We don’t always have featured poets at Nitty Gritty Slam, but when we do, we like to bring in some of the most dynamic and powerful performers that we can find. In the past couple of years, we have welcomed John Survivor Blake, Meg Waldron, Robyn Bateman, Influence, McPherson, and Eirean Bradley & Leah Noble Davidson to the Nitty Gritty stage. For NGS #67 activist, educator, poet, musician Jared Paul is coming into town and we are honored to have him as our featured performer.
Jared performed in Albany twice in 2012 (in April at the Hudson River Coffee House and again in September at the SJC) and is no stranger to the slam stage. He is a two time Individual World Poetry Slam Finalist and 8 time slam caoch for the Providence National Youth Poetry Slam Team.
AS A PERFORMANCE POET…
Having toured internationally in over 200 cities throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe alongside legendary poets, musicians, journalists, and speakers such as Saul Williams, Amy Goodman, Sage Francis, Raine Maida (of Our Lady Peace), Paul Hawken, Jello Biafra, Immortal Technique, Anti-Flag, The Misfits and many others, Jared is widely recognized as one of the premiere performance poets in the world. His work has been featured on the Canadian Broadcast Company program “Zed TV,” as well as in CMJ Magazine and The Providence Journal. Jared is a two time Individual World Poetry Slam Finalist and was a featured poet at the Greenbuild 2007 International Conference & Expo. He was a guest performer for the Post Secret national book tour, and the headlining act for the 2009 Karl Wilhelm Diefenbach grand opening at the nationally acclaimed Villa Stuck gallery in Munich, Germany.
AS AN ACTIVIST…
With over a decade of anti-war/animal rights/environmental protection organizing and a storied career laden with protest arrests, Jared Paul has become somewhat of a modern folk hero within the underground American counter-culture. His most notable run-in with the law happened during the 2008 Republican National Convention, where Jared was the victim of a mass arbitrary arrest. Fans and supporters jumped to action, creating a fundraiser via www.ConspiracyToRiot.com, from which an attorney was hired and the case was eventually dropped. His “Conspiracy To Riot” creative non-fiction series was published by the quarterly Providence periodical “The Agenda” and Strange Famous Records.
AS AN EDUCATOR…
Jared is the founder and 8 time coach of the Providence National Youth Poetry Slam Team, assisting and encouraging Rhode Island youth to seize the reins of performance art since 2001. Under Jared’s direction Team Providence advanced to finals stage at The Brave New Voices International Youth Poetry Festival in 2004, 2006 and 2007. Jared has facilitated performance poetry and direct action workshops at festivals, conferences, universities, prep schools, youth correctional facilities, public schools, and writer’s groups across America.
And if that is not enough to get you out to The Low Beat, this 67st edition of Albany’s poetry slam series will be another special slam for the eight nine points leaders battling it out in the second semi-final to be part of Team NGS 2014. These points leaders for the second half of the season are Algorhythm (14), Samson Dikeman (9), Dan Wilcox (7), Avery (5), L-Majesty (5), D. Colin (5), Mojavi (4), and Daniel Summerhill (3).
For the complete list of Season Three points, go to – https://hvwg.org/nittygrittyslam/points.html
This event and the tournament to choose members for the 2014 slam team, to represent Nitty Gritty Slam at the National Poetry Slam this summer in Oakland, are part of the big changes that we announced at the beginning of Season Three. The top three poets at the end of NGS #67 will then move on to the Grand Slam, joining Season 2 Champion of Champions Christopher The Poet, and Semi-Finalists Kevin Peterson, Bless, and Poetyc Visionz.
Poets who do not make it to the next level of the tournament are invited to participate in the Wild Card Slam on May 6. The winner of that slam will advance to the Grand Slam.
* NOTE – This slam will not be an open slam. Only the top eight poets will be able to slam. The open mic will be for all poets and spoken word artists who want to step up to the mic with a special two poem limit.
If you can’t make it out to the show that night, be sure to follow along on Twitter! We will be live tweeting pictures and results all night at @NittyGrittySlam and #NGS67.
Albany Poets, Urban Guerilla Theatre, and The Frequency North Reading Series have brought slam back to Albany with the Nitty Gritty Slam.
NGS takes place at The Low Beat (335 Central 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.
