Art Show a great success!

by Joel Thiessen

Last Saturday we were fortunate to have local artists Leanne Spanza and Christina Leinemann Knittel host  Viewpoints art display at Streaming Cafe. This week we had a chance to sit down with Michelle from the Cafe to get a debrief on the success of the Viewpoints: a contrast of perspectives artshow.

Joel - So what is Viewpoints and how did it come to be?
Michelle - Well, one of the artist involved (Leanne Spanza) participated in our monthly craft sale last fall. We all fell in love with her art immediately so when she approached me and asked about the possibilities about having an art show that would feature her work as well as her friends, Christina Leinemann, here we didn't give it a second thought.


J - What can you tell us about the artists involved with viewpoints?
M - Well there were two artists featured, Leanne's work is focused more on scenery and landscapes. Her style contemporary and simplistic with bold and upbeat colors - reminiscent of Ted Harrison. While Christina's art moves more through different textures with subtle color-play.

J - So how did the night progress?
M - It progressed very well. There were DJ's, beer and wine, pizza and other appies. People even drove in from Summerland and Vancouver to see the art. Even Mayor Sharon Shepard made an appearance! It was packed house all night.

J - What was the general atmosphere in the cafe?
M - Some people compared the night to a birthday party! It as awesome. The vibe was very relaxed and people were mingling like crazy and having a great time. It felt so comfortable - like we were at a friends house...only with a lot of beautiful pictures hung up everywhere!

J - You mentioned there were DJ's? I thought the Cafe featured mostly acoustic based music.
M - The cafe has really branched out and grown. The art show just happened to fall on one of our Groove Lounge nights (2nd & 4th Friday of the month). The DJ's agreed to join in on the event and really helped make the atmosphere awesome with a mixture of jazzy instrumental music. It was really fun!

J - So how was the overall success of the night?
M - The night was a huge success in many ways. Everyone who came down had a really fun time, plus the Artists sold some art and got a ton of exposure from the full house. Some pictures are still up in the cafe and we find our customers being distracted from their drink orders!

J - How long will the art be featured in the Cafe?
M - They'll be up till April 30th.

J - Is there talk of another art show in the future?
M - We are looking into the possibilities of making this a more frequent event, Kelowna is home to so many talented artists whose work deserves a local showcase. We're not to sure when it'll be, but keep your eyes open!


We believe that the Cafe serves as not only a local venue and intimate listening room for live music in Kelowna, but as a social hub for artists of all sorts to perform, display and interact in an un-intimidating environment. Viewpoints: a contrast of perspective was a great success and we appreciate everyone who worked so hard at making it the memorable night that it was!

Leanne Spanza - www.leannespanza.com
Christina Leinemann Knittel - www.clkstudio.com

Web-traveling the North Scene : Northcote

by Michael Donley
I thought i'd write about an artist that I connected with through email last year but haven't been able to connect to perform yet at the cafe....but hopefully soon!

Northcote is the project of Saskatchewan born singer/songwriter Matt Goud.  Matt toured North America for years with influential post-hardcore group Means and with the disbanding of the band in 2008 took on a new path. In the same spirit of Dallas Green's City and Colour, Matt has made a clear change-up in musical direction to the folk/rock genre.
His debut solo EP in 2009 Borrowed Chords, Tired Eyes boosts 8 songs that need to be added to any Canadian Indie music fans collection.
He has now hit road in support of his new full length album Gather No Dust that is available on April 19th. The record was tracked in rural Southern Ontario in November 2010 with Producer Dan Weston (Attack in Black, Classified, Shad, City and Colour).

While you wait for the full release on April 19, be sure to grab his download Free Tonight @ his website http://northcotemusic.com/ and yes it is free!

Cash grabs for your next CD release

by Nico Boesten
Pretty much all of my artistically minded musician buddies are piss poor.

I'm not a huge fan of generalizations but when it comes to talking about all the things the average independent artist needs to do in order to "make it" (or make something) in the sea of digital music pirates, it's a feat of gargantuan proportions.

The average artist that you've seen light up your computer screens via Streamingcafe.net over the past couple of years has to work their little tutus off trying to get well paid gigs, keep their websites / Fbook / Twitter / RN / Bandcamp etc. up to date, send out emails, sell merch, write tunes, practice... Tons of things to do. And unless you've either landed some sweet deal, robbed your brother's piggy bank, or have a plutonium mine hidden in your backyard it's tough to make a living plucking your git-box.

So, people are getting creative in the way they raise money for projects and I've seen a few really cool tools that artists can use to get their fanbase involved in supporting their next album.

This is my buddy Tom Conlon who hails from the east coast of the US of EH and doesn't believe in selling his music. It's always by donation. He tours nonstop in a van and is one of the most generous guys you'll ever meet in your life. Maybe that's why he's penniless. Anyway, he's using a free service called Kickstarter to get people involved in supporting his next album project.

Tom Conlon's project with his brilliant little video explaining the project is here.




The real beauty in this is that you can give different packages to people who donate depending on how much they give.

For example:
Pledge $300 or more and get: digital pre-release, 2 signed copies, signed poster, your name in 'thank you' credits, plus...personalized video blog performance of the TC song of your choice.

The even cooler-er thing about this is that if you don't get enough pledges by the date you set, nobody pays and you're back to the drawing board. Ya, this would be a bit of an emotional sledgehammering to the confidence and ego of the artist, but at least all the donors will be off the hook.

Point being, it's a great tool that could really work for you if you need a slick tool to help raise some money.

Have you heard of any other great tools / websites that could help artists?

Viewpoints Art Exhibition at Streaming Cafe

Come down to Streaming Cafe Friday, April 8th from 7pm to 9pm for Viewpoints Exhibition.

Viewpoints is an interpretation of everyday life by two local artists Leanne Spanza and Christina Leinemann Knittel. Leanne captures familiar landscapes with bold colour and simple shape, where as Christina focuses on small moments with expressive marks and subtle textures. These contrasting styles of work celebrate the different points of view that can be found within a community.

There will be art on display and for sale with many different sizes to choose from and of course, full of bold colours. Friends and family are welcome! There will be beer and wine available for purchase and of course great coffee from the Streaming Cafe.

Also, two draws will be made for two paintings, one by each artist! Make sure to enter while you are there for your chance to win.

Art from both artists will be for sale and on display.

Leanne Spanza
Believing that it is important to slow down from our hectic lives, I am inspired to capture the simple things in our everyday landscapes that can sometimes be missed. I paint because I love to create and am passionate about surrounding myself with people, places and objects that make me happy. I hope to remind the viewer of the importance of the simple things in life and seeing beauty in all that surrounds us.
http://www.leannespanza.com

Christina Leinemann Knittel
I typically create in an intuitive manner and my work is often informed by what speaks to me in the moment, allowing the surface of the canvas to guide my hand in the placement of paint, paper and colour. This approach allows for spontaneity and exploration in my creative process. I am inspired by the little things that make people smile and a playful sense of discovery.
http://www.clkstudio.com/

Our First Live Album & Release Show!

by Malcolm Petch


It’s been just over two years now since we first opened the doors at Streaming Café, and in that time we’ve had a lot of very fine musicians grace our stage. Over the months we’ve enjoyed adding to the SC repertoire through YouTube vids, podcasts, a couple of website updates (have you seen the totally revamped and new website we have now? It’s killer!), plus we’ve been happy to see the Café itself start serving food menu items and, very recently, acquire a liquor license.

Now we are more than excited to announce a new FIRST for us: in partnership with one of those very fine musicians we are happy to be releasing our first live album… (let the fanfare build here…) “Pat LePoidevin live at Streaming Café” will be released nation-wide on April 21st!

That’s right – a live album recorded right here at the Café! We multi-tracked Pat’s concert in January of this year, and it was a great show. The response in the room that night, plus the number of people checking in online and interacting live with each other and Pat, kept bringing the show back to our minds here in the post-production SC office. When we decided to move forward with doing our own CDs, Pat LePoidevin topped the list as an artist we’d love to work with in our first endeavour.

In conjunction with Pat we are hosting an album release concert at the Café on April 21stat 7PM (“in conjunction” meaning that Pat is playing a concert that night to celebrate the release of the album. We’re not playing, just him). Tickets for the event are $15, available at Streaming Café, and every ticket includes a pre-release copy of the CD. Online-purchase versions of the album will be available as of that date, too.

Woo hoo! If you can’t be here in person on the 21st, please join us online for this FIRST album release!! We will never again have a first-album-release show; this is your chance to be part of SC history! (Okay, maybe that’s overkill. But it will be a great show; you know how good Pat is, right?)

Click here for more performance details...