the 941

Laura Gale of Everything But the Girl is Atomic alumni… She is a FOUR TIMER, folks! Laura produced the fashion shows for AHB II & III with Monica Eshkoli (of Freaky Tiki) and EBTG will be at both Atomic shows this year, Saturday Night, 12/12/09 and Sunday, 12/13/09.

I remember the first Atomic show in 2006, Laura made a point of stopping me a little before the doors were getting ready to open and she told me to stop and take it all in. What can I say? It was a moment, a very, very good moment! Everything But the Girl is kind of like Atomic Holiday Bazaar year round, we are very lucky to have such a fun and colorful place to shop in Sarasota! It wouldn’t be Atomic without Laura. Ms. Gale’s interview can be read below!

Name of Business/Website Address? everything but the girl, boutique & gallery / shopebtg.com/

What City/State do you reside in? Sarasota FL

Is this your first time attending Atomic or have you done the show before? I am in my senior year, Year #4!

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Hello, fellow Sarasotans. It is my pleasure to introduce you to my new blog, which I have oh-so-fittingly dubbed “The Starving Artist.” My goal for these posts is to give you an insider’s view into the trials and tribulations of a musician trying to start a music career on the Suncoast. I plan to provide you with some valuable tips on how best to market your music and get shows booked, and also what it’s like to play at our local establishments from an artist’s perspective. I’ll let you know who draws the best crowds and how receptive they are to the music, what venues have the best sound, what it’s like dealing with the booking agents and what you can expect to earn for a night’s work. I hope I can entertain and enlighten you on what it really means to be a starving artist on the Suncoast.

First thing’s first. Any musician that wants to break into any music scene has to start by getting their name out there. And before you can do that you have to have a name. I will be writing this blog from a solo artist’s viewpoint, but most of the information should translate to full bands as well. A stage name or band name can be the most important decision a musician will ever make. Once you put all the legwork into marketing your name — website, MySpace page, press kit, promotional materials and, most importantly, public name recognition — you’re pretty much stuck with it. Unless you’re Jack White and you can come out with a new band every few months, you will probably be tied to that name for the entirety of your musical career.

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The title was a question a drunken costumed girl asked us on the sidewalk. Not sure what she wanted between the slurs and stumbles. The folks of Sarasota often live in the sunlit world of what we believe to be reality. But there is unseen by most, a place just as real, but not as brightly lit… the Sarasota Halloween festivities.

The goblins and things that go bump are snug in there bone strewn nests as Halloween 2009 comes to an end in Sarasota. Saturday night I was witness to many creatures ranging from pimps to vampires, and everything between the the veil of our world and the next. The evening started with me cleaning off my girlfriend’s rental car. It was hit by tricksters the night before and was covered with blue glitter and toilet paper. She suited up as a stunning Demon Lover and myself as Doctor Who, or as many folks thought, Lex Luther. Damn non-BBC-watching fools. We started things off with a glass of absinthe and then a visit to the Dark Side to see some folks. After a brief visit we jumped our brooms and flew off to the festivities down at the Gator Club block party. Which apparently our own Cliff Roles was taking snaps of. How did we miss him? He is everywhere? After a couple of drinks, some great costumes and some great local tunes we headed to back to our undead transport.

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Holy. Shit. I finally got to see Viva Le Vox last night at Pastimes, who are my head liner band for the Saturday night Atomic Holiday Bazaar show 6-11:30 p.m. Sat., Dec. 12, and yes, I will continue to state the date over and over to pound it into your sweet little fleshy heads until you all become my Atomic minions and rub my body in holiday honey, oh wait, that’s another story.

Back to Viva Le Vox! Jesus, what a bunch of sweet boys. OK, men. Sweet, talented men. They have a new CD out, Desperation Alley, and you really should have gotten your ass to the Paddywagon over in Gulf Gate, here in Sorryscrotum (Sarasota) last week to get a preview of this band, because they will knock your fuckin’ socks off unless you’re wearing flip flops and if you’re wearing flip flops your toes will curl openly in public from the sheer glee of what this band delivers.

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COVER STORY

— The Sarasota Film Society’s 20th Cine-World kicks off this Friday. Tim Sukits profiles three films you need to see.

NEWS & VIEWS

— Best of the Suncoast 2009 fallout: We compile all the best comments you posted on our website (and a couple corrections, too).

— As the Sarasota-Manatee Jewish Federation celebrates its 50th birthday, some of the organization’s most influential figures reflect on Sarasota’s Jewish history.

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Miss Tess & the Bon Ton Parade play at New World Brewery Wed., Nov. 11

Ed. note: This piece was compiled by Jennifer Almond.

THURSDAY, Nov. 5
ACE’S Vulgarrity/Muphin Chuckrs
AMERICAN LEGION POST 312 Smokey & Duane
THE FLYING DOG CAFÉ Open Mic/Jam Night
THE GATOR CLUB The Cherry Bombs
HONOLUANA ISLAND GRILL Open Mic w/Lynn Haines
THE IRISH ROVER Rhythm & Blues w/Paul Duffy
LEBARGE BC Hathaway
MATTISON’S RIVERSIDE The Billy Rice Band
MOTHER’S MUSICAL BAKERY Open Mic
OLD PACKINGHOUSE The Wire Beaters
PALLADIUM THEATER Dr. John & The Lower 911 w/Bill “The Sauce Boss” Wharton Longtime New Orleans musician Dr. John plays blues-, boogie- and R&B- saturated rock, his key-playing and coarse, deep swamp drawling vocals backed by slinky funkin’ beats and grooves made for moving. Much of his songwriting focuses on his home, including 2008’s City That Care Forgot, about the devastation of Hurricane Katrina and the years of neglect and social turmoil that have followed. Dr. John is joined by his full band, the Lower 911. Wharton cooks up his own brand of spicy blues to kicks things off. —Leilani Polk
SHARKY’S David Moore

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The Genitorturers
w/ Jackal & Hyde/Sex Slaves/Team Cybergeist, Fri., Nov. 6, 9 p.m., The Ritz Ybor, Ybor City, $15 general, $25 VIP

The siren wails of ascending notes, the speedy electro hammering of programmed drums and a fat and sinister guitar riff open Blackheart Revolution. And then the bestial growl of Genitorturers frontwoman/namesake Gen aggro blasts onto the track and demands your undivided attention: “Well no one cares about the rock star illusion / No one cares because the mystery is gone / Well, I know it’s time for evolution / Now I’m a savior and I’ve got a solution / I’ve whipped the masses and my legion’s grown strong / So I’m here to lead the revolution now.”

“It gets you, it grabs you,” Gen says about “Revolution,” the first song on her band’s fifth and latest studio release, which was co-produced by Genitorturers bassist David “Evil D” Vincent (Morbid Angel) and Scott Humphrey (Motley Crue, Rob Zombie, Ozzy Osbourne). “That’s definitely one of my favorites because it was a challenge trying to figure out how I was going to approach the vocals — the song needed to have a lot of attitude and it needed to be seething and powerful. David actually tracked a lot of the vocals on the record, and man, he just kept pushing me. He’d say, ‘Nope, not good enough. Nope, not good enough. Do it again.’ To the point where he got me so pissed off … there’s a scream on there that’s very heartfelt.”

Gen is a versatile singer — she can hit high notes, turn on the sweet croon, the sexy snarl, the commanding roar, the ferocious howl, the playful purr. Her vocals are set against big, ballsy industrial rock and electro-metal. The result is brutally seductive mayhem.

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Dirty Rotten Scoundrels opens at Venice Theatre Nov. 10

Ed. note: This piece was compiled by Danielle Favreau.

VISUAL ARTS: OPENING

4TH BI-ANNUAL ESTERO FINE ART SHOW Miromar Outlets, 10801 Corkscrew Road, Estero (755-3088 or hotworks.org). This massive event will feature a juried art show and sale of works by professional artists as well as food and live entertainment. Please see this week’s See & Do for more information. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov 7-8. Free.

ART UPTOWN 1367 Main St., Sarasota (955-5409 or artuptown.com). Jacquie Clark’s still life and dog portrait watercolors will be displayed along with Jon Greeley’s oil on canvas portraits. Exhibit runs Nov.7-13. Regular hours are 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Sat. Free.

THE DANCING CRANE GALLERY 1019 10th Ave. W., Bradenton (744-1333 or dancing-crane.com). The gallery will have their three-year anniversary celebration with an art giveaway and a showcase of the gallery’s featured artists. 6-9 p.m. Nov. 6. Regular hours are 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Thurs.-Sat. Free.

S/ART/Q INAUGURAL EXHIBITION 1549 State St., Sarasota (330-4838 or sARTq.com). This local group of professional artists will hold their Inaugural Exhibition of multimedia, painting, photography and more. Please see this week’s See & Do for more information. 5-10 p.m. Nov. 6 and 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 7. Free.

SELBY GALLERY Ringling College of Art and Design, 2700 N. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (359-7563 or ringling.edu/selbygallery). The People and Places Juried Photography Exhibition will be on display as well as the Annual Ringling College Faculty Exhibition and the College Staff and Instructor Exhibition. Regular hours are Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and Tues. until 7 p.m. Free.

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Amidst a flurry of last-second entries in our ticket giveaway contest for Sunday’s big Brad Paisley show at Tampa’s Ford Amphitheatre, we have decided upon a winner! Drumroll, please…

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Like a bag full of sugary goodies this Halloween weekend is upon us. I have decided to provide you slathering ghouls with a bag full of snacks myself. This week I give you enough creepy goodness that you may choke on it, or at least have a sore tummy in the morning:

1. If you’re in the mood for some old-school spooky films to get you in that Halloween spirit, Classic Cinema Online has gathered together hundreds of films. This week it’s classic spooky, scary, and supernatural movies in honor of Halloween’s approach. Even if you’re somewhere where you can’t sit down and watch a film from yesteryear, browsing the awesome movie posters is well worth the price of free.

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