An ongoing series of short music / movement / street theater pieces performed in public spaces, intended for any accidental onlooker. Conceived, created and organized by Fannie Hungerford and Joshua Dumas, with Fannie handling more of the choreography and Joshua handling more of the music and sound. To date the group has staged twelve unique performances, all over Chicago, from Millennium Park to Pilsen to Lincoln Square. And, in Iowa City!
Notes & Scratches
Cortney Groves
February 2005 to present
website
Pop music group.
Anika Balaconis — horn, keys, vocals
Joshua Dumas — vocals, guitar
Jason Eckerson — bass, vocals
Robbie Hamilton — drums, vocals
Whitney Johnson — viola, keys, vocals
Music composed collaboratively, words by Joshua Dumas
On (real long) hiatus!
Have produced three recordings, Uh-Oh (2006), and To the Other Side (2009) are available for free download at Rock Proper. Grace Notes (2009) is available on our site.
the Captions (4.3MB MP3)
filed under sound
Eiren Caffall
Shawn Reddy
October 2009 to present
website
Lovely folk music.
Eiren Caffall - lap steel, vox, songs, words
Ari Bolles - upright, vox
Lawrence Peters - drums, vox
Joshua Dumas- guitar, vox
filed under sound
Jitney
Marla Abrahamik
January 2009 to present
website
Fuzzy rock of half-heard stories couched in the cacophony of city-din; songs that jump and buzz like missed connections.
Casey Meehan - guitar & vox
Dan Duffy - bass & vox
Jim Duffy - drums
Joshua Dumas - synth
filed under sound
Dust Bunnies
June 2010 to present
website
Pop!
Paul Nixon - guitar & vox
Crystal Hartford - organ & vox
Joshua Dumas - drums & vox
filed under sound
Rock Proper
November 2008 to present
website
Rock Proper is an online music distributor providing high quality, album-length downloads with the legal consent of their creators. Please download this music, burn it, share it and stay tuned for future releases. Conceived by Casey Meehan, created and maintained by Casey Meehan, Joshua Dumas, Matt DeWine, and Bob Kuo.
One Thing and Everything Else
Carl Sweets
April 2010 to May 2010
website
an experimental semi-opera by New Beast Theatre Works
at The Building Stage
Drawing from the spare prose of Raymond Carver’s “Gazebo,” New Beast presents an original opera that spans memory and imagination via prose, song, and dramatic performance.
Devised and Directed by David Amaral
Devised and Composed by Joshua Dumas
Developed and performed by Eddie Bennett, Ruth Bistrow, Pamela Maurer, James Whittington
Please listen to the score at Lamplit Ensemble.
Oh, and check out this really thoughtful review in the Reader! Yow, we were also picked as “Best New Theatrical Form 2010,” again in the Reader.
Wild Nights With Emily
March 2010 to April 2010
website
by Madeleine Olnek
Directed by Meghan Beals McCarthy
Produced by Caffeine Theatre
A quirky queer comedy about Emily Dickinson’s secret life.
Director - Meghan Beals Mccarthy
Associate Director/Dramaturg/Choreographer - Jennifer Shook
Assistant Director/Stage Manager - Courtney Miller
Costume Designers - Alarie Hammock & Samantha Umstead
Scenic Designer - Stephen Carmody
Lighting Designer - Casey Diers
Assistant Lighting Designer - Chase Corman
Composer - Joshua Dumas
Cast:
Jessica Bennett, Dana Black, Carey Lee Burton, Annie Calhoun, Amanda Hartley, Ian Novak, Ian Randall, Lauren Vitz
Remember the Maine
January 2009 to January 2010
Monthly improvised music series featuring members of May or May Not, Notes & Scratches, A Company, Demons, Where the Moon Came From, Black Apple and more.
at the Whistler
2421 N Milwaukee Ave.
filed under sound
Sing Us Your Favorite Tune
February 2008 to June 2009
website
A music blog with over twenty contributors, who post songs and stories about those songs multiple times a week. Created and edited by Joshua Dumas.
UPDATE: Wow, we got a cease and desist! So, the site’s down for the time being. When I get a minute I’ll look into what we can do about getting (at least) everyone’s stories back up. American copyright law is so deeply flawed.
filed under words
the Whistler Storefront Gallery
Joseph Baldwin
October 2008 to June 2009
website
The Whistler is a music venue, artspace and bar in Logan Square that features site-specific installations in its Storefront Gallery, that was curated by Joshua Dumas to showcase the work of emerging Chicago artists.
Past shows:
Mark Benson :: Totally Permanent
Johannah Silva :: Swimming to Eternity
carlsweets :: analog gravity
Joseph Baldwin’s :: Body Maps
filed under curatorial
