Refrain Magazine - Northern Plains Music » November 2009

Groovelily Returns to Rock the Holmes Theatre

Janie Franz — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:55:48 +0000

Live Music Alert: November 21, The Historic Holmes Theatre, Detroit Lakes MN, 7:30 pm, Adults $22, Students $11. Tickets: 218-844-7469 or www.dlccc.org

The musical collective Groovelily brought its live rock opera, Striking 12, to The Historic Holmes Theatre in Detroit Lakes in 2007. It was a rare tour since the group usually keeps close to Manhattan where they had debuted this piece, which morphed the fairy tale, “The Little Matchgirl,” into a rock, jazz, and classical show. This Saturday, they will reprise that performance.

Groovelily, a three-piece band out of New York City, creates theater, using a minimalist brush–no sets or costumes. They rely on the strength of the lyrics and the theatrical elements in their delivery to sell their story—and they do it with flair.

Valerie Vigoda, the front person for the band, plays electric violin and is their principal singer. She traces the early roots of the band to twelve years ago when she and Brendan Milburn, now her husband, began writing songs and touring as the Valerie Vigoda Band. Milburn plays keys and has an MFA in Musical Theater Writing. They were supported by Gene Lewin on drums whenever he was free. He became a full-time member in 1997, a year after they changed their name to Groovelily.

At that time, they were doing what any indie band does. “We were touring around in our van, trying to get signed to a record label,” says Vigoda. Though what they were doing was more pop and rock influenced, they still weren’t raising industry interest. In fact, Vigoda’s connections when she toured the world with Cyndi Lauper and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra were not instant pass to a record deal.

What was happening with their audiences, however, gave Groovelily pause. “We knew that the audiences we were reaching were very receptive,”Vigoda says. “People were responding in wonderful ways.” They were natural storytellers whose strength was in lyrics and in phrasing–and they were damn good musicians. “Frequently, we’d play for someone in the music business, but they would tell us that we were great, but they had no idea how to market us.” It was always the same: They were too theatrical.

Then in 2002, when they were faced with the question of how to keep touring and raise a family, they decided to create a special holiday show so that they all could be home for Christmas. That was when Striking 12 was born. “That really helped us figure out our niche.”

Striking 12 is about Grumpy Guy who is so depressed he’s staying home on New Year’s Eve and decides to read Hans Christian Anderson’s “The Little Match Girl.” That’s when Light Bulb Girl knocks on his door, trying to sell him full-spectrum lights for Seasonal Affective Disorder. The show interweaves the fairy tale with modern reality and comes out with witty lyrics and great music.

For Groovelily, finding a vehicle to showcase their talent without the grueling trek back and forth across the country was serendipity and genius combined. “This was amazing!” says Vigoda. “We had been living like nomads.” Now, they could set up in one theater and be there for a month. The infrastructure of the theater also took care of marketing, promotion, and making sure their needs were met.

Vigoda and Milburn have also been busy with other writing. Some of their songs were picked up by Disney and appear on the new DVD, Tinkerbell and the Lost Treasure, which will become a series of films. Vigoda and Milburn’s songs will also grace two more Tinkerbell stories that will be released in 2010 and 2011.

Saturday’s show starts at 7:30 pm and will highlight the fourth annual Holmes Art Show, which will offer arts displays and demonstrations in the ballroom. Tickets for Grovelily are $22 for adults, $11 for students, and can be purchased at the Holmes Box Office, 826 Summit Ave., by phone at 218-844-SHOW (7469), or online at www.dlccc.org.

Native American Music Festival, Shooting Star Casino, Saturday November 21

Janie Franz — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 23:23:24 +0000

Indigenous

The Shooting Star Casino in Mahnomen MN will host the Native American Music Festival on Saturday, November 21. Starting at 4 pm, festivalgoers will be treated to four big acts with side-splitting repartee from the comedy team of Williams and Ree in between sets.

The Native American Music Festival drew deep from a very powerful musical well, bringing some top-notch performers to the Mahnomen stage.

Derek Miller--photo by Dave Sharpe

Derek Miller

Derek Miller who hails from the Six Nations of the Grand River, Mohawk Territory, Ontario, Canada is a Juno Award winning blues rocker. In the late 90s, he won a Canadian Aboriginal Music Award toured with singer/songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie. By the time his debut album Music Is The Medicine hit the streets, the country was ready for him and he garnered a coveted Juno Award for his efforts as best Aboriginal Recording of the Year in 2003. His sophomore release, The Dirty Looks, earned another Juno for Best Aboriginal Recording of the Year in 2008. Currently, Derek Miller has a live DVD/CD and is touring with Wayne MacPherson on bass, Andrew MacKay on drums, and Donald Quan on keys, who support Miller’s fuzz-busted, power-chord-laced guitar and growling vocals. Like many musicians, Miller is launching a new multi-media entertainment company, Derek Miller Enterprises (DME)

Crystal Shawanda

Crystal Shawanda grew up in Wikwemikong on Canada’s Manitoulin Island, though she holds dual citizenship with Canada and the US. She wrote her first country song when she was nine, admiring the songs from the heart she heard from Loretta Lynn. She got her first glimpse of Nashville when she was 11 on her father’s truck route from Michigan to parts south. A year later, she cut her first demo of original songs, making her official entry into the country music scene. When she was 13, she took the stage at Tootsie’s Orchid Lounge, meeting a drummer who’d worked with Loretta Lynn. His encouragement brought her back to Nashville to perform, eventually relocating there. In 2007, she was picked up by RCA and debuted her fisst single, “You Can Let Go,” in Canada the following January. It climbed the Canadian Country charts like a trained monkey and debuted in the US that spring. Her meteoric rise was chronicled on CMT in a six-part series Crystal: Living the Dream that aired February of last year.

Indigenous

Mato Nanji, a member of the Nakota Sioux Nation on the Yankton Indian Reservation in South Dakota, slammed onto the national stage when he formed the band Indigenous with his brother, sister and cousin. Ptcecha, Mato’s sister, took up the bass, and his brother Wanbdi found drums to his liking, while their cousin, Horse, added percussion. Mato’s strong voice was able to carry the weight his strong Hendrix-rich guitar work. Soon Mato began to write originals.

Their first album, Things We Do, which was released in 1998, turned heads and soon had blues icons begging for these young musicians to join them on stage. They performed with BB King, Bonny Raitt, and a ton of other heavy weights.

After almost a decade of touring, Indigenous began to suffer some growing pains. Mato’s siblings were growing up, having families, and some even growing away from the music of their youth. They recorded their last record together, Long Way Home, in 2005. A year later, Mato decided to release a solo album, Chasing the Sun. Mato joined forces with the talented Kris Lager Band from Lincoln, Nebraska, and began to tour in support of that record.

His latest CD, Broken Lands, was released last August on Vanguard Records. The twelve songs on the album were written by Mato and his wife, Leah, and the title was pulled from the lyrics of “Place I Know,” a song about the reality of life on the reservation.

[Recent News: Mato, under his band's name, recently created a scholarship program, administered by the American Indian College Fund, to benefit students attending three tribal colleges in South Dakota. In addition, an Indigenous tune, “Come on Home” appeared on episode 3 of the FX series Sons of Anarchy.]

Big Kenny single cover

Big Kenny

Before “Big Kenny”Alphin became the other half of Big & Rich, he was a well-respected songwriter in Nashville. His work secured hits for Tim McGraw, Gretchen Wilson, McBride & the Ride, Jason Aldean, and, of course, Big & Rich.

Though not directly Native (at least from all the research I’ve done that didn’t unearth a blood link), Big Kenny has championed Native people through his writing in songs like “Wild West Show” and “Wake Up.” His performances in Big & Rich are full of rock and roll, lyrics about country life, and hick-hop, often in Spanish, with an occasional Native American yell tossed in. All of this amalgam of genres and cultures is part of the Big & Rich message: Love Everybody. That message is often flashed on big screen behind them and is etched on the back of Big Kenny’s guitar.

Come and check out these great artists. The Native American Music Festival starts at 4 pm and runs until 10 pm. Tickets are $15 to $45. Call 800-313-7469 to make sure there are tickets remaining.

8th Annual Forx Film Fest

Janie Franz — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:51:31 +0000

Thirty movies, varying in length and themes will grace this year’s Forx Film Fest this weekend at the historic Empire Arts Center in downtown Grand Forks. All movies are no to low budget (under $100,000) and made in or by people from the North Central region of the US. This year’s festival also celebrates the 90^th anniversary of the Empire Theatre building, which opened November 10, 1919 as the New Grand Theatre.

Launching the festival is the 1919 film version of Joseph Conrad’s story, “Victory,” which played at the Empire the first year it was open. The rest of Friday’s titles are by Grand Forks area moviemakers, including some from this summer’s UND moviecamps. Saturday’s movies will be primarily Fargo-Moorhead productions. A couple of award-winners from previous festivals will also be included on the program. As has become traditional, the final movie on the schedule will be a Chris Jacobs’ original. This year it is the musical comedy-drama “Music to My Ears” (2006), which was co-produced by and largely shot at the Empire Arts Center.

The Forx Film Fest will have three separate screening sessions of approximately three and a half hours each, plus a Saturday morning filmmaker panel discussion. Evening sessions on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7 will begin at 7:00 pm. The afternoon session on Saturday, November 7 will start at 1:30 pm. A morning panel discussion/Q&A on making independent movies will be held at 10:30 am Saturday, November 7. Several moviemakers also plan to be present for Q&A sessions after their movies.

On Saturday night, awards will be presented for the best in each category: Short (under 45 minutes), Feature (45 minutes or over), Documentary, and Student Production. There will also be an “Audience Favorite” award, from votes tallied during the final screening.

Admission fees are $10 for each session or $25 for the entire festival. People whose movies are scheduled to show at the film festival will be able to purchase the full festival pass for $15. The Saturday morning panel discussion is free and open to the public.

All events for the Forx Film Fest will be held at the Empire Arts Center, 415 DeMers Avenue, Grand Forks, ND 58201.

Forx Film Fest 2009 – Complete Schedule of titles & directors

FRIDAY

7:00 Victory (1919) 62m – Maurice Tourneur

8:15 The For Rent Rapist (2008) 14m – Nolan Devine

8:30 A Movie By Sara Deegan (2008) 8m – Sara Deegan

8:38 Angel’s Key (2009) 3:22 – Hannah Campbell

8:41 The Door (2009) 3:31 – Sequoia Pinterits

8:45 Worst Morning Ever (2009) 2m – Elise Christy

8:47 For Sale: Casket (2009) 7m – Roberto Baldizon

8:54 Big Boom (2009) 4:34 – Adoncia Schultz Aune

8:59 New Year’s Eve Baby (2009) 23m – Christopher P. Jacobs

9:25 Q&A

9:30 Huskies in Antarctica (2008) 13:17 – Jaakko Putkonen

9:45 QA

9:50 Where We Will Go (2008) 5:30 – Michael Hoeft

9:56 The Briefcase of Dr. S (2009) 5:15 – Michael Hoeft

10:01 War on Planet Bug (2009) 2:04 – Michael Hoeft

10:03 The Grand Showdown (2009) 2:47 – Michael Hoeft

10:06 Robot Factory TV Spot (2009) :26 – Michael Hoeft

10:07 The Fisherman Piping (2009) 1:23 – Nicholas Tuinstra

10:09 How Not to Make an Advertisement (2009) 8:11 – Patrick Wynne

10:18 QA

10:30 —DONE—

SATURDAY

10:30 Filmmaker Panel Discussion

12:00 LUNCH BREAK

1:30 A Life Less Lived (2009) 4 min – Marc Arnason

1:35 QA

1:40 Bike Works (2009) 11 min – Amber Johnson

1:51 Trim Bin (2008) 2 min – Carrie Kantrud

1:53 QA

2:00 Deadly Dreams (2009) 3 min – Jake Handegard

2:03 QA

2:10 Browsing (2009) 4:51 – Conor Holt

2:15 QA

2:20 Untitled & Rightfully So (2008) 4:22 – Joe Couch

2:25 Downpour (2009) 5:14 – Kristen Conaty

2:30 Running Errands (2006) 7:03 – Jennifer Brugman

2:40 African Soul, American Heart (2008) 24 min. – Deb Dawson

3:05 QA

3:15 Beyond Bob (1995) 95m [Best Feature, 2006 Fest] – John Gaspard

4:50 DINNER BREAK

7:00 Slacker (2006) 13 min [“Audience Favorite” 2007 Fest] – Dave Phipps

7:15 Mary Weatherby (2009) 49 min – Charles H. Hinton

8:05 QA

8:15 Judged Awards Presentations, & voting on Audience favorites

8:30 Music To My Ears (2006) 119 min – Christopher P. Jacobs

10:30 —AUDIENCE FAVORITE AWARD PRESENTATION—