BloomBars Second Bloom of Bloom
HELD JULY 19, 2008
Singer Kissey Asplund, “illustrator of auras” Shantell Martin, DJ Apex and Zimm graced BloomBars on July 19, 2008.
KISSEY ASPLUND
http://www.myspace.com/kisseyasplund
Crowned an electro-soul funk queen by legendary BBC RadioOne DJ Giles Peterson, Kissey was one of just 20 of his 2008 WorldwideWinners. Since the release of her debut album, Plethora, this native of Sweden with Caribbean roots has been on an odyssey to funkafy the globe with her soulful vocals over a plethora of futuristic funky beats created by some of the hottest producer/DJs in Europe and the US. At her first Washington, DC appearance, Kissey is poised to continue her early bloom at the appropriately named BloomBars.
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SHANTELL MARTIN
With Jamaican roots, Shantell Martin based herself in Tokyo a few years ago, where she found her art and illustration transcended the luminous light from a projector, the energy of live music, and what appears to be an interpretation of a musician’s aura on a screen serving as the stage backdrop. The result pushes the boundaries of live art as the audience is treated to not only the performance onstage, but the creation of performance art like nothing you’ve ever experienced.
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BLOOMBARS
Fresh off its “first bloom of bloom” featuring recording artists Jason Jasper and Kevin Sandbloom, as well as=2 0[deleted "and"] visual artists [deleted comma] Charles Jean Pierre, and [delete "and"] Chidi Ozieh, and Joanna Mbeke Jumbo, Columbia Heights’ version of “Artomatic” is taking shallow root with some decidedly rare and spontaneous events. There’s no schedule and there are no set hours (for now), but there is an email list derived from those who have passed its 100 year-old arches-and just a few promo fliers this time around for the fortunate ones-offering short notice that something special is about to go down. The raw interim space has a name it hopes to grow into-BloomBars. It’s not your typical venue. For starters, don’t let the “bars” fool you. If you want a drink you’ll have to go next door to Wonderland. If you’d like to be served a unique mix of music, art, and an invitation to interact with strangers at your side, BloomBars is the place for you.
Its owner hopes the space will be a cultural gathering place where diverse and “less communicative” neighbors can interact while being introduced to things outside of their familiar surroundings. As he put it, “where local meets local, and local meets global.” In their first time collaboration on July 19th, Kissey and Shantell bring on the global, and we’ll see what the second bloom brings to the DC area.
