I’m getting the laptop warmed up for another DJ set at the Hot Club of Durham Thursday night swing dance. Hot Club hosts a swing dance every Thursday with DJ’ed music from 9 p.m. to midnight and a free-with-$7-admission beginner swing dance lesson at 8:00 p.m. All Hot Club dances are held at the Trotter Building, 410 W. Geer St., Durham, NC.
Sound Situations premieres this week, starting things off with a bang with two premiere parties, one on June 28 at Deep South the Bar in Raleigh, NC and a second at The Pinhook in Durham, NC on June 30. What is Sound Situations, you ask?
“Sound Situations is a 30 minute, bi-weekly television and web show that focuses its spotlight onto the local music happening in the Triangle area of North Carolina. The culturally rich and diverse cities of Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and Carrboro are producing some of the finest musicians in the country and we thought you should know. We’ve lined up twelve bands into six episodes of interviews, live performances, a glimpse behind the stage lights and music and some intimate, impromtu, out-of-the-elemends live performances for your enjoyment.”
The Atomic Rhythm All-Stars are excited to have been selected as one of the bands featured on this show. We don’t know when our episode will air yet, but stay tuned to this show! The show airs Thursdays and Saturdays at 6:00 p.m. on channel 10 in Raleigh.
Due to a typo naming the band “Atomic Heaters,” recognition was delayed, but we’re excited to announce that they discovered the mistake and the Atomic Rhythm All-Stars was a finalist for the Best Jazz Group in the Triangle in the Independent Weekly’s Best of the Triangle 2011! The title of Best Jazz Group went to Atomic’s saxophone player’s band, Peter Lamb and the Wolves, so there are winners all around! Thanks to everyone who voted in the reader’s choice poll for both of these groups without being prompted or choosing from a list!
There’s another busy weekend in the works, with The Atomic Rhythm All-Stars taking the stage at the Murphey School in Durham, NC this Saturday, June 18, 2011 for a night of swing dancing, thanks to the Triangle Swing Dance Society.
On Sunday, June 19, The Carolina Fascinators will be performing their Shortenin’ Bread routine at Greensboro, NC’s Summer Solstice Festival, around 4:30 p.m. TCF member Abigail Browning will also be performing social swing dancing with her dance partner and partner in crime, Adam Speen. Looking forward to being a part of this outdoor festival!
This coming Friday, Jason Sager and I will play host to New Orleans’ female performer of the year, Meschiya Lake and her Little Big Horns for another fabulous edition of RDU Rent Party. We’ll also be having Andy Reid and Amy Johnson from New Orleans to teach an intermediate special topic lesson at 8:00, following by dancing to Meschiya Lake from 9:00 p.m. to midnight at Triangle Dance Studio, 2603 S. Miami Blvd, Durham, NC.
Tea, cakes, and frippery will also be served. For more information visit www.rdurentparty.com.
During the Southside Stomp dance on May 21, 2011, Victor Celania took some video of George Knott’s Square Trio playing with me on vocals. Here are two videos Victor posted, one of us performing “What a Little Moonlight Can Do” and the other is “Darktown Strutter’s Ball.” George on guitar and banjo, Mark Wells on piano, and Lucian Cobb on trombone. Thanks, Victor!
Laura Windley 