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Songsmiths:
Claudia Chopek (with Ward White), Edward Rogers, Debby Schwartz (with Katie Gentile), Eddie Skuller (with Mike Fornatale), Lianne Smith, Amanda Thorpe
Storytellers:
Abbi Crutchfield, Philip Dray, Thomas Pryor, Naturi Thomas, Adam Wade
Bios
Abbi Crutchfield, a comedy virtuoso, keeps her plate full in NYC with writing, performing stand-up and improvisational comedy, creating original characters, and producing a live comedy hour called the Living Room in B
rooklyn. http://livingroomcomedy.blogspot.com/
She’s been seen on MTV and VH1, and she contributes regularly to the TheApiary.org and HipSlopeMama.blogspot.com. Abbi’s blog is: curlycomedy.blogspot.com
Philip Dray is the author of several books of American history including At the Hands of Persons Unknown: The Lynching of Black America, which won the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award and was a Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His latest book, There is Power in a Union: The Epic Story of American Labor, will be published in fall 2010. He's appeared at Maxwell's numerous times in groups such as: The Scene is Now, Information, Shackwacky, and I Ride the Bus.
Thomas Pryor’s work has appeared in The New York Times, Mr. Beller's Neighborhood, A Prairie Home Companion, New York Press, Underground Voices Magazine, Ducts, Opium Online and Our Town.
Naturi Thomas is a published writer of fiction, essay, and poetry. Her agent is shopping her memoir, How to Die in Paris. She lives right around the corner from Maxwell’s, which gives her about a 50% chance of making it to the reading on time.
Adam Wade is originally from New Hampshire and has proudly called Hoboken his home for the last seven years. He's a record 15-time Moth StorySLAM winner and 2-time GrandSLAM champion at The Moth. He's appeared on ESPN, NBC Sports, Late Night with Conan O'Brien and Comedy Central. He's written for Glamour Magazine, New York Press, The New York Times and Hoboken Reporter. http://adamwade.com/
Jonathan Calvert (visual presentation), who prepared the neighborhood photographs projected as visuals during the program, is enthralled and inspired to be associated with these talented artists. A New Yorker with a love of neighborhoods and the diversity we find in our cities, he, too, is full of stories that one day will be told.
Songsmiths
Violinist Claudia Chopek has performed with artists ranging from Bruce Springsteen to The Jonas Brothers, as well as in orchestras, chamber music ensembles and Broadway musicals. Her playing and string arrangements can be heard on over 100 recordings, and she continues to split her time between high profile, international touring and working with local, independent musicians. In addition to the violin, Claudia is an accomplished violist, guitarist, and vocalist. Recently, she completed a five-week tour with Moby, culminating in a performance for PBS Soundstage, which will air nationally later this year.
Brooklyn based singer/songwriter/guitarist Ward White has released six albums, garnering praise from local and national press. Most recently, he collaborated with keyboardist Joe McGinty on McGinty & White Sing Selections From The McGinty & White Songbook, which has been featured on WFMU, and has been named on several 2009 "Best Of" lists, including New York Press, where critic J.R. Taylor named it one of the five best albums of the year. McGinty & White have made several appearances as the featured musical gue
sts for Upright Citizens Brigade.
http://www.wardwhite.net/
Edward Rogers is earning brilliant reviews on his third solo album, Sparkle Lane ~ Rogers most ambitious and accomplished work yet, seamlessly merges hard-won lyrical insight with a lifetime's worth of classic pop influences. Sparkle Lane draws upon the talents of Don Piper, co-producer, Pete Kennedy, Sal Maida, Claudia Chopek, Konrad Meissner, and Keyboardist, Joe McGinty, the mastermind behind the long-running Losers Lounge series of all-star tribute shows. Rogers earlier solo efforts, Sunday Fables and You Haven’t Been Where I’ve Been, featured Roger McGuinn, Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone, George Usher, and Marty Willson-Piper. Rogers also released two albums, Rendezvous and The Summer That Changed, as part of Bedsit Poets, his collaboration with Amanda Thorpe. http://www.edwardrogersmusic.com/
Since moving to NYC in 1986, Debby Schwartz has performed with The Summit Ensemble, The Aquanettas, Loser's Lounge, and P.G. Six band, among others. She plays her own music with Katie Gentile (violin) and Peter Stuart (bass). She is presently working on an album which she hopes to release before she dies.
Katie Gentile (violin) performs and records with the Hoboken band Special Pillow, and Debby Schwartz. She has also played on recordings with Tara Key and Rick Rizzo, Antietam, Sue Garner and Rick Brown, and Yo La Tengo.
Eddie Skuller has had a history with bad neighbors, confirming his belief that they indeed cause change in a neighborhood. Eddie's music, including his latest critically-acclaimed album The Morphine Berry Story, is available on iTunes. The record was produced by James Mastro. This alternative blues album, recorded in Hoboken, features nine original new tunes plus a fiery version of a song by blues legend John Lee Hooker. http://www.skuller.com/
Mike Fornatale has played and/or sung with The Monks, Mark Lindsay, Moby Grape, Kelley Stoltz, Richard and the Young Lions, Loser’s Lounge, Muck and the Mires, Misteriosos, Meagan Brothers, Keith Streng, Kerry Kennedy, Shaw’Nuff, Roman Eisener, Joe Hurley's Rogues' March, and basically whoever else asks him.
Lianne Smith's music dispenses with a panoramic shot in favor of zooming in on the bee and flower—grown-up songs about architecture, thieves, bicycles, the end of summer, and two roads that diverge in a wood. http://liannesmith.com/
Amanda Thorpe an English native, moved to New York in the 90’s and has seen the city go through a variety of changes, some drastic, some subtle! Her last album, Union Square, featuring appearances by Graham Nash, Martha Wainwright and Tony Scherr among other notables, captures areas of New York within the songs. Co-produced with Brad Albetta (the McGarrigle Sisters, Teddy Thompson). Amanda has received rave reviews in Billboard, People Magazine, and The Boston Globe to name a few. She is also known for her work with Wirebirds and Bedsit Poets. Currently, Amanda is finishing up her fourth solo recording, with several songs meandering through another borough, Brooklyn. Amanda's vocals continue to "balance brassiness and vulnerability with panache." (Variety).http://www.amandathorpe.com/index_content.php
