Thursday, June 11, 2009

Broad Ripple Gazette vol 6, no 12

first published in the Broad Ripple Gazette.

Previews:

Teen Arts and Music Festival
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Broad Ripple Park
1550 Broad Ripple Avenue
11 AM – 7 PM, all-ages, free

This is the fifth year for the Teen Arts and Music Festival and it keeps getting bigger and better. There will be twelve bands on the main stage and an open stage for teen singer-songwriters, poets and dancers to perform. Dozens of teen artists will have their work on display and for sale.

The lineup is stellar – including two bands I’ve heard before and love – Sanuk and Razorback Llama and the teenagers at heart band, Tim Brickley and The Bleeding Hearts.

11:00 Cities of Noise
11:30 The Grimes Girls
noon Rebel Harriet
12:40 Aquatones
1:20 Reload
2:00 Star Sixty-Seven
3:00 Razorback Llama
3:40 Tim Brickley and The Bleeding Hearts
4:20 Consensus
5:05 The Are You Ready’s
5:50 Sanuk
6:35 Rocketbot

Bring a lawn chair, blankets and sunscreen. Food will be available. It promises to be a fun day!

www.myspace.com/teenartsandmusicfestival

Derelicks Yard Sale
Friday, June 26 and Saturday, June 27, 2009
52nd Street and Clarendon Road (Rocky Ripple)
10:00 am to 5:00 pm

I know this is not the classified section, but this yard sale is benefiting two favorite things – making records and hunger relief. The talented and quirky band, The Derelicks are hosting a rummage sale to help finance the recording of their next record, Flat Can Cover Sessions, and to raise some cash for Gleaners Food Bank. I’m sure it will be chock-full of treasures!

www.thederelicks.com

Cameron McGill, David Townsend James, the Medders
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Indy Hostel, outdoor stage
4903 Winthrop Ave
doors 7:00, music 7:30, $7. all-ages

The first time I heard Chicago’s, Cameron McGill I was charmed by his alt-country sound sincerity. He’s charmed a lot of other folks in the last four years, performing with his band, What Army? (isn’t that the best band name, ever?). He’s doing a solo tour to promote his new record, Warm Songs for Cold Shoulders.

David Townsend James hails from Indianapolis and I enjoyed what I heard on his MySpace page, Americana – folk.

Here are Hostel John Newton’s words about The Medders: I saw these guys play a house show down in Nashville. Don't be fooled by the country-western sound (which they do quite well) - Cheyenne (lead singer) has one of the best voices for Chuck Berry around. Bring your dancing shoes!

I love their story – three sons of a Nashville Country song writer, finding their own sound and regrouping in Nashville after college. Read and hear more on their MySpace page.

I would plan my weekend around this show, if I were you. I’ll be in Germany with my family, hopefully listening to Volksmusik, but most likely watching a band that features a klezmer (not that there is anything wrong with that!).

www.indyhostel.us

www.cameronmcgill.com
http://www.myspace.com/davidtownsendjames
http://www.myspace.com/themedders


Reviews:

Ice Cube Head Gallery Show
Friday, June 5, 2009

No one is more surprised by my life than I am. Seriously. And I can trace all of the cool stuff I get to do back to my job at Some Guys Pizza. I worked at Some Guys when I first moved back to Indianapolis in 1996-ish. I was my first independent restaurant gig and I know I drove them crazy with my corporate restaurant mentality. I soon got over that. I met and worked with so many cool people – including owner/operators Nancy Carey and Keith Carey. I met Second Helpings co-founder, Kristen Cordoza through the Carey’s and many amazing friends.

One of the folks that really shaped my Indianapolis experience was co-worker Jeff Ayers. Jeff was my not-so-evil landlord for almost a year. I can honestly say that I laughed every single day that I lived in that house; Jeff is one of the funniest and most creative guys I know.



All of the art in the show was a riffed from a disconcerting photograph of Jeff taken last winter. Here is Jeff’s artist statement:

“ In the Beginning: The idea behind Ice Cube Head the picture and Icecubehead.com was completely unplanned and serendipitous. It began like this: I have two large dogs, Louis and Grrrl. They are mostly outdoor dogs and their water dish is a five-gallon plastic bucket. In the winter, when one bucket starts to freeze, I switch it out with a fresh one. The water in the bucket freezes from the top down and along the sides. Given a certain amount of partial freezing, followed up by several hours indoors thawing, you can get a perfectly formed hollow ice cylinder out of the bucket, open on one end, like a giant glass or a vase. Just the right size to fit snuggly over a man’s head. Shortly after making this discovery, I was playing a game of winter bocce with an artist friend, Jim Kelly. I asked him to take a picture of me wearing the ice helmet. To make the image more humorous, especially given the below-freezing temperature and my pathetic physique, I stripped to the waist. The result is a slightly disturbing image of a half-naked grown man whose head appears to be frozen inside a giant ice cube.

“There is a group of bocce players who regularly congregate at my house, several of whom are artists of one type or another. We decided that we would all draw, paint, whatever medium, a version of the photo, then gather them all together and have a little party. The initial results, particularly the work of Jim Kelly and Sean Gelarden, were so impressive and fun that we decided to invite others to participate. The group expanded beyond our bocce circle to include a wide spectrum of contributors, from trained art professionals to people who hadn’t drawn a picture since early school days. Jim, Sean and I then decided we would print some of the best pieces and offer them for sale at a gala party at my house.”



The art work was amazing. The Ice Cube Head interpretations ranged from traditional mediums to a night light and an unsettling tableau of monkey with a glass on his head. Go to the Web site to see the art work (do yourself a favor and type in the address, Googling “Ice Cube Head” brings up Web sites that make a Catholic girl blush).

www.icecubehead.com