Art Beat

01/31/2012
By Deborah Martin

Just over 200 proposals were submitted for this year’s edition of Luminaria, and almost 90 were selected by the outside adjudicators.

The artists were announced at a press conference Tuesday morning (Jan. 31) at HemisFair Park. Luminaria will take place in the park March 10.

Bart Weiss, who made the selections in the media arts category, said he was impressed by the submissions, and believes that Luminaria visitors will be struck by what they see at the event.

“People won’t just come and have a good time,” he said. “They will come and be inspired by the great work.”

A total of 87 proposals were accepted. The largest category is music, which has 34.

There is a chance that more artists will be added, said Artistic Director Richard Rosen. Once everyone who has been selected has been placed, organizers will take a look at the park, figure out where there are holes and then return to the adjudicators, who will make selections from proposals that were “on the bubble.”

Here are the artists selected so far:

Visual arts: Deanna Arriaga; Kyra Devine; Marylou Hernandez; Joanna Kidd; Ben Mata; Michael Menchaca; Brian Przybyla; Andrea Puentes; Gary Sweeney and Hyperbubble; 10bitworks; Michelle Monseau; Gissette Padilla and H. Jennings Sheffield; Whoop dee doo; Irvin Morazon; and Ya’Ke.

Music: Bombasta (which provided the press conference entertainment; Dixon’s Violin; The Invincible Czars; Vincent Hardy; Ten Strings; Mexican Stepgrandfather; CHISME; Greg G; Blacktop Legends; Royal Punisher; Erica Anthony; Mission City Klezmorium; Rattletree Marimba; Ecos de Puerto Rico; Enteramente Argentina; Los Inocentes; Johnny Martinez y Grupo Bravo; Los Padrinos; the SA Blue Cats; Los #3 Dinners; Mixed Use Media; Nada Mas Busura; Ledaswan; April Hall Band; Melissa Ludwig Band; Laura Marie; Lee MacDougall; Heart of Texas Concert Band; Sujata Venkateswar and Company; Children’s Chorus of San Antonio; Youth Orchestras of San Antonio; URBAN-15; Alamo Metro Chorus; and Mariachi Infantil de San Antonio.

Read the full article here.

January 26, 2012

Before Christmas I asked for people to send me any questions they had for a direct interview between myself and you guys.. I was inundated with questions! So here's Part 1 of my Fan-ish Inquisition…

Part 1.

Dearest Lee, do you know when (and you notice I say WHEN not IF) you will be coming to Australia to croon to us? We are all really very nice and welcoming. And WHEN you come to Australia what are the top three ... experiences .... you would like to have? xxx Deana Hamwood

Hi Deana, yes I would love to come and play for you guys in Australia! It's somewhere that has long been on my list of places to visit and I get a lot of letters of support from there. As soon as there is enough demand out there to warrant me buying a plane ticket, I'll be there!

As for my top three Australian experiences.. I've heard a lot about the beaches over there, so it would be cool to check some of those out. I watched Wolf Creek the other day, is that place real? I'd like to see that.. oh and I'd love to meet Alf Stewart from the TV show Home and Away. He was like a second father to me growing up. I'd just like to sit with him for an hour and pick his brains about life and stuff.

Do you like Sesame Street? Laurrie A Thompson

I tell you what, in all seriousness Laurrie, I think that Elmo chap is a proper little dude! I saw this episode once where he had a little mini Elmo guitar and he wrote a song about some ducks. I think you can get it on YouTube. I highly recommend you check it out if you can.

hi lee, i saw you last year in july supporting Train at Islington Academy and i know you're busy with European and American tours but i was wondering if you were going to do a UK one? I live in Birmingham, and it's a bit hard to go to shows in london or america for that fact.

Thanks for reading - Lauren :)xx

Hi Lauren, thanks for your message. I am hoping to do a few shows around the UK in summer when I am back from the States. It's most likely I will head to the cities where I played with Rumer, Manchester, Glasgow, Sheffield etc, but I will make sure we keep a look out for something in Birmingham too. Thanks for still following!

January 17, 2012

Hi!

I hope you have all had a bloody good Christmas and New Year! Mine was full of merrymaking, too many mince pies and a little too much mulled wine... predictably. Fortunately for me though, my family were bestowed with an Xbox Kinect this Christmas, which has seen me Skiing, Boxing, and Zumba Yoga-ing my way through the holidays, helping me to keep this sculpted turkey stuffing physique in check ;-)

I am sitting in coach D on a train travelling back to London from my home town of Grimsby. Coach D being the only carriage with empty seats, presumably because it's the only carriage where the heating has packed in. You can't have it all I suppose. Although the tables do have built in chess boards... but come on.. seriously.. judging by the colourfully descriptive musings carved into the headrest of the seat in front of me advising me on whom I should call for what can only be described as "a good time", I can't really see many kids on these trains these days sitting down to partake in a good ol' game of checkers.

My 2011 ended on a real high note, as I toured the UK with Rumer and played some incredible shows to the biggest audiences of my career so far. It was electrifying walking out each night to sing to a couple of thousand people, and a feeling I hope I definitely get the chance to be able to experience again soon.

Music Vice

By Ngawara Madison
January 14, 2012

Music Vice first came across Lee MacDougall last summer, when it was announced that he would be supporting ex-Sex Pistol, Glen Matlock, at London’s famed 100 Club. Less than two weeks after that performance, Lee was opening for Bon Jovi at Hard Rock Calling in London’s Hyde Park! Talk about a fast track break into the mainstream! A cross country tour of The United States ensued soon after, as well as stream of opening spots with Atlantic Music songstress Rumer [who Lee describes as “the most grounded and down to earth person I've ever met in the music industry”].

Every artist has a story to tell and Lee Macdougall’s biography reads almost like a Brothers Grimm tale! Growing up in the seaport village of Grimsby, Lee MacDougall seemed destined like most of his school friends for a small town life, working in the towns fish processing plants. However, Lee took off to the big smoke of London soon after University and worked hard at ‘lucking out’. Wih his raw lyrics and charismatic personality, it didnt take Lee long to link up with a number of Londons top live promoters, and the twenty-something year old was soon playing the capitols live circuit. It seems that despite the inevitable ups and downs of the industry, Lee has managed to find his own niche, and if 2011 is anything to go by then 2012 looks to be an exciting year for the would-be factory worker from Grimsby.

Sounds Like: a cuppa with Tom Petty and Rod Stewart! Lee takes his inspiration from classic acts, The Beatles and The Kinks; but shows his age in musical moments that draw more from the Nirvana and Oasis sets.

INTERVIEW: Music Vice’s Ngawara caught up with Lee in London recently to discuss New Years Resolutions…

So! 2012! Happy New Year! How are you Lee? Any New Years Resolutions? What are the main things youre focusing on as an artist as you get the ball rolling with twenty twelve?

Lee: Happy New Year to you too! I asked my friend about resolutions the other day and she said “to drink less”, and I like to be different so I guess mine would be to drink more [laughs] Let’s not mess about! I don’t know, I always feel really positive with a new year, it always feels like a new beginning or a second chance… The first half of the year I will be constantly on tour in Europe and the USA, and then with the second half of the year ideally I am hoping to finish writing and recording a new record.

A lot ahead of you then! Sounds very productive. One thing that stood out to us at Music Vice about you as an artist, is the fact that for an English singer/songwriter, you have a suprisingly strong American fanbase. You have been on two tours there so far. Can you tell us a little bit about where youve been and how that situation came to be?

Lee: I just think that people in the US and Canada are intrigued a little by us Brits, just in the same way we are intrigued by them. Music is always a little more exotic when it has traveled 4000 miles to be heard and it is sung with a funny accent. I did two 35-date tours of the US and Canada last year and I’m about to start a third tour in March. Basically playing in everywhere. New York, Los Angeles, Dallas, Austin, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Diego, San Francisco, Vancouver… all the major cities. It all came about through the Internet and my online fan base who are absolutely amazing. Things can spread pretty fast these days and fortunately for me things seemed to spread really quickly online enabling me to jump on a plane and start touring.

Read the full interview here.