'4th and High' Featured in Columbus Alive

Skin Deep: Makeup Bar at 4th and High

Thursday,  May 21, 2009 5:48 AM

By Brittany Kress

Jodi Miller photo

Jodi Miller photo

Jodi Miller photo

4th and High Hair and Fashion Boutique
1127 N. High St., Short North
614-299-2614
Next makeup bar: 4-10 p.m. June 6

Passersby outside the tall windows of a Short North shop took notice of the lively crowd, spinning DJ and flashes of camera lights during this month's Gallery Hop. The 4th and High Hair and Fashion Boutique was making its debut. And the owner hoped something else was getting noticed, too: the salon's makeup bar, which was helping customers get all dolled up before they headed out for the night.
Salon owner Christina Crump modeled the makeup bar after those in other major cities like New York, Atlanta and Los Angeles, where professional makeup artists provide touch-ups and makeovers while patrons sip cocktails. Crump thinks the concept will quickly catch on here.
"I started doing research ... and I said, 'That's what I want to do,' " recalled Crump, who is from Columbus and first saw a makeup bar on Bravo's The Real Housewives of Atlanta. "I loved everything about it."
The 4th and High salon is open by appointments weekdays, and the makeup bar will continue to be a Gallery Hop feature.
Eventually, Crump hopes to offer the cocktails-and-makeup services every Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings for women who want to get a new look and a little indulgence while they're out and about.
The boutique-like entrance area is converted into a makeup salon for the events, allowing women seated on tall chairs in the middle of the room to get their makeup done by professional artists.
Patrons can also browse the bold necklace-and-earring sets and trendy totes for sale on racks around the store, enjoy music from a live band or DJ, and grab wine, champagne or a mini-martini from the makeup-bar-tender.
During the opening event, groups of friends chatted and watched excitedly as makeup artists selected blushes and bright eyeshadow colors from their totes.
The "menu" of services includes everything from a makeup touch-up to dramatic allover application, with names like the "Flirtini" (includes everyday cosmetics like foundation, blush, mascara and lipstick) and "Makeover Mimosa" (comes with a mini-facial, eyebrow arch, lashes and makeup application).
The price of each service includes a drink to sip during the pampering process.
"I think the 'Flirtini' is going to be the most popular," Crump said. "That just sounds so flirty. And it's a natural look with a little pop. A little dramatic, but not that much."

In The Media: BRUSH

Cultural Rebirth
New Near East Side social event adopts hip urban attitude
Saturday, April 4, 2009 3:02 AM
By Kevin Joy
| THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

On an unseasonably warm night in early March, a smiling Donna Marbury stood outside the Urban-Spirit Coffee Shop on the Near East Side as well-dressed professionals strolled along the block and jazz music wafted from an upstairs window.

To the 27-year-old, the scene seemed almost nostalgic.

"Back in the day, it was jumpin' on Long Street," said Marbury, a North Side resident who owns a public-relations company.

"It's a revival. I'm excited to see it."

The catalyst for her enthusiasm: a budding event called the BRUSH Experience (Black Renaissance Urban Sophisticated Hip), whose social palette blends art, music, cocktails and conversation.

Seeking an art-focused nighttime alternative, graphic designer Marshall Shorts founded the monthly BRUSH in February.

"I wanted somewhere I could be laid-back, be myself and have fun," said Shorts, a 2006 graduate of the Columbus College of Art & Design.

Yet his efforts, inspired by a similar event he discovered in Atlanta, reach deeper than simply providing a good time.

"In the black community, art is kind of a dying culture," said Shorts, 25, of the East Side. "It's my motive to help revive that."

For $10 on the first Saturday of the month, patrons can sip a beer or glass of white wine, or sample live tunes or a disc jockey's stylings. Perhaps most appealing, they can create art with their peers (small canvases, brushes and paint are distributed to guests).

Hanging on a wall is a large mural, sketched in a paint-by-numbers style, to which patrons can contribute (last month, the mural was adapted from the cover of the 1957 John Coltrane album Blue Train).

Keeping with the theme, the quartet Liquid Crystal Project played "jazz-hop" interpretations of Coltrane tunes.

With a turnout of about 100 people, the upstairs room above Urban-Spirit -- in the King-Lincoln Bronzeville neighborhood -- was bustling.

Yet it is only a small fraction of the people who patronize the Gallery Hop, the long-running Short North event on the same night each month. (The Gallery Hop, which will turn 25 in October, attracts up to 10,000 visitors in a single evening.)

The scheduling, Shorts said, was no accident.

"A lot of people I know aren't familiar with Gallery Hop -- parts of the inner city and urban community," he said. "This is something that is needed."

He hopes that those who attend BRUSH are inspired to check out the Short North offerings before or after his event (and, on the flip side, to prompt High Street dwellers to visit the monthly gathering on the Near East Side).

The King-Lincoln neighborhood -- bounded roughly by Atcheson Street, N. 20th Street, E. Long Street and I-71 -- was once a hot spot for black architects, entertainers and entrepreneurs, particularly in the 1930s and '40s. But later, as black families migrated to the suburbs and new highways severed pedestrian connections with Downtown, the area fell into disrepair.

Recently, though, the area's outlook has been brightened by the arrival of condominiums, several new black-owned businesses and the $13.5 million ongoing renovation of the Lincoln Theatre, a historic venue on Long Street in which Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway performed.

"It's a neighborhood that I believe is on the upswing," said Charity Martin-Via, a Columbus native who opened Urban-Spirit in February and rents her second-floor space to Shorts and other groups.

"I really want to be a part of anything that has to do with renewing the area."

Jodi Chandler, a 36-year-old Gahanna hairstylist, had been to a similar art-and-cocktails event in Washington and was impressed by the setup.

"It's still night life, but it's artistic," said Chandler, painting a self-portrait. "This is a safe environment."

Seated nearby was her friend, Paisha Thomas, a state worker who also paints and writes poetry.

"I'd rather hang out here than in a club," said Thomas, 34, of Gahanna.

"I like the chance to express myself and listen to music, maybe network. Just being around a crowd -- that's my style."

http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/life/stories/2009/04/04/1_BRUSH.ART_ART_04-04-09_D1_6FDDNPS.html

LCP on BlakStar Radio

CLICK HERE to hear the interview

Rob Riley in Columbus Alive

All of the members of the Liquid Crystal Project are extremely diverse. Take for example, Rob Riley who not only is a heavy jazz, soul and R&B man...but also plays in a punk rock group! The group is called Stretch Lefty, and they were profiled in the weekly newspaper Columbus Alive. Enjoy!

Marquee

Stretch for the stars

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Thursday,  January 8, 2009 5:29 AM

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By Chris DeVille

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Jodi Miller photo

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Stretch Lefty and Street Corner Rockas
When: Thursday, Jan. 8
Where: Scarlet & Grey Cafe, Campus
When: Friday, Jan. 9
Where: The Basement, Arena District
Web: stretchleftymusic.com

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Stretch Lefty has always tried to cross boundaries in their music. Now they're trying to break down walls across Columbus. The band, which has grown from a bizarre instrumental ensemble into a multihued hip-hop group with roots in reggae rhythm, recently partnered with longtime producer Austin Briggs to start an in-house promotions company called Big Bounce Boombox.
"The entire idea was born out of the desperation to just be ourselves," said Johnny Coco Williamson, who recently stepped from behind the drum kit to be Stretch Lefty's frontman after longtime vocalist Brian "Tabu" Thomas had to step aside for medical reasons.
"That's really cliche and cheesy," Williamson continued, "but where we're at now, we don't want to [compromise]. Let's just play how we've always played and just play our asses off."
Briggs and the band hope to build Stretch Lefty a large fan base through do-it-yourself touring and promotion then lift other local groups to similar success. It's an ambitious plan, and they think one big step toward it will be building a consensus in Columbus that reaches beyond genre boundaries.
"Sometimes it's nice to not have four of the same kind of band," Briggs said. "You keep it fresh and keep it interesting, and people are going to stay in the room for longer. The crowds are going to be happier. The bands are going to be happier. The venues are going to be happier."
That's the kind of show the Big Bounce Boombox crew wants to throw every Thursday during a new residency at Scarlet & Grey Cafe. Stretch Lefty and Street Corner Rockas, an offshoot band featuring Briggs and Williamson, will appear weekly alongside bands ranging from jazz to funk to indie rock.
Stretch Lefty and Street Corner Rockas have lots of other regional gigs lined up, including a show Friday at The Basement also featuring Fly.Union and The Midas Touch. The same lineup drew 600 people to Stretch Lefty's CD release show last summer.
The album they unveiled, Universe Box, was the result of two years of exhausting weekend trips to record with Briggs, who was working at studios in New York and New Jersey at the time. The disc exhibits a band that has learned to reign in its playing to suit tightly arranged pop tracks like "Radio Friendly" and "Summertime."
That kind of work ethic and maturity will be necessary if Big Box Boombox is to shoot Stretch Lefty to stardom, and certainly if they hope to lift their neighbors along with them.
"I think we all right now are realizing how much work it's really going to take to do something on this scale," Williamson said. "We're really pushing the concept of being proud of Columbus. ... We need to get everybody together and say this is where we're from, and we're proud of it."

Client Showcase: Middle Child

For Booking Contact Regina D. Eiland at 614.886.0459

www.myspace.com/middlechild

Amid the stage lights, the humble doe-eyed performer approaches the mic. With no shoes, and an eclectic vibe Middle Child, the reserved songstress, blossoms in front of the live band and eager audience. Her smooth alto fluctuates between soft and inviting, then strong and assertive. Audiences in Columbus, Ohio and worldwide have been a part of the Middle Child experience. With no pretention, but a lot of heart, Middle Child is considered to be the next big thing with her soulful yet honest approach to music.

Middle Child, with her mix of folksy soul and R&B has once again stretched genres with her June 2008 release Rawls & Middle, a collection of sweet soul, rock, jazz and R&B, under the direction of world-renowned producer J Rawls, who laments that Middle Child "just blows you away." Not their first collaboration, Middle Child was featured prominently on Rawls' 2006 album Essence of Soul. In 2001, she partnered with her brother, First Born, to create Barefeet Productions. The label's first release Barefeet & Pregnant in 2005, on her own BareFeet Baby Publishing Company is an intimate collection of songs about womanhood, growth and love. She is collaborating once again with First Born for the second album in the trilogy to be called Labor & Delivery, a double disc slated to be released in Spring 2009.

Due to the success and buzz behind Barefeet & Pregnant, Middle Child performed heavily in Columbus, Ohio, at the city's most prominent venues and festivals, and has performed at the BET Sound Stage, MTV's The Cut, Greek Town Casinos in Detroit, Midem at Cannes France, The 5 Spot in Philadelphia, The Sanctuary in Atlanta, Soul Village in Pittsburg, and Village Underground and S.O.B.s in New York City among others. As a live performer, Middle Child has shared the stage with Angie Stone, Anthony Hamilton, MC Lyte, Isley Brothers, Isaac Hayes, Nancy Wilson, Ginuwine, Eric Roberson, Dwele and many others.

It's no surprise that even the Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman was eager to make a guest appearance on the Rawls & Middle album. As one of Middle Child's most avid supporters, Mayor Coleman was quick to note that, "Columbus should be proud to see a young, homegrown talent like Middle Child making her own music and being able to tour internationally with J Rawls. I can't wait to get a copy of the new music."

Called "brilliant" by British DJ Gilles Peterson, with songs in rotation overseas, it's only a matter of time before the alternative soulful sounds of Middle Child catapult her into prominence.