Music This Weekend, Saturday

Saturday night you've a great chance to hear our old friends The Elders and help out a good cause at the same time.

You know, I feel like I've written that sentence 30 or 40 times this year. Doesn't it seem like every time you turn around, those boys are doing a benefit of some kind or another? You wouldn't think I'd have such a hard time getting them signed up for the Dan Regan Pale Ale Procurement Telethon. At any rate, the people who are benefiting from Elder largesse instead of me this time are the folks at the very worthy Arts Incubator.

I went to art school. A very good, serious art school. Then I sold out and became a "commercial artist". This is a bit like training for the Olympics and then becoming a midget professional wrestler. Better people than I am though, stuck it out and became actual artists, the kind you see in films living romantic lives in garrets and drafty lofts, eating Top Ramen and drinking wine and pouring forth their tortured genius to broaden our understanding of the human condition. While I draw funny monkeys. The thing is, because society's priorities are so colossally screwed up, funny monkey drawing, while potentially soul killing, pays a decent salary while exploring the deeper recesses of aesthetic expression typically gets you...well, Top Ramen in a garret. And in Kansas City in the winter, those places are cold.

To the rescue comes the Arts Incubator. From their website:

"Most artists who graduate from art institutions do not have the business skills required to establish self-sustaining careers in the arts. The Arts Incubator of Kansas City is a nonprofit organization dedicated to working with these emerging artists in the development of their careers. In addition to business workshops and consulting, AIKC provides affordable, quality studio space in the Crossroads Arts District, a community experiencing extraordinary growth and national recognition as one of the top arts communities in the nation."

Also, they keep the heat on. Which is where you can help. Saturday, from 6:00 PM to Midnight, you can hear the Elders, see some art, sample chili from 25 local restaurants, drink Boulevard beer, and help keep the studios of a lot of deserving artists warm this winter, all for a measly $25. Hell, that's less than one funny monkey drawing.

So do this. It's an easy deposit in the oul' Karma bank. The event is at 115 W. 18th Street, Downtown in the Crossroads. All the details and more about the Arts Incubator are on their web site