Westobou has sprung a leak.
While all the organizations granted production funds for this year's Westobou Festival will be announced later today, I can offer a peek at one confirmed event now.
Augusta native Matthew Buzzell is a filmmaker living and working in Los Angeles. He's put together a performance piece that will involve Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips, formerly of the indie rock act Luna, playing live over a series of Andy Warhol screen tests.
I bring this particular performance up because it is, or at least should be, the model by which Westobou proceeds.
Here's the deal. The Westobou performances that have proved most successful, both creatively and financially, are those that find ways to combine fine art with populist entertainment. They are acts of significant creative merit, but also focused on being entertaining and engaging.
During the first year, Cirque de la Symphonie, Slow Dancing and the Lyle Lovett/John Hiatt double bill filled that criteria.
Last year, the Avett Brothers, Blind Boys of Alabama, Langston Hughes Project, Keb Mo and silent movies at Sacred Heart Cultural Center appealed in a similar sort of way.
This year's Warhol show looks to be a good start, a presentation that understands that packing a performance means more than putting art on a stage and expecting wide appreciation.
Festivals such as this succeed when presenting organizations find ways to attract an audience outside the already established fine arts community. Opera lovers will always go see opera. The trick is making opera appealing to a nontraditional opera audience.
With the Warhol show, the demographic is the contemporary art fan and Luna fans and film fans. That's drawing from three wells. That's efficient booking.
There have been concerns voiced that by approaching Westobou in a completely populist way, the event will become diluted, that it will not celebrate the fine and performing arts in the manner mandated.
That's a realistic worry. It could happen and should be avoided. It certainly is what makes booking this event tricky.
There's a fine line between booking bands and calling it a festival and curating a festival that, while still appealing, maintains a certain sense of artistic integrity. Only time will tell whether Westobou can continue to strike that balance.
See our story on the organizations awarded Westobou grants online late today at augustachronicle.com.
VEARA'S EPITAPH
A month or two ago, I wrote about my admiration for bands that understood that success was built not on a foundation of music, but hard work.
As examples, I cited False Flag and NoStar, two bands that spend far more time contacting clubs, sending out promotional material and developing contacts than playing gigs.
Add Veara to that list.
Despite some changes in personnel, Veara's members have always approached the business of being in a band with consistency and effort. They played hard, toured relentlessly and continuously worked to put themselves in position to succeed.
It looks like those efforts are beginning to pay off.
Late last week, it was announced that Veara had signed with Epitaph Records.
For those unfamiliar with that successful California label, Epitaph has, for more than 25 years, been the standard-bearer for American punk rock.
It has been home to successful acts such as the Offspring, Bad Religion and Rancid.
It has released records outside the punk genre, including notable releases by Merle Haggard and Neko Case.
Epitaph is not a major label, but it is important and, for Veara, a major step forward.
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