Black Swamp Arts Festival 2018

SEPTEMBER 7, 8, 9 2018 BOWLING GREEN, OHIO ALL EVENTS FREE

+ YOUTH ART 6 + MUSIC 7

BLACKSWAMPFEST.ORG

+ ART 8 + CONCESSIONS 10

Welcome

to the festival! Speaking for the 800 volunteers who create and host this event, we’re happy to see you! Last September, you helped us celebrate the 25th running of BSAF. Tens of thousands of you rocked Bowling Green for three days of amazing music, art, food and drink. A hundred and eighty-eight of you graciously halted your fun for a quick minute to answer questions from our survey team. You told us that you love BSAF as much as we do, every aspect. After singing its praises, you had suggestions.The BSAF committee basked in the glowing September sunset of the afterparty for about ten days and then went back to work. Our volunteers survived January’s chill by imagining the 26th festival, and we began to select and invite this year’s intriguing lineup of visual artists and musicians. A couple of ideas emerged from the analysis of survey data - check out how “large bags to carry all the youth craft” morphed into reuse/recycle grocery bag design at Youth Arts. Don’t miss two days of Artist at Work demonstrations! On Saturday afternoon, stroll south along the boulevard to catch our teen chalk mural artists in the act of creation. Craft beverage fans, find your way to the Art of Beer. Talk to the artists. Listen to the music. We hope you’ll feel like the survey taker who wrote: “I love BSAF; it’s my Christmas!”

Welcome to the show.

- Bill Donnelly, Festival Chair

2018 BLACK SWAMP ARTS FESTIVAL OFFICERS Festival Chair Vice Chair Secretary Treasurer

Past Chair

Bill Donnelly Jamie Sands Atonn Smeltzer Michael Richter Kalin Brown Todd Ahrens

COMMITTEES

Performing Arts

Visual Arts

Concessions/Merchandise

Volunteers

Marketing/PR

Development

Finance/Budget Artist Hospitality Site & Logistics

Youth Arts

Artists at Work Youth/Teen Engagement Visitor Engagement/Info Booth

Future of the Festival

Cole Christensen Tim Concannon Stacy Poca Josh Poca Linda Lentz Brandon Briggs Amy Craft Ahrens Kate Kamphuis Wynn Perry Kelly Roddy Roger Myers John Zanfardino David Dupont Erin Holmberg Deb Weiser Lorena Perez Gretchen Rohm Todd Ahrens Gloria Gajewicz Alex Hann Doug Cubberley Deanna Vatan Dave Ensing Katie Beigel Matt Reger Chris Gajewicz Tom Perez Lee Hakel Erica Pax Bill Donnelly

2018 Tee

$20

2018 Hoodie Tee

$30

2018 Hat/Trucker Hat

$20

2018 Tote Bag

$15

Tumbler $15

2

Bracelet

$10

Window Glass

$20

Lanyard

$1

Beer Glass

$4

Wine Glass

$4

When Marissa Saneholtz was a kid she’d squirrel away her allowance in anticipation of the Black Swamp Arts Festival.

She could always find a ring or print that she wanted to buy, she said. “I’ve been interested in art forever.”

This year Saneholtz, who teaches metalsmithing at the Bowling Green State University School of Art, is one of the jurors who selected the artists and artisans who will exhibit in the juried show.

“It was really amazing to be asked to jury it,” Saneholtz said. She joined Dan Chudzinski, curator for the Mazza Museum at the University of Findlay, and painter Jessica Summers on the panel.

We strive to be sustainable.

We recycle the PLASTIC BOTTLES, ALUMINUM CANS and GLASS used at the festival.

PLEASE dispose of these items in the RECYCLING BINS that are placed throughout the festival. THANKS!

High quality is first and foremost for the jurors, she said.

“I mean there’s always the people who just blow your socks off.”

Each year the festival committee (of all volunteers) chooses an outstanding volunteer to award the Dan Baglione Service Award. The 2017 winners were Claude and Earlene Kilpatrick.

Artists apply through the online service Zapplication.

They must submit slides of their work, their display, and their process. The jurors then review those slides individually before coming together as a panel to make final decisions.

Just over 200 artists and artisans applied this year.

Stacy and Josh Poca are chairing the festival’s visual arts committee this year. They said a few artists got the highest marks in the first round, and immediately made it into the show. Also the winners from last year’s show automatically get a spot, and all but one are coming back.

There were also a few whom jurors agreed didn’t make the cut before the group jurying session, Stacy Poca said.

Most merchandise can be purchased at the following locations during the festival:

• Information booth on Main St.

But most fell somewhere in between.

The jurors look for the best work as well as a balance of media. Jewelry always accounts for the greatest number of applications. That’s why about 10 years ago, the festival decided to increase the jurying panel to three, so they always have a metalsmith looking at the work. That’s Saneholtz, who is recognized as an up-andcoming jeweler.

She said that the jewelers worked in a range of materials, sometimes recycling found items and others using silver and gold.

The juried show will feature 108 artists in booths arranged in blocks of four running down the middle of Main Street.

Saneholtz doesn’t think people will have difficulty finding something that catches their fancy. “Overall there’s such a While this is the Pocas’ first year chairing the visual arts wide variety of artists that apply.” committee, they have been festival volunteers before.

Knowing the community helped inform her work as a juror. “I know what price points people will buy at, from the kid saving their allowance to the professional.” She has her taste, she said, but must look beyond that. “I’m also trying to think: Would my family members want to buy this?”

Dan Baglione Service Award

Festival Merchandise

Juror Still Saving Her Pennies To Buy Art At Festival

The juried show will feature 108 artists in booths arranged in blocks of four running down the middle of Main Street.

A number of years ago when they’d first in lived Bowling Green, they were brought into the fold by Chris and Michelle Miller, whom they met at a party.

Josh Poca, at the time a structural ironworker, helped with set up, and Stacy Poca, who worked at BGSU in development, helped with fundraising. Then they moved first to Tennessee and then Indiana.

• Beer and wine glasses can also be purchased at each beer trailer

Every year the festival needs to find people, sometimes on short notice, to step in to fill key roles.

“A lot of faith is being put into volunteers,” Stacy Poca said. “To do a good job you really have to care.”

Tickets can also be used for purchasing merchandise.

+ CHALK WALK 6

Across Clough Street, the art clubs from the BGSU School of Art set up shop to sell their work. The student artists have been part of the festival since the beginning.

Some may end up on the art fair circuit.

Saneholtz has not done art fairs, but she has friends from graduate school who do.

It takes a lot of hard work and creativity. They must be able to make distinctive pieces that stand out from the crowd, but that can be replicated. They may do some one-of-a-kind pieces, but they also have to have “their bread-and-butter pieces that sell well.”

All that is produced in the studio, then packed up, hauled Eight years later they returned, now parents of a daughter to the fair, and set up in a transient gallery. and a son, and they wanted to reconnect with the festival.

“It’s a talent,” she said.

“Bowling Green for us is the Black Swamp Arts Festival,” she said. “So many friends we have are because of the On festival weekend, Saneholtz, Summers, and festival.”

Chudzinski will return to judge the show and award the $5,850 in prizes.

While they intended to volunteer, they didn’t necessarily think it would be chairing a committee. But that was the “Judging is always hard. The end part is always the greatest need, so they decided to do it as a team. hardest,” Saneholtz said. “Who gets the prize?

Josh Poca said it made him realize just how much energy goes into the festival year in and year out. “It shows how much you need a good community to pull this off.”

• Merchandise booth behind the Food Court/Main Stage

That show is open to artists and artisans living within 30 miles of Bowling Green. It was created to ensure that local artists have a place at the festival. The show is in the parking lot at the corner of Clough and South Main.

The work of 50 artists will be on display in the Wood County Invitational Show. Spots in the show are in increasing demand with 78 applications this year.

“I think we’re going to have a really good festival this year. It’s incredible that people are producing this artwork and it’s available for sale in Bowling Green. How does this happen?”

For her part, she said: “I’m going to be saving my money again for this year.”

Story courtesy of BG Independent News bgindependentmedia.org.

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2017 JURIED SHOW WINNERS Best of Show:

Neil Kemarly

First Place 2D:

Chris Plummer, printmaking

First Place 3D:

Rachel Stevens Morgan, ceramics

Second place 3D:

Samuel Hitchman, ceramics

Third place:

Imaginations run wild in Black Swamp fest’s youth art village

Paula Gill, fiber

Honorable Mention Awards: Derrick Riley, printmaking Rick Braveheart, photography Dave Thompson, mixed media

The Black Swamp Arts Festival’s Youth Arts Committee has one job – keep more than 1,000 children entertained over the two days of the festival.

For Katie Beigel, committee co-chair in her second year, that means bringing her diverse interests and training to bear – art, art education, and event planning.

Kemarly’s woodwork made an impression on festival’s judges Neil Kemarly

Neil Kemarly didn’t think anyone would really want to buy the woodwork he created.

His wife had other ideas.

So together they started traveling the art fair circuit, where Kemarly, from Pioneer, Ohio, found out people were willing to pay for his benches and cabinetry.

The judges at those art fairs also recognized their worth.

At the 2017 Black Swamp Arts Festival, Kemarly was awarded best of show, $1,600, at the 25th Black Swamp Arts Festival Saturday. In 2015, he won the best 3D award at the festival.

Kemarly continues to take his work on the road despite losing his wife, partner, and ‘best friend’ to cancer in April 2016. “This is my therapy,” he said.

“We’re planning for about 1,500. … I’d rather have a little too much than not enough,” she said.

Working with Matt and Heidi Reger, she is organizing activities at the Kiwanis Youth Village with a mix of old favorites and new twists.

The show’s judges Kathy Buszkiewicz and Brandon Briggs said as they made their rounds separately, they independently determined Kemarly’s work was a winner.

Buszkiewicz said they she was impressed the way that Kemarly was able to work the imperfections in the wood, and the way he corrected them, into the overall design.

Briggs said the work was a testament to the beauty of simplicity.

Kemarly said he pursues woodwork as a contrast to his day job as a tool and die maker. Working in his shop when he decides to cut a plank, he doesn’t have an engineer telling him he can’t.

“I see myself as a builder and a maker.”

Story courtesy of BG Independent News bgindpendentmedia.org.

Chris Plummer

Chris Plummer’s prints are constantly evolving. He experiments with new ways of printing, and expands his subject matter. Lately, he said, he’s made prints with more political content.

The Kentucky artist also said that his work has also been influenced by his work teaching art to elementary school children in his kids’ school a few times a month.

He was trying to figure out how to teach printmaking when he hit upon a method using molded plastic and a pencil. He liked the technique so much, he used it himself to make prints, several of which were on sale in his booth.

It allows him to experiment since he can create a print in four hours rather than the four weeks it takes for a woodcut print.

He also finds the free thinking of the youngest kids to be inspiring. “The younger ones don’t even think about it,” he said. “They just make it.”

Plummer pointed to a print of a wild angel floating above a landscape as one of his own works that was inspired by a first grader’s response to an assignment to create a Christmas card.

Story courtesy of BG Independent News bgindpendentmedia.org.

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Last year a survey conducted of the festival found that youth arts was highly popular, rated 3.4 out of a possible 4 – the only thing ranked higher was the festival as a whole with a 3.7. The survey found visitors spend on average one to two hours in the village. And it’s clear from the survey that the youth activities make it more likely that families will attend the festival.

Beigel said she heard plenty of praise because the activities appealed to all ages and abilities. Most kids do more than one activity, the survey found.

Given that, it’s not surprising that people wanted bags Unleashing that creativity is the focus of the task tent to carry home all those treasures. where young festival goers are offered an assortment of random materials and allowed to let their So Beigel put out a call for t-shirts, and with stacks of imaginations go wild. them on hand, kids will be able to make bags from them. And they’ll be able to stencil them with pictures In its first year in 2017 that meant swords, boats, even made up of words at the poetry table. balls of tape emerged. Even parents got in the spirit, Beigel said.

The sleeves of the shirts will be cut off and sent to the area where children will make decorations for their Returning this year will be the construction area. hats. In the past, the festival purchased flowers for Heidi Reger, who teaches architecture at BGSU, is the decorations. But last year they ran out, and people driving force behind the tent where children can use were disappointed, Beigel said. This year they decided tools with the guidance of construction management to let the kids apply their own fashion sense and and architecture students to build projects. make decorations.

Also returning after a few years is easel painting, and, “It’s important to be teaching kids that art can come of course, the favorite, tie-dying. from anywhere. You don’t need to go and buy a bunch “When you’re teaching art, you’re teaching the motor of stuff to be creative,” Beigel said. skills, but also how to think about it,” Beigel said.

That fits with an emphasis on reusing, recycling and “Making sure they have adequate time to really think repurposing. “We’re showing that arts can have a about it, that’s part of it. That’s what they’re getting to function more than just something you put on the do this year.” fridge,” Beigel said. “There’s so many things that can be used to make new projects. The festival is a cool Story courtesy of BG Independent News bgindependentmedia.org. place to do that. There’s no lesson plans, no state standards to meet, their only goal is to have so much fun and be creative.”

2018 Poster and Graphic Designer The Black Swamp Arts Festival has a tradition of high quality posters. The belief is that an arts festival’s poster should in itself be artistic. They have become a highly anticipated feature of the festival. “I’ve been waiting for this” was often heard when this year’s poster was unveiled in late July at the Firefly Nights downtown festival. Festivalgoers frame and display them in their homes.

This year’s designer, Erin Holmberg, who works as the Creative Services Manager in the Marketing & Communications Department at Owens Community College, grew up locally. Her love of the nature found in the Black Swamp and the vibrant festival that bears its name is evident in each of the posters she’s created.

She also designed this year’s program.

Here’s what she has to say about this year’s poster: “I have had the pleasure of designing the Black Swamp Arts Festival poster twice before: in 2015 and 2016. In 2015, I focused on the Downtown area and the people, places, and things that make the Festival special. In 2016, I highlighted the “swamp” aspect of BSAF, and used plants from the B.G. area to celebrate the local region that the Festival is named after.

“Now, in 2018, I find myself combining these ideas -- taking our Main Street skyline, filled with the silhouettes of the iconic BSAF tents, and placing it into a swamp-inspired scene. The climbing vines, trees, and plants frame a cameo of our historic Downtown area, flanked on both sides by the green lamp posts

that stand tall on Main Street. By early September, locals are familiar with how our backyards are bursting with plants as the summer season comes to a close. I wanted to capture the feeling of nature and the city landscape intertwining as it does in the Black Swamp.

“The day-to-night offerings of Festival weekend is another recurring theme in the posters I have designed.

This year, I created a two-sided poster -- each side with a different color scheme. Rich purples and blues for “night”, and oranges, yellows and greens for “day”. The look and feel of our city changes as the day goes by and turns to night -- from the laid-back atmosphere of music and food on Friday evening, to the hustle and bustle of the many artists and activities that line Main Street on Saturday and Sunday. It is special for our community to host a 3-day festival that runs for two nights and two days, and I wanted to capture that with color.

“The Black Swamp Arts Festival poster project is a designer’s dream. We are given the freedom to create a poster that is anticipated, collected and displayed by people who love their community. The posters have become the first piece of art in a weekend celebrating art. Knowing that people look forward to and collect the posters inspires me to try to create something worthy of the audience.”

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YOUTH ART

MUSIC

SATURDAY 9/8: 11a.m. - 5p.m.

SUNDAY 9/9: 11a.m. - 5p.m.

FRIDAY 9/7: 5 - 11:30p.m.

SATURDAY 9/8: 11a.m. - 11:30p.m.

SUNDAY 9/9: 11a.m. - 5p.m.

Parents who take kids to a an art festival invariably hear the question “what can I do?” The Black Swamp Arts Festival is one of the few festivals to have the answer: Come play and make art of your own. So along with that great art buy, you will have a piece to hang on the fridge or a favorite place in the home.

• Upcycle: Reduce, reuse, recycle! This year we will be recycling textiles (t-shirts), to make a reusable grocery bag! Kids will cut and tie the fabric to make a reusable bag!

• Hats: A BSAF tradition. Decorate your own paper sun hat with markers, stickers, flowers, and whatever is around to make the most unique hat at the Festival!

• T-Shirt Poetry: Kids will use word stencils to create pictures on their new, up-cycled t-shirt bags!

• Construction: Working with BGSU Architecture and Construction Management students and the Wood Working Guild, kids will design and build their own wooden toy or artistic masterpiece! This is a very popular area with limited room. Please be aware of line times.

• Easel Painting: What a classic! Kids will have the freedom to paint whatever their heart desires with all of the materials ready and waiting for them!

• Task: Task yourself to pushing your limits! Search through the materials available - from assorted cardboard to duct tape - and create what your dreams can conjure.

• Tie Dye: $5/shirt - This annual favorite gives our youngest attendees a chance to make their own unique Black Swamp Arts Festival Shirt! BSAF volunteers will be on hand to help participants with the tie-dye process.

Pimps of Joytime

Shinyribs

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

5 p.m.

6:30 p.m.

8 p.m.

10 p.m.

12 p.m.

1:20 p.m.

2:50 p.m.

4:30 p.m.

6:15 p.m.

8 p.m.

10 p.m.

MAIN STAGE

Drew Joseph Two Tons of Steel Billy Strings Pimps of Joytime

After Hours

Howard’s Club H Two Tons of Steel Stone’s Throw Drew Joseph

MAIN STAGE

Tree No Leaves Harmonica Shah with special guest Billy Davis Radio Free Honduras Cordovas Birds of Chicago Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe Shinyribs

MAIN STAGE 11 a.m.

12:30 p.m.

2:00 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

Tim Tegge and the Black Swamp Boys Nikki D and the Browns Kittel and Co. Samantha Fish

COMMUNITY STAGE

Howard’s Club H Cordovas Stone’s Throw Birds of Chicago

COMMUNITY STAGE

FAMILY STAGE

11 a.m.

12 p.m.

1:15 p.m.

2:30 p.m.

3:45 p.m.

5:00 p.m.

SATURDAY 9/8: 12 - 4p.m.

SUNDAY

11 a.m.

12:15 p.m.

1:30 p.m.

2:45 p.m.

4 p.m.

After Hours

CHALK ART

Samantha Fish

Theater Showcase (Black Swamp Players and BGHS Drama Club) Zach Fletcher Bliss Black Swamp Opera Drew Joseph Kekeli Ghanaian Drummers

11 a.m.

12:30 p.m.

2 p.m.

3:30 p.m.

Toraigh Inside Voices Acapella Group GRÜBS (Grande Royale Ukulelists of the Black Swamp) Libby DeCamp Kittel and Co.

Bowling Green High School Jazz Band Libby DeCamp Kaze No Daichi Taiko Nikki D and the Browns

FAMILY STAGE

Presenting Sponsor:

11 a.m.

12:15 p.m.

1:30 p.m.

2:45 p.m.

4 p.m.

The B.G. Rotary Club Chalk Walk is an art competition featuring area high school art students and departments. On Saturday, Sept. 8, from 12 - 4 p.m., up to 24 teams of high school students will be creating colorful 8’ x 10’ murals. The theme for 2018 is Outer Space and the Solar System.

Bowling Green High School Orchestra Radio Free Honduras Mindless Matters Tree No Leaves Harmonica Shah with special guest Billy Davis

2017 Chalk Walk Winners: First place Bowling Green High School, second place Holgate High School, and third place Wayne Trace High School.

Visiting Artist Chris Fry

Saturday, 9/8 | 9 a.m. - 12 p.m. | South Main Street next to the post office Chris Fry has been a professional chalk artist for over 13 years, drawing unusual creatures and colorful images on pavement for art shows, community festivals, and promotional events all across Ohio. He draws inspiration from the books, movies, comics, and games from his childhood, all of which he continues to inflict upon his three beautiful daughters and his very patient wife. When not cavorting with strange imaginary creatures, Chris lives, works, and plays around Columbus, OH. See his work and drop him a line at his website at chalkgoblin.com, or at facebook.com/chalkgoblin.

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Billy Strings

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe

Kittel and Co.

7

Ceramics

Walter Weil 4 Gint & Regina Sabaliauskas 24 Thomas and Sarah Gelsanliter 38 Sumiko and Kaname Takada 87 Jan Bostwick 99 Kate Lally 68 Samuel Hitchman 96 Jason Parsley 56 Kristy Jo Beber 48 Jason Wolff 110 Marian van Buren 13 Gail Russell 76 William Shearrow 63

79 3 105 89 55 45 47 27

Glass

George Bochnig Matthew Richards Faith Wickey Dustin Wagner Larry Zengel Mike Grau

15 6 30 86 59 72

Jewelry

Deborah Barnes Chelsea Hall Mark Slaven John Gulyas Dave Davis Eddie Lomax Lisa Edwards Hanna de Volska Jackie Crissman Megan Whitten Marc Aune Pat Bolgar Greg Jordan Mike Kozumplik Robin Chard Kimberly Arden Sandy James Robert Ramaglia C Melissa Buckey Jessica Daman Courtney DeYoung

Mixed Media

18 52 8 60 11 67 107 31 43 77 90 70 102 93 98 26 64 84 80 37 14

Jan Richter Patricia Disantis Michael Sage Janey Payne Short Jeff Borda Peter Staples Nicholas Ringelstetter Lynn & Steve Cebula Susan Kline Rezgar Mamandi Lisa Vetter Bruce Holmberg Teresa Petersen Steven Wipfli Peggy Schuning Mark Mohrenweiser

Painting

1,2 33,34 112 9 16 19 32 73 40 51 44 58 78 83 100 25

Jen Callahan Aaron Bivins Liz Nichtberger Paul Brand Lindsay Rodgers Andy Van Schyndle Guy Dachik Kathleen Green Craig Britton Jurate Phillips Jen Callahan

Joe Dagostino Thomas Sanders Rick Braveheart Clay Thurston JBird Cremeans James Richmond Phil Myers Steven Daniel Gregg Billman Court Smith Larry Downey Patrick Hyland Bradford Pollack

Derrick Riley Mary Jane Erard Robin Lauersdorf Chris Plummer Linda Chamberlain

SHUTTLE STOP

BG Police Department

PRIVATE PARKING

39 21 61,62 35 74

BUSINESS PARKING ONLY

Community Stage

Traffic

Art Booths 33 – 56

South Main Street

Wood County Public Library

HANDICAP PARKING (enter from Church St.)

Art Booths 1 – 32

North Main Street

North

Family

Food M Vendors Stage

Kiwanis Youth Arts Village

North Main Street

Howard’s Club H

Drink Tickets Merch

Beer Garden

FESTIVAL RESERVED PARKING ONLY

Band Merch

Public Restrooms

The Stones Throw

Public Parking First Aid

North Prospect Street South

Located in the parking lot off of Main Street by the mural across from Ben’s.

SATURDAY 9/8: 11a.m. - 7p.m.

SUNDAY 9/9: 11a.m. - 5p.m.

Demonstrations by Fire Nation, Glassblowing and Mobile Hot Shop, NW Ohio Wood Turners, and BIG Fab Lab will be providing interactive and informative demonstrations throughout the weekend.

Artists at Work gives festival visitors the opportunity to observe art while it’s being made, ask questions of the artists as they make it, and in some cases, participate in the art’s creation.

Information

South North Prospect Street

adventures. He has worked as a zoo taxidermist, apprenticed under master marble carvers in the mountains of Northern Italy, made functional artillery pieces for film and television, and created totem poles with Tlingit master carvers in Alaska. His most recent projects include conceptual art and character designs for the critically acclaimed film The Ningyo, and a monumental sculpture to be installed in downtown Ketchikan, AK. Born and raised in Fremont, OH, Dan received a B.F.A. in Sculpture and a B.A. in History from Miami University.

He received an M.F.A. in Three Dimensional studies from Bowling Green State University.

In 2015, Dan was named Curator of the Mazza Museum of International Art from Picture Books (University of Findlay), which houses the first and most diverse collection of original illustrations from picture books. Dan’s works can be viewed at www.danchudzinski.com. His adventures can be followed at “Dan Chudzinski Studio” on Facebook and Instagram. from Bowling Green State University in 2004. After teaching high school art for six years in both Southern Indiana and Charlotte, North Carolina, Jessica moved back to Northwest Ohio in 2011, and started pursuing her MFA. In 2014, Jessica graduated with her MFA in 2-Dimensional studies from Bowling Green State University. Since changing gears in 2011 to pursue an artistic career, Jessica’s work has been chosen for a number of national and international exhibitions, including Drawing Connections at the Siena Art Institute, Siena, Italy, the Contemporary Realism Biennial at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art in 2012, for which she was included in the exhibition catalog, Who We Aren’t at Union Street Gallery in Chicago Heights, IL, and Tapped at Manifest Gallery in Cincinnati, OH. She has also had solo exhibitions at the Marathon Center for the Performing Arts in Findlay, Ohio, Durham Arts Council in Durham, North Carolina, Fairmont State University in Fairmont, West Virginia, The University of Findlay in Findlay, Ohio and Gordy’s Fine Art Gallery in Muncie, Indiana, and Portland Arts Place in Portland, Indiana. Finally, Jessica has been featured in both Studio Visit Magazine and Creative Quarterly.

MARISSA SANEHOLTZ makes narrative based jewelry and objects using humor and

KEY

Handicap Public Parking

Main Stage

Drink Tickets

East Court Street

East Wooster

Volunteer Check-in

Artists at Work

JESSICA SUMMERS received her BFA in 2-Dimensional Studies and Art Education

Senior Center

BGSU Student Art

Food and Concessions

54 10 81,82 106 57 66 101 36 49 106 69

CITY GOVT. PARKING

LIBRARY PARKING ONLY

West Wooster

Clough Alley

(AED inside Grounds For Thought)

Clough Street

Wood County Invitational Art Show

Woody Smith Carl Huth Paul Miller Mark Hilligoss Dave Grabarczyk Deborah Bahm Zach Holt Neil Kemarly R.C. Sanford Ellen Smith Mark Hilligoss

DAN CHUDZINSKI’s quest to improve his artistic skillset has led to a host of unusual

PRIVATE PARKING

South Main Street

Wood

ART

SATURDAY 9/8: 10a.m. - 6p.m.

SUNDAY 9/9: 11a.m. - 5p.m.

MEET THE JURORS

PRIVATE PARKING

PRIVATE PARKING

Art Booths 57 – 80

20 29 46 41 7 91 97 65 88 108 71 23 103

12 92 111 104 22 50

N. Church Street

ARTIST PARKING ONLY

Art Booths 81 – 112

Dallas Galbraith Annette Gordon Dave Thompson Robert Mcpherson Heidi Barron R. Dean & Gloria Barkley

N

N. Church Street S.

Chalk Walk

Sculpture

Printmaking & Drawing

S

PRIVATE PARKING

Photography & Digital Art

32 42 5 28 17 75 53 85 95 109 94

East Oak Street

on Main Street

Juliann Fausel Clay Simpson Michelle Ishida Jackie Ayres Lynn McAleer Valerie Luke Carol Clay Kate Strong

West Oak Street

Fiber & Leather

West Court Street

JURIED ARTISTS

AED Location

sarcasm. After earning her degrees from Bowling Green State University and East Carolina University, she taught at several institutions including East Carolina University’s Italy Intensives Study Abroad Program in Certaldo, Italy and Appalachian State University in Boone, NC. For two years, she worked at J. Cotter Galleries and Studio in Vail, Colorado as gallery manager and assistant studio manager. Currently, she is teaching at Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, OH. Saneholtz has been published in several books, including Art Jewelry Today II edited by Jeffery Snyder, Humor in Craft by Brigitte Martin, and Narrative Jewelry: Tales from the Toolbox by Mark Fenn. Her work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally and is in the collections of the Dorothy McKenzie Price Permanent Collection at Bowling Green State University, the Racine Art Museum in Racine, WI, and the Enamel Arts Foundation, Los Angeles.

ATM

M Main Street

Shuttle Service

North Concessions

WOOD COUNTY ARTISTS on Clough Street

The Wood County Invitational Art Show is located at the corner of South Main Street and Clough Street.

8

Ceramics

Christi Meredith Brandon Knott Ed Corle Deborah McEwen Mary Dennis

Fiber & Textiles Jennifer Buddie Karas Penny Evans-Meyer Mame Butler Kina Hoffman Tara Hubbard

27 38 15 20 3 46 41 21 37 7

Glass

Bob Less Gail Mirrow Beth Ziss

Jewelry

Jenny Gorkowski -Klear Dana Blossom Michelle Maddux Melissa Woods Julia MacLachlan Jane Lamanna Liz Sloan Jaci Riley

36 28 8 50 44 30 39 35 18 24 13

Drawing & Printmaking Richard Gullett

Mixed Media Larry Mack Jackie Nelson Nadine Musser Ann Beck Leslie Robertson Hans Ruebel Jaclyn Portillo Nanci Shufritz

Painting 49 29 40 32 11 34 17 23 16

Demi Heitzman Craig Blair Beth Jarvis Renee Obrock Timothy Hacker Joan Martinez Greg Justus

5 1 48 45 25 & 26 14 12

Photography & Digital Art Jack Schultz Agnes Barnes Robert Hasenfratz Sarah Hanson Louis Staeble Charles Gabriel Michele Ross Timothy Hacker

2 4 6 10 43 19 22 25 & 26

Sculpture John Kinnee

Wood

Douglas Dauer Jack Cathers Denny Schwab Dale Randall

33 31 42 9 47

SHUTTLE HOURS: Saturday Sunday

$2.00 PER RIDE

10 a.m. to Midnight 1. 1 a.m. to 5 p.m.; runs every half hour

SHUTTLE LOCATIONS • BGSU Lot A on E. Wooster St. • Wood County Fairgrounds, corner of Haskins Rd. (St. Rt. 64) and Poe Rd. • Meijer Parking Lot, East of I-75 • Bowling Green High School, 530 W. Poe Rd

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CONCESSIONS

MUSIC

We provide a unique vendor selection so there is something for everyone.

Many returning favorites with new favorites each year.

Samantha Fish

Main Stage Food Court

J&K Sirloin Tips Sirloin Tips, Mushrooms, Mashed Potatoes Marsh Concessions Shaved Ice-110 flavors Cindy’s Concessions Funnel Cakes, Elephant Ears, French Waffles Rosie’s Italian Grill Hot Mama Bread, Stromboli, Lobster Mac & Cheese,

Lamb Chops, Meatball Sandwich, Lasagna PoMo’s Ribs Ribs, Rib tips, Pulled Pork, Turkey, Coleslaw, Baked Beans, Cobbler Thai Thai Chicken on a stick, Veggie Pad Thai Noodles,

Veggie Lo Mein Veggie Spring Rolls Eric’s Ice Cream Floats, Milkshakes, Malts, Flurries, Scoops, Sundaes and Freezes Rusty’s Road Trip Perch, Walleye, Salmon, Shrimp, Crab Rolls, Fries,

Chilled Cheese, Mac & Cheese A&M Concessions Fresh Lemonade, Hungarian Sausage, Grilled

Chicken, Chicken Chunks, Hot Dogs, Ribbon Fries, Fries Mo’s Mexican Tacos, Nachos, Beans, RIce, Tostadas, Tamales

Onion Rings, Corn Dogs, Kid’s menu Quinn’s Concessions Gyros, Hamburgers, Brats, Fried Veggies Pisanello’s Pizza Pizza slices Manny’s Munchies Pretzel Calzones

When the Main Stage acts for the 2018 Black Swamp Arts Festival were first posted, a number of music fans lit up social media at the sight of Samantha Fish’s name as the festival closer.

On Sunday afternoon, rising blues star Fish will take the Main Stage to round out the weekend’s performances. The 26th Black Swamp Arts Festival runs from Sept.

7 through 9 in downtown Bowling Green.

Since the Kansas City, Missouri -based artist emerged on the blues scene about 10 years ago, she’s caught the eye and ear of blues lovers.

Last year she released her fifth solo album on Ruf Records. Those records are important, she said in a recent telephone interview, even in today’s changing music business landscape. “An album is a marker of growth. It’s a legacy …. People need something to take home to listen to.”

But a recording can only capture so much. The real connection between listener and performer comes in person. “There’s something about seeing someone live,” Fish said. “You see the passion. These guys sweating it out, really living in the moment, and delivering a song that connects to your life. You don’t get that from listening to a record.”

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Roasted Nuts Kettle Korn Homemade cookies Shaved Ice Fresh Lemonade

Fish said she’d also had her eye on doing something in the entertainment business since she was a child. To those around her dancing and theater were “pipe dreams.”

SATURDAY 9/8: 12 - 6p.m.

She started playing drums at 13, and then picked up guitar at 15. Later she started going to jam sessions to hone her craft.

“I didn’t know how to go from wanting to do something to making it happen,” Fish said. “In those clubs, I saw that music was happening all over, not only Los Angeles. … It just gave me some hope I could write my songs and sing and play guitar and make a decent living out of it.”

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Cidergeist Wowie Fruit Beer

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Deschutes Obsidian Stout

Rhinegeist Cheetah Lager

Royal Docks Leatherhead IPA Anderson Valley Gose

But a lot of hard work goes into capitalizing on that luck. “It’s been a long road.”

That road has passed through venues around the world. The live show is what drives her popularity.

“That’s what we have the most practice doing since all those little gigs in Kansas City.

“The combination of being a strong woman playing guitar, singing and writing and putting together a really dynamic band with a lot of personality – that’s what connects with people.”

More and more her personality infuses her songs.

“I used to color within the lines. Now I’ve started scribbling all over the coloring book.”

She’s searching for her own voice within the blues.

“There’s such a strong tradition. People’s idea of blues music is rooted in these traditional styles. My job as an artist is to take what I know, take what inspired me, and make something new with it.

“When I’m writing I don’t have a lot of boundaries anymore. It’s the passion that puts the blues in it. It’s still rooted in blues even if it doesn’t fit the usual chord progression.”

Those songs are getting more personal. “Every record I do is going to cut a little closer to the bone because I’m less afraid of talking about my life and my experience. I’m getting more comfortable with myself.”

Yet even when those songs come from her life, once she performs them listeners relate them to their experience.

“It’s what music is always about, reaching out to other people. That’s why live music is so relevant because it’s something so personal and universally connecting to people.”

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BLACK SWAMP BEER GARDEN

Two beer serving areas anchor the large beer garden in the concession area.

To purchase alcohol, you must be 21 and wearing a festival-issued wrist band.

All alcohol must be purchased with festival tickets and consumed in the Beer Garden. Bowling Green Beer Works, a hometown nanobrewery, will be in the Beer Garden on Saturday.

FLAVORED DRAFT BEER WINE BEVERAGES Coors Light Woodbridge (16 oz cans) Chardonnay Blue Moon Mike’s Black Cherry Woodbridge Great Lakes Angry Orchard Cider Cabernet Dortmunder Angry Orchard Rose Cider Great Lakes Truly Wild Berry Commodore Perry IPA Hard Seltzer Beers are $3 - $4. All other beverages are $4.

All proceeds directly benefit the Black Swamp Arts Festival.

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“I got lucky,” Fish said. “We’ve connected with people and built an amazing fan base in such a short period of time. Fifteen-year-old Samantha is really shocked that this kind of stuff can happen.”

“The combination of being a strong woman playing guitar, singing and writing and putting together a really dynamic band with a lot of personality – that’s what connects with people.”

Hearing live shows, whether at a festival in Arkansas where she first heard the rawer version of Delta blues or a Kansas City club, where she heard the legends of the music, is what hooked Fish on the music.

That was when she was in her late teens. “I was looking for something real, and I found it there.”

2018 Art of Beer Tasting

She got a band together, and started making calls. It was like being “a telemarketer,” she said. The band landed some gigs, and that earned her some fans. It got her recognized as the Best New Artist at the Blues Music Awards in Memphis. A self-produced live album got her a record deal with Ruf Records.

Shinyribs ready to take Black Swamp fest audience on a fantastic musical voyage Kevin Russell has a fertile imagination. Just ask him how the name Shinyribs originated.

Sometimes it involves giving a homeless woman some ribs. Or maybe as he also says it was just a meaningless moniker given to him by a bunch of derelicts he used to hang out with in northern Louisiana. Or maybe it’s from his toddler running around declaring “It’s shiny time!” “It was his mantra,” Russell said.

And about that time Russell was thinking a lot about the creation story involving Adam’s rib and thinking that the rib lives its life in darkness, and yet it’s close to the heart. Then Russell laughs. He’s laughter punctuated each of these creation stories.

He’s a guy who likes to have a good time, and likes to encourage others to have a good time.

That really is what Shinyribs stands for.

The Austin-based octet will be the Main Stage closer for Saturday night. Russell said he’s looking forward to the gig. “As soon as I saw the name, I said ‘I want to play the Black Swamp.’”

Russell’s music is rooted in joy. Growing up in Beaumont, he said: “We heard of tons of 45s, everything, The Sylvers, Billy Preston, Glen Campbell, Ray Stevens, Paul Revere and the Raiders, The Monkees, Jerry Reed, Waylon. That’s how we listened to music. We listened to everything. We didn’t care what kind of music it was. It was wide open. Me and my sisters would dance to that music. Great time.”

He practices, then played for his friends. “I got the bug and kind of kept doing it.”

That involved playing, but especially songwriting.

Russell said his songs, “a flood of songs,” are his diary, his autobiography.

Some found their way into the repertoire of The Gourds, which for 20 years was a staple of the bustling Austin, Texas music scene.

Wanting air out more of his songs and wanting to earn a few extra dollars, Russell started playing as a single under the name Shinyribs. It was just him and his guitar and ukulele. But bit by bit the band grew until it included backup singers and a horn section.

Now up on stage with all that exuberant sound behind him, he’s “a free man.” He can sing and dance, flop down on stage, cavort, don a cape. “They have the ability to watch me and follow. It’s a great skill as a musician. It makes magical moments possible when everyone is dialed in.” Russell will also get a conga line going. “It’s a community dance that everybody can be part of.

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Black Swamp Arts Festival poster is a winner at the 2017 Addys The poster for the 25th Black Swamp Arts Festival recently won a Silver ADDY at the 2018 American Advertising Federation - Toledo’s (AAF Toledo) ADDY Awards ceremony.

The poster designed by Amy Karlovec will now be eligible to move on to the national level.

The ADDY Awards Competition is sponsored by the American Advertising Federation Toledo, a nonprofit association of advertising and media professionals. The ADDY Awards Competition is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition for creative excellence.

Agencies, local businesses, creatives, and students submitted 181 entries and were awarded four Judge’s Choice, nine Gold ADDYs, seventeen Silver and eleven Bronze. One student entry won a Silver ADDY award and four student entries earned Bronze.

Karlovec, sometimes with her husband Matt, designed many of the festivals’ poster between 1998 and 2013. She came back to design the poster for the 25th year. In keeping with the milestone anniversary, the 2017 poster harks back to the past. The festival’s signature salamander shaped like a G-clef is prominently featured. Karlovec also wanted to evoke the screened and embossed approach of the poster for the first two years. “I … thought it would be great if I can design something more of a 2D fine art piece like a lithograph – something I haven’t done since college. … . With the help of a scanner and of course graphics software, I was able to create a poster that resembles a lithograph without going through the even more time consuming work of creating a wood cut and running in through a press.”

To get the silver color appropriate for the 25th year, she had the poster produced using a foil printing process on a special paper stock that has been discontinued. That “makes this year’s poster unique, special and a limited edition for sure,” she said. And that accomplishes another goal for the poster: “creating something that people would want to add to their collection of BSAF posters.”

Karlovec’s posters have won several awards over the years by Sunshine Artist Magazine.

This year’s Black Swamp Arts Festival, voted the best arts festival in Ohio by Ohio Magazine, will be presented in downtown Bowling Green, Sept. 7-9.

Festival’s eclectic musical lineup ‘right up our alley,’ leader of Kittel & Co. says

communities around the world.”

That’s the spirit of the quintet of virtuosos that he’ll bring to the Black Swamp Arts Festival Sunday for two sets, one on the Main Stage at 2 p.m. and then closing out the music on the Community Stage at 4.

Jeremy Kittel has passed this way before.

The quintet – violin, mandolin, guitar, hammered dulcimer, and, at Black Swamp, bass – will explore the The musician who calls himself both a fiddler and a world of string music from Irish, bluegrass, Bach, and violinist performed at Bowling Green State University in a Charlie Chaplin tune. Much of it, Kittel said, will be 2011 during his five-year stint with the genre-defying drawn from the ensemble’s recently released album Turtle Island String Quartet. The ensemble was a “Whorls.” good fit for a musician who since childhood has been captivated by the range of musical communities in A Michigan native, he was inspired by his older brother which his instrument had found a home. to start playing violin, beginning with Suzuki lessons.

Though he studied classically, he also stretched his “That’s what I was fascinated with early on,” he said interest to other styles early on. When he attended in a recent telephone interview. “Those styles were University of Michigan it was as a jazz major. He then like languages. Getting into those communities and pursued a master’s degree at Manhattan School of learning those styles was really attractive to me, the Music. way violin or fiddle will find its way in all these different

His wide-ranging skills as a classically trained violinist and improvising fiddler in many styles were part of his goal “to make myself the most employable violinist” in the city. That fit with the mission of Turtle Island for whom he played viola and arranged, including some of the charts on the quartet’s tribute to Jimi Hendrix, “Have You Ever Been… ?”

After five years though, he headed back to New York City to focus more on his own work as a composer and violinist.

Kittel & Co. gives him the platform to express both his talents as an instrumentalist and writer. The Black Swamp Arts Festival with its eclectic mix of acts provides an amenable venue for the group. Kittel & Co.’s Main Stage show will be bookended by Nikki D. and the Browns, a sacred steel gospel band from Toledo, and festival closer, the rising blues star, Samantha Fish.

Volunteers from far & near make Black Swamp Arts Festival possible Driving seven hours to attend the Black Swamp Arts festival wasn’t enough for Mira Gratrix.

Gratrix has been making the trek from her home in the Georgian Bay area of Ontario almost every year since 1995, and nine years ago she decided enjoying the festival wasn’t enough.

“I just love being a part of it,” Gratrix said. “It makes me feel closer to the festival. I want to help.”

So in 2017 Gratrix was back in Bowling Green selling tickets, checking in other volunteers as they showed up for their shifts, Mira Gratrix and conducting a survey of festival goers. In the past, she’s worked back stage, served as a gate monitor, served beer, and did artist hospitality.

She did miss one year when she broke her leg, but she was back the next helping out in a wheel chair.

Having participated in other festivals she knows how difficult it is to get volunteers. “It’s always a core group.”

That’s true as well in Bowling Green. The festival needs about 1,000 people to keep the event running smoothly over the weekend.

“Our challenge always remains that we’re an allvolunteer-run organization. We rely heavily on volunteers. The community always rises to the occasion and comes through” said past festival chair Todd Ahrens.

It’s a year long effort.

Then on festival weekend volunteers are recruited to Also helping with trash and recycling were the perform myriad tasks from helping set up on Friday members of the Dance Marathon Steering Committee. morning through tear down on Sunday late afternoon.

They were part of large contingent of BGSU Throughout the weekend community and campus students who helped out. They included student volunteers are busy. athletes, members of ECCO (Educators in Context & Community) and other groups.

Some help youngsters in the Kiwanis Youth Art area create their own masterpieces.

Ryan O’Neil, an architecture student from Columbus, was busy Saturday helping kids tie-dye t-shirts, one of Others deliver water to artists, or mind their booths so the festival’s signature activities. they can take a break.

“I like helping the local community,” he said. “I do it as Others sell merchandise, check identifications, and sell much as I can.” beverage tickets.

He said he enjoyed the music and the “safe Others monitor the entrances to the beer garden, to environment of the festival.” make sure the festival stays within the limits of its liquor permit.

Compared to the Ohio State Fair, he said “this is the right size.”

Others collect trash.

Gratrix first came to Bowling Green in 1994 to do Backstage hands help bands set up while others staff a year of graduate studies at Bowling Green State the table selling band merchandise.

University. She lived on Clough Street with her two daughters who attended Crim Elementary.

Each job is essential.

The festival was in its second year. She attended and fell in love with it.

The Black Swamp Arts Festival is created and organized by Volunteers. From set up Friday morning to take down on Sunday evening, about 1,000 volunteers make the Festival possible.

THANK YOU!

And each job offers volunteers a chance to see friends, hear music, and share the sense of accomplishment of staging a nationally recognized arts festival.

“People usually do have fun,” said Wynn Perry, who chairs the festival volunteer committee.

In late fall, the Visual Arts Committee has to start putting together a prospectus for artists interested in Volunteers can sign up by visiting the festival’s applying for the following September. Applications are website at: www.blackswampfest.org and click on the due by April with jurying to decide which artists will be Volunteer link at the top of the page. Most shifts are included in the show occurring later that month. two to three hours long.

Meanwhile the Performing Arts Committee is already Those volunteers include familiar faces. Geoff Howes scanning the horizon for bands to book. has performed several years with the Grande Royale Ukulelists of the Black Swamp. Last year he was doing Other committees also begin discussions on how to his part collecting trash, certainly one of the least fine-tune the event. glamorous jobs.

She met her friend Tamara O’Brien at that time and stays with her when she visits Bowling Green.

Gratrix’s passion for the festival has only grown over the years.

She wonders how the festival is able to attract the top performers it does. “The festival has really opened my ears up to music” she said. “I’d never heard of zydeco.”

Every year she returns home to the Georgian Bay with a new collection of recordings by festival performers.

But it’s more than the stars that make the event shine for her. The festival really brings out what makes the town great. “I’ve never met a disgruntled person.”

It attracts a far more diverse group of people than other festivals, she said. Those dancing to the music range from 8-year-olds to 80-year-olds.

When she returns north to her job as a forensic social worker, she spreads the word about the Black Swamp.

“I tell friends and family, you have to experience this.”

“That sounds right up our alley,” Kittel said.

Thank you to our Sponsor

The Festival is supported in part by the Ohio Arts Council, which receives support from the State of Ohio and the National Endowment for the Arts.

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Ryan O’Neil helps Katie Jenkins make a tie-dye shirt.

From left, Jackie Baer, Madeline Brandt, and KayKay Pou, all of the Dance Marathon steering committee, collect trash at the Black Swamp Arts Festival.

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MUSIC

Friday Night Acts To Light Up Black Swamp Festival Stage Here’s what’s in store under the Friday night lights on the Main Stage

From Rolling Stones to Black Swamp fest, saxophonist Karl Denson is always ready to start a party Some nights saxophonist Karl Denson will play for 87,000 people. Another night he might play for 87.

Some nights his meaty, soulful sound is blowing in the spotlight with the Rolling Stones. Other nights he’s “getting away with murder” playing jazz tunes in a rock club.

On Saturday Sept. 8, at 8 p.m. Denson will present his amalgamation of funk and pop with a heart of jazz on the Main Stage of the Black Swamp Arts Festival.

“It’s interesting to see how I’m perceived,” he said. Playing 150 shows a year, “you change the sound from time to time.”

“Sometimes it’s more funk and sometimes gets a little jazzier,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “It’s a dance band. At the end of the day, whatever angle I’m taking, I really want people to be dancing and having fun.”

This is in the spirit of those jazz players who came before him. “It was a party when Louis Armstrong played,” or for that matter, he added, when hip hop DJs started spinning turntables and scratching records.

As much as he loved working with Kravitz and doing jazz on the side, Denson wanted to create something of his own. The emergence of acid jazz opened up that avenue for him. “I recognized all those samples,” he said. “This is what I’m supposed to be doing.”

The saxophonist hooked up with DJ Greyboy and cut some tracks that were hits on the dance circuit. That led to the formation of the Greyboy All Stars, an ensemble that lasted longer than its namesake’s participation in the group.

“That was the most fun thing ever,” Denson said of the All Stars. Here he was bringing the jazz vibe that first inspired him as a teenager into dance clubs.

“At the end of the day I’m really trying to create vehicles for improvisation.”

That’s the spirit he wants to bring to Bowling Green. Denson’s been playing for good times since he was a teen.

Growing up in southern California, he started on saxophone in seventh grade. It was just something to do, he said. By high school he was working in funk bands and Mexican wedding bands.

Denson went to Fullerton College with the intentions of being a veterinarian. In high school he’d worked in an animal clinic, including assisting in the operating room. But he found himself taking more music classes each semester, so he switched his major. He moved on to Cal State Long Beach.

At that time he aspired to be an avant garde jazz saxophonist inspired by the likes of the Art Ensemble of Chicago, Cecil Taylor, and Anthony Braxton. This was a golden age of jazz with all its variety of styles, including early fusion, before it got smooth, he said.

“I feel fortunate to have lived through that,” he said. “Now I’m definitely using that as a reference. … I’m a jazz guy at heart. My stuff is going to lean back into that improvised kind of music. … It hangs in that sixties, seventies vein.”

When the All Stars had run its course, and members dispersed into other projects, Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe was born, made of the same amalgamation of soulful, dance-ready grooves with the leader’s saxophone, flute and vocals leading the way.

His musical heroes, he said, are composers – Herbie Hancock, Horace Silver and Prince – who write strong songs that last.

“At the end of the day I’m really trying to create vehicles for improvisation,” Denson said. “That’s what keeps us grounded in jazz. We’ve always got to have space for improvisation.”

Denson has continued to contribute his sound to a variety of performers, including the Blind Boys of Alabama, the reggae act Slightly Stoopid, for whose label he’s recorded, and jazz stars Jack DeJohnette and Dave Holland.

In 2014, friend and former employer Kravitz was dining with Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones. The Stones’ touring band’s longtime saxophonist Bobby Keys was critically ill. “Lenny immediately threw my hat in the ring,” Denson said. “I was on the phone with Mick a few days later.”

Touring with the Stones is something altogether different. “It’s really just a spectacle. I don’t play that much, to be very honest, maybe for 20 minutes. Mainly it’s just an amazing thing to see that wave of people. … It’s incredible.”

How many people, though, doesn’t impact how Denson approaches a show.

When he takes the stage in Bowling Green, he and his Tiny Universe will be ready to ignite a party.

And younger players, notably fellow saxophonist Kamasi Washington, are also inspired by the styles of that time.

Denson had a record deal with a German label playing straight-ahead jazz. But in the early 1990s, he went on the road with rock guitarist Lenny Kravitz.

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Story courtesy of BG Independent News bgindpendentmedia.org.

Two Tons of Steel: Billy Strings: Tapping into Revving up the rockabilly sound the magic on stage

Pimps of Joytime: Just call it funk

Named for a 1956 Coupe de Ville that served as the band’s “van,” Two Tons of Steel hails from San Antonio, Texas.

Billy Strings was born in Lansing, Michigan, the same year Two Tons of Steel got started. But he’s an old soul in a young body.

We can thank a local connection, though, for their appearance. Alex Hann, the long-time site and logistic chair for the festival, has been a fan since first hearing Two Tons at one of their regular gigs in the iconic Austin venues: the Gruene Music Hall.

While Strings’ songs evolve through live performance, Brian Jay, founder of the Pimps of Joytime, creates fully realized versions of his songs before presenting them to the band.

Now based in Nashville, from childhood he heard and learned bluegrass. His father was an avocational He’ll bring in a studio recording of the music, and the musician, so Strings (born William Apostol) started his band takes it from there. education in the music about the time he was learning That’s not surprising given the five-piece band (guitar, to tie his shoes. bass, drums and two percussion-wielding singers) As a teen, he got into Black Sabbath and played in started as a solo project. a heavy metal band, he said in a recent telephone interview. It was a short-lived diversion. “I don’t know Jay grew up in Egypt, with a father who loved music.

“My dad was a big fan of music so he played a lot of if I got sick of it or I realized how much bluegrass great music around the house.” The soundtrack of his meant to me.” youth included a lot of 1950s rock ‘n’ roll, blues, New Now he fronts a string band of fellow virtuosos with Orleans jazz, and some rock – the music that laid the his own pyrotechnic guitar and vocals center stage. foundation for what he plays now.

He was impressed by the band’s energy which had the dance floor packed from the first note, and their combination of styles. Two Tons of Steel has its roots in rockabilly and Texas swing. Perfect for the festival.

Conversations ensued, and Two Tons of Steel is now motoring into Ohio, virgin territory for the band. “It’s like being on a first date,” said leader Kevin Geil, in a recent telephone interview.

He grew up in Austin listening to rockabilly. “You could play those three chords and play a song. … It was simple and smooth, just great music. That’s where we started and that’s the foundation of how our songs are still written and performed.”

In 1992 in San Antonio, Geil started the band as a traditional three-piece rockabilly outfit with acoustic upright bass and guitars backing the vocals.

Back then the music was a novelty, and Two Tons of Steel took off. Billboard magazine wrote about them.

The band appeared on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville. A few of their songs were heard on “B” movie soundtracks.

As Geil started featuring songs he’d written, he decided to expand by adding a drummer. Later came along steel guitar, though that musician won’t be making the Midwest swing with the band.

His original songs blend the dazzle and heartache of bluegrass with contemporary themes. “Dealing Despair” condemns the culture of violence.

The Pimps’ sound is comprised of a lot of elements.

“We just call it funk for lack of a better name. It tends to be very rhythmic.”

“Mostly I have to be alone when I start writing a song,” Strings said. “Sometimes in the shower, in the kitchen, sometimes in the bedroom. Sometimes I’m looking at my reflection in the mirror. I wander around the house babbling to come up with something.”

The enduring influence of New Orleans is evident in the band’s collaborations with members of the Neville Brothers.

He writes down the lyrics as they take shape, and the lyrics determine the mood and style of the music.

He may have a clear vision for the song when he presents it to the band, but it’s still incomplete. The song is like a Mr. Potato Head body, he said.

When the band plays it 50, 100 times on stage, the red sneakers, the nose, the hat get added. “You learn little tricks that you’re developing on the spot. You keep those magic things that happen.”

Geil’s songs mostly get their start on his phone. He records licks and pieces of lyrics. “The majority of these Now based in Nashville, Strings has been busy playing 200 shows or so a year in support of his first fullsongs were written on my phone.” length recording “Turmoil and Tinfoil.”

Geil learned his songwriting lessons well from pioneers of the genre. “I always start with the hook. … The Black Swamp Arts Festival with its mix of styles It’s all about the hook, the melody.” But the song also suits him just fine. Often the band with its acoustic has to say something. sound will stick out among the electric guitars and drums. “We’re always glad to play that part.”

Now, that’s a mature look at love and heartbreak. In the early days, it was about cars and drinking.

In performance he takes an open-ended approach.

“We can stretch out on a long improvised jam. We like “It’s the heartbeat of any band to go out and record. It to break down the boundaries of genres, improvise keeps you motivated and excited about playing new and play some free-form stuff.” songs,” Geil said.

“It’s exciting. It’s the first impression. You have that energy and an excitement of these people who have never heard us. ‘Let’s go, show them what we’ve got.’

It’s definitely fun.”

Jump ahead to New York in 2007. Jay, who started playing drums before taking up guitar, decided he wanted to record an album. He holed up in the studio, laying down all the tracks himself.

When the album hit the streets, he needed a live band to play the release party. So he assembled the Pimps of Joytime. Then the band landed a residency at the legendary Brooklyn venue Black Betty.

The personnel has shifted over the years with singer Marteana Morales dating back to those the early years.

Jay looks for more than technical ability in enlisting musicians. “You have to have a musical rapport with what I do. … It’s a little more than talent. Someone has to jell with the musical style. It’s a vibe thing. You have to be enthusiastic. You have to want to do it.”

The Pimps are selective on how many shows they do. Their schedule shows them performing a show every couple weeks. “That’s intentional,” Jay said. “We don’t want to be working like crazy. I’ve tried to find a balance. You don’t want to give it all up.”

The Black Swamp Arts Festival “seemed like fun, with a good vibe.”

“We like the festival scene,” he said. “You play outdoors and it’s summer, and everyone is in a good mood. That tends to be fun way to do things.”

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THANK YOU TO OUR 2018 SPONSORS

PRESENTING SPONSORS

MAJOR DONORS

PATRON DONORS Stump’s Fire Extinguisher

Peters Equipment

Kellermeyer-Nichols

D&D Landscaping Supply

SUPPORTING DONORS Swig

Frisch’s Big Boy

Vito’s Pizza and Subs

Tony Packo’s

iOutlet

Grounds For Thought

Pisanello’s Pizza

South Side 6

Shumaker, Loop and Kendrick

AT&T

Vinchar

Jet’s Pizza

Papa John’s Pizza SamB’s

Marv Bovia

Intech

Stimmel’s Market

FRIENDS OF THE FESTIVAL Roger & Betty Jean Anderson AA Green Realty in honor of Diane Crow Todd & Amy Craft Ahrens Carl & Kay Lipp Chris & Jean Geist Rob & Nancy Spence Chris & Ellen Dalton Jeff & Marti Frye Steve & Rhonda Melchi Poggmeyer Design Group John Fawcett & Kris Phillips Bob & Sue Fellers In Memory of Bill Hann Megan Newlove & Lloyd Triggs Ted Groat and Peggy Giordano Al & Kathy Caperna Marty & Leslie Jan Don & Char Scherer Tom & Marcia Suter Jean & Tom Bamburowski Dick & Nadine Edwards in honor of Judy Cernkovich Leo & Joanne Navin Dennis & Janet Bower

Linda & Doug Cubberley William Donnelly Chris and Gloria Gajewicz, Jordan and Daniel Gretchen Rohm Tom & Jane Milbrodt Dunn Funeral Home Inc Linda Hanna Mark & Terri Henning Family Carol Hicks Jay & Linda Hoffman Anonymous Louis & Linda Katzner Claude & Earlene Kilpatrick Betty Laukhuf in honor of Gerald & Lorrie Laukhuf Mary Lou Marsh in honor of Dick Marsh Martha & Roger Mazzarella Chuck & Dawn McCaghy in honor of Ruth Hoffman Vic Norton & Kathleen Tweney Janet B Parks Ann & Cary Rutter Joan Slebos Karol H Spencer

John & Norma Stickler Jenny Swope Jo Tutolo Ron and Maorong Lancaster Giving Fund Joyce M Kepke Elizabeth Yarris Steve & Ivy Chang Lee Meserve John Sampen & Marilyn Shrude Nancy Wikoff Leetch Lewis & Mary Jane Fulchner Tina & Joe Martini Allstate- Steve Keys George & Marsha Broadright Pattie Butler Wayne & Cindy Colvin Anonymous Dr Ed Duling Ron & Sharon Gargasz Fire Lake Camper Park Elaine Goodwin in honor of Bob Goodwin Mary Ann Hoare Chet & Jan Marcin

Mike & Terri Marsh Jan & Frank McLaughlin Eric & Linda Myers Ron & Linda Newlove Thomas & Barbara O’Brien Philip Peek & Elaine Bruckner Bob & Winnie Rex Michael & Carol Repass Timothy Romano Dr. Roger & Barbara Sanchez Ernest & Louise Savage Stuart Stearns Carol Stickel Vern & Elsie Terwilliger Dave & Joan Woessner Colleen Smith Marie Massey - Rogers Anonymous Kelli Kling Steve & Beth Ricard Anonymous Thomas & Wendy Headley Don & Lynn Deters in honor of Morgan Deters Elden Martin

Maria & Marc Simon Denise & Scott Kisabeth Norman Chambers Jeffery Clemans Patricia Evans Jim Evans & Penny Evans-Meyer Judy Hudson Chris & Deb Jackson Naomi Lee John & Debbie Strawman Chibucos Family Karen Kelly Greg & Tina Robinette Sandy Gardner Cheryl Windisch Bob & Joan Callecod Galen & Carol Ash Michael Whiteside Les and Sue Barber Jean Geist Emmy Hann Memory of Bill Hann William Donnelly Nancy Wikoff Leetch Kathy East Cheryl Windisch