2009 March

MARCH 2009

nuçi’s space396 Oconee StreetAthens, GA [email protected]

Newsletter Contributors

Bob SleppyWill KiserTerrance MedinaLaura Ford

Photos

Mike WhiteTerrance Medina

Design & Layout

Larry Tenner

the newsletter for Nuçi’s Space, a nonprofit musicians’ support/resource center

“Easy Miss, I’ve got you.”

“You’ve got me… who’s got you?”

This is the exchange between Superman and Lois Lane, in the 1978 movie Superman, as he catches her after she falls out of a helicopter crashed on top of a skyscraper.

It’s Lois’ question to Superman that has often crossed my mind during my time at Nuçi’s Space. Whether it’s raising funds for victims of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina or a local family in need of expensive medical care for a child, those in the cre-ative community tend to be some of the first ones to volunteer their time and talent to assist others. The musicians and artists that I mention do not include only those featured on the cover of maga-zines or featured on television shows. I have been fortunate to witness some incredible moments of generosity from bands, musicians and artists who are struggling to make a living in their own right. When their community is in need, these compas-sionate souls step in to provide what they can—their contribution sometimes as simple as provid-ing a song to get us through a difficult period.

A new challenge is upon us. We have been warned that the economy will get worse before it gets better. We are reminded by our quarterly 401k statements or by instances of friends and family members looking for work, that we are all touched by this crisis. Non-profit trade maga-zines such as Chronicle of Philanthropy and the Nonprofit Quarterly are featuring articles about how to weather the storm of decreasing donor contributions, dwindling foundation investments and the increased need for support services as more Americans lose their jobs and health insur-ance. These topics have found relevance in our own community as we’ve begun to feel the ripple effect of this economic crisis on our organization. Many of our clients and customers work in the service industry to supplement their income as musicians.

As we’ve seen locally, this industry is being hit par-ticularly hard by the recent economic downturn. Restaurants, venues and other service-focused businesses are being forced to cut back and in some cases close their doors. These decisions have and will continue to have a profound impact on our community, especially our creative community.

So what happens to these musicians and artists when they are in need of help? Well… you hap-pen. We have received several inquires from musi-cians, volunteers, clients and donors regarding the health of the organization, accompanied by offers of continued help and support.

Because of your support, Nuçi’s Space has been able to help over 600 clients with direct financial assistance and increase our funding for these services by 50% in just two years to over $85,000 annually. Your investment in Nuçi’s Space has pro-vided the opportunity for those in need of assis-tance to make the life-changing and sometimes life-saving decision to seek and receive help.

Despite my gloomy reminder of our economic state, I am optimistic and excited about what the future holds. As most of us have learned, adversity is often followed by triumph. It’s during trying times like these that people begin to rediscover the importance of community, relying upon one another and caring for one another. This is the heart of what Nuçi’s Space is founded upon. It’s simple, but very effective.

I’d like to think that our creative community can continue to focus on their craft and enrich our lives through music and art because in some small way they know Nuçi’s Space is looking after them. I believe this because we are able to focus on our mission because we know you are looking after us. We’ve “got” them, because you “have” us. Thank you.

By Bob Sleppy

Nuçi PhillipsMemorial Foundation

Board of Directors

Ben RobertsLinda V. PhillipsPierre PhillipsKP DevlinPatterson HoodRebecca HoodMatt JustusBill OrrStephanie SharpSally SpeedEllie MacKnightRobert Bachman

Emerita

Virginia EllenbergJan Barstow

Legal Counsel

J. Mike Lavender, Jr.Timmons, Warnes, & Anderson, LLP

nuçi’s spaceStaff

Bob SleppyWill KiserLaura FordDan NettlesTerrance MedinaChris ByronKane Stanley

Recent DonoRsADA Recording, LLCAdvanced Massage TherapiesAthens Beard and Mustache ClubBabaliaros, Constantine & FotiniBaker, R. Stan & Crystal ChastainBarbe, JohnBaron, Richard & MaggieBel-Jean Copy/Print CenterBlanks, MatthewBoyd, Richard and JaneBryan, PhilipCampbell, Alan & BethCohen, DavidCollins, K. ScottConcrete Thinking, LLCCosting Services Group, Inc.Cullen, TheresaDaniel, RenaeDBT Recording IncDowns, Bertis & KatherineDunphy, DeirdreDurrett, Donald & KarinEllenberg, Virginia & RichardFontaine, George and CeliaForehand, Shasta & ArthurFrambach, DanielFrontGate TicketsGoetz PHD PC, Theodore M.Griffin, Allen Hoss & LeighHarrison, HilaryHayes, Mr. & Mrs. MarkHinsch, Steve & HollisHuszagh, Rick & SandiJohnson, BryceJoiner, Mr. & Mrs. HankJolles, Mary AnnJones Jr., Stanley & Barbara ClevelandKeane, JohnKim, Bo-KyungKiser, Mr. & Mrs. HowellKnox, John and PamelaLaughlin, BarbaraLaux, Peter & Joyce A.Lee, Charlotte H.Lester, BillLester, DavidLilly & Co.Lococo, MichaelLowe, Michael & Kaye A.Lyndhurst FoundationMadison HouseMartin, Dr.& Mrs. DavidMessick, M. KendallMize, Ben & Amy

Music ExchangeNeff, JohnNelson, Don & PhyllisNettles, VictorNorris, PeterNorton, JimOcel, TimothyOrr, Jr., WilliamOsborn, MadelynOuzts, HarveyParker, BlaisePettigrew, Sharon & HarryPettyjohn, Vanessa M.Phillips, Dr. GregPiha, Leonard & CyndyPlexus Web CreationsPoling, EvePurdin, HeatherPurdin, SuePylon Music, LLCR.E.M. / Athens, LLCRaeburn, Susan DelaneyRaque, David & Susan Lynn ToddRaw Talent Inc.Richter, Dr. PaulRoberts, III, BenRose, II, RichardSaad Dine, Dr. YssaSanders, Walter & EmilySeymour, LynneShortridge, Bill & LibbaSmith, DanielSmith, Walter E. & Rosie O.Starrs, ChrisStegeman, JanetStephenson, F.J. & SharonTanzman, JohnThornton, MollyTrinity Accounting Group, P.C.Tull Charitable FoundationTyree, LeslieUzupis Theatre CompanyWagner, EttaWarm Electronic RecordingsWindey, CourtneyWright, James & LindaZankel, Anna & Ken

In Memory of Jackson BarsnessDunphy, Claire

In Memory of Ted HaferAshley, Donna D. & Arthur B. JohnsonCoastwise Consulting, Inc. / Chris SlayGreene, Jessica L.

Hafer, Genevieve H. & Matthew J.Hudson, PaulaJordan, RebeccaLesemann III, Thomas BallardMacKnight, EllieJuras, Phillip & Beth GavrillesSchools, DavidWright, Allison and Gene

In Memory of Turner David DeHartDeHart, Martha

In Memory of James Bruce FordFord, Bruce & LisaPospahala, John & WandaRoos, Azalea

In Memory of Elissa HadleyStroud, Theresa M.

In Memory of Donald Dallas KeyesBall, Milner

In Memory of Daniel KirklandKirkland, Rebecca

In Memory of Randy OgletreeMoore, Robert & Marina

In Memory of David PartridgeBlessington, Brian

In Memory of Dr. Jeffrey PerchickPerchick, JoAnne

In Memory of Angus PeytonVenable, Lucy

In Memory of Nuçi PhillipsBarstow, JanetCarr, Suzanne & TimothyCorish, Jr., Walter & PattyEnglish, Melissa & Dr. Roger Hartley

In Memory of Barbara RobertsZiskind, David

In Memory of Matthew StephensonStephenson, Glen & Janet

In Memory of Stan StephensonStephenson, Alice

In Memory of Karl UnwalaUnwala, Adi H. & Scheherazade A.

Recent Developments:NEW BOARD MEMBERS: The Nuçi Phillips

Memorial Foundation welcomed two new members, Ellie MacKnight and Robert Bachman, to the Board of Directors. Ellie works for Brown Cat, Inc., the man-agement team for Athens’ own Widespread Panic. Robert is an active shareholder of Trinity Accounting Group and is responsible for both client services and operational areas of the firm.

GA MUSIC MAGAZINE: The recent issue of Georgia Music Magazine features an article on Nuçi’s

Space. The magazine boasts a quarterly distribution of 25,000 copies.

PROPERTY TAXES: Despite a favorable ruling for Nuçi’s Space in Superior Court, the Athens-Clarke County Attorneys Office has decided to appeal the court’s decision to grant our organization a property tax exemption.

CAMPUS SUICIDE PREVENTION: Founder Linda Phillips and staff members attended the 2nd Annual Conference on “The Public Health Approach to Preventing Suicide at Colleges and Universities in Georgia” on February 19th and 20th.

January’s Drive-By Truckers benefit weekend was our most successful yet—and the band has been performing benefit concerts in our honor since Nuçi’s Space opened in 2000.

The Truckers played a three-night run at the 40 Watt in downtown Athens from January 15th-17th. Ticket sales from the first show benefited Nuçi’s Space. DBT was joined by locals The Whigs and Denton, Texas’ South San Gabriel on Thursday (Centromatic opened the other two nights).

The 2009 benefit incorporated various fund-raising strategies in with the concert—including an auction of signed memorabilia and an out of the ordinary element that had fans bidding to write the band’s set-list for the evening.

Truckers’ front-man Patterson Hood and his wife Rebecca (both are Nuçi’s Space Board

members) hatched the plan to auction off the set-list in the fall of 2008. What makes the idea even more interesting is that the Truckers never use a set-list during live shows—instead switch-ing back and forth between the main songwriters in the band and improvising their way through performances. The set-list fundraiser was split between an auction and a raffle—the auction winner picked 12 songs and the raffle winner chose 8 songs. Jimmy Coogan (New York) won the auction and Peter Halblieb (Wisconsin) was

the raffle winner. Both made the trip to Athens for the three shows.

On Saturday the 17th, before the last of the three shows, Nuçi’s Space hosted a pre-party and auction. We auctioned off some incredible items—signed photos and memorabilia from DBT, Widespread Panic, of Montreal and The Whigs. One of the auction highlights was the 20 X 10 foot stage backdrop from DBT’s 2008 tour with Brooklyn band The Hold Steady. Food and beer were provided by East-West Bistro and Terrapin beer.

Many thanks to our incredible sponsors and donors for making this event possible in the first place: Wes Freed, Jason Thrasher, Widespread Panic, Drive-By Truckers, Scott Baxendale and Colfax Guitar Shop, East-West Bistro, Terrapin Beer, Holiday Inn Express and Chad Osborne.

We are excited to announce that because of increased interest in our Camp Amped program, Nuçi’s Space has decided to hold TWO sessions this summer! Thanks to our wonderful spon-sors, Camp Amped made a difference in the lives of 20 remarkable young musicians last summer, and this year we have the opportunity to provide twice as many youth with an unforgettable Camp Amped experience.

The dates for 2009’s sessions will be June 8th–20th and July 6th–18th. Session choice is based on a first-come first-serve basis and availability of open spots per instrument, so apply today! More information, applications and scholarship applications are available at www.nuci.org. Please contact Laura Ford at [email protected] if you are interested in participating in or sponsoring Camp Amped 2009.

Camp Amped 2009 is going to ROCK… Twice!

Drive-By Truckers Benefit Huge Success

Mike W

hite · ww

w.deadlydesigns.com

The Nuçi’s Space Student Organization has already been hard at work this semester, and they don’t show any signs of slowing down! The NSSO organized the Heartbreaker’s Ball as a benefit for Nuçi’s Space on February 14 at Little Kings Shuffle Club in downtown Athens. Local bands The Buddy System, Damon Moon and the Whispering Drifters, and Horse Party donated their talents to the cause. In March, the NSSO will be putting on its second “Underage Music Show” for concert-goers younger than 21. This idea was conceived by Sanni Baumgärtner of the local band Dancer vs. Politician, and both last semester’s interns and this semester’s NSSO were very excited about giving the next generation of

Athens musicians the chance to see some real Athens music.

Nuçi’s Space would also like to welcome its Spring 2009 interns: Beth Johnson, Julie McCollum, Paige Mitchell, Tara Sutton, Isha Ghodke, Hollister Hover, Cortez Wright, Courtney Thompson, Lindsey Epperly and Kristen Berg. These awesome interns are already hard at work planning the Fourth Annual Depression and Suicide Awareness Week themed “Share Your Story.” The week of activities tak-ing place April 13th–17th is geared towards UGA students will include a student panel, a movie screening, an open mic night, an art show, and a concert/fashion show.

Spring 2009 Interns:

Kristen BergLindsey EpperlyIsha GhodkeHollister HoverBeth JohnsonJulie McCollumPaige MitchellTara SuttonCourtney ThompsonCortez Wright

nuçi’s spaceStudent Organization

President

Beth Johnson

NSSO and Intern Update

Personnel:Sanni Baumgärtner—guitar/vocals/accordion/

musical sawErin Wright—viola/glockenspielKie Cochran—bassAlliene Bouchard—trumpet/flugelhornAndy Robison—drums

Day Jobs:Vintage dealer, wedding photographer, bartender at Mercury Lounge, Best Buy, UGA test scoring.

How long has the band been together?Four years, with vari-ous lineups.

How long have you been practicing at Nuçi’s Space?Since it opened in 2001 with various bands.

Musical Style/InfluencesNico, The Velvet Underground, Belle and Sebastian, Azure Ray.

Any big news coming up?They’ll be playing the Stomp and Stammer party at South by Southwest in Austin, TX this March. Also there’s a new collaboration with Jeffrey Bütner coming out in March or April on Lona Records.

Check them out at:www.myspace.com/dancerversuspolitician

Featured Band: Dancer vs. Politician

The voice answering the phone at Nuçi’s Space has a different accent on Tuesdays and Thursdays than we’re used to having. That’s because Lesley Cobbs, a native of Newcastle, England, has been putting in almost 20 hours of volunteer work per week at Nuçi’s Space since the Fall of 2008.

How she got here is a pretty interesting story. In 2005, Lesley was living in Newcastle when she was introduced through friends to a man she would eventually marry. Except there was one major hurdle the couple would have to face—he lived over 4,000 miles away in Athens, Georgia.

But she took the plunge and in 2006 moved to the US. Once she got here, Lesley’s life slowed down greatly when immigration laws prevented her from finding work until her visa details were sorted out. With her husband Maurice at work at Athens Printing during the day Lesley began looking for something to occupy her time.

Luckily for us she found Nuçi’s Space, just down the hill from the apartment she and Maurice share. Lesley became a volunteer—start-ing by collating and sending out newsletters, invi-tations and even helping to paint and plant the flower boxes on our patio last fall. After assist-ing with our 8th Anniversary Party in October, Lesley approached us about becoming involved on a more regular basis.

Currently, Lesley volunteers at Nuçi’s Space on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10–6 pm. She

answers the phone and schedules bands in our rehearsal rooms and even lends her hand to data archiving and graphic design.

Lesley brings with her a background in music and mental health—the very disparate elements that make Nuçi’s Space so unique.

In England, Lesley worked in the field of Youth and Community Services during the 1990’s. As a training officer she had a variety of jobs including drug and alcohol counseling and coordinating educational and outreach programs for inner city youth.

After her years in the Youth and Community Services, Lesley became one of the key organizers of the Stormin’ the Castle festival at Witton Castle in County Durham. The festival is a annual fundraiser for the Motorcycle Action Group and attracted over 7,000 participants each year.

Unfailingly positive, Lesley is the perfect person for our new visitors to see when they walk into the building. Her experience work-ing with people, event planning and the under-standing of how a small nonprofit organization works is of great benefit to Nuçi’s Space.

One of the perks that come with working for such a special nonprofit is that I get to meet

the most incredible people—all of them pas-sionate about what we do. Lesley Cobbs is one of those people.

We are so grateful.

By Will Kiser

What you should know about Lesley cobbs

• Total Volunteer Hours Since Fall of 2008: 265

• Lesley consults with people on dread-lock creation (and maintenance). Check her out online at www.myspace.com/nanadread

• The UK band Sisters of Mercy wrote a song about Lesley and her group of friends called “Floorshow.”

Active Volunteers

Visar ArifajIsik BensonKristen BergFrances BeusseLiz BloeserMichael Cairelli Wick CauthornPhillip CarpenterJayne ClampLesley CobbsJulie CokerKatie CollinsKatie CooperCasey CrockKelly DefilippisPatricia DevineHenry Dionne Lori DionneLindsey EpperlyJessica EwingDeborah GimsonCarrie GoggansTeresa GrooverCorey HartleyRebecca HoodAshley HowellLaura IngramCatherine JohnsonLauren McCallChelsea NixDiana OrquiolaKatie O’TooleKatie Parker Kristin PhillipsPaul PraeGreg PurserAshley RenierJessica RogersMicah RosenbergerWill SmithErin StewartMike StoneHolly ThorntonDanielle TyreeDesiree WhiteMeghan WierEmily WilliamsStefan WilliamsCheryl Wilson

Volunteer Profile: Lesley Cobbs

nuçi’s space396 Oconee StreetAthens, GA 30601

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