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The Dead Sea Scroll of Rock & Roll

THE DEAD SEA SCROLL OF ROCK & ROLL

This summer has been a fun ride, starting with Stagecoach Festival on the west coast, and peaking with the Dead Sea Scroll of Rock & Roll. I suspect the fun is just beginning.

Tomorrow night, at First Thursdays Downtown, Allan and I will open an exhibit "Classic Rock & Roll Art by Tom Wilkes," at Doc's Music Hall. The event will kick off the official sale of a rare piece of Beatles and rock & roll history.

"Peace to Monterey" is a wacky, psychedelic doodle that the Fab Four put together for Tom Wilkes, who was art director for the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. The drawing, made during the recording of "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band," was included in a program book to go along with the unprecedented event.

It is the only known visual art ever known to which all four Beatles contributed. Tom has been the sole owner of the original artwork for the last 40 years, and has kept it in a safe deposit box. He believes it to be the most valuable Beatles artifact ever, and I'm inclined to agree.

Last week Tom sent us a video, a short interview with Terry Doran. Terry was a close friend to The Beatles, and he was there when "Peace to Monterey" was drawn. He talks about the drawing in a short clip that you can see here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfbPYrrmIm4

Tom has decided to "unearth" what he calls the Dead Sea Scroll of Rock & Roll. In honor of the 40th anniversary of the artwork, and of the Monterey Pop Festval and the Summer of Love, Tom is making the artwork available for public sale.

Even crazier... he's tapped me and the Allan Hays Company to help him do it.

The exhibit at Doc's is a testing ground, a toe in the water, so to speak. If the response is as good as it's been so far, we'll be taking the artwork on a "tour" of other galleries, music halls and coffee shops around the country. We'll be accepting bids on the artwork at the website peacetomonterey.com, and soon to embark on a national promotional campaign. The fun is just beginning.

Carey



The official press release:


RARE BEATLES ART FOR SALE: "Dead Sea Scroll of Rock & Roll" Offered for Public Sale by Muncie, IN Company


MUNCIE, IN - A rare Beatles artifact has resurfaced and is offered for sale.

The Beatles' rare "Peace to Monterey" artwork is an original drawing with felt marker, colored pencil and ink – the only known visual art to which all four members contributed. The drawing was created in 1967 during the recording of "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band," and included in the Monterey Pop Festival program book later that year.

The public sale of the original artwork will launch with an exhibit, "Classic Rock & Roll Art by Tom Wilkes." The art show and sale opens today in Muncie, Indiana, home to The Allan Hays Company, who is managing the sale of the original artifact. Commemorative lithographs of "Peace to Monterey" will be on display, along with prints of Wilkes' works, through September.

Wilkes, who was art director for the Monterey Pop Festival, is selling the original Beatles art to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the historic event and of the artwork. Kept in a safe deposit box for nearly 40 years, he calls it "the Dead Sea Scroll of rock and roll." It is believed to be the most valuable Beatles artifact ever offered for public sale.

"This classic piece of rock art offers a unique view into the minds of a group considered to be biggest pop culture icon of the 20th century," he said. "It has significant cultural value as an artistic document, as it celebrates a time of great spiritual and political change in the world. And now, 40 years later, their message of peace is just as relevant."

Bids on the original artwork are being accepted only through the website peacetomonterey.com.

###

Muncie Music Fest Lineup

Many thanks to munciefreepress.com for the band lineup information. While my website munciedowntown.us was listed among places to look for information, I've not received any updates from the organizers since the initial round of press releases. Go figure.
You can download a brochure with the complete schedule at munciemusicfest.com.
- Carey

First Annual Muncie Music Fest September 8
Music on multiple outdoor and indoor stages: 6pm-1am
$10, $7 with student ID, $5 if you come in on the MITS Late Loop
More info TBA MuncieMusicFest.com

# This year's bands:

#Arrah and the Ferns (folk-pop)
# Big Bang Static (rockabilly)
# Black Soil Project (hip-hop)
# Cory Hill Band (indie)
# Ferguson (alternative)
# Highway Magic (pop-punk / ska)
# Know More Robots (rock)
# Long Plastic Hallway (progressive rock)
# Maggie Kubley (piano pop)
# Michael Martin Band (country)
# Shameless Self Promotion (indie pop / rock)
# The Spitshine (indie rock)
# This Story (indie / folk rock)
# Wolfy (indie-pop / classical)

It's True... End of Summer Jam is On Hiatus

Yes, the rumors are true... Muncie Music Fest will take the place of End of Summer Jam this year on Saturday, September 8th.

No details have been made available to munciedowntown.us at this time. We do know there will be music, provided by local bands, across several stages set up throughout downtown - both inside and outside.

For details beyond that, please call the Downtown Development office at 282-7897.

Stay tuned to munciedowntown.com - I will post details as soon as I recieve them!!

MMMM.... BBQ!

Rib Fest returns to Downtown Muncie on August 4th from noon-10:00pm, and August 5th from 11:00a.m.-4:00p.m. on Walnut St. in Historic Downtown Muncie.

This summer celebration continues to be one of Muncie's favorite Downtown events.
Saturday and Sunday's entertainment will include blues, rock, bluegrass and county. Stop by on Sunday to compete in our annual karaoke contest, complete with cash prizes!

5,000 people who love to eat, two days, fabulous entertainment and great partners promise to make RibFest 2007 something you won't want to miss!

For more info or to be a vendor please call: Cheryl Crowder @ 282-7897.
Sponsored by: Downtown Development Partnership, Muncie Sanitary District, WLBC, MAX and WERK

RIB FEST SCHEDULE

Saturday August 4th noon-10pm
Admission $3.00 - 13 fabulous bands-great food!
Kids under 10 free!

* Kids activities, rock wall, inflatable games, games with prizes, and Pumpkin Vine Express Train, kids karaoke all day!
* 20 of Indiana's finest food Vendors
* Beer Gardens
* Arts and Craft Vendors
* Not-for Profit and Information Booths

Charles Street Stage
12-1- Kayro and the Second Time Around
1:30- 2:30- The Michael Martin Band
3:00-4:00- Dreams of University
4:30- 5:30- Mud Eye Joe
5:30-6:00- Rib Contest Winner Announcement
6:00-7:00- Flipside
7:15-8:00- Joan Hamilton Band
8:30- 10:00ish- Powerhouse

Walnut Street Stage
1-2- Cory Hill
2:30-3:30- John Allen
4-5- Green Suga
5:30-6:30- TomKats
7-8- New Buckcreek Ramblers
8:30-10- Dave Helms Project



Sunday August 5th 11am- 4pm
Admission free

Charles Street Stage

11:30-12:30- TBA
12:45- 2:00- Updawg
2:15-3:00- Chuck Mock
3:15-4:00- 4 Heaven Sake

Walnut Street Stage

All Day Karaoke Contest with Deb Blackburn
$200 first place prize
$100 second place prize
$50 third place prize

New Look for MuncieDowntown.com

In case you haven't noticed, munciedowntown.us is sporting a new look.

The website, going into its fifth year, has changed and grown and is ever-changing to suit the needs of our readers.

Here's a look at the evolution of munciedowntown.us:



The first version of the website, launched on Valentine's Day 2003, was built around the web cam and the business directory. The orange funky text down the left-hand side served as buttons that "jiggled." On the move... get it?







The second version of the website was an experiment in automated content management (geek speak). With that one, we added the downtown news, calendar of events, and community links.





The third version's design was inspired by another downtown community website somewhere in... um, I forget. New Hampshire? Regardless, it was pretty well-received with its overabundance of content. Graphic icons were added to the downtown community links. Folks liked that feature so much, we brought it back in the new site revision.





This revision came about in an attempt to "neaten up" the front page. Mission was accomplished, and this version of the site was easier to navigate.





The new site design is much simpler, but still provides the same wealth of information. We hope you'll find it even easier to get around, and just as helpful. Click here to see it! Your comments and suggestions are always welcomed. If you have any thoughts you'd like to share, please email me at info [at] munciedowntown.us.
Thank you for keeping it local!

Strange Lights in the Sky Over Downtown Muncie

Bang.

"Peace to Monterey"

I've been living, breathing and sleeping Monterey Pop for the last couple of weeks.

And not because of the glut of nostalgia that's overtaken the entertainment media, thanks to this weekend's 40th anniversary of the monumentally historic musical event.
It's because I've been very fortunate to make friends with art director Tom Wilkes, one of the original organizers of the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967. Tom was designer of all the art concepts and print materials that helped define the event, including the iconic poster (pictured below) that is symbolic of not only three unprecedented days of "music, love and flowers," but of the whole Summer of Love in general.


BUY ONE!

During our trip out to the Wild West last month, I met with Tom and discussed doing some marketing and promotions work for him and his Monterey Pop merchandise while the 40th anniversary celebration is in full swing. Tom has a type of Lou Gehrig's disease, and lives alone in the high desert mountains of Rimrock, CA. Not many people know that he has lithograph reproductions of his famous Monterey Pop poster for sale, and he's the only place you can get them at the moment. I hope to change all that in the coming weeks.

And that's not even the coolest part... Tom has a little-known but prized souvenir from the 80-page program book that he created for the festival.
From his website, www.wilkesworks.com:

"It was in February, 1967 when the Beatles were asked by Derek Taylor, the group's publicist, to contribute a drawing for an ad in the Monterey International Pop Festival program book. The "Fab Four" complied with a psychedelic masterpiece which was included by Tom Wilkes, art director for the event, as part of the festival book he was designing and producing.
The drawing is an original piece of art that was created by the Beatles. It is a felt marker, colored pencil and ink artwork that speaks of many things including "Loving You, PEACE to Monterey from Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" and "How are you Bob."
"The Monterey Pop Festival was a great success and opened the door to the concept of Pop Music as a forum to communicate important social issues. It was immediately followed by other monumental concerts such as Woodstock, Stonehenge, Bangla Desh, and Live Aid.
"The priceless creation has been in the hands of Tom Wilkes for 40 years. It was published in the Pop Festival program in 1967 and once again, with Wilkes' permission, in Derek Taylor's book, "Fifty Years Adrift" and currently in "The Beatles Anthology."
"The classic piece of rock'n roll art commemorates a time of great spiritual, political and creative change in the world. As such, "Peace to Monterey" has significant cultural value as a historical, artistic document."

BUY ONE!

To commemorate the 40th anniversary of Monterey Pop, and given the relevance of political tensions in today's society to that of 1967, the original Beatles "Peace to Monterey" art of 1967 will be offered for sale later this year. Proceeds from the sale of the rare artwork will go to Project Interspeak, a not-for-profit environmental and human rights organization, with world peace groups as the designated beneficiaries.

To learn more about the Beatles' Peace to Monterey artwork, visit www.peacetomonterey.com, or for more information on Tom Wilkes visit www.wilkesworks.com.

I feel very lucky to be associated with somebody of Tom's influence, let alone work for him. He won a Grammy™ in 1974 for his album art package of "The Who's Tommy Performed by the London Symphony Orchestra." He's designed album covers for everyone from Gram Parsons and Neil Young to Janis Joplin and the Rolling Stones; not to mention George and Ringo. He even directed the design of the Beatles' "Red" and "Blue" albums that I studied as a child for hours on end, matching up the similarities between the two.

To see the (nearly) complete list of album covers that Tom has designed, directed and photographed, visit allmusic.com, search for Tom Wilkes, and click on the "credits" tab. You'll be amazed at how many of those records you have, or had at one time. I sure was. And I feel blessed.

Demolition of an Era

I've been watching from my window over the last couple of weeks, as the building where I started out in downtown Muncie is being slowly demolished. It's like saying goodbye to a past that happened a long time ago, while my future unfolds before me.
When they first ripped the facade off the storefront at 304 South Walnut Street, my mind flooded with memories of more than 12 years ago. My bright blue sponge-painted entryway walls that evolved over a series of all-nighters, now exposed for all the world to see.



In 1994 I opened a small gift shop at 304 S. Walnut, back when Downtown Muncie had trees, cement pillars, and little more than big dreams. The Muncie Children's Museum was next door to the south, and the Mitchell Building across the street was home to the short-lived Australian museum and restaurant. Danner's Books and Great Destinations travel agency were also across the street; Doc's was still called the COC (Creative Opportunity Center) and ran by volunteers.



The spot at 304 S. Walnut had been a Jazzercise studio at some point before I rented it. When we moved in, it was a drab gray storefront with every single piece of metal trim on the inside painted in a different primary color - red, blue, yellow and green, on the inside AND all the trim along the windows in the entryway.


BEFORE



AFTER


I kept my shop in Downtown Muncie for nearly eight years, through what I laughingly refer to as the "dark ages," before the renovation. It's heartening to see how far we've grown since my relatively short time here.
The destruction of "my old building" symbolizes, to me, the end of an era, a clearing of the old to make way for the new and wonderful things happening - not just in my own life, but also to our downtown neighborhood.
There are lots of new construction and development projects happening; we have some new specialty shops like Cassella's Kitchen and the new organic foods market; we've a new director of Downtown Development with some new ideas; and there's been a renewed interest in improvement of our neighborhood by the Downtown Business Council, with some fresh, new faces coming on board to help.
Growth is a continual process, and I shall continue to watch from my window.

Free Friday Night Movies are Back!

If you don't see the movies on the old "white wall" this summer, don't worry... Downtown Development will be hosting the fifth season of Free Friday Night Movies on their own wall, in the 400 block of S. Walnut St. (across from the new building construction).

The season opens with Happy Feet (Rated G) at dusk on Friday, June 1st. Stay tuned to munciedowntown.com later this week for the complete schedule.

These currently released, family friendly movies are offered free of charge to the public, outside every Friday in June July and August at dusk. Local non-profit groups and organizations will provide concessions.

The Free Friday Night Movies are moving to a new viewing location this year to accommodate the expanding need for parking Downtown on Friday evenings.

Bring the kids and the lawn chairs! See you there this Friday night...

New Director at Downtown Development

Downtown Muncie is proud to welcome Jamaal Bell, who has accepted the position of Executive Director for Downtown Development. Jamaal has been an active attendee at the Muncie Downtown Business Council meetings, and we are very much looking forward to working with him in the continued growth of Downtown Muncie.
Welcome aboard!

Wild Western Journey

I heard you missed us, we're back!



We've returned home safely from a two-week journey to the Wild West, visiting with friends, enjoying some incredible live music courtesy of free VIP tix to the Stagecoach festival, and sleeping under California stars in the beautiful high desert near Yucca Valley.
It was nice to see some old friends of the family, guys who have been around since before I was born and watched me grow up. We also spent time with some new friends, including the talented art director and album cover designer Tom Wilkes. I'll be working with Tom in the coming weeks on promoting his artwork and merchandise in the timeliness of the Monterey Pop Festival's 40th anniversary in June.
The Stagecoach festival was incredibly fun, and the musical talent present was indescribable. I've never considered myself a fan of country music, but I was blessed to see some amazing performances by a large number of legendary songwriters like Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Chris Hillman and Richie Furay, and my current all-time faves, Old 97s.
The weather was warm, dry and beautiful for the whole of our trip, save for some mighty wind and a dust storm on our first couple days there. Besides Stagecoach, we spent some time in Palm Springs, Riverside, Pioneertown and Joshua Tree. The morning before we left to return home was spent soaking in the mineral hot springs under the shady palms at Desert Hot Springs.
Lots of pictures can be seen here. Be sure to look at the Stagecoach photos, my favorite is the closeup of Emmylou Harris as she signs my CD cover (designed by the aforementioned Tom Wilkes).

Spring Zing reminder!

"Spring Zing" is this Saturday, April 28th, from 10 am-Midnight!

featuring...

"Snazzy Stuff" art festival from 10 am - 6 pm
"Jazzy Junk" rummage sale, free games and activities for kids.
"Twilight Zing" Downtown bars will have lots of live music starting at 7pm.

Among the evening activities:

The Artist Within will offer a SMOKE-FREE/ALCOHOL-FREE alternative from 7pm to midnight. Family friendly... LIVE MUSIC and a $5 FLAT STUDIO FEE! Refreshments available.

Doc's will host a "Punk Rock Prom," complete with prom decorations. Guests are expected to dress for the occasion. Admission is $5 at the door.

Final rounds of the cornhole tourney in the streets and at some of the other bars downtown.

It's supposed to be a beautiful day... come downtown for family fun. I'll be there to say hello to everyone before I take off for the West Coast the next day!!

New Board for Downtown Business Council

I've officially been approved as Secretary for the Board of the Muncie Downtown Business Council.
Serving with me on the board for the next two years will be Andrew Dale of David Dale Designs, President; Bob Hartley of The Artist Within, Vice President; and Marga Perkins of Glitterati Salon, treasurer; and Terry Whitt Bailey of Cornerstone Center for the Arts, Michael Martin of Doc's, and Jim Reese of Muncie-Delaware Clean and Beautiful.
I've also agreed to co-chair the Membership and Marketing committee. Stay tuned for details!

Cassella's Kitchen Open for Business

MuncieDowntown.com extends a heartfelt "Welcome to Downtown!" to Cassella's Kitchen, a newly opened specialty retail store at the corner of Charles and Walnut Streets. Cassella's Kitchen, like all the other businesses downtown, is independently owned and operated. Please stop by and welcome them to our neighborhood! And please, shop locally and support small business in Muncie.

Rockin' w/ the Rev

Doc's Music Hall will be rockin' this Thursday night with the infamous Reverend Horton Heat, a rockabilly musician out of Austin, TX. From the website www.reverendhortonheat.com: ...his country-flavored punkabilly and onstage antics have brought him and his band a strikingly diverse fan base and a devoted cult following, not to mention the respect of fellow musicians worldwide. Wishbone Gifts and Doc's are sponsoring the show March 15th at Doc's Music Hall, and tickets are available at both locations for $25. Murder by Death and the Tossers will open the show.