musicians

Witness Uganda: A.R.T. Season

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Rarely do you feel a spark of inspiration just by the chords struck on the piano in a musical, even before the poignant dialogue and singing compels you to action. “Witness Uganda” is that rare and powerful gem I was lucky enough to witness last year this time. This year, the play that has won the 2012 Richard Rogers Award for Musical Theater and 2013 Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award will be on the stage at the American Repertory Theater from February 4 – March 16, 2014.  It is a must-see, a travel see, and an experience do!

You will leave encouraged, connected, motivated and moved to action by “Witness Uganda” through the music, dialogue and most importantly the lived experience which inspired the story.

Clips below from A.R.T. preview:

Check out my post on their phenomenal New York performance last year: Witness Uganda

Rotten Apple TV

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The Rotten Apple TV logo. 2013.

Full of new discoveries and talent, Rotten Apple TV has positioned itself as a force within the urban entertainment website genre and is gearing up to take on the main stream entertainment websites soon as well. Led by a team of three young entrepreneurs from Brooklyn, Rotten Apple TV is a definitive choice as a stop for entertainment with a keen ear for unsigned hype. Get to know more about Rotten Apple TV below!

What is The Rotten Apple TV?

The Rotten Apple TV is an entertainment website. We share music videos, comedy, skits, spoken word artists (preferably people that do things on the internet). Primarily, we are dedicated to unsigned hype music artists. Not solely dedicated to hip hop and R&B but that’s what is sent to us.

We like people who are looking to be discovered, and we enjoy supporting their journey through Rotten Apple TV.

Are you solely an urban site?

People look to us as an urban site but we are not solely designed as that. We are dedicated to music, art, talent. That is the lane we like to go! Our connection is to entertainment and not a negative connotation of what is “urban”. We are not your typical website.

How much of your content is audience driven?

90% of our content is audience driven. Social media is a driver of most websites (what people are talking about) and that is directly linked to what goes on the website.

Who is your audience?

Our audience is multi-level and interested in entertainment. Right now our content like our audience are those interested in the urban community.

Word association

Miley Cyrus = twerk Miley Miley twerk

Jay Z = genius

Brooklyn = the nucleus

Rotten Apple TV = the future

Hip hop = my first love

What do you think about Eminem’s new album?

I’m excited for the album. He’s going to take another angle than what he usually does. Not as dark an angle, which is exciting and refreshing. He’s going to take it to the raw essence of hip hop where it was all about having fun, dope lyrics. He is a true student of the game. Nothing but greatness from him. Great album to come!

Do the BET Hip Hop Awards mean anything for the genre?

Should be more of a grand stage of hip hop and more prestigious, instead of just a small sectional to highlight and not give enough shine. Do the awards because they have to.

What do you think of Snoop Dogg hosting?

Not sure how it will work but should be interesting.

Who would you put in a Rotten Apple cypher?

Abso The Great

Dante

Chox-Mak

Preme da Prez

Widmark

Evan Black

Kendrick Lamar

Meek Mill

What impact do you want Rotten Apple TV to have?

We want Rotten Apple TV to be a part of careers of artists who are hardworking, talented and dedicated to their craft and give artists a chance to be discovered and heard. One major way we do that is through not charging artists for their submissions to the website.

Listen to a full playlist on the ArtEdgeNYC Facebook page from Rotten Apple TV! Click here to listen to more music!

Station to Station

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A public art project made possible by Levi’s, Station to Station is a cool, innovative and striking project launching from Riverfront Studios in New York City on September 6th. It is a happening launching from East Coast to West Coast by train involving the topics of place, art, film, music and food. Artists, musicians and creative peoples will be involved with site-specific station and onboard events. Whether you are there or not you can participate in the events and add art to the experience through using the hashtag: #TrackSTS. The video above indicates the inspiration behind the “Road Trip”.

From New York City the train will stop in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Santa Fe, Winslow, Barstow, Los Angeles, Oakland/ San Francisco between September 6th and September 28th with a wide variety of changing and dynamic artists, musicians and creative peoples. To follow the train and add to the experience, use hashtag: TrackSTS and go to stationtostation.com.

Watch here for information on the sold out launch of Station to Station in New York City:

Songs for Spirit Lake at the Rauschenberg Project Space: North Dakota Museum of Art

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Photo credit: Erin Hylton
Bill Harbort, Passing through the Spirit Lake, 2013

As per the press release for the Rauschenberg Foundation and North Dakota Museum of Art:

“Curated by Laurel Reuter, director of the North Dakota Museum of Art, the exhibition Songs for Spirit Lake  will  reflect  the  ongoing  conversation  between  six  artists (Rena Effendi, Bill Harbort, John Hitchcock, Terry Jelsing, Mary Lucier, and Tim Schouten) who  created  artwork  on  or  about  the Spirit Lake Sioux Reservation in North Dakota under the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation’s Artistic Innovation and Collaboration Grant Program.”

Songs for Spirit Lake is a poignant and unique show within the Spring season in New York City with its theme, artists and curatorial selection. The project began in November 2012 when an exhibition of the artists work went up in the gymnasium at the Cankdeska Cikana Community College, in Fort Totten, which was the first contemporary art exhibition at the reservation. Artists explore several topics in connection to their conversations with each other and their experiences with people and landscape of the reservation. Exhibition includes photography, painting, installation, and video as well as a performance at the Opening by live musicians from the reservation. In seeing the exhibition you will engage with voices and traditions of the Spirit Lake community as conveyed through the eyes of the artists.

Songs for Spirit Lake runs May 24 through June 29, 2013 at the Rauschenberg Project Space at 455 West 19th Street, New York City and open to the public from 11 am to 6 pm, Tuesday through Saturday, and admission is free.

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Photo credit: Erin Hylton, close up of
Bill Harbot, Passing through the Spirit Lake, 2013