State of the Arts

The untold story of blacks in the American West will be on display at the Booth Western Art Museum beginning this weekend. "The Black West: Buffalo Soldiers, Black Cowboys and Untold Stories" debuts on Dec. 20 at the 80,000-square-foot Cartersville museum and will feature 65 works of art by 16 contemporary black artists. The exhibit runs through March 22. Also running with the exhibit is "Bronze Buckaroos: Mythic Images of the Black West," which features 25 movie posters of Hollywood's portrayals of the black Western experience. Several of the films also will be screened. Exhibit organizers say it is the largest of its kind ever assembled and highlights black explorers, lawmen, rodeo stars, outlaws and women.

(Associated Press)

As part of our Georgia History segment on GPB Radio's daily news program Georgia Gazette, we recently featured the "Lady of 6,000 Songs" Emma Kelly. The Statesboro native was given that nickname by her friend, Savannah musician Johnny Mercer. She appeared as a character in the 1994 novel "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil." So when director Clint Eastwood was shooting the film, he invited Kelly to play herself. You can hear more about the life of Emma Kelly, as well her music, click on our GPB arts audio player.

(Produced by Melissa Stiers)

In Augusta, the 12 Bands of Christmas returns for the holiday season. The annual concert and accompanying CD compilation feature local artists and raises money to benefit the Medical College of Georgia’s Children’s Hospital. Its organizers are Joe Stevenson and Coco Rubio. Noel Brown of WACG in Augusta sat with them as they listened to this year's CD. Here are their comments:

Joe Stevenson: "Silver Bells is the lead track and probably one of the strongest songs we’ve ever had on any of the 12 Bands. Whosehouse is the name of the band… It’s just a really good take on a traditional song."

Coco Rubio: "Backdoor Santa is a good track I like from Greg Hester. He has Keith Jenkins who used to play guitar with The Soul Generals….James Brown’s band…and it’s just a really nice funky track that I think adds a nice diverse touch to the CD."

Stevenson: "Percy Griffin’s been with Swanee Quintet over 40 years. The band’s been around going on 70 years. They’re about to celebrate their 70th year….James Brown’s favorite gospel group. It’s a song In Bethlehem….just a really cool old-school sound"

Stevenson: "Stoney Cannon has been a champion of the local music scene for as long as I can remember….and really I’d heard that there was going to be a song written for Stoney’s daughter who he and his wife lost this past year. 48 Volt was the band that wrote the song Lights On the Boulevard (For Stoney and Jean)….and it’s a very emotional song and very personal song."

Rubio: "Another one I really like on this CD is Tera Scheyer and the Mudd Puppy Band doing Red and Yellow Black and White. It took me a couple of times to really kind of get it….but listening to the lyrics….what she was doing with kind of promoting multiculturalism….and with each color you notice that the music changes and it kind of goes along with the culture of that color….I guess you could say."

The 12 Bands of Christmas holiday concert takes place on December 21st at Augusta’s Imperial Theater. You can get more information on the web about the concert and how to get the CD go to www.12bandsofchristmas.com.

Rising Athens band Modern Skirts have a new release out. Click on the right to hear Rickey Bevington's interview with Modern Skirts lead singer Jay Gulley!

"Music fans all over the world are learning who this band is and are loving what they're hearing. So are industry insiders and some world-famous friends. Mike Mills of R.E.M. produced a track on All Of Us In Our Night (the insanely catchy "Motorcade").

Many cuts are built around vintage keyboards and surprising progressions- the gorgeous opener "Chanel", for instance, and the radiant "Radio Breaks", which concludes with a chorus of muted horns. Phillip Brantley's rhythm guitar pushes along the punchier tracks- the marvelously Beatlesque "Astronauts" and the Badfinger-dazzling "Soft Pedals". Pianist JoJo Glidewell bounces and struts through these twelve songs, illuminating their corners, burying dark layers of chords under the aching "Mrs." and sprinkling electric piano over the top of "Yugo". Long days spent on the road have turned the band's rhythm section (anchored by drummer John Swint) into an unstoppable unit, capable of imparting sensitivity to the heady "Soft Pedals", then turning on a dime to storm through the rollicking "Eveready". And in keeping with Modern Skirts' classic models, everybody sings, and the harmony-vocal arrangements are sophisticated, sweet, and effortlessly discharged."

(Excerpts of HIP Music Promo, September 2008)

The Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia in the beautiful Sautee-Nacoochee valley in White County has been awarded a prestigious American Institute of Architects Honor Award for Excellence in Architecture. One of only two Honor Awards bestowed this year, the Honor Award is the highest design award given by AIA-Georgia and recognizes recently completed “architecture of distinction”.

Opened in September of 2006, the museum is the result of the vision and generosity of benefactors Dean and Kay Swanson of Cornelia, former owners of the Standard Telephone Company who committed to erect this museum as their way of giving back to the people of the area. The Swansons assembled a team of designers, contractors and consultants who worked diligently to realize the design of the architect, Robert M. Cain of Atlanta, Georgia.

Awards jury members were nationally well-known and distinguished architects Thomas Phifer, AIA, Marvin Malecha, FAIA and Gerald Reifert, AIA. Jury member, Marvin Malecha had this to say about the jury process that determined the Honor Award winners:

"It is the order and clarity of thought exhibited through architecture that makes the first connection to a design review panel.... This consistency and clarity whether within a student center or a pottery museum is the first indication of an architectural language derived from a community and a context. It is the manifestation of music and literature in a structure with the same stimulating effect."

Until now there’s been no institution devoted to Northeast Georgia folk pottery, not even in its home area. The museum showcases the handcraft skills of one of the South’s premier grassroots art forms, and explores the historical importance and changing role of folk pottery in southern life. Cain says the building’s design, open spaces and airy nature are a contemporary reflection on the straightforward traditional farm structures of northeast Georgia and, in particular, take inspiration from photographs of turn of the century open-air pottery shops as well as structures he remembers on his grandfather’s Alabama farm.

Northeast Georgia has received national attention for its tradition of folk pottery and is home to such noted potter families as Meaders, Hewell, Dorsey and Ferguson. The Meaders family of White County was featured in Allen Eaton’s 1937 book, Handicrafts of the Southern Highlands, and was honored with a special event at the Library of Congress in 1978, when the Smithsonian Institution’s documentary film on the Meaders Pottery was released. In the year 2000, northeast Georgia received a Library of Congress "Local Legacies" designation for its pottery heritage. The tradition also has been featured in magazines, books, videos, exhibits, and festivals such as the Southern Crossroads Marketplace at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.

(Folk Pottery Museum of Northeast Georgia press release)

The Lewis Family Bluegrass and Gospel Band is a Georgia legend. The family home sits in rural Lincoln County just beyond the tiny downtown of Lincolnton. Sheep and cattle roam the green pastures that surround the country house. A road running alongside the property is named Lewis Family Road after the family Bluegrass and Gospel band. Outside the house an enormous carport houses the Lewis Family’s full-sized luxury tour bus. This is where the family spends a great deal of its time.

For the last 30 years we’ve done 100,000 miles a year. In the last year some of them are getting older and I am too but we’ve kind of slowed down a little bit. We’re doing about 80,0000 miles a year now.

At 66 years old Roy Lewis, or Little Roy, is the youngest member of The Lewis Family. He sings and picks banjo. His sisters Miggie Janice and Polly sing harmony vocals. The rest of the lineup consists of upright bass and acoustic guitar. Sitting at his kitchen table, Little Roy talks about his first time on stage at Augusta’s Bell Auditorium back in 1951 when he was just a little boy. They didn’t even have a family group back then….but they pulled one together for that night, opening up for the Blackwood Brothers and the Statesmen, who were very popular at the time.

J.D. Sumner….Elvis’ bass singer….is the one that actually lifted me up and put me on a piano bench and let me sing to….I think the Bell Auditorium would hold 3,800 people and it was full. And I thought that was the most exciting thing that I’d ever done in my life…and right then I knew what I wanted to do and I wanted to do it good.

Little Roy’s premonition ended up being right and things moved quickly for the Lewis Family. They started working with Jimmy Davis, the former Governor of Louisiana, who was also famous for writing “You Are My Sunshine”. In 1953 they invited him to the Bell Auditorium.

He never had seen a whole family that could do everything. He said,”Y’all sound good but you need to get your own style.” And so when he told us that we started making our music a little bit different from everybody else’s. And it paid off because we’re still in business…now here it is 2009.



So Little Roy and The Lewis Family took Jimmy Davis’ advice. They loved the traditional Gospel piano music they heard in church but wanted to change things up a bit, adding instruments like banjo, acoustic guitar, stand-up bass and auto-harp. The Lewis Family found themselves in the center of a brand new style of music that was emerging from the state of Kentucky, also known as the bluegrass state.

You know….when we first started playing we didn’t know what we called it. See…we was born and raised up listening to Gospel music…Southern Gospel….and then we started hearing Bill Monroe and Lester Flat and Earl Scruggs….and all of a sudden….golly…we wanted to be a part of that!

The Lewis Family eventually joined the ranks of Bluegrass greats playing alongside their heroes Bill Monroe and Earl Scruggs. But bluegrass was still new and the idea of a family bluegrass band was a novelty.

Somebody listed us one day as being The First Family of Bluegrass Gospel Music. So we thought, “Well let’s just go ahead and use it,” so we’ve been using ever since….probably about 1965.

To date the Lewis Family has recorded over 800 songs in every format used by the recording industry, from 78 and 45 records to LPs, 8-tracks and cassettes, and finally entering the digital age with Compact Discs.

I was at the Union Station Inn in Nashville one day and a girl come up to me and she said, “When are y’all gonna put out a CD?” and I said, “Well I got some money in the bank.” She said, “No! It’s a new thing called CDs!” And that’s what it all is now….and DVDs….you know it was videos. We’ve done a little bit of all of it.

The recording industry has honored The Lewis Family with countless awards and accolades in the more than 40 years they’ve played together. They are members of the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and The Gospel Music Hall of Fame. But to Little Roy the greatest honor of all is being able to play in front of an audience.

The best award that you can win is doing a good show…. I love people and I just like to sing and play….and that’s the reason I’ve been doing it all my life.

Over 40 years and hundreds of thousands of miles later Little Roy and the Lewis Family have no plans to stop, and want to hold onto that title that they got so many years ago -- America’s first family of Gospel and Bluegrass.

Written and produced by Noel Brown of WACG in Augusta.

The house of Georgia's first woman mayor will become a museum. Greg Jarrell from the Secretary of State Archives says Alice Strickland served as mayor of Duluth in 1922 and 1923 and that she was the first female mayor in Georgia. The Duluth Historical Society and the family that owns the Strickland House have reached a tentative leasing agreement. The society will use a $50,000 grant from the Scott Hudgens Foundation to pay the first year's lease. Society president Judy Wilson says the organization is seeking donations to purchase the home and create a permanent welcome center. The home is owned by Strickland's granddaughter, Alice Ziegler.

(Associated Press and the Gwinnett Daily Post)

When the Savannah Symphony went bankrupt 5-years-ago, a number of other music organizations stepped in to fill its place. Some were new, like the Savannah Sinfonietta. Now, the sinfonietta has grown to a point where it believes it can shed its diminuitive name.

When conductor William Keith takes the baton on Sunday for one of Savannah's most beloved outdoor music events -- an annual picnic and symphony in Forsyth Park -- he won't be giving the downbeat for just another Picnic in the Park. It'll be the opening movement of the Savannah Orchestra. Keith says, "I guess we were trying to show that a professional orchestra could survive in Savannah."

He has led the Savannah Sinfonietta since its founding just after the former Savannnah Symphony's finance-related demise. As the name suggests, a Sinfonietta is a smaller orchestra, performing works on a smaller budget with fewer instruments. "We've always been flexible. If we have the funding and the need, we can put a hundred players on the stage. But, we kind of shape the programs based on trying to keep the size down."

Working with fewer musicians and performing in venues like churches that Keith can often get for free, the Sinfonietta has kept orchestral music alive in Savannah. Keith is one of only three staff members. "Our budget is roughly 2-hundred-60 thousand for the season, compared to over 2-million for the Savannah Symphony, 6-or-7 years ago. It's lean. It's a very lean, streamlined operation."

Over the past five-years, the Sinfonietta has grown. Now, Keith feels the organization has expanded to the point where it can rightly use a name suggesting the former Symphony's heft. Many of its musicians played in the former Symphony. They've even talked about merging with the former Symphony's chorus. The newly re-named Savannah Orchestra's Picnic in the Park begins Sunday at 5-P-M.

By Orlando Montoya of WSVH in Savannah.

Cirque de la Symphonie brings their unique acrobatics to the symphony hall in Augusta. They join the Augusta Symphony tonight at the Bell Auditorium.

The acrobatic performances of Cirque de la Symphonie are elegant and graceful. Acrobats and aerialists fly over the heads of the audience on wires and silk ropes, while a full symphony orchestra plays stirring classical music in the background.

This “cirque” style of performing is in Alexander Strelsov’s blood. As a child in Moscow he was considered one of the top performers in the country at only 12 years old. Today he is the primary aerialist in Cirque de la Symphonie.

Strelsov says, "Imagine the guy who does the rings at the Olympic Games. On the rings you would just be staying in one place doing the tricks…..and here I have ability to move around, fly in circles, go up and down, swing."

Cirque de la Symphonie combines highly skilled performers like Strelsov with the power of a live symphony orchestra to create a unique visual and musical spectacle. To Strelsov, the experience has been the height of his career.

"You just can’t imagine having 80 people sitting behind you and all this live music going through your body into the audience. I mean, it’s such a strong adrenaline rush that you just can’t really express it. It’s a very very unforgettable feeling…that’s for sure."

Their purpose was not to be the center of attention but rather to compliment the orchestra. Bill Alan is the director of Cirque de la Symphony. He and Strelsov started the company four years ago giving concert-goers a new way to experience the symphony.

"We never had more than one or two artists out on the stage at any given time. We didn’t have laser beams going off and smoke and confetti flying everywhere. It was a much more elegant kind of a program."

Aerialists, acrobats, and strong men are among the different acts that have shared the stage with Symphonies across the country and Alan says that for audiences it’s been a winning combination.

"They’re so used to clapping they’re holding their hands up in the air the whole time. And the kids in the audience are just mesmerized. I mean, if you can imagine sitting there close to the front row and you have two strong men on stage and one of them is literally standing on top of the other one’s head, upside down doing a hand stand while Bolero is building to a crescendo in the background."

Even Alexander Stresov himself, a seasoned performer, was astonished when he caught a glimpse of the show from the audience.

"I never got a chance to be in the audience until recently. I was not doing anything in the second act so I had a chance to sneak out into the balcony and see the show live, and I was very amazed. It’s one thing to feel adrenaline running through you while you are performing on stage but another thing is to watch it from the audience. That actually gave me some chills."

But it’s the dynamic between the cirque performers and the orchestra that Strelsov says really takes things to another level.

"You get so into it that you actually start to believe that you really can fly or something!" And then Streslov laughs.

And that’s a feeling that Strelsov hopes to share with audiences….as he soars over their heads to the roaring sound of the symphony.

Cirque de la Symphonie joins the Augusta Symphony tonight at the Bell Auditorium. Tickets are available online at www.augustasymphony.org.

This story was written and produced by Noel Brown from WACG in Augusta. You can hear Noel's story as it aired on GPB Radio's news and culture show Georgia Gazette. Click here and click on the Friday, September 26th show to listen.

The longest continually-running ballet company in the country is getting its live orchestra back. The Atlanta Ballet has had recorded music for the last two years to save money. Three trustees have donated a $200,000 gift to pay for the orchestra, and $50,000 to sponsor a conductor. The Atlanta Ballet was founded in 1929. Its season opens Oct. 23 with Swan Lake.

Opportunity for Georgia Opera and Film Fans

Georgians who love opera and and film technology (and there is a good chance those are two different groups) can find common ground when The Metropolitan Opera: Live in HD returns this fall with eleven live, high-definition transmissions scheduled for world wide distribution during the 2008-2009 season. The season opens on Monday, September 22. The Met Opera website provides the season schedule and a synopsis of the operas along with the list of participating theaters. The Met in High Definition is an exciting musical experiment that merges live performance with digital technology in a project that combines the best resources of one of America's finest cultural institutions with new media.

Sarah Zaslaw

GPB's Opera Chat
GPB Radio will air a new program, Opera Chat, around the time of the monthly opera broadcasts. Opera Chat features Midday Music Host Sarah Zaslaw, and Georgia Music Educators Choral Chair Renée Wilson-Wicker in conversation about the history, music and singers of the featured opera. After attending The Metropolitan Opera's HD simulacast of Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel in 2007-2008 season, Ms. Wilson-Wicker reports that the experience in HD is "the next best thing to being at Lincoln Center and seeing it live!"

More Opera Information
The New Georgia Encyclopedia is an excellent source of information on Opera in Georgia. Did you know that The Metropolitan Opera collaborated with the Atlanta Music Club to produce Opera Week in Atlanta from 1916-1986? The Kimball Opera House was the home of the Georgia State Legislature from 1869-1889, and the historic Springer Opera House in Columbus is the State Theater of Georgia. Georgians Mattiwilda Dobbs and Jessye Norman became international starts in the opera world.


Opera on State of the ArtsAnother must see resource is GPB's own State of the Arts program and website. Be sure to check out the following segments:

January, 2006 Opera 101: GSU's Harrower Summer Opera WorkshopJanuary, 2008 Leah Partridge: Rising Opera Star from Georgia











May, 2008 Atlanta Opera: Cold Sassy Tree
This episode of State of the Arts includes a segment on the Atlanta Opera's offering of Cold Sassy Tree based on the Olive Ann Burns novel by the same name. Ms. Burns was born in Banks County and developed her writing career in Georgia. Carlisle Floyd was the composer and librettist for this opera.


Click here for the Georgia Curriculum Standards for Fine Arts education.

The State of the Arts team welcomes your questions and comments. Please send your email to:
arts@gpb.org

Chuck Leavell: Author and Conservationist

Leavell, along with Nicholas Cravotta, is the author of the children's picture book entitled The Tree Farmer. He was a featured reader in the Georgia Read More program of the Georgia Department of Education. The program is designed to bring dignitaries and celebrities together to read a children's book aloud and to have that celebration of reading taped for future broadcast. The reading is accessible for viewing via Georgia Public Broadcasting, Web cast and on DVDs distributed to Georgia's 1,200 elementary schools.

Georgia Read More is a collaboration between the Georgia Department of Education, Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Georgia Technology Authority.

Chuck Leavell: Musician

GPB Radio, in a celebration of Georgia arts, featured the Rolling Stones' pianist Chuck Leavell on GPB on Stage. Leavell joined State of the Arts host, Rickey Bevington, in the GPB Radio Performance Studio to talk about his early days with the Allman Brothers and touring with the Stones for the last 25 years. He also gave a private concert as part of his interview.

GPB On Stage airs Saturday nights at 8pm immediately following A Prairie Home Companion.

Chuck Leavell: Author and Conservationist

Leavell, along with Nicholas Cravotta, is the author of the children's picture book entitled The Tree Farmer. He was a featured reader in the Georgia Read More program of the Georgia Department of Education. The program is designed to bring dignitaries and celebrities together to read a children's book aloud and to have that celebration of reading taped for future broadcast. The reading is accessible for viewing via Georgia Public Broadcasting, Web cast and on DVDs distributed to Georgia's 1,200 elementary schools.

Georgia Read More is a collaboration between the Georgia Department of Education, Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Georgia Technology Authority.

Chuck Leavell: Musician

GPB Radio, in a celebration of Georgia arts, featured the Rolling Stones' pianist Chuck Leavell on GPB on Stage. Leavell joined State of the Arts host, Rickey Bevington, in the GPB Radio Performance Studio to talk about his early days with the Allman Brothers and touring with the Stones for the last 25 years. He also gave a private concert as part of his interview.

GPB On Stage airs Saturday nights at 8pm immediately following A Prairie Home Companion.

Join us as GPB Radio celebrates Georgia arts! Saturday, September 20th at 8PM, "GPB on Stage" will feature Rolling Stones' pianist Chuck Leavell. Leavell joins State of the Arts host Rickey Bevington in our Radio Performance Studio to talk about his early days with the Allman Brothers, touring with the Stones for the last 25 years, and his other career running a middle Georgia tree farm. Leavell also gives us a private concert at our baby grand piano. Spend an hour with Chuck Leavell on GPB on Stage. To hear the show and watch a video of the interview and performance, click here.