Performance Calendar
Screening of Short Films by Walter Ungerer
05/23/13 – On Thursday, May 23rd, St. Lawrence Arts will present a program of his recent short films including his latest work MAUVAIS GARÇON/BAD BOY involving a conversation with Portland artist Lisa Dombek, fine art photographer Dianna Rust, and Walter Ungerer himself. There will be a Q & A at the conclusion of the program.
Walter Ungerer is a longtime filmmaker and artist of international reputation, beginning with the underground film scene in NYC in the early 1960s, continuing through to the 21st century in Maine. Ungerer’s works have been shown at festivals and competitions throughout the world including Florence, Tours, Athens, Hong Kong, Houston, Tate, UK and MoMA, NY.
Two of Ungerer’s films with recent success on the international festival circuit are PARVA SED APTA MIHI (Factory Art, Berlin, Germany Alchemy Festival, Scotland; Experimental Film Festival, Oregon) and GREEN EYE (Atlanta Film Festival). They will be on the program.
Ungerer uses the short form, another term for short film. His method of working can be described as layering or building visual sequences one on top of the next. For years he was noted for using the long form (films over 75 minutes) shooting narrative films with concern for static shots devoid of any camera movement but with careful concern for composition, suggesting a painterly quality. This is no surprise since Ungerer studied fine and graphic arts at Pratt Institute in the 1950s. His willingness to begin to embrace the computer in the 1990s is a change thought by some to be brought about by the escalating costs of producing a film. To focus on the visual qualities of Ungerer's films without mentioning the ethereal, meditative tones they eschew, is to miss the most important part of his work, the ability to take the viewer to another realm, a surreal atmosphere where, as Hannah Piper Burns, co-director of the Experimental Film Festival, Oregon describes it, "…the film deals with life, freedom, and transcendence of limitations".
Rhythmic Cypher Poetry Slam Team Benefit
05/25/13 – Featuring Urbana Director and Write Bloody Published Poet, Jeanann Verlee
with music by Au Contraire & James Rossi
Also featuring performances by the 2013 Rhythmic Cypher Slam Team and Youth Poets Showcase
Advance tickets: $10
Door: $15
All proceeds go to benefit the Rhythmic Cypher Poetry Slam Team which will compete in the 2013 National Poetry Slam in Boston/Cambridge, MA in August
For more information on Rhythmic Cypher go to: http://poetrising.wordpress.com/
For more information on the featured peformer go to: http://jeanannverlee.com/
JEANANN VERLEE is an author, performance poet, editor, and former punk rocker who collects tattoos and kisses Rottweilers. She is author of Racing Hummingbirds (Write Bloody Publishing), which earned the Independent Publisher Book Award Silver Medal in Poetry. Verlee is also winner of the Sandy Crimmins National Prize for Poetry and has twice been nominated for a Pushcart. Her work appears in a number of journals, including The New York Quarterly, Rattle, failbetter, and >kill author, among others. She is a poetry editor for Union Station Magazine and director of Urbana Poetry Slam in New York City. Verlee holds a number of local and national slam titles and has represented New York City nine times under both NYC-Urbana and NYC-louderARTS at the National Poetry Slam, Individual World Poetry Slam, and Women of the World Poetry Slam. She believes in you.
Jammin' Divas
05/28/13 – Jammin' Divas who are Aoife Clancy (IRE) Grammy Nominee with Cherish the Ladies, Becky Chace (USA), Kath Buckell (AUS), Hadar Noiberg flutist (ISR) and Craig Akin (USA) on Bass blend stunning renditions of traditional and contemporary original folk music and elements of improvisation from each of their cultures. Through stunning three part harmonies bedded against the plush melodic landscape of the flute and double bass, The Jammin' Divas draw the audience into an experience that transcends three continents history by sharing songs and stories of how each country culturally influence and enrich one another.
The Always Fantabulous Spring Show
05/29/13 – Jamileh's annual, end of season spectacular featuring the amazing dancers, both student and professional, of Maine Belly Dance and the live music of Okbari Middle Eastern Music Ensemble!
Wednesday, May 29th, Doors 6:30/Show 7:00pm, $10 in advance, $12 at the door
www.mainebellydance.com
Boneheads and Colwell Brothers
06/01/13 – For a bunch of guys from Maine with a goofy name, the Boneheads are making a pretty big impression on the music world. Their records have consistently been praised by major publications such as Album Network, CMJ, and Relix, and major market dailies including The Washington Post and The Boston Herald. The Boneheads were finalists in WBOS Bostons 1994 Acoustic Underground competition, and were featured on 127 NPR radio stations on the syndicated Mountain Stage radio show in April of 1995. Having toured amny of the finest live music rooms on both the East Coast and the Mountain region, the band has become famous for their unpredictable, impressively musical shows, which often feature band members switching instruments, powerfully dynamic arrangements, and occasionally even hilarious polka versions of their favorite tunes.
The Boneheads have shared the stage with Rosanne Cash, The Band, Bo Diddley, the Subdudes, the Radiators, to name a few.
The groups unique blend of roots music includes folk, rock, blues, country, Cajun, and soul, and has drawn them comparisons the The Band, Van Morrison, Little Feat, and the Subdudes. The Daily Hampshire Gazette wrote: "e;A splended Maine group with the refreshingly scruffy folk-rock flavorings of The Band and the country side of Van Morrison."e; Of their live show the Botson Herald said: "They sand like The Band, played like backwoods world-beaters, and offered the nights best laugh with a brilliant polka version of Purple Haze."
Buddy MacDonald & Rachel Davis
06/04/13 – Buddy MacDonald is one of Canada's most respected singer song-writers and comes from a tradition steeped in Celtic and Folk music. Rachel Davis from Baddeck, Cape Breton spends her time switching from international festival stages to small local dances at home. In a genre that sees many performers pushing the envelope and testing new waters, her style of playing trad tunes in a trad way is a refreshing reminder of why the Cape Breton fiddle style drives so hard, and is so sought after.
Jacob Augustine
06/07/13 – Jacob Augustine is an experimental folk musician from the Northern woods of Maine. He has lived all over the country, crisscrossing the United States performing for over a decade in various projects. While living in California in 2008 he recorded his first full-length album entitled Harmonia, which was then released in early 2009, just months after moving back to Maine to live in the Portland area.... Harmonia was named a Top Ten Album of the Year by The Portland Phoenix and the single "High Water" received airplay on radio stations across the country.
In the months following Harmonia's release, Jacob would gather musicians from across Portland's vastly rich music community to perform live, assembling one of the most ferocious and emotionally intense acts to come out of New England in some time. That band, called Jacob and the House Of Fire, toured all over the Northeast, however during the Winter of 2011 the band chose to move forward with their own individual projects.
Jacob, who at the time had nearly finished one full-length record, Frontier, featuring members of the House Of Fire, began working on recording two other albums. The Original Love was another full-length, that like Frontier, he engineered and recorded himself in various hallways, bedrooms, and living rooms in and around Portland, as well as in an old family cabin in Northern Maine. With the help of Frank Hopkins he also recorded a six song EP entitled Goldyhymns, captured live at Mayo Street Arts Center, an old converted church in Portland. All three albums were released digitally in late October of 2011, on Jacob's bandcamp site.
In mid-July of this year, Jacob released the Bikini Island EP, comprised of 4 songs that he had written and recorded during the The Original Love sessions. Jacob, in talking about Bikini Island says, "the EP is a collection of songs I recorded in the summer of 2011 in the same sessions of seclusion as "The Original Love". They seemed like a such a bizarre excursion from the norm of what I was doing at the time that I didn't release them. They practically made me feel uneasy and I really didn't want anyone to hear them, ever. But, naturally, friends always have a way of persuading a man. This EP is my most out of body experimental jaunt into possible sonic embarrassment yet."
Jacob's bandcamp site is currently the only place to listen and download his entire catalog. As always they are available for the name-your-own-price option.
FULL EPK: (Photos, Videos, Tour dates, Bio, etc)
www.reverbnation.com/jaugustinemusic
The Squid Jiggers, Dave Rowe and Half Moon Jug Band
06/08/13 – Join us for a Vacationland music show with fiddle-driven nautical songs, rollicking bluegrass and Appalachian tunes!
The Squid Jiggers are Maine-based folk duo comprised of inveterate musician-entertainers, Dave Rowe and Troy R. Bennett. They took their name from the A.R. Scammell song “Squid Jigging Ground,” which is a wonderful musical depiction of fishing for squid in the waters off Newfoundland. They combine their talents on guitar, bass, bodhran, and tin whistles to lay down a thunderous musical base for their robust vocal harmonies.
Also performing will be the side project of Dave Rowe and Troy R. Bennett- Half Moon Jug Band. Both Rowe and Bennett started their own company Vacationland Music with dedication in bringing their folk music to a wider audience, and as such, their three groups are beginning to tour together.
Kathleen Gorey-McSorley
06/17/13 – At only 18 years of age Kathleen already has international experience having performed in Ireland, Scotland and the USA as well as various parts of Canada. Among her many accomplishments a couple of highlights are competing at the Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann in Co. Offaly 2008 and again in Co. Cavan, Ireland in 2010 and the Canadian Grand Masters Fiddling Championships in Ottawa in both 2009 and 2010. It was also a distinct honour to appear in two concerts with Ashley MacIsaac in January 2010. Kathleen showcased at “Contact East” in Antigonish in September 2010. She released her second CD “Ceol Binn” (Irish for "Sweet Music") in July 2010. This CD was nominated for an ECMA award as Roots/Traditional Solo Recording of the Year.
Les Hey Babies
06/27/13 – Trio of indie-folk, composed of three girls with vibrant personalities. From three of the four cardinal points of New Brunswick, Katrine Christmas Vivianne Roy and Julie Aubé intermingle their accents to create a relaxing atmosphere to present their own recipe for indie-folk. Even if their voices could make you shiver, their texts and stories you warm, momentarily, like a hot apple cider.
Can't Keep a Good Woman Down
06/28/13 – A young black mother struggles to keep her faith after a series of heartbreaking setbacks. When her daughter is hospitalized, and her husband becomes more and more abusive, she is on the verge of giving up. It is only though her faith in God that she is able to carry on.
Monthly Calendar
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