Have Open Mics Become The New 8 Ball Jackets?

If you are old enough to remember when MTV actually showed music videos, you may remember a time in the early 80's when even hard rock videos had break dancing and pop lock dancers. 

                    Still later came the popular 8 Ball Jacket. Every one it seemed had to have one.

(I am never throwing away my Yo MTV Raps 8 Ball Style Jacket.)

Have "open mic's" for spoken word become today's equivalent  of The 8 Ball Jacket or Break Dancing?

Don't get me wrong I love great spoken word and enjoy solid and creative open mic venues. Also full disclosure forces me to admit I have shut down at least one open mic series I was a part of because I saw it going no where fast.

That being said.
 

Do too many bars, lounges, community halls think the best way and the cheapest way to get patrons on an off night is to plug in an amp and offer the stage to any and every one?

If you enjoy the open mic scene?

What keeps you coming back?

Who has the best open mics right now?

Has the talent pool at open mics gotten shallow?

Editors Note: Raymond Tyler will be talking about this topic with many poets and writers and following up in the days to come.

Please share your thoughts. 

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 Great After Party For The Boardwalk Dance Party and

 Whispers Concert.

 The Little Wellness Arts Center scheduled to open a new home

for the arts in South Jersey in October 2013.
Please support our fund raising efforts.

Membership Drive

 

Membership Has It Privileges

Words By Raymond Tyler

The Little Wellness Arts Center is proud to announce that your favorite virtual art center will be moving into a brick and mortar building in October of 2013.

We sincerely thank every one that has supported us at various venues in South Jersey and Philly.

We now need your help to move into the new digs and to maintain them.

We have so many great and exciting new events, programs, seminars, workshops, in the planning stages.

So here and now we officially announce our first membership drive.

Check here at Little WAC.com for all kinds of great member gifts.

With even a basic membership you will also receive discounts on events, items in our galleries and we are planning our Black Party to....well you don't want to miss that.

Please send your donation to our current paypal account at 
RaymondCTyler@gmail.com.

Basic memberships start at $25. 
Sign up now and your member card will be valid through December 31st of 2014. Also the investment for basic membership will increase to $30 after October 1st.

For more membership options including Live Time and Business Memberships, please visit our special event bright page for our membership drive.
http://wacmembershipdrive.eventbrite.com/ 

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Reel Black Looks at The Media looking at Trayvon and Oscar Grant

How does a community move beyond outrage?

Join GriotWorks, Reelblack and Scribe Video Center for a panel discussion featuring storytellers and artists who use various forms of media to explore complex, layered stories about Black men. These artists deconstruct stereotypes by constructing images and ideas that challenge the status quo.

We’ll discuss the film Fruitvale Station and the director, Ryan Coogler’s approach to storytelling, the impact of the Trayvon Martin/Zimmerman verdict and the progressive projects our panelists are producing to counter negative imaging in the media.

Saturday August 17, 2013 4-6pm
Scribe Video Center
4212 Chestnut Street, 3rd Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19104
$5, includes refreshments

Reserve your spot: https://fruitvaletalk.eventbrite.com/

Panelists Include:

Akintola Hanif, the founder of HYCIDE magazine which explores the roles we create for ourselves and those created for us, challenging the status quo while bearing witness to the feared, neglected and misunderstood. His work is heavily rooted in cross-cultural photojournalism; fine art photography; media coverage and documentation of quality of life, education and class issues. http://hycide.com/

Greg “Just Greg” Corbin, an international poet, teacher, writer, motivational speaker, mentor and Philadelphia community leader for over 10 years. He is a recipient of the 2012 Black Male Engagement Leadership Award, the 2011 Focus on Prevention Award from Drexel University, is featured in Philadelphia’s citywide “UnLitter Us” campaign, and serves on the Philadelphia Poet Laureate Governing Committee. A Philadelphia native, Corbin is a dedicated community leader in Philadelphia and beyond, working to ensure the holistic growth of young people everyday.
http://pypm215.org/

Muthi Reed, founder of phillyhomegrown.net, was born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in Philadelphia, PA during the 1980s & 90s, inspiring a lifelong interest in the architecture and stories of industrial ruin. Educated primarily as a sociologist Reed has worked largely as a community-based media maker as well as visual artist. Her current work focuses on recycle, reclaim and reuse aesthetics in art & culture, investigating how both material matter and people’s embodiment of space inscribes narrative and performance codes.
http://phillyhomegrown.net/

Stacey Muhammad, an award winning independent filmmaker and music video director who has written, directed and produced a series of award winning short films of both the narrative and documentary genres. As co-founder of Intelligent Seedz with activist / artist, Wise Intelligent, Stacey is committed to teaching youth the art of filmmaking and equipping them with the necessary tools to tell their stories. Her latest project, For Colored Boys, REDEMPTION, an original dramatic series, starring Julito McCullum (The Wire) and Rob Morgan (Pariah) with Tim Reid (WKRP / Sister, Sister) and Jacinto Taras Riddick (Law and Order) is currently on the festival circuit and will be released online this summer.
http://www.staceymuhammad.com/web-series.html

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Tune In Monday at 8pm

The NEXT Music Seminar on WLFR and WNJC

Last week's broadcast was cancelled due to technical problems but we will share sounds of these great women this Sunday.

Raymond Tyler has for years been a voice for sharing new music.
In highschool through mix tapes.
As an adult with several publications.
Recently, Tyler has shared exciting new music on broadcast radio and the internet.

Starting this week...he will be launching new segments on his radio shows.

On Sunday's at 8pm  tune into The Weekend Mix Tape on 91.7 FM WLFR.

The Mix Tape will profile new music and entertainment from 8:30pm to 9pm.

On Monday's The Delaware Valley Golf Club (www.delvalgc.com) and Keeping It Always Sexy Entertainment Presents The Next Music and Entertainment Seminar at 8:45pm.

If you would like to have your music, poetry, drama, art shared on our radio shows?

Please contact Raymond Tyler at raymondctyler@gmail.com.

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The Little WAC will be coming To Boardwalk In Atlantic City

The City Of Atlantic City and Atlantic City Beat.com Present

The Saturday Night Summer Dance Party

Featuring Raymond Tyler from 96.1 FM’s Hit Radio Show Atlantic City Beat and

The Rock and Soul Summer Tour.

Live from The World Famous Boardwalk In Atlantic City’s Kennedy Plaza Stage

July 20th, 27th, August 3rd, 10th, 17th, 24th and 31st from 7pm to 10pm

The Saturday Night Summer Dance Party

Each week DJ Troubleman/Raymond Tyler will move the crowds of people on

The Atlantic City Boardwalk by mixing all flavors of dance music including rock, soul, disco, pop, line dance and more!

The Rock and Soul Revue– Each week performers from The Atlantic City Beat and Voice Of Philadelphia radio shows and The Rock and Soul Summer Tour will bless the stage with a

Different musical theme. July 20th is Motown, July 27th the focus is dance, August 3rd is Philly Soul, August 10th Duets, August 17th 70’s and Disco, August 24th Youth Talent Night and August 31st The Club Harlem Revue.

Karaoke-Open Stage-Dance-Each week there will be special events and contests to get the

people attending the show involved in a fun and informal way. There will be dance contests for singles, couples and groups. We will have karaoke segments.

The Saturday Night Summer Dance Party will be 3 full hours of fun for the whole family.

It’s great music and a great opportunity to move your body, socialize and have fun.

To audition as a live performer or to become a sponsor and let the world know about your

fun and exciting business please contact Raymond Tyler at RaymondCTyler@gmail.com

Philly Hosts The Mid Atlantic Youth Poetry Slam

Today the youth poets from PYPM, NYC, Baltimore, DC, Richmond, & Hampton Roads (VA) competing in a friendly bout to build rapport and prepare for the 2013 Brave New Voices Festival in Chicago this August. It all goes down at The Rotunda, home of the monthly PYPM Youth Night, 4014 Walnut Street, on the campus of University of Pennsylvania.

For all PYPM Workshop Attendees, there will be a cookout in CLARK PARK at Noon that day to welcome our out of town guests.

Tickets can be purchased at the door: $7 youth, $10 adults.

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