Stephanie Jean Gaston is the Leeds Arts Council’s featured artist in March.   The public is invited to the opening reception on Sunday, March 1, 2020, 1:30-3:30 pm to view her beautiful paintings.  Admission is free.

Stephanie lives in Odenville Alabama with her husband Wayne and daughter Penelope.  She learned to love and appreciate art from her mother, who loved to paint and sketch.  Stephanie started painting 10 years ago while living in Florida.  She is a self-taught painter whose favorite medium is acrylics, but she has been known to dabble in oils.

Stephanie’s portfolio of work includes such things as nature, landscapes, surrealism, and pour paintings. Recently she participated in Birmingham’s very first art battle at Thomas Andrew Art and she participates in punk rock art shows.  Stephanie is very excited and grateful for the opportunity to showcase her own artistic perspective at the Leeds Art Center.  She believes that artistic expression is vital for people from every walk and station in life.

Ms. Gaston’s paintings will be on exhibit at the Leeds Arts Center through April 3, 2020. 

The Arts Center is located at 8140 Parkway Drive, in downtown Leeds.  The gallery is open during events.  In case of inclement weather, call the center at 205-699-1892 to confirm opening hours.

Aodh Og O’Tuama and Christy Martin
Celtic, Folk, and World Music

The husband/wife duo of Aodh Og O’Tuama from Cork, Ireland and Christy Martin from California, have been performing together since 1995. They tour in the US and Ireland, are independent folk artists with 12 recordings, perform 150 concerts a year, and live as troubadours of old, traveling from town to town, performing at music festivals, theaters and performing arts centers, folk and historic societies, libraries, museums, and schools.

Aodg Og O’Tuama: vocals, tin whistles, doumbek, spoons, gemshorn, bowed psaltery, recorders, crumhorn, Native American flutes, and many others.

Born in Cork, Ireland, Aodh Og (pronounced, Ayog) studied Medieval and Renaissance music in college. He received a music fellowship to study at Stanford University in 1984. He played in a group called Drivelling Druids before forming the group Four Shillings Short.

Christy Martin: vocals, hammered dulcimer, mountain dulcimer, mandolin, mandola and bouzouki, banjo, North Indian sitar, guitar, charango, bowed psaltery, ukulele, and bodhran.

A multi-instrumentalist and vocalist, Christy was born into a musical family. She played the sitar for 10 years, starting at the age of 16. She took up folk music in the 1980s, and has been playing the hammered dulcimer since 1993. She was formerly in a band called Your Mother Should Know.

Tickets $10 per person.

For ticket reservations, call the Leeds Arts Council at (205) 699-1892, leave a message, someone will return your call. OR, email leedsartscouncilal@gmail.com

Tuesdays, 5:30-6:30 pm
Leeds Theater and Arts Center – 8140 Parkway Drive in downtown Leeds

Registration Form for winter/spring 2020

Leeds Arts Council is offering an opportunity for young performers to perform at an open mic in a family friendly setting. We have spots for 10 performers, for about 10 minutes each.

There will be a microphone and a sound system. Bring your own instrument, although there is a keyboard available. We are not set up for a band situation, just solos or small groups with easy set-up and take-down. If using an accompaniment track, we do have a CD player, or we can hook a phone into the sound system.

You will need to come at some point prior to Saturday night to rehearse with the sound system. We will set up that time the week prior to the performance.

The application form follows this information. There is no charge to the performers; there will be a $5 ticket price for audience members. Light refreshments will be served.

For more information, contact Debbie Landry or the Leeds Arts Council office. 

Debbie Landry
(205) 699-0712
debbie.landry22@gmail.com

LAC office
(205) 699-1892
leedsartscouncilal@gmail.com

Return this Registration Form to Debbie Landry

The Leeds Arts Council is excited to bring tribute artist Jason Petty presenting “Hank Williams – The Lonesome Tour” to the Leeds Theatre & Arts Center on Thursday, October 3, 2019 at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $20.00.

Jason Petty began his acting and singing odyssey on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee portraying country music legend, Hank Williams, in the musical, “Lost Highway”.  After several national tours Petty went to New York for an off Broadway run of the show and won the OBIE Award for Outstanding Performance in 2003.

When Jason first performed the role of Hank Williams at the Ryman in Tennessee in 1996, little did he imagine that some 20 years later he would still be portraying this legendary man in his own highly acclaimed show.  Petty met and became friends with Williams friends and family members, musicians, and fellow Grand Ole Opry stars. They shared with him the intimate details of this legend’s life and career. From the good times to the hard times, Jason listened and began to understand this man like no other.  Now he brings that intimate story to life in this one-man tribute.

In an interview, Don Helms, Williams’ best friend and steel guitar player, said simply: Petty’s singing of Williams’ classic songs is the best there’s ever been.  This feeling combined with his natural ability to tell the stories of Williams’ life and career with Southern charm and down home humor has given this show rave reviews across North America.

Due to the popularity of this show, reservations are recommended!  Call 205-699-1892 and leave a message including your name, phone number, and the number of tickets you need.  Someone will return your call to confirm your reservation. You may pay by cash, check, or credit card.

Still tickets available to for our “Step into Fall Fashion” show on Thursday! Get a heads up on what’s hot for Autumn featuring pieces by:
Pants Store
Mum & me mercantile llc
L. A. Salon Flowers & Boutique

$25

Reservations required: Please call 205-699-1892 to make your reservations.

From soft fingerpicked ballads to hard-driving jigs and reels, Henri’s Notions creates a musical mix of traditional Celtic and American music as well as their own compositions that have a rhythm and voice reflective of their Southern heritage, which lends a pleasing familiarity to the music. The Notions draw from a broad palette of melodious sounds: the ardent sounds of fiddle, lilting flute, keen tin whistles, all played over the resonant tones and drive of the rhythm section, consisting of acoustic guitars, percussion, and bass. 

Lead voices dance through the intricate embellishments that bring to life the old ballads and songs and all members lend voices frequently creating close, rich, well-balanced harmonies. The group makes a point to provide backgrounds on the songs and instruments used during their performance and this has allowed Henri’s Notions to connect with, educate and inspire audiences for over twenty years!

Henri’s Notions has toured extensively in the Southern and Eastern United Stated from West Palm Beach, Florida and Dallas, Texas to New York City. The group has worked countless festivals and concerts and has appeared with such folk icons as Bob Dylan, Richie Havens, The Kingston Trio, David Grisman Quintet and top celtic acts such as The Tannahill Weavers, Patrick Street, Paddy O’Brien, Brian McNeill and others. 

Henris Notions performs year-round in concerts, festivals, special events, and school programs. As a touring member of the Alabama State Council on the Arts and Southern Arts Federation, grants are often available to eligible presenters.

Check them out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/Henris-Notions-156575596748/

As part of the Alabama Bicentennial celebration, the city of Leeds is hosting a John Henry festival on Saturday September 21. There will be two public performances of a one-act play based on the legend of John Henry, a steel-driving man. No one knows where (or if) this story took place, but Leeds, Alabama lays claim to the possibility that it could have happened here. 

Marie Cromer wrote the play, and we need YOU to come audition for this show! Suellen Wilkins is the director; two free public performances on Saturday September 21, at 11 am and 2 pm, in the Leeds Theater and Arts Center in downtown Leeds. The cast includes 15 African-Americans and 10 Caucasians, all ages, both male and female. There is a young John Henry, as well as an adult John Henry. 

Auditions are Monday and Tuesday night, July 29 and 30, 7 pm each evening at the Leeds Theater and Arts Center, 8140 Parkway Drive. You only need to come one night, not both. Come prepared to read from the script.