The Cables, A Battle To Remember, and Upcoming Gigs

Hey Everyone!

As some of you may or may not know, in addition to reporting on new and interesting musicians and shows that I have seen, I am a solo artist with my own music up on Bandcamp. As a current college student, I sometimes find it hard to balance my own music with school work and with my sound design projects, which incorporate a different type of composition. However, recently I have formed a new band called The Cables. Individually, we are James Clemer on lead guitar, Luis Pineiro on Drums, Nic Park on Bass and Ursula Ellis on Vocals in addition to myself on vocals and guitar. This new collective project has afforded me the opportunity to bring new life to my solo work, and share it with some amazing musician friends of mine. It will also, hopefully provide a forum in the future for further collaboration.

Our first live show was this past Thursday at Tommy Nevin's Pub at the Mayfest Battle of the Bands. Despite the fact that we were beat out by whysowhite, an awesome funk/hip-hop/soul fusion who will now get to play on Dillo Day, our new project was given a great write up and review in North By Northwestern, as well as the opportunity to play another gig this Friday on campus on the Norris South Lawn for the Niteskool Music Artist Showcase alongside artists Kelsey Wild, MORI and the Moonwalkers, Aurelia, and Fuzzy Moon.

Let this be the second of many gigs I have the fortune of playing with this group.

Peace.Love.Music.

Kara Ali

Kelsey Wild and Niteskool!

In keeping with the local music theme, last night I had the fortune to be a part of and attend an intimate gig at Prairie Moon in Evanston, IL where Niteskool artist, Kelsey Wild, played a 45minute set of introspective music on piano and guitar.

I helped to organize the gig as the Special Events Chairs of Niteskool, an organization that provides for student musicians on the Northwestern Campus. (We are still in the process of building our new website, but check out what's up so far!) This year, Niteskool has done a lot to revamp and expand its programming to provide for a growing community of student musicians on campus. Additionally, Niteskool's Annual Music Video Project provides select artists with increased exposure for their music, while providing film students here an amazing opportunity to produce a professional music video.

This year, Kelsey Wild's song "Five Years" (originally titled "Fun"), was chosen. Interestingly enough, I had the opportunity to sit in on the recording session for the audio track as an intern at Studiomedia last quarter. As part of our campaign to promote the video and Kelsey's music, the Prairie Moon concert was a success in giving her the opportunity to play near campus and drawing a crowd of students.

I've known Kelsey since my freshman year, when we lived across the hall in our dorm. I loved her music then, and I love to see it continually evolving. The addition of drums and another guitar to her show last night made things especially interesting, and I think that the addition of musicians is definitely a great direction for Kelsey's music to be moving in.

I look forward to the full production of the music video and to hearing Kelsey play at future Niteskool events!

Peace.Love.Music.

Kara Ali