New Sea Level Fest has upbeat agenda

A band of intrepid community activists puts on a music festival blending local and national recording artists to benefit its cause.

Maybe some folks will write a song about it. They could call it The Tale of the Sea Level Singer/Songwriter Festival.

And so it is. Tidewater Arts Outreach of Norfolk launches its first Sea Level festival Sunday at Granby Theater.

TAO board member Cindy Mackey said she pitched the idea to the group in October, drawing on her experience living in Austin, Texas, which has a thriving singer/song writer scene.

The acoustic-based music and folksy lyrics of that music style are a natural match for TAO's "mission of music and healing," she said.

The headliners are Susan Werner and Trina Hamlin, national recording artists, and Tidewater's own Julie Clark, Annie Johnson Band, Skip Friel and the M.S.G. The Acoustic Blues Trio.

The opening notes will come from Penny Nichols, a California folk singer who is holding songwriting and singing-in-harmony workshops from 1 to 3 p.m. Then the performances start rolling: Friel, 3:30 p.m.; M.S.G., 4 p.m.; Johnson Band, 4:30 p.m.; Clark, 5:25 p.m.; Hamlin, 6 p.m.; and Werner, 7 p.m.

Other reasons to attend: a singer/songwriter contest, an auction of local artists' work, a guitar raffle and refreshments.

TAO expects this to be just the first of many, and bigger, Sea Level festivals, said MaryAnn Toboz, executive director of the group.

Mackey said one of the key points in setting up the festival was getting Sinclair Communications, owner of local radio stations including 93.7 Bob-FM, to help out. She noted that Hunter Hughes, Bob FM DJ, has been promoting the artists who will perform at the festival.

Paul Shugrue of WHRV-FM (89.5) also has been playing music of the performers on his "Out of the Box" program, she said.

TAO hopes to raise $15,000 through this year's festival. It will help the group continue its work to bring music and arts to hospitals, retirement homes, rehabilitation centers, homeless shelters and other facilities throughout Hampton Roads.

The group says its work promotes " human interaction, happiness and healing for people who have limited access to the arts" because of health, economic or social circumstances. Last year, it says, 161 of its programs reached more than 4,000 people.

Dan Duke, (757) 446-2546, dan.duke@pilotonline.com