Let’s not take for granted that we live in relative peace and prosperity. And let’s not stop working to make our community better in any way we can. CoolCleveland Culturati columnist Liz Maugans recognizes a need in the arts community and has been questing for new ways to engage and connect artists and local communities, as she reflects in her piece, Ode to Joy and Art. Akron Soul Train announces the 15 artists who will be awarded short term residencies throughout Akron. Brett Potts releases his powerful new video. And Carlos Jones revives your flagging spirit with his P.L.U.S. Band with a rock and reggae benefit for the homeless at the Grog.Be still in the season as St. Vitus church hosts a program of sacred songs, while Gene Schwartz & the G-Force rock old-school blues. The Cleveland Metroparks Zoo offers Wild Winter Lights and Mill Stream Run’s two toboggan chutes, while Summit Metro Parks hosts an open house with stories, s’mores and a hike.
Celebrate as you will: The Cleveland Association of Black Storytellers are at the Maple Heights library, and across town, Karamu House celebrates Black culture on the 2nd day of Kwanzaa. The Maltz Museum holds a food drive and menorah lighting on the first day of Hanukkah, while Cleveland’s Public Hall lights up on the second day. New Year’s Eve celebrations take place in Waterloo, Lakewood and Bainbridge, among others. Have fun with Holiday Drag Bingo at the Music Box, or an Elizabethan Yule Log Festival at Trinity Cathedral. Check out Frost at the CBG, comedy at the Agora, a Christmas bird count with CMNH, and Cats on Holiday saluting The Kinks at Forest City Brewery,
To help tell the story of David Bowie’s first US appearance right here in Cleveland, Vanity Crash has enlisted some superstar friends: Meganne Stepka and Kate Hart from Moon Echo Garden on Fri 1/10 at BOP STOP; singer/songwriter/pianist Chrissy Strong at Jilly’s Music Room on Sat 1/11; and multi-instrumentalist Nate Pazzo Bocchicchio & Ruby Rose Weston from The Cowboy Princess Brigade appear Sun 1/12 at the Beachland Tavern with tickets available now. Come see what all the excitement is about.
As I mend from a full hip replacement and have time to reflect and plan ahead for the New Year, I feel well-supported in my hospital-commissioned, no-slip, grippy and compression socks nicely elevated in my lift chair. This is a typical year’s-end communication that you would likely find inserted inside a glittery, artist-made, locally sourced holiday card, which details the triumphs, trials and tragedies spelled out from best-to-worst-to-aspirational as we all turn sharply into 2025.
In early 2024, I found a crew of fellow travelers who seek vaster, mysterious and unknown terrain to how we can experience moments of cultural wonder and awe, and share it with our wider community. The Quest for the Fest, and its members, aka Questers, creatives of all ilk, poke around together and ponder our cross-disciplinary professions and the divine-calling of this creative community of how we can reimagine ourselves within this growing disconnect and isolated world. Read more.
In late 1971 through 1972, WMMS DJs Billy Bass (also program director) and Denny Sanders (also music director) fell in love with David Bowie’s Hunky Dory and played it non-stop on the air, creating an oasis of Bowie fans in Northeast Ohio. By the time Ziggy Stardust was released, Bowie was huge in England, but still hadn’t conquered America. Fortunately, he decided to kick off his first-ever US tour at Music Hall in Cleveland, which succeeded in breaking his career wide open outside of the UK. David Bowie in Cleveland tells the story of this momentous era with Cleveland’s glam punk superstars Vanity Crash telling the story with video interviews from Bass, Sanders and members of Bowie’s band The Spiders From Mars.
To help tell the story, Vanity Crash has invited some local superstars: Meganne Stepka (2nd from left), is famous for her solo work, her band Meg and the Magnetosphere, and her latest outfit, Moon Echo Garden, which features songwriter, vocalist and keyboardist Kate Hart (far left), and they join Vanity Crash on Fri 1/10 at BOP STOP. Singer/songwriter/pianist Chrissy Strong (far right) has a strong solo career, and has performed with Vanity Crash at Our Day Will Come, and she brings her signature raw, brave honesty to Jilly’s Music Room on Sat 1/11. Multi-instrumentalist Nate Pazzo Bocchicchio (3rd from left) appears Sun 1/12 at the Beachland Tavern with Ruby Rose Weston from their band The Cowboy Princess Brigade. Read more.
For just under a decade the arts nonprofit Akron Soul Train has been providing short-term residencies to artists in various disciplines to create specific projects which it then shares in its gallery or another space in Akron. It’s just announced the latest cohort of 15 artists — sculptors, filmmakers, photographers, dancers, performance artists, writers and more — in its 2025 class, along with an artist in its emerging artists program. Read more.
Cleveland singer/songwriter Brett Potts has released a video for his song “Black and Blue.” which was filmed in Lorain County. It also features his band — bassist Chris Nunnari, drummer Evan Krause and guitarist Tim Parnin of Sons of Elvis and Cobra Verde.Read more.
WED 1/1 Thrill Ride
It’s like riding a roller coaster in winter — and Mill Stream Run’s two toboggan chutes, the longest in Ohio, will be open every day this week through Saturday January 4. Don’t worry if the weather gets warm — they’re refrigerated.
