originally published May 16, 2007

As much as I would love to shoot the breeze with you, I’m exhausted this week, so we’re gonna just start. As in now and below…

Two Weeks To Vote!: So let me tell you once again, it’s that time of year. The nominees are in and the votes are getting tallied. You know, it's the Flagpole Athens Music Awards. Voting is happening as we speak, and you can find a paper ballot right here in this issue over on p. 20, or you can vote online over at www.flagpole.com/Awards. The whole process is simple, painless and your favorite local acts would surely appreciate your participation. Deadline for voting is Wednesday, May 30, so go ahead and get it done.

Words And Guitar: UGA's Institute for Women’s Studies hosts a six-hour conference on Friday, May 18 at Tasty World. The event, titled "Women, Rock! and Politics," will run from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m., and feature keynote speaker Kay Turner, Folk Arts Director of the Brooklyn Arts Council and former member of Austin’s radical lesbian rock act Girls in the Nose. Other notable lectures include “Reasons To Be Beautiful: An Analysis of Courtney Love’s Performance Persona,” “There’s More To Life Than This: Women’s Experiences and the Music of Björk” and “Black Women and Rock: The Insider-Outsider Politics of Race and Gender." Even though hosting an event in the middle of a work day brings up its own separate issues concerning class and privilege, those who can get over there probably should. It’s free, open to the public and will surely be interesting. For more information, please drop a line to Dr. Chris Cuomo at cuomo@uga.edu or call 706-542-2846.

Good Call: Laura Morgan, longtime Athens musician and big boss behind Furlined Records, has put together a benefit to combat Multiple Sclerosis on Saturday, May 19 at Little Kings. There’ll be a corn hole tournament, which sounds dirty but really isn’t; it’s that game where you throw beanbags into a wooden box from several meters away, registration for which begins at 6 p.m.; music begins at 8:30 p.m. Featured performers are Mandy Jane & the Jaws of Life, Don Chambers, Jackpot City and the 8-Track Gorilla. Deejay duo Bitch Switch will close out the night.

New Guy, Same Flavor: Just so y’all know, Chisholm Thompson (Misfortune 500) has taken over the role of booking shows at Hot Corner Coffee. The new email address to contact is hotcornerbooking@mail.com. Shows already booked should not be affected by this change, but if you have any questions, it’d be best to drop a line to make sure.

And Now, On Guitar: Ryan Lewis (Kincaid, Kindercore Records, The Agenda, et al.) has joined up with Peter Alvanos and his crew in Fabulous Bird and is playing guitar with the band now. He made his debut show with the group last week over at the Caledonia. In other news, the West Virginia-based Royal Rhino Flying Records will release a single by Fabulous Bird in the coming months. Check out tunes and more over at www.myspace.com/fabulousbird.

This Man Will Be Famous: Although he’ll likely slap me for mentioning this in print, I feel I would be shirking my duties if I didn’t inform all you thousands of people about this. Musician and Flagpole contributor Jeff Tobias (Pegasuses-XL, We Versus The Shark, Dark Meat) is currently a “viral video” (someone invent a better term for this) star by virtue of his featured appearance in A Journey Through Athens Music. The eight-minute film, produced by students Josh Momberg, Daniel Ondriezek and Allison Weiss - herself a star on the rise - through UGA’s New Media Institute, shows Tobias going all around town and showing off some Athens music landmarks while presenting a pretty good overview of our history and scene. The clip can be found at www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNP2r7Zd48k which is probably a pain in the ass to type out, but you can also find it by simply heading to YouTube and searching for Athens, Georgia and Jeff.

Welcome To Town: New Athens residents Charlie and Nancy Hartness have wasted no time in getting down to the business of making music. The pair, who first visited town a couple of years back when doing research at UGA, made quick friends with archivist and artist Art Rosenbaum, basically fell in love with Athens and made the move. The couple made their live Athens debut last week at Flicker as Hawk Proof Rooster. Picking their name from a man overheard at the J&J Flea Market who, bemoaning the loss of his chickens, said all he needed was “a hawk-proof rooster,” the duo plays old-time music and will likely be seen out often. Interested parties can contact them via charliehartness@bellsouth.net or nancyhartness@bellsouth.net.

That’s A Decade To You And Me: Atlanta label Two Sheds Music will celebrate its 10-year anniversary on Saturday, May 19, over at Atlanta venue The EARL and feature performances by Silent Kids, Blake Rainey & His Demons, Jupiter Watts and An Epic At Best. The show starts at 9 p.m. Two Sheds, as an Atlanta-based label, has been unusually important to Athens and a longtime supporter of our scene here. Evidence of this is the label's plan to host another anniversary party here in the fall as part of this year-long celebration. Go see what else they’re up to at www.twoshedsmusic.com.

Patterson, Willie & The Boys: The Drive-By Truckers are a featured guest act at Willie Nelson’s annual "Fourth of July Picnic" this year along with Son Volt, The Old 97’s and Amos Lee. Tickets went on sale last week for the event, to be held at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Gorge, WA, on, duh, July 4, and this marks the first time in 33 years that Nelson has held the event outside of Texas. Ticket prices are $35–$79, but you can pick up a sweet deal of four lawn-area passes for a mere $99. So, if you’d like to attend, go book a flight, go deal with Ticketmaster and then point your wagons west.

Free is Good: Rehearsal rooms over at Nuçi’s Space are free (!!!) for the entire month of May as a way for the space to say thanks to its regular customers and also attract new folks. Although the room rental is free, equipment rental is still the same price. Nuçi’s Space founder Linda Phillips says, “If it weren’t for electricity and water and salaries, we would be free all the time.” So book some time over there before all the time is gone, honcho! Contact Nuçi’s Space via www.nuci.org or call 706-227-1515.

So long, farewell, and be sure to keep your news coming in and always mention either Threats & Promises or my name in the subject line of all emails. Return the gift via email to music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 706-549-9523, ext. 203, or by post at P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.

Gordon Lamb