Elline Lipkin Features at Bolton Hall Museum, with Music by Heather Donavon and Steve McCormick, August 28, 2016

Bolton Hall Museum, Photo by Maja Trochimczyk

Poets and poetry lovers are invited to attend the August Monthly Poetry Reading on Sunday, August 28, 2016, starting at 4:30 p.m., at the Bolton Hall Museum, 10110 Commerce Avenue, Tujunga, CA 91042.

Big Tujunga Wash, photo by Maja Trochimczyk

The reading will include a featured poet, Elline Lipkin, Altadena Poet Laureate selected in April 2016. Poets will be able to present their work in two open mike segments. Refreshments will be served and $3.00 or more donations will be collected for the cost of the venue, the second historical landmark in the City of Los Angeles, that celebrated its centennial in 2013.  The Museum is managed by the Little Landers Historical Society.

Elline Lipkin

Elline Lipkin is a poet, academic, and nonfiction writer. Her first book, The Errant Thread, was chosen by Eavan Boland for the Kore Press First Book Award. Her second book, Girls’ Studies, explores contemporary girlhood in the United States.

Currently a Research Scholar with the Center for the Study of Women at UCLA, Elline also teaches for Writing Workshops Los Angeles.  Widely published as a poet, she has been a resident at Yaddo, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Dorland Mountain Arts Colony. She recently served as a mentor for AWP’s Writer to Writer program and is the current Poet Laureate of Altadena.

You may read her sample poem here: http://www.endicott-studio.com/poetrylist/conversation-with-my-father-by-elline-lipkin.html

Her book is available on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Errant-Thread-Press-First-Poetry/dp/1888553197

Heather Donavon and Steve McCormick

Two wonderful singers and song-writers, Heather Donavon and Steve McCormick will provide the Music Feature, presenting their songs, with acoustic accompaniment.

Heather Donavon

Heather is a Pro Session Vocalist to Grammy Artists, Voice Coach and an Award Winning Songwriter. Heather's vocals were featured on Melody Gardot's  GRAMMY nominated album, Currency of Man and on KEB' MO's GRAMMY nominated album, The Reflection.  As a songwriter, two of her co-writes are on KEB' MO'S GRAMMY nominated album, Blues Americana and on Live album, That Hot Pink Blues Album.

Her voice has been heard on national commercials for TV & radio, in film and on many albums. Heather has co-written songs with KEB' MO', Bonnie Hayes, Jonathan Hayes, Narada Michael Walden, Steve McCormick, and Nashville hit writers, Gary Richardson, Victoria Shaw, and Todd Hambridge. She has opened for many national acts, including Tori Amos and Fiona Apple. She performed in hundreds of venues in California and beyond. She also has sung and danced, in the musical cast of Both, a Los Angeles based Beatles holiday musical.  Heather lives in Los Angeles and is a member of SAG/AFTRA, BMI and NARAS. http://www.heatherdonavon.com/bio.html

Steve McCormick

The music of Steve McCormick is based in Americana. His soulful guitar playing and raspy voice carry the influence of iconic American artists like Townes van Zandt, Ry Cooder, Little Feat and The Meters. Raised in the Midwest, his interest in roots music led to a bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, where he wrote his senior thesis on American Music. In the years that followed McCormick honed his recording skills by working with tube microphone guru Steve McKinstry and his Salmagundi Studios. Shortly thereafter, McCormick’s songwriting led to a publishing deal with Nashville based Wrensong.

McCormick now resides in Los Angeles and is a studio owner, producer, performer, session player, composer/songwriter and microphone builder. Steve McCormick is a card-carrying member of the Hollywood Local 47 Musician’s Union. Though his playing skills are highly sought after, his songwriting and recordings have set him apart as a voice in music today. His songs have been alongside the Counting Crows, Peter Gabriel, and The Pretenders in the hit NBC show “Homicide”. He’s worked with such notable artists as Stan Behrens (Canned Heat, Willie Dixon), Eric Lynn, Richie Hayward (Little Feat), Stevie Di Stanislao (CSN, Joe Walsh, Loggins and Messina, David Gilmore), Phil Cody, and Pete Wasner (Vince Gill, Lowell George) in a wide variety of collaborations.

Just as McCormick’s guitar playing led to songwriting, his songwriting led to music production and a recording studio of his own. And now his studio work has led to microphone building and other custom audio projects as McCormick’s quest to make the music come alive spills over into recording, production, audio engineering and other currents of sonic philosophy.
http://www.mccormickaudio.com/mccormick/bio.html

M.Trochimczyk, C. Corbusiero, M. Hitt, B. Cushing, and J. DeCenzo

Photos from the July 23 "Notes and Letters" Program by Bill Cushing and Chuck Corbusiero, with a guest appearance by Mariko Kitakubo, Kathabela Wilson and Rick Wilson, in a tanka program, are available on Facebook and Google Photos. Of over 50 individuals, poets and friends posted for a group portrait by Gene Schultz:

"Notes and Letters" Presentation poets on July 24, 2016:

L to R, Standing: Maja Trochimczyk, guest, Pauli Dutton, Mira Mataric, Joe DeCenzo, Pete Larsen, Rick Dutton, Taura Scott, Dalton Perry, Deborah P Kolodji, Rick Wilson. L to R, Seating: Elsa Frausto, Marlene Hitt, Bill Cushing, Chuck Corbusiero, Kathabela Wilson, Mariko Kitakubo, Cecil.