Music month mayhem launches today

September is Live Music Month in Terre Haute, and Arts Illiana has a full schedule planned.

"There will be mini concerts staged around the city," said Jon Robeson, the executive director of Arts Illiana at a press conference Thursday.

Live Music Month begins this weekend with the Little Italy Festival in Clinton, Ind. The Little Italy Festival will include live music, a wine garden and a spaghetti sauce cook-off.

The majority of the concerts are free and each weekend there will be an iPod giveaway.

We are going to take a track from each one of the bands and preload it onto the iPod so the winner can listen to what they just experienced, said Trevor Bridgewater, the project coordinator for Arts Illiana, the Wabash Valley arts council.

"We want to offer a venue for local artists to come in," Bridgewater said.

"Arts can add to the community development aspect," Robeson said.

Three members of Easy Street, which will be performing on Sept. 6, provided the music at Thursday's press conference. The band, comprised of several members, featured Marshall Rector, Paul Sturn and Chris Bales, who is a junior music business major, also known as the "dinner trio." Easy Street is the house band at the Saratoga Restaurant.

"We travel as far as the money will pay us to," Rector said.

Cuba, a local band that has played in venues in Chicago, Cincinnati and Indianapolis, was present at the conference as well.

"We started as a duo, now we're a five-piece, said John Docasta, the main songwriter for the group.

John Murray, who plays guitar and sings for Cuba, said the rest of the members "add the flavor, the spices" to the band.

While they mostly perform in college towns, they try to reach a broad audience with their music.

"My grandma listens to our stuff," Docasta said.

The other band members include Jimmy Rinehart, who plays guitar, Michael Coffey, who plays drums, and Matt Hulett, who plays bass guitar and sings back-up vocals.

Through Live Music Month, Arts Illiana hopes to help people become aware of the local talent.

"The bands need to be good, represent different aspects of the Terre Haute community and appeal to different audiences," Robeson said.

[ Clinton Little Italy Festival Aug. 29-31

Oktoberfest Sept. 11-13

Blues at the Crossroads Sept. 12-13

Street Fair Sept. 26-28 ]

( Lana Schrock is a sophomore speech language pathology major. She can be reached at sascamed@isugw.indstate.edu.)