Author Archives: André Natta

You Hear This? A new music website for Birmingham

You Hear This? screenshotThose who’ve visited this site since its earliest days may remember Sam George, one of our earliest contributors. He was already enjoying a pretty good following over on r3verb when he started writing on The Hub.

He then partnered with Whitney Sides Mitchell on bham.fm (the site URL is now used by a company in Birmingham, UK that books bands in the region) before eventually becoming a contributor and then editor in chief of Birmingham Weekly for a little over a year. He helped to co-found and launch a new music festival last spring, Secret Stages (BTW – this year’s edition is going on Friday and Saturday, May 11 & 12). Yeah, we thought you’d remember. He’s been staying busy getting ready for this year’s edition of the music festival – and a few contributions to Weld – and we kept wondering why we hadn’t heard much from him recently.

Well, it appears as though he’s gotten the itch to return to maintaining a site – a new music site for Birmingham called You Hear This? We could try to explain it, but it makes more sense to hop on over and check it out on your own…

Christopher Davis illustrates Black History Month

Thurgood Marshall icon by Christopher DavisChristopher Davis likes to stay busy. He’s a member of the Extemporaneous Theatre Company comedy troupe and the guy behind Fresh Ground Comics (fan page on Facebook). He’s also a regular contributor to Birmingham Weekly, a freelance designer and an actor.

He’s also an illustrator who decided he’d leverage his Facebook presence and his artistic skills during Black History Month. Each day during February, Davis has posted an icon to a photo album on the popular social networking site that “represents moments in not just Black History, but American History.”

He’s done pieces illustrating everything from the Underground Railroad to the late Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth to Bessie Coleman, the 1st African American woman to stage a public flight in America. He’s still got six days to go.

Who knows, you may encourage him to do some other stuff too…

Do We Have Signal?

The following note was posted on Facebook earlier this afternoon in response to reports that We Have Signal would be ceasing production. Links have been added where possible.

Twe have signalhe rumors of our demise are only slightly exaggerated.  We Have Signal is not “cancelled”.  APT has had major cuts to its funding this year – after years of already painfully deep cuts.  Our entire Montgomery studio is shutting down and its whole staff being let go.  We’re losing a couple people here in Birmingham and a couple at WLRH, our radio station in Huntsville.  The production department in Birmingham, all five of us, are now the only production that APT has.  We’re already working on three feature-length documentaries, countless underwriters and promos and special programs andWe Have Signal and now we are going to have to take up at least some of the slack of Montgomery’s production.

That is all to say that we will be airing new episodes of We Have Signal starting in October.  We’ve already shot our best season yet with No Age, Sebadoh, Crocodiles, G-Side, Cults, Monotonix, Model Citizen and a bunch of other bands and have a few more shoots lined up this fiscal year with people like Lower Dens and Ty Segall.  These new episodes will begin airing October 6th and will continue through April of 2012.  The only questions are whether or not APT can afford to shoot another season of WHS and if we will have the time in the day to do it.  The money is where you come in.  We will more than likely have some kind of fundraising a few months down the road for the show.  And we will have a much better picture of what our total production responsibilities are going to be in about a month’s time.

This is an extremely difficult period for public television and the services it provides.  Between the worst economy in almost everyone’s memory and an often unfavorable political climate, things are, indeed, grim.  But we have hope that we will still be able to bring you the best bands that you won’t hear or see almost anywhere else.  Please do us the favor of advocating for public television to your friends, neighbors and federal and state legislators.  And please do whatever little bit you can financially to not just keep We Have Signal going but APT as an organization.  We’ll have more soon.

Good news from the folks at WHS!

In the mood for some good Company?

company promo bannerThose who watched the Tony Awards on June 12 saw a performance (quite similar to parts of this trailer) from the New York Philharmonic‘s production of Stephen Sondheim‘s Company. Fans of the theater realize just how impressive this revival of the play is – including such star power as Neil Patrick Harris, Stephen Colbert, Christina Hendricks and Jon Cryer – though more folks are probably talking about @ActuallyNPH‘s closing rap at the Tonys (and for those interested, here are the lyrics).

Most of us here in Birmingham probably didn’t get the chance to fly up to The Big Apple in April to see any of the sold-out performances done as part of the Philharmonic’s spring gala. But it turns out we didn’t have to.

Folks wanting to see the revival can head to the Carmike Summit 16 and the Rave Motion Pictures at Lee Branch June 15 (tomorrow), 16, 19 or 21 and catch a screening of the adaptation (and some air conditioning too). You’ve got other options available to you here in Alabama (and all over the country) and they’re all included in this list of participating theaters.

A busy day (virtually) for Jon Black

Suit2small. Photo by Caleb Chancey | http://www.calebchanceyphotography.com/Birmingham-based musician Jon Black already has already had a pretty nice past few days. After all, he did kick off Saturday’s set of performances at this year’s Hangout Music Festival in Gulf Shores.

Well, the best way to top that experience is to get interviewed by American Songwriter at the festival. They also do a video interview – and a video performance of “My Love Is With You All The Time” – that they post to their website.

Then he gets to pen a personal account about his experience at the Hangout over on Carla Jean Whitley’s Birmingham Box Set just hours after the magazine’s post goes live (he’d been interviewed for the blog just before the festival).

He was also able to talk about the song he wrote for The Wind Will Cary The Voice of The People, the compilation created in the wake of the April 27 tornadoes (with all proceeds going to the American Red Cross).

The newest member of the Dualtone Music Group also has a digital 45 available on his site. The cost? A tweet, a Facebook status or an email helping him spread the word.

Photo by Caleb Chancey.

Art on the Rocks 2011 will (in fact) be ROCKING

The Birmingham Museum of Art’s long-running Art on the Rocks lineup for this summer’s been out for a while now though (as mentioned late last week) its start has been delayed in part due to tornado recovery efforts. This year’s edition of the series, its seventh, is being heavily influenced by the museum’s summer exhibition Who Shot Rock & Roll: A Photographic History from 1995 to Present – and it looks like it’ll be a great way to enjoy a mini-escape  on Friday nights.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXDzhPM8nJk?hd=1&w=350]
June 17
Dirty Dozen Brass Band
http://www.dirtydozenbrass.com/
@dirtydozenbrass
Fan Page on Facebook
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7onIN6IwIeQ?hd=1&w=350]
July 22
The Posies
http://theposies.net/
@theposies
Fan Page on Facebook

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3N6x47UPV8?hd=1&w=350] August 19
The Dirty Guv’nahs
http://www.thedirtyguvnahs.com/
@dirty_guvnahs
Fan Page on Facebook

Tickets are already on sale for the series (though not for the June 17 date as of yet) via the museum’s website. They begin at $10 for members and $20 for non-members.

Alabama Symphony plays at Railroad Park in June

symphony summer iconThe Alabama Symphony Orchestra has been a ever-giving source of news in recent weeks. The big news for long-time fans of the symphony’s outdoor performances in Caldwell Park is that they will be playing outside again this year after a one-year hiatus indoors at the Alabama Theatre.

Classical music fans will have opportunities over three evenings in June at Railroad Park to enjoy the sounds of the orchestra. The free concerts are courtesy of the Linn-Henley Charitable Trust; the June 10 & 11 performances will begin at 8 p.m. with the June 12 performance starting at 6 p.m.

A full listing of the selections scheduled to be performed are available on the symphony’s official website. Those attending the performances will also have the opportunity to drop off donations to be used in the state’s ongoing tornado recovery efforts.

Other recent announcements included word that next season would be maestro Justin Brown’s last as music director and principal conductor (though he did sign a two-year contract extension that will have him serving as music director laureate) and that the orchestra will be performing at Carnegie Hall next May.

Play hooky at the Museum this Wednesday, Friday

Birmingham Museum of Art logoNo, that’s not their idea, it’s ours. Considering how nice the weather is outside right now, you can’t not be thinking the same thing (even if it’s late in the day)…

Besides, today’s International Museum Day. Yep, according to the museum’s website:

International Council of Museums (ICOM) established International Museum Day in 1977 to encourage public awareness on the role of museums in the development of society.

You’ve got until 5 p.m. Wednesday afternoon (May 18) to take advantage of special discounts on memberships, discounts on museum store purchases and opportunities to take special tours of the museum’s collection with members of its staff. Admission – as always – is free. You’ll have another opportunity to check out the museum this Friday as BMA Speaks! returns, though you’ll have to wait another month for this year’s Art on the Rocks series to begin.

Where do you want to drink tonight?

Birmingham Happy Hour logo.It may not necessarily be a common question for you, but you have to admit that it comes up occasionally, especially as higher temperatures begin to settle into Jones Valley for spring and summer.

After a little less than one year of existence, Birmingham Happy Hour continues to hope it can help make figuring out where to go out for drinks in metro Birmingham after work  just a little bit easier.

The site looks at available food and drink specials as well as provide reviews of popular and as of yet undiscovered spots about town. They’ve also made it easy to keep track of what they’re sharing (and for others to share information with them). via Facebook and Twitter.

Now maybe you’ve got one more tool to help make answering that question of where to meet up after work easier.

Sidewalk takes over The Bottletree Tuesday night

Tomorrow night those that head out to The Bottletree will not only get a chance to help out Birmingham’s annual film festival – Sidewalk – but they’ll get to enjoy a pre-release screening of an incredible independent film before it’s released nationwide beginning July 9th.

Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer‘s documentary Winnebago Man is about Jack Rebney,  a.k.a. “the angriest man in the world.” Apparently he’s become famous due to some “hilariously foul-mouthed outtakes from an RV sales video.”

It’s even more impressive when you realize that his notoriety happened long before the days of YouTube, though it’s definitely helped the clips become even more recognizable.

The film chronicles Steinbauer’s journey to find and meet Rebney, who (according to the email reminder) “turns out to be more savvy, deep, weird, and cool than anyone could have imagined.”

Tickets will be $5 for members of Sidewalk and $8 for non-members. Bottletree’s offering $1 PBR drafts all night too so you’ve really got no good excuse not to go, do you?