We are about a month away from the epic Free Press Summer Fest! Get pumped and ready by listening to these awesome playlists our awesome Intern, Greg Cote, made for us. They include a little bit of every band (that was on Spotify) that will be playing the fest, especially the headliners. It’s the weekend. Play it loud.
FPSF Saturday Spotify Playlist
Connect with Free Press Summer Fest (FPSF) on the web, facebook and twitter. Grab your passes if you haven’t already.
There are only a few days left to catch one of the most breathtaking exhibits to touch down in Houston. Exxopolis, Architects of Air‘s 20th luminarium, will be on the Discovery Green Jones lawn until this Sunday, May 5th. Spanning the entire length of Jones lawn and reaching up to 30 feet in the air, Exxoplis will be hard to miss. ….So, don’t!
Go VIP style, or get your tickets day of ($5 children, $10 adults). Then pick when you’ll be heading into this amazing bubble of air, light and design that will leave you awestruck!
Couple guidelines to keep in mind:
Connect with Discovery Green on the web, facebook and twitter. Follow the conversation with hashtags #DGArchitectsofAir or #discoverygreen. Connect with Architects of Air on the web, facebook and twitter.
The Wailers brought an Irie vibe to Houston this past weekend. iFest sang and swayed along with the smooth, positive vibrations of some of Bob Marley’s most famous songs: “One Love,” “Three Little Birds,” “I Shot the Sherriff,” and “No Woman, No Cry.” On stage with The Wailers was Lifetime Achievement award winner, Aston “Family Man” Barrett. As the lone remaining member of The Wailers that recorded with Bob Marley, he leads the band through songs he co-produced and arranged with Bob. The band members are extremely talented with long bios of significant achievements and some have been playing with The Wailers for over 10 years. The Wailers are actively on tour and after a quick jaunt along the Gulf Coast, they will be jetting to Brazil for a 7 city tour of iFest’s featured country for 2013. Take a look through a few shots I grabbed during the show and be on the look out for when The Wailers are coming to your city next. See all the pictures, here.
Find out details about iFest on the web, facebook and twitter! Follow the conversation with hashtag #HoustoniFest.
Connect with The Wailers on the web, facebook and twitter. Find out when they’ll be near you next by taking a look at their tour schedule.
This Friday, get ready for a night of dirty, dirty fun. Wait! Not that kind of dirty! I meant soaking your hands in water and molding a block of clay into a work of art, your art, to be exact. What did you think I meant?!
The Sparks studio will be turned into a mini-disco with a DJ playing some energizing and mood setting tunes to open up your artistic inspiration. Hopefully, there will be no Unchained Melody…or maybe there will be..you’ll have to be there to find out!
The event is BYOB and Fat Cat Creamery will be on hand with ice cream….boozy floats, anyone!?
So, grab your dream date and get ready for a ghost scene remake, or just gather up yourself and some inspiration and meet the fabulous folks of McCheek’s Academy, Sparks and Fat Cat for a night of artistic fun!
Sparks Studio is located at 2201 Preston, Houston, TX 77003. Street parking is available for free; Surface lot parking is around $1.
Join Micci Maramalade and your Houston Scandal-ites for a night of Scandal, Micci Style! Enjoy your favorite show on the big screen, on the Crappito’s patio, with complimentary buttered popcorn! Chose from a menu of Scandal themed drinks, appetizers and more! Match your wit against your neighbor’s and win prizes for answering Scandal trivia correctly! To top it off!? See Micci’s selection of Olivia Pope inspired outfits with a live fashion show! So, grab your girlfriends and get ready for the best Scandal viewing experience of the season!
Event details: Tonight! February 28th, from 8-10pm hosted by Micci Marmalade and Crapitto’s. Location: 4368 Westheimer Rd @ Mid Lane. (Turn on Mid from Westheimer and you will see Micci Marmalade, across from the bank and next to Crapitto’s.) Street parking and lot parking available.
Follow Micci on her fashionable travels on her website, facebook, and twitter! Follow the updates and be a part of the party by using #MicciScandal!
As a part of Social Media Week, or what we have lovingly been calling #SMWHOU all week, Cactus Music put together and interactive contest asking Houstonians to vote on their favorite song by a local band. The votes are in, tallied up and the crowd sourced list of Houston favs is out! Lucky fans gathered last night at Cactus Music to hear the playlist played for the first time, publicly.
Did you vote? Are some of your favorite songs on this list?
Cactus Music hosts multiple mini concerts in their store (Off Sheperd and Richmond) each week. And they are free. Yup. And sometimes include beer. Yes. And the bands are often on tour. Score.
Here’s a few that are coming up this month and next. Because I love you, I’ve included some music from a few of the bands. Enjoy.
FEBRUARY
MARCH
Stay connected with Cactus Music on their website, facebook and twitter.
The official pre-party to the sold out xx show at House of Blues Houston will be in the Bronze Peacock room from 6:00-9:00pm. Travel to New Orleans for the night by being a part of the Mardis Gras party, with the horn-driven soul band, ROXY ROCA and the jam, funk and soul JA’s, or Journey Agents. Tickets are free!
Roxy Roca
Journey Agents
Door at 6pm, Show at 7pm. Connect with ROXY ROCA on facebook, twitter and the web. Click ‘I Like It’ on do713.com and RSVP on Facebook. Connect with the Journey Agents on facebook, twitter and the web. Tickets are FREE!
Image courtesy of Roxy Roca and the Journey Agents.
DJ Sun has been a musical cornerstone of Houston for many years and in many ways, he has built the Houston electronic music scene into what it is today. Between playing records at his well-known residencies all over Houston, he also founded SoularGrooves, a weekly radio show on KPFT 90.1 fm dedicated to groovy music of the soul and jazz persuasion. SoularGrooves has been home to guest artists and local Houston DJs for nearly 20 years and has been awarded accolades such as Best Radio Show and Best DJ.
I’m honored to have been able to chat with DJ Sun on his upcoming album, 100, and get his thoughts on the album, his career, and the Houston electronic music scene. Read on below and let me know your thoughts in the comments section!
Lauren Ignited: Who do you recognize as a few of your musical mentors?
DJ Sun: I have had great collaborators from whom I have learned a lot. I’d have to say that I look up to Tim Ruiz, my engineer and 3-time Grammy winner with La Mafia. He contributed greatly: he’s not only a gifted musician with a great ear, but has an awesome working method.
LI: Looking back, what was the most touching moment for you, in Houston, early in your career as a musician?
Sun: As a musician I don’t need to go too far back. SXSW 2012 when I performed with my band Resolution. We covered Jorge Ben’s “Errare” which covered subject matter that I had explored a month before in a solo (and somewhat spiritually explorative) trip to Enchanted Rock. The other moment I can remember, as a dj, was when I stepped on the same stage as Massive Attack (opening for them at a show here in Houston) and had a quick chat with Robert Del Naja and Horace Andy; brought things full circle.
LI: Tell me the story of how 100 was born.
Sun: In taking a look at my career and which “lane” I fit in musically, I received feedback and introspectively discovered that my musical aesthetics (dj-ing and production) fall in a sort of middleground between tempos. If you were to take “lounge” or really slow trippy stuff- it may fall at 80-90 beats per minute…If you’re out dancing to house or electro stuff that drives the dance floor, you would be around 120-130 beats per minute…My sound represents the “getting ready” mode: 100 beats per minute…
LI: When it comes to Houston, which young, up and coming bands are you really excited to see succeed?
Sun: I’d like to see what Quincy Banks has in his arsenal: he is an up and coming producer… I wanna see The Manichean, The Ton Tons, Grandfather Child, Fat Tony, and others succeed and help to carry a “Houston” sound…
LI: Do you do a lot of crate digging or do you buy online?
Sun: I prefer going to the local vinyl shops and discovering gems from a batch of records that someone recently parted with…
LI: What was your favorite track of 2012?
Sun: I’ll be rebellious here and cite a 1974 track I “discovered” in 2012: “Errare Humanum Est”- Jorge ben.
LI: How do you see the Houston electronic music scene shaping in 2013 and beyond?
Sun: I hope to make a solid contribution to the music scene in Houston, in general… I want to work with producers, rappers, jazz, soul, rock musicians…all part of one Houston music scene.
LI: In your minds eye, who did you write this album for?
Sun: I made this album for a few sets, if I’m pushed to identify these sets I would say: those that are exploring “different” sounds but harken back to some “old- school” aesthetics. Others will just be able to put the CD in and allow it to play- I want to take people on a a bit of a trip through my experiences in music. “Taking people on a trip” may sound cliche, but I want folks to explore a bit of the historical sounds that have influenced me in my life.
LI: What does 100 mean to you, now, as you near the completion of your 100 days to 100?
Sun: 100 is a manifestation of a dream I’ve had since I delved into music: producing an album and jumpstarting a full-on career as a producer
LI: Do you have any closing words for the readers?
Sun: Music lives in everyone…I often hear “I’m horrible with music” from novices who may have contemplated exploring music and it inspires me to encourage someone to perhaps find an instrument and just go at it…
100, DJ Sun’s new, fully self-produced album comes out January 19th, 2013. Follow the countdown with his daily blog posts to www.soulargrooves.com. Then celebrate with Sun, his friends and fans, and everyone involved at CHA Champagne and Wine Bar from 9:30pm-2am. Pssssst…insider tip…it’s also his birthday!
Connect with DJ Sun on twitter, facebook, soundcloud and online. Tune into SoularGrooves on KPFT 90.1 FM from 9pm to 12am CST every Saturday night! Or catch him live on Monday nights at The Flat, Wednesday at Onion Creek, Fridays at Boheme and Sundays in the MKT Bar at Phoenicia.
Images courtesy of DJ Sun.
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