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Dayton Music

Me & Mountains Look to Fans to Fund Vinyl Project

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Vinyl sales were up in 2011, and there’s a definite demand for local music on vinyl.  But it’s still a costly venture for most local bands.  So many are turning to their fans for assistance.

Me & Mountains

It’s been the collective goal of Me & Mountains to one day release their music on vinyl.  So when the band completed recording it’s latest album, Feral, the members decided to create a Kickstarter account to fund Feral’s vinyl release.  Kickstarter is one of several websites (Indie GoGo is another popular one)

that allow people all over the internet to fund creative projects like albums, indie films, comic books and more.

“Its been a great way to gauge people’s interest in our band and in vinyl as a viable format as compared to CD. We are extremely grateful to everyone who has donated thus far,” says Burris Dixon, vocalist and bass player for Me & Mountains.

The band launch their Kickstarter page on Monday and is already over halfway to their goal.

“We are excited and surprised by the quick and generous support so far. We thought we MIGHT have a chance and it’s turned out better than we ever expected. Hopefully we can pull this off with more support before the deadline,” says Dixon.

Me & Moutains’ Kickstarter campaign for Feral lasts until February 8th.  Click here for more information on how to support the album’s release.

Cityfolk Announces Dates for 2012 Festival

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Bua performs on the main stage at the 2011 Cityfolk Festival

Mark your calendars for June 29 – July 1st when you’ll be able to spend a weekend at Riverscape MetroPark taking in some of the best live music from around the world at the 2012 Cityfolk Festival.  Details on performers, vendors and volunteers opportunities will be posted in the coming months on Cityfolk’s blog.  In the meantime, you can support Cityfolk and hear some great music by checking out any of the remaining shows in this year’s season:

Saturday, February 11: Dailey & Vincent with special guests Joe Mullins & the Radio Ramblers

Saturday, February 25: Genticorum

Tuesday, April 24: De Temps Antan

Wednesday, April 25: Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis

Music Video Monday: January 9th, 2012

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Traditionally the beginning of a new year is slow for album releases, but not here in Dayton.  Several great local albums are set to be released in the next few weeks including the highly anticipated debut EP by Good English.  The band will celebrate the release of Take Control on January 20th at Canal Street Tavern.  In the meantime, enjoy the band’s debut music video for the title track.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoYiMn_oGZU’]

Guided by Voices Performs on Letterman

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The classic lineup of Guided by Voices

From the department of In Case You Hadn’t Already Heard: earlier this week Dayton’s own Guided by Voices performed on CBS’s Late Show with David Letterman.  They performed “The Unsinkable Fats Domino,” a track from the Let’s Go Eat the Factory, a new album from GBV’s classic lineup (Robert Pollard, Tobin Sprout, Greg Demos, Mitch Mitchell, and Kevin Fennell).  The album is out now digitally and via mail order from Rockathon Records.  Physical copies will be in stores on January 17th, along with copies of the band’s “Chocolate Boy” 7 inch single.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aOZPNyVaIY’]

Ninth Annual Holidayton Show This Friday

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Whether you celebrate the holidays or not, Holidayton is a tradition worth observing.  This mini-music festival serves both to highlight some great local music and to give all of our former Daytonians who are home for the holidays a great concert.

Now in its ninth year, the event was created by Mark McMillon of The Story Changes and features two stages to highlight solo performers and full bands at Blind Bob’s on 5th Street.  Here’s the lineup:

The Story Changes

The Story Changes
Invitation To A Bullfight
Oh Condor
C. Wright’s Parlour Tricks
Simply Waiting
JT Woodruff (of Hawthorne Heights)
King Elk
The 1984 Draft
Brandon Hawk
The New Old Fashioned

 

Music Video Monday: December 19, 2011

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Just in time for the holidays, Henrique Couto and Flannel Bear have released a new ep called Yule Be Sorry.  Not for faint of holiday heart, it’s a very look at the season set to some fantastic music.  Here’s the first music video:

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PA8uiyOgcI’]

Henrique Couto and Flannel Bear will be joined by Todd the Fox at South Park Tavern this Thursday, December 22nd for a holiday show.

 

Meet Jean Howat Berry – Building Culture Through Community at Cityfolk

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Pandora, one of artists in residence during the 2011 Culture Builds Community program, works with students (Photo by Rodney Veal)

Jean Howat Berry is the new education and outreach manager at Cityfolk.

Cityfolk is the Dayton-based “only full-time, professional presenter of traditional and ethnic performing arts” in Ohio, according to the Cityfolk website.

Berry’s main responsibility is overseeing the Culture Builds Community program, which is in its sixth year.

“The main thrust of the job is this huge project that happens in the spring,” said Berry.

The CBC project, which culminates in April, focuses on engaging participating elementary students in research and practice of specific cultural activities. The project incorporates local ethnic centers and national and local artists of music and dance.

This year’s Culture Builds Community project is called Sole Rhythms and five neighborhood schools are participating. The schools are Ruskin, Edison, Cleveland, Kiser and Fairview elementary schools.

Each school has its own team that focuses on an assigned specific cultural tradition.

Berry said this year’s theme is percussion music and dance. The traditions of focus include Turkish dance, Mexican folk dance, traditional American spirituals and the roots of jazz, the African American fraternity step dance tradition and old time clogging of Appalachia mixed with Irish step dance.

“The whole idea, and what City Folk strives to do with this, is build community,” she said. “There’s so many different facets to Dayton, because we are so immigrant friendly and because we have tremendous gifted artists that work here, we’re able to pull all those folks together to build a team that can go out and connect with those many communities. Because we’re all really one big community.”

Within the context of the schools, CBC helps kids learn new skills, new information about culture and practice physical activity, since this year’s project is a danced based program.

“Kids have the opportunity to use all facets of themselves within the project,” Berry said.

She said from the kids perspective, the project is completely voluntary. CBC provides a few teasers informing the students about their school’s cultural focus. They will then take 15 students 5th through 8th grade and another 10 participants at 16 and older.

Big Mijo teaches students the basics of krump dancing during the 2011 Culture Builds Community program (Photo by Rodney Veal)

According to Berry, last year’s project only encompassed three schools and took ten students from each. So this year’s project is taking on two-to-three times as many participants.

She wants participants to be educated in their specific cultures, but more so she wants them to learn the importance of commitment.

“We want it to be at will, we want a particular age group, but we mostly want commitment, and that’s something this project really seeks to develop in the young people,” Berry said.

Berry said her previous job working at East End Community Services, which sponsors Ruskin Elementary afterschool programming, prepared her well for her new position. Her theatre background will also be helpful in her new role. She said she’s played the role of the artist educating kids in the classroom, just as the artists she’s assigning to the five groups will do.

Berry said CBC has a fairly broad funding base for this project that includes Sinclair Community College, Dayton Power and Light, Target and Arts Midwest.

“It’s a really exciting program,” Berry said. “I just think that it has the capacity by what it’s goals are to continue to grow and to be a real force for bringing folks together in Dayton and that’s what we really want to reach out and do.”

For more information visit Culture Builds Community online at http://www.cityfolk.org/cbc.htm.

Music Video Monday: December 12, 2011

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This week’s video is a new band that features some familiar faces.  The New Old-Fashioned is the combined forces of David Payne, Kent Montgomery, Tom Blackbern and Jon Chasteen. The band has roots in Xenia and performed its debut show at the Xenia Area Community Theater (X*ACT) a few weeks ago, which is where today’s video is from.  Put this band on your list of folks to watch in 2012, and let’s hear it for the combined forces of local music and community theater.  I know I’d love to see more of that kind of collaboration in the new year.  Enjoy!

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTxcDpfEgF8&feature=related’]

A Vibrant Dayton Music Scene

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Motel Beds - Tango Boys

I am often asked by music fans outside of this area if there is still much music to love from this city.  So, rather than denounce the question, I demonstrate the great music that we have here.  One reason that Dayton continues to have a thriving music scene is illustrated in the fact that in one weekend we have three great independent shows to attend.

One of the shows from this past weekend, featured the vinyl release of Tango Boys by The Motel Beds at The Canal Street Tavern this past Friday. The ‘Beds played a blistering set with the Buffalo Killers (Cincinnati) and Chocolate Horse (Cincinnati).  It was a powerful show.  The crowd was so moved by the energy of the performance that they chanted the name of one band member, Deryl. To which, the lead voice of Motel Beds replied, “well, that has never happened before!”  This demonstrated the connection between band and audience.  No prefabricated sets, no blinding lights, just lovers of music coming together and creating community.  The ‘Beds were energized by the release of their great new record, Tango Boys and an appreciative crowd.  The Motel Beds played a strong set that focused on their new record but had a few standouts from this prolific band’s earlier work.  The ecstatic jumping and swaying of the band was captivating and contagious for the crowd.

Vanity Theft - Get What You Came For

Vanity Theft - Get What You Came For

And in the same night that Motel Beds were playing, you have Vanity Theft, Okay Lindon, and Good Sir Con Artist at Blind Bob’s in the Oregon District.  “Bob’s” has become another important venue in providing independent bands a place to play in Dayton.  If there is stronger frontwoman in a rock band than Alicia Grodecki, I might have to disagree.  She reaches out to everyone in the venue.  The band is fantastic!  They connect with their crowd on a level that is tactile, you feel it in your bones.  The crunch of Brittany Hill’s deft guitar playing resonates with you long after the song has ended. Attending a Vanity Theft show is like being invited into a secret club where the music and the feeling that it creates makes you feel unique and interconnected at the same time.  The show was opened by Okay Lindon who from the beginning with energy and conviction.  Okay Lindon is a band that has simply not gotten its due.  The band played several songs from their Rotating Dates and Everything in Moderation CDs.  The twin guitar attack of O-Lindon is more than ably backed up by a strong bass and amazing drummer.  They ended their set with a muscular version of Fastball’s “The Way.”  That song has rarely sounded as urgent.

Bonneville - Amy's House

Bonneville - Amy's House

If that was not enough, you then have Bonneville releasing their new CD, Amy’s House with a show at Canal Street this past Saturday.  Although the set focused on the new music, the band demonstrated their versatility, tight harmonies, and deft playing.  It is incredible to think that this band is as young as they are and play so damn well.  Again, the crowd feels a bond with the players and in those musical moments, we connect with one another in the sincere joy of music.  You can hear the new album at http://www.bonnevilleband.com/

So, the question is not whether or not music that matters is being created in Dayton.  Oh no.  What we have here is an embarrassment of musical riches.  Dayton has a vibrant music scene indeed!  And we have not even begun to talk about The Rebel Set, Guided By Voices, and Me & Mountains who are all working on new music for your listening pleasure in 2012!  Or the vast list of terrific bands that you can go see on almost any given weekend.  What are you waiting for?

Music Video Monday: November 21, 2011

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There’s a lot to celebrate and be thankful for this week.  One thing that I’m celebrating my thankfulness for is Canal Street Tavern, which is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this weekend.  A week of Thanksgiving traditions, including shows from The Psychodots and Shrug, will culminate on Saturday night with a 30th Birthday Party & Hoot, open to any of the musicians who’ve performed on Canal Street’s stage over the years. We’ll tell you more about the festivities later this week, but for today enjoy a preview of Thursday night at Canal Street Tavern when Werksgiving will return to the stage.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrglRivZHCE’]

The Motel Beds Assist in a Takeover of New York City

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A couple of weeks ago, New York City was under occupation. No, it’s not what you’re thinking, but good job keeping up with the news! I am talking about a completely different group of people. On Tuesday, October 25th, NYC was overrun by college radio staff, DJs, bands, various artists, and many more people from the music industry. So began the CMJ Music Marathon 2011, and Dayton was not without representation.

The CMJ Music Marathon is a chance for those breaking into music, whether from the business side or the performance side, to learn about the current state of the scene. It is also a chance for smaller
unsigned or indie-label bands to be exposed to a vast audience from all over the United States (and, in some cases, the world). I have been in attendance for the past two years, and the Dayton music scene has been represented in both. In 2010, local act Vanity Theft played one of the showcases. This year brought a greater number of southern Ohio acts: major label band Skeletonwitch, bands from other major cities like Walk the Moon (representing Cincinnati!) and, of course, Dayton representation in the form of The Motel Beds.

Back from CMJ and just coming off a recent performance with Bonneville over at WO Wrights, I had a quick chance to catch up with Ian from The Motel Beds and ask them about themselves and their experience at CMJ…

The Motel Beds performing at CMJ Music Marathon (Photo by Francesca Tamse)

Josh McGrath: How long have you guys been playing together?

Ian Kaplan [The Motel Beds]: Tommy, PJ and I have been playing as Motel Beds since 2003 or so… Derl joined in 2006, I believe and Tod joined last year around this time.

JM: What kind of successes have you seen thus far band-wise?

IK: We’ve had quite a few successes, hopefully which will combine into some kind of success Voltron[…]A few years ago, we were asked to be on a compilation for “The Artist’s Den,” The Huffington Post has mentioned us a few times in a column edited by Phil Ramone (who produced Billy Joel, Frank Sinatra, Paul McCartney, etc. etc.). That was really amazing… we grew up listening to the records he produced and it was pretty insane to think he heard us at all, let alone liked us enough to talk about our music. Of course, playing CMJ this year was a huge success for us and the fact that we were hand- picked by the powers that be at CMJ to be included on the 2011 CMJ downloadable “mix tape” was incredible. Our label was invited to showcase at SXSW 2012 and so it looks like we’re going to that as well… We had an interview in “Ghettoblaster” magazine; we were selected by “Turntable Kitchen,” this really great blog that pairs music with food, to be the first band included in their new “Pairings Box,” which also yielded us our first 7” record.  Ultimately though, it’s so fun to make music with these guys… it sounds really corny but I consider that a huge success. Very seldom do you have situations where all the members of a band are like gears in a machine, each one interdependent and each one equally as important as the others.

JM: How did you get involved in this year’s CMJ?

IK: Earlier this year, after we released “Sunfried Dreams” our good friend Shelly hooked us up with
Misty at No More Fake Labels[…]She loved our record and wanted to work with us… the next thing you
know we were playing CMJ. She’s really great and works really hard for everyone on her label.

The Motel Beds performing at CMJ Music Marathon (Photo by Francesca Tamse)

JM: What showcase/show did you play, when and where?

IK: We played at the No More Fake Labels showcase on 10/20/2011 at The Bowery Poetry Club.

JM: Did this show differ at all compared to other shows you have played?

IK: Yes, definitely… we’ve had a couple of good shows in New York, but I think this was definitely the best of all of them. Attendance was great, Doug Gillard came out and told us he loved our music, we had a really good pizza, Kelley Deal was on stage with us… it was really, really cool.

JM: Any other experiences at CMJ you’d like to mention?

IK: The whole trip was such a blur that I don’t really recall anything but being in the van for 12 hours…being in the van for 12 hours was an experience. We also went to Cracker Barrel twice.

Unfortunately, I did not have the opportunity to catch the band during their showcase. Being in the biggest city in the US during the one of the biggest music festivals in the country makes you lose track of time…and mind. The Motel Beds, along with the hundreds of other bands that played during the festival, went out to accomplish one thing: to get their music heard by the masses. Judging from the sheer crowd at the festival this year, I would have to say they accomplished their goal.

I asked Ian one last question: Is there anything the band would like to say to those that attended the marathon this year? He took the chance to plug the bands newest album, “Tango Boys,” coming out later this month, give thanks to those who saw the show and have supported the band and left some words of assurance:

“No matter what the CDC says, you cannot catch syphilis from handling our CDs anymore.”

The Motel Beds will celebrate the release of Tango Boys on December 9th with a show at Canal Street Tavern.  They’ll perform with the Buffalo Killers and Chocolate Horse.

Cityfolk brings Christmas in Cape Breton to Dayton

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Natalie MacMaster (photo by Richard Beland)

(from Jon Hartley Fox via Cityfolk)

Christmas is the best time of the year for renowned Canadian fiddler and step-dancer Natalie MacMaster. As a girl growing up on Cape Breton Island, MacMaster was part of a large extended family and tight-knit community, and the holiday season was the high point of her year. Now that she’s a mother with a family of her own—and living several hundred miles from Cape Breton in Ontario — family traditions are even more important to her. With her husband, fiddler Donnell Leahy, they are creating their own new traditions for their growing family.

On December 4th at the Dayton Masonic Center, Natalie MacMaster offers Christmas in Cape Breton, a holiday celebration that joyfully recreates the Christmas customs of her family home. “We have a lot packed into the show.” says MacMaster, “We offer a bit of a contemporary edge to some of our tunes, and other tunes are very beautiful and deep and more thought provoking. But for the most part it’s light, happy, joyful music. There’s lots of dancing, lots of Christmas music, there’s a local choir guesting, a couple of real tender moments where my mother speaks to the audience. There are some Christmas carols, of course, and Christmas melodies played on the fiddle, and some traditions I share with the audience of Cape Breton during Christmas time.”  The local guest choir is the Kettering Children’s Choir.

The northern-most island of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island is home to almost 150,000 people. In the first half of the 19th century, approximately 50,000 Highland Scots arrived there, evicted from their land at home by the forced displacement now known as the Highland Clearances. These Scots became the dominant cultural group on the island and have had the biggest influence upon the evolution of the music, dance and traditional culture of Nova Scotiain general and Cape Breton Islandin particular.

Natalie MacMaster with husband Donnell Leahy (photo by Richard Beland)

Born in 1972, Natalie MacMaster was part of a musical family in a very musical environment; Natalie’s uncle, Buddy MacMaster, was one of the premier fiddlers in the area and the biggest influence on her fiddling. Natalie began playing fiddle at a young age, giving her first public performance at age nine. She recorded her first album when she was 16, about the same time she began step dancing.

“That happened very naturally,” she says of her recording debut. “I just played, and people started asking me to play at concerts, so I did, and one thing led to another. I remember hearing another 16-year-old on the radio who made a recording. I thought, ‘If he can do it, I can do it too.’ I did the whole thing [recording and mixing] in a day. That’s kind of unheard of in this day and age. It was just a lovely little project back then, and I don’t think there’s been any record that’s meant that much to me.”

The traditional music that MacMaster began playing at a young age is community music (as opposed to “at-home” music) that’s primarily played on the fiddle and piano. “Its rhythms come from the dancing,” says MacMaster. “It’s dance music. The traditional Cape Breton style of dance has been partnered with the fiddle music forever. A sign of a good fiddler is one who can accompany the dance and keep the beat. That’s why the very deep groove of the music stays.

“The Cape Breton style is almost like a genealogy, the music of our ancestors. I play and dance to music that carries on a bloodline, and that’s very powerful.” The music is highly rhythmic and highly infectious. “It’s such a pure, honest music,” she asserts. “It doesn’t come from wealth and popularity. It comes from tradition and family. Therefore it has longevity. I don’t think it will ever stop being appealing to people of all walks of life.”

Even so, MacMaster prepared for a career as a teacher rather than as a musician. “It never dawned on me growing up that I’d be doing this as a career,” she says. “All the fiddlers I knew had day jobs.”

MacMaster’s most recent album, is Cape Breton Girl, her first studio recording in five years. It represents a return to MacMaster’s traditional roots and is true to that high-spirited dance music. “While my other albums have included traditional music they have also been more exploratory, more arranged,” she explains.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j8fN8YDj1iY’]

Natalie MacMaster is internationally regarded as the foremost standard bearer for the traditional Cape Breton fiddling style. She has collaborated with a dizzying array of musicians that includes Alison Krauss, Carlos Santana, Paul Simon, Bela Fleck, Faith Hill, the Chieftains, Luciano Pavarotti, and Mark O’Connor. The Boston Herald says that “To call Natalie MacMaster the most dynamic performer in Celtic music today is high praise, but it still doesn’t get at just how remarkable a concert artist this fiddler has become.”

MacMaster has won numerous musical honors in Canada and the U.S., including Juno and East Coast Music awards, and has earned Grammy nominations for several of her albums. She won her first Grammy last year, for her contributions to superstar cellist Yo-Yo Ma’s holiday album, Songs of Joy and Peace. In 2006, MacMaster was made a member of the Order of Canada, a lifetime achievement award (and Canada’s highest civilian honor). She is one of the youngest recipients of that honor.

Natalie MacMaster loves touring and she loves performing. She loves being at home with her husband and children for Christmas even more. She says that these Christmas in Cape Breton performances help get her in the Christmas spirit and ready to celebrate with her family back home. “We’ve done holiday songs and holiday shows, but this was our first more serious attempt at a Christmas show,” says MacMaster. “I think this is the best time of year. I will be baking and loving up my family. I am a Christmas girl.”

Natalie MacMaster:  Christmas in Cape Breton

Sunday, December 4, 2011 – 7 pm

Dayton Masonic Center

Reserved single seats: $35, $28, $20

Click Here for Tickets

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There’s A Starman Waiting In The Sky

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The Resurrection of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars

In the post apocalyptic wasteland of what could be mistaken for the present, a Leper Messiah lunges into the spotlight, ready and albeit a tad too willing to save humanity with merely the sacrifice of his soul. A shock of shocking shag cut red hair defies the laws of nature as the asymmetrically dilated wonder filled eyes defies the apathetically addled masses to ignore the impending termination of humanity as a whole. Is this the act of a sacrificial lamb? The crucifixion of yet another messianic messenger’s? Or might this be a rock and roll suicide set in C major? Whatever your interpretation, it is, unarguably, the final teachings from the Gospel of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

David Bowie has always been the master chameleon, being able to sense trends and incorporate upcoming styles into whatever persona he was projecting at the time that, even those that he aggressively borrowed from felt honored by the imaginative pilfering. From the vast catalogue of Bowie’s affected personas, Ziggy Stardust stands out as one of the most completely three dimensional characters that he has created and personified that glittering epoch, with Bowie’s colorful incarnation becoming the poster child for the glam era.

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, for the uninitiated, is a concept album crafted by Bowie. The storyline, as such, is a convoluted array of perceptive sociology, religious icons wrapped snuggly in familiar parables all bound together in a roiling spiral of science fiction. The inspiration for the album/character itself is steeped in mythos, which includes such fringe personalities as The Legendary Stardust Cowboy and Vince Taylor, also known as the French Elvis who, after completely going off his nut, fired his band and went on stage draped in a sheet to inform the audience that he was the new messiah. Vince also had a penchant for carrying around maps of Europe to show anyone who stood still long enough where the UFOs would be landing. From these shards of broken soul, Ziggy was born.

Under Bowie’s skillful hands, the story emerges that the main character, Ziggy, takes on the role of a messianic messenger, filling the plundering youth with news of the world. In what turns out to be the Earth’s final five years of existence, the news happens to be quite bad but, from the whispered information that he is receiving through dreams from the black hole jumping Infinites, Ziggy is told of a savior: the Starman. The message is seized by the masses with a vigor that only the abjectly hopeless can muster. Riding on the wave of the Message, Ziggy is exulted up into new spiritual heights, but soon succumbs to his own Earlthy desires, living a reckless life that leaves him as a shell, a fractured liberator. When the Infinites arrive, they use their vessel to give themselves life, taking of their host Ziggy, until he dies a martyr’s death.

The documentary film by D.A. Pennebaker (Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars) chronicles the last concert Bowie performs as Ziggy. Filmed at the Hammersmith Odeon on July 3rd, 1973, this was Bowie’s last hurrah as he partially shelved the character of Ziggy. The impetuous for the premature retirement rested on several elements, one of which was that the character was threatening to outstrip the creator. The documentary itself dabbled very little behind the scenes, choosing instead to generate a full frontal assault of the ninety minute concert itself.

In this vein, local artist, entrepreneur and agent of rebellion Shelly “Gladgirl” Hulce became enamored with the concept, music and the film at an early age and she always kept this fantasy vision of it in the back of her mind…until now. “Back when I was a teenager, I was really into Bowie and really anything that was considered shocking. At the time, the most shocking thing was glam rock. I was raised in a very strict Baptist home. I mean to the point that we didn’t watch movies, wear pants, cut hair…” Gladgirl went on to detail some of the other elements of her upbringing before adding, “Rock and roll was just totally out of the question, so I would sneak and listen to it. I snuck a Bowie poster and hung it inside the closet where nobody could find it. We had these teen bonfires and many times I burnt the same records over and over. I would burn them at this church bonfire and then I would save up my lunch money and replace them.”

With Bowie’s body of work being arguably more theatrical than musically motivated, this mirrored some of Gladgirl’s interests within her own life.  “For me, music, theater and comedy have all been synonymous. My worlds have always collided. I did improv comedy for two years, travelling with a troupe and I’ve played with a couple of bands. I’ve never gotten into acting, but I’ve always been writing. I have written a rock opera using all music from Queen. I haven’t done anything with that because it’s very extensive and I wouldn’t even know where to start with something like that. I guess I will work my way up. Some opportunity will present itself when the timing is right and so I can put it into the back of my brain until then.” Exposure to ETC (Encore Theater Company) brought Gladgirl face to face with fringe musicals like Hedwig and the Angry Inch. This chance encounter was the starting point to push her vision into reality.

“I went to see Hedwig last April and as soon as JJ (Parkey) came out and belted that first big song and I just turned to Juliet and said. ‘That’s Bowie! That’s my Bowie!’ I really didn’t even pay attention to the rest of the show. All I kept thinking was, ‘Oh my God! Oh my God! I have to meet this guy! How do I pitch this idea? Who can I get for the band?’” Gladgirl ended the thought abashedly, “I was just terrible.”

Instead of immediately plunging into the pitch after the show ended, Gladgirl decided to show restraint only found in the best of stalker: she waited. Another opportunity presented itself a short time later.

“JJ and I were at a FilmDayton function together a few weeks later and I was like, ‘Hey! Let’s talk about David Bowie! What do you know about David Bowie and about Ziggy Stardust?’ and he was like, ‘What’s that?’” dejected but not dissuaded, Gladgirl took things into perspective. “I mean, he’s twenty-three years old at that point…he’s twenty-four now. So, after this, I’m just like, ‘Oh my gosh! Will you sit with me and watch a film and let me talk to you about an idea I have?’ and he’s like, ‘Oh, absolutely!’ We met up the next week and sat down and watched the documentary, which was the very last show that Bowie did in character as Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Well, they filmed that show on July 3rd, 1973 at the Hammersmith Odeon in London and what is so bizarre about this is that the night I had JJ up to watch the documentary was July 3rd. The opening credits came up and I was like, ‘Oh my God! That was July 3rd! It’s July 3rd!’”

Kismet and karma were not finished meddling with the vision of the production just yet…

“I was already, in the back of my mind, dreaming of doing a rock opera and thinking about who would be my dream team. There are so many good musicians in town that it’s just amazing.” The eventual line up of the band is a representation of the cream of Dayton’s music scene. “Oh, it’s stellar! I got everyone I wanted right off the bat. I went straight to the ones I wanted and I thought that I would have to work my way down, but every one of them were like, ‘Oh yeah! Definitely!”

There were even some inclusions that, on the face of it, seemed incongruous choices for a recreated glam band, such as local blues guitarist, Noah Wotherspoon.  “Yeah, he’s such a blues guy, but he really loves it all. The cool thing is that he really has a vintage red Hagstrom guitar just like Bowie played during the Ziggy era!”

Some of the musicians were more obvious choices because of their own musical leanings.  “Shrug, which is Tod Weidner’s band, were having a CD release party a few years ago at Canal Street and to surprise their fans, they came out and did the entire album The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust. It totally shocked everybody and, of course, it stuck with me. Tod, being such a great singer, pulled it off vocally as Bowie and the band did the music perfectly. So, I had that in the back of my head, but with Tod traveling and doing the Pink Floyd tribute band (Set The Controls) around the nation…”

Gladgirl trailed off, indicating the slim chances of being able to have Tod as part of the band. “To know his stamina and to know his musical genius and being able to do anything that is put in front of him, I knew that there was no way that I could do this without Tod. Absolutely no way. So I called Tod and I said, ‘Look, I’ve got this guy and I have this idea and I know your schedule is crazy…I know you’re not going to have any time to do this, but I just had to ask you, is there any way that you could squeeze this in? What’s your schedule like in the Fall? Tod said, ‘Probably around Thanksgiving or maybe a little earlier than that.’ I said, ‘What about 11/11/11?’ and he’s like, “That’s pretty sweet! I’m in!’ It was just like the stars were aligning! I had my two pillars: JJ and Tod.

The other band members are bassist Chris Corn, drummer Ian Kaplan, keyboardist Ken Hall, percussionist Erich Reith, Marie Spohn and Gladgirl herself. With the band in place, the next hurdle would be the costumes.

“JJ and I have been making the costumes for this show from scratch since July. Well, with the exception of one piece, which I hired Tracy McElfresh to make. She’s a third generation dress maker and she’s killer. I told Tracy that I was going to buy this shirt and try to make this spaceman costume but that I didn’t think it was going to work and I asked her to help. She sent me off to the fabric store with a list and I bought the stuff and brought it back to her.”Gladgirl paused, reflecting on what her event has become. “That’s what this has all turned into. It’s just a collective. This whole event has just been a huge collaboration.”

One of the most interesting aspects of this passion play is that, at a time when Godspell and Jesus Christ Superstar were espousing a reconceived image of Biblical prophesies and parables, Ziggy chose instead to cloak his message in a shimmering cloud of veiled innuendos.

“It was all Biblical, but he didn’t blatantly come out and say that this had a Biblical bend to it, but there are so many comparisons that you could make. The arc of the story is the same.” Gladgirl said before launching into the parallels. “The Starman messiah with a message of the world ending in five years and then he is betrayed by one of the Spiders From Mars and he’s crucified. John the Baptist is in there and Judas, Mary Magdalene, the Holy Trinity…Bowie is the Trinity at different points throughout the album and he is the Leper Messiah…the whole bit. Bowie even went as far as to match a lot of his costumes to whatever character he was in the Trinity. When he comes out, he comes down with the message for Five Years, he is wearing an all white kimono, so it’s like this pure deity kind of thing.”

While there are many fantastic tribute bands that abound in our area, Gladgirl wants to make the distinction that this is not merely a tribute featuring the music of David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust. This is a faithful recreation of the epic show that Bowie presented at the Hammersmith Odeon on July 3rd, 1973.  “What I’m telling people is that this is not a tribute show like with people just showing up and doing Bowie’s music.” Gladgirl stated. “This is a passion play and it totally follows the whole arc that Bowie did as Ziggy. That’s why I titled this The Resurrection. I call it a ‘rock and roll rapture.’”

 

There are some added features to this show that were not in the original, such as a piece written by Gladgirl herself.  “The way that I’m presenting this to the audience is Chris Shea from Free Shakespeare will be coming out before Noah’s band and Ziggy’s set and I’ve dubbed him The News Guy because, in one of the lyrics, it talks about being ‘baptized by the News Guy’s tears.’ I’ve also written what I call The Soul Love Greeting…Soul Love being one of the songs about the Holy Spirit.” Gladgirl went on to explain that, “…this is all to lead a person to think. There’s twenty-four songs and I listed lyrics from each song and made this list for Chris Shay to present to the audience. After that, the real fun begins!”

Space Oddity: The Resurrection of Ziggy Stardust & The Spiders From Mars will be held at Gilly’s (132 S. Jefferson St.) on November 11th at 9:00pm. Tickets are only $10 and presale tickets are available at Omega, Record Gallery in the Oregon District, Toxic Beauty Records in Yellow Springs and Game Swap in Woodlane Plaza in Kettering. Chad Wells of Wells & Co. Tattoo and Cricketbows will be on hand to provide Liquid Skin Display – Glam Rock Face Painting before and during the show for anyone wanting the full glam experience. Another, as yet to be announced ‘mystery guest musician’ will also be present.

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Urban Arts Conference Sees Three Year Collaboration Reach Fruition; Local Hip-hop Scene Strong

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Black Thought of the Roots

Black Thought of the Roots

Three years of urban arts collaboration reached fruition Oct. 14-15, as the Regional Academic and Cultural Collaborative returned to Dayton.

“The goal was to collaborate and present, or pay homage almost, to the culture of urban creative arts and hip-hop,” said Sierra Leone, local poet and producer of the conference.

Leone said organizers signed on for a three year commitment to the community to present national and international celebrities, as well as entertainment executives.

“For us that was a huge highlight,” she said. “Actually following through and completing the project was really major.”

The audience was mostly a younger crowd, Leone said. Some people from Columbus came down, and many attendees were local college students and community members.

Leone said the performance by Januarie York, a spoken word artist from Indianapolis, and the talk by Black Thought, of the hip-hop/neo-soul band The Roots, were highlights of the event.

“She [Januarie York] wasn’t really publicized for being a part of the actual collaboration,” Leone said. “People really raved about her performance and the way she preformed and how she
interacted with the audience.”

Black Thought delivered an inspiring and moving talked, Leone said.

“On top of having a family, on top of being on TV every night, on top of having to get right off work and get to Dayton,” she said, “he came here with us and spent an evening with us.  And spoke to a topic that he loves, but is extremely difficult to do. I thought that was very commendable.”

Leone said, aside from coming and speaking, Black Thought brought in T-shirts and pamphlets promoting that topic he spoke of, his grassroots movement in Philadelphia that supports the
betterment of the lives of young girls and ensuring that they have the best possible futures.

She believes Black Thought’s talk was moving because it showed him as a person, not just a Grammy Award winning celebrity. And it gave the audience, especially the younger crowd, an
opportunity to realize that the music is just one piece of the iceberg.

“They don’t realize and understand that the album their buying is just one piece of a whole,” she said. “And in turn, I think just seeing an artist like Black Thought come and say ‘You know, I’m
just as ordinary as you are. And in turn, there are some things I’m not great at. And standing up here and speaking in this form that’s not as artistic can be challenging and I had to work at it.’  Young people hearing and understanding that is great.”

She said having that humbleness and seeing Black Thought in a different light gave the event a much more real and tangible quality to it.

“It really is about understanding who people are at their core and what they believe in and what
inspire them,” Leone said.

It’s this understanding of who people are that DJ Swig believes makes the best hip-hop.

DJ Swig

DJ Swig

“Everything is changing to pop right now,” Swig said about hip-hop as a whole. “I mean the kids love it and you got to go with what sells. You got to stay hot. If you really think about it, back in
the days of KRS-1, Grandmaster Flash and LL Cool J, they were telling you about what was in their neighborhood.”

“Now the money is involved, and now the whole thing is based on money,” Swig said. “If singing in skinny jeans is going to make me money, that’s what I’m going to do. In all reality,
like what rappers back in the day used to wear skinny jeans. That wasn’t even cool. Now skinny jeans is the fad, because that’s what’s making them money.”

Swig said there’s still some rappers out there that really give you that true hip-hop sound, like Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common and Lupe Fiasco. The latter two gave key-note speeches and
performances in the previous two urban arts conferences, according to Leone.

“You got to be true to yourself,” Swig said. “I use Mos Def and Common because they tell you what’s going on in the world and that’s what people want to hear.”

He said most rappers aren’t true to themselves anymore.

“They don’t use the stories of their life,” Swig said. “Their using the story of someone else’s life because that’s what sells money. That’s why when you hear a song on the radio it sounds like the song that just came off, like the one they just played.”

Though the hip-hop scene as a whole is turning toward pop, Swig said he thinks the local scene has stayed true. He thinks the scene is taking over.

“I really think you’re going to start hearing more artists from Dayton getting signed, hear about more artists getting distribution deals,” Swig said. “I think the local scene is strong. Believe it
or not, I hear more about local rappers in Dayton then I do anywhere else. Every time I hear something turns out they’re from Dayton. I’m pumped because I really think Dayton[hip-hop scene] is going in the right direction, if they stay together as a community, as a whole.”

This was DJ Swig’s first year participating in the Urban Arts Conference.

“For them to bring people down here to teach you about the actual hip-hop game, and what to do, what not to do, how to win and how not to win, I give them mad props for that because people
don’t get that anywhere else,” Swig said.

DJ Swig said once people realize all the music that came out of Dayton and the surrounding area, they will begin to appreciate the deep roots in the area and understand how the local hip-hop
scene developed.

“Dayton was huge for music back in the day,” DJ Swig said.

Judging by the looks of the strong local hip-hop scene, that day may soon be returning.

Music Video Monday: October 24, 2011

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In the words of a classic film minus a classic killer, “8 more days til Halloween, Halloween, Halloween…”  Okay, so we’re actually a bit farther a long than that.  So it’s a perfect time to share a fantastic music video by local musician and filmmaker Henrique Couto.  It’s a new twist on the classic tune, Monster Mash and features Couto alongside Moriah Yux (Jasper the Colossal), Jay Madewell (Fab Gear) and a host of friends and ghouls.

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewbvvGF0jT4′]

Turkish Delights Return to the Stage with South Park Tavern Show

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We haven’t heard much from the Turkish Delights since early this spring, but we’re very happy to report that the band is back in action with a show on Saturday at South Park Tavern.  The Turkish Delights will perform with the Smug Brothers, who are putting the final touching on their forthcoming EP, Treasure Virgins.  Cincinnati’s Minor Leagues will round out a great evening of music.  The music starts around 9pm, and this show, like most every show at South Park Tavern, is all ages.