Tag Archive for: Black American Music

Sonic Pie Productions curating FREE concerts at the new: Hub RTP!

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Hey there, live music fans! Durham’s shaking off the winter slump early, and the new outdoor stage at Hub RTP is already full of life. The first concerts, beginning with a lunch time residency Wednesday, March 4, have people gathering again, hanging out, and soaking up live music in the open air. Sonic Pie Productions is behind it all, putting together FREE concerts so every set hits just right. It’s all about bringing the community back together through great music, right here at home.

Hub RTP Event: Nappy Head Funk Army is performing Wednesdays in March, from 11:30AM to 1:30PM.

Hub RTP Presents: Concerts on the Creek, Featuring Tumbao! with DJ G on Saturday, March 14th.

Set in the heart of Research Triangle Park, Hub RTP is the downtown of the largest research park in the United States, designed for food, events, and community connection.

As we kick off the debut season of music at Hub RTP with a new stage, Sonic Pie Productions is proud to help shape what this space can become: a place where sound, small businesses, and community all meet. As SPP CEO Tess Mangum puts it:

“We believe live music builds community and commerce, and are thrilled to help launch and curate this new outdoor stage, full of free concerts, events, and locally-owned restaurants and retail. The bodega, Nanny Goat, has some insanely good caramels. Season one’s music lineup will be eclectic, local, regional, and national artists and we definitely encourage dancing.”

Our December 3 Hub RTP soft launch (pictured below) after GSF Productions installed stage lights, sub woofers and main speakers, was cold, but it was something we had to do, for a musician we love and admire: a tribute to D’Angelo, led by powerhouse vocalist and Durham native Tamisha Waden and an all-star crew of local players. Proof that even in the cold, the music and the community show up strong.

 

At the new stage at Hub RTP, vocalist Tamisha Waden assisted by a second male vocalist, keys, drums, bass, and guitar perform while dressed for winter.

Chief Adjuah to headline Missy Lane’s Block Party Oct. 4!

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Hello Music Lovers! Our festival season started with a bang back in April (Rhiannon Giddens’ incredible Biscuits & Banjos Festival.) To wrap up festival season, We’re honored to be the production company for Cicely Mitchell and Chief Adjuah’s new festival, Missy Lane’s Block Party, right here in our home town of Durham, North Carolina.

For those who remember the magic of Durham’s Art of Cool Festival back in the teens, this is going to feel like home to you. This is more than a block party — it’s a celebration of Black American music, culture, and community. Don’t miss your chance to be part of Durham’s newest tradition. Artists: Chief Xian aTunde Adjuah • Bilal • Revive Big Band ft Nao Yoshioka and Teedra Moses• Kiefer • Braxton Cook • Butcher Brown • Zo! & Tall Black Guy • Tomoki Sanders • Elena Pinderhughes (feat. Samora Pinderhughes) • J Hoard • Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr. and did you see–Tank, from Tank & The Bangas?!

This NPR Tiny Desk concert of Christian Scott (aka Chief Adjuah), with more than five million views, featuring block party artist Elena Pinderhughes on flute, is one of Sonic Pie Productions’ CEO’s favorites.

VIP Tickets are $250. General admission is $80. You can also sign up to volunteer and still be a part of all the action.
  • What else are we into? Pride Durham, starting with a Justice Rally and Concert at CCB Plaza Friday, September 26, 5-9 p.m.
  • Four days a week of free, live music and DJs at Boxyard RTP, including a POLKA NIGHT (also September 26)
A branded white and red graphic featuring polka band The North Carolina Polka Time Allstars and their instruments (accordion, upright bass, horns, small drum kit, etc.)

Sonic Pie Productions Presents Free Concert November 23: Blues Guitarist Jontavious Willis

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(Durham, NC) Durham-based concert production and curation company Sonic Pie Productions presents Blues guitarist and songwriter Jontavious Willis Saturday, November 23, 8:30 p.m. This concert, at Missy Lane’s Assembly Room, is free and open to the public. 

28 year old Grammy-nominated Blues musician Jontavious Willis is resolved in his mission: to reinvigorate today’s Blues with the spirit of the past. Inspired by a time when the Blues were plentiful and rhythm reigned supreme, Jontavious leverages his unique sound—a synthesis of his rural Georgia heritage and reverence for traditional Blues—to get the world dancing again. Jontavious and his band perform original, toe-tapping tunes in the style of Delta, Piedmont, Texas, and Gospel Blues. Dynamic vocals, technical prowess, and an abundance of Southern charm keep Jontavious sending jolts of vitality through the Blues community. 

“That’s my Wonderboy, the Wunderkind. Jontavious is a great new voice of the 21st century in the acoustic blues” says American legend and mentor Taj Mahal. Joyous and resonant, Willis’ brand new album, West Georgia Blues, is an invitation to everyone out there—whether Blues aficionado or just passing through the genre—to connect with the very universal emotions captured through the Blues. Entirely self-produced, the album comprises fifteen original songs that tackle time-honored themes from heartbreak and loneliness to celebration and self-discovery. 

How does Jontavious connect as a young black man in the 21st century with the music first recorded in his great-great grandfather’s youth? “In some aspects the same problems of those days are still occurring. Out of all the current music I connect with the blues the best. The same blues songs of the Jim Crow era can still be sung today. The songs about getting mistreated and abused are still fights we battle daily” he says.

Missy Lane’s Assembly Room, at 310 E. Main Street, in the heart of downtown Durham, North Carolina is one of Durham’s newest intimate music venues and cocktail bars. Ample parking in the adjacent lot is free. This is a general admission event, with a combination of seated, standing and dancing room. Doors open at 8 p.m. Though admission is free, you must reserve a ticket at https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/59475083/jontavius-willis-presented-by-sonic-pie-productions-durham-missy-lanes-assembly-room-venue

This project is supported by the Durham Arts Council’s Durham Culture & Arts – Invest to Restart.

Durham, North Carolina-based Sonic Pie Productions, founded in 2013, creates community and commerce via curated concert bookings, consultation and sound production services. For more information visit www.sonicpieproductions.com.