Y'all know how important promoting local musicians is to me. I've got several artists lined up for the beginning of next year, but before we wrap up this year, I want to make sure you know about an opportunity that's close to my heart. Beginning its fourth cycle of submissions, Rising Creek Music Series is still going strong, and each cycle proves that there is no lack of talent in our region. March will be the fourth performance in the series, and it just keeps getting better. One of the event’s curators, Robert Cottle, has been impressed by the talent seen.
“Each year we have more and more entries to choose from,” he said, “and each year, the choice gets harder.”
One of the challenges the committee faces is the diversity. This is intentional on the part of those involved. The goal is to keep it open to musicians and bands of every genre because we believe that the diversity increases the creativity and strengthens the community. We’ve had everything from the “swampadelic” Pine Box Dwellers to the retropop Street Clothes. Last cycle included a bluegrass band out of Rome, Georgia (The Barbaric Yawps), a rock band from Saint Simons (Rider), a local country songwriter (Dylan Marlowe), and a local folk singer (Lucy McGuire). While the stage hasn’t seen rap yet, there is no reason to think it couldn’t happen.
The goal of the event is to feature regional artists performing original music. While it is a family-friendly event (so keep it clean folks), the venue, producer (that’s me), and curators are all open to see what is out there. The focus of our selection process is the quality of the performance, lyrics, and music — our personal preferences don’t come into play. This is a passion project that pays regional performers to share their original work with an audience that is there to experience a listening room type of atmosphere. That’s an experience that is sorely missing in our area. Bars and restaurants abound, but for strictly original music, Savannah is the closest option. The partnership with the Averitt Center is perfect for offering this opportunity as their goal is to bring the Arts to Statesboro and surrounding counties.
Attendees have been amazed and enthralled with the shows. Each cycle the audience gets to see four fantastic acts in two hours for less than the price of dinner.
“You can’t beat it,” says interim Executive Director Rahn Hutcheson.
The consensus among those in attendance has been “more people should know about this!”
And we couldn’t agree more. While we hear all too often that “nobody’s making good music anymore,” the fact is, it’s out there, for those who know where to look. And Rising Creek Music Series is a great place to start looking.
The submission process is easy. Those hoping to take the stage can e-mail an electronic press kit including links to video, original music, social media pages, Reverbnation or Soundcloud links and/or website to bharveymusic@gmail.com by Jan. 11. The committee will choose the top three submissions to take the stage, and audiences can count on a great night of fantastic music.
For more information, visit https://www.averittcenterforthearts.org/rising-creek or the Averitt Center’s social media page.