Ian Hesford & the 2012 Baker Awards

The artistic community in Baltimore is just that, a community of like-minded individuals that know and work with each other.  The Baker Awards has done a lot to foster communication between these artists and to promote the growth of the arts in Baltimore.  Every year the Baker awards gives large amounts of money to individual artists that have been recognized for excellence in one way or another.  This year's winners were announced this past Wednesday and are Alexander Heilner, Nathan Bell and David Knopp.  Check out the great video below that aired on MPT announcing the winners.



2012 Baker Artist Awards from Baker Artist Awards on Vimeo.


So when a member of our community is in trouble, we generally take notice.  Our friend Ian Hesford, a gifted musician and member of the band Telesma, has fallen ill.  After collapsing on stage from a heart attack on the 20th of April during their Visionary Gathering at the Ram's Head, he is improving slowly.  Updates can be found on Telesma's facebook page, and there is a fund being set up you can donate to.  He is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet, and well liked by most everyone in Baltimore's arts scene.  Below are a couple of performances with Ian from the past few years.  The first is with Abhishek Basu, an amazing tabla player from India, and fellow Telesma band member Jason Sage at the Metro Gallery.  I just uploaded the second video and it brings this post full circle. Shodekeh, Baltimore's premier beat-boxer and a Baker Award winner last year, can be seen here performing with Ian and Bethany Dinsick.  This example of signature vocal stylings was recorded for the BMA by Rob Hatch and myself.

Sharo Van Etten Show & Audio

Sharon Van Etten, one of my absolute favorite female vocalists out there right now, hits the Ottobar tonight, Thursday the 19th.  Her undeniable folk and introspective rock is sincere and insightful, all well being laden with licks that will carry you home.  I taped her performance March 10th of last year at the Metro Gallery and posted it last June, but decided to clean it up a bit and reissue it.  I've been getting better about separating the audio into tracks and mastering them, so this version is superior to the original issue.  I meant to put this out earlier in the week, but I've been swamped with work.  Sharon is playing with Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak opening up as "Flock of Dimes".  A video was also released last month for Love More that is compiled completely from footage submitted by fans, and is used for the video projection she'll have for the show.  Check it below and go to the show.  I'll be there.

Video: More Dogs 09/10/05

This week let's take a trip back in time to 2005, and check out some video I dug up from the vaults when I was looking for old performances by the Baltimore band formerly known as "Thank You".  There was a ridiculously fun festival in front of the Talking Head Club in Baltimore. The event thrown was known as "Irreverent Fog 2", the second in a series of outdoor festivals thrown by the Talking Head back when it was on Davis Street. This clip is of the band "More Dogs", recorded on September 10th, 2005. The band members, Michael Bouyoucas, Steve Santillan and Emmanuel Nicolaidis, joined forces with Jeffrey McGrath later that year and became "Thank You".

Audio: The Degenerettes 01/07/12

For the last 7 years the Degenerettes have been a Baltimore mainstay - rocking women with punk unfurled covering everything from CIA conspiracies to gender identity issues, all while keeping it fun.  These ladies managed to keep on the absolute edge of the queer rock scene in the Baltimore / DC area and have a very inclusive sound all at the same time.  They released what I believe to be their second full-length "Philosopher Queens" with a whalloping party at the Metro Gallery on January 7th, 2012.  With Snacks, Schwervon! and Saddle of Centaur opening, it was a well attended event and the set was nothing short of epic.  Now you can listen and download the whole thing here!

Caught on Tape: Horse Lords, Matmos, Kevin Sherry, Microkingdom, Sri Aurobindo

Here's some videos other great tapers around town have posted...

Strawberry Rhubarbs posted this awesome video of Matmos from the Ottobar show on the 16th of December last year.  I realize this is a throwback, but I love these guys and for some reason it was just posted last week.

Of course, Horse Lords just played a show at the Floristree recently, and Dennis Ovitch uploaded the majority of it here.  I'm a huge HL fan.

Dennis also caught the Black Cherry Puppet Theater on March 17th, and uploaded a short skit performed by Kevin Sherry.  Kevin and I were neighbors a long time ago in a galaxy far away, and he is genuinely one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.  Turns out he also does a good job performing with puppets.

Tom Kessler caught up with Sri Aurobindo at the Ottobar March 8th.
And Tom caught Microkingdom at the Whole Gallery on the 23rd of March.