The Studio Art and Music

A guide to Intown’s upcoming festivals

Chastain Park Arts Festival

There will be 185 artists representing all disciplines, a children’s play area, local food trucks and live acoustic music at this year’s event, May 6-7. For more, visit chastainparkartsfestival.com.

Sweet Auburn Springfest

The 33rd annual festival will be held May 13-14 along Downtown’s historic Auburn Avenue, featuring food, entertainment and information. Details were still being worked out at press time, but expect a kids’ fun zone, international food court, zip line and plenty of live music. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and 1 to 8 p.m. on Sunday. Visit sweetauburn.com for more information.

Shaky Knees And Shaky Beats Festivals

These two separate music festivals will be bringing some of the biggest names in rock/alternative and dance music to Atlanta. Shaky Knees is May 12-14 at Centennial Olympic Park in Downtown and the lineup includes LCD Soundsystem, Cage the Elephant, Pixies, The xx, Nick Murphy, Phoenix, The Shins, Ryan Adams and many more. See the full roster and buy tickets at shakykneesfestival.com. Shaky Beats is May 5-7 at Centennial Park featuring Griz, RL Grime, Bonobo, Kaskade, Flosstradamus, Galantis, Zeds Dead, Girl Talk and The Chainsmokers. Tickets and information at shakybeatsfestival.com.

Movies In Central Park

The 2017 season of Movies in Central Park at Atlantic Station will feature films from the ‘90s including “Tremors” on May 18 and the original animated “Beauty and the Beast” on May 25. Also on deck: “Fried Green Tomatoes,” “The Fugitive,” “Twister,” “10 Things I Hate About You” and “Miss Congeniality.” The films will begin promptly at dusk. To view the complete lineup of films and dates, visit atlanticstation.com.

Atlanta Jazz Festival

The lineup for the 40th annual Atlanta Jazz Festival on Memorial Day Weekend in Piedmont Park includes Macy Gray, Charles Lloyd Sky, Marquis Hill Blacktet, Freddy Cole and a tribute to Miles Davis featuring bandmember Mino Cinelu. The free festival takes place May 2628. For more information, visit atlantafestivals.com.

Decatur Arts Festival

The 29th annual festival will be held Memorial Day weekend in and around downtown Decatur. The event kicks off May 26 with an ArtWalk around Decatur and the Oakhurst neighborhood to participating galleries and businesses. The giant artist market downtown will be open May 27-28 featuring vendors from all over the region. There will also be live music, dance, performing arts, literary events, a kid’s area, food and much more. See the full schedule at decaturartsfestival.com.

CANDLER PARK MUSIC & FOOD FESTIVAL

Kirkwood Spring Fling

The 15th annual Kirkwood Spring Fling and Tour of Homes is set for May 20 at Bessie Branham Park. The day begins at 8:30 a.m. with a 5K road race along Hosea Williams Drive, while the artist market will be open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. There will be live music, a kids’ area, food from local vendors and a Barbecue Cookoff. The Kirkwood Tour of Homes (which is also open on May 21) offers looks inside classic and funky-chic homes. Tickets for the home tour are $20 and available online. Admission to the festival is free, while proceeds from the home tour benefit the Kirkwood Neighbors Organization. For more, visit kirkwoodfling.com.

The June 2-3 festival will feature Joe Russo’s Almost Dead, Railroad Earth, Lake Street Dive, Matisyahu and more on June 2-3. This year, the event will feature more than 20 local food trucks and local restaurant vendors, a local artist market, adult field games by Atlanta Sport & Social Club, the Terrapin Draft Lounge offering an expanded selection of rare Terrapin brews, a craft cocktail bar and a Saturday morning 5K race benefiting Atlanta ContactPoint. For tickets and information, visit candlerparkmusicfestival.com.

VIRGINIA-HIGHLAND SUMMERFEST

The annual music, art and food festival will be held June 3-4. The full music lineup had not been announced at press time, so be sure to visit vahi.org for all the details.

By Isadora Pennington

If you never got the chance to hear Jimi Hendrix, The Beatles, Michael Jackson or James Brown play live, ATL Collective is recreating their classic albums around Intown to much acclaim.

Founded back in 2009 by a couple of musicians, the Collective is an organization that hosts shows featuring live, local music at shows that cover classic albums from start to finish.

The concept took form when the owner of the now closed Danneman’s on Edgewood approached local musician David Berkeley and asked for help booking live music on the roof of the building. Berkeley then reached out to his friend Micah Dalton, and together the two established ATL Collective. Rather than hosting an open mic in the space, they instead sought ways to bring local musicians together for concerts that would also draw a crowd.

In comparison with performances by cover bands, this concept has the ability to apply to a wide variety of sounds. Because the organization curates the musicians that they bring together for these concerts, they are not limited to working within one genre or vocal range, for example.

Throughout the years, the shows have grown in size and popularity, leading to finding new locations that can handle even bigger crowds. In 2012 the Collective covered Michael Jackson’s Thriller album to a sold out crowd of 200 at the Music Room, and by 2014 they were selling out 600plus seat shows at Terminal West for James Brown’s Funky Christmas. All told, they have been pulling from a pool of more than 200 singers and another 200 members of their house band, and have covered more than 75 classic albums since the company’s inception.

The organization has also sought to form partnerships with some local businesses, which has provided even more opportunities to spotlight local artists. Most notably, they are sponsored and supported by Mailchimp, Old Fourth Distillery, Criminal Records and Terminus Tees, as well as the myriad of venues where they play. They recently hosted a show for Delta featuring 25 local artists, for example, and they enjoyed playing as part of the Atlanta Jewish Music Fest in March, covering Beastie Boys’ Licensed to Ill. “It was larger than life,” recalled David Feldman, Content and Media Director.

Feldman felt an instant connection with ATL Collective when he joined, and cited a particularly moving concert based on the Beatles’ Abbey Road as his inspiration to get on board. “I thought it was just the coolest thing,” he continued, “we are really onto something.” Since then, he’s played a major role in the overall looks of ATL Collective. His ad agency, 3 Owl Media, handles the logo, website and visual branding.

Today, the team consists of: the original cofounders David Berekely and Micah Dalton; David Feldman and Rhiannon Clark, who handle operations and booking; Robbie Handler, who acts as music director; technical director Joel Siebell; and graphic designer Thomas Lockwood. The diversely talented team is united around the common goals of producing top grade music and uniting the local music community. “It’s everyone’s favorite second job,” Feldman said with a laugh.

ATL Collective already has some killer shows on the books for this year, including recreating Hotel California by The Eagles at City Winery on May 19.

To find out more about ATL Collective and keep up with the upcoming concerts as they’re announced, go to atl-collective.com or follow them on social media at facebook. com/atlcollective.

Jazz Mondays

MARTA riders to get preview of Atlanta Jazz Festival this month at local stations

By Grace Huseth

MARTA riders will be walking with an extra skip in their step in May. Each Monday, jazz musicians will be playing in select MARTA stations as a preview to the 40th annual Atlanta Jazz Festival on Memorial Day weekend at Piedmont Park.

Bassist Kevin Scott and the four-piece band The Indie Revenge have a mission for their MARTA Monday: bringing a new beat to Atlanta. Scott been a fixture on the music scene for years and is hoping to bring jazz to new listeners.

“Atlanta has always leaned towards smooth jazz, but over the years the Atlanta Jazz Festival is getting better with adding diversity and trying new beats,” Scott said.

More than a decade ago, Scott started jazz jam sessions for local musicians, which evolved into a weekly improvisation night at Elliott Street Pub in Castleberry Hill. “It’s all walks of life, from jazz to indie. Anything can happen, but it’s still in the spirit of jazz.”

Scott desires to serve as a mentor to young musicians and help them revitalize the Atlanta jazz scene. His own mentor, Russell Gunn, taught him the importance of what Scott calls “dropping insight the old school way.”

“I come from a school of thought where performance arts meets improv, but Russell just wants you to be yourself,” Scott said. “It’s about being true on the bandstand.”

Music fans will get a taste of Gunn’s jazz-meets-EDM (electronic dance music) during the Atlanta Jazz Festival on May 28 on the Contemporary Stage with Kebbi Williams’ Wolf Pack at 6:15 p.m.

After the festival, Scott recommends Elliott Street Pub and Kebbi Williams at Gallery 992 for more authentic, new Atlanta jazz. “If you want to know what’s happening, these guys are pushing the envelope. These are the spots for catching the cutting edge stuff.”

Kevin Scott and Indie Revenge will be playing at the Midtown MARTA station on May 22. For more about the festival, visit atlantafestivals.com. MARTA

Concerts are from 3 to 5 p.m.