So here's the deal. I have a slight affinity for guys that know how to play the acoustic guitar. It started once I graduated from college and has only intensified with sooth sayers like John Meyer, Babyface, and Bob Dylan strumming while singing simultaneously. Whether they are self-taught or under the tutelage of another, I admire the artist that isn't afraid to carry his craft with him. Perhaps its the ability to put on a performance at any whim and oftentimes making a few extra dollars a la New York City subway ports? Or the motivation to entertain those willing to listen provided they have the time? Whatever the case may be, there's just something about a man and his acoustic guitar.As my luck would have it, I just so happened to bump into~literally folks~an acoustic guitar toting musician while having lunch a few weeks ago. Christon "Christylez" Bacon is artistry in motion. Hailing from Southeast, Washington D.C., and a graduate of Duke Ellington School of the Arts, there is more in his guitar case than it appears. Currently on a 4 week tour of DC public schools bringing elements of spoken word and hip hop infused with learning to classrooms, Christylez in engaging those students who are in search of musical satisfaction.
Christylez knowledge of musical instruments does not end with the acoustic guitar. Although he admits that he enjoys it the most due to its "emotive properties through melody,chords, and rhythm", other instruments deemed noteworthy are the West African Djembe drum, the congas, the Afro Brazilian Berimbeau and a variety of percussive instruments. Further confirming my belief in his ability of being a one man entity, I was able to experience firsthand his impact on elementary school students. As I watched how engaged 22 second graders were as he taught them the basic components of the human beat box as it relates to certain letter sounds~really fly~the class knew one thing. They hated to see his jam session end but reveled in the fact that he would be coming back.
In the upcoming weeks, Christylez will appear at various venues in the metropolitan area. His itinerary includes weekly performances at Emergence Community Arts Collective on Euclid Street NW on Mondays, Artmosphere in Mt. Rainier on Wednesdays, and at Mocha Hut on U Street NW on Thursdays. He is also performing at the Strathmore Mansion in North Bethesda, MD as a part of Strathmore's Artist in Residence program. If you still aren't convinced, he's premiering a song that was commissioned by the District of Columbia Commission on Arts and Humanities on March 17, 2008 at the Kennedy Center for the 2008 Mayor's Arts Awards. Not bad for a 21 year old!
For more information on Christon "Christylez" Bacon, check out his website at http://www.christylez.com/. For all myspace users, you too are in luck! Visit him at www.myspace.com/christylezbacon.
There's a song by the "Blastmaster" himself (KRS-ONE for you hip-hop neophytes) called "Keep Rising to the Top". If you pay close attention to the chorus, you'll hear someone in the background singing, "give it all you got, give it all you got". For native Washingtonian Kia Dupree, she's proving that while she's giving the literary world all that she's got, plans of being in the background are far from her to do list.