Tag Archives: birmingham

Gift cards still good at Rave theaters; policy change at The Edge

The Edge 12 BirminghamBack in October we reported on the area Rave Motions Pictures multiplexes being purchased by Carmike Cinemas as part of their exiting the Alabama market. If you’re worried you’ll never get to use what’s left on those gift cards, you can now relax.

According to their website, Rave Cinemas gifts cards and Director’s Tickets will be honored at the Vestavia, Hoover, and Lee Branch locations through May 15.

Over in Crestwood, The Edge recently announced a policy change via their fan page on Facebook that seemed to make many patrons quite happy.

Over the past few weeks, The Edge has had an issue with rowdy and disruptful youth. Due to this fact no patrons under the age of 18 will be admitted without a parent or guardian after 6:00 pm.

The status update went on to say the purpose of the change was to “ensure a safe and great movie experience.” Patrons appreciated the gesture; it’s been shared on the social networking site at least 14 times as of this posting. The Birmingham-based company is also excited about hosting Sunday’s (January 13) slate of screenings for the 3rd annual Birmingham Jewish Film Festival.

Beth Thornley brings magic to movie & TV soundtracks

Beth Thornley.Early into a conversation with Beth Thornley, it’s easy to forget you’re talking to a successful professional musician.

Unprepossessing, enthusiastic, and down-to-earth, the California-based singer exudes a charm reminiscent of the girl next door or down the street, which for some Birmingham residents, she was.

The Magic City native still maintains local ties and appreciation for the musical training she received in her hometown.

“I didn’t listen to the Stones or the Beatles or Dylan until I got out of college,” she said, a nod to the “very classical background” she grew up in as the daughter of a music minister and a classically-trained singer. Earning a music degree from Samford, she had planned to teach college-level choral music until getting sidetracked by pop. The detour took her to Los Angeles, where she initially stayed on a friend’s couch while working to establish herself as a musician.

Almost a decade later, she’s performing at clubs, coffee houses, and pop festivals in Southern California, with three independently-produced albums to her credit. Her self-titled debut was met by favorable reviews, and more than half of its songs have been used in film and television soundtracks. Its follow-up, My Glass Eye (featuring a haunting cover of “Eleanor Rigby,” the bittersweet hometown tribute “Birmingham,” and the Beth-recommended “Beautiful Lie”), earned for her further accolades and more TV and movie exposure.

Moviegoers currently have the opportunity to hear the title track from her third album, Wash U Clean, when they go to see the adult comedy Magic Mike (currently playing in theaters here in Birmingham). Directed by Steven Soderbergh, the firm’s cast includes Matthew McConaughey and Cullman native Channing Tatum.

“I don’t know much about the movie except that my song is in it,” Thornley said recently, adding that she planned to find out with everyone else when she saw the film on opening night. “I don’t even know how the song is going to be used.  It could be featured or it could be barely audible or somewhere in between.”

However the song is used, it’s Thornley’s latest addition to a growing list of movie soundtracks that includes The Perfect Man, Between, Play the Game, and Girl in Progress. Her music has been featured in such television shows as Scrubs, Friday Night Lights, Life, Newport Harbor, Beautiful People, Ringer, Suburgatory, Jack and Bobby, and Paris Hilton’s My New BFF.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to receive phone calls saying, ‘This is what we need. Do you have something or could you write something?’ I love those phone calls. I wish I could get more of them.”

Describing her sound as “The Beatles meet Ben Folds meet Death Cab for Cutie,” Thornley embraces comparisons with such established artists, which frustrate other emerging musicians.

“The music business is so much about marketing. The record companies look to see where the fan base is, which is where they can make the most money. That leads inevitably to new artists being categorized by comparisons to established musicians. But a lot of people like to know who you sound like, and they need to know a little about how you sound. It’s human nature. There’s a comfort in being able to identify someone with a sound you’re already familiar with and knowing right away if it’s your thing or not. If I were famous, I might feel differently, but it can actually give a new artist a helpful foothold.”

So can digital media. “A few years ago, independent artists didn’t have such an effective means of promoting themselves. It’s been very beneficial for us.” Visitors can listen to samples from her albums, buy CDs, and learn more about her music on her website. Individual tracks are also available from iTunes.

Thornley says she gets back to Birmingham a couple or three times a year to visit relatives and friends and stopped by Silvertron Café to hear Libba Walker sing.

“She’s the best. And, of course, I made sure I ate some fried okra while I was there.”

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…

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.

Kresge Arts in Birmingham grantees announced

For those that missed yesterday’s announcement via al.com , Kresge Arts in Birmingham announced their first ever list of grantees via press release yesterday. The program, introduced to Birmingham, AL  just earlier this year, is one of five operating with the support of The Kresge Foundation.

The list that follows is of the nine organizations and their proposed projects taken from the official press release. The Cultural Alliance’s website has additional information about the program.

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We Have Signal, Rick Karle up for Southeast Emmys

we have signal posterLast weekend the nominations were announced for the Southeast Regional Emmy Awards. The Terminal found out when the folks from We Have Signal shared their excitement via Facebook last night; after winning for audio work last year, the popular live performance series is up for the award again and competing against two other Alabama Public Television (APT) shows for a second award (known as Outstanding Achievement: Television Crafts Achievement Excellence – Editor – Program (Non-News))

A once over of the official nominations list also shows that Fox 6s Rick Karle is nominated for three awards, including best sports anchor and best sportscast. APT’s episode of Alabama Stories titled Honor Flight rounds out the multiple nominees from metro Birmingham and Alabama.

The awards will be handed out in Atlanta at the Grand Hyatt Buckhead on June 26.

Good luck everybody!

Kresge Arts in Birmingham launches

Birmingham has been chosen as one of five communities participating in the Kresge Community Arts grants pilot program. The Kresge Foundation hopes that the program, “encourages residents to use art and culture as a tool to address issues in their communities.”

The Magic City will participate alongside St. Louis, MOBaltimore, MDDetroit, MI;  and Tucson, AZ. The first three have been participating since last summer – Birmingham and Tuscon’s participation was first announced late last year. Each community will receive $200,000 during the course of two years.

The Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham will be the agency awarding the grants here in metropolitan area. Amounts between $2,500 and $10,000 will be provided to “community arts projects that strive to address Birmingham’s pressing issues as determined by its citizens.

Cultural Alliance president Buddy Palmer spoke with The Birmingham News recently about the organization’s hopes for the program as well as specifics about informational sessions to be held on February 22, March 10 and March 16.

Help out Art in Avondale Park tonight

Art In Avondale Park logoWe’re thinking that after yesterday’s news, many of our city’s residents are happy that it’s one of the busiest weekends on the fall calendar, especially if you’re a big fan of Art in Avondale Park .

In its seventh year, the community festival is scheduled to take place this Saturday, October 31 (though a rain date of Sunday, November 1 has already been announced) and they are still taking applications for art booths via Eventbrite.

This year they’ve added a Wild and Wicked Cruise to the festival’s list of activities. The fundraiser will be held at Old Car Heaven this evening (October 29) from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Partygoers can listen to live music by Ashley Miller with special guest Rick Carter plus have a chance to sample award-winning chili from Bottletree Cafe and view an outstanding collection of classic cars and a wonderful selection of silent auction prizes.

Tickets are $10 and include one drink and you can still buy tickets NOW.

Camera Obscura show canceled

Cinema Obscura - courtesy of MySpace profileTonight’s (June 18) Camera Obscura show at The Bottletree has been canceled due to a family tragedy within the band. They’ve also had to cancel a performance in Atlanta for Friday evening.

The local music venue shared the unexpected news early this morning via their Twitter and Facebook accounts. Their Facebook announcement included the fact that they are hoping to reschedule for a later date and refunds for tonight’s show are available from TicketBiscuit.

The band’s announcement via MySpace was posted late yesterday evening:


“Hi, we’re very sorry about this but I’m afraid we’ve had to cancel the shows in Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia which were to take place in the next few days due to some upsetting personal circumstances. Sincere apologies to those that are disappointed by this. We’ll give you further information when we have it.
Camera Obscura.”

A sit down with Amy Ray

NOTE: As we get close to City Stages turning 21 this coming weekend, we figured we’d take a few moments and do a couple of things to get you into the mood. Guest contributor Jeremy Henderson gets us started by sitting down with Amy Ray, one half of the Indigo Girls.

amyray“Lesbian” and “indigo” both have three syllables. The syllables are identically stressed. When I first heard them – les-bi-an, late 80s, walking home through the 3rd grade suburbs of old Vestavia; In-di-go, early 90s, in a church van, radio blasting, scruples flaring, girls pretending to French each other – they were both followed by snickers and dirty winks. I think that’s what did it for me. For a split second, I totally thought they meant the same thing, or that one implied the other, synonyms in a sinner’s vocabulary. Both words sounded so… exotic. So… earthy. Onomatopoetic even.

Amy knows what I mean. She remembers the first time she heard ‘indigo.’ It was 1985. She had a dictionary. She was looking for a word to go with ‘girls.’

And when she dials from her private number in the North Georgia Mountains, we’ll talk about how people who live in the North Georgia Mountains (she’s been there 17 years) love to say ‘North Georgia Mountains.’

We’ll talk about her youth group skate nights with the Methodists as a teenager in Decatur, Ga.

We’ll talk about their 1997 show in Auburn with The Rock*A*Teens the spring before my freshman year. They had to reschedule. One of them had a sore throat.

We’ll talk about how their new independently released album, Poseidon and the Bitter Bug (which references North Georgia in the second line of the first song), is kind of incredible and how it just might be the best thing they’ve ever done, which I’ll tell her I really wouldn’t know much about because other than recognizing that one song from the church van, I don’t know anything about their music. I only own one of their records – that one, the newest one, and only a promotional download version at that, which cracks her up. “That’s refreshing,” she’ll say.

But for most of the 20 minutes, the Indigo Girls‘ Amy Ray and I talked about the word “lesbian” – about our first times to hear it, how we both instantly knew it was bad, and how it sounds so different now.

I went first.

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