What’s Going On? Punk, Flowers & Fashion!

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MAY, our favorite month, is when the busy came back to Sonic Pie Productions, LLC. Here’s some of the debut performance of Deep Fog (North Carolina Museum of Art asked us to engineer and multitrack–engineer Jasmine Battle at the helm.) This is #PUNK #INDIE from Laura King (Bat Fangs, Speed Stick, Moaners), H.C. McEntire (solo, Mount Moriah, Bellafea), Nora Rogers (Solar Halos, Object Hours, The Curtains of Night), and Jenny Waters (Work Clothes, Object Hours).

Recorded live in the West Building at NCMA the commissioned set of original material was composed this spring over the span of one month and includes a score to this year’s #ArtInBloom fashion show, NCMA Foundation’s major

#fundraiser. #work #music #film #fashion #flowerart #show #sonicpieproductions #ncma

Etching the Days Into the Wall Since You Last Saw a Live Concert?

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This week, Cardinal & Pine published an extensive feature about Covid’s impact on North Carolina’s music industry and economy, including part of a candid interview with Sonic Pie Production’s founder & CEO, Tess Mangum. From IBMA, J. Cole and Amythyst Kiah to Ramseur Records and PineCone, you’ll want to read the entire piece, by Jesse James DeConto.

Durham From The Heart Season 2 Livestream Series

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Durham from the Heart is back, for a second season! Don’t let your week blur together–reclaim your Wednesday and mark the middle day with these 1-2 p.m. online performances at https://www.facebook.com/DowntownDurham

Comment in real time or just hang out. Sponsored by Downtown Durham Inc., curated by Sonic Pie Productions. If you live or work in Durham, North Carolina or Durham County and want to apply for this (paid) performance opportunity, email us at sonicpieproductions@gmail.com.

Sonic Pie Productions Announces Partnership with Three Attic Entertainment

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Through our partnership with Three Attic Entertainment, Sonic Pie Productions is prepared to handle all video needs for your event. Keep your YouTube, Instagram and other social media accounts fresh and reach worldwide viewers with concert videos, livestream, event videography, live conference panels, meet and greets, virtual real estate tours and historic site tours. Email sonicpieproductions@gmail.com for pricing and information.

 

SELL OUT ALERT: Deep Fried Swap Meet Hootenanny ft. Rissi Palmer, Tamisha Waden and XOXOK

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If you are ready for some in-person fun, join Tess in the big backyard of her 1935 farmhouse for fried chicken, deep fried mac & cheese, homemade coconut cake and more artery-clogging nibbles to enjoy with two glasses of craft beer or wine. It’s a Deep Fried Swap Meet Hootenanny! It’s especially monumental because it’s Sonic Pie Productions’ first live concert event since the U.S. outbreak of COVID-19 in March.

To Tess and Bryce, a hootenanny is where folk music can mean country, soul or hip hop, so get ready for special musical guests Rissi Palmer (Apple Music’s Color Me Country), Tamisha Waden (The Foreign Exchange) and Keenan Jenkins (XOXOK). Throw in a swap meet and everyone goes home with unforgettable memories and a new treasure. Each ticket holder should bring 1-2 sanitized personal items to swap and the story that goes with them. A zero waste event.

Saturday, October 10, 5:30 p.m.

Durham, NC

Tickets $45, tips encouraged! All proceeds benefit the 501c3 Durham Central Park, Inc., 

The $25K phone call, Whippoorwill Arts Festival, Duke Performances and Rolling Stone–a smokin’ hot August for Kamara Thomas!

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Duke Performances presented Kamara Thomas (represented exclusively by Sonic Pie Productions) as a part of Music in Your Gardens, a free eight-week online concert series showcasing nationally renowned artists who call Durham and the surrounding area home. The series brilliantly shifted Duke Performances’ longtime summer series, Music in the Gardens, normally held outdoors at Sarah P. Duke Gardens on Duke’s campus, to an online format in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Filmed by: Saleem Reshamwala, John Laww, and Ismail Abdelkhalek. Audio recording and mixing: Ryan Pickett Audio technician: Christopher Scully-Thurston Production: Suzanne Despres and Sibyl Kemp

The $25K Call From California
Imagine getting to pick up the phone and share THIS news with your artist, like SPP CEO Tess Mangum did a few weeks ago…”An out-of-the-blue phone call that quickly leads to a $25,000 grant for a little-known musician sounds too good to be true. North Carolina singer-songwriter #KamaraThomas wasn’t sure at first if it was a prank, but her scheduled appearance at the Whippoorwill Arts Festival of Americana Music this weekend is proof that the Bay Area organization is an all-too-rare bright spot for Americana performers contending with shuttered venues and a dearth of gigs”
San Francisco Chronicle

If it weren’t for Covid-19, Kamara would be in California right now, for the festival, along with Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Brittany Haas, banjo-forward songwriter Snap Jackson and more. “Go” to the festival via YouTube or Facebook livestream or check out the schedule of workshops.

Black Equity in Americana: A Conversation
If you missed Black Equity in Americana: A Conversation, sponsored by the Americana Music Association featuring panelists Marcus K. Dowling (moderator), Adia Victoria, Rev. Sekou, Lilli Lewis

Kamara Thomas Music, and Jason Galaz of Muddy Roots Music Festival watch the Zoom. Or, read the review in Rolling Stone Magazine. Microaggressions, stereotypes and judgement calls, at best, are a frustrating distraction from the real art and business of expressing yourself. At worst, they costs artists millions of dollars in lost wages and can make you want to quit the biz altogether.
Outdoor wedding venue

Sonic Pie Event Venue Now Accepting Outdoor Event Reservations!

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Looking for an outdoor wedding venue you can make your own? We’re accepting reservations for outdoor weddings and receptions at our farmhouse! Read about it in Chapelboro.com. “Sonic Pie Productions already has PA systems. Staging. Lavalier mics. The ability to stream. Why not host micro weddings, receptions and birthday parties? Why not give folks a way to quietly celebrate the joyous occasions in their lives?”

#microwedding #dogfriendly #affordable #fourmilesfromDuke

Email sonicpieproductions@gmail.com to schedule your visit or view our slideshow.

Sonic Pie Productions 2020 Crew

Downtime is the right time to create a strong “new normal”

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The SPP Crew Takes Advantage of “Downtime”

The Sonic Pie Productions 2020 dream team! Left to right: Atiba Berkley, Scram Reynolds, Ryan Moeller, Jasmine Dml Battle, Tess Mangum and Jick Wins-Low.

 

What exactly is the “new normal” in the live events industry?

Look closely at the photo above and you’ll notice the full crew is masked up and distanced. It’s the “new normal.” Hand sanitizer is good for hands, but you can’t dip a microphone in it. With our entire high season cancelled due to Covid-19 mandates, we’ve been using the downtime (not downtime) to attend meetings via Zoom, scrub stage panels, wipe down muddy cables, write for small business grants, check in on colleagues, stay updated on production protocol and take care of and homeschool our children while schools remain closed.

Event Safety Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to promoting “life safety first” throughout all phases of event production and execution, has published a comprehensive 29-page Reopening Guide. This guide addresses health and sanitary issues that event and venue professionals need to consider in order to protect both patrons and workers.  It talks about sanitizing high touch items, staggered, scheduled bathroom visits, face masks, venues operating at lower capacity, how to pull off socially distant intermissions and concession sales…it’s an incredible resource.

GoFundMe, MusiCares, SoundGirls and the PPP

Thanks to you, we not only met but exceeded our first GoFundMe campaign goals with a total of $1185 in donations! Thank you so much. Thanks to MusiCares, SoundGirls, IBMA Covid-19 Relief Fund, Durham Arts Council Arts Recovery Fund, Durham Artist Relief Fund, the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) and other grants are also helping us get through, as our next live gigs might not come until fall.

Durham From The Heart concerts

Though that special magic of festival and outdoor music season is on hold, Downtown Durham Inc. has us managing a new project–Durham From The Heart.

Durham from the Heart is a weekly online performance featuring Durham musicians. Tune in to facebook.com/DowntownDurham at 1 p.m. on Tuesdays to experience some of what you love about Durham and connect, virtually, to the downtown Durham community. You can comment, cheer them on, or even play with them from the comfort of your home. Follow #durhamheart for up-to-date information and details. Featured next Tuesday: Jay Attys. Performers are paid a stipend but to tip him virtually via Venmo: @Jay-Attys, or CashApp: $JudnerAttys. Here’s why he’s one to watch!
Jay’s M.A., from NCCU, is in Jazz Studies.

“I remember when I first saw the picture of Emmett Till and the feeling it brought. I was in the 4th grade at Whitney Houston Academy. It made me sick and brought me to tears. They made it a point to teach us about our history and our music. Although I was born in Haiti, I felt a visceral connection to the culture of Black America. I was especially drawn to the music. There was something about Gospel, Blues, Soul, and R&B that moved me. The struggles and stories of a people were embedded in those sounds. Music spoke to me louder than words ever could. It healed me where medicine could not go.

Recently, I have been feeling that same feeling that I felt in Ms Wood’s class in the 4th grade. The only thing that brings me peace is music. I laid a foundation for my sound at Duke for undergrad. I had the distinct honor of pursuing a Masters degree in the great African American tradition of Jazz at the best HBCU in the world: North Carolina Central University. I am so grateful I got to go to a place that cared about a tradition that has been ostracized from pop culture. I am now a storyteller.

In my sound I hope to uphold the integrity of the history while presenting a voice that is uniquely my own. I want to heal as I have been healed, love as I have been loved and continue the walk to preserve our history that was started thousands of years ago in mother Africa.

Durham from the Heart is a weekly online performance featuring Durham musicians. Thank you Sonic Pie Productions for selecting me as a featured artist. Tune in to this link 1-2 p.m. on Tuesday for some music therapy. I have worked to pour my SOUL into every note of every phrase of every song. The world needs some sonic healing right now.”

The story behind the name Sonic Pie Productions

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With a name like Sonic Pie Productions, you might hope to find a bakery, rather than a sound production company, but there is a pie connection. Choosing a name when incorporating a business is harder than it seems. It’s got to somehow represent a worldview, mission and purpose. It should be easy to remember, timeless–and you must research beforehand that it’s not already in use. The last thing you want, three years into your branding and brand awareness is a cease and desist letter. So, here’s our story behind the name Sonic Pie Productions.

Sonic alludes to the importance of one of our five sense: sound.

Productions: we curate and produce concerts and events.

But why Pie? The way we figure, anything inside flaky dough is good. Peach pie, Jamaican beef patties, samosas, empanadas…they’re all good. When you go with Sonic Pie Productions, your pie might have some jazz in it–some soul–or rock and roll. Maybe you need help producing a street fair, vintage motorcycle rally or literary event. Your pie is going to be great!

Pictured above is a pie Sonic Pie Productions CEO Tess Mangum made today, in her beloved grandmother Kate’s 50(?) year old pie and biscuit pan. If the house was burning down, she’d grab the kids, the dog and this pan.

Live Music Fans Help Tess+Sonic Pie Productions

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