Art Attack Launch Party! A Student Showcase + Open Mic Night featuring Debutants
Thursday, Apr. 24 | 6:30pm ET (5:30pm CT)
The Art Attack Weekend Launch Party at The Acorn is a music and art mashup not-to-be-missed! Featuring an Open Mic night all-star lineup including the Debutants, and new visual artwork in our Art at The Acorn program. Make plans to join us for this free event!
Doors open early at 5:30 for anyone who'd like to stop by to view the student artwork. Janet Davies will lead an Art Talk and Q&A at 6:30, and our Launch Party will officially kick off at 7:00 with music from Debutants and our Open Mic performers.
The Art Attack Launch Party + Open Mic Night is free to attend. Registration is appreciated to help us plan. Please use the "Get Tickets" button to register for your free tickets.
The Debutants are a high-energy string band with eclectic influences, and a penchant to play anything they feel. Dancing between songs and styles of old and new, this fun-loving collective dazzles with impressive musicianship, earnest songwriting, and dynamic live performances.
We will also highlight new visual artwork as part of our Art at The Acorn program, with a special Art Talk and Q&A led by Janet Davies (at 6:30). Students from River Valley and New Buffalo Schools will be featured.
Enjoy a complimentary dessert bar provided by The Acorn.
Performer Inquiries: Email openmic@acornlive.org
About the Artists:
Debutants have evolved from a duo between longtime friends, Lynn Nicholson and Jon Swain, into a formidable 7-piece string band with eclectic influences. Regardless of the number of members, what somehow manages to always come through loud and clear is the amount of fun they're having playing together, and the vibrant life breathed into their music.
On their 2021 debut release, “Indiana Newgrass - EP”, Debutants went into the studio with banjoist Michael Earl Newsome, fiddle player Sean Hoffman (Goldmine Pickers, Bobcat Opossum, Soltré), and bassist/vocalist Colin Taylor (Uncle Muscle, Hillbilly Casino). Also highly instrumental in capturing their original sound, was recording engineer and producer Tyler Thompson (Fruition, TK & The Holy Know-Nothings, Jay Cobb Anderson) at his Studio
110 in Pittsburgh, PA.
For their 2022 sophomore release, “Nobody Knows - EP”, the band unquestionably returned to Thompson's Studio 110, this time bringing Lauren Blair on fiddle/vocals, and Ellen Coplin on cello/vocals. Growth became evident on titles such as Nicholson's “Hard to Say”, along with increases in tempos and instrumental prowess demonstrated on pieces like Swain's “Never Thought I'd Be the One”.
With the same lineup in 2023, the band tackled their first full-length album, “River on the Moon”. Nicholson and Swain were now joined by Hoffman and Taylor in songwriting, allowing an even wider spectrum of style. This release conveys their most ambitious and cohesive sound yet, in part due to recording all of it "live" circled together around a few microphones.
This activity is supported in part by the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and sponsored by The Frederick S. Upton Foundation.
Art at The Acorn: A Student Showcase
The Acorn Center for the Performing Arts transforms into a visual art space with Art at The Acorn. We are proud to welcome Artists from New Buffalo and River Valley Schools for A Student Showcase, on view April through June.
Student Artists:
Mylo Walters is a senior at New Buffalo High School who enjoys gardening, photography, and most of all — art. She has been drawing ever since she can remember and considers her parents to be her biggest supporters. Walters has been exhibited in the Box Factory For the Arts Community Student Art Exhibition in St. Joseph, MI, and the Region 5 Michigan Art Education Association K-12 Show at the Carnegie Center For the Arts in Three Rivers, MI. She received an Honorable Mention award in 2022 from the Scholastics Art & Writing Awards. After graduation, Walters plans to attend Lake Michigan College, where she will pursue a career in Psychology as a licensed therapist.
Gia Bergquist is an 8th Grade student at New Buffalo Middle School who is involved in wrestling, softball, and band. She loves to write poetry and is always doodling people and her mischievous cat named Fluffy. Listening to music helps her get in the mood to create jewelry and trinkets out of clay. Bergquist is looking forward to new opportunities in high school and has dreams of working in the medical field in Pediatrics and maybe bungee jumping in the future.
Leia Williams grew up in Three Oaks with a family of five and a couple of dogs. She’s been in love with art since she was really young. Being able to create things always fascinated her and sparked something in her brain. As a senior at River Valley High School, she plans to go to college to study forensic science and art or music. Leia’s favorite medium is paint, but will use any drawing tool she can get her hands on while also listening to music, singing, reading, and planning outfits she will never actually wear.
Emily VanTuyle grew up in Three Oaks MI but now lives in Niles. Emily has been interested in art since around the 3rd grade. She’s always enjoyed being able to express herself through her art. Emily enjoys all kinds of art: music, animation, painting and more. She enjoys making messy collages and being able to have fun with art.
The Art Attack Launch Party + Open Mic Night is free to attend. Registration is appreciated to help us plan. Please use the "Get Tickets" button to register for your free tickets. Donations will be encouraged the night of the event.
RESERVED SEATING DONATION option includes a $30 tax-deductible donation to The Acorn and guarantees you a seat with optimal sightlines. $30 Donation per ticket holder in your group.
