If its Memorial Day Weekend, its also gotta be time for the Decatur Arts Festival! 2008 makes this the 20th year for the grand-daddy of all big Decatur festivals.

There’s lots going on this weekend beyond the artist’s market, so make sure to checkout the festival’s own webpage for complete details. Weather should be nice and warm. Or if you want work up your sweat from physical exertion instead of the heat, hike the 30-stop ArtsWalk on Friday night 5p-10p. (Actually you can take the FurBus for the ArtsWalk too, but then its really not a “walk” now, is it?)

Fellow Decatur-loving bloggers Catherine and Lauren are geared up and ready to go.

And so am I. In addition to visiting all the normal haunts, I might stop in to Eddie’s in the afternoon for a drink and a little entertainment before swinging by Worthmore for their “Grand Opening” weekend. Regardless, I’ll have camera in hand and will report back.

Any other non-obvious events going on this weekend that we should be aware of?

[this year's excellent poster is designed by Corey Barksdale]

From the Emory Wheel…

“If Bob Elphin has his way, Decatur could be a household name. Last month Elphin, the owner of Eddie’s Attic, a small music venue based in this Atlanta suburb, teamed up with Crawford Communications, an Atlanta production and broadcast company, and began work on a TV pilot that the two hope will convince media outlets to back the creation of a syndicated television show featuring live performances at the Attic.

For the Attic’s first foray into television, Elphin began by reaching out to regular venue performers like Shawn Mullins, Caroline Herring and Kitty Snyder, Telegram and the Everybody Fields, asking them to play a filmed performance for the pilot. Although these artists may not be big names, Elphin said in an interview with the Wheel that they have “a real understanding of [what] Eddie’s Attic is and have a real desire to help us be successful.”

According to the article, owner Bob Elphin is also working with Georgia Public Broadcasting to put together a monthly radio show from the Attic, in addition to looking at the possibilities of internet radio.

If you drive DeKalb Avenue every morning, as I do, you may have noticed that the vacant piece of forested land across the street from Shawn Mullins’ house is showing signs of coming deforestation. What will replace the once woodsy lot? Why town homes of course!

A CL Thomas Wheatley article profiling the coming battle was recently posted on the Oakhurst Message Board. Since I can’t find it online, I’ll just post it below. If Thomas or someone else can point me to the link, I’ll gladly trackback.

DeKalb Avenue residents rally for greenspace

The fight to maintain Atlanta’s green canopy – every little inch of it – continues. Residents of Lake Claire and surrounding neighborhoods want to halt a plan to raze trees and build condos on a half-acre lot at the corner of DeKalb and Gordon Avenues – the last slice of greenspace along the bustling road that connects Decatur and
Atlanta.

Residents want the city to help them purchase the land, allow them to create a pocket park to serve cyclists, pedestrians and people waiting at the adjacent MARTA stop.

“Granmaw Gordon,” a pecan tree that has stood for more than 150 years, is one of the 35 trees planned for removal. Once cleared, a proposed10-unit condo development has been zoned for the lot. To Teri
Stewart, a resident and local art gallery owner, the project’s working title – “Greenspace Condominiums” – is particularly ironic.

Jeffrey Wren of EarthStation, the architectural firm designing the project, says that the team’s aim is to build an environmentally-sound – and perhaps even LEED-certified – project.

Stewart says residents are trying to generate funding to acquire the land. She adds that some residents have even volunteered to chain themselves to trees to block bulldozers should they start to roll.

“This is sort of an Eco-Alamo,” says Stewart. “It’s DeKalb Avenue’s last stand.”

— THOMAS WHEATLEY

Also see a neighborhood letter on the Zac Team blog.

Interesting. As I recall, this piece of land has had a big old “For Sale” sign hanging out on it since before Mullins went platinum with “Lullaby” (OK, a bit of an exaggeration, but I wanted to use the analogy). I wonder how long this fight has been going on. Hopefully, it’s not a new initiative, because if so, it seems “too little, too late”.

Here are the details from a recent Decatur CD email…

If you’ve ever been to Eddie’s Attic, you know how great the sound is in that place. It’s one of the chief reasons Eddie’s is one of our nation’s premiere music venues. But recently and most unfortunately, Shalom Aberle, Eddie’s sound engineer, suffered a heart attack. In order to help out with his extreme medical expenses, Eddie has invited tons of great local musicians to perform three nights of benefit shows.

On Tuesday Jan. 8th, Wednesday Jan. 9th and Thursday Jan. 10th, a show will be held at 8pm (doors at 6:30pm). Performers over the three-night stand include Blake Guthrie, Kodac Harrison, Caroline Aiken, Mike Willis, Pierce Pettis, Caroline Herring, John Pringle, Alex Brenner, Arlington Priest, Bain Mattox, Little Country Giants, Tin Cup Prophette and many more.

There is no ticket price; Eddie’s will be accepting donations in any form to help alleviate Shalom’s bills. If ever there was a great way to reach out and aid a local cause, this is it. Please show your support if you can. Visit the Eddie’s Attic website for complete schedule information.

The AJC has a review of the ASO Christmas concert by someone other than Pierre Ruhe.

While he generally praises the three performing choruses (Gwinnett Young Singers, Morehouse Glee Club and ASOC) he makes a questionable assertion at the start.

“Standing still can be dangerous for an orchestra, and the rows of empty seats on Thursday were a poignant reminder of the price to be paid. But those who showed up had a swell time, thanks partly to Norman Mackenzie’s meticulous conducting.”

While I recognize that there are many standards in the ASO Christmas concert repertoire that remain the same from year to year, I wouldn’t call that a “timewarp” and I certainly don’t blame that for some empty seats on Thursday night.

Christmas events worldwide are all about tradition and this Christmas show, created by local icon Robert Shaw, is one of the city’s great traditions. Once a year, this organization celebrates both its past and the holiday season using Shaw’s massive Christmas catalog of music, which anyone that’s sung in a high school chorus has sang in their youth.

Now, if the ASO were stuck in a Robert Shaw rut, only performing Shaw’s well-known favorites, I might call the Christmas concert part of that a “time warp”. However, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. With Robert Spano at the helm, this orchestra has become one of the most progressive in the country. The recent $1 million Mellon Grant won by the ASO or Robert Spano’s recent Conductor of the Year award for forward-thinking stand in stark contrast to a “time warp” assertion.

So, if all this is true, why the lighter attendance on a Thursday?

Because its a Thursday night! Crowds are always a little lighter on Thursday, especially when its a 4 performance concert.

In fact, Friday and both Saturday concerts are completely sold out! These classic concerts, like so many others (Carmina, Beethoven’s 9th, etc…) always draw the biggest crowds.

These concerts are both big money makers and a great way to continue an Atlanta tradition, not a stale, pointless continuation that only delivers empty seats.

Obviously, this is just this one volunteer’s opinion.