Author: adventgx

The second installment of our fall Real Jazz Series, occurring every 2nd Tuesday, is back next week. This month local jazzman Greg Tivis is teaming up with guitarist Gerald Blakeman, a widely known jazz guitarist from Houston. This is guaranteed to be another night of great jazz music!

Gerald Blakeman has a long career in the jazz music industry. While attending the University of North Texas, Blakeman toured with the NTSU Jazz Lab Band for four years. Gerald Blakeman then transferred to the University of Houston, where he graduated with a degree in music theory and composition. Since graduation in 1969, Blakeman has been invited to give solo and ensemble performances at University of Houston, Rice University, Sam Houston State University, and all three Lone Star College campuses. Blakeman has also performed with the Houston Grand Opera and judged UIL and Suzuki guitar competitions in the Houston area.

Over the past 45 years, Gerald Blakeman has built a reputation as one of the most respected jazz guitarists in the Houston area. He has gathered a devoted group of fans and has made a name for himself in the Houston jazz scene. Blakeman’s years of experience as a crowd pleasing jazz performer combined with Greg Tivis’s loyal following in the Bryan/College Station area is sure to make for a great night of jazz.

Check out some photos from last month’s Real Jazz night here!

Come out to the Grand Stafford Theater on October 2nd at 8:00pm for a free First Friday concert in Downtown Bryan! Premium passes are on sale now on the Grand Stafford website.

The Nightowls are an exceptional band that possess a rare kind of talent. Though their roots are founded in Austin, Texas, The Nightowls transport their audiences to Motor City with their soulful, R&B style. With the support of other bands like St. Paul and the Broken Bones and Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, The Nightowls are leading the soul revival that has been on the horizon for years. To record their sophomore album, all 10 members of The Nightowls traveled to the iconic FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The chance to record here was especially significant because it’s home to much of the music from their childhood, like Aretha Franklin and Joe Tex, and they hoped that this record would tap into that sound.

By blending the soulful, Motown sound of the studio’s past with a modern sound that is unique to The Nightowls, the band was able to create the most exciting album of their career. The Nightowls’ second album, “Fame Sessions”, was released at the beginning of September and is receiving widespread praise. Their ability to produce an R&B album that is reminiscent of the past, while still sounding modern and fresh, has earned them a well-deserved place in the spotlight.

The Austin-based band has an exciting future ahead of them. They will play a hometown show at Austin City Limits for the second year in a row and will then continue their US tour into November 2015.

The Texas Music Pickers Top Pick finished up this past Friday with the Final Round! Four final contestants competed last Friday for the title of Top Pick and the grand prize of $500 cash, a recorded single from Hilltrax Studios, a songwriting session with award winning singer/songwriters Tony Ramey and Drew Womack!

The competition began when 16 top singer-songwriters battled it out in the preliminary rounds for a chance to be number one. These musicians were Mando Salas, Pedro Ramirez, AJ Guel, Jarrett Everett, Nathan Bonnes, Chancy Bernson, Jed Crisp, Steve Idlett, Josh Vincent, Landon McGee, Raul Tinajero, Julie Reese, Brian Chance, Hannah Elizabeth Smith, Sarah Olivia Buss, and Amber Adams.

After the preliminary rounds, the 16 were narrowed down to 10, which were Nathan Bonnes,  Sarah Olivia Buss, Brian Chance, Jed Crisp, Steve Idlett, Josh Lovett, Landon McGee, Pedro Ramirez, Mando Salas, and Hannah Elizabeth Smith.

After last week’s First Round, the ten were then narrowed down to four. The four that competed this week were:

1. Hannah Elizabeth Smith

2. Mando Salas

3. Sarah Olivia Buss

4. Landon McGee

The competition was incredibly close and each performer was talented beyond belief. They were judged on songwriting, vocal ability, and showmanship/performance; and audience votes.

After the night was over, the winner of the Top Picks Competition was….

*drumroll please*

LANDON MCGEE!

We are so proud of our summer musician-in-residence! The kind of talent Landon possesses is rare and we cannot wait to see where he goes with his music career. We are honored to have hosted such a brilliant man!

This past Saturday, we hosted the Texas Music Pickers Singer-Songwriter contest as 16 musicians battled it out to win $500 cash, a recorded single from Hilltrax Studios, a songwriting session with award winning singer/songwriter Tony Ramey and award winning singer/songwriter, Drew Womack!

The Final Round of Texas Music Picker’s Top Pick Singer/Songwriter contest will feature performances by the top 10 finalists. Each contestant will preform an original song. The top 3 scoring contestants, and the contestant who has the highest audience score of the remaining contestants, will advance. Each contestant will perform an original song and a cover song of their choosing.

Following the show, Tony Ramey will perform an acoustic set.

To learn more about the singer/songwriter contest, visit www.texasmusicpickers.com/tmps-top-pick/.

Tony Ramey
Tony’s live performances have taken him from the Texas and Midwest Honky Tonks where people are two-stepping and raising their bottles, to where he says he is starting to feel even more at home–in the two-hundred-and-fifty to one-thousand seat theaters, where people come to listen to a storyteller at work. Audiences in the theaters at Tony’s performances are compelled to listen–to go down the same road together, on the same journey, wherever his song takes them. That journey ends up above the production and sonic value of a pounding track: “I want people to dance and have a good time, but there’s a romantic part of me that wants to believe it’s all derived from an honesty and passion in music that has substance and meaning, not just a loop or hip-hop beat and words that rhyme.”

With gold and platinum records on artists like Trisha Yearwood, John Michael Montgomery, George Strait, and a host of others who have covered Tony’s material, and with BMI awards and more than fifteen years of professional writing behind him, Tony has proven himself as a songwriter, but the best is yet to come for those watching and listening to Tony as he is proving himself as an artist…It will be a journey worth taking–wherever the journey takes us.

Be sure to join us for this event on Friday, September 25 at 7:30 pm!

On Friday, August 28th we had the pleasure of hosting the Texas Music Pickers at the Grand Stafford Theater. We are now excited to announce that Jordan York, the opening artist for Haley Cole and Josh Grider, is being featured on the Texas Bucket List!

Be sure to tune in by finding the air time in your area at www.TheTexasBucketList.com

Congratulations Jordan York and thank you to the Texas Bucket List for the feature!

Texas Music Pickers is back at Grand Stafford Theater this Saturday, September 19 at 5:00 pm for their Top Picks Competition!

16 singer-songwriters will compete for number 1 and to earn $1000 in cash and prizes ($500 cash, a recorded single, & songwriting sessions with 2 award winning songwriters.)

Even more exciting, Grand Stafford Theater’s own musician-in-residence artist Landon McGee is one of the 16 finalists.

Contestants will perform original songs and covers in a bid to earn the Top Pick title.

Be sure to come out and support the local musicians from Texas and especially our own Landon McGee. Audience members will be able to vote each round to help determine the winner.

Tickets are on sale now on the Grand Stafford website.

To learn more about the contest, visit Texas Music Pickers online at www.texasmusicpickers.com/tmps-top-pick/.

This Second Sunday, Grand Stafford Theater presents Wadjda, Saudi Arabian-German film that won numerous awards and nominations, including nominations for both Best Foreign Language Film at the 8th Academy Awards and Best Foreign Film at the 2014 BAFTA Awards.

The film also has an impressive 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, which is a hard feat for any film to achieve.

Interested in knowing more? Here’s the plot summary from Rotten Tomatoes:

“WADJDA is a movie of firsts. This first feature film shot entirely in Saudi Arabia is the story of a young girl living in a suburb of Riyadh determined to raise enough money to buy a bike in a society that sees bicycles as dangerous to a girl’s virtue. Even more impressive, WADJDA is the first feature film made by a female Saudi filmmaker. In a country where cinemas are banned and women cannot drive or vote, writer- director Haifaa Al Mansour has broken many barriers with her new film.”

Second Sunday Foreign Film is this Sunday, September 13 at 3:30 pm with doors opening at 3:00 pm. As always, we will be serving up drinks and providing free popcorn!

Ready to get your 1920’s on?

Grand Stafford Theater is proud to announce our new fall series – 2nd Tuesday Real Jazz. Every 2nd Tuesday during the fall, we will have a night of live jazz music and craft cocktails.

Take a step back in time with us every week starting at 7:00 pm for the perfect way to shake off the previous day’s Monday blues. Even better? It falls on our regular Craft Cocktail Tuesday so you can enjoy both cocktails AND live jazz!

This Tuesday, we will feature the music of Bill Clark. The Vintage Jazz Organ Trio features Bill Clark, Chris Hollar and Greg Tivis. Bill Clark has been playing jazz guitar for over three decades and has performed frequently in the New York and Detroit metro areas, Berlin, Germany, and, most recently, Bryan/College Station. He studied with renowned guitarists Bob Fugel, Bucky Pizzareli, Bob Devos, Harry Leahey, and Josh Breakstone and jazz performance at William Paterson College. His influences on the guitar include Wes Montgomery and Jim Hall, but his approach to improvisation is more closely tied to saxophonists such as Charlie Parker, Sonny Rollins, and Dexter Gordon, and trumpeters such as Clifford Brown, Chet Baker, and Art Farmer. In his spare time, Clark is the Head of the Political Science department at Texas A&M, where he is the Charles Puryear Professor in Liberal Arts.

Despite only having 22 years under his belt, the young Parker McCollum is already making huge waves in the regional music scene. McCollum, who’s earned comparisons to critically acclaimed artists like Ryan Bingham and John Mayer, has worked relentlessly to get himself to where he is today.

With rock roots and singer-songwriter style, McCollum’s music is wise beyond his years. The artistsmanages to bring a sound that’s both mature and fresh.

McCollum’s hard work is evident in The Limestone Kid, his first full-length album, which was released on Feb. 24, 2015.

Parker McCollum will be playing at the Grand Stafford Theater on August 29 at 8:00 pm. Doors open at 7:00 pm and tickets are available now.

For more information on Parker McCollum, check out his website here.