All - just a few heads ups ---!
OMEGABAND PERFORMANCE THIS FRIDAY! (7/13)
This Friday is a prime opportunity to check out the new band, OMEGABAND (www.omegaband.net) in a performance at Asylum in Adam's Morgan. I'll be playing percussion and singing harmonies. The band's songs are varied but you can expect rock, soul, and some ska and fusion. The event is actually called "Fringe Benefits," and features three bands performing to raise money for Miriam's Kitchen. Asylum is located at 2471 18th St NW; parking might be a little difficult, and it's a $7 cover at the door. The Originators and Chief Joseph are also performing. I think we're second on the list, which means a start time of around 10 p.m., most likely. Doors open at 9.
YWDEP PERFORMANCE AT THEARC THIS SATURDAY! (7/14)
The Young Women's Drumming Empowerment Project will proudly perform at THEARC this Saturday, as part of a benefit for Some Others Might Eat (SOME). Officially opened in October 2005, The Town Hall Education Arts & Recreation Campus (THEARC)is a $27 million, 110,000 square foot, state-of-the art campus located in Washington, DC's Ward 8 at 1901 Mississippi Ave SE, 20020. YWDEP will perform at 2:15 p.m. and will feature drumming and poetry from both our past and new members. All are invited!
SOULFUL YOGA & DRUMMING RETREAT IN NEGRIL, JAIMAICA! NOVEMBER 8th-13th, MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
My good friend Angelique Shofar of Spirit of Wellness and I will be joining forces for this incredible opportunity in November. Contact me for more information, or REGISTER HERE: http://www.spiritofwellness.org/NovRetreat.html
SACRED SOUL FIRE - West Virginia, Aug. 9-12
My friends and fellow drum goddesses Katy Gaughan and Mz. Imani are organizing an extraordinary event in August - I've attended in the past, and have literally had my mind, body and spirit transformed. Read on!
SACRED SOULFIRE
A weekend gathering that is focused on collaborative art and the
sacred all night fire circle.
August 9-12, 2007
Abrams Creek Campground, Elk Garden, WV
Event info/registration: http://www.consciouscollaborations.com/SSF
$95.00 Camping; $125.00 Lodge (only 18 beds); $25-$95, under 18,
accompanied by an adult.
Meal Plan - Omni, Veggie, Vegan Options - $60.
To view pictures of our site: http://www.abramscreek.com
Contact: Mz.imani, Mzimani@gmail.com 301.461.3214 /
Katy Gaughan, Katy@MusicHeals.Us 202.361.4095
We will help coordinate rides for all participants.
Carbon Tax for those who do not carpool.
The sacred all night fire circle is a journey that empowers
individuals within the embrace of a consecrated, community-supported
circle. The elemental alchemy that we co-create at all SoulFire events
encourages you to grow into your self - to push past limitations - to
embody your highest vision of self expression - to give - to receive -
to have fun - to have an ordeal - and to greet the dawn - in
community. Through drumming & music making, dancing, chanting, spoken
word and visual art, we undergo a mystical, magical journey that can
rhythmically awaken our unrealized potential, and help to make the
world a better place to be, One Fire At A Time.
Tuesday, July 10
Friday, July 6
YWDEP Rocked July 4th!!
First I was so pleasantly surprised that when I showed up at the rendezvous point, at 8:45 a.m., there were already two young women there. ON TIME. many more arrived within the next 20 minutes making this a YWDEP record - all in all we had 11 girls come to pump up the July 4th Takoma Parade with their immense spirit - and almost every single one arrived ON TIME. I'm verclempt...really...it's extraordinatry.
We drove to our site in a caravan of 4 vehicles and somehow found parking slots right next to our HUGE TRUCK, sponsored by EDGE CONSTRUCTION and the wonderful man who volunteered to drive it for us. I'm not sure quite how big the truck actually was - but it held nearly 20 of us up there - girls, parents, henry and mark (my heroes, who basically lifted and carried stuff, and pounded out bass rhythms the entire time) and myself. And a big tub of ice sporting plenty of water, sponsored by the parade. There were around 15 chairs strapped with bungies to the sides of the truck. We began taking our seats around 9:45, after hanging our lovely shower curtain banners off the sides. We then waited for our turn in the line up to come - all were excited.
Only problem was that mark was standing up with his drums while everyone else was sitting, and the sides of the truck were pretty high. We were concerned no one would see us - that they would only see mark and therefore would think this was his harem, or something to that effect. So at mark's suggestion, we decided to stand, and lean our drums on the chairs, and face out to the crowd. The plan worked wonders - we started off, playing kuku of course, and got copious smiles and positive feedback the whole way. Of course there was some teenage craziness...but definitely no lack of spirit.
We weaved in and out of rhythms but always came back to go-go, which pleased the crowds especially since we implemented our chant, with 2007 embelishments: "Young women drummers got the go-go beat" (and embellishments...) "We Ballin!!!!"
I admit i couldn't resist the chanting myself.
Thank yous are in abundance -
to EDGE CONSTRUCTION and our wonderful driver...
to mary anne and mike who got us the truck and the chairs and set up this great opportunity up for us...
to the parents and guardians who brought the girls, picked them up, and some who stayed the whole time...
to henry and mark, for their diligence and commitment...
to staci, atolvise and shelia, who showed up late but were determined to find us, and did; and who helped us out so much by passing out fliers on the street...
and to the girls themselves, for really SHOWING UP, ON TIME, and for bringing such immense spirit to the day, even if their hands hurt (sorry ladies!! -- remember, ice 'em!)
Hope to do it again next year!!!
Who's with me?
We drove to our site in a caravan of 4 vehicles and somehow found parking slots right next to our HUGE TRUCK, sponsored by EDGE CONSTRUCTION and the wonderful man who volunteered to drive it for us. I'm not sure quite how big the truck actually was - but it held nearly 20 of us up there - girls, parents, henry and mark (my heroes, who basically lifted and carried stuff, and pounded out bass rhythms the entire time) and myself. And a big tub of ice sporting plenty of water, sponsored by the parade. There were around 15 chairs strapped with bungies to the sides of the truck. We began taking our seats around 9:45, after hanging our lovely shower curtain banners off the sides. We then waited for our turn in the line up to come - all were excited.
Only problem was that mark was standing up with his drums while everyone else was sitting, and the sides of the truck were pretty high. We were concerned no one would see us - that they would only see mark and therefore would think this was his harem, or something to that effect. So at mark's suggestion, we decided to stand, and lean our drums on the chairs, and face out to the crowd. The plan worked wonders - we started off, playing kuku of course, and got copious smiles and positive feedback the whole way. Of course there was some teenage craziness...but definitely no lack of spirit.
We weaved in and out of rhythms but always came back to go-go, which pleased the crowds especially since we implemented our chant, with 2007 embelishments: "Young women drummers got the go-go beat" (and embellishments...) "We Ballin!!!!"
I admit i couldn't resist the chanting myself.
Thank yous are in abundance -
to EDGE CONSTRUCTION and our wonderful driver...
to mary anne and mike who got us the truck and the chairs and set up this great opportunity up for us...
to the parents and guardians who brought the girls, picked them up, and some who stayed the whole time...
to henry and mark, for their diligence and commitment...
to staci, atolvise and shelia, who showed up late but were determined to find us, and did; and who helped us out so much by passing out fliers on the street...
and to the girls themselves, for really SHOWING UP, ON TIME, and for bringing such immense spirit to the day, even if their hands hurt (sorry ladies!! -- remember, ice 'em!)
Hope to do it again next year!!!
Who's with me?
Friday, June 22
Debut with OmegaBand rocked!
Chief Ike's wasn't exactly boomin last night...
I was a little concerned.
This was my first ever public performance with OmegaBand - with whom I've enjoyed 4 total practice sessions after being accepted into the group. Basically I saw them at Artomatic and loved the sound, lyrics and groove. So I straight up asked if I could join them and they said "sure."
This super cool bunch of folks gave me warmth from the beginning. They're extraordinarily unpretentious, for musicians especially, and so creative -- the lead singer, Ricke Betts (a.k.a. "Alpha Betts" writes knock 'm dead lyrics that, when read off a page, flow like existential poetry. Some are bold emotional funk ballads, others weave in and out of consciousness. All are accompanied by the solid boom-bap of drummer Bala, who I'm so happy to have grown on (it's an honor since he's got a discerning ear), bass man "white chocolate" Kirk Waldroff, also a visual artist, but who's bass riffs often light up my drums, and guitarist Earl, quirkster with an avant garde style and tons of flexibility in his playing.
At any rate, it wasn't too long (well, maybe 3 or 4 songs) after we took the stage that people started coming in from the street, which was cool. For a totally dead night, we "packed" the room - Rickie took the mic off stage and sang to the audience which was totally sweet. Her vocals beg for my harmony and I can't help but respond. We got lots of good feedback. I brought my djembe AND congas AND some shakers and bells so it was tight. I'm looking forward to more practices and future performances - this is what I've wanted for quite some time, to kick it with a good band in DC.
Here are the future shows (the next one is thursday next week, fyi):
Thursday, June 28th 9PM - The Red and The Black, 1212 H St NE (Atlas Corridor)
Friday, July 13th, 9PM - Asylum, 2471 18th St NW (Adam's Morgan)
This is an event entitled Fringe Benefits - it's a benefit show for Miriam's Kitchen. $7 cover. We'll be recording live too, so come out and holla for a good cause!
Thursday, July 26th, 7:15PM - Fort Reno, 3950 Chesapeake St NW, http://www.fortreno.com/about.html
Hope to see you there!
Peace
Kristen
I was a little concerned.
This was my first ever public performance with OmegaBand - with whom I've enjoyed 4 total practice sessions after being accepted into the group. Basically I saw them at Artomatic and loved the sound, lyrics and groove. So I straight up asked if I could join them and they said "sure."
This super cool bunch of folks gave me warmth from the beginning. They're extraordinarily unpretentious, for musicians especially, and so creative -- the lead singer, Ricke Betts (a.k.a. "Alpha Betts" writes knock 'm dead lyrics that, when read off a page, flow like existential poetry. Some are bold emotional funk ballads, others weave in and out of consciousness. All are accompanied by the solid boom-bap of drummer Bala, who I'm so happy to have grown on (it's an honor since he's got a discerning ear), bass man "white chocolate" Kirk Waldroff, also a visual artist, but who's bass riffs often light up my drums, and guitarist Earl, quirkster with an avant garde style and tons of flexibility in his playing.
At any rate, it wasn't too long (well, maybe 3 or 4 songs) after we took the stage that people started coming in from the street, which was cool. For a totally dead night, we "packed" the room - Rickie took the mic off stage and sang to the audience which was totally sweet. Her vocals beg for my harmony and I can't help but respond. We got lots of good feedback. I brought my djembe AND congas AND some shakers and bells so it was tight. I'm looking forward to more practices and future performances - this is what I've wanted for quite some time, to kick it with a good band in DC.
Here are the future shows (the next one is thursday next week, fyi):
Thursday, June 28th 9PM - The Red and The Black, 1212 H St NE (Atlas Corridor)
Friday, July 13th, 9PM - Asylum, 2471 18th St NW (Adam's Morgan)
This is an event entitled Fringe Benefits - it's a benefit show for Miriam's Kitchen. $7 cover. We'll be recording live too, so come out and holla for a good cause!
Thursday, July 26th, 7:15PM - Fort Reno, 3950 Chesapeake St NW, http://www.fortreno.com/about.html
Hope to see you there!
Peace
Kristen
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