New Video – Raven 6/26/11 Houghton/Carry me Home” Mashup w/ Full band!

Really psyched to play a great show last night, June 26th, 2011 at the Raven with old friend and poetry slam teammate B. DOLAN, as well as local pal & DG Music Director SHANE HALL, new local talent GRAND ARKANUM &  DECYPHER OF THE DEAD!

Sooooo amped to do a full band set with MARK LEIGHTON (who generously donated the lick from his SOUND IN STONE track “Carry Me Home”  -with TAYLOR BEOIT playing bass & GREG McKILLOP rocking the drums! SHANE HALL even jumped in on some extra vocals for Mark’s song!

Was really happy with the outcome!

Place at the table! My return to Slam Team Mania!

Super excited to have won myself a spot on the 2011 Worcester Poetry Slam Team! alongside Brandi MacDonald, Bill MacMillan, Robert Gibbs and alternate Liz Heath. All good poets and great people! We’ll be representing Worcester at the 2011 National Poetry Slam, taking place in Boston, Massachusetts, August 10th-13th! We’ll be practicing, writing together and working on multi-voice group poems!For more info about Worcester Poetry Slam, head over to www.poetsasylum.org

I’m really excited. Mainly because of my involvement with youth poetry organizing and limited schedule due to work, I haven’t been on a team since 2004, or been to a National Poetry Slam Tournament since 2005. They still have time limits right?

Here are the scores from finals night a couple weeks back:

04/17/11 Team Finals	Brandi	Mckendy	Alex	Sarah	Liz	Bill	Kim	Bobby
Round 1 Score	27.6	27.5	26.7 *	26.6	26.9	27.4	24.8	27.0
Round 2 Score	26.7	25.9	26.4	27.8	26.8	25.9	24.9	26.7
Round 3 Score	26.8	24.0	26.7	24.1	25.7 +	26.8	23.5	26.3
Final Total	81.1	77.4	79.8	78.5	79.4	80.1	73.2	80.0
Final Rank	1	7	4	6	5	2	8	3
	* Alex’s first poem ran 3:12.3 for a half-point penalty. + Liz’s third poem ran 3:50.0 for a two point penalty.

New Video / New Poem / New Performance Series in Worcester! “On to Houghton!”

A new piece, “On to Houghton!” performed with Greg McKillop (www.speakerforthedead.tk)on drums and Mark Leighton (www.soundinstone.com) on Guitar. Part of featured performance for the English Social Club Open Mic Music and Variety Series. A great new Tuesday Night Series located at the English Social Club on Camp Street (off Cambridge St) in Worcester. March 15th, 2011

Alex Charalambides named 2011 Worcester Arts Council Fellowship Grant Recipient!

Just wanted to thank the good folks at the Worcester Arts Council, a local cultural council that administers money on behalf of the Massachusetts Cultural Council.
I am blessed and excited to have been named a 2011 Fellowship Grant Recipient. I’m deeply honored to be recognized by my local community for my work as an artist, organizer and mentor. I plan on using this title and all that comes with it to increase my capacity for increasing poetry awareness through the channels I’ve already been working and beyond! Thank You!

Old Poem / New Video – Live at the Raven, Dead of Wintour “Mentor”

Footage of my piece, Mentor, filmed at the Raven this past Thursday, December 9th, 2010. Greg McKillup from Speaker for the Dead accompanies on guitar, and Carlos Molina from Sounds Like Funeral Music plays drums. Old poem really found some new life with these guys improving on stage. We played this piece a few times on our tour.

TOUR TOMORROW! 11/30-12/6/10

Very exciting. It’s been too long. Just jumped onto an indie folk accoustic rock tour happening this week with local songster Speaker for the Dead & Providence’s Sounds Like Funeral Music
Dates:

11/30/10 – Tue – Rochester New York, The Lovin’ Cup, 300 Park Point Drive – Open Mic 6pm w/ featured acts after.

12/2/10 – Thur – Houghton, Michigan, VFW Hall, Main Street, 6pm

12/4/10 – Sat – Bloomington, Indiana, Rhino’s, 331 South Walnut Street. 6pm

12/5/10 – Sun – Berea, Ohio, Breakfast CC

12/6/10 – Mon – Glenside, Pennsylvania, Arcadia University

Was just offered the opportunity late last night. Maneuvered a couple things around and decided to hit that road. I’m really excited about the challenge of performing for non-traditional poetry audiences. Will try to keep this blog updated.

New Video: “Doc” & “T-Shirt” – Live from the Dirty Gerund Show