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Artist Ticket Picks! The Inaugural Edition.

CafeRacer1*304Welcome to our newest weekly blog feature on the Brown Paper Tickets Blog: Artist Ticket Picks!

As many of you already know, a year ago, a tragedy struck the artistic community here in Seattle a little over a year ago. While there’s no need to go into the specifics (you can read more about the crime here), two of the victims were good friends and artistic peers to many of us here at the company and we felt compelled to activate a program that we’d been discussing for some time: the Artist Tickets.

The idea was to ask well-known graphic artists to donate a work of art that would adorn a special, limited-edition ticket. If a producer opted in to the program, then they would give their ticket buyers the options to receive a cool, collectable ticket by just paying a quarter extra on their, already low, ticket fee. We would then donate all proceeds from the sales of these tickets to a charity of our choosing.

When we began to get news on how the families of the victims of the Cafe Racer shootings were struggling, we decided to put the Artist Ticket program into place in an effort to raise money for those that lost so much. Two nationally known artists, Ellen Forney and Jim Woodring, just happened to be regulars at Cafe Racer and generously donated their artwork for the inaugural batch of tickets and, just like that, the Artist Ticket program was born.

We’ve now passed the year anniversary of that horrible day and are proud to say that we’ve raised over $7,000 for the families of the victims. This is still a long way off from our goal of $25,000 but we feel it’s a very admirable start.
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The Mid-Week Beat: Klezmer Punk and Balkan Brass!

A few years back, with the help of bands like Gogol Bordello, Balkan Beat Box, Devotchka and Beirut, traditional Eastern European music got a, much-deserved, shot in the arm. These bands, and others, took the infectious melodies of traditional Eastern European Roma (or “gypsy”) music, klezmer and Balkan brass and infused it with modern musical influences: punk and indie rock, electronic beats and hip hop, to create a worldwide musical movement that captured the attention of the mainstream music press and took the world by storm, turning a whole new generation of music fans onto this exciting musical culture. Clubs across Europe and America boasted regular Balkan club nights and accordions, cimbaloms and tubas became common sights on rock club and festival stages.

The hype around “gypsy punk” and “Balkan beats” has calmed down in recent years but this incredible music still attracts music fans smitten with the music’s infectious, minor-key melodies and driving beats. While it seemed to be a passing phase, the movement created a viable living for traditional musicians who otherwise may not have been able to travel outside of Eastern Europe or the Balkans. Most cities in the United States now boast their own Balkan brass bands and rock clubs now feature Eastern European-influenced bands on a regular basis. You may not be reading about it in Pitchfork any more, but thanks to the massive exposure of the so-called “gypsy punk” movement, this incredible music can still pack a house full of sweaty, enthusiastic dancers regardless of their cultural heritage.

This week on the Mid-Week Beat, we feature a klezmer musician that infuses his music with a punk rock sensibility, an upcoming Balkan Night in Seattle and a legendary Macedonian brass band that is touring the U.S. in May.
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Music >

Dance Your Brass Off!

Who doesn’t love a brass band? The horns, the drums, the crash of the cymbals. In most parts of the world brass bands are THE preferred party music for weddings, festivals, baptisms, and pretty much anything you’d want to throw a party for.

If you’re a fan of brass bands, you know that Balkan brass bands provide some of the best dance music out there. Balkan brass evolved out of the military bands of the Ottoman empire, formed during the First Serbian Uprising in the early part of the 19th century. Brass instruments were used as a way to gather soldiers for battle and when the war ended, the soldiers went home, the music entered everyday life and became the preferred soundtrack for celebrations. There has been a recent resurgence of interest in Balkan brass bands and you can hear elements of the music in modern-day indie rock bands like Beirut and world-dance bands like Balkan Beat Box.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxJ23XJD0D0]
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