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CHARIES-RYAN BARBER
MUSIC NEWS AND GOSSIP
Community Corner: The 11th annual Hot
Comer Celebration and Soul Food Fest will
happen May 5-7. The event, which celebrates
the unique and distinguished African-American
history of the area at the cross streets of
North Hull and West Washington, is hosted
by the non-profit Hot Corner Association. Hot
Corner was the hub of black-owned businesses
and entertainment in downtown Athens for
decades with.Monroe "Pink" Morton's build
ing as its cornerstone. This year's Hot Corner
festival begins at the Omega Night Club
(3155 Atlanta Hwy.) at 5 p.m. on Thursday,
May 5 with live jazz and old-school R&B per
formances. A benefit show for the family of
Officer Buddy Christian and for Officer Tony
Howard will happen at the Morton Theatre on
Friday, May 6 at 7 p.m. The free, all-day main
event happens Saturday, May 7 from 12-9
p.m. at the corner of North Hull and West
Washington streets. The festival is a commu
nity talent showcase and block party that will
feature Montu Miller as master of ceremonies,
a flag raising by the Boy Scouts of America,
performances by John Dunn & the Jazzman
Band, Mista Lee, Life the Griot, Repunza,
The Splitz Band, and many more, as well as
a kids' area, games, etc. Although there's no
web presence for the event, if you need more
info you can drop a line to Montu Miller via
undergroundathens2@yahoo.com.
Roll Over Charlemagne: Witches are headed
out on a month-long European tour in May
and will spend the majority of time in Germany
but will play dates in France and Denmark
as well. The band, composed of Cara Beth
Satalino, Jared Gandy and Michael Clancy,
has gathered quite a bit of speed in the past
few months, based largely on word-of-mouth
critical praise for its new album, Forever. Well,
that and its solid history of engaging live
shows. The album has been available locally
for a while but will see its official release May
17 courtesy of St. Augustine, FL label Bakery
Outlet Records. After Europe, the band plans
to tour the U.S. and Canada this summer. For
more information, please see www.witches
athens.blogspot.com.
Spring Sweat: New Athens hardcore band
Gripe is fresh out of the studio. The three-
piece band was recording material with
Joel Hatstat and Mike Albanese, both of
Cinemechanica, and plans to have CDs avail
able quite soon. I recommend this band for
all those interested in creative and intense
hardcore that pulls from its influences yet
cuts its own swath, too. The band gigs regu
larly, but most shows thus far have been at
house-venues, the locations of which I'm loath
to reveal in these pages out of simple cour
tesy. But you can keep up with all the goings
on and find out for yourself via www.facebook.
com/gripecore, and you can see what I'm
talking about for yourself from the comfort
of your own home at www.youtube.com/user/
gripegrind.
Splendor on the Grass: Watkinsville's Ashford
Manor is ready to host its annual series of
concerts on its lawn. This year the concert
season runs from Wednesday, May 4 through
Wednesday, Oct. 19, and tickets for all shows
are on sale now. This year's performers include
Grogus, Sons of
Sailors, Abbey Road
Live, The Splitz,
Packway Handle Band,
Randall Bramblett,
Half Dozen Brass Band
and more. Adult tick
ets are $15, students
and military personnel
$12, kids 6-12 $5,
and kids under 6 get
in free: These prices
are for lawn seating.
Tables are available but
much more expensive.
Ashford Manor is also
seeking volunteers for
this year's series, and
you'll be rewarded for
your efforts with two
free tickets to each
show at which you
help out Ideally, you'll
commit to working the
entire series, but you
must commit to a minimum of eight shows
in order to volunteer. There are a few other
requirements, too, like needing to be able
to lift 50 pounds unassisted. For more info,
please see www.amconcerts.com or drop an
inquiry via Twitter @AshfordManor.
Kaboom: It's kind of funny to refer to a local
band as a "super group" considering that
there are so many musicians in town that
have played for well over a decade in differ
ent bands, and each could, with relative ease,
form such a group at any time. That said, a
new super group is on the make, composed of
drummer Joe Rowe (Bliss, The Goons, Casper
& the Cookies), songwriter/vocalist/guitarist
Alison Divine (Wet, Mother, Bunny), guitarist
Creston Spiers (Harvey Milk, Magic Missile)
and bassist Jeff Mathews (Jack-O-Nuts, The
Woggles). After weeks of indecision, the band
finally settled on the name Land Mine. Catch
their live debut on Friday, May 6 at Ricker
Theatre & Bar.
A Coming Soon: Progress on the Georgia
Theatre is moving rapidly, and the venue
has confirmed it will be celebrating its grand
opening with a two-week extravaganza in
early August. There's even a small chance
doors will be open for AthFest... stay tuned.
[Michelle Gilzenrat]
Gordon Lamb threalsandpromises@flagpole.com
Construction inside the Georgia Theatre
Pocketful of Claptonite Big Band • The Nice
Machine • John Fernandes • Hidden Noise Ensemble
Whistling School for Boys • Raw Ass Temple • Trash
Raft • Merlin Olsen Twins • The Master's Request
Michael Guthrie • Hungry Hungry Astronauts
Throne Room • Now Yes • Goldensection • LWOW •
Demonstration of the Teletron Mind Controller for
Synthesizer (Robert Schneider and colleagues)
Green Thrift Grocery • Crow’s Feet • Nevada Gas Trio
Andrew Raffo Dewar • Lorkakar • Chartreuse
Smoggo • The Flash Card Orchestra
Geisterkatzen • Abandon the Earth Mission
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SATURDAY, MAY 7,2011
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