Press
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BAAM 2010 PRESS
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Amazing photos on The Mayor and Sharrif celebrating BAAM! Click for super high res!
- Sharrif Simmons and Mayor William Bell celebrate BAAM! Photo courtesy Tyler Diuguid
- Sharrif Simmons and Mayor William Bell celebrate BAAM! Photo courtesy Tyler Diuguid.
Via Tapestry:
Cities like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco are famous for their cultural scene. Birmingham has its fair share of culture, too. During the month of August, the Magic City will host two festivals unique to the city. WBHM’s Collin Kurre has the scoop.
Check out the new Bmetro magazine! Mention on the cover and a sweet 4 page color spread! Big thanks to Bmetro.
Via AL.com: http://blog.al.com/scenesource/2010/08/new_birmingham_multi-venue_mus.html
A multi-venue music and arts festival planned for Aug. 20-22 aims to be Birmingham’s version of the famed South By Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas.
The Birmingham Arts and Music Festival (BAAM) will showcase at least 75 acts in at least 11 venues around the downtown area, says Sharrif Simmons, who is organizing the event with Dafina Ward.
“We definitely took a page from South by Southwest, but it has a Birmingham flair to it,” Simmons said. “There will be a few acts from Nashville and a few from Atlanta and Houston, but it’s mostly based here, celebrating the local scene.”
Right now, 11 venues are on board, including Rogue Tavern, The Wine Loft, Old Car Heaven, WorkPlay, Bottletree, Rojo, Parkside, Stillwater Pub, Zydeco, Flirt and Metro Bistro. Acts will include bands, singer-songwriters, belly dancers, painters, comedians and poets, said Simmons, a musician and spoken word artist himself.
Simmons once was a host of a cable access program celebrating Birmingham’s arts scene, and he says BAAM comes out of that. With the demise of both City Stages and the Birmingham Heritage Festival, 2010 seemed the right year to launch, he said.
“Those festivals satisfied a lot of the market, so this didn’t need to happen,” Simmons said. “I’ve found that everybody was almost immediately receptive to this. They’re willing to try it out, and we’ve been putting it together for a little over a year.”
One ticket will give someone access to all of the clubs on Aug. 20-22, Simmons said. Advance tickets will be $30 for the weekend or $15 per day, with a $40 VIP ticket including transportation to all of the venues. Those prices go up $5 on Aug. 20.
Acts confirmed include Cleve Eaton, Erin Mitchell, Chad Fisher, Kendra Sutton, Heath Green, Stuart McNair, Soul Enigma, Jaafar Travel Light and many others, Simmons said.
In future years, BAAM will reach outside of the Birmingham area for some of its acts, but “there will always be a component that features the local talent,” Simmons said.
“We’re really hoping that there will be a generation of interest in Birmingham’s music industry,” he said. “People tend to have to go out of the city to be discovered or recognized or whatever, and we want that to be able to happen here.”
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