4/26/11

New Artist at First Friday in May

On Friday, May 6th, A.J. Shanti will join the list of other amazing performers who have stepped on stage for First Friday at the WaterWheel in Milford, PA.  A.J. Shanti is an international singing/songwriting sensation whose hauntingly beautiful and lyrically rich musical stylings have the uncanny ability to make girls' hearts melt and grandmas cry. She's toured over 75 cities in more than 15 countries, so that's a whole lot of grandmas. Shanti has been a featured artist and headliner at both large music festivals and intimate venues and her live performances have been described as "raw and emotive" and "captivating and sexy."Singing about heartbreak, lust, politics, and pain and armed only with her guitar and her words, A.J. Shanti's music gives an authentic voice and visibility to queer life and political struggle in the U.S. and abroad. Her studio album Baby Beau Blue was released in 2008 and is available on cdbaby.com. A.J. loves femmes, beer, and gender fabulouness.

First Fridays began in reaction to the GLBT community's need for a time and place where they could meet people in a social and informal setting. "When I started the UDGLBT Center, I kept hearing the same question 'Where do you meet people?' " Tomaszewski said. "Since there really wasn't any place, we decided to create one. The WaterWheel has become a venue where folks in the GLBT community know they can go the first Friday of every month to connect with old friends and make new ones."


In addition to a place to meet people, the event has become known for its great music from amazing artists such as In Spite of Ourselves, a local trio, singer songwriter Regina Sayles, Brandon Anderson, Jeremiah Clark and now A.J Shanti. "We are so lucky to have such talented musicians each month. They have make the event really special and have turned a group of people into a real community.You can tell they enjoy playing for our group and we love them. We all have a lot of fun," Tomaszewski noted.

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