Starting from ‘outside,’ Michael Morgan thrives in symphony
Hannah Thomas, a 22-year-old native of Covington, Ga., has spent the last few years touring the East Coast and establishing herself as a mainstay on the local music scene. Last year, she won the Georgia Lottery’s All Access Music Search — impressive because she started as one of thousands of contestants competing for the prize of recording an EP at Capitol Records in Los Angeles.
GA Voice sat down with Hannah to hear about the upcoming release of her 7th recording, two upcoming Georgia shows, her Indigo Girl connection and her big, gay announcement.
GA Voice: What have you been up to?
Decatur resident and singer/songwriter Amy Andrews is ready to celebrate Thanksgiving and she's inviting the entire World Wide Web to join her.
Andrews, 26, along with the The Skipperdees, a twin-sister duo based in Athens, will play a holiday concert on Thursday, Nov. 22, to raise money for the North Star Fund, an organization providing relief to those hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy.
The concert will be broadcast online at 7 and 8 p.m. ET on the website www.stageit.com. It's pay what you want to view and listen to the concert with all donations going to the North Star Fund http://northstarfund.org/. Now you can use your full belly to prop up your laptop for a good cause and some good music. Good deal.
Andrews came up with the idea for the internet concert after plans for her to perform at the Gay Ole Opry in Brooklyn, N.Y., were canceled due to the damage Hurricane Sandy brought to the Northeast.
Hometown favorite Amy Ray, best known as one half of the beloved folk duo Indigo Girls, brought her edgier solo show to the Atlanta Pride stage on Sunday evening.
Backed by the Butchies, Ray rocked through a set that opened with her striking “Rural Faggot” and closed with her mandolin-driven ode to standing up against religious hate, “Let it Ring.”
Ray spoke from the stage about the significance of playing Atlanta Pride and dedicated a song to her partner, Carrie. To hear more from Ray about her experience of coming out personally and in her music career, please read our full interview here.
Rufus Wainwright, the gay son of music marvels Loudon Wainwright III and the late Kate McGarrigle, has been a musical presence since childhood. He stepped out on his own in 1998 with his highly regarded eponymous debut disc and has been delighting his devoted following ever since.
Wainwright is renowned as much for his movie soundtrack work (his renditions of Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” from “Shrek” and the Beatles’ “Across The Universe” from the “I Am Sam” soundtrack are legendary) as he is for his love of opera (referenced in song a such as “Damned Ladies”).
His talent and creativity seemingly knows no bounds, as evidenced by his spot-on recreation of Judy Garland’s infamous 1961 concert on his 2007 “Rufus does Judy at Carnegie Hall” show and subsequent live recording.
Atlanta Pride is a time to celebrate — during the day at the festival in Piedmont Park, and at night with special events in many of the city’s bars and nightclubs.
For shirtless guys dancing and celebrating their freedom, the Heretic, Jungle and after-hours Xion serve up a “100 percent genuine big slice of Atlanta Gay Pride” on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 12-14.
On Friday, after partying with the fishes at the official Atlanta Pride kick off party at the Georgia Aquarium, Pride revelers can get into the groove at Jungle for the official Pride Aquarium After Party with DJ Ed Bailey, or go across Cheshire Bridge Road to the Heretic with DJ Joe Gauthreaux.
From folk and country crooners to dance music divas and up-and-coming pop sensations, Atlanta Pride packs a diverse mix of performers into two stages over two days. Pull out your smartphone and check out their websites to learn even more.
SATURDAY, OCT. 14
Coca-Cola Stage
Kat Graham
2 p.m.
http://katgraham.com
Hometown hero and Indigo Girl Amy Ray was chosen by Atlanta’s Pride committee to headline this year’s event. She will be finishing out the festival on Sunday, October 14. The GA Voice caught up with her to talk to her about her own coming out, being a gay musician and living in a conservative community.
GA Voice: Congratulations on headlining Atlanta Pride. How does it feel to be a part of this event in your own home town?
Amy: It’s awesome. It’s one of those things where I can’t express the level of love that I have for my city. I love that I can bring my band into my hometown and play a Pride show. It’s like having your best friend and you really want to share with them something that’s really important to you.
When did you realize that you were gay?