Songs of Water, Tiny House Expedition, Bio Ritmo, and Peppercorn Theatre
Songs of Water
Songs of Water is a Greensboro-based band whose music is constantly evolving and difficult to pigeonhole. They've been featured on PRI's soundscape radio program Echoes, and NPR's Thistle and Shamrock. Thistle host Fiona Ritchie called Songs of Water's release The Sea Has Spoken a “very rewarding listen”, and New Indie Bands magazine's Chris Smith writes “No matter what your flavor of folk or world music, I think you'll probably find something on the Songs Of Water disc that you'll like. I know that I certainly did”.
The very same thing can be said for their new 2015 release Stars and Dust. It's epic, folkish, percussive, worldly, at times whimsical and others worldly-wise. Songs of Water is led by singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Roach. He's excited about sharing songs from the new CD with a live audience Friday, June 12th at 7:30 pm in the beautiful Carolina Theatre. It'll be a Songs of Water album release party that you won't soon forget. Stephen stopped by for a little sneak preview and a behind the scenes look at the making of Stars and Dust.
David Ford spoke with Songs of Water's singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Stephen Roach. He gives a little sneak preview and a behind the scenes look at the making of Stars and Dust.
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Tiny House Expedition
Alexis Stephens and Christian Parsons are the minds and muscle behind Tiny House Expedition. The couple is about to finish the first phase of their project with the completion of their very own tiny house. This summer, they'll take their new home on the road in order to document the tiny house movement taking place across the country. Whether for urban revitalization, to ease the problem of homelessness, or to inspire efficient, sustainable lifestyles, each community engaging with this housing option has a story, and Christian and Alexis intend to capture and share these stories. With backgrounds in film, production, and photography, the two will create a documentary from their travels.
The adventure begins and ends in Winston-Salem, and you can engage with Alexis and Christian at Tiny House Expedition on the Green on Saturday, June 20th. The event runs from 11:30am to 8pm at the green space on the corner of 6th and Liberty Streets in Winston-Salem. It will the debut of Alexis and Christian's own tiny house, and there will be two other tiny homes on display as well. There will be food, music, demonstrations, and attendees can enter a raffle to win their very own stay in the tiny house expedition tiny home.
“Our mission from day one was to write original music in the classic salsa style,” says Bio Ritmo's lead singer and composer Rei Alvarez. He goes on to say that “experimentation is as much a part of the tradition as the wide-ranging Afro-Cuban genres that it's based on.” Truer words have never been spoken, and this weekend you can hear for yourself as Second Sundays on Fourth brings this phenomenal band to the Triad.
For generations, Afro-Caribbeans from all over the world have migrated to the States, enriching every aspect of the arts scene in America. Bio Ritmo connects us all to that migration and to Latin dance music's shift from the big-band mambos of the 1950s to the cutting-edge sounds and smaller bands that began appearing a couple of decades later in New York.
One of the most intriguing and influential examples of that unique sound comes in the form of Bio Ritmo, who describes their sound as hard-hitting, modern salsa. They're known as true rebels who have helped pioneer a new generation of musicians that thrive on the spirit of experimentation that once defined the 70's Latin sound that came to be known as ‘salsa'. At its core, Bio Ritmo* brings supreme musicianship, a powerful rhythm section, and tight horn arrangements that bring a high level of polish to the outstanding original salsa and Latin jazz charts they've been performing live for more than 20 years together.
Behind many of those stellar arrangements is keyboardist, arranger and manager Marlysse Simmons. She says the band is excited to kick off this Sunday's Second Sundays on Fourth concert, where dancing will be strongly encouraged. She and her 12 band mates will be live in concert this Sunday, June 14th from 4-6:00 on 4th street downtown in Winston-Salem. You can also check out the Enrichment Center Percussion Ensemble which will be playing at 3pm!
*In today's show, we've been sampling from the band's 2014 release Se Les Olvido.
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Peppercorn Theatre
Peppercorn Theatre celebrates 5 years of imagination with their summer series June through August at the Children's Museum of Winston-Salem and Hanebrands Theatre. Peppercorn is a non-profit organization showcasing emerging professional artists, producing original theatre works, and sharing their live performance art with children and families throughout the Triad. The season begins with Maizy & Sprout by Naomi Shafer. UNC School of the Arts alumni, and Peppercorn Producing Directors John Bowhers and Anna Rooney stopped by recently to talk about the new season and they were joined by Artistic Director Harry Poster.
Maizy & Sprout by Naomi Shafer opens Friday June 12th at the Children's Museum of Winston-Salem where it'll run through the 21st. Beginning July 10th at the Arts Council's Hanesbrands Theatre it's Gerald Freedman and John Morris' Take One Step now celebrating its 50th year. And in August John Bowhers' adaptation of The Servant of Two Masters opens at the Children's Museum—the home for Peppercorn Theatre.
David recommends you checkout Hispanic Arts Initiative's "A Bailar - Let's Dance!" and Bethany talks about EMF Fringe Series and Classical Revolution Greensboro's Chamber Crawl taking place Saturday, June 20th. Hear four different chamber groups as they perform at a variety of locations on South Elm Street in Greensboro. The event runs from 1 - 5pm.
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