by: Susan Spit-Fire
May 20, 2011
VENUE- The Cigar Inn
(www.cigarinn.net)
It just keeps getting better as we approach the two year Anniversary of Open Mic Night @ The Inn (June 9th!!). Please join us on Thursday, May 26th (Doors-8; Show-9) as we feature the exceptional Poet, Writer, Spoken Word Artist, and Community Activist Jaye Willis. Jaye was born in East St. Louis, IL. She writes short stories and poetry and her work possesses great strength and creativity. Her spoken word performances are at turns funny, poignant, and highly original. Jaye went to Assumption High School and then attended Southern Illinois University – Carbondale, where she earned a B.S. in Management Information Systems. She is a member of The Eugene B. Redmond Writer’s Club of East St. Louis and has performed at The SIUE/ESL Center for Higher Education, Avant Elementary School, The Cigar Inn, and several other local venues. She works for the I.R.S. as an IT Project Manager. Jaye and her husband Quintin and their two children Jered and Lauren, reside in Fairview Heights, IL.
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| Blackstone Poet, recently appeared at Cigar Inn |
The opening act for Mrs. Willis will be Fior Baptiste - a very accomplished Vocalist, Songwriter, and Entertainment Manager originally from Hammond, LA. She has a gorgeous singing voice and delivers the most powerful and evocative live performances. Fior went to Soldan International Studies and The Gateway Institute of Technology before attending and graduating from Gwinnett College. As well as being multi-talented, she is also multilingual, speaking Spanish, Swahili, and Papiamento. Miss Baptiste is the CEO of BMD Consulting and Entertainment and manages popular Spoken Word Artist and Rapper Louis Conphliction. Fior was heavily influenced by Reggae music, Rock, Hip-Hop, Zydeco, and Spoken Word. She’s performed all over the greater St. Louis region and currently lives in the city of St. Louis.
Outstanding Poet, Author, and Spoken Word Artist Christopher Chable of Columbia, Mo. will be here as well. His poetry is very distinctive and hearing him perform is truly a magical experience. Chris graduated from The University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he studied Spanish and Latin American Studies. He currently works as a translator of Indigenous Poetry for the digital blog Yokool Kaab. He’s has been published in Epic and Bad Shoe, and has work forthcoming in the Encyclopedia of Latino Folklore, for which he wrote several articles. Chris has performed at The Atomic Cowboy (Voices From The Underground) and Dressel’s (Poems, Prose, and Pints). His influences include Garcia Lorca, William Carlos Williams, Yusef Komunyaka, and Ana Castillo. Chris now lives in St. Louis, Mo.
Also rocking the Mic will be Vince “Ackurate” Manuel, an electrifying Spoken Word Performer from East Saint Louis. He is a Poet and MC, and a student at Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville. Vince began writing at the age of ten and has been performing live for about five years. He’s performed at SoulSTAGE, Sacred Grounds Café, Grand Maris Lighthouse, SIUE, and The Cigar Inn. Besides performing in the greater St. Louis Region, Vince has been featured in Chicago, IL, Atlanta, GA, and Kentucky. He was greatly influenced by his father, his love of History, and Old-School Hip-Hop, which you can hear in his striking live performances. Ackurate’s currently a Barista at Starbucks and has been working on a pair of EP’s, as well as a full-length CD that he and his sister are collaborating on.
Our Special Guest for the evening is Sugar Kane and The Honey Train, an innovative new Rock band from St. Louis, Mo. Composed of Mary Kane (Vocals, Drums) and Kit Kellison (Guitar), the band plays a diverse array of music and was greatly influenced by other talented female artists such as Joan Jett, Wanda Jackson, Patsy Cline, Dusty Springfield, Neko Case, and Gillian Welch. Kit and Mary were also heavily influenced by their musical siblings, exes, children, and friends, and thus finally “succumbed” to the art and formed their own band. We are so excited that they will be making their live debut with us!
So come and party the night away, we promise you’ll have a great time. There will be some sick drink specials and fine cigars, as well as Free Wi-Fi, great Staff, and a beautiful, relaxing environment to enjoy it all in. It’s going to be another unbelievable show!! Can’t wait to see y’all there - peace!
Love & Hugs, Spit-Fire
