Mar 22, 2016
John Vournakis - Clean Slate
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John Vournakis - Clean Slate
Hitting the road once again with my very good friend Joseph Lazzari. We just put out a new split EP, check it out at my bandcamp.
John Vournakis, folk singer from Atlanta, GA, singing Sunday Morning, a song on his upcoming EP. Video was shot in Albion, MI where he attended college. <3 Sometimes he looks happier when he plays. Follow him on Tumblr.
One of my favorite people in life ever. Unfortunately my camera struggled with the video for some reason, so I couldn't get the whole song. Either way, it's 54 seconds of goodness. Love.
Check out this song from John Vournakis, who's playing the Local this evening. You can check out the rest of his latest EP at http://johnvournakis.bandcamp.com/ where you can also download it for free. The show tonight is only $5, doors open at 7pm. Go RSVP here for the rest of the event info.
Meet Our Staff: Amber
Amber Hughson, Public Relations Coordinator, Ann Arbor
Have you ever tried to eat a mango that hasn’t already been sliced? You’re standing there, yellow juice running down your arm, destroying your outfit from neck to toes, wondering if it’s worth it when you slice through the slippery bugger and gash your hand. Then you sort of shrug at the pain of it and take a bite and realize, hell yes, it was totally worth it. That’s how I feel about life.
In full disclosure I’m sitting at my desk writing this, post-mango, trying to figure out how best to introduce myself to you as Public Relations Coordinator of Creative Rights. Interviewing other people is more my pace.
I grew up in Berkley, Michigan, a suburb in Metro Detroit. I left that small town for another small town, Albion, to attend college and snag myself a BA in Literature. I chose Albion College because it was pretty. I’m not joking – I had applied to only three schools, I’m embarrassed to say where else, not really wanting to go to college at all. When I went on a tour, I distinctly remember two things – there was a rally on the corner of Cass and Hannah (to have birth control available at student health services) and it was really lush and green. They gave me a decent scholarship for writing an essay about how I stood up to The Man in high school (strange in retrospect), so I went.
Since grade one, I’d wanted to be a teacher. Through college and world travel, I discovered that I wanted to be many things, a teacher being only one of them. That sort of threw me for a loop. I became active in non-profit work through organizations I founded and joined in college and developed an interest in social justice – basically, I wanted to change the world. I also wanted to write, which has always been my passion, but only if I was also stepping out my door, as Bilbo Baggins would say.
One organization I worked with in a Public Relations capacity was Albion College’s coffee house. It was a shitty little white house between a parking lot and a dormitory that was run by unpaid students. I lived and worked there my junior year of college and it was hands down one of the best experiences of my life. I lived with these amazing people who were all underdogs in one sense or another – geology nerds, philosophy nerds, coffee nerds, and everyone was crazy about music and the arts. The college sort of hated our presence there, never put any resources into the place and was semi-threatened by this hub of politically minded artists that hated hegemony in every sense of the word. We hosted local bands, had classes there, and my favorite night was Open Mic, where I got to host all of these incredibly talented students – poets, singer/songwriters, small bands, bongo players, whatever. That was an amazing year. Since then, the college has abandoned the building and it’s been gutted for copper.
After finishing my study abroad experience in Greece and graduating, I moved to Ann Arbor in the hope that I would figure out what I was going to do with my life. I waitressed for a couple of years, during which time I self-published a novel. I also realized that what I really wanted to do was go back to the coffee house years, live with artists and philosophers, put on shows, collaborate between different organizations and just have a hub of creative thought.
Fast forward one year and a transfer of careers into a small pediatric practice where I do referrals, and I’m presented with the extraordinary honor of working for Creative Rights. It has been a dream opportunity. Brandon and Travis have offered me a space where I can meet these amazingly talented, well-spoken people who care about Detroit and the arts and changing the world. I get to write. I get to build a community. And, I get to watch people do the very thing that I dream of doing – creating a sanctuary for the social imagination as Brandon says.
So, I’m in a pretty amazing place. Enjoying eating my mango and reveling in the world that other artists have made for me. I think it’s important to include that I have a lot of artistic influences in my life. I mean, my fifth grade art teacher was the first one to say – Hey, this painting is not that good, but I entered it into this competition and one day you might win one. I never won any competitions for fine arts. Oh hell, I never won anything. But, it did open my eyes to a world where art is important and valued.
My favorite writers are Margaret Atwood, who writes beautiful novels about hopeful dystopia, Jodi Picoult, who writes distinctly human stories, and Brian Turner, a post-Iraq-war poet. A lot of my favorite artists are also my friends. In the music realm, my friend John Vournakis is an awesomely talented folk singer. Ryan Tedder is this amazing singer, song writer, and producer that collaborates on a ton of projects with other artists. Chris Bathgate, a local Ann Arborite, does beautiful things with lyrics and sounds that I can’t even describe and stays loyal to his hometown despite semi-epic fame. (Disclaimer: They're not friends of mine, but in my dream world they are). Both of my roommates, Karen Linderborg and Emily Judge, are phenomenal singers whose voices I have the honor of hearing every day, often through the bathroom door. Jessica Ashburn, whom I interviewed just the other day, is one of my favorite people and as a bonus, makes gorgeous paintings with watercolor and ink. I recently acquired a favorite designer (just this morning actually) in Justin Mast, a CR client and architect that has done brilliant things with bent wood. He also just happens to be a fiercely wonderful person. I could go on forever.
Oh. My favorite color is green. And it's hard for me not to make funny faces in pictures.