Stars may not have shone on the newly installed, planetarium dome of Bryan auditorium last Sunday, but the musicians that performed beneath it to benefit the birth of Y.A.L. did.
The Young Artists League, or Y.A.L., is the creation of 22 year-old, Greensboro resident, Emily McCravy. ” I was searching for a community in which young people who create art – of all forms – can come together, support one another, and feel comfortable,” said McCravy of why she has invested most of her free time and personal funds in recent months on developing Y.A.L. “For the older, more established artists in the community there is G.A.L. [Greensboro Artists League],” said McCravy, also a G.A.L. member, “but there really isn’t any sort of supportive outlet for younger, less established artists in the community.”

For Sunday’s benefit, Y.A.L. could not have chosen a more remarkable or fitting venue than Bryan planetarium to showcase the thirteen sundry musical acts it had thoughtfully selected. The day progressed like a study of the many different musical constellations of the Triad Universe. The diversity was refreshing, keeping the epic event from venturing too near the black hole of tedium.
The Big Bang of the Burning Downs ignited the event around 1 p.m. with their punk infused rock-and-roll. Then the house system played a recording of Stan Gilliam’s early ’70s experimentation of the multifaceted Moog synthesizer, “Bug in the Pot.” Set to these otherworldly sounds a heavily processed video, also created by Gilliam, projected enormously onto the far wall of the dome.

“This is amazing,” Nabil Ahmed, Gilliam’s assistant in the media center, exclaimed. Ahmed, also coordinator for the event and member of Greensboro’s post-rock forgers, Softward,added,”we’re so lucky to have him in our presence.”

“Bug in the Pot” and Gilliam’s video served as the segue into and backdrop for the lo-fi, jazz-tinged, avant-garde country of local Eugene Chadborne. Chadborne, an internationally known musician and author, not only added star power to the event, but support. “He’s so excited about what we’re doing that he asked us to participate in his Halloween party this year,” gushed McCravy.

The duo, Ashrae Fax, sent the audience into the depths of space with its saturated synthesizer loops and heavily delayed guitars set to a psychedelic video with aliens and spinning redheaded dolls. The only act that would send the audience deeper into the unexplored would be the one-man project, the Dotist with his digital delvings emanating from nothing more than a laptop and a sequencer.

Incendiary rock performances by the Kudzu Wish, Palaver, and Disband – all original in their own rite – had musical asteroids bouncing off the dome’s panels well into the evening, reassuring the crowd that this quality of music doesn’t have to come from some far -off place.
Stringing together the performances seamlessly throughout the event was DJ John Gilchrist who spun techno-flavored vinyl as the lights went up between each act.

Later in the evening, another bizarre musical experiment was staged by the Muzak Theory Ensemble – members of Softward and friend John Clinton. Based on Steve Reich’s pendulum music, the experiment involves four microphones situated a certain distance above a speaker so that when swung from a boom stand, they pass before the speaker cone producing feedback that sounds something similar to a deep rhythmic whale cry. ” I was hoping for it to last longer, but we just didn’t have the proper equipment,” said Ensemble member Kevin Holmes, also of Softward

Short though it was, the pendulum experiment left everyone fascinated as it segued into Kirche Guard, a three- piece band consisting of McCravy, Ahmed, and Holmes. Kirche Guard lasted for three songs before cutting their fun- filled set short to allow time for the long awaited Softward performance.

Softward, despite technical difficulties, had to end their set and the night after four songs. But they fulfilled the expectations of all who came to see them, playing their powerful and tightly constructed post-rock anthems with all the energy and passion they could after putting together this interstellar event and keeping the stars aligned.

For those who witnessed the performances throughout the day and late into the evening, it was clear to see that there truly is a community of supportive young creators in this corner of the galaxy. “I’ve had to coordinate something like this before and it’s amazing how well [Y.A.L.] pulled this off,” commented Guilford senior Devender Sellars.

Despite what the rest of the world may think, Greensboro does have a growing music scene as Y.A.L. and friends can attest, full of extremely talented originals who know how pull themselves up by the bootstraps and kick *ss!