We’re gearing up for the Pierce Pettis Concert this Friday at the Mission. Jacob and I spent this afternoon setting up chairs and sofas and all of the fun stuff that happens behind the scenes when you promote concerts. Jump on over to the Rebuilding Together of North Central Florida website to see this great organization that is the social focus of the show.

Also, we are putting together interviews and playlists for our new weekly hour long radio show on WGOT-LP Gainesville…that’s 94.7 FM on your dial.

And now a song from Pierce. Brilliant.

In other news, we’re having the Claim & Reclaim Silent Art Auction to benefit CRex this Friday night at 7:00 pm at Volta Coffee. Come on out and enjoy good art, good people, good screen printing and good art…and people. See you then!

“Pierce Pettis doesn’t write mere songs, he writes literature…End to end the songwriting is brilliant…Pierce Pettis albums are events in my listening. His writing just gets better all the time and his singing is marvelous, wry and warm…” Sing Out! Magazine

Pierce Pettis, appearing in Gainesville on March 12, is an amazingly under-appreciated musician.  He is an excellent guitar player with a haunting, soulful voice but it is his songwriting that draws you in – he is an engaging and skillful storyteller.

The fact that Pettis’s songs have been covered by artists like Dar Williams (“Family” on Mortal City), Garth Brooks (“You Move Me” on Sevens), Dion & the Belmonts, Sara Groves, Randy Stonehill, among others, reinforces that he is the songwriter’s songwriter.

Check out some of his work:

Pierce Pettis – Legacy

Pierce Pettis – She Walked Away just Like Jim Brown

Pierce Pettis – My Life of Crime

And then make plans to come see Pierce on March 12.

SoPro Podcast 01 – SIKE Zine – 7:08

Evan McIntyre’s website – http://www.ebrownm.com
SIKE website – http://www.sikezine.com
SIKE on Facebook

Anyway, check out the art of Dan Perjovschi, a cartoonist and illustrator whose work presents political commentary in response to current events…http://www.perjovschi.ro/

His work is at the Harn right now. During museum hours,  Perjovschi is using the entire space of the Harn Museum’s Rotunda to create an original work. Known as an artist, writer and journalist, he has made drawing as both an object and a medium of performance and installation.

Overboard fandom is nothing new but it’s interesting to me that fantasy is becoming more and more realistic…and brings with it more extreme problems. Besides the aforementioned Post Traumatic Avatar Disorder (people to whom to real world seems flat and colourless next to the world of Avatar), there’s also the widely reported nausea issue.

Art has long been used, among other things, as a form of escapism. And I’ve often curled up with a good book or lost myself in a movie to distract myself from a stressful day. But, in my opinion, this is a misuse of the form if taken to it’s extreme end…which is losing yourself in a movie and not being able (or willing) to find your way back to the real world.

]]> http://www.societypromotions.org/blog/post-traumatic-avatar-disorder/feed/ 3 http://www.societypromotions.org/quinque/bearded-brothers/ http://www.societypromotions.org/quinque/bearded-brothers/#comments Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:43:37 +0000 Josh http://www.societypromotions.org/?p=1330 Bearded Brothers deconstruction in Gainesville, Florida work closely with architects, developers, builders and homeowners helping to divert salvaged building materials from the landfill. In the past few years they have deconstructed over 35 buildings in the Gainesville area, including commercial, residential, school and church buildings.

By carefully taking buildings apart, piece by piece, they are exploring other avenues to reuse the various materials which can be turned into pieces of value added art, and other environmentally sound practices.

Their Mission Statement (from http://www.beardedbrothers.com)

It is the mission of Bearded Brothers Solutions to carry out the deconstruction, salvage and recycling of existing buildings while focusing on the redistribution of reclaimed building materials. Also to initiate education and job training while assisting the community in the development of sustainability practices and a reduced carbon footprint.

Read more HERE (scroll down the page a bit).

In lieu of a full-length album at their recent album release show, Gainesville’s Paxico via Mexico released a short four song EP, Ground from the Rind. In light of this, I will give a short review and save a full-length write-up for when the album finally comes to us.

Part of the magic of this band is the diversity of its vocalists: Ricky’s voice combines the smoothness of Damien Rice with the soul of Van Morrison. It is hard to avoid referencing the scratchiness of Ray Lamontagne when discussing John’s vocals, and for the good of society, Stacie’s backing voice allows for the abounding harmonies—struck at perfect intervals among the EP

The music is absurdly tasteful, mixing in a perfect amount of  elusive twang—that ethereal element that makes music wildly amusing. It is well balanced and rounded into a pleasurable funnel through which a nearly flawless lyrical delivery is flows with appropriate prosody.

The melodies summon forth a nostalgic beautifulness–like epic poems depicting Norse kings of old or childhood memories of playing in the grass with the scent of spring in the air.

Though the EP is great, I was expecting more—perhaps an expectation born by seeing PVM live many times. I wanted more drums, more layers, more songs…I suppose I’ll have to wait for the full-length.

Central Florida based sibling trio, ramondale and The Family Band, released its debut album, Consider the Birds earlier this year. SP got a hold of a copy of the album, and I briefly review it here for your immediate reading pleasure.

Firstly, rd&TFB is the one of the few bands I’ve come across that list Danielson Famile as an influence. I’ve listened extensively to Danielson—perhaps not out of sheer enjoyment, but for the novelty of their “marching band from hell” stylings. So, I was expectantly curious to hear Consider the Birds.

The album opens with a snare tapping out a march, then trumpet and piano slide in; at the vocals’ entrance, they begin to discuss kings and queens being over thrown or thrown in the back of a cop car. rd&TFB seems to embody a bit of the “marching band” element of Danielson, but they leave the “from hell” part soothingly behind (i.e. the lack of Daniel Smith’s maniacal voice).

The albums instrumentation is consistent: vocally driven with piano accompaniment—light drums, tasteful trumpet, occasional miscellaneous percussion.  The songs are strongly lyrical and–with words well written and delivered in an nostalgic lilting manner (think English folk bards) for which the term “family band“ seems perfectly appropriate.  Many of the songs are emotionally attached narratives weaving up and down, in and out of an overreaching tapestry—reminiscent of the characters and story lines of Colin Meloy’s (of The Decemberists) lyrics.

Overall, the album reminds me of what an early, very young Sufjan Stephens would do. The music is quite non-repackaged, unique, soothing at times, and certainly enjoyable, but underdeveloped. While there were a few moments that did impress, I couldn’t help thinking how great a 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th release would be—the musicality would develop and fill-out, and the diction would become more robust and diverse, and melodies would solidify. With the release of Consider the Birds, raymondale & The Family Band strikes out upon a path that is wild and adventurous.