Cleveland, OH. (Top40 Charts/ Crooked River Groove Records) - On Friday, December 7, Gigfest 07 will be staged as a final exam for students from four Recording Arts & Technology (RAT) classes at Cuyahoga Community College. Collectively, these budding music industry moguls will co-produce Gigfest 07 at the Beachland Ballroom in Cleveland. This event will be part of the Crooked River Groove Records CD release concert featuring top regional acts, part showcase for emerging urban artists and the performance debut of the first crop of "vintage" rock bands, a new initiative by Tri-C's Community Arts &
Music Program. Show time is 7:30 p.m.
Tri-C's CRG Records will release CDs for headliners Jackie Warren's Hot Salsa Quartet and veteran Akron alt rockers Half Cleveland, a band that includes members of Tin Huey, the Waitresses and Chi-Pig. Both acts recently performed at the College's Metro Campus "Live @ the WiFi Cafe" noon concert series, and their sets were recorded, mixed and mastered by RAT students. Special guests closing the show are Hip-Hop producer Phatty Banks' hot new artists, Kenyan international reggae sensation Hardstone and emerging Cleveland female vocal quartet D.O.C. Showstoppaz.
Wait, there's more. Opening the show will be first-ever performances by vintage rockers Everyday People and The Casual Mondays. Musicians in these "hobby" bands include a Tri-C campus president, the Chief of Police, executive VPs, faculty, administrators and staff who attend band practice after work. Dr. Belinda Miles, who by day is Tri-C's Eastern Campus President and on Monday nights vocalizes with The Casual Mondays, remarked that "Some might be surprised to see a campus president fronting a rock band. But the Vintage Band experience provides a perfect venue to express another dimension of our lives and talents, the musical passion within us. We do it because we have to."
"The Concert Promotion Class is busy preparing for the promotion of Gigfest," states John Latimer, class instuctor. "The interaction between the classes at Tri-C makes this event a one-of-a-kind entertainment experience."
Are Concert Promotion, Record Label, Concert Technical Production and Location Recording students ready for their finals? Instructor and veteran rock mercenary Markey Ray sums it up, "I'm proud of these students. They show up at the Beachland every week learning to be stagehands, but what they're really learning is that it doesn't matter if you're a performer or part of the crew, a successful show is all about teamwork." Class dismissed.
Opened in 1963, Cuyahoga Community College is Ohio's first community college and now the state's largest, serving 55,000 students each year. More than 700,000 county residents have come through Tri-C's doors. The college offers two-year associate degrees, certificate programs, and the first two years of a baccalaureate degree. The curriculum includes over 1,600 credit courses in more than 130 career, certificate and university transfer programs.
Gigfest 07 is brought to you by: Cuyahoga Community College, The Recording Arts and Technology Department, Crooked River Groove Records, Free Times Magazine, Councilman Michael Polensek, Amoris, Heavy Drama, Phoenix Coffee, The Exchange, and Ante Up Recording.
