Hello again from me to you. Summer is almost over but you wouldn't know it from the heat. Find a cool spot, settle in and check out what's been happening around our little place on the earth…

Ticket To L.A.: After gathering a sizable audience through gigging and word-of-mouth buzz, Athens is losing popular acoustic/ electric act The Divine Maggees, to Los Angeles. The band formed in New England in 2002 and relocated to Athens last year. They have decided to make the move to be closer to manager Mark Mazetti. They have plans to record some new tracks at Hollywood's Westlake Audio studios and fans may be able to find these new tracks on a tentative EP they plan to release. Or maybe not. At any rate, the band played their last show in this area last week at Decatur's popular songwriter haven Eddie's Attic. Last year the band released their full-length live album In The Meantime…. For more information and to wish them well, please see www.divinemaggees.com.

It's A Theme: Local duo Bronkar & Cyndi are also leaving town; Brian Bronkar Lee and Cyndi Harvell, who have performed in a number of local acts, but over the past year fell comfortably into the duo mode will perform a final show in town on Friday, Aug. 13, at the Athens Steam Co. Pub. The 7 p.m. show will feature a number of special guests to help send the two on their way as they head to San Francisco, CA, to "pursue careers as artists." Expect collaborators and friends like Carl Lindberg, Andrej Kurti, JoJo Glidewell, Patrick Force, Adam Newdow and more to perform. Show up to bid them adieu. [Chris Hassiotis]

People Go, But People Come: I am particularly excited about this news and I hope you guys will be, too. Famed UK guitarist Tom Ashton has moved to Athens (well, Winterville, but y'know) and started his new project called The Multiverse. Ashton was a founder of the legendary UK darkwave /goth band The March Violets. Although labelmates Sisters Of Mercy and Red Lorry, Yellow Lorry gained more notoriety stateside, The March Violets are considered superior by many fans. Also, the "goth" tag was something the band was forever trying to shake as their sound was, in all honesty, much more than that easy label could contain. At any rate, Ashton is currently looking for local musicians to collaborate with in order to transfer his project into a fully fledged band and start playing gigs in the area and elsewhere. This is some serious stuff folks, so don't waste the man's time. For an idea of where his sound is now you can check out the MP3s available on his web site. Let me be among the first, though, to say, welcome to Athens, Tom. For more information, go to www.themultiverse.org and for a quick briefing on The March Violets, check out www.marchviolets.co.uk.

Sorry, Ladies, He's All Taken: In a move that is sure to reverberate through the hearts of swooning indie rock girls everywhere, Henry Owings, publisher of Chunklet, is now married. The wedding party occurs Saturday August 14, and while the first part of a reception at the fabulous 40 Watt is closed to the public, the big rock show afterwards is wide open, so y'all should come down and wish the man well. Featured performers include Magnolia Electric Co. [see ABC], Philadelphia act Swearing at Motorists and local ESG tribute band Tiny Sticks. I could break into a rendition of Rod Stewart's hit "All Of The Good Ones Are Taken" at this time but that would be embarrassing, so I won't. Let me just say, congratulations, Henry, and may your marriage be a wonderful one.

Why Do Anything Else?: I used to wonder why certain groups of people would travel around the country from one music gathering to another seemingly without any ties to an outside, nine-to-five world. I have decided that it's because there are so many festivals that one could fool oneself into thinking that there was no need to ever do anything else. Seriously, the amount of multi-act, outdoor music festivals is utterly mind-boggling. And here's another one for you. Taking place the last weekend of August in Carlton, GA, which is spitting distance from Athens, is the Sun Ray Music Festival. The event, which mirrors an increasing number of events like this, will benefit three local charities: The Athens Area Humane Society, the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia and the Madison-Oglethorpe Animal Shelter. Details on how attendees will be able to help these charities are available on the festivals website, and they're pretty creative and cool ideas, too. The music presented at Sun Ray is a cut above many festivals and notable acts include Cee-Lo Green (from Atlanta's Goodie Mob), The Funky Meters, DJ Q-Bert, Dr. Arvin Scott, eLeMeN.O.P., Dubconscious, The Larry Keel Experience, Lona and Kevn Kinney's Sun Tangled Angel Revival. And this is only a small part of everything that will be going on! Sun Ray will feature an area where one can catch free movies and satellite programming, a dance hall, an arcade for video games and a bunch of other diversions, too. Also, the organizers are still looking for volunteers, so in exchange for a couple of days of work you can attend all three days for free. I've read all the info on this thing and it seems like the best event of this sort to come down the pike in a long while. For more information, tickets, etc. please hit www.sunraymusicfestival.com.

Drivers Needed: Everyone's favorite charity/ resource center Nuçi's Space has put out the call for sponsorship from both individuals and businesses for an upcoming performance by incredibly popular jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. At the performance Frisell will be joined by bassist Viktor Krauss and drummer Kenny Wollesen. The concert is slated for Friday, Nov. 12. However, in order for this event to happen at all, Nuçi's needs sponsors. I have quite a few ideas of who locally would be appropriate to sponsor such an event, but if I'm thinking of them, chances are they already know who they are. If you're interested in sponsoring this even or for more information on Nuçi's Space in general, please call Dan Nettles at 227-1515 or visit www.nuci.org.

Dance Floor Hoppin' And Big Chart Toppin'!: Dan Geller and Amy Dykes, also known as the infectious duo I Am The World Trade Center, have been keeping so busy it's truly amazing. First, they have been DJ-ing weekly at the Go Bar as their alter ego Twin Powers. Also, their newest album The Cover Up was the 19th most downloaded album on Apple's iTunes website the week of its release. (Which makes perfect sense considering that the duo is as likely to use an Apple iPod when DJ-ing as they are anything else.) Most recently the album hit at No. 7 on the College Music Journal's Top 200 chart and things keep looking brighter for this release. For fans that can't get enough, there is a new 12" single available by the band featuring a cover of The Human League's breakout dance hit "Don't You Want Me?" This 12" is a split release with former label and tour mates The Paper Lions and was released by the Echelon/ Doubling Cube label. In other news, another benefit show for Dykes, who was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma back in May of this year, is in the works for September. A newly revamped website featuring news on the band and updates on Amy's health can be found at www.iamluxe.com/worldtrade.

A Quick Note: Those who've spent more than a couple of years paying attention to Athens music know that several years back The Fountains were one of the better bands in the scene that dipped its toes into country, rock and Americana. Well, after a two-year hiatus, the band's all set to play a reunion show, according to frontman Jeff Andrews. Look for information in next week's Flagpole on the Friday, Aug. 21, Tasty World performance. [Chris Hassiotis]

And that's just about enough of that. As always please get your news to me early and often and always mention either me or Threats & Promises in the subject line of all emails. Beat on the brat via email at music@flagpole.com, voicemail at 549-9523, ext. 214; or by post at P.O. Box 1027, Athens, GA 30603.
Gordon Lamb