The Last Dancers |
|
|
The Dearest are in the process of recording their first album with genius studio drummer/engineer Dano Capristo from Portland Oregon. Players on the record include, Adam Mackintosh, Anna Sacks, Eric McFadden, Kelly LeMeuix, Pat Bohan, Dano Capristo, John Mcduffie, Nikita Sorokin. Tracks will include, "When You're A Dreamer", "Such A Fool", "Undone", "13", "Sweet Memories", "Little Hearts", and several more gems. Check back for news as it develops, we will post it here. |
|
Steel Bridge Songfest:
![]() The Construction Zone and CD Project The Construction Zone is a week-long collaborative songwriting intensive for professional and aspiring songwriters. Participation is by invitation only. It involves a week of collaborative songwriting and performing with a purpose in mind. The sessions begin with a meet-and-greet dinner for all writers. Out-of-towners stay at the Holiday Motel, located by the bridge in downtown Sturgeon Bay. All 18 rooms are booked for the event. Accommodations are free of charge for invited guests. Collaboration is encouraged, and facilitated if requested. Writers are encouraged (but not required) to derive inspiration from the steel bridge. The Bridge-with-a-capital-B has long been a potent metaphor in popular song. The Steel Bridge is a great symbol of strength and of joining together, the melding of diverse cultures, divergent views, the old and the new, the words and the music, the tangible and the intangible… The word “bridge” doesn’t need to be used in expressing thoughts and emotions inspired bythe presence of a steel span. The connection need not be conscious. It just happens.. Writing takes place in motel rooms, coffee shops around town, by the waterside, any place writers want to go for focus, stimulation, or solitude. There are two recording studios operating 24/7 with full-time engineers for documenting songs. Every night at dusk, there are round robins for all attendees, where writers play for each other the songs they've written. Unlike some other songwriting events, there are no attendance fees for “aspiring” writers. Food, drink, and accommodations are free. Writers retain full ownership of their contribution to songs written at the event. Mechanical royalties contributed to the Steel Bridge Fund are appreciated, but optional. This intense collaboration process allows the individual artist to expand techniques and network with other artists. The week ends in a public performance of the fresh new works. The Artists donate the recorded music to the CfOB effort and a compilation CD is created The profits from the CD sales are dedicated and used to build national awareness and promote historic preservation. Proceeds are donated to the Michigan Street Bridge Fund on a long-term, ongoing basis. Steel Bridge Songfest The Steel Bridge Songfest is an annual volunteer community historic outreach event produced by CfOB and is now the largest Americana songwriter showcase in the Midwest. The festival mixes major speakers in Historic Preservation with songwriters of national and regional prominence who display a strong affinity for social responsibility and historic preservation. The annual three-day celebration is designed to promote community activism, increase community economic impact and promote historic preservation through the use of artistic expression and experience to an audience not normally drawn to such a dry subject as Historic Preservation. The purpose of the SB Songfest is to also raise local, state and national awareness of the Michigan Street Bridge through original songs written, inspired by the bridge and volunteer public performances. The Songfest and CD compilations aim to promote, build and maintain the first of its kind public/private, long-term historic preservation “Michigan Street Bridge Fund”, which is held by the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington DC . The fund is designated to be used in the future, to promote and protect the historic Michigan Street Bridge as a one-of-a-kind historic attraction within the State of Wisconsin. The proceeds through outreach and sales, will be used to promote the preservation of the bridge and supply the GAP financing needed for preservation efforts, and address some of the ongoing PREVENTATIVE yearly maintenance costs, which are not currently covered by Federal or State financing and which the lack of, got it into the disrepair today. Need: The state-owned, historic Sturgeon Bay (Michigan Street -Memorial) Bridge, is nationally significant not only for its design but also for the unique upper bascule section which is one of only two examples existing in the United States but also as a War Memorial. Citizens for Our Bridge Inc has been active in the preservation effort since 1996 and was instrumental in having the structure placed the Wisconsin Register of Historic Places and the National Register of Historic Places. Even though The State of Wisconsin has scheduled the Historic Sturgeon Bay bridge for a one time “rehabilitation” for 2008, the specified repairs are far from a total “restoration” nor do they offer protection from future decay after the one time 25 year rehab is complete. Federal financing for historic bridges allocated to the States offers preservation but does not cover ongoing maintenance of this important historic structures, nor is it automatically protected by federal mandate to be on the highest level of maintenance with a proactive repair schedule. The unique goal of the CD and Steel Bridge Songfest projects are to ultimately provide some of the gap financing for the State, using the city as a conduit, which is needed to properly maintain and restore the Michigan Street Bridge, thus protecting this structure far beyond a one-time, rehabilitation. In addition, National Trust and CfOB has established a first-of-its-kind, public/private financing tool, The Michigan Street Bridge Fund for the Public, City or State to use in the preservation, maintaining or to restore this important structure for the next 100 years and beyond, without impacting other budget needs. This longterm financing option may someday help in avoiding any need to replace this important structure, because of unplanned maintenance costs or underfinanced budgets in the future. Overall C.f.O.B. Long-range Goals To preserve and restore the Historic Michigan Street Bridge and Historic Downtown for future generations; To educate and influence the protection of the unique historic structures in America regardless of their size or ownership. To celebrate citizen activism and participation in historic preservation within their community. To support contemporary creative pursuits, especially songwriting and musical performance. To engage the citizenry in historic preservation through artistic creation via public participation. |
|
Bridge as metaphor. Bridge as inspiration. Musical bridges… SCENE MAGAZINE 2009 |
|



very nice. can't make it tonite, but keep me posted. I'm sick of going to Chicago for good music. Going to Buddy Guy's in March for "Indigenous"..


