Today, Sunday 2pm, Honor Molloy and Jack O’Connell will be reading from Pat Fenton’s “Stoopdreamer” at Farrell’s Bar located at 16th St and 9th Ave in Brooklyn in the Windsor Terrace neighborhood where “Stoopdreamer” was born.
Tonight, Sunday, April 13, 7pm, singer/songwriter Salina Sias will be performing at Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 1, 196 Allen Street in NYC. Also performing with Salina will be guitarist Thad DeBrock and cellist Noah Hoffeld.
Cat Dwyer’s photos from the Artists Without Walls’s Showcase, 3/26/14. The names of the photographed appear above the photo.
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Billy Barrett
Jerry O’Sullivan
Jerry O’Sullivan and Connie Roberts
Tara O’Grady, Miguel Vias, Brendan Connellan and Alessia Sushko
Warren Malone
Maeve Higgins
Noah Hoffeld
Joe McElligott, Charles R. Hale and Niamh Hyland with students from Lehman College
Noah Hoffeld and Salina Sias
Kate McLeod
Bernadette Fee and Pat Coyne
Intermission
Join Artists Without Walls for its next Showcase at The Cell Theatre on Wed., March 26, 7pm. A great night is planned including, Comedian Maeve Higgins, singer/songwriter Warren Malone, playwright Brendan Connellan, singer/songwriter Salina Sias, performing together will be poet Connie Roberts, Niamh Hyland and uilleann piper Jerry O’Sullivan, playwright/author Kate McLeod, writer Billy Barrett, and the duo of fiddler Bernadette Fee and guitarist Patrick Coyne. Charles R. Hale, emcee.
It’s going to be an incredible evening of entertainment and fun. See for yourself what all the buzz is about. Stay tuned, more info to follow. The Cell Theatre, Wed., March 26, 7pm.
Photo montage by Vera Hoar
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Who is Salina Sias?
If you were recording this interview, I’d be laughing. And then, maybe, laughing some more. The tough question first? That’s the name I was born with; I’ve only been using it professionally a few years. I have a new stage name waiting in the wings, but that’s still a secret.
A notable producer and new friend once said to me, “If you’re born 7 feet tall, you play basketball. If you’re born feeling everything too deeply, you create.”
I’ve been singing since I was 8 and writing all kinds of nonsense since 12.
Do you have upcoming events you’d like people to attend?
I’m in recording mode, yet I do have a set coming up on Thursday, June 13, 8PM at Two Moon Art House & Cafe. I’ll be performing along with this great duo from California, David and Olivia, in celebration of their album release. Info/Details/Updates on my social media page: Salina Sias Music Facebook Page
What is/are your favorite songs/albums?
In this moment without thinking too hard, because then I would go on and on:
Who are the songwriters you admire?
Tom Waits, The Bee Gees, Mercer, Gershwin, Leonard Cohen, Tori Amos, I could ramble on…and currently I’m admiring Anna Ternheim from Sweden.
Who is your greatest inspiration and why?
People inspire me; the connections I make inspire me.
My children. Above all else, they breathe new life into mine every day.
What are the top five things you’d like to accomplish in the next five years?
Mount an episodic play I began writing in 2001
Write a song I can sing with a youth chorus
Write & record a few songs in Spanish
Perform in places I’ve never visited
Sing/Collaborate with more great singer-songwriters
Buy a house (Shoot. You asked for five.)
If you could dream of trying something in the arts you haven’t tired, but would like to, what would that be?
Audition for SNL
I do have some experience in comedic acting. But still. SNL.
What was the best gift that someone gave you that inspired or facilitated an interest in your art?
Encouragement. From one teacher.
Artists Without Walls was created to provide artists of all disciplines an opportunity to experiment with new ideas in front of a live audience; create an environment that fosters collaborative and creative effort and promote members’ careers in the arts, whether they have already established themselves or are at the beginning of their artistic career. All of those objectives will be on display tonight when Lehman’s college’s City & Humanities Program, the CUNY Institute for Irish-American Studies and the CUNY Institute of Mexican Studies host an Artists Without Walls’ Showcase at Lehman College.
Among the evening’s performers:
Owen and Moley O Suilleabhain, singers from Ireland, and Koro Koroye, a spoken word artist from Nigeria, will be performing together for the first time. Their performance will explore the ancient traditions that they have inherited and how they have transformed this heritage into a voice they can truly call their own. Now living in the melting pot of New York City, they are sharing the common experience of rediscovering their ancient identities with their own contemporary voices.
Salina Sias will share stories of her journey toward self-identity, acceptance (and perceived disdain) for her Mexican roots while performing original numbers from her up coming album, including a personal song she penned in Spanish. Salina will be joined by guitarist Thad DeBrock.
Marni Rice, chanteuse-accordionist and theater artist from New York City, and Xio Evans, a dancer and choreographer from Costa Rica, wiil perform a piece called “Have You Seen My Son?” a performance piece about gun violence. The text is in Spanish and English and the performance is dedicated to the issue of social justice.
Honor Finnegan will be singing songs from her CD, The Tiny Life, as well as one of her newer pieces, which has been recorded by singer-songwriter, Amy Speace. The Tiny Life was #9 on the Folk DJ Charts in February 2012, and Honor was recently selected as a finalist in the prestigious New Folk Songwriting Contest as part of the Kerrville Folk Festival in Kerrville, Texas. Honor will be joined by guitarist Aviv Roth.
In addition, writer Billy Barrett, playwright and novelist Seamus Scanlon, violinist/fiddler Annette Homann and jazz and blues singer Antoinette Montague and jazz pianist extraordinaire Danny Mixon will be displaying their talents.
The show begins at 7pm in the Studio Theatre at Lehman College. Refreshments will be provided. The first Showcase at Lehman last fall was a great success. This one might even top that. Come find out. Hope to see you there.
Artists Without Walls will be appearing at The Studio Theater, Lehman College on April 25, 7PM. Thanks to Lehman’s Timothy Marquart and Joe McElligott for designing a terrific poster for the event. Also, thanks to Cat Dwyer for providing the photos of Koro and Billy Barrett. Here’s the poster:
