Avery*Sunshine- She’s a singer/songwriter/pianist deeply rooted in
Gospel. Born/raised in Chester, PA and resides in Atlanta. She considers
both places home with many fans eagerly anticipating her first full length.
In fact- when it comes to Philly, Avery always has her finger on the pulse
with all the newcomers on the scene and she’s embraced by so many there.
Performing in Philly is coming home. Similarly in Atlanta she gets the
same response/support.

An EP came out earlier this year that placed really high on the iTunes
R&B/Soul chart. The foundation has been laid and the fans are ready! Avery
considers herself a healer through the power of music. First having
touched individuals to eventually collective healing. Through her Gospel
training, she articulates the complexities in life with a luminous insight.
She sings about love, loss, healing and finding oneself all through the
midst of it.

Debut self titled album out now featuring Roy Ayers.
http://www.averysunshine.com

CASRAM Presents is a series of events leading up to the official 6th Annual CASRAM Music & Arts Festival, scheduled for the week of Oct 5-8th of 2011. Events feature special showcases of leading women in soul and hip-hop, film, art and a unique performance competition series.

CASRAM Presents give artists with less publicity an opportunity year round to participate in CASRAM related events under the CASRAM brand.

Summer LoveFest goes back to ‘06, when the weather is breezy, people are friendly, and the music is excellent. It’s enough to make you cherish a DC summer, and the CASRAM Festival. One of the peak highglihghts of CASRAM, this outdoor family fun day is dedicated to showcasing some of the best underground-that-should-be-overground performers in soul and hip-hop. Every single performer will be bringing their A game Saturday, so bring your own chair just in case we run out of them.

In addition to the best live music in town, Austin Grill is going to make it extra fresh with their margaritas and sangria and bar menu extending outdoors. Then The Band with Alison is hosting a funky jam session at 10PM inside the packed place. It’ll be a full, FREE day to remember.

Free parking | Silver Spring Station Metro

2PM-9PM Outdoors, 10PM Afterparty @ Austin Grill

916 Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring, MD aka “Downtown Silver Spring”

Tuesday June 15:  WENDY McINTYRE

@ Ben’s Next Door (Washington, DC)
1211 U Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20009
8PM-10PM
FREE

and

Tuesday June 15:  CASRAM Blue Print with Afi Soul, Precious Joubert, Alison Carney, Jamela Bullock, and Tameka Love Jones + Visuals by Eye Choose Love

@ Island Cafe (Washington, DC)
829 Upshur Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20011
8PM-1AM
$10

————————-

Wednesday June 16: CASRAM & Verses: CHINAH BLAC , poet Zenobia+ open mic

Hosted by Lorna “L Boogie”

@ Bohemian Caverns
2001 U St NW
Washington, DC 20001
8PM-1AM
$7

————————-

Thursday June 17: CASRAM & Metropolitan Muse: ABBY DOBSON (NY) + COLLETTE + open mic

@ Station 9
1438 U St NW
Washington, DC 20009
9PM-1AM
$10

————————-

Saturday June 19: CASRAM & HHCC present: P-STAR RISING documentary screening

and panel discussion with NONCHALANT (DC) & more

@ Historical Society of Washington D.C.
801 K Street, NW
at Mount Vernon Square
Washington, DC 20001
2PM-5PM
Donations accepted.

——

WHAT YOU MISSED: (Week 1)

Tuesday June 8: CASRAM Reception /w LAUREN WHITE

@ Ben’s Next Door (Washington, DC)
1211 U Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20009
8PM-10PM
FREE

————————-

Wednesday June 9: CASRAM GRAND OPENING: DIONNE FARRIS (ATL) and LEAH SMITH (Philly)

Hosted by W. Ellington Felton

@ Liv (Washington, DC)
2001 U Street Northwest (11th & U Streets)
Washington, DC 20001
7:30PM-11PM
$15 adv tix, more at door
dionnefarris.eventbrite.com

————————-

Thursday June 10: CASRAM Theater production of  : PAIGE IN FULL

**************************POSTPONED**************************************

Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control with the space not being prepared in time, the event has been postponed. Please visit theHegira.org for June and July show announcements.

————————-

Friday June 11: LADY X:  All female artistry with live graphic design, projections, paint, fashion,  singing, DJs and much more! with live performances from  MEGAN LIVINGSTON (Bmore) and CAROLYN MALACHI (DC/Bmore)

@ 8504 Fenton Street (Fenton & Wayne Ave, across from Sprint)
Silver Spring, MD 20910
8PM-2AM
$10

————————-

Saturday June 12: SUMMER LOVEFEST: Some of the finest on stage outdoors with vendors & more! with ALISON CARNEY, BLACK ALLEY, DEBORAH BOND, KIMBERLY NICHOLE (ATL/NY), PRINCESS OF CONTROVERSY, RA THE MC, SHAE FIOL (NY) + YAHZARAH!

Hosted by APRIL WATTS

@ Ellsworth Drive Stage (downtown Silver Spring between Georgia Avenue & Fenton Street)
916 Ellsworth Drive
Silver Spring, MD 20910
2PM-9PM  COME EARLY

FREE  & OUTDOORS  ::  FREE CONVENIENT PARKING ::  BRING YOUR LAWN CHAIRS!

AFTER PARTY @ AUSTIN GRILL (across from the stage) – with Alison Carney & The Band  -  10PM FREE

————————-

Sunday June 13: Smart Chicks Brunch:  The lovely ladies of Smart Chicks Inc. host a networking session with a live performance by violinist CHELSEA GREEN with her trio, and featured poets.

$1.25 mimosas

@ Utopia
1418 U Street NW
Washington, DC 20009
12PM-3PM
FREE

Sunday June 13 : CASRAM “SUNDAY SCHOOL  “

@ LIL MISS WHISKEY’S
1104 H Street NE
Washington, DC 20009
5PM-10PM
DJ Saucee/Hostess Kristi Love

SUPPORT THE CASRAM FESTIVAL!!

solSource and 88 team up to deliver one of the hottest parties as a part of the 2010 Can A Sista Rock a Mic? Festival.  X, originally created by 88, will take on a whole new energy for one night as CASRAM showcases arts of the future by women.   It’s hard for us to describe what you’ll experience but we do know we’re waiting on final word on whether or not drinks will be served!  Conveniently in downtown Silver Spring, we’ve taken over what we call our own space, “solSpace” and will deliver a night to remember.  Come with an open artistic mind, ready to dance and enjoy the beginning of Summer, end of the week, and the middle of the Festival!    For the arts exhibition, we’ve given three words for everyone to play with: PASSION, FEAR, CONSEQUENCE

The MEDIA DISDAIN Visual art show will display works by emerging female visual artists creating pieces that speak to the array of expectations, roles, and archetypes that are portrayed within media and music. Several disciplines will be exhibited.

Let your senses free…

Live exhibition of Graphic Design +  Fashion + Art + DJs + more!
with live performances by Megan Livingston + Carolyn Malachi
Projections by Shantell Martin + Media Disdain Art Show
with DJ Fusion of FuseBoxRadio | DJ C Breeze | DJ Saucee

+ MORE!!

Graphic Designers and Live Painters TBA

@ solSpace 8504 Fenton Street Silver Spring, MD 20910
8PM  21&up [cash bar]

in Support of Raising Expectations + Words Beats & Life

Once again, CASRAM Culture graces downtown Silver Spring with some of the best in independent soul and hip-hop with live bands!  Bring your lawn chairs for an all day sizzle from some of the hottest ladies in music.  Always positive, CASRAM is family-ready, and this day is FREE to the public, so tell everyone you know!

Address: 916 Ellsworth Silver Spring, MD

Time: 3-9PM with afterset at Austin Grill for 21&up.

Austin Grill will have $4 margarita & sangria specials at their extended, outside bar for the adults!

There’s a moment that true music lovers cherish when an artist is found that is musically diverse, culturally relevant, visibly accessible, and able to deliver quality music without fail. That moment is reached each time one experiences the sounds of Leah Smith.

From acoustic melodies, to heavy hitting beats, orchestral compositions to the stripped down, unplugged sound of a sole piano and vocalist, 21-year-old Leah Smith delivers it all. Her voice effortlessly transitions in and out of high octaves, and her album entitled “Beautifully Made”, moves from ballads to hip-hop inspired, upbeat tempos with ease.

Leah’s brings her new Philly Soul to CASRAM this year June 9 @ Liv with Dionne Farris ! BUY TICKETS

DIONNE FARRIS

Performing her hits live and debuting
hits songs from her forthcoming album
“On Top Of The World”

with Black Alley + Leah Smith

Dionne Farris is one of the first artists of our time to create music that crossed all genres. This Grammy nominated singer/songwriter was recognized for her first top 10 smash single, “I Know”, from her critically acclaimed debut CD “Wild-Seed Wild-Flower”.

Dionne’s beloved hit single “Hopeless from the movie Love Jones was an instant classic, staying at no. 1 on the Billboard R&R charts for a record 18 weeks. Hers is also the voice heard on A.D’s. chart topping “Tennessee”. She was the talk of the industry then, and has been since her departure. Everyone wants to know where she’s been and what she’s been up to. She’ll grace us once again this year with her appropriately titled new CD,
“On Top Of The World”.

If there’s one thing we know of Dionne and the music
she makes, then we should prepare ourselves for the next level in the musical journey of The Original Soul Rocker.

with Leah Smith & Black Alley

$15 presale
dionnefarris.eventbrite.com
@ Liv
11TH & U STREETS NW WDC 20001

Doors: 7:30PM

Unfortunately due to circumstances beyond our control with the space not being prepared in time by ownership, the Paige in Full play scheduled for 6/10 has been cancelled.

Don’t worry! Paige in Full will be presented at
Sulu DC June 19 and the Hip Hop Theatre Festival July 7/8.

For more information about theHegira and Paige in Full contact
info@thehegira.org, connect with them on twitter @theHegira and their Facebook Fan Page- theHegira: an artistic journey.

One of DC’s most exciting new theater companies, theHegira, presents a one night only performance of acclaimed DC Theater hit, PAIGE IN FULL, written and performed by Paige Hernandez, with live beats by Nick tha 1da and directed by Danielle A. Drakes, at the Can A Sista Rock A Mic? (CASRAM)  Festival June 10, 2010.

Paige in Full is a visual mix-tape that blends poetry, dance, visual arts and live music to tell the tale of a multicultural girl growing up Black-Cuban-Chinese-American in Baltimore, MD. Ethnicity and popular culture are explored in a uniquely personal, yet universal, journey through the lens of hip-hop.

To create Paige in Full, sibling-duo Paige Hernandez (writer and performer) and Nick tha 1da (musician) worked with Danielle A. Drakes (director) and Bryan Joseph Lee (dramaturg) to develop a story that speaks to a dynamic hip-hop-influenced generation. Paige in Full draws upon a variety of creative disciplines such as literary, musical and visual arts, which include multimedia provided by Tewodross Melchishua.

‘[Paige in Full] will prompt theatergoers to ruminate a little about identity

politics and the molding of the self in a multicultural world.’

– Celia Wren- The Washington Post

‘[Paige Hernandez] depicts “B’More’s” neighborhoods in “haiku”, reflecting

diverse sights and sounds in just a few well placed words, inflections,

even mimicry. She just nails it.’ – Debbie Jackson, DC Theatre Scene

CASRAM ACCESS-Paige In Full from SolSource Group on Vimeo.

This year, Can A Sista Rock A Mic? Festival partners up to deliver its emerging female emcee event with arguably the most dedicated, illest, woman rappers in the nation! INVINCIBLE is the antithesis of stereotype- she’s revolutionary, and represents CASRAM’s vision of multi-platform community building with the arts. She headlines the hip-hop piece of, and truly answers Can A Sista Rock A Mic?
Detroit’s INVINCIBLE, who made a guest appearance at CASRAM ‘06, returns to headline the Cake & Kisses CASRAM event Thursday June 3, 2010. Also with DC’s Tarica June, Persian emcee Mana and DJ Gemz + DJ Jav. Live Painting by Reshada Pullen + Choke

06.03.10
CASRAM: Cake & Kisses at Asylum
2471 18th St NW WDC 21+ Doors 9PM

CASRAM ACCESS – Invincible

One of our brightest DC stars is up to perform at the Soul Beach Festival but she needs our vote. Her performance is by far the BEST on this site but go there and vote for her first then watch!!  ALISON CARNEY ’s VIDEO is #9 !!

And just for doing that, we’re going to share her entire set from CASRAM ‘07 from Republic Gardens! (She gets better every year!)

Full Alison Carney set from CASRAM ‘07 @ Republic Gardens

Clip from Choklate CASRAM ‘07 @ Zanzibar