Reblogged from Lipstik Indie Reviews:

Reblogged from duncantarmstrong:

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Lizzie Violet hosted anther sensation Cabaret Noir at Q Space. A perfect high-octane Mother(F**ker)s Day with stomping sets by Cathy, Vanessa & Kirsten. I made sure I got into the first set of open stagers before the features pulverized the audience. I’ve heard them all before but am always happy to hear them again & again.

With open stagers from Chicago, audience from Australia, Noir has in three short months made its presence felt.

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Reblogged from duncantarmstrong:

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Hosted by the glittering Philip Cairns, the Damned’s May show was a veritable celebration of Toronto’s queer theatre history with open stage appearances by David Bateman & David Roche & features by Peter Lynch & Sky Gilbert.

First feature Peter Lynch did two performance pieces: ‘The School For Hopeful Wankers’ - about an acting coach introducing her method of ‘acting is about immediate honesty’ where one would have to align ‘with their formerly disembodied pelvis.’ Comic, scary and insightful by turns it was a smart portrait of acting teacher as drill sergeant.

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When I dropped by Red Sandcastle Theatre for the In Loo Of fundraiser a few weeks ago, owner/manager/AD Rosemary Doyle introduced me to Robert Graham, who was there to accompany singers on piano for the four-day open mic event. While chatting with Graham, I learned that he’s also a singer/songwriter – and I headed home that evening with a copy of his Storm in a Teacup CD.

Co-produced by Graham and Chris Brown, Storm in a Teacup is a trippy, eclectic collection of pop, rock and blues – with hints of jazz and soul – accompanied by some stand-out musicians and vocalists, including Graham, Brown, Anton Fier, Andy Love, Teddy Kumpel, Rob Jost, Tony Scherr, Alec Barken, Dan Charbonneau, Eli Abrams, John Abrams, Ford Pier, Eric Schenkman, Kerryn Graham and Leann Cunningham.

Storm in a Teacup starts out with the gentle, unassuming instrumental track “Blue Lullaby (Intro.),” slips into pop ballad “Reaching You” and finishes with a soul vibe on “Set it Free (Afro-Astro Mix),” a remix of earlier mellow pop track “Set it Free.” From the epic rock-operatic “Living in a Coma” to the comic tale of unrequited love in “In Love with a Girl” to the haunting jazz/blues-infused piano instrumental “Second Prelude,” there’s a big range of emotional and musical expression on this record. And “Jonathan Baker” combines the whimsical poignancy of Beatles storytelling with the dark social commentary of The Police’s “Synchronicity II” – a quiet life of desperation about to explode in the face of a cruel world. The lyric “It’s easy to be nasty. Sometimes it’s worthwhile to be nice” is particularly potent. Storm in a Teacup is a trippy journey through genres and musical moments, each song a brand new vibe. Check it out.

You can catch Robert Graham, playing with his new band The Fairest and the Best at The Central on Monday, May 13 at 7 p.m. And on Friday, May 24, he’ll be hosting Robert Graham and Friends – A Fundraising Concert for the “We Are Jose” Campaign – 7:30 p.m. at Lower Ossington Theatre. For details on these two shows, please visit the Gigs page on Graham’s website.

Robert Graham

In the meantime, you can also pay him a visit on his YouTube channel and check out his new single “Believe In Love.“

]]> https://lifewithmorecowbell.wordpress.com/2013/05/08/an-eclectic-trippy-journey-through-sound-on-robert-grahams-storm-in-a-teacup-cd/feed/ 0 lifewithmorecowbell Storm in a Teacup cover Robert Tanglefoot photo https://lifewithmorecowbell.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/out-of-this-world-this-saturday-night/ https://lifewithmorecowbell.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/out-of-this-world-this-saturday-night/#comments Tue, 07 May 2013 17:13:00 +0000 life with more cowbell http://lifewithmorecowbell.wordpress.com/2013/05/07/out-of-this-world-this-saturday-night/ Continue reading →]]>

Reblogged from Patrick Jenkins Animation:

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Aliens At Cinecycle!

This coming Saturday night, May 11 at 7 p.m., I have a 10 second animated piece in the U.F.O. Anijam at the TAIS Showcase 2013 at Cinecycle Theatre at 129 Spadina Avenue, Rear, down the 'film noirish' alley way. Come out and support Independent Animation. It's a 90 minute screening of animated shorts. Don't blink when you see my piece.

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The Melody Bar at the Gladstone Hotel was packed last night, all in celebration of the release of Tania Joy’s EP I’ll Be Around. And what a celebration it was!

MC Shannon Paterson, a long-time friend of of Tania Joy’s – from their days as six-year-old figure skating pals to modern-day wing men in the dating scene – ushered the evening’s festivities, including opening acts Arlene Paculan and Candice Sand.

Arlene Paculan got things going with some R&B and pop goodness – a set of originals and covers, on keys with Mickey Rodriguez on drums.  From the slow groove of “My Plea” to her love song to Tony Stark and awesome Green Day mash-up to “Running” – a soulful ballad with a sometimes haunting piano arrangement (and a personal fave) – it’s always a pleasure to wrap my ears around Paculan’s sounds. Coming up for Paculan: the Beaches Jazz Festival, the release of her debut full-length CD Everything Begins with Love (June 21 @ Gallery 345, Toronto) and WonderFest West (August 14 @ Celebration Square, Mississauga). Drop by her website for details and keep an eye out for her upcoming gigs.

Candice Sand showed us she’s got this, bringing it with a bluesy acoustic set, with Neil Whitford backing her up on guitar. Shifting from cheeky fun on a cover of Ingrid Michaelson’s “The Way I Am,” then a couple of songs later into the slow, sexy “Maybe I’m Crazy” and the soulful, strong groovin’ yet vulnerable “I Got This” (her recent release) to audience participation like on her slow groove cover of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand,” it was a pleasure to see Sand perform live (I’d missed her set at a WonderFest event a while back). Definitely an artist to watch out for.

The main event, Tania Joy, took to the stage with a full band backing her: “The Groove Doctor” (Dave McMorrow) on keys, Rick Joudrey on bass, Jeff Haynes on guitar, Richard Greenspoon on drums (he also engineered the record), and the lovely and talented Arlene Paculan and Candice Sand on back-up vocals.

Opening with “I Push You Pull,” an R&B-infused ballad, with the organ/keys and back-up vocal arrangements bringing some gospel Tania Joy delivered a set of originals from her I’ll Be Around EP, peppered with some covers of songs by the likes of John Fogerty and The Allman Brothers. Singing of connections and relationship, with a mix of folk, blues and gospel on “Gypsy Heart (Back To Me)” and taking us to the church of the joyful noise on “Shine Your Light,” this is a deep, rich and resonant voice singing catchy and soulful lyrics. The moving R&B/gospel sound returned on “I’ll Be Around” and “I Won’t Quit,” the title track inspired by and dedicated to the memory of her cousin Dana Rene Gibson. Bee Gees cover “To Love Somebody” had folks singing along (I was one of them, on harmony) and the reggae rhythm of original “New Ending” got folks up dancing in front of the stage. And the whole room was feeling Tania Joy’s cover of “People Get Ready.”

Tania Joy’s warmth and enthusiasm is contagious – and was matched by that coming from the audience. Friends, family, fellow singers and musicians brought a whole lotta love and support – the room was vibrating with excitement and positive energy. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for this talented lady. In the meantime, drop on by Tania Joy’s Soundcloud and YouTube pages.

Arlene Paculan, with Mickey Rodriguez on drums.

Arlene Paculan opens for Tania Joy at the “I’ll Be Around” EP launch.

Candice Sand, with Neil Whitford on guitar.

Candice Sand at Tania Joy’s “I’ll Be Around” EP release.

Tania Joy (right), with Candice Sand (left) and Arlene Paculan (centre) on back-up vocals.

Tania Joy on guitar at her “I’ll Be Around” EP launch.

Tania Joy brings it powerful and soulful at her EP launch.

Tania Joy and event MC Shannon Paterson.

The energized, enthusiastic crowd kept Tania Joy busy with autograph requests after the show.

I AM MARGUERITE by Shirley Barrie, directed by Molly Thom

FORGIVENESS by Mairy Beam, directed by Victoria Shepherd

YOU HAVE TO EARN IT by Ramona Baillie, directed by Jane Carnwath

IN A TIME OF WAR by Anne MacMillan, directed by Marianne Fedunkiw

BROCKFEST by Joan Burrows, directed by Maria Popoff

WAITING FOR KATRINA by Donna Langevin, directed by Pat McCarthy

THE YEAR MY FATHER BECAME A SAINT by Linda McCready, directed by Brenda Darling

Admission is free. For more info, including synopses, times and dates (each play gets one reading), please visit the Alumnae Theatre NPD page.

p.s. – I’ll be performing in the reading of Forgiveness on Thursday, May 9 at 8 p.m. Rehearsals start tonight, and I’m looking forward to working with director Victoria Shepherd again (we worked on Celebrity together in New Ideas 2004 – written by Tina McCulloch, who is also in the cast of Forgiveness), as well as a great cast, all of whom I know (and previously worked with all but one) – and all the women in this cast were also in Alumnae’s production of Lady Windermere’s Fan in 2007.

Felicia Guy-Lynch reading “you should know” at The Beautiful & the Damned.

Felicia Guy-Lynch’s first book, Scattered Thoughts: A Stream of Consciousness, is a poetry collection of random thoughts and shared wisdom on love, self-worth, trust and living in this world. Political, analytical, with word play, rhymes and rhythms – it sometimes feels like you’re reading a sheet of music with no notes on it, but you can hear the words, feel the beat.

I saw Guy-Lynch perform “you should know,” which appears near the end of Scattered Thoughts, at Glad Day Bookshop back in September at the monthly The Beautiful & the Damned poetry and music cabaret. Having now experienced this piece both live before an audience and read silently to myself in solitude, it’s still one of my favourites. Inspired by The Alchemist, the piece imparts sage advice that strikes home and sticks: “…those who gossip to you will eventually gossip about you. you should know wisdom is avoiding all thoughts that weaken you. those who anger you control you. you should know how your treat and make people feel? that’s all that matters…”

Often served up with a rap rhythm, some of the poems use rhyme, some don’t – and poems like “stylistic” weave a single rhyme throughout the piece. At times, the words flow across the page without punctuation, capital letters signaling the beginning of the next line. And just when you think you’ve got the rhythm down, anticipating the next beat, Guy-Lynch changes it up, playing the words in rhyming couplets in “crossroads,” then floating them in free association phrases in “cosmic sanctuary.”

You can catch Guy-Lynch at her upcoming book signing – including Scattered Thoughts: A Stream of Consciousness and her new book 365 – on Saturday, May 11 at Knowledge Bookstore (177 Queen St. W., Brampton) from 12 – 4 p.m. In the meantime, you can pay her a visit at her Twitter and YouTube co-ordinates.

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Reblogged from Kat Leonard:

Guess what! We are partnering up again with Mississauga Arts Council for another showcase at Celebration Square Amphitheatre! Happening Wednesday August 14, 2013, Wonder Fest-West will showcase original work of Wonder Women AND Super Men artists of all media and genres from visual arts, music, comedy and spoken word! Submissions being accepted until June 30, 2013!

Rogers Access Peel coverage on last summer's Amphitheatre event can be seen by clicking here! Yes here! Click here!

Weaving projects across time and space, Steve Rockwell’s Folio exhibit combines some 25+ years of work and exploration. Here are just a few examples:

Text. From Meditations on Space, a narrative performance piece – later produced in a book detailing Rockwell’s exploration of and interactions in gallery storage spaces, recording his impressions in both text and photographs as he visited galleries in Toronto, LA, New York and locations in Europe. In the book, each gallery blurb is a short text piece, about the length of a tweet – only, in this case, the experience was physical instead of virtual – each one a funny, surprising and detailed description of his interaction with gallery owners and the space. And the photographs include some whimsical shots of his self-portrait in the storage spaces.

Background. A collage of pages from dART INTERNATIONAL magazine, of which Rockwell is the founding editor and publisher, publishing two to three times a year.

Colour. Rockwell’s Color Match board game, where players receive a predetermined number of coloured cardboard tiles and place them on a square board divided into a grid to create a multi-coloured, mosaic-like pattern. The judge of the game can be randomly selected from the crowd in the space where the game is being played. Unlike conventional board games, players do not accumulate things – they contribute – and there are no winners or losers. Turn over the colour tiles and each has a name and I.D. number – names like “Antidote,” “Stop!” and “Game Over.” Color Match was played on buses during Nuit Blanche 2006 in Toronto and you can see an example of pieces created using Colour Match in Art Gallery of Ontario advertising – framed works hung on the wall of the room in the photograph. Keep an eye out for upcoming Color Match tournaments at Fran Hill Gallery in Toronto and elsewhere. You never know when a match might pop up.

Concept. Rockwell’s Gallery Space 1988 project started with gallery folks locating their gallery on a grid, also indicating on their grid sheet which “wall” of the space the door should go on (north, south, east or west side of the square). The visual/spatial data gathered via these grid sheets (collected in a bound volume as part of that exhibit) culminated in the creation of a 3-D floor plan model. The resulting maze-like piece identifies each gallery, the “doors” of each leading into another gallery. Information to connection.

The Folio exhibit is a series of 13 ¾” X 17” unframed, protectively coated pieces on paper, hung in such a way that each is set slightly away from the wall, moving banner-like with the air currents in the room. The four-colour grid used in each brings to mind the family standards of heraldry – like in Game of Thrones – and most include hand-written text, in black or white, from Meditations on Space. Others have no text, but the original magazine page text and images can be seen through the paint.

Rockwell is like a visual data analyst – collecting, deconstructing and creating works using the concepts of space, interaction, connection and colour. It’s a lot like life that way, really. And as we were chatting, he also told me about another interesting project – in this case, an edible one. Collaborating with restauranteur Saeed Mohamed, Rockwell created the dArt Burger, a BQM hamburger sandwich. The burger was deconstructed into The Pixilated dArt Burger for an installation piece – and I can only imagine what a delicious temptation that was for exhibit visitors. You can order the dArt Burger at BQM locations in Toronto on Ossington Ave. and Queen St. West.

Rockwell’s Folio exhibit is up at Fran Hill Gallery until May 19. Hours: Tuesday – Sunday, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m. or by appointment.

Artist Steve Rockwell at Fran Hill Gallery for his Folio exhibit.

Three pieces from the Folio exhibit – Steve Rockwell.

A grouping of four pieces in Steve Rockwell’s Folio exhibit.

Another selection of works from Folio – Steve Rockwell.

My favourite of the Folio pieces – both for the colour and the hilarious text.