The Women & the Arts Festival

Friday, November 13, 2009, 7:30PM

Nervous but Excited
opening act Amanda Lucas & Audrey Cecil

Saturday, November 14, 2009, 7:30PM

Lesbian Tent Revival
Sister Carolyn" Gage & "Sister Tara" Ayers
of the Sisterhood of the Sacred Synapse

Both events will be held at the Edgewood United Church,
469 N Hagadorn in East Lansing, Michigan

NERVOUS BUT EXCITED

“ahhhh... organic and rich like good soil ... makes me want to listen and hear it grow. the songs are honest and dimensional. it’s music to my ears.”

- amy ray, the indigo girls

Michigan-based, lansing grown, Pleasantly Aggressive Folk Duo Nervous but Excited (Kate Peterson & Sarah Cleaver) is two songwriters, two singers, three guitars, a mandolin, a violin, a ukulele, a few harmonicas, dead-on harmony, some vaguely choreographed dancing and an impressive amount of laughter. Their original repertoire ranges in topic from smart, introspective narratives to the tactfully political… and they still dabble a bit in the love/post-love variety every now and then.

Road warriors to the core, their endless passion has landed them on stages with folks like Ani Difranco, Catie Curtis, Utah Phillips and Cheryl Wheeler to name a few.

For the Women in the Arts Festival this year, nbe will be joined by a full band of Michigan women musicians, including Murray Stewart-Jones on drums and Susie Giang on bass, banjo and mandolin.

NBE is currently on tour supporting their latest album, Anchors, the first ever 100% carbon neutral CD release. Teamed up with their indie label Riot Grrrl Ink, NBE meticulously tracked all the energy used in the project, from the gas to get to the studio and the energy needed to power and heat it. All promotional paper items were produced using 100% post consumer materials. All energy that could not be avoided was offset through renewable energy credits. NBE and RGI are proud to call it “Anchors: {the green album}.”

Musically, Anchors is many steps beyond what NBE has done in the past. Kate and Sarah’s unique vocal harmonies are enhanced by many talented players including Girlyman, Lyndell Montgomery and Chris Bathgate among others who joined them to color in the lines of the songs with a sweet-tasting assortment of warming-your-feet-by-the-fire-in-the-wintertime kind of instrumentation.

www.nervousbutexcited.com

Amanda Lucas & Audrey Cecil

Amanda Lucas and Audrey Cecil are singer/songwriters.
They play guitars; really play them. They play other things too.
They harmonize to the moon.
They laugh. They work hard.
They love it. You can tell…-
You can tell because when you watch them, they make you love it too. You’ll find your foot tapping before you realize it’s doing it. You’ll find yourself lost in lyrics before you know what they mean.

Amanda Lucas and Audrey Cecil, both formerly parts of other bands, could not pass up the chemistry they found when they started playing as a duo. Music served as the driving force for the reconnection of these childhood friends, after they had been out of touch for over a decade. With their catchy tunes, heartfelt lyrics, and tight harmonies, AL/AC has gained quite a following in the south/midwest region. After taking some time off to write and arrange after joining forces as a duo, AL/AC dove right in, gained a fanbase, and now plays over 150 shows per year. They have shared the stage with the likes of Garrison Starr, Trina Hamlin, Erik Hyman, Nini Camps, Ben Sollee, Tracy Rice, Brooks Ritter, and many more talented musicians.

www.sonicbids.com/alacmusic

LESBIAN TENT REVIVAL
Directed by "Sister Carolyn" Gage & "Sister Tara" Ayers
of the Sisterhood of the Sacred Synapse

Reviving the spirit of sisterhood from th Lesbian Tent Revival ose heady days of the early feminist movement, Sister Carolyn revives her flock in a series of hilarious, radical, rabble-rousing sermons.

Sister Carolyn urges her congregation to remember, to synapse, to make the connections between the environmental crisis, and personal nutrition, and psychiatric health, and medical misogyny, and social conditioning, and political awareness. She inspires women to reach back into their own histories and the histories of their foremothers for strategies that reinforce connection and weave webs of alliances and support.

The Lesbian Tent Revival has been a rousing success at national women’s festivals, and has spread the spark of radical feminism across a world sunk in darkness and disconnection.