Ulrich Ellison grew up in a world filled with music. His Austrian home was enveloped in the sounds of his mother’s violin upstairs while his aunt played piano on the first floor. So it was no surprise when 4-year-old Ellison began playing Austrian folk songs, which he had been serenaded with since he was a baby, on the piano from memory.

Winner of three Downbeat Awards, Ulrich Ellison is gaining international recognition as an electric guitar player whose sounds and tones are starting to attract an ever growing fan base. Critics have compared his playing with artists as diverse as Jeff Beck, Joe Satriani, John McLaughlin and Mike Oldfield. Ellison´s style is fluid, melodic, and multidimensional.

“Irish Dance” recorded at Momo’s on Dec 29th 2010

David Sierra – drums
Brady Muckelroy – bass
Tony Cruz – percussion
Winton Reynolds – keys
Abra Moore – voice, perc., accordion
Tony Bray – saxophone
Ulrich Ellison – guitar, vocals

Cheryl Chaddick made it back to Texas after spending several years in San Francisco, and we’re glad she’s here. Cheryl is the artistic director and choreographer for her dance company and brings contemporary dance to patrons at the Austin Ventures Studio Theater at Ballet Austin. She’s now an Austin artist, so get out and support her work! You can find out more by visiting www.chaddickdancetheater.com

Here’s another guest blog post, this one from the Austin Creative Alliance.  Did you know that Austin-Artists.com videos get placed on their NowPlayingAustin site, and that site gets approximately 20,000 visitors/month?  Learn more by reading about all the Austin Creative Alliance has to offer!

NowPlayingAustin.com

A leading online resource for arts and cultural information for Austin and Central Texas, NowPlayingAustin.com offers a large database of area arts and cultural events; venue and organization directories; classes and workshops; jobs, auditions, and classified ads. Partners and sponsors make this a free listing service for the entire arts community. The site gets approximately 20,000 visitors/month. Anyone can submit Event Information or an Individual Artist Profile free of charge. Now Playing Austin: Submission Tips

Auditions:

G.A.C.A.’s Unified General Auditions serve professional, working actors in Texas. They are open to all actors, union and non-union, local and regional. The auditors in attendance are Central Texas’ top producers, directors, and casting agents. This year, we are pleased to have faculty and graduate students of the University of Texas at Austin Department of Radio-Television-Film participate in hosting our auditions. Auditions will be held on Saturday, September 28 at the Salvage Vanguard Theater.

Free Night of Theater:

Since its inception in 2005, Free Night of Theater has boosted awareness of the nations arts organizations, while building new audiences and driving single ticket sales.  Continuing in this tradition, Free Night 2010 will seek out new audiences, invite current theatergoers and arts patrons to try a new theater or arts venue, as well as ignite interest and create awareness about the variety of arts options in Austin and across the country. In 2009 Free Night of Theater celebrated its 5th anniversary in over 120 cities from coast to coast with 714 arts organizations offering over 65,000 tickets to more than 2,000 performances nationally! Free Night of Theater 2010 will kick-off nation wide on October 14th. Tickets will be offered between October 1 and October 31 at FreeNightOfTheater.net

Get Your Art On:

Get Your Art On, a program of Greater Austin Cultural Alliance, is a city wide celebration of art, culture and creativity in honor of Americans for the Arts’ National Arts and Humanities Month and the the City of Austin Cultural Arts Division’s CreateAustin cultural planning initiative.

B Iden Payne Awards:

The “Austin Tony” Awards celebrate the best of the austin theatre community. More details will be released soon!

For more information about the Creative Alliance, read our blog at nowplayingaustin.wordpress.com, follow our weekly podcast http://nowplayingaustin.podbean.com/, or read all about our Creative Alliance at austincreativealliance.org.

Do you know what a creative superhero is?  Watch the video and find out!  H. Cherdon Bedford is the real deal, right here in Austin, TX.  Whether it’s film, acting, photography, writing or graphic design, this lady has the bases covered.

Jimmie Roulette is one funny guy.  Some say that he’s the funniest guy in Austin.  We had a chance to find out how Jimmie got his start and how he’s come up the ranks of comedians in the USA.  Enjoy!

Austin-Artists.com had the pleasure of meeting author Skyler White in her south Austin home recently.  Skyler’s new novel “and Falling, Fly”, is a dark fable of desire between a fallen angel and a self-medicating neuro-scientist in a steampunk hell.  Awesome!

Most of us have heard of musical families, but Leticia Rodriguez is truly part of one. She and her brothers grew up in a home filled with music. Not only does she sing, but she dances and acts, too. Leticia’s singing career is focused on keeping boleros alive and well. If you don’t know what boleros are, watch the interview and find out!  Be sure to visit Leticia’s new website, too.

We compiled a short video (under 2 minute) of some responses we’ve received from our artists when asked how Austin compares to other cities.  The responses are really varied, which is one of the things that makes these people so darn interesting!  Have a look…and let us know what YOU think of Austin.

How about a sneak peak at some of the people that will be featured on Austin-Artists.com in 2010? In less than two minutes, you’ll get a glimpse of some of the local artists that make Austin a richer, vibrant community. Enjoy!