PUREHONEY 78

PRESTAGE BROTHERS

Let’s be honest: Americans rule at making music. Jazz, blues, country, rock ’n’ roll and hip-hop — I rest my case. And then there’s Americana, which typically focuses on the genres that reside between the big categories: the lost music of the mountain people and working men and women of the 19th and early 20th century. The music that would beget jazz, blues and country.

The lineage of the Prestage Brothers — siblings Ben and Jon — stretches back to their great grandmother, who played trombone in Vaudeville bands with names such as Girls Orchestra and Navajo Girls, toured with medicine shows, and opened for stars of the era including Al Jolson.

Their grandmother and mother both played piano (though not for a living). “The love for music is definitely in my family,” Ben Prestage once told American Blues Scene.

The brothers carry the legacy forward, with a sound that is their familial heritage. Call what they do Florida swamp blues, Mississippi blues, old-time Americana — none of those titles is wrong, but none entirely does justice to the music. Prestage Brothers inhabit all of those regional genres with a spin of their own.

The Fire Water Tent Revival is what happens when Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” is bought as a 45 but played at 78. Boasting Johnny Cash, Old Crow Medicine Show and Hank III as influences, The Fire Water Tent Revival relies heavily on the fire. Listening to those lit-up strings is like witnessing a Baptist tent revival, where the holy ghost is present and the parishioners are dancing in the aisles while the piano plays itself; basically, a rollicking good time.

It’s difficult to think of our forefathers as shit-kicking young people, but chances are they were — something underlies the bombast that seeps through in Americana.

Sure, some of it is sad, and some of it is forlorn. But it’s not all emo. And even where the past was a slog, not everyone lived through it joylessly. None of us would be here if our grandparents didn’t know how to cut a rug — I’d bet a Roosevelt dime on it!

Prestage Brothers and The Fire Water Tent Revival play February 1 at Voltaire. https:// sub-culture.org/voltaire/ ~ Tim Moffatt

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RAYS DOWNTOWN SUNDAYS

Ray Carbone

South Florida was fertile ground for jazz just two generations ago.

Musicians could earn a living playing jazz, and the music fit the cool, beach-y swagger of the era. It was an amazing time. But as neighborhoods evolved, or fell into squalor, and tastes changed, jazz and the ecosystem of musicians and enthusiasts that fed it went by the wayside.

Which isn’t to say it vanished or it can’t come back. Consider Ray Carbone of the late, much-missed Ray’s Downtown Blues in West Palm Beach.“Technically, the first show I booked was in June of ‘94 at Respectable Street,” Carbone tells PureHoney.

“It was Popa Chubby and then I believe we opened in late September of ’94.”

Carbone had set out to give the blues and jazz a home, and his namesake club lasted into 2007. Over time he also made room at Ray’s Downtown for a generation of punkers, hardcore kids and hip-hop fans, creating for them a space of their own. That, and his opening of The Underground in 2007 as a kind of Downtown sequel, endeared Carbone to the scene as a champion of homegrown talent.

Last September, Carbone began booking and hosting a Ray’s Downtown Presents jazz and blues night on Sundays at Voltaire in West Palm Beach.

“Selling live music in South Florida is not easy,” he says. But he likes his timing. “I think nowadays they’re looking for an alternative to whatever the current music scene is,” Carbone says of clubgoers, “and I really believe that jazz and blues are selling more now on a Sunday on Clematis Street than it did back in the 90’s and early aughts.”

So you’ll find Carbone well at home in the plush environs of the new venue on Sundays, hosting his night and tending bar.

“I think people are more open-minded and want to hear music that has more to it than just a good beat,” he says. “On the other hand, I could be entirely wrong, and they are coming here because it is a beautiful room and not your typical dance club — and of course, [for] my charming personality.”

Ray’s Downtown Presents happens every Sunday at Voltaire in West Palm Beach sub-culture.org ~ Abel Folgar

KING COMPLEX It might sound like a dig at prog-rock royalty, or like a therapy patient’s diagnosis, but King Complex turns out to be Bracher Brown and Cody Doss, earnest and humble dudes kicking some deliciously saccharine experimental electronica. Florida State University KING COMPLEX alumni based in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area, Brown and Doss merge synth pop and New Wave danceability with enough tech savvy to make an IT department blush.

For all the mad science and audio proficiency, however, “I think the most important thing to remember while composing is that it all — hopefully — starts with raw emotion,” Doss tells PureHoney. “Anything else that happens is to further exemplify the emotional content of the music.”

Doss, who credits playing “The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time” as the moment in which he fell in love with music, is part of a musical project that embodies that game’s youthful and cheery openness to new discoveries. King Complex’s searching has led them to a promising realm between the overblown muck of EDM and the hyper-lo-fi world of indie rock. Spacey and gritty, they invite a dancer’s motions while creating space for self-reflection.

In a further act of distancing that lets the audience enjoy and listen without prejudice, they’ve also embraced anonymity — or at least, a stage version of it that recalls the glam guises of Daft Punk, the cheekiness of the Residents and the raw energy of the Mentors.

“Seeing that we don’t speak in the masks, I would say they’re a pretty ineffective expression of artistic agenda — unless we had none, in which case it’s extremely effective,” Brown tells PureHoney. “We just want to make good music, put on a good show, and hopefully find some way to resonate with people.”

With an EP and the recent full-length “Phase //” to their credit, King Complex are just beginning to pick up steam and refine their audible and evolving chemistry. Says Brown, “Experimentation doesn’t always equal a great song. Sometimes you want to connect with your audience more than you want to challenge them. I think if you can do both then you’ve got something really special.”

King Complex, with Yardij and Space Coast Ghosts, performs February 3 at Respectable Street in West Palm Beach. sub-culture.org ~ Abel Folgar

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 1

VOLTAIRE: Prestage Duo, The Firewater Tent Revival UNIVERSITY GALLERIES FAU: SouthXeast: Contemporary Southeastern Art Opening Exhibition Opening: 6:30pm, Artist Panel Discussion: 7pm, Schmidt Center Gallery, Opening Reception: 8pm, Ritter Art Gallery

KILL YOUR IDOL: Karaoke w/ Shlley Novak

RESPECTABLE STREET: Boston Marriage BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Open Mic Night KELSEY THEATER: The McCartney Project FUNKY BUDDHA: Singer Songwriter Showcase

CWS: 432 Duo DADA: NorthStreet

RESPECTABLE STREET: MonsterTeeth

FUNKY BUDDHA: Echo, Southern Heartburn, Humble Waters REVOLUTION LIVE: Coin BROWARD CENTER: The Verve Pipe POMPANO AMP: G3 Tour featuring Joe Satriani, John Petrucci, Phil Collen BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Open Mic Night

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 2

VOLTAIRE: SoundBite presents Thoughts, Bitter Blue Jays, PJAviles, Del Pelson FILLMORE MIAMI: Lara Fabian DADA: Jonathan Auerbach Trio KILL YOUR IDOL: Comedy Battle

RESPECTABLE STREET: Citizen Badger, Cardinal Moses SUBCULTURE DELRAY: Broot McCoy, Yung Tarzan CWS: Uproot Hootenanny BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Acoustic Soul KELSEY THEATER: IPF Fundraiser FUNKY BUDDHA: The Comedy Roast of Leon Arp, 33 years STACHE: Rockin Jake

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 3

VOLTAIRE: Adam Lipsom, Dj UKi, UKi Productions, Adam Lipson, Leo Palatnik, & Michael Mayo present Cabaret Voltaire House Party CWS: Guavatron

RESPECTABLE STREET: Yardis, King Complex, Space Coast Ghosts DADA: Eternal Boner FUNKY BUDDHA: BRUH- Tribute to J. Dilla & Nujabes KILL YOUR IDOL: Immersed BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Remerge Band KELSEY THEATER: Kevin Max from DC Talk BROWARD CENTER: Kevin Griffin (Better Than Ezra) STACHE: Brendan O’Hara

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 4

VOLTAIRE: Ray’s Downtown presents Mardis Gras 2 w. Big Chief Brass Band KILL YOUR IDOL: Boylesque CWS: Brendan O’Hara BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Andii Styron

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 5

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9

VOLTAIRE: Southern Tier, Solemark, Guavatron CWS: Aaron Lebos DADA: Altered Roots

RESPECTABLE STREET: MASS: Espermachine, Esoterik, DJ Sinsekt KILL YOUR IDOL: Notorious Nastie SUBCULTURE DELRAY: Del Pelson BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Holy Dances KELSEY THEATER: Michael Sweet from Stryper STACHE: JL Fulks Band REVOLUTION LIVE: DVSN

KISMET: Dino Felipe, Pocket of Lollipops, Tele, The Ghost of our Lord FUNKY BUDDHA: Fount, Fugitive Distillery

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10

VOLTAIRE: Adam Lipsom, Dj UKi, UKi Productions, Adam Lipson, Leo Palatnik, & Michael Mayo present Cabaret Voltaire House Party STACHE: Ritz Glitz Burlesque Revue DADA: The State Of KILL YOUR IDOL: Keep It Deep

RESPECTABLE STREET: Share the Stoke Party w Brett Staska, Hell & Hollar, William Kimball, The People Upstairs

CWS: Unlimited Devotion FUNKY BUDDHA: Hvy Crm, Roll’d Whiskey BROWARD CENTER: Birdland All-Stars featuring Tommy Igoe BROWARD CENTER: Laser Spectacular: Music of Pink Floyd BREWHOUSE GALLERY: The Rightly So KELSEY THEATER: That Comedy Show

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11

VOLTAIRE: Salon presents BOYTOY, Mo’Booty, Glass Body VOLTAIRE: Ray’s Downtown presents Mardis Gras 3 w. Joey George & the Deadbeat Daddies DADA: Open Mic

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6

DADA: Poetry Open Mic KILL YOUR IDOL: Open Mic

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7

REVOLUTION LIVE: August Burns Red KILL YOUR IDOL: Chris Rod Trio

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8

VOLTAIRE: The Cravens, Buddha Cats, SoulXpres, Tricerpop DADA: Electric Red

FILLMORE MIAMI: Jorge Drexler

THE ANDERSON: Candida Cosmica FUNKY BUDDHA: Dungeons & Drafts KILL YOUR IDOL: INC Party with Rat Bastard THE KELSEY THEATER: Lady Parts Justice League Presents: You Should Smile More! And Other Man-Spirational Things!

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 12

REVOLUTION LIVE: AJR DADA: Open Mic KILL YOUR IDOL: Drag Mondays

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13

POMPANO AMP: Willie Nelson DADA: Comedy Open Mic KILL YOUR IDOL: Open Mic

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 14

FILLMORE MIAMI: Alexandre Pires

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 20

1306: Pocket of Lollipops

DADA: Comedy Open Mic KILL YOUR IDOL: Open Mic

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 21

VOLTAIRE: The Funktion by Public Sounds Collective CWS: Peryphon

RESPECTABLE STREET: Matchstick Johnny DADA: Markis Hernandez Trio FUNKY BUDDHA: JP Soars, The Red Hots KILL YOUR IDOL: Karaoke with Shelley Novak RESPECTABLE STREET: Matchstick Johnny

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16

CWS: Tasty Vibrations

FILLMORE MIAMI: Haters Roast, The Shady Tour

REVOLUTION LIVE: Rumours: Fleetwood Mac Tribute STACHE: Guavatron KILL YOUR IDOL: American Grime’s Proper FUNKY BUDDHA: Side Hustle, JM & the Sweets SUBCULTURE DELRAY: Pavlov’s Bell BREWHOUSE GALLERY: RoXout KELSEY THEATER: Maplewood Playhouse Presents SHOUT!

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17

VOLTAIRE: Adam Lipsom, Dj UKi, UKi Productions, Adam Lipson, Leo Palatnik, & Michael Mayo present Cabaret Voltaire House Party CWS: Bobby Lee Rodgers STACHE: Ritz Glitz Burlesque Revue

RESPECTABLE STREET: Lavola, Boston Marriage

FLOYD MIAMI: Chaos in the CBD FUNKY BUDDHA: The Boca Winter Comedy Festival DADA: No Name Ska Band KILL YOUR IDOL: Breaks Yo! TEA & POETS: The Rightly So BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Southern Tier KELSEY THEATER: Maplewood Playhouse Presents SHOUT!

SEMINOLE HARD ROCK: Barry Manilow KILL YOUR IDOL: Sofilla

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22

VOLTAIRE: SWEET SWEET Songwriter Showcase hosted by Mike Mineo w Summer Gill, Lindsey Mills, Ella Herrera, Keith Welsh, Brady Newbill, Evan Mui, Chris Horgan, Jonny Frank Himsel, Turtle Grenade, UpperCutter, Honor System DADA: Micah Scott Band KILL YOUR IDOL: Karaoke with Shelley Novak

RESPECTABLE STREET: Firstworld CWS: Nick from the Holidazed FUNKY BUDDHA: Shaw Davis, JL Fulks

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23

VOLTAIRE: The Vibe, Ba Roos, Psychic Ghost STACHE: Marcus Amaya REVOLUTION LIVE: The Revolution SEMINOLE HARD ROCK: Jerry Seinfeld DADA: Lobo Marino KILL YOUR IDOL: Shameless Burlesque

RESPECTABLE STREET: The Exploding Boy, Astari Nite, Alpha Quadrant, Grinder 6 SUBCULTURE DELRAY: Southern Tier HULLABALOO: Paleface CWS: Mike Mineo STACHE: Marcus Amaya FUNKY BUDDHA: 33 Years, The 807 Band BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Jedi Magic Carousel KELSEY THEATER: Neil Hilborn

SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 24

MEYER AMP: HARMONY: an exhibition of the arts VOLTAIRE: Adam Lipsom, Dj UKi, UKi Productions, Adam Lipson, Leo Palatnik, & Michael Mayo present Cabaret Voltaire House Party CWS: Homegrown Sinners SEMINOLE HARD ROCK: Jerry Seinfeld WALKING TREE BREWERY: Paleface DADA: SloFunkPump FUNKY BUDDHA: The Jonathan Auerbach Trio KILL YOUR IDOL: The Wire STACHE: Havana Nights BREWHOUSE GALLERY: The Fumblebuckers

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25

VOLTAIRE: Ray’s Downtown presents JL Fulks FILLMORE MIAMI: JJ Grey & Mofro

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 18

VOLTAIRE: Ray’s Downtown presents JM & the Sweets FILLMORE MIAMI: Andres Cepeda, Kany Garcia

KILL YOUR IDOL: Game Show Sundays CWS: Mike Mineo 1176 HOUSE: The Rightly So BREWHOUSE GALLERY: Nip & Tuck KELSEY THEATER: Maplewood Playhouse Presents SHOUT!

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19

SEMINOLE HARD ROCK: Mary J Blige DADA: Open Mic KILL YOUR IDOL: Drag Mondays LANGIAPPE HOUSE: The Rightly So

KILL YOUR IDOL: Game Show Sunday CWS: Marcus Amaya KELSEY THEATER: The Young Irelanders

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 26

DADA: Open Mic KILL YOUR IDOL: Drag Mondays

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 27

DADA: Comedy Open Mic KILL YOUR IDOL: Open Mic

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28

STACHE: Grateful Jam Session THE REBEL HOUSE: Paleface DADA: Holy Dances

SOUTHXEAST at fau

Rotherin Ratliff

Picture the art world as a vast, wind-swept desert with continuously shifting dunes, its incessant nature — a “Perpetuum” mobile — producing two distinct but related climates: good and bad.

Constantly refreshing the art pool is good. Populating it indiscriminately is bad. Witness the progression of Art Basel Miami Beach and note its (d) evolution since 2002.

Quantity over quality is never a good idea.

Though the fair has boosted the arts, and art appreciation, in South Florida, it has also created an unmanageable scene, a mad chase fueled by visions of the riches the art market generates for a few. Note, also, how many local galleries have come and gone since 2002.

Situated near, but not under, all this dealmaking we find William “Rod” Faulds, an art world professional for more than 35 years, avid surfer, and co-curator of southXeast, which is in its fifth year as a regional art exhibition — emphasis on “regional.”

“We are not so interested in presenting Miami in Boca or duplicating what is presented in Miami, rather through this project (and others) we attempt to make some kind of contribution to the larger picture,” Faulds tells PureHoney in an email interview.

The exhibition he is curating this year with FAU fine arts graduate Cynthia Stucki is an expanding showcase of artists living in Arkansas, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee as well as Florida.

Director of the University Galleries at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton since 1997, Faulds says that he locates himself and the Galleries in greater South Florida as “an alternative to what I have called the ‘Miami-New York-the World axis.’”

Faulds also has guided the University Galleries with an understanding of FAU’s role in the state university system, employing the school’s visual arts resources to serve academic aims. Working in tandem with faculty and an ever-changing roster of humanities scholars-in-residence, Faulds has created a strong program of exhibits aimed first at what he calls the “captive audience of students” and then at South Floridians generally.

As it has in its previous editions, southXeast embraces an open format tied to geography but not bound by theme.

“Many supposed thematic exhibitions use themes that are subject to such wide interpretation or poetic license that they often present and re-present the ‘it’ or obvious artists of the day rather than elucidating thematics,” says Faulds. “We have thought about doing one of these southXeast shows more in a way that we would more consciously attempt to represent southeastern themes, but we have not succumbed!”

The school’s Ritter and Schmidt Center galleries are given over to an impressive southXeast collection, from the exhibit-anchoring, sitespecific installation by sculptor Robert Aiosa in the Schmidt’s public space to works of photography, digital media, sculpture, painting and more from artists whose names also bear mentioning: Rontherin Ratliff, AnnieLaurie Erickson, Maysey Craddock, John Powers and Kathleen Thum.

Douglas Baulos

Surveying them all, a through line appears. Not something dragging what Faulds calls “thematic ballast,” but for these artists residing and working in southeastern states, a shared concern for humanity within the context of environment. Whether it’s environment as nature or as constructed space, the concern is there. Through Douglas Baulos’ found objects, Rob Duarte’s use of southern yellow pine and Katie Hargrave’s reimagining of everyday objects, the viewer feels invited to place herself within the larger physical and spatial context of the works.

It won’t be a crime against art if some of these creators and their works find their way someday to South Beach’s annual Basel bacchanal. People have to make a living.

What Faulds is doing through University Galleries, southXeast, and the interaction of those entities with FAU academic life, is creating a durable, credible regional aesthetic that derives its value from the quality of the work and the aptness of its presentation and curation, not its proximity to cash and flash.

“Another important aspect of what we do at the Galleries is provide what I sometimes refer to as a ‘vocational education’ in exhibition administration and arts education,” Faulds explains, “that is hands-on training that incorporates classroom lessons but more importantly gives students and recently graduated students experience they can take out to the competitive arts job market.”

By championing what’s regional and involving all strata of the community they serve, Faulds and FAU are revitalizing the academic component of art and rescuing all of South Florida art from one overblown, saturated corner of it. southXeast is on display through March 3 at Ritter Gallery and March 24 at Schmidt Center Gallery at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. fau.edu ~ Abel Folgar

SOUNDBITE PRESENTS In the loosely inscribed tome of our collective conscious here in South Florida, there are a lot of storylines on offer. Most people want the beach when they first arrive. Some folks want a nightlife that promises “Scarface”-type club shenanigans until sunup. Then there are others who embrace the eclecticism: Though we are known for a party, there is also nuance to our delivery systems for a good time.

PJ AVILES SoundBite Magazine is hosting one such night of varied music and photography to showcase up-and-coming talents in two mediums. Atop the musical card for SoundBite Presents we have Thoughts, a group describing itself as alternative rock/chamber pop. I would add that on certain tracks they owe a huge debt to Jamiroquai while others incline more towards traditional alt-rock a la The Strokes. If that’s your thing, and how could it not be, this group will pair nicely with your palate.

The Bitter Blue Jays are a garage-rock trio that is one part White Stripes and one part Captain Beefheart. (If the second reference strikes you as a little obscure, never mind; just strap in for some fun.) Their sound is a guttural blues played with heart and style in spades. If you prefer something more polished, PJ Aviles has you covered with his smooth, head-bobbing jazzy pop tunes. Also on board is Del Pelson, an art-rock outfit from the wilds of Boca Raton that would not be out of place touring with a band like Beirut.

The lineup spans West Palm Beach and Miami, encapsulating the variety BITTER BLUE JAYS of South Florida music. But SoundBite Presents would not be complete without a visual component. So we have a photography exhibit and the Florida Photographer Meet-up, where you can commune with picture-takers from around the state and peruse their work.

Featured photographers include Jesse Gene Samuel a Boca resident originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Alexis Karr from Tampa, Victor Morais from Pompano Beach and Sao Paulo, Brazil, and Martha Perez-Mendez from West Palm. So go on, get out of your house and step into the scene in all of its guises. Live a little.

Soundbite Presents takes place February soundbitemagazine.net ~ Tim Moffatt

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http://www.

SALON no. 7 PRESENTS BOYTOY Tony Accosta

Salons were typically a gathering of people under the roof of an inspiring host, held for guests to amuse one another and to refine their tastes and increase their knowledge through conversation. “Either to please or to educate” as it pertains to the classical definition of the aims of poetry.

Salon No. 7, curated by Lindsey Mills of Salt Witch Studio, is presented as a “celebration of forward BOYTOY thinking Womyn,” in a series that applauds women of all creative backgrounds and their contributions to culture and community.

This edition’s artists are musical: BOYTOY, from New York, and Mo’Booty and Glass Body from parts closer to home. BOYTOY is a garage-y rock band with a penchant for bright sounds drenched in fuzzy tones and dreamy, ’60s pop harmonies. Mo’Booty, from Miami, play a blend of surf and punk that can be described as cinematic. The trio’s latest release is a cover of Françoise Hardy’s “Le Temps de L’Amour” that wouldn’t feel out of place in a Tarantino film. Glass Body, formerly the Water Colors, are an artsy noise-rock outfit that churn trippy, Black Sabbath-style heaviness through a Sonic Youth filter.

Mills, of Surfer Blood fame, started Salt Witch to help bring awareness to local artists and maximize their opportunities to get things done. The Salon series at Voltaire in West Palm Beach, with its emphasis on distaff creativity, is a continuation of programming that used to take place at the Kismet Vintage store in Delray Beach, where Mills and her Salt Witch cohorts would film local acts in concert.

There are naysayers in every scene who will deny the evidence of the good things happenings in their midst. For everyone else, showing appreciation to the people who work tirelessly to make things happen is oxygen for a community’s creative spark. If we don’t appreciate what we have, it’ll go away. The Salon series illuminates the talents of the artists who call South Florida home and the visitors who bring their work to us. It’s also an opportunity to honor the women who sustain the scene and continue to entertain, educate and inspire.

Salon No. 7 with BOYTOY, Mo’Booty and Glass Body takes places February 5 at Voltaire, sub-culture.org ~ Tim Moffatt

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HARMONY: an exhibition of the arts As the person tasked with figuring out how art can make downtown West Palm Beach a better place, Teneka James has found it helpful to define the term expansively.

Associate Director of the city’s Downtown Development Authority, James said in a podcast last year not to think of art just as works hanging on museum walls. Art is musical, industrial and even culinary, she told West Palm journalist Bill Newgent in the podcast City Voice, adding, “There are so many different types of forms of art that we’re just not necessarily thinking of.”

One DDA investment in arts programming is Harmony: An Exhibition of the Arts, a free live performance staged once a year, every February, at the Meyer Amphitheater. A pairing of the Palm Beach Symphony with other regional arts presenters, Harmony is a Sunday afternoon outdoor concert that is open to all.

Last year it was the Symphony and Ballet Palm Beach in a trio of dance pieces set to music. The lineup for this year’s performance wasn’t available as of press time, but James tells PureHoney that the Symphony’s performing partner this February 25 will be Dreyfoos School of the Arts.

James is also Director of the West Palm Beach Arts & Entertainment District, created by DDA in 2014 to find, and fund, arts and entertainment. (It also has a nonprofit fundraising arm.) The A&E District counts 20 area organizations as cultural partners, from the Flagler Museum to Palm Beach Dramaworks to the Mendel Public Library — a varied bunch reflecting James’ belief that art is where you find it.

With help from Art in Public Places and the Knight Foundation, for example, the A&E District brought the interactive, kid-friendly Musical Swings installation to downtown in 2016. More recently the A&E District partnered with local artists Caron Bowman of Street Art Revolution and Craig McInnis to select locations for new murals and public painting projects.

The curtain coming up on Harmony will be a culmination of performer rehearsals, and of a whole cycle of fundraising and strategizing meant to solidify downtown West Palm as an arts destination.

Harmony: An Exhibition of the Arts, takes place on February 25 at Meyer Amphitheatre in West Palm Beach. downtownwpb.com/events ~ Sean Piccoli

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