The clock is ticking and we are getting closer and closer to the National Poetry Slam in August, but that does not mean that we are taking a rest from bringing poetry and spoken word to our favorite rock n’ roll bar. We are back upstairs at Valentine’s on Tuesday, July 16 for the 49th edition of Nitty Gritty Slam!
At the last slam we had a great time with featured performance from The Poet Essence, a loaded open mic, and a very special slam with two members of Team Nitty Gritty taking the top two spots.
We can only imagine what the 16th is going to bring us.
This is going to be another great night of poetry and spoken word as we continue on the road to the National Poetry Slam in Boston. And again for this slam, we are back to our Open Slam tradition. Everyone is welcome to sign up and compete.
Plus, you will have the opportunity to help support the team by purchasing the brand new 2013 NGS CD and chapbook at the event for a special price. We will also have a special raffle to help raise money for the slam team. You never know what we are going to bring out from Albany Poets HQ. Last year we found 2006 Albany Word Fest shirts and some old chapbooks and tapes from local poets.
As we get closer and closer to Team Nitty Gritty competing against 71 other teams at NPS, we want to take this time to ask our very generous community for their support. You can help us send Albany’s slam team to Boston with a donation by going to AlbanyPoets.com and clicking “Donate”. Everything does to fund the team’s travel and lodging to the event.
Albany Poets, Urban Guerilla Theatre, and The Frequency North Reading Series are bringing slam back to Albany with the Nitty Gritty Slam.
Last year a slam team from Albany, representing Nitty Gritty Slam, went to the National Poetry Slam in Charlotte, NC. This year, a new team will be heading to Boston to show the rest of the country the amazing talent that lives right here in Albany, NY.
NGS takes place at Valentine’s (17 New Scotland Ave.) on the 1st and 3rd Tuesday’s of each month.
If you’re not into slam, but want to get on stage and share your work, we have an open mic before the slam.
Sign up begins at 7:00pm, open mic starts at 7:30, and then Thom Francis starts the slam at 8:00pm.
Admission is $5.00 ($3.00 with student ID). This is an 18+ show.
For information on the rules and format of the Nitty Gritty Slam and to meet the team, go to http://
nittygrittyslam.com/.
