Article by Jon Bauer

In a castle in the San Fernando Valley lies the lair of music icon Gary Numan. Outside is an enormous statue of a dragon, inside a St. Bernard (almost as large) greets you on arrival. He’s a new addition to the family – a rescue pup, and huge. The lord of this manor could be as outwardly intimidating as this entire set-up, but he’s a humble presence. Notorious for hits such as ‘Are ‘Friends’ Electric?’ and ‘Cars’, Numan’s early career was too often misconstrued, tainted by a sometimes fraught relationship with the media and challenged by the hostility of the music industry at the time, still deeply committed as it was to the guitar, bass, drums approach of old. Numan, however, stuck to his guns, outlasted his naysayers, and became renowned not just as a pioneer but as an institution. Today, with a career that has spanned nearly four decades, his approach to electronic music remains an inspiration to artists across genres and eras, from stadium goliaths such as Depeche Mode, Prince and Nine Inch Nails to alternative heroes such as Beck, Damon Albarn and Marilyn Manson. Even Kanye West owes him a debt and David Bowie once credited him with ‘ writing two of the finest songs’ in British music. It’s no surprise he recently received the Ivor Novello Award for Inspiration.

– GaryNuman.com

Photo: Jon Bauer | Gary Numan Band

Photo: Jon Bauer | Gary Numan Band

Photo: Jon Bauer | Gary Numan Band

Photo: Jon Bauer | Gary Numan Band

Photo: Jon Bauer | Gary Numan

Photo: Jon Bauer | Gary Numan

Photo: Jon Bauer | Gary Numan

Photo: Jon Bauer | Gary Numan

Photo: Jon Bauer | Gary Numan

Photo: Jon Bauer | Gary Numan

Named after a skateboard movie from an 80’s skate film, Los Angeles band Nightmare Air emphasizes sonic momentum, during both live performances and in the studio.

Nightmare Air’s Dave Dupuis, a veteran of L.A. shoegazers Film School (Beggars Banquet Records), and Swaan Miller, whose stark acoustic album on Important Records melted hearts and faces everywhere, meticulously layer boy-girl harmonies, pulsing pop synths, psych noise loops and glam soaked walls of guitars. Add to that Detroit heavy hitter Jimmy Lucido on the drums (The Strays / TVT records) in their combined years of touring, these road veterans have supported heavyweights from Smashing Pumpkins to the The Jesus and Mary Chain. Headlining clubs and playing festivals around the world Nightmare Air have shared stages with The Kills, The Dandy Warhols, Teenage Fanclub, Cat Power, The Black Lips, The Soft Moon, No Age, The Wedding Present, The Buzzcocks, Ringo Deathstarr, Fishbone, The Cult and many more.

– NightmareAir.com

Photo: Jon Bauer | Nightmare Air’s Dave Dupuis

Photo: Jon Bauer | Nightmare Air’s Dave Dupuis

Photo: Jon Bauer | Nightmare Air’s Dave Dupuis

Photo: Jon Bauer | Nightmare Air’s Dave Dupuis

Photo: Jon Bauer | Nightmare Air’s Dave Dupuis and Jimmy Lucido

Photo: Jon Bauer | Nightmare Air’s Jimmy Lucido

Photo: Jon Bauer | Nightmare Air’s Jimmy Lucido

Photo: Jon Bauer | Nightmare Air’s Jimmy Lucido

Photo: Jon Bauer | Nightmare Air’s Jimmy Lucido

Photo: Jon Bauer | Nightmare Air’s Swaan Miller

Photo: Jon Bauer | Nightmare Air’s Swaan Miller

Photo: Jon Bauer | Nightmare Air’s Swaan Miller

Article by Jordan Miller

Every year, beginning in the month of August, Nashville’s very own independent radio station, Lightning 100 (100.1 FM), pulls together local vendors and musical acts of all sorts to put on one of the best shows you can experience in the area for free. The festival is called, Live On The Green (LOTG) rightfully named, as it’s held on the Public Square Park lawn that sits right in front of the Davidson County Courthouse. You can expect to see an average of four bands, every Thursday evening, leading up to the headlining acts that play during the Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of Labor Day Weekend. 2018 was the ten-year anniversary of this local festival and it showed all the signs of continuing to prosper.

With an average weekly attendance ranging from 16,000 to 20,000, it is truly an amazing representation of the community coming together to enjoy everything this free event has to offer. Attendees are able to come and go as they please, find a space on the grass to enjoy the music, or walk around and taste the awesome food being offered. The food trucks that lineup around the venue are also all local favorites, who are eager and excited for the newcomers to try their great tasting creations. You can find anything from hotdogs, to main entrees, to the most delicious desserts.

One of my most pleased facts with the festival is how Lightning 100 does such a great job at keeping a vast majority of the lineup open to those who are local acts, or live in the Nashville area. Personal favorites of mine who have all shared the stage consist of bands such as Bully, The Wild Feathers, and Republican Hair to name a few! Even if you are not familiar with the names on the bill for that evening, I can promise you will leave a fan. If you are already a huge fan of the lineup, the festival does offer VIP tickets reasonably priced for those who want to get the full experience. I have done this in the past and I can attest it is worth it!

Whether you are a middle-aged mother, looking to spend some time with your daughter for the evening, or on a road trip with some of your college roommates, this is an event for everyone! It is truly an event that gives back to those who want to enjoy live music and the talent Nashville has to offer.

Past acts include: Toadies, Citizen Cope, Sheryl Crow, Los Lonely Boys, Ben Folds, Cage The Elephant, and more.

Photo: Jordan Miller | Rival Sons

Photo: Jordan Miller | Rival Sons

Photo: Jordan Miller | Savannah Conley

Photo: Jordan Miller | The Wild Feathers

Photo: Jordan Miller | The Wild Feathers

Photo: Jordan Miller | The Wild Feathers

Article by Małgorzata Stanek

Imagine spending a sunny August afternoon in the streets of a charming Old Town filled with colourful stalls, the hustle of bustle of various languages (Polish, Ukrainian, Belarusian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Slovak) and traditional music. This is what happens in mid-August in Lublin, Poland.

Lublin is a charming city in eastern Poland that has much to offer. Beautiful sites, places of remembrance, pleasant, calm atmosphere, residents passionate about their heritage and many fascinating events that take place all year round when many of the residents as well as tourists gather together in celebration of culture, art and tradition and of a sense of age-old community.

Photo: Bartek Żurawski, Organizer’s materials. The Jagiellonian Fair, main square, Old Town, Lublin.

One beautiful annual event is the Jagiellonian Fair, now in its 12th year. The Jagiellonian Fair is, broadly speaking, a meeting with traditional culture of Central and East European countries in many forms: concerts, workshops, presentations but also direct meetings with another person. The event historically refers to 15th century fairs that took place in Lublin. Lublin, located on the crossroad of trade routes, attracted traders and merchants from various corners of Poland and Europe. The event aims at showcasing the most beautiful, authentic aspects of traditional culture of this area and how it inspires more contemporary forms of art, or how they can engage in a dialogue and draw inspiration from one another.

The event focuses around a craftsman’s fair – wooden stalls scattered around the Old Town erupt with colour. The organizers highlight that unlike in many other similar events, the stalls at the Jagiellonian Fair cannot be simply bought – the artists are hand-picked; the organizers strive to invite only those artists who represent genuine local or family traditions. We meet around 300 of them from various countries (Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Ukraine, Belarus, Hungary, this year even Sweden), always kind and eager to tell us about their craft, what drove them to begin, to show and explain the skills. They are happy to answer any questions, they are happy to demonstrate and explain their work, including at various workshops they run.

Photo: Jakub Bodys, Organizer’s materials.

You can learn from them – they are happy to teach us so that the tradition and awareness of it live on. Their stories are varied, interesting and usually do highlight one fact – they carry their crafts in their heart. This openness, honesty and authenticity strongly resonates. As I walk among the stalls, listening to their stories, observing the skills and admiring the meticulous work, work that is the result of absolutely pure passion and love, I feel moved to tears. It is pure delight to meet them and learn what it means to have a genuine passion and love of traditional handcraft, to be reminded of a certain lifestyle, values and to feel like a part of a warm-hearted community.

Photo: Gutek Zegier, Organizer’s materials.

The variety of items on display (and available for purchase) range from traditional pysanky eggs, lace and embroidery, through decorations (including pająki traditional, spider-like ornaments that used to be hung in households), toys, unique instruments, blacksmith’s wares – and many others. There is much to feast your eyes on – and the stories of the artisans fill the hearts too.

Photo: Gutezk Zegier, Organizer’s materials
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Photo: Gutek Zegier, Organizer’s materials.

Photo: Gutek Zegier, Organizer’s materials. (photo: TBP)

Photo: Gutek Zegier, Organizer’s materials.

Photo: Gutek Zegier, Organizer’s materials.

Photo: Gutek Zegier, Organizer’s materials.

Photo: Gutek Zegier, Organizer’s materials.

Every year, the festival focuses on a different theme. This year, the main theme was lace.

There were several exhibitions dedicated to this delicate and meticulous craft. One, entitled “Her majesty Koniaków lace” featured lace from Koniaków, a village in southern Poland known for its lace-making traditions and even finding new applications for this meticulous art, including g-strings. There was a lace umbrella and lace wedding and cocktail dress on display, among other things. Another lace-focused exhibition was a presentation of the organizers’ field research trip and their interviews with lacemakers. Lace was also the inspiration for a mural that adorned one of the event’s locations – the building where the office of the organizers is located, a delightful, peaceful, green-filled patio where workshops were held during the event. Moreover, a pająk referring to this year’s theme was hung in the ancient entryway to the Old Town – the so called Cracow (Krakowska Gate), an architectural symbol of the city built as part of its fortifications during the reign of Casimir the Great in 14th century. The pająk hung at homes was the guardian of good fortune and providence of the household; hung in the Gate, it brings joy to the city.

This year’s pajak was made to reflect the theme of the Jagiellonian Fair – lace.

Photo: Bartek Żurawski, Organizer’s materials, Cracow Gate – entry way to the Old Town, with pająk. (photo: TBP)

The Jagiellonian Fair is also very much about celebrating traditional music. There is plenty of music! As we walk among the stalls, for instance, a traditional band may suddenly gallantly surprise you with a spontaneous mini-performance. One of the projects associated with the Jagiellonian Fair is the Jagiellonian Fair Orchestra – open to all enthusiasts of traditional music who also wish to hone their music skills. The Orchestra hold rehearsals throughout the year and perform at the dance parties during the event.

Photo: Bartek Żurawski, Organizer’s materials.

The dance parties are a fantastic opportunity to dance through the night to the tune of lively, fiery music. Sometimes, the band starts going so fast, it becomes hard to keep up! If you feel insecure about your dancing skills, you can always join dance workshops that teach the repertoire played at the parties, but it’s also fun to just hop spontaneously as you like. Trying to keep up with the rhythm can be a real challenge though! Aside from dancing, there are also presentations and workshops dedicated to traditional singing techniques and old song repertoires from various corners of eastern and central Europe.

Furthermore, the bands perform not just at dance parties or in the streets. There are also concerts. One of the concerts is called re:tradition, during which popular performers meet with traditional village musicians, practising authentic traditional music. They rehearse together and learn from one another. The result is an absolutely arresting dialogue between tradition and more modern sounds.

Photo: Bartek Żurawski, Organizer’s materials.

The village singers stand in the highlight, not quite used to stage performances, evident in how microphone-shy they can be at times. They present their musical skills, telling various tales through their art. This year, one of the ladies sang out the haunting, tragic story of the Ulma family – her own relatives. The Ulmas were a family living in south-eastern Poland during the Nazi occupation. They gave shelter to Jews, were denounced and subsequently murdered one early morning – first the Jews, then the Ulmas, including the pregnant mother of the family. Reportedly, she started giving birth at the moment of execution and the baby died too. The song, performed in a traditional singing technique, was a genuinely heart-rending experience.

Photo: Jakub Bodys, Organizer’s materials.

It’s worth noting that re:tradition was performed in the courtyard of the Lublin Castle that served as prison at various times, most infamously during the Nazi occupation. Just before the Nazi withdrew from Lublin in July 1944, the remaining prisoners (around 300) were murdered.

Photo: Jakub Bodys, Organizer’s materials. Raabygg’s concert during the Jagiellonian Fair.

There are also individual concerts featuring foreign bands playing their roots music, or mixing it up with personal ideas and arrangement. This year, the festival introduced the Norwegian Raabygg – a trio of delightful girls. The girls spun folk tales illustrated with their enchanting music. It was an intimate affair performed on a small stage in the Dominican Monastery, a quiet setting, slightly removed from the hustle and bustle of the main artery of the festival. The big stage in Lublin Castle courtyard also featured the Cypriot Monsieur Doumani whose simple but energetic, honest arrangements easily reached the heart and Violons Barbares consisting of musicians from Bulgaria, Mongolia and France who swept us along on a musical journey featuring a combination of music traditions from their countries. All concerts during the Jagiellonian Fair are unique experiences, an opportunity to take in an incredible richness of themes, techniques and approaches. Most of all, it’s always full of heart.

Photo: Marcin Pietrusza, Organizer’s materials. One of the games available at the Jagiellonian Fair Playground, a zone for families to spend quality time together, recalling traditional games.

Other than concerts, workshops, exhibitions and meetings with people and tradition, there is also a place for families to spend quality time together, playing traditional games. The Jagiellonian Fair Playground, located in a huge green area directly below the Lublin Castle, offers a variety of large-scale games, some more familiar than others. Among others, you can play tic tac toe using large wooden noughts and crosses, but there is a variety of other traditional games all families can enjoy – together.

Photo: Marcin Pietrusza, Organizer’s materials, the Jagiellonian Fair.

Article by Miranda Caravalho

Imagine this: you and your friends are walking through the farmland of North Vietnam. It’s a warm Summer day, the type that makes that air hot and thick. Then you hear it – the familiar guttural stutter of blades cutting against air, and the new and angry wind that has cut through the calm of the afternoon. You know what’s coming, and your friends do too.

Without saying a word you all grab the nearest leaves and branches, and you drop down to the dirt with the foliage covering you. With the jets screaming above you, you begin to crawl through the grass. The noise is ringing in your ears and vibrating the inside of your skull, but you keep crawling. As you move the noise slowly fades away, but you’re too terrified to get up. So you stay where you are, on your hands and knees under your makeshift, and you continue to crawl, further and further, for miles.

Dinh Q. Lê and his family were forced to flee their home of Hà Tiên in 1978, along with a wave of others from a country suddenly ravaged with war. Lê lived for twenty years in the United States until he followed the path of many other refugees and returned to his country to live in Ho Chi Minh City. where he soon started work on the pieces that would eventually make up True Journey is Return the newest exhibit at the San José Museum of Art.

I wasn’t expecting this to be what it was when I walked in. And if I’m being honest, when I found out about the subject manner I hesitated to write about it, mostly out of fear of saying the wrong thing. But after taking some time I couldn’t help myself. True Journey is a touching exhibit, one that commands your time and attention, and yes, your words.

When you walk into the second floor main exhibit, all of which has been dominated by Lê’s work, the first thing that catches your eye will probably be Crossing the Further Shore. It’s these four structures made entirely of loosely-connected photographs. The pictures are ones that Lê has been collecting in antique shops and thrift stores for years. They’re taken from the 1940’s to the 1980’s, mostly from the pre-war era of Vietnam. They’re photos form wedding days and dinner parties, childhood portraits and pristine landscapes. Everyone looks beautiful. If not beautiful, than happy. If not happy, then alive.

The photos form a net. There are more of them scattered under the makeshift buildings. And the ones along the walls that face inside instead of out have writing on the back of them.

“From the field I watched my house burn,” one reads, “late in the afternoon it collapsed. I did not know what to feel then I heard that my husband had been killed, but the French would not let me search for him.”

Another one just reads “Hai cha con”, which means, translated into English, “Father and son”. You can’t see the photo, but something about the words on their own stir up a wistfulness I can’t exactly explain.

But maybe that’s the point that Lê is trying to get across, isn’t it? Once back in Vietnam he searched for the family photographs of his childhood, the ones they’d been forced to abandon as they left to the country. Instead he found these fragments of these people, these other families connected to him through circumstance as opposed to blood. Where are they now? And what memories did they abandon to the storm of war and chaos? Whatever was gone is here again, strung up on display, these private snapshots filled with a potent emotional force. If you stand close enough to the structures your vision starts to spin, like a physical optical illusion of faces and faces.

We have Dinh Q. Lê’s true journey to return laid out in three rooms. But going through those rooms, especially when you take your time, you leave feeling as if you have embarked on a journey of your own. I was in a daze for a long while after I left, deeply touched by what I had seen. I had to mull over the work for days, and as I did I couldn’t help but think – what is my journey? I – and you as well, reader – what do we have to return to?

The answer differs for all of us, but regardless of who you are, you will see your journey as you see Dinh Q. Lê’s work. And it might be sad, or even dizzying, but no matter what I promise it will be beautiful.

Article by Khatija Hussain

Counting Words hosted its first official open mic night event for spoken word on the 13 September at Black Sheep Coffee, a small chain coffee shop in Euston, London.

The crisp summer evening was perfect for this spoken word night. I found it hard to find at first as the coffee shop was hidden between the large skyscrapers. But was eager to get there as it was something new for me.

The event’s host, Jessica Cooke invited creative writers and speakers to engage in a celebration of writing.

Counting Words shared the venue with another party who were louder but the performers who read their works were louder in their performances – although the microphone had to be adjusted to avoid some feedback, they made it work.

The dimly lit coffee house had a stage set up in the corner for the performers, many talented speakers didn’t just read off their phone screens, their words were alive in the air. 

Jessica Cooke started the event off with a light-hearted poem about toast and how you could count on toast to be there for you, her performance eased the atmosphere and set a peaceful ambiance that would follow throughout the night.

Asim Rizki performed a wonderfully detailed extract from his short story ‘The Rider Song’, influenced by Ernest Hemingway and Katherine Mansfield, his story is about the lives of many characters during a different time period, his short story can be found on Amazon.com.

SM Jenkins, a lively and wonderfully charismatic woman who supported all the performers, read a set of her own poems which amazed the crowd. 

Her first poem was influenced by her struggles with depression. Society sees a different perspective in the social media presence, people who post online, create this amazing life that leads others to think that they’re lacking in their own lives. It puts them down unintentionally. SM Jenkins portrayed her feelings remarkably adding a comical yet meaningful message that she would do something for herself and not look at the posts online. The littlest things she does would be her amazing life. 

Her poem had a truthful message that affects today’s generation who are very focused on social media.

I could feel what each emotion poured into every word when one performer spoke about his battle with mental health. Just a simple act of getting out of bed was a struggle for him, not because of tiredness or wanting to sleep more. But it was because his mind, the voice that spoke to him about his self-worth and slowly convincing him that his days would have no meaning to him.

His inner voice fighting him into a pit of darkness that would put him down. He compared his day to others, seeing others get out of bed, they have their lives sorted. But do we really know the truth in what they are facing? He continued to pour his feelings and promised to stop comparing his day to others and vowed to make small steps, ones that would not scare him but would give him a sense of accomplishment that would get him out of bed and to help overcome his battles.

With every written work performed, the crowd were open minded and supportive. Each performer spoke about something personal or an inspiration. This motivated me to be spontaneous and perform a poem I had written about my battle with cancer. Performing in front of a large crowd is not a strong point for me but this small and cheerful crowd accepted me with open arms. 

The first poem was interrupted as the scariest thing happened, my phone had died in the middle of my performance – a performer’s worst nightmare. This was the icing on the cake to add to my nerves. But the crowd clapped and clicked their fingers in support and patience. I finished my second poem about my battle and ended the night with a smile on my face. 

Counting Words is the perfect place to meet like-minded and talented individuals. Go for a reading or a performance, you won’t be disappointed.

Article by Malaka Sanders

The UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive (BAMPFA) is celebrating the multidisciplinary work of Chilean-born artist Cecilia Vicuña until October 14. An artist for 40 years, Vicuña’s practice incorporates performance, video, found object sculptures and text. A children’s event, Gallery + Studio: From Dream to Play: The Art of Cecilia Vicuña for ages 6 to 12 on Saturday, September 8 at 11:30AM and 1PM, will draw inspiration from her work for a hands-on artmaking workshop. Interviews with the artist are included in the exhibition and excerpted from the book Cecilia Vicuña: About to Happen, co-edited by Julia Bryan-Wilson, professor of modern and contemporary art at UC Berkeley. A program of six of Vicuña’s reflective film shorts plays on a loop in the newer, thirty-three seat screening room at BAMPFA, the smaller of two theaters at the museum.

Vicuña has lived in London and Columbia and now divides her time between New York and Chile, after first leaving the country in 1973, the year of the military coup led by Pinochet. She uses natural materials in her sculpture – such as wool, stone and wood – and extreme weather conditions, such as high winds and heavy rain, in her videography to reference the movement of ancient people discussed in her poetry. A few of the short films showcase Quipu, defined as “knotted strings used by the Incas and Andean civilizations to keep records” by Esperanza Huayama and Teódula Pusma of The Quipu Project. An abstract version of a Quipu is seen in the short film Umbilico, a silent, mostly black and white film in which the artist is seen unfolding a gigantic and bright red knotted rope down to the ground from the top of a building and along her path on a surprising journey.

In the short film Quipu Austral (Southern Quipu), shot in Sydney, Australia the colorful, twenty-five foot lengths of wool that can be seen withstanding the elements in the film are now standing at the BAMPFA. Vicuña designed the un-knotted, gargantuan ropes that form this piece as an interactive expression of Quipu, saying of the outdoor installation of the cords in Australia, “As people enter the Quipu and walk within it, they become the living knots.” In describing this piece, she continued, “The Quipu connects the ancient traditions of the Southern Andes in Chile, and the Aboriginal art of Australia.” The use of natural light and wind to animate the wool in the film can be appreciated upon observing those same vibrant but now still wool cords hanging in Berkeley’s double height, open concept gallery space. Vicuña’s piece is a towering and powerful statement on displacement and the sculptural architecture of the Berkeley Art Museum & Pacific Film Archive, with its generous proportions, complements it well. The small screening room is an attractive and intimate environment for the immersive sounds and images of the accompanying short films.

History, as a fabric of inclusion and exclusion, did not embrace
them. (The history of the north excludes that of the south, and
the history of the south excludes itself, embracing only the
north’s reflections.)

From Quipoem by Cecilia Vicuña

The artist’s lastest book, New and Selected Poems of Cecilia Vicuña is available at the BAMPFA store.

Article by Natalie Wiser

Be sure not to miss a free dose of culture this summer with Free Shakespeare in the Park – A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Enjoy the outdoors of the Presido with your family and friends while seeing this classic tale, free of charge!

For the rest of the summer, the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival is showcasing free Shakespeare outdoor plays across San Francisco. The events kick off with previews on September 1 and 2 and the full opening day show on Monday, September 3 at the Civil War Parade Ground. No reservation or ticket needed – just show up!

SF Shakespeare Festival

After producing Hamlet in 2017 to celebrate our 35th Anniversary Season, the company is turning to funnier fare with one of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies. A Midsummer Night’s Dream follows the misadventures of four young lovers, a group of aspiring actors, and a team of mischievous fairies as they all enter the woods outside Athens on a summer night. The ensuing hilarity and chaos makes for a show filled with love and laughter that’s sure to be enjoyed by audiences of all ages. Bring your family and friends, a blanket, and a picnic to enjoy professional theater at no charge in a beautiful park setting!

A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be showing this September 8 and 9 at the Civil War Parade Ground in the Presido at 2PM. They will also be performing September 15 and 16 at 2PM, September 21 at 10AM, and September 22 and 23 at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater in John McLaren Park at 2PM. The SF Shakespeare Festival will also be performing The Comedy of Errors on October 20.

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!” Celebrate the end of Fog-ust and get out in the sun with some free entertainment. You won’t want to miss it!

Photos by Lydia Bell | Written by Jordan Miller

“The face of a South Florida sun slowly creeps into sight, waking the lower half of the Sunshine State. It’s a typical August Sunday for most. Some are scurrying out to church. Others packing up beach chairs and a cooler. However, ten miles from the Atlantic beach shore, there’s a convoy of tour busses parked outside of Coral Sky Amphitheater. The venue is hosting the last Vans Warped Tour concert. Ever. For the band, Mayday Parade, this day is one that comes with weighted thoughts. Although recently inking a deal with Rise Records, (Sevendust, Of Mice & Men, The Devil Wears Prada,) and releasing their eighth studio album, the band has been part of this tour since forming in 2005. Thousands of eager fans begin making their way into the 20,000 seat amphitheatre. You can feel the unspoken sense of what’s to come after today. Especially for Mayday Parade.”
– Jordan Miller, freelance photo-journalist and singer-songwriter based in Nashville, TN

(pre-amble to upcoming interview with Derek Sanders of Mayday Parade)

Photos by Lydia Bell | Interview with Holly Riley conducted by Jordan Miller

Honeysuckle sweet harmonies. Melodies that dance through the night like smoke easing off a half burnt cigarette. The Adventures of Annabelle Lyn honor the heartfelt sound of traditional roots music and it shows on their recent album, Chasing Horizons. The Tallahassee Folk-Bluegrass trio released their newest project earlier this year and I had the opportunity to catch up with their violin player, Holy Riley while on the end run of their tour.

Your schedule shows you were in North Carolina last night, what other states have you visited on this tour?

We were in five different states, so Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia.

How’s the tour been so far? I noticed you posted a picture on the Annabelle Lyn Facebook page standing in knee deep water. What was the story behind that?

Yeah, the weather was mostly pretty good the whole time until we got to Charleston. Early that morning we were supposed to leave, and we happened to be staying at a downtown part of the city that just floods really bad. So we woke up at about 8 or 9am that morning to see everything surrounding us, just completely covered in about a foot and a half of water. All of our instruments and gear were in the car, so we actually ended up having to push the car up a hill to move it to higher ground. We had to take all of the gear out of it so we could push it, and then drive the car to dry ground, THEN carry all of our gear and instruments through about a block and a half of standing water to get back to the car.

Oh wow! The tour life, right?

Ha! Yeah, it was crazy. We were so tired by the end of it.

So I myself used to live in the Tallahassee area, and I’ve had the privilege of catching a couple of The Adventures of Annabelle Lyn shows. So I’m fairly familiar with your music, but I just wanted to ask from your personal perspective how you would describe The Adventures of Annabelle Lyn for listeners who have never heard your music?

Well, it’s certainly changed and expanded a lot over the years. The founding idea or impetus of the band originated from all our of our middle names. Anne, Belle, and Lyn. And the name, The Adventures of Annabelle Lyn was kind of intended to create this fictional character who went on adventures and was really free to explore musically. So we kind of embodied that personality. In those first few years of the band, we did a lot of themed shows. So we would actually base our shows and the outfits we were wearing, or the setting of the show, around some specific themes. We would do a mermaid theme, or an ocean scene. Or even nights that centered around one specific band, such as the Beatles. And what ended up happening was, not only did we get a really cool foundation of music from all sorts of genres and backgrounds, but also a unique and diverse sense of influences. So I think we also started developing a better idea of what we wanted our own sound to be and what our original songs would sound like. During our first two albums, we spent a lot of time focusing on sort of our folk and bluegrass roots, but I think what has come to the forefront over the past few years, is our love for vocal harmonies, along with these interweaving instrumental parts where everybody plays off each other.

That’s pretty unique. I remember reading in your bio about the themed shows. Would you say that doing shows like this inspired or influenced the writing for your albums?

Definitely, definitely. One of the things that has been really special about this band, you know, we’ve all been in all sorts of different types of bands. Everyone of us has a pretty diverse musical background, and we’ve been in lots of bands with other people where we felt there was a really strong expectation to play one genre of music or have a very specific sound. And I think doing those themed shows, where we were free to be whatever we imagined, allowed us to be really creative in the development of doing our own music. So when we did start writing and producing more of our own music, we were less limited and more imaginative towards what we could be and what we wanted to sound like.

So you guys are on tour right now. Is there an artist or band who you have had the privilege of opening up for that you were just blown away by or after hearing them live, they had a significant impact on your music?

Well, at the beginning of this year, we had this crazy, amazing opportunity that we did not expect we would get in a million years. We got to open up for the band America. Which we never expected to happen. It was one of those, completely being in the right place at the right time things. We happened to be playing a show down near Panama City and Lynn Haven. The promoter for their show was there and he loved our music. He ended up giving us a call a couple weeks later and just asked if we’d like to come open for one of their shows. Said he sent the band our music and they loved it. We said “Oh my goodness, we’d love to!” So we got to open up for them at the end of January and it was completely, one of the most incredible experiences we’ve ever had. We all grew up loving their music. Our guitar player, her favorite movie growing up was The Last Unicorn, so we’ve all pretty much been in love with their music most of our musical lives. After our set, the band members asked us if we’d like to sit in on their set at the end, so we got to go back on stage for their encore and played Horse With No Name with them.

How was that feeling?

It was absolutely awesome! Here we are playing the soundtrack to our lives, our musical lives. You grow up listening to this song on the radio and now all of the sudden you’re on a stage in front of thousands of people, singing the song with the people who wrote it.

How would you describe your writing process? There’s three of you in the group. Does one person write the songs and the others write the music? Do you all write?

We’re all songwriters. We all write songs on our own mainly, or at least we will start a song individually, then bring it to the band to finish. On this record, Chasing Horizons, there’s thirteen songs and everyone wrote a third of the songs. Everybody also sings lead on a third of the songs, as well. One of the nice things about this band is everyone has different roles instrumentally, so when we write a song, we’re writing from that instruments perspective. So if I write a song on the fiddle, after bringing it to Kat and Elizabeth, they’re able to make the song come alive by adding in their instrument sounds.

Chasing Horizons is the most recent project you guys have done together. What would you say is the one thing you want listeners to take away from this album?

I think the thing that was really special to us about this most recent record, is that everything on it was creative and specific to us. It was something we sort of decided for ourselves and we knew how we wanted it to sound. We had a great recording engineer who let us have a ton of control over making that sound and what we were hearing in our heads. We put a lot of detail in to the vocal harmonies and how the arrangements would go. So if there’s any take away, I think it’s just, as a musician and especially a female musician, you’re allowed to have agency in sounding like yourself, and in putting out a musical product that is totally yours. Something you feel good about, and you shouldn’t be afraid to take that on an adventure. Make it wild, crazy, and fun. Make it 100% you.

Absolutely. I’d say you guys achieved that on this record. What’s next on the Chasing Horizons tour?

We’re wrapping up the summer tour now, but while being in the van for the past week and a half, we’ve booked a bunch of really awesome dates we’re looking forward to inside and around Tallahassee for the next year. So we will be releasing a schedule here soon. We’re going to be playing at the Suwannee Roots Revival in October. Really excited about that. But we’ve got more dates we’re announcing soon!

That’s exciting. I’m yet to attend a Suwannee event, but being from the North Florida area, it’s on my list. Is there anything else you’d like to mention before we wrap up?

We’re super grateful for our community and everyone around us. Especially everyone on this tour who has hosted and supported us along the way. It’s been really special, just the generosity from everyone that we’ve experienced. The people that make music or love music, that’s what makes this possible. So we’re very thankful.

The trio consists of Kathryn Belle Long, Elizabeth Fravel, and Holly Riley. You can check out tour dates and buy the Chasing Horizons album by visiting The Adventures of Annabelle Lyn.

Article Review by Malaka Sanders

There was an award show this week at the Roxie and some of the most thought provoking and honest animated short films produced in recent years are being screened. The Aggregated Animated Shorts Second Annual Film Festival Award Ceremony started at 6:30 pm on July 31. The Roxie is located one block east of 16th and Mission and Aggregate Space Gallery, the event sponsor, is an exhibition and performance space in West Oakland. Winners in categories including Most Seductive Animation, Best Sound Design, and Best in Show are being screened.

The two hour event will also include short films directed by the award winning directors acting as judges for this year’s festival: Meghana Bisineer, Tan Wei Keong, Clement Hil Goldberg, and Jeremy Rourke. Keong’s 2014 short film “Pifuskin” won the award for Best Experimental at the 2015 Singapore Short Film Awards and was the winner in the Non-Narrative category at the Aggregated Animated Shorts Film Festival last year. Scenes from his current film, “The Great Escape” feature a similar, drawn character as the one that starred in “Pifuskin” in almost quiet scenes that are pregnant with meaning.

Stop motion animation, the style used in Herbie Hancock music videos in the eighties, is used to great effect by Mike Cantor, one of the directors competing in this year’s festival. His “Advanced Doodling” is a short film about art making that features over 20 artists and utilizes graphic effects to alter the viewer’s perception of time.

Stop motion animator and film festival judge Jeremy Rourke shot the short film, “I’ll Be Around” – which includes live action sequences of theater equipment traveling down the sidewalk as if walking – in San Francisco. “This part [uninhabited cinema seats traveling rapidly through a neighborhood on casters] was so dangerous” Rourke said in an interview. “I was going across the street. People were stopping traffic for me. They were saying, ‘Stop! He’s trying to make a movie!’”

“Lyrics on the Paper” is a light-hearted, animated, mixed media musical in which Rourke sings and plays guitar throughout. “We travel with the notions and the emotions that we have chosen,” he sings. He continues, “Words aren’t working all that well. I’m using them and I can tell.”

Unspeakable topics like intimate violence are highlighted in a non-threatening way in the beautifully animated productions of festival entrant Carla Ciuffo. Her spacious and abstract cartoons are visually stimulating, contemplative works that touch on social themes. “A Thousand Hands, A Million Stars” ends with a chorus of voices repeating, “We cannot look away.”

Other festival entrants include Noah Aust, Sandro Del Rosario, and Lydia Greer. Aust funded his collaborative, college thesis production, “How to Make a Nightmare” with a Kickstarter. IMDb lists it as released in France in 2015 and he describes it as having a “cranked up to eleven, acid trip, dark comedy style”. Del Rosario’s works include “Lo Sguardo Italiano (The Italian Gaze)“, an artfully animated film full of soft, pastel colors and a reflective narrative on Italy that was created with thousands of oil painted photos. Greer is a San Francisco Bay Area animator whose experimental shadow animation is often screened as part of live, operatic performances. She is the director of Facing West Shadow Opera and is currently working on, “a Baroque puppet opera about the wild west”.

All of this year’s entries will be featured at Aggregate Space Gallery during Oakland’s First Friday event on August 3.