The Foundry $15 in advance (and more for special seating). Benefits the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement. For more information: patricia.priest@yahoo.com
The fifth-annual Athens in Harmony concert will take place January 19th at the Foundry. The concert pairs 20 of Athens’ best musicians to sing duets across the invisible lines that often separate us.
It’s an early, family-friendly show that features new performers each year matched across race, ethnicity, genre and/or what sometimes seems like a wide generation gap. For example, the young hip hop artist Motorhead TwoTimes is paired with the veteran jazz singer Mary Sigalas; the Latino singer, composer and songwriter Luchito Muñoz will perform with singer Tony LaFrance, who has won Best R & B Performer — several times — at the Athens Hip Hop Awards; singer/songwriter Dana Downs of Cosmo, Jr. is matched with Kyle Patel, who sings with an a cappella group at UGA that performs South Asian fusion pieces and competes around the country; and the multi-instrumentalist and hardest-working musician in Athens William Tonks will sing with young poet and rapper Tino Swain.
As that partial list indicates, the stellar line-up draws talent from the city’s rich heritage of gospel, soul, jazz, hip hop and rock music. Other duos include Timi Conley of Wonderland Rangers (and many other great bands) and Breezy Goings; sultry singer Tya Storyz and Anne Boston of the Swimming Pool Q’s; gospel singer Tisa Praise and Kathy Kirbo of many early seminal bands; singer/songwriters David Ferguson of Kompromat and Kara Waters; lovely singers Suvitha Viswanathan and Kimarah Laurent, who is also a poet; and powerhouse singers Sierra Westbrook with Todd Burton of The Wildcats.
Athens-Clarke County will emcee the event with Mokah Johnson, co-founder of the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement with Athens Clarke County Mayor Girtz. She and her husband Knowa work alongside Pat Priest to produce the show.
The concert — with a remarkable backing band led by Michael Wegner — will be held at 7 PM the Sunday of the Martin Luther King holiday (January 19th). Tickets are $15 in advance; special seating choices cost more.
The concert will benefit the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement, which works to prevent discrimination in downtown bars and elsewhere and organizes the Martin Luther King parade and other events that mark Dr. King’s many accomplishments.
This is the fifth Athens in Harmony concert. Pat Priest, one of the producers, said, “We’ve found that the good will generated by this concert resounds long afterward because new friendships, collaborations, and fan bases are built. Many performers and audience members alike have told us it’s one of their very favorite events in Athens.”
Neal Priest, Knowa Johnson, Jason NeSmith and gospel singer Frederic Creamer will also perform that evening — as will the audience in a sing-along of “Give Peace a Chance” at the end.
Tickets are available at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/athens-in-harmony-tickets-82886936057.
For more information, contact Pat Priest at patricia.priest@yahoo.com.