Sunday, November 29, 2015

Popular Austin singer/songwriter Julieann Banks returns home to North Louisiana to release new album!




Julieann Banks is coming home to Shreveport after scoring big in Austin -
and YOU can help her launch her new album!
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A well-known musician among musicians, Julieann Banks has worked professionally as a bassist and vocalist for popular Austin bands including The Austin Lounge Lizards, The Cosmic Americans (with Earl Poole Ball and Casper Rawls), and with notable performers like Leeann Atherton, Patterson Barrett and more.  She has toured nationally with show bands Rotel & the Hot Tomatoes and The Big Time, and performed with her own award-winning bands, Apaches of Paris and The Activates.

"Julieann Banks’ alternative country musical stylings include songwriting, singing and guitar-playing in a blend of Texas Americana, folk, rock and country, with a streak of blues and gospel for good measure. The edgy, electric emotion of her songs and singing are probably what earns her awards such as Austin Music Magazine’s “Best Female Vocalist Rock,” one of the Top Ten in South by Southwest Austin Chronicle Music Awards’ “Best Songwriter,” and Austin’s Local Flavor Music Magazine’s “Best Pipes,” among many others."

Her new album is the next step in Julieann's career.

She writes:

"I’d like to start playing more nationally, with an eye toward international touring to promote the new (album).  So many people have expressed interest in my new songs when I perform them, but I have no product to sell.  I want to let new and old fans know I’m still at it and I want them to hear my new works.

So much of what we hear and are exposed to (in) media, on television, and radio – is multi-track trickery.  It’s impersonal and digitally “created” and enhanced to the point where it has no human connection. 

I’d like to return to an acoustic “warts and all” method of live recording, like the way Neil Young recordings sound.  Like the Cowboy Junkies recording where they are all gathered at certain distances around one, or very few, mics in a large church.  I’m very excited about staying true to a minimalist approach on this recording..."

How much does Julieann need to complete her project?

Expenses:
Studio rental, engineering, mixing - $2250.00
Musicians' fees - $1500.00
Album artwork + reproduction costs - $1464.00

Revenue:
Works In Progress Louisiana investment - $4000.00
Presales of album + artist's contribution- $1214.00

Total cost of project - $5214.00
How can I help?

Julieann submitted a written request for $4000.00 to Works In Progress Louisiana for this project.  Our Board of Directors met with her, performed our due diligence, and approved her request for funding.

Artists, musicians, designers and writers can't visit the local bank to apply for a loan for a creative concept.  This can be a career-ending problem for creative professionals.

A recent article in The Times featured Julieann, and pointed out the many challenges faced by North Louisiana musicians - including finding funding for new projects, and sustaining a creative career in a region that doesn't understand that musicians are also serious businesspeople.

Now, thanks to Works In Progress Louisiana, YOU have the opportunity to engage with creative workers like Julieann at the onset of new projects - supporting work that is fresh and experimental in nature, and for which other funding is not available.



   


Wednesday, November 11, 2015

Disposable People - A Poem




We are the disposable people.

We hold no elected office – we can’t afford the filing fees.

We are not the wealthy elite – we do not stand behind the curtain, pulling the strings.

We don’t belong to the club.

Our children don’t attend exclusive schools.

We can’t afford to make a donation, and we don’t serve on your board.

Our families are middle class, or lower-middle class, or lower-lower class, based on your system of democracy. 

Every four years, you seek us out.
 
You clamor for the common man to serve on your campaign committee. You know, to reach the masses. 

You tell us we are influential.

You buy us lunch.

You answer our questions in a manner that is palatable to our sort.

We believe that you care about our lot, if only for a moment. Long enough to champion your cause.

Then you disappear – win or lose.  You disappear.  We were never meant to associate, after all. It’s understood. It’s called ‘strategy.’

We wake up and punch in at 8AM.

You vacation in Cabo to detox from the campaign. 

Your wife returns to her book club and the PTA.

Our spouses return to being the receptionist at the clinic or the retired professor or the equal rights activist facing taunts and editorials from your campaign donors.

Our shoes will cushion our tired feet as we canvas for another candidate during the next cycle.

We will create art that protests your votes in the legislature, and we will sit uncomfortably in the teachers’ lounge while we discuss our disappointment with your latest vote.

Then comes the call – “How are you? How’s the family? Election season is upon us – can I count on your support again?”