Tunes From The Tombs 2011

Don't miss your LAST CHANCE to submit to Tunes from the Tombs. Tunes from the Tombs is a fund-raising event held on May 21 and 22, 2011 designed with the purpose to insure that Oakland's splendor and history will endure for years to come. Artists selected to perform on the larger stages will be compensated with financial consideration, and all artists will be provided with food and drink./n/nTunes from the Tombs is a weekend of music and spirits benefiting historic Oakland Cemetery. Historic Oakland Cemetery is Atlanta's most picturesque park and the city's most hallowed ground. Tunes from the Tombs is a fund-raising event held on May 21 and 22, 2011 designed with the purpose to insure that Oakland's splendor and history will endure for years to come.

Artists selected to perform on the larger stages will be compensated with financial consideration, and all artists will be provided with food and drink. The weekend-long event consists of musicians performing in and among Oakland's extraordinary tombs, headstones, and monuments. Two tree-covered main stages serve as the setting for our more established artists, while buskers perform on more distinctive vignette stages throughout the cemetery.

For a small donation, attendees will be treated to over 100 musicians throughout the weekend while strolling about the grounds of Oakland. And there'll be plenty of spirits: wine and beer, plus a variety of local foods.

With the damaging 2008 tornado that ripped through downtown Atlanta, they are still replacing trees and renovating broken headstones the twister left in its wake. This festival will help make Oakland more vibrant than ever.



Some fresh faces on the Atlanta scene include AM Gold (Jim Stacy’s newest band with Joel Burkhart on vocals), The Dark Owls featuring the dual vocals of Blake Rainey (Young Antiques) and Andrew Quinn (Roy Owens, Jr., The Merrills), Abby Wren and What It Is, and the new rock trio Spooky Partridge; comprised of Katy Graves (Catfight!) on bass, Shawn Christian (X-Impossibles, Rock City Dropouts) on guitar, and their son: eight-year-old whiz kid drummer Nick Christian.



Female-fronted acts will be a focus with performances by Doria Roberts, Heather Luttrell, Julie Gribble, Pink Pompeii, and Tiger! Tiger! among others.



Traditional acts will be featured as well, the Hank Williams-like Alick Gerard and the Dixie Limited, The Bow Weevils, Hicks With Picks and more, plus bagpiper Henry Frantz with play with his wife and drummer Fran Frantz, and a classical guitarist and a harpist will actually perform inside a mausoleum – a quiet and dulcet venue for fine music.



The Pretty Ambitious/Lower 40 Stage will include local hipsters, Mermaids containing Matt McCalvin (Gringo Star), Night Driving in Small Towns, one-man-band Jeffery Butzer, The Husseins, Lucy Dreams, and The Clap among others.



The Community Music Centers of Atlanta will have a stage to show off the talents of their students and faculty alike. Adults and children will perform Jazz, Classical, Folk and Americana music on this stage.



Musicians from outside Atlanta are making a pilgrimage to Oakland to take part in the fundraising event. Pittsburgh acts Boca Chica and Nik and the Central Plains will travel from the Steel City to perform at the event. Kip Boardman who just released his CD 'The Long Weight' (with the musical help of Ray Lamontagne’s Pariah Dogs) will travel from Los Angeles, and Denver’s Kort McCumber comes down from the mountains to perform his own brand of Colorado Americana... and one of the Indigo Girls’ favorites, Danielle Howle from Awendaw, SC will perform as well.



About Oakland Cemetery:

Oakland Cemetery is the eternal home to many of Atlanta's most prominent people, including Maynard Jackson, Atlanta's first African American mayor, and Ivan Allen, Jr. who became the 26th and 27th mayors of the city to be buried at Oakland, joining six Georgia governors. Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With The Wind, is also buried here. So are golf great Robert T. (Bobby) Jones; Bishop Wesley John Gaines, founder of Morris Brown College; Carrie Steele Logan, 19th Century founder of Atlanta's first orphanage for black children which continues today as the Carrie Steel Pitts Home, and others who played a role in Atlanta's evolution; including Benjamin Franklin White, who is best known for publishing The Sacred Harp. It was this book, now distributed in several different versions; that came to be the shape note tradition with the largest number of participants.

Many of Oakland's graves are etched with familiar names borne by Atlanta parks, streets (ironically none named “Peachtree”), neighborhoods and businesses; and for every lavish monument marking a prominent or wealthy family, there are hundreds of small, simple headstones.

About Shut Eye Records & Agency:

Shut Eye Records & Agency has been representing venues and festivals as their talent buyer of choice since 1996. From budget development to contract negotiation to stage production, Shut Eye has brought the finest live music services to our clients. Some clients of ours include, or have included the Atlanta Dogwood Festival, Historic Oakland Cemetery, Red Brick Brewing (formerly Atlanta Brewing Company), The Cabbagetown Reunion Festival (Atlanta, GA), The Gravity Pub (Atlanta, GA), Red Light Cafe (Atlanta, GA), Lenny's/Dottie's (Atlanta, GA), The Georgia International Horse Park (Conyers, GA) and more.