Singer/Songwriter Sarah Siskind, Amigo's Slade Baird, Second Spring Arts, and MUSEP

“She absolutely knocks me out”, and “I Love her songwriting”. That's exactly how the Triad Arts team feels about Winston-Salem native, singer/songwriter Sarah Siskind, but, turns out we stole those two quotes of high praise from legendary singer Bonnie Raitt and Amy Grant. After leaving her mark in Nashville, Sarah calls the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia home these days and she'll be coming down the mountain when she comes to Reynolda House next week. Then the Charlotte-based band Amigo has been carving out a little slice of heaven there for the past few years with their eclectic country/punk/East Texas, genre-busting sound. It's just like American Songwriter Magazine says: There is no gimmick here: Amigo is the real thing. Eddie Garcia peaks behind the curtain—just in case—with Amigo singer, songwriter, and guitarist Slade Baird. Second Spring Arts is proving that life after 60 gets better and better when you get up the gumption to try something new, and Music for a Sunday Evening in the Park is bringing new outdoor concerts to a different Greensboro park every Sunday all summer long.

Sarah Siskind

After tearing it up in Nashville for years, Winston-Salem native Sarah Siskind is now a Virginia-based singer/songwriter living up there with her family in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains. Southern Living magazine calls her “Nashville's best new voice”, but her music transcends category. It's a fantastic blend of the traditional and modern, and it's in high demand. Allison Krauss has recorded her songs, as have Randy Travis, Paul Brady and many others. Bonnie Raitt considers Sarah one of her favorite singers and songwriters, and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver considers her a vocal teacher. Last year Justin's label re-released Sarah's first album from 2003 titled Covered, and we're sampling from the title track now.

It's been a triumphant return for Sarah Siskind. For years she battled sinus issues resulting in a string of surgeries that prevented her from touring. But she's back on tour now with her CD Novel, and, Thursday afternoon, June 5th she'll be live in concert at Reynolda House's Summertime Social: Backyard Barbeque and Brews.

On Thursday, June 5^th from 6-9 pm Sarah will perform at Reynolda's Summertime Social: Backyard Barbecue and Brews. This wonderful annual event celebrates the beginning of summer with live music, barbecue samples, beer tastings, games on the lawn, and plenty of arts activities. Tickets are just 15 bucks, kids 5 and under get in free.

Amigo

The Charlotte North Carolina based band Amigo has been carving out a special place in the local music scene for the past few years. A culmination of the band members' past musical and personal experiences, Amigo have a sound that comes in like an East Texas wind, infusing a country rock aesthetic with punk rock abandon & art school ingenuity.

Their recently released debut LP, “Might Could,” is an engaging collection of upbeat songs delivered with authority, humor, and a rowdy rock n' roll spirit. Listen to tracks from Might Could, and locally you can pick up a copy on cd or vinyl at Earshot Records, as well as record shops across the state.

You have two chances to catch Amigo live in the Triad this weekend – First an intimate performance at Earshot Records on Saturday May 31^st at 5pm, then a set at The Garage later that same night, along with Raleigh‘s Octopus Jones, and Winston-Salem singer, songwriter, visual artist, Molly Grace, who's putting down the brush for the evening and picking up her guitar.

Eddie sat down with Amigo songwriter Slade Baird, and got some insight into Amigo's genre bashing music, and some of the inspiration behind their slyly positive songs

Second Spring Arts and MUSEP: Music for a Sunday Evening in the Park

Second Spring Arts Founder and President Nancy Hall and Second Wind Publishing founder and Festival organizer Mike Simpson. This year's Festival kicks off Friday night, May 30^th at the Milton Rhodes Arts Center and Hanesbrands Theatre in Winston-Salem with the North Carolina Black Repertory Theatre performing excerpts from the musical Crowns. Audience members are encouraged to sport their favorite hats to the event. They'll be judged and the best awarded prizes. It'll be an intergenerational festival too with Ann Gill from Dancing Classrooms presenting her students in live dance performance, and Nathan Ross Freeman will showcase his Authoring Action students and their work as well. Second Spring Arts Festival 2014 runs through May 31^st.

Music for a Sunday Evening in the Park

Live music by some of the Triad's best bands in a beautiful outdoor setting. That's MUSEP: Music for a Sunday Evening in the Park.

This wonderful Greensboro tradition is free and open to the public. This year MUSEP is celebrating its 35th anniversary by adding new bands to the performance lineup and Gate City venues as well. MUSEP begins in June and will run through the end of August. Greensboro City Arts Director Jennifer Hance provides this summer season preview through July 4^th.

Greensboro City Arts Director Jennifer Hance. Music for a Sunday Evening in the Park celebrating its 35^th year begins Sunday, June 8^th with the Martha Bassett Band at 6:00 PM and the Wally West Little Big Band at 7:15 PM on the lawn of beautiful Blandwood Mansion. It's one of the America's truly great historic homes, the earliest portions of which were completed in 1795. The complete MUSEP performance series calendar—a different concert, at a different Greensboro Park every Sunday through August 24th.