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Final Noa Noa Show This Saturday feat. Cher Von, AllOne, Regdar and the Fighters, Mr. Collins’ Bollocks

 Concerts, Noa Noa  No Responses »
Jun 192014
 

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As I wrote last week, Noa Noa house will be going on hiatus for a while. The final show will be Saturday, June 21st and will feature Louisville’s Cher Von, NYC’s AllOne, Regdar and the Fighters, and Mr. Collins’ Bollocks. The lineup was organized by Regdar’s Stephen Smith.

If you read this blog much, you know how much I love Cher Von. She recently performed an amazing improv at the 2014 Circuit Benders’ Ball. Now come see her perform her looped pop oddities before she’s a mega-star.

I don’t know a great deal about AllOne, but his Bandcamp says he’s an,  “experimental hip-hop lyricist, performance poet, singer/songwriter, author, and beat-boxer.”

Regdar and the Fighters is a duo featuring robot / Dance Dance Revolution pad Regdar and his human “fighter” Stephen Smith. Stephen does a lot of good things for Nashville’s music scene, and he was a huge help with previous Circuit Benders’ Balls.  He’s organizing the music for the 2014 Nashville Mini Maker Faire, and I’m excited to see what he will bring.

Mr. Collins’ Bollocks is a Genesis cover band, yes, GENESIS!, by local photographers Ray and Wendy. They had me at Genesis cover band.

For more info, check the Facebook event page.

Cher Von, AllOne, Regdar and the Fighters, Mr. Collins’ Bollocks
Saturday, June 21st, 2014, doors at 8:30 p.m., show at 9 p.m. sharp., $5 to touring bands

@ Noa Noa (house)
620 Hamilton Avenue
Nashville, TN 37203

Park in driveway and surrounding business lots.

Circuit Benders’ Ball Spotlight on Cher Von

 Album Releases, Circuit Benders Ball, Concerts, Fort Houston, WRVU  No Responses »
Apr 022014
 

Cher Von

I first met Cher Von in 2006 at a Cafe Coco open mic. At the age of 18, she was performing solo on guitar and vocals under the nom de plume Lola.* I distinctly remember being floored. This person was obviously going to “make it.”

But it took me some time to put my finger on why. It wasn’t just her unique singing style, beautiful and original as it was. Nor was it her highly original songwriting. These things are major parts of her appeal, incredibly rare gifts, but not her greatest.

A year or so later, Cher Von was standing next to me, Cody Bottoms, and a handful of other people inside the Vanderbilt college radio station WRVU. We were recording an all-vocal edition of Theater Intangible called Turn the Page. Throughout the show, Cher Von kept singing these intensely beautiful melodies. And that’s when it occurred to me.

Cher Von’s greatest gift is her ability to write fantastic melodies. Not melodies as in radio country hooks. Melodies as in the Beethoven and Debussy variety.

This insight was bolstered by every T.I. improv she did (especially this CJ Boyd artist showcase) and every performance I saw of her. It’s a running thread (another being her penchant for weirdness, something we share) in all her work. Whether as A Parade, I Am Pazuzu, Lola Koene, or Cher Von, the moniker she uses for her new EP Klik Klak, this artist knows how to write evocative melody.

With Klik Klak (now available for purchase on BandCamp), she continues to mature as an artist. Cher Von weaves pulsing chants over cut up field recordings, scratches, scrapes, splashes, cheek flicks, chimes, percussive hits on household items, and the occasional traditional instrument. The more I hear these songs, the more I see their brilliance. Perhaps the only thing standing between Cher Von and stardom is a renowned producer to help take the production value to the next level. Merrill Garbus, are you listening?

Cher Von moved from Nashville to Louisville, Kentucky a few years ago. Now she’s making waves on the Louisville music scene. But we’re fortunate to have her back for the 2014 Circuit Benders’ Ball. Her 2010 performance with Tim Kaiser and other benders was one of the highlights of the original Ball. On Saturday, April 12th at Fort Houston, she’ll conduct an improv featuring a few guest benders. On Friday, April 11th at Cafe Coco, she’ll perform songs from her new album.

Don’t miss your chance to see this one-of-a-kind talent.

* At the time she had a band called A Parade, also featuring Cody Bottoms, a talented performer in his own right who, as the host and engineer at Cafe Coco’s open mic, was at the center of a creative catalyst.

Circuit Benders’ Ball Announces Full Artist Lineup, Panels, Workshops!

 Circuit Benders Ball, Circuit-Bending, Concerts, Fort Houston  No Responses »
Mar 262014
 
Logo by Rachel Briggs.

Logo by Rachel Briggs.

A few weeks ago, the Nashville Scene unveiled the first round of artist announcements for the Circuit Benders’ Ball, and now it is my pleasure to announce the full artist lineup as well as the panels, presentations, and workshops!

The submissions were so strong this year that we decided to expand to three full days of programming! The Ball will begin on Friday, April 11th and continue through Sunday, April 13th. All festival programming will take place at the premiere Nashville makerspace Fort Houston located at 500 Houston Street, Nashville, TN 37203.

Performers:

With special presentations by:

Art by:

Live visuals by:

Featuring the panels:

  • Introduction to Circuit Bending
  • Making Music by Code Alone
  • Society of the Spectacle: Culture Jamming, Détournement, and Tactical Media
  • Fair Use, Artistic Appropriating, and Culture Jamming (Pt. 2)
  • Glitch Art / Dirty New Media
  • Visual Bending
  • Structural Biases in Local Show Booking
  • Chiptune Art
  • Electronic Enclosures Design
  • Computer Models of Circuit Bending
  • Towards a Circuit Bending Standardization

Featuring the workshops:

  • Playdoh Vs. Lego: A Composer’s Take on Hacker-Culture by Kyle Baker (Soundcrawl co-founder)
  • Piezo Mic Making by Christopher Lavery
  • Hacking the Gameboy by Abandoned On Fire and b4by f4c3
  • Let’s Build a Hex-Schmitt Trigger Oscillator by Christopher Lavery
  • Subverting Google by Patrick Quinn
  • Bending with Photoresistors! by Jeff Boynton
  • Microcontrol of a Macroworld: Physical Computing with Arduino by Josh Gumiela

Three day passes, single day tickets, and workshop tickets will be available soon at FortHouston.com. The three day festival pass is $35 advance or $50 at door. Single day tickets are $15 advance or $20 at door. Workshops are $15 advance or $20 at door (if any slots remain). Those who purchase the festival pass in advance will get a sweet LED lanyard with their name on it. Because of the intimate size of the space, we’re limiting the total amount of tickets to 100, so be sure to scoop yours up as soon as they go on sale. (Tentatively, Saturday, March 29th.)

We are proud to have Yazoo Brewing Company back as a sponsor. If you’re interested in sponsoring the Ball, see our sponsor guide.

Watch this space for the full schedule, panel & workshop descriptions, and spotlights on the participants. Are you excited yet? I know I am.

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