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SCHEDULE:As with any “release” the schedule is fluid. Expect additions and surprises! Like Mandy leading everyone in a Virginia Reel! Or maybe a children’s singalong. Leon doing a Michael Jackson Impersonation. It’s all possible.
2:00-2:45 Yoga with Emily Bowser from New Yoga Savannah (bring a mat!)
3:00-3:15 Welcome/Kickoff and Pat West with a reading and Land Acknowledgement
3:15-3:45 Music with Brandon Nelson McCoy
3:45-4:00 A story from Jessica Leigh Lebos
4:00-4:45 Music with Bero Bero
4:45-5:00 Poetry with Nicholas Goodly and Estuary Creative Arts
5:00-6:00 Chad Faries reading and Ragtag Riffraff jam
6:00 pm-? ? Afterparty
Come and join us for a fantastic and free (donations gladly accepted) afternoon of music, art, and literature under the oaks at Old Roberd’s Dairy in Chad’s front yard! This is FALL RELEASE in all its manifestations! Local author, Chad Faries, will preside over the afternoon MCing and reading excerpts from his new poetry collection, Amasa Speaker Factory throughout his introductions. DJ JIGGAWATT from our own Avondale will be providing the soundtrack of the day.
The release begins, fittingly, with a Yoga session at 2 pm taught by Emily Bowser from New Yoga Savannah; Then, get lit with music and art starting at 3pm. A schedule with links and bios is below. The Book Lady will be selling books and food trucks will be available. Bring a blanket and chairs. Drinks will be available by donation along with a children’s area and a likely visit from Mars the mini-horse. Thinks wind down around 6pm but expect an afterparty with friends and family.
Let’s celebrate community and Avondale Neighborhood! Artists and vendors, if you would like a table, DM me. Special thanks to Mandy Madson for helping organize and Andrew Sovine for just being an awesome person all around making magic wherever he goes. And of course, couldn’t do it without family: Marielena and León are all in with making this a treat for ya’ll.
Food trucks, Sponsors, and Vendors will be updated as we approach the event.
Emily Bowser is a local yoga legend teaching everywhere and everything. She is an artist who loves talking about hockey and family.
Pat West is a native Savannahian with strong ties to her Gullah Geechee roots in South Carolina. She is a retired assistant professor of English, public school educator, a published author, poet, and presenter. Pat is a strong advocate for the preservation of African American culture, literature, and endangered historical spaces such as cemeteries.
Brandon Nelson McCoy is a songwriter and guitar player from Savannah, GA. He is steeped in a homegrown musical education that not only owes a lot to the songwriting of Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt, and Guy Clark, but also to Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, James McMurtry, and the folk/country boom of the '60s and '70s. In the last decade, a fascination with acoustic blues has led him down a path where Mississippi John Hurt, Mance Lipscomb, and Jorma Kaukonen loom large.
Jessica Leigh Lebos writes about interesting people, enchanting places, and the compelling—and often confounding—connections in between. She is the author of two books, Savannah Sideways and The Camellia Thief & Other Tales, as well as The Savannah Sideways Podcast, a 10-episode history-mystery that unravels one of the city's strangest stories. She has received multiple awards from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and introduces herself at cocktail parties as "Southern by marriage." You can find her on her weekly Substack, at savannahsideways.com (http://savannahsideways.com/), or in the bushes stalking what's in bloom.
Bero Bero is the synth driven brainchild of Veronica Garcia-Melendez. After years of working as a musical sidewoman and inspired by her endless saga of mania and dolor, she returned to penning her own music. The result has been described as Sade meets Kate Bush. She and her accomplice, drummer David Murray, met at a practice space known as "the Woodshop". Their instant connection led them to collaborate on a variety of projects. In time, they ventured to create their own realm where they could escape the din and cultivate their ideas.
Nicholas Goodly is a contemporary poet and artist currently based in Savannah known for their debut poetry collection "Black Swim," published in 2022. They are also the writing editor of WUSSY Magazine and a Cave Canem fellow, contributing significantly to discussions around Black joy and identity in their work.
Estuary Creative Arts is a student club at SSU that also publishes an award-winning literary arts magazine.
The Sunlight Unlimited Ragtag Riffraff Band has been unlimited sunlight since the early 1990s sky shining bright. With the perspective of who wants to be in the band for this show, we never know what sort of bandits are going to fill the positions or play what instruments. But nonetheless they come to play the beautiful time. If you're inspired while watching, come and join.
Chad Faries is just another Yooper (person from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan) with a PhD. His current poetry collection, Amasa Speaker Factory, is available from Modern History Press. He has published two other poetry collections and a memoir, Drive Me Out of My Mind. Beyond writing, he crafts stories through repurposed wood and found objects. His whimsical treehouse, Diamond Oaks, has been featured in This Old House Magazine and others. When not teaching at Savannah State or petting cats in Georgia, he’s likely motorcycling or practicing handstands with his son León Karlo del Rocío Faries Leal.
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2500 Tennessee Ave, Savannah, GA 31404-3123, United States
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