Archive for: Triangle music scene

The Mahogany Door Project To Perform During 2011 Carrboro Music Festival

Categories: book series, books, entertainment, events, music, NC musicians, Triangle music scene
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Showcasing all-original live music at Cat’s Cradle

September 20, 2011 (Carrboro, NC) – The Mahogany Door Project, a band comprised of the musicians

The Mahogany Door Project created the all-original music for the book's soundtrack CD.

who created the original soundtrack CD for the new fantasy-adventure book “The Mahogany Door” by Durham author J. Mark Boliek, will perform live at the legendary Cat’s Cradle on Sunday, September 25, during the Carrboro Music Festival.

The band’s set will begin at 4:30 p.m.

“Dark, happy, and hopeful” are the words Boliek uses to describe the songs the Mahogany Door Project will perform. Boliek developed the songs so that readers of his book can immerse themselves in the book’s fantasy world of “Bruinduer.”

The Mahogany Door Project’s live performances are laced with an eclectic style of music ranging from pop and rock to country and classical – from a mysterious and lonely rock anthem to heart-breaking country tunes, R&B acoustic compositions, and a powerful rock lullaby. And all of the songs are appropriate for all ages.

The members of the band are: Mark Boliek, guitar; Jill Boliek, vocals; Scott Jackson, lead guitar; Jon Murray, guitar and vocals; Evans Nicholson, drums; Jim Gilliam, bass; Mary Summerlin, keyboard and vocals; and Chris Summerin, guitar.

“The Mahogany Door Project serves up a lot of fun, laughter, and good music,” Boliek said, noting that

Band leader/author Mark Boliek

he will also have copies of “The Mahogany Door” and CD on hand to sell. “We’re extremely grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such an exciting event as the Carrboro Music Festival.”

The band recently performed at Broad Street Café in Durham to a full house.

To hear a preview of the songs, go to www.jmarkboliek.com/the-music. The CD can also be heard through a variety of online sources including iTunes, Napster, Amazon MP3.

For more information on “The Mahogany Door,” a fantasy-adventure book for young readers, visit www.jmarkboliek.com.

Since its inception in 1998, the Carrboro Music Festival has drawn musicians and music lovers from all over the state. Performances take on 25 stages from one end of Carrboro to the other and the all-day event is free. The complete schedule can be downloaded at www.carrboro.com/carrboromusicfestival/.

Cat’s Cradle is located at 300 East Main Street in Carrboro, NC 27510 (919-967-9053). For more information and directions, go to www.catscradle.com.

Band Facts:

Musical Style/Genre: Pop, Rock, R&B, Country, Folk.

City of origin: Durham, North Carolina

Key Points of Interest:

  • Recorded new CD together (in association with Split Rail Multimedia)
  • Performs songs from the CD that are appropriate for all ages
  • Recordings of the songs can be heard at www.jmarkboliek.com and at other online resources
  • Facebook: www.facebookcom/jmarkboliek.

Book Launch Party: “Staying Crazy” at Connolly’s with Suicide Blonde

Categories: blogs, books, charity, entertainment, events, fundraising, kids' issues, music, NC musicians, people, people with disabiliites, Triangle music scene
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September 12, 2011 (Cary, NC) — The official book launch party for “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane,” the new humor book by Cris Cohen, will be held on Saturday, September 17, beginning at 6 p.m. at Connolly’s Irish Pub & Restaurant in Cary. The event is open to the public and children are welcome.

“Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane” is a collection of humor columns Cohen wrote for several newspapers when he lived in California and new ones he’s written since he and his family moved to Cary in 2008.

The launch party will coincide with a performance at Connolly’s by Suicide Blonde, a local band that plays ‘80s cover tunes. Cohen’s wife, Michele, discovered the band a couple of years ago and “became an instant fan,” he said, adding:

“I thought that a launch party should be energetic, carefree, and fun. Unfortunately I am none of those things. Thus I am attaching myself to Connolly’s Pub and the band. They will provide great food, great drinks, and great music. Meanwhile I will fill whatever need they might have for a guy to sit at a table with books.”

The band will take the stage at 6 p.m. Connolly’s will serve food and beverages throughout the afternoon and evening.

Cohen will have plenty of books on hand to sign and sell ($12) during the event, and he will donate proceeds from sales to the Miracle League of the Triangle, a baseball league for kids with special needs.

Pulitizer Prize-winning humor author Dave Barry has called it “a fine book for a fine cause.” The New Yorker’s cartoonist Drew Dernavich says, “If Cris made a lasagna, it would probably be a funny lasagna. If Cris made a chair, it would be a funny chair. Thankfully, he has decided to make a book instead, which I enjoyed reading along with a glass of the most hilarious Merlot.” An excerpt from the book is available on the website www.stayingcrazy.com.

Connolly’s Irish Pub & Restaurant is located at 1979 High House Road, Cary, NC 27519. For more information visit www.connollysirish.com.

For more information on “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane” and The Miracle League, visit www.stayingcrazy.com.

Book Facts:

Title: Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane. Author: Cris Cohen. Publisher: Tyrannosaurus Max Press LLC. Genre: Humor, Nonfiction. Editor: Michelle Cohen. Cover illustrator: Darla Yancho. Interior illustrators: Daryl Stephenson, Michelle Zerzanek, Marilyn Berg Cooper. Pages: 178. Price: $14. Website: www.stayingcrazy.com.

About Cris Cohen:

Cris Cohen is the author of the humor blog “Nothing In Particular,” the book “Staying Crazy To Keep From Going Insane,” and the humor columnist for the CaryCitizen.com.  Born in Buffalo, NY, he grew up in a suburb of Los Angeles, eventually graduating from the University of Southern California. After a stint in rock radio in Los Angeles and Santa Barbara, Cris started writing his humor column for a collection of California newspapers. He eventually gravitated toward the tech world and Silicon Valley, working for companies such as Netscape and Cisco Systems. Cris, his wife Michele, and their young son Max, moved to Cary, North Carolina, in 2008. Cris’ blog is available at http://criscohen.typepad.com. For more information on his book, visit www.stayingcrazy.com.

Durham Author, Composer Featured on “The Bookworms: Young Adult Book Reviews” Blog

Categories: blogs, book series, books, children's books, kids' issues, NC musicians, people, Triangle music scene
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To discuss the songs on his new book’s soundtrack CD 

J. Mark Boliek

August 19, 2011 (Durham, NC) — J. Mark Boliek, the author of The Mahogany Door and composer of the book’s accompanying all-original soundtrack CD, was the featured guest on “The Bookworms: Young Adult Book Reviews” blog.

The Mahogany Door is a 353-page urban fantasy-adventure novel about three friends – JT, Michael and Kali — who have been separated for years by a tragedy, but who must reunite to return to the fantasy land of Bruindeur beyond the mahogany door to fulfill a destiny before that world collapses. The journey back to the world behind the door leads to self-discovery and to the realization that things in life are not always as they seem. The songs on the CD capture themes and emotions from the book.

For The Bookworms blog, Boliek focused on his three favorite songs from the CD: “All Alone,” “In The Afternoon,” and “Goodbyes.”

“All Alone” is the theme song of the book, he said. The main characters “find themselves alone in their own little space in the world, and it is not until they are able to reunite will they be able to face the demons from their past and conquer them.”

The song also speaks to the reason he wrote the book: “Many bad things have happened in my life, and along the way I have felt very much alone. It is when I started to find my true inner self that I could move forward, in some cases dealing with the mundane of everyday life.”

“In The Afternoon” addresses the way a single event can drastically change one’s life in just a few hours. “For JT in the book,” Boliek said, “he wakes up on his farm bee-bopping around, and by the afternoon his whole world has been turned upside down by a little boy who comes to him and tells a crazy story about his past.”

Boliek told The Bookworms that “Goodbyes”, however, is the most special song on the CD to him, yet it’s also the most difficult for him to listen to even today.

“I wrote it during one of the worst times in my life. It is so hard to say goodbye to the ones you love, but sometimes it is closure that humans need to move on,” he said. His character Kali “wants closure to everything that has happened to her, but it will not be easy for her to find.”

The Bookworms blog provides audio files for listening to the three songs from the CD. To see the entire post, go to http://thebookworms.org and click on “Guest Post: J. Mark Boliek” under Recent posts.

The Mahogany Door is currently available at The Regulator Bookshop in Durham, NC, on the author’s website, and in e-book versions at Barnes & Noble and Amazon. For more information on the book and the accompanying CD, visit www.jmarkboliek.com.

About author J. Mark Boliek:

J. Mark Boliek, the author of The Mahogany Door and the entire Bruinduer Narrative series, grew up in Eden and Durham, North Carolina. An avid writer and athlete, he received a football scholarship after high school but chose to join the Navy instead. He graduated from Concord University in Athens, WV, in 1997 and lived in Wilmington, NC, for a while, where he began to develop The Bruinduer Narrative, a fantasy-adventure series for young readers, as well as the soundtrack CD that accompanies The Mahogany Door. Mark and his wife Jill now live in Durham, NC, where they own and operate Split Rail Books and Split Rail Multimedia LLC. For more information on the author and The Mahogany Door, visit www.jmarkbolief.com and his Facebook page at www.facebook.com/jmarkboliek.

The Marc Hoffman Duo To Perform in New Jazz Club in Raleigh

Categories: entertainment, events, jazz, music, NC musicians, Triangle music scene
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BetDeez Jazz Lounge welcomes Charlotte-area recording artist

Marc Hoffman, composer, pianist, vocalist, recording artist

 

February 6, 2011 (RALEIGH, NC) – The Marc Hoffman Duo, led by pianist and vocalist Marc Hoffman with a special guest on bass, will make its debut appearance at BetDeez Jazz Lounge in Raleigh on Saturday, February 19, from 9 p.m. until midnight.

 

Hoffman and his duo, trio and quartet are well known in the Charlotte area for their appearances at jazz clubs, concerts, and other special events, most recently at the Ritz Carlton in uptown Charlotte. They have also performed nationally and internationally for music festivals and corporate events, and have entertained crowds at the North Charleston Coliseum in Charleston SC; the Speedway Motorsports Inc. and the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center, both in Charlotte; the Annual Old Town Blues & Jazz Festival in Rock Hill, SC; and the Grove Park Inn in Asheville.

 

The BetDeez Jazz Lounge performance will introduce Raleigh-area music fans to Hoffman’s eclectic repertoire of original jazz combined with his own arrangements of standards and popular tunes, from Cole Porter to Billy Joel.

 

A native of Salisbury, NC, Marc Hoffman is a Virillion Music recording artist and a member of BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc). His latest CD, Curioso, is an all-original collection of tunes representing as many styles of jazz as there are tracks on the CD.  Curioso followed the release of a single track from the CD entitled “Hefti” (a tribute to his former composition professor, the late Neal Hefti), that DJ Jellyroll Justice of WWOZ in New Orleans says “makes you smile with its delicate riffs and uplifting swing.”

 

BetDeez is a private, members-only club that caters to over-30, smooth jazz fans and adheres to a specific dress code. The club is located at 4860 Grove Barton Road, Suite 104, Raleigh, NC 27613. For more information, visit www.betdeez.com or call 919-571-2999.

 

For more information on Marc Hoffman, visit www.marchoffman.com.

 

About Marc Hoffman:


Marc Hoffman received his degree in composition from the North Carolina School of the Arts and studied film composition at USC. He also attended The Dartington International Summer School of Music in Devon, England. His composition teachers have included David Ott, Leo Arnaud, Neil Hefti, and Sherwood Shafffer. A member of BMI and the American Composer’s Forum, he is founder and artistic director of the Salisbury School of Music. For more information, visit www.marchoffman.com and www.myspace.com/marchoffman. He is also available on the Internet Movie Database (IMDB), All About Jazz.com, and on Facebook under Marc Hoffman Music.

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Triangle Arts & Entertainment Makes A Run For Pepsi Refresh Grant

Categories: art, business, entertainment, news, North Carolina arts, Raleigh arts scene, Triangle music scene
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Online magazine could win major money through readers’ votes

September 2, 2010 (RALEIGH, NC) – Triangle Arts and Entertainment, a nonprofit online magazine devoted to supporting the visual and performing arts in the Triangle region and surrounding counties, is in the running for a $25,000 grant from The Pepsi Refresh Project.

It’s going to take readers’ votes to seal the deal, however.

Pepsi is giving away millions each month to fund “refreshing ideas that change the world”. The ideas with the most votes will receive the grants.

Robert Morrow, owner and editor of Triangle A&E, hopes the thousands of folks in and around the Triangle who rely on his online magazine as a free media outlet for all the arts and entertainment news and events in the Triangle will take the time to vote at http://www.refresheverything.com/triangleartsandentertainment.

Triangle A&E is the only publication in the Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill region that focuses solely on arts and entertainment and offers a free media outlet for artists, arts organizations and venues, from the largest shows to individual emerging artists. Updated daily, the magazine spotlights all performing and visual arts, design arts and artisans, music, film, culinary arts and literature. These stories are simultaneously published on the Triangle A&E Facebook page and Twitter.

“I started Triangle A&E because of the rapidly declining coverage of the arts in the media,” Morrow said. “I wanted to give the smaller organizations an opportunity to have a voice in the media — a place where visual and performing arts organizations can be seen and heard – while sharing the headlines with the larger, well known, performances or events.”

He noted that Triangle A&E includes a community calendar “where you can post your event yourself, or if you have someone who is doing publicity for your organization it can be submitted via email.”

Morrow considers the Triangle region “our testing ground. If we’re successful, we plan to grow within the state.”

In less than one year, Triangle Arts & Entertainment has achieved a Google page rank of 5, which Morrow attributes to consistently updated, quality content and growing readership.

Voting for the Pepsi Refresh Program grants ends September 30th. For more information, go to www.refresheverything.com.

For more information on Triangle Arts & Entertainment, visit www.triangleartsandentertainment.org. Voting is available at http://www.refresheverything.com/triangleartsandentertainment.