Blacktoberfest is an event designed to highlight Black Owned Businesses and give platforms to those who may not have the benefit of a brick-and-mortar establishment, website, or supply chain operation.
The event takes place Saturday, October 30 from 4pm – 10pm in the heart of the community at 1544 Columbia Avenue in Indianapolis, IN.
It’s offering black business owners a venue to network with other business owners and connect with the local community who will not only patronize, but support them beyond the day of the event.
The event will feature live performances, music and all the odes to Black Culture, with the modern aesthetics of a Beer Garden in Fall. Complete with the amber glow of fire pits, and hanging bulb lights overhead illuminating unapologetic blackness and entrepreneurial excellence.
Renee King, singer/song-writer, joined us today to give a preview of the kind of performance you can expect from her and others there.
For more information visit, indyblacktoberfest.com, @ReneeKAllDay on social media and okaraimani.com.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The local restaurant for today’s Tasty Takeout is On the Border. Watch to see what they delivered us today.
For more information visit, ontheborder.com.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Today’s All Indiana artist is Sarah Grain & the Billions of Stars. She mixes a variety of several genres, and has four albums dating back to 2010.
She got her start in Indy as a folk singer, and has been evolving her sound ever since. Watch the video above to see her performance from today.
For more information visit, SarahGrain.com.
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Today’s All Indiana artist has one of the most soulful voices on today’s Indy blues scene. Watch the video above to see a performance from the Tad Robinson Band and to hear more about his career.
For more information visit, TadRobinson.com.
The Rock Garage formed during the pandemic and since then they’ve been able to bring more than two dozen bands to the vogue and helped people ages 7 to 90 come together for lessons and form bands.
You can also see some of their bands playing June 4th and 5th at one of the oldest Indianapolis Music Bars, Melody INN (Illinois and 38th). It opened in 1935 and their booths are the old Teepee Booths (Indiana State Fair Grounds).
Today, we were joined by The Rock Garage band, “The Interim Project.” They performed two of their original songs, “Win or Lose” and “Double Shot.”
As pandemic conditions have pushed the annual Carb Day celebration outside the gates of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Rock Garage will help fill the void by taking over one of the main stages on Main Street in Speedway, during the town’s annual Rockin On Main event. Rock Garage will schedule more than two dozen bands to play on stage for 8 solid hours while visitors enjoy all the food, fun and features of this great event. Fans of Speedway tradition will also get to see and hear the famous Gordon Pipers play on stage and throughout the festival.
Rockin On Main will take place Friday, May 28, on Main Street in Speedway from 16th Street to Ford Street, which will be blocked off for pedestrians only. Three stages of live music, beer gardens (with proceeds to benefit the Speedway COVID-19 Relief Fund), food trucks, vendors and local restaurants will be set up on Main Street for visitors. While listening to the music, visitors can check out a handful of vintage Indy Race Cars, including the 1963 Parnelli Jones, 1932 Miller and the 1972 Bobby Unser car.
“We are very proud to bring our unique blend of amateur rock musicians and bands to this great event on Carb Day and we hope it will inspire others to dust off their guitars and join our movement to fill the Indy area’s small, local music venues with great music as we emerge from the pandemic,” said Dave Foellinger, co-owner of the Castleton-based music lesson center and rock band program.
Rock Garage is a program open to all skill sets from beginner to advanced. If you’ve ever had a dream of performing on stage, Rock Garage is designed to make that happen. We’ve built a system of instruction, rehearsal, and performance second to none.
The Speedway event is free to visitors, but Rock Garage will be accepting donations for the non-profit Indiana Independent Venue Alliance, whose mission is to help small businesses, whose livelihoods depend on live music. These venues have suffered due to the pandemic closures and restrictions. There will also be an opportunity for visitors to learn more about The Rock Garage and become a new member.
“This will be a great day for so many of our musicians who have been working together and honing their skills at smaller venues during the pandemic,” added Foellinger. “We have more than 125 members who are either taking lessons from our experts or have been placed in one of our bands, or both. They bring different talents and different skill levels, but they all share a love of playing live music on stage!”
Rock Garage was born out of the Pandemic shutdown when Dave & Kate Foellinger, Steve & Kimberly Klinger and Preston & Rocky Nash joined forces to start a Facebook group for musicians to talk about music, upload their songs and share ideas. The group grew to more than 800 members from all over the world and eventually led to establishing a new website and a physical location in the summer of 2020. The Castleton business, located at 8115 Center Run Road, has three large rooms for bands to rehearse and record their music, and smaller rooms for private lessons.
Rock Garage’s program is built upon the principles of band chemistry, live experience, and having a good time. Rock Garage places its members into bands who, under the guidance of one of our professional music directors, choose or create their own music and then play on stage at a variety of small venues across central Indiana.
In addition to being placed in bands, individuals who are just starting out can choose online or in-person lessons for guitar, bass, drums, ukulele, mandolin, banjo, and vocals. All lessons and band assignments are open to both adults and children.
For more information visit, RockGarageMusic.com, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIN.
Damon Karl, singer and acoustic guitarist, filled our studio with the beautiful sounds of his music filled with positive messages.
You can see the Indianapolis native performing live and in-person at GodRoxx Volume Three. It’s being held at The Spotlight Event Center, Sunday, April 18th at 3:30 P.M. and 5:30 P.M. The address is, 5060 E. 62nd Street, Indianapolis.
Tickets are on sale at their website, Godroxx.com.
Here’s more about Damon:
It was in fourth grade that Damon decided he wanted to be a singer. At age 16 he received his first guitar as a birthday present.
Damon is an alum of Arsenal Technical High School. Has been playing guitar since the age of 16.
He was discovered at a talent show contest where the winner would get to open for singer Tank.
Veteran Grammy winning manager/songwriter/producer Sid “Uncle Jamz” Johnson discovered him at the talent contest where he was a judge and would later introduce Damon to his chief influence Indy’s own legendary Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds. After that, Damon got to open a show for Babyface in Louisville, Kentucky. He has also opened for The Isley Brothers, SOS Band, Zapp and Morris Day & The Time.
Damon counts Indianapolis native son Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds and Tori Kelly as the two of his biggest musical inspirations.
He enjoys listening to: Babyface, Usher, Raheem DeVaughn, Louis Armstrong, Sam Cooke, Al Green, Alicia Keys, India. Arie, Tori Kelly and John Mayer. Music with passion is his favorite style to listen to.
Born under the sign of Sagittarius on December 2nd, Damon feels his purpose in life is to stand out and succeed.
His debut single “Colors Of The World” was co-written by him and his label-mate Nut Bush. The song has a great message for these times where it seems people are so divided by race, religion and politics.
Damon’s second single release was “Beautiful Girl”, and it was mostly written by Karl himself along with music producer Rob Hittz. There is a music video for the song.
His latest single, “Love Again,” recently hit #1 in the Atlanta market. The music video was filmed in Atlanta.
This summer he will be have a new single that is being produced by Rob Hittz in Phoenix, Arizona.
To keep up with Damon follow him on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
For bookings: contact: sidviciousjamz@gmail.com.