Things Are Moving Now
My album is all done. On to mastering.
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My album is all done. On to mastering.
Blair was a Man. A free Man. A person with a gift to give.
A Man that came from New Jersey to Detroit to give. To explore. To learn. To be. Free.
Fly on Man. Fly.
Rest In Peace
You didn’t slip into David Blair’s orbit. You gravitated to it, and then you stayed there.
That’s how friends are remembering the Detroit poet, musician and teacher, who died July 23 at 43. They say his Sunday memorial service at Unitarian Universalist Church will be a celebration of a unique life and talent.
Word of Blair’s death spread quickly through the Detroit arts community last weekend, spawning an outpouring of tributes and support from across the world as his Facebook page filled with emotional remembrances.
Blair, a fixture on the Detroit arts scene and a National Poetry Slam champion, was found dead at the Corktown Inn in Detroit. Friends said Friday that he appears to have died of natural causes. Autopsy results are expected next week, said Dale Wilson, a friend and collaborator.
Blair’s first book of poetry, “Moonwalking,” was published last year. His poetry readings and musical performances are chronicled on video across the Internet.
“He literally could stop a room and make you cry,” Wilson said.
Blair taught poetry in Detroit Public Schools and the YMCA, and traveled the world to perform. He was an intellectual with a blue-collar past. He was a musician, mentor and activist who conveyed the grittiness of Detroit decay while believing that hope lay in the city’s art.
Raised in New Jersey, Blair moved to Detroit during the 1990s, working on the Chrysler line before emerging as a luminary on the local poetry scene. He was also a prolific musician, releasing several albums, hosting open-mic sessions and performing with the Urban Folk Collective.
Those close to Blair said he had a magnetic personality to go with potent talent.
“Everyone around him expanded and became grander,” said musician Audra Kubat, also a member of Urban Folk Collective. “He was brilliant but down to Earth. You were inspired to be a better person just by being around him.”
Wilson said there was a fierce independence and deep honesty to his friend’s work.
“Whether you knew him for 12 years or for two weeks, the relationship could be the same, because he was so open,” Wilson said. “Blair was black, gay and socialist. He was proud of that, and he was able to convey it in a way that was never threatening to people, never overreaching.”
Sunday’s service will start at 1 p.m. with a New Orleans-style funeral parade down Cass Avenue from Mack to the Unitarian Universalist Church at Forest Street. The church ceremony will begin at 2 p.m., followed by a potluck supper.
A memorial service will also be held in his hometown of Newton, N.J. Blair’s body will be cremated there, Wilson said.
Donations to help cover funeral costs are being taken at DBlair.org , which will also feature news updates, including information about an upcoming memorial concert in Detroit.
The creative community Blair built around himself will be his lasting Detroit legacy, Kubat said.
“All of these great people were able to meet and become close,” she said. “He brought us all together, and he left us all together, so we could all be what we were supposed to be.”
DETROIT FREE PRESS POP MUSIC WRITER
Blair recites his poem “Detroit While I Was Away” (contains some profanity).
Blair performs a Michael Jackson tribute at the Allied Music Conference.
This is a music performance with group Blair and the Boyfriends.
Blair describes this poem’s subject about “being black in America.”
Music created in Detroit has always been creative and inspiring to the world.
Many come from miles around to hear new music that is made in our city.
Despite of all the negative press we seem to get when it come to crime and corruption , we have those who jump over the crazy everyday of all of that and create.
Here are some examples of what going on with music in Detroit.
On The Hip Hop Front.
It has been five years since Detroit antiquarian bookslinger and hip hop emcee, Doc Waffles released his last record, titled Golf View Drive. His new album titled Seizure Suit Farms features beats from Eddie Logix and Sheefy McFly, a collaboration with SelfSays, and includes esoteric references to Jurassic Park.
Blue Collar Gentlemen is a Midwest hip hop showcase of local and out-of-town artists. This event takes place on the first Friday of every month and is organized by United States of Mind. Be sure to check out the next event on Friday, June 3 2011 at The Old Miami .
Danny Brown is at it again with another brilliant music video for the track “Guitar Solo”. The video is Co-Produced by Stedfast Media and Free Lunch Kidz.
Detroit Rock City.
It’s a Corporate World, the highly anticipated LP from Detroit local band Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr, was released today under the Warner Brothers label. (I guess it really is a corporate world) The LA Times uses the word “cute” a lot to describe them, and perhaps that is deserved. They aren’t exactly the embodiment of the dirty, grimy sound Detroit rock is known for, and to me that is refreshing.
Over the years, I have come to love the diversity in music that Detroit has to offer. A few bands that have tried The Postal Service sound and failed to pull it off, mostly because they just sound like a Detroit band trying to rip off The Postal Service. While I would put Josh Epstein and Daniel Zott in that same category, they have set themselves apart with lyrical and musical brilliance, angelic harmonies and expert use of electronic instruments.
The title track is about running your life like a corporation, where friends are nothing more than employees and emotions can be quantified and manipulated like a balance sheet. It’s a dance-friendly jingle with a powerful message, Beatles-esque hook and entrancing oohs and aahs that will make you think while you dance…. or just dance. Either way this song will touch you in a special way.
The album’s first few songs start off with down-tempo, and at times, melancholy tones that instantly had me bobbing my head and stroking my chin. Skeletons in particular stood out to me as a song that achieves great layering, and unique uses of vocals and whistles, and lyrics that stand out as well.
For their obligatory cover, the band chose to remake Gil Scott-Heron’s We Almost Lost Detroit. This song on the album most closely represents the Detroit rock sound, with the simple-but-powerful guitar riffs, grinding organ and a steady beat, and Josh Epstein really shows off his chops as well. The original song is based off of a real event that happened, when a Nuclear reactor in Monroe came close to a meltdown and could have potentially wiped out the entire city of Detroit. The boys did this song justice.
Soul Music Lives In Detroit.
It’s pretty rare that you find a white kid from Detroit that is able to produce Motown style arrangements and back it up with one hell of a singing voice. Enter Mayer Hawthorne, a Detroit artist who is reinventing the way that people view R&B through a revival of tracks resembling artists such as Otis Redding, the Temptations, etc. His album Strange Arrangements, released in September of 2009 is a great nostalgic record; an undertaking that Hawthorne is quoted as ‘having to learn to sing’ in order to create. Mayer Hawthorne will also appear at SXSW 2010.
Describing his music as ‘fun’ Hawthorne says that being from Detroit is where he draws most of his influence. The Motown label and the city as a whole heavily contributes to his crooning vocal style and soulful arrangements. Originally, Hawthorne wanted to pursue rap, but switched to soul/R&B when president of Stones Throw Records Peanut Butter Wolf showed interest in his soul demos.
Drawing from musical influences including Steely Dan, Smashing Pumpkins, Frank Sinatra, Janet Jackson, and many others have given Mayer Hawthorne his unique and diverse sound. Don’t miss Mayer Hawthorne at SXSW 2010 and catch some classic Motown mixed with current day R&B and soul, all done by a white kid. Mayer Hawthorne is a truly unique act and a perfect example of the diversity and creativity that the Detroit underground has to offer.
Detroit Music. Always growing. Always Moving.
Stayed Tuned
Peace.
Hello Everyone.
My Name is Kelsey Vaughn Thomas.
I am a music maker here in Detroit City.
With my blog, I’d like to take you with me as I read, listen and check out shows in Detroit.
Friends will be a part of this too. Since we can’t always do/see everything.
I know a few people, that know a couple kids, that know a few more people so, they’ll be a few things to read about. Corrections are welcome. As well as opinions.
I hope I can bring you somethings that you’ve overlooked.
I will also give you a bit of what I do along the.
I am Detroit as well.
Peace,
And Thanks For Checking Us Out.
Kelsey Vaughn Thomas as Kelsey Vaughn Thomas
kelseyvaughnthomas 