2011 April | Pecan Street Festival

Special Events Management (SEM) Group, LLC is pleased to announce that The Daze will be appearing at the Spring 2011 Pecan Street Festival on the Neches stage at 3pm, Saturday, May 7th.

An original Austin-grown band, The Daze (www.thedazeband.net) have a unique mission: to create sustainable music that will span time, age and geographic boundaries. The sound created with that goal is a fresh take on the classic rock the band grew up with. Evan Butts on guitar and vocals, Chris Ritchie on bass and Aaron Limpke on percussion began playing as a jam band and formed The Daze from their shared passion for the minimalist, exciting and original they music created together. Their musicianship impresses critics and audiences alike and their sophisticated lyrics, penned by Evan Butts, are intentionally layered with multiple meanings, giving listeners new interpretations at different stages of their lives.

Special Events Management Group, LLC is pleased to announce that the artwork of students from Oak Springs Elementary School in East Austin will be displayed at the Pecan Street Festival during the weekend of May 7th & 8th, 2011.

The friendship between the Pecan Street Festival and Oak Springs Elementary School began last year, when the Pecan Street merchants donated proceeds from the Fall Festival to the school. Their gift funded a mural for the school library, by noted artist Brian Joseph, as well as a supply of books for the library. For this Spring’s Pecan Street Festival, Oak Springs art teacher, Leslie Vieau, asked her students to create art reflecting their impressions of the festival, and the top three, chosen by the school, will be displayed at the Pecan Street Merchants’ Association booth at 6^th & Trinity Streets.

“We are proud of the students and the staff at Oak Springs Elementary School and of our continued friendship with them”, said Veronica Busti, a board member of the Pecan Street Merchants’ Association.

Special Events Management Group, LLC is pleased to announce that the widely-known latin funk group Brownout will be appearing during the Spring 2011 Pecan Street Festival.

Brownout is comprised of members from Grammy-winning band, Groupo Fantasma, which has backed such artists as Prince at Coachella and on the ‘The Tonight Show with Jay Leno’. Brownout is an eight-piece latin instrumental funk band from Austin, TX who name James Brown’s J.B.’s and San Fransisco’s Malo as their inspirations. Their music has become a favorite of international DJs, tastemakers and fans of cutting-edge music. Brownout’s recent album titled, Aguilas and Cobras was released on September 15, 2009 to numerous positive reviews. The new music has been referred to as an adventurous amalgam of psychedelic haziness, anchored by the driving percussion of Afro-Latin-funk and vocal arrangements inspired by psychedelic Motown arrangements like The Temptations.

Brownout will appear on the Pecan Street Festival’s Neches stage at 6:00pm on Sunday, May 8th.

Spring 2011 Pecan Street Festival Poster

Special Events Management (SEM) Group, LLC is pleased to announce the selection of a painting by artist Victo Tapu as the official Spring 2011 Pecan Street Festival poster.

Victor Tapu, a European artist with a Romanian accent and a Texas stride, enjoys the view of Europe from Texas. For over twenty-seven years, Victor has been making his living through his creativity. From stage designing to painting, sculpting and portrait commissions, his work has found its way into prestigious private and state collections in United States, Romania, Poland, Hungary, Bulgary, Germany, Israel, Brasil and as well as Canada, Holland and Sweden.

Deciding during early childhood that painting and theater would be his life’s work, Victor Tapu began formal training at age thirteen in his native town of Bacau, Romania. He later received his Master of Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Bucharest, Romania and supplemented his education with studies at Szajna Theater Studio in Warsaw, Poland.

Victor Tapu served as a Stage Designer for many theaters in Romania, including the C. Tanase Music Hall and the Dramatic Theater in Brasov, Romania. He worked as a Director Designer for more than twenty movies with the Studio Picture Co. in Bucharest, Romania. Since coming to the US in 1990 as an outstanding artist, Victor developed his own Fine Arts Company in Houston, Texas.

For more information about Victor, or to review his gallery, please visit www.victorsfinearts.com.

Special Events Management (SEM) Group, LLC is excited to announce that Black Pistol Fire will be headlining the Spring 2011 Pecan Street Festival on the Neches Stage (7th and Neches Streets), Saturday May 7th, 8:30-10:00pm.

A rock and roll duo originally from Toronto, Canada, Black Pistol Fire is now based out of Austin, Texas and has just released its debut LP on Rifle Bird Records. The band is currently touring throughout the U.S. and Europe, and is rising quickly on the strength of their energetic and totally original sound that has been described as a mix of classic southern rock and garage punk. The talented duo, Kevin McKeown on guitar and lead vocals and Eric Owen on drums, have been friends since childhood and their shared passion for music is evident in their tight, high-energy live performances.

The new album, produced by Jim Diamond (The White Stripes, The Von Bondies, Jon Spencer Blues), was written entirely in an Austin garage and recorded in Detroit, and combines the strengths of both cities’ rock traditions with a contemporary sensibility. Their live performances are known for the duo’s love of improvisation and for inspiring their audiences to dance.

Coolest Documentary Ever! Featured Artist “Sunset”, will be playing the Neches Stage of The Pecan Street Festival on May 7th, 2011 @ 7:30 P.M.