NEWS RELEASE: from the producers of MISSISSIPPI HAPPENING!

15 OCTOBER 2009


ATTN: NEWS EDITORS, ENTERTAINMENT
EDITORS, PRODUCERS, FUTURES
PLANNERS, MUSIC REPORTERS, ETC.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Producers of Mississippi Happening! unveil fall/winter '09 schedule, new venue partners

JACKSON, MISS. -- The producers of the independent music podcast Mississippi Happening! are proud to announce the scheduling of live podcast production at new locations in the Jackson area, broadening our partnerships with local music and arts venues -- even as the show's creative and production team looks forward to taking the podcast on the road, across the Magnolia State.

Plans are locked in for the rest of 2009 with live sessions planned at the following venues, beginning October 15:

• Sneaky Beans (2914 North State Street, in Jackson's Fondren District)
• The Ole Tavern (416 George Street, downtown Jackson)
• One to One Studios (121 Millsaps Avenue, in Jackson's Millsaps Arts District)
• Hal & Mal's (200 Commerce Street, downtown Jackson) 

Featured guests for the season include the hip-hop duo Blacdadi Strahberies, Taylor Hildebrand of the band Passenger Jones, Millsaps Gallery artist Ben Rinehart, New York's Bryan Scary & the Shredding Tears and the band Harlem from Austin, Texas.

Schedule updates, as well as the weekly podcast, playlists and artist links, archive downloads and more are available online at MississippiHappening.com.

Show creator Daniel Guaqueta has made the export of Mississippi's progressive music scene his priority since the relaunch of the program in February 2009.  “We won’t stop until everybody in Mississippi knows we exist," Guaqueta told a reporter for the JFP earlier this year, "and we’re working on nationwide, too.”  Those goals are well within reach just eight months later, with a webcasting partnership with ZZQ102.com, the Pennsylvania-based Internet radio station whose Friday evening/Saturday morning webcasts of Mississippi Happening! help bring the show to a truly global audience, each week.  And the show team is pleased to continue its groundbreaking relationship with Apple's iTunes, which distributes the podcast online and on demand to indie music fans worldwide.

Mississippi Happening! is the state's one and only New Media showcase for the cutting edge of music, arts and more, from Mississippi and beyond. With today's low-cost and pervasive media technologies, the show's producers aim to build and nurture a foundation of popular and spiritual support for the state's creative talents.  Toward that goal, Mississippi Happening! works with local and visiting performers, live venues, merchants and other supporters of Mississippi's arts and music scene, publicizing local and regional events on the entertainment horizon.

One example of this cooperative work, our Voodoo Music Fest '09 ticket giveaway, culminates with the announcement of the ticket winners on the October 22nd podcast -- Mississippi Happening! is proud to partner with the organizers of this huge musical event in New Orleans' City Park, Oct. 30-Nov. 1.  And we're eager to work with event planners and concert promoters throughout the Deep South.  In the year ahead, the producers plan to take the show to clubs and venues in the cities of Hattiesburg, Tupelo, Biloxi, Oxford and many more, engaging with boosters there and spreading the word about Mississippi's creative cultural scene.

Of course our focus, week in and week out, remains this: the fervent and effective promotion of new performers and rising stars from our neighborhoods, our home towns, our homeland.  From urban hip-hop to college thrash, from Pine Belt jangle to the New Delta Blues: we want to broaden the audience for our performing arts across fan genres, beyond the state line, over the River and above the Line. 

Mississippi Happening! wants to hear from independent local performers -- we're always looking out for the freshest music out there, and anything else that breaks new ground in Mississippi arts and culture.  We're also ready to hear from and work with supporters across the state.  Touch base with us online at MississippiHappening.com, and let's get the word out: Mississippi is happening, right now!


CONTACT INFO ONLINE:  MississippiHappening.com