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Norma Jean is a metalcore band hailing from Douglasville, Georgia. This band, formed in 1997, has released six studio albums and has cemented their place in metalcore history.

Despite some lineup changes since their birth in 1997, the musical mastery of Norma Jean has remained the same. Their fifth album, Meridional, was released in 2010 and is a great example of what has kept Norma Jean relevant for almost twenty years: their natural prowess to create innovative and extremely powerful music. Norma Jean’s sixth and most recent album, Wrongdoers, was released in 2013 and is the first album to feature all of the current members of Norma Jean. The album earned the favor of music critics from Alternative Press, Decibel, Exclaim!, and Revolver. Critics and fans alike were impressed by Norma Jean’s ability to tap into the very spirit of metalcore and remain true to their roots as a metal band.

To celebrate the 10-year anniversary of their Grammy nominated album, O God, The Aftermath, Norma Jean is taking to the road to play the album in its entirety in venues across the country. With support from bands like ’68, Sleepwave, The Ongoing Concept, and Belle Haven, Norma Jean’s stop in Bryan will be one of the last of the tour and is guaranteed to be a night to remember.

Don’t miss your chance to see Norma Jean perform O God, The Aftermath in its entirety. Get your tickets to see their show at the Grand Stafford Theater on Friday, October 23rd here.

The Melbern G. Glasscock Center for Humanities Research at Texas A&M University and Grand Stafford Theater invite you to an evening with Sarah Bird, American novelist, screenwriter, essayist and photographer. Sarah will be reading from her most recent novel, “Above the East China Sea.”

Sarah Bird is the author of nine novels. The ninth hard cover, Above the East China Sea, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 2014. The soft cover is being released by Penguin on April 28, 2015. Sarah has been selected for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great Writers series; a Dobie-Paisano Fellowship; New York Public Library’s 25 Books to Remember list; Elle Magazine Reader’s Prize; People Magazine’s Page Turners; Library Journal’s Best Novels; and a National Magazine Silver Award for her columns in Texas Monthly. In 2012 Sarah was voted Best Austin Author for the fourth time by the readers of the Austin Chronicle; was inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame; and received the Illumine Award for Excellence in Fiction from the Austin Library Foundation. In 2013 she was selected to be The University of Texas’ Libraries Distinguished Author speaker, and was featured on NPR’s The Moth Radio Hour.

She has written screenplays for Paramount, CBS, Warner Bros, National Geographic, ABC, TNT, Hemdale Studio, and several independent producers. Sarah’s original screenplay, Daughter of a Daughter of a Queen, is currently in development with Pantheon of Women. She has contributed articles to The New York Times, Salon, O Magazine, and is a columnist for Texas Monthly. Sarah, who moved all over the world growing up with her air force family, lives in Austin, Texas.

7:00  Doors open for public event

7:30  Book Reading

You can find details about Sarah and the public presentation at the link below – see you soon!

http://bit.ly/GST-SarahBird

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!