singing John Denver and Steve Earle songs, then moving toward Dylan classics. Through most of his teenage years he hosted a weekly radio show on a local community station, too. But the most transformative moment may have been when he was 17 years old and saw a video of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings on stage. “I was watching them, and I felt like I knew exactly what they were doing, and how they did it. It was a transmission, like, ‘I know how to do that,’” Melnick recalls. “It hit me like a stack of bricks. Then I went to my guitar and I wrote three songs. They just sort of poured out and that was the beginning for me.”

Yet, music is just one component of Melnick’s overall goal. “I’m focused on big-project thinking,” he says, “I don’t want to just be a musician. I want to be working toward the healing of our planet.”

Abilene Track list:
John The Revelator
Trouble
I See You
Raghse Zarrat
Spirit Mother
Abilene
San Diego Pt. 2
San Diego
South Of My South
The Rhythm Has No End

2021-09-24T15:43:00

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

Release of Abilene

Matthew Fowler’s new album The Grief We Gave Our Mother

Matthew Fowler’s stunning label debut The Grief We Gave Our Mother due out September 10, 2021. Photo: google

Some people collect stamps or baseball cards or instruments, but born-and-raised Florida musician Matthew Fowler is well on his way to perfecting the art of collecting memories, displaying them not on a shelf but in musical verse and melody for the world to hear. “I moved to Denver. I quit my job. My grandfather died. I fell in and out of love. I toured all over the place. I spent a month living in Mauritius, the island country off Madagascar where my mom grew up,” says Fowler about the ingredients of his upcoming album The Grief We Gave Our Mother—out September 10 via Signature Sounds Recordings. (Matthew Fowler, 2021)

With Fowler, however, the easy-to-recall memories usually represent something more profound under the surface. For example, “I’m Still Trying,” at its root, is an admission of guilt and a shot at reconciliation with a family grown apart. “I lived with my parents for a long time in-between touring and traveling. Returning back to my childhood home after experiencing so much on tour made me take the time to remember lots of things about my past with a new perspective.” Fowler was named Holler’s New Artist of the Week and spoke with them about his music and more. Listen to “I’m Still Trying” at this link and pre-order or pre-save The Grief We Gave Our Mother ahead of its September 10 release right here.

Written over the course of the past several years, The Grief We Gave Our Mother is indeed a profoundly personal work of self-discovery and introspection, but more than that, it is an ode to growing up and chasing dreams. The result is a record that is at once bold and timid, hopeful and anxious, world-weary and naïve, an honest, revelatory collection all about putting one foot in front of the other and forging a life of purpose, passion, and meaning. “This record is the sound of me finding myself and my place in the world,” Fowler reflects. “It’s about real moments and real stories and real people.”

The Grief We Gave Our Mother Track list:
Marianne
Been A Lover
Reprise
Blankets
I Fall Away
Leaving Home, Looking Back
Everything That I Could
I’m Still Trying
Rest
Going Nowhere
Cassie
Rooftops
Beginners

2021-09-10T13:59:00

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

Release of The Grief We Gave Our Mother

Brian Yuzna presents Tales of Blood Island

Producer Brian Yuzna presents Tales of Blood Island – serialized horror comics and Tiki-style mugs. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Brian Yuzna, the legendary producer behind the 1985 film adaptation of the zombie horror classic, H.P. Lovecraft’s Re-Animator,® has unveiled a Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign for a serialized comic book and Tiki-style monster mug line called BRIAN YUZNA PRESENTS TALES OF BLOOD ISLAND.  Based on a script by writers David Sehring and Mark Cerulli, Yuzna and Drive-In-Sanity Films plan to adapt the comic books for a filmed reboot of the franchise with Tiki-mug tie ins and ancillary merchandise to complement and elevate the promotional and marketing efforts for the production. (Brian Yuzna, 2021)

Inspired by the successful “Blood Island” zombie and creature feature franchise made in the Philippines by Hemisphere Pictures for the U.S. drive-in market from 1959 through 1970, the comic book incorporates key characters from the original films and more jungle thrills, strange science fiction and fantasy, and over-the-top monsters and gore that were the key ingredients of the Blood Island pictures as well as “Mondo Movies” and exploitation films from that period. 

BRIAN YUZNA PRESENTS TALES OF BLOOD ISLAND, the comic book, is a movie series in the making with storyboard styling that screams “action” from artist Stephen Sistilli and coloring and lettering from Dexter Weeks.  Both Sistilli and Weeks worked on another Tiki-themed comic, Koni Waves for Arcana Comics from 2005 through 2010.  The first issue of BRIAN YUZNA PRESENTS TALES OF BLOOD ISLAND will be 36-pages in full color with three future issues planned for the initial run of the series.  Told in the style of classic cliffhanger serials and tropical tales from Men’s Adventure magazines and pulps, the new comic book features tiki terrors and non-stop monster mayhem, mixing and mashing up myths and folklore from around the world.

To coincide with the release of the comic books, there will also be more “blood in your eye” with a series of “mix-and-match” Tiki-style mugs based on the characters and creatures featured in the original movies and new comics. 

The undying, green-blooded zombie, the Beast of Blood, is the first Tiki Monster mug in the line as sculpted by Tiki-fantasy artist Tom “Thor” Thordarson, who has held numerous executive titles with Walt Disney Imagineering, Universal Studios, Tiki Farm and other theme park and design companies.

BRIAN YUZNA PRESENTS TALES OF BLOOD ISLAND is a comic book re-boot and re-imagining of the classic Hemisphere Pictures’ Blood Island creature feature franchise directed in the Philippines by Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero in the 1960s and 1970s.   Romero went on to serve as Associate Producer on Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. Like Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, YUZNA’S TALES OF BLOOD ISLAND is set during the end of the Vietnam War, somewhere in the South Seas, on a mysterious, primitive island filled with a multitude of monsters and mutants. There, a soldier-of-fortune and an ex-war buddy team up for a top-secret mission to find and exterminate the murderous war criminal, Dr. Akira Lorca, whose mad experiments with evolution and a jungle plant serum, derived from man-eating trees, create a hideous, head-hunting, body-swapping beast that terrorizes the island population by feasting on and appropriating their blood and flesh.

Produced in association with Bauer Pottery, one of the oldest ceramics companies in the United States, the Beast of Blood mug was designed and sculpted by Tiki fantasy artist Tom “Thor” Thordarson and is two mugs in one.  When stacked, the Beast of Blood Tiki-style mug is approximately 8″ tall.  Separated, the Beast’s disembodied head holds approximately 4 ounces of fluid while the Beast’s headless body holds approximately 8 ounces of liquid refreshment.  More color glazes and more beasts from the TALES OF BLOOD ISLAND comic books will be coming soon to mix and mash up with their fellow Blood Islander who was first made available, in a limited run, for the legendary Polynesian and tiki-themed Mai-Kai Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale, Florida for their Hulaween 2020 Drive-In event. The mug proved quite popular and was a sell-out.  All new color glazes and “blood splatter” editions will be made available to Kickstarter patrons of the BLOOD ISLAND campaign should it prove successful in reaching its funding goals.

Drive-In-Sanity Films is a production, marketing and distribution company run by David Sehring, a 37-year veteran film, television and creative services executive who has worked for Vestron Home Video, AMC Networks, including Shudder & IFC Midnight, as well as web retailer, Karmaloop.  While at AMC, Sehring won an Emmy for the doc Hollywood Rocks The Movies: The 1970s and created AMC’S Monsterfest (Now FearFest). Sehring also launched the first high-definition horror and creature feature channel, Monsters HD.  Sehring’s other credits include documentaries on the history of horror, sci-fi & fantasy including Behind The Planet of the Apes; The Alien Saga; The Fly Papers and Tales From The Crypt: From Comic Books To Television, among others.   

Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Erik Shicotte’s new EP Miss’ry Pacific

Erik Shicotte keeps it on the rails with his new EP Miss’ry Pacific. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

With his booming voice bobbing and weaving around fiddle and steel punches and a rollicking train beat, Wisconsin-based singer, songwriter, and ironworker Erik Shicotte does not waste time getting his point across in the first few seconds of Miss’ry Pacific, his brand new EP recently released via Black Country Rock Media. In a six song span, listeners will be greeted with waltzes, train songs, honky tonkers, and country ramblers, on which Shicotte sings with humor and pathos about trains, trucks, and hard-working heroes who hang out around highways, rails, and honky-tonks. Well studied in the art of outlaw-ism, there are echoes of the greats in Shicotte’s songs—Waylon, Willie, Cash, Haggard, and the wit of the late great John Prine, just to name a few—but underneath it all lies a hard-working authenticity that puts him, along with contemporaries like Colter Wall, into a level of legitimacy unobtainable by some of today’s drugstore cowboy songwriters. (Erik Shicotte, 2021)

An ironworker himself, Shicotte travels around the country building fire training towers. He carries his guitar with him everywhere, slinging iron by day and spending nights holed up in hotel rooms with a pen in hand and a song in mind. “I take a lot of pride in keeping genuine to my own damn humor and existence,” he says. “I myself can’t write anything I don’t know, see, feel or believe in. I draw from my experiences and imagination within interpretation.”

For a sneak peek of Miss’ry Pacific, check out this video of Shicotte’s stripped down, pre-pandemic version of the EP’s title track.

Miss’ry Pacific Track list:
Miss’ry Pacific
Kansas City
Niners
Flint
Silver
Die Like A Man

 

The Faux Paws announce self-titled debut album

The Faux Pays are set to release debut self-titled album on August 27, 2021. Photo: google

After nearly a decade of making music as The Faux Paws, the eclectic bi-coastal trio are making it official with the release of their debut album The Faux Paws, releasing via Great Bear Records (distribution by Free Dirt Service Co.) The trio’s contagious groove and feel-good melting pot folk music has been honed over ten years of playing together, and is the sound of three close friends—two of which happen to be brothers—who feel a musical kinship that transcends any stylistic limitations. Are there raging fiddle tunes? Saxophone solos? Unrequited love songs? Yes to all of the above, and so much more. One would be hard pressed to find a group of musicians with such interesting backgrounds as The Faux Paws. Brothers Andrew and Noah VanNorstrand grew up playing contra dance music with their musician mother in the band Great Bear and Chris Miller grew up in Florida where he was enamored with bluegrass and studied jazz before going on to play with Grammy nominated Cajun-country band The Revelers. The ultimate result of their alchemy is a free-wheeling sense of musical exploration on The Faux Paws, out August 27, 2021. Fans can preorder the album here. (The Faux Paws, 2021)

Since meeting in 2012, the trio have toured across North America several times, sometimes under the name The Faux Paws, sometimes as part of other larger ensembles. But due to their commitments to other bands and musical projects, the timing was never right to focus on making The Faux Paws a priority until now. Instead, they took their time learning about different styles of music from one another, and finding where their interests and skills could create unexpected and exciting new sounds. “I love super glossy pop music, and Chris is always pushing more of a jazz influence,” says Noah. “But we all have a strong background in dance music, so almost everything we do has rhythm and groove, and is based around hook and feel.” The Faux Paws flows effortlessly between genres and moods. An upbeat lyrical song like “She’s Not Looking For You” is followed by a technical instrumental, “Guacmaster.” At times, both sides of the coin present; the driving bluegrass-folk “Montauk” is a fine example of that.

It may have taken The Faux Paws ten years to make their debut album, but those years have clearly not gone to waste. Now, with an experimental but cohesive vision, the trio brings together seemingly unrelated musical elements into one joyful and distinctive collection, deeply rooted in the raw humanity of folk dance and music traditions.

The Faux Paws Track list:

  1. Fourth Decade
  2. She’s Not Looking For You
  3. Guacmaster
  4. Child Of The Great Lakes
  5. Southport
  6. Anyelsewhere
  7. Dirt Nap
  8. The Road From Winchester
  9. Montauk
  10. Racing The Sun
  11. Katy Hill (Live)
2021-08-27T11:56:00

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

Release of The Faux Paws

Camille Playhouse announces new season

The Camille Playhouse announced its 58th season this week. Photo: google

This week, the Camille Playhouse in Brownsville announced its 58th season. The season consists of ‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’ in September, ‘Our Lady of the Tortilla’ in October, ‘Humbug’ in December, ‘Sweet Charity’ in February, ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ in April, and “Lucky Stiff’ in May. Ticket information is available online. (Camille Playhouse, 2021)

‘The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas’
September 10-19
This happy-go-lucky view of small-town vice and statewide political side-stepping recounts the good times and the demise of the Chicken Ranch, known since the 1850s as one of the better pleasure palaces in all of Texas. Governors, senators, mayors, and even victorious college football teams frequent Miss Mona’s cozy bordello, until that Puritan nemesis Watchdog focuses his television cameras and his righteous indignation on the institution. Music and lyrics by Carol Hall; book by Larry L. King.

‘Our Lady of the Tortilla’
October 15-24
The Cruz family is volatile even in the best of times. On this particular day, Nelson, the youngest son, enters the house in a panic to hide the more obvious religious relics from the sight of his “gringo” girlfriend, who is visiting for the weekend. Nelson’s mother, Dahlia, is obsessed with retrieving her husband from his new girlfriend; Eddie, her elder son, shows up in a van with his failed life and pregnant girlfriend. But the “real” pandemonium is caused by sweet, long-suffering Dolores, Dahlia’s old-maid sister, when she sees the face of the Holy Virgin in a tortilla. This miracle brings hordes of believers and reporters to camp out on the Cruz’s lawn to await further miracles. As the family struggles with beliefs and conflicts, old and new, the endurance of family love is revealed to be the real miracle. Book by Luis Santeiro.

‘Humbug’
December 10-19
As ‘A Christmas Carol’ with a modern-day twist, Humbug follows the story of Eleanor Scrooge, a ruthlessly ambitious Wall Street executive who has an aversion to Christmas and an insatiable appetite for power. Locked in her office on a snowy Christmas Eve, Eleanor is determined to finish a corporate takeover proposal until three “advisors” provide her with an eye opening new appreciation for the holidays and the spirit of Christmas. An upbeat and moving adaptation of Dickens’ holiday classic, Humbug is one for the ages. With a contemporary flair, it is a tale the whole family will enjoy. Book by John Wooten

‘Sweet Charity’
February 11-20
Inspired by Federico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria, ‘Sweet Charity’ explores the turbulent love life of Charity Hope Valentine, a hopelessly romantic but comically unfortunate dance hall hostess in New York City. With a tuneful, groovy, mid 1960s score by Cy Coleman, sparkling lyrics by Dorothy Fields, and a hilarious book by Neil Simon, ‘Sweet Charity’ captures all the energy, humor, and heartbreak of Life in the Big City for an unfortunate but irrepressible optimist.

‘Jekyll & Hyde’
April 01-10
Based on Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic thriller, ‘Jekyll & Hyde’ is the gripping tale of a brilliant mind gone horrifically awry, set to a powerful pop rock score by Frank Wildhorn with book and lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. In an attempt to cure his ailing father’s mental illness by separating “good” from “evil” in the human personality, talented physician Dr. Jekyll inadvertently creates an alternate personality of pure evil, dubbed Mr. Hyde, who wrecks murderous havoc on the city of London. As his fiancée Emma grows increasingly fearful for her betrothed, a prostitute, Lucy, finds herself dangerously involved with both the doctor and his alter ego. Struggling to control Hyde before he takes over for good, Jekyll must race to find a cure for the demon he has created in his own mind.

‘Lucky Stiff’
May 13-22
Based on the novel “The Man Who Broke the Bank at Monte Carlo” by Michael Butterworth, Lucky Stiff is an offbeat, hilarious murder mystery farce, complete with mistaken identities, six million bucks in diamonds, and a corpse in a wheelchair. The story revolves around an unassuming English shoe salesman who is forced to take the embalmed body of his recently murdered uncle on a vacation to Monte Carlo. Should he succeed in passing his uncle off as alive, Harry Witherspoon stands to inherit $6,000,000.00. If not, the money goes to the Universal Dog Home of Brooklyn, or else his uncle’s gun-toting ex. Music by Stephen Flaherty, lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, book by Lynn Ahrens.

The Camille Playhouse opened its doors in January 1964 after the City of Brownsville provided the land in Dean Porter Park and the Sams Foundation provided a grant to fund the construction of the facility. With a drive to stimulate interest in theatre through production of stage performances and the development and application of the arts necessary to such productions, utilizing the talents and abilities of those in the Brownsville community and neighboring communities with a passion for the art, thereby engaging audiences in the artistic process, sparking the imaginations of young children and developing the next generation of stage actors, the theater is proud to be carrying on Camille’s dream and legacy of having community theatre in Brownsville. Camille’s legacy remains the primary mission.

Ava Earl releases second single from upcoming album The Roses

Mountain Song is the second single from upcoming album The Roses, due out July 23, 2021. Courtesy photo, used with permission.

Ava Earl, an 18 year old songwriter and outdoor enthusiast hailing from Girdwood, Alaska, has released the second single “Mountain Song” from her forthcoming album titled The Roses which will be available on July 23, 2021. “Mountain Song” is, in Earl’s own words, “about a real life experience that I had when I was a bit too confident in my mountain climbing skills. I usually pride myself in my spontaneity, but this experience reminds me that caution is a necessary consideration. This song is also about understanding my lack of control in the universe.” Earl is known in Alaskan music circles and folk worlds nationally for her keen sense of self, intricate fingerpicking, and graceful melodies—“Mountain Song” being the perfect example of all three. (Ava Earl, 2021)

The Roses was recorded in Nashville and produced by JT Nero, one half of the Americana-outfit, Birds of Chicago and features hauntingly beautiful background vocals from Allison Russell and Awna Teixeira.

Amplify Music Magazine pointed out in a recent interview that “Earl has always been drawn to powerful lyrical storytellers, which has weaved into her own lyrical consciousness. Endlessly inspired by and propelled by community found through music, Ava has always put herself in spaces to find and nurture that inter-musical connection and camaraderie.”

Previous to this single drop and album announce, Earl has written and co-produced three full-length albums which includes Am I Me Yet?, her previous album, was released in July 2018. Am I Me Yet? is a 15 song collection recorded at The Hallowed Halls studio in Portland, Oregon, and features Earl on guitar and vocals, Andy Mullen on guitar and bass, and Anna Tivel on violin. The album was engineered by Hawkins Wright, who is also the album’s co-producer.

An engaging performer, Earl thrives in a live concert setting, drawing audiences in with her music and stories. Highlight performances over the years include opening dates for Maggie Rogers, Rhett Miller, and Tim Easton.

The Roses Track list:
Springtime
Mountain Song
The Roses
New Light
On A Page
Up Here in the Sky
Chaos
Do You Know Me By My Name?
Wintertime
Butterflies

 

Mountain Song by Ava Earl
2021-07-23T13:03:00

  days

  hours  minutes  seconds

until

Release of The Roses