Brave Combo to Headline Cottonwood Art Festival May 5-6, 2012

March 30, 2012 - PRLog -- The Cottonwood Art Festival is proud to announce that Brave Combo of Denton, winner of two Grammy Awards and nominee of seven Grammy Awards, will perform at the Richardson festival on May 5, 2012, from 5:15 - 8 PM.

Now in its 44th year, the Cottonwood Art Festival is the premier fine arts event in North Texas. The twice-a-year event generates more than $2 million in art sales annually. The festival has extended its hours and is set for 10 AM – 8 PM Saturday and 10 AM - 6 PM Sunday, May 5-6, 2012, at Cottonwood Park, 1321 W. Beltline Rd., in Richardson, TX 75080. Admission and parking are free. Full details are available at www.cottonwoodartfestival.com or 972-744-4581.

About Brave Combo
Trying to describe Brave Combo’s music requires a pretty extensive vocabulary – at least when it comes to musical styles. For the past three decades the Denton, Texas-based quintet has perfected a world music mix that includes salsa, meringue, rock, cumbia, conjunto, polka, zydeco, classical, cha cha, the blues and more. They are America’s Premier Dance band and a rollicking, rocking, rhythmic global journey – offering what one critic recently noted, “Even if you come for the party, you'll leave with something of a musical education.”

Brave Combo’s catalog of recordings range from Japanese pop to Latin American dance tunes, to the orchestral classics to rock and roll at its finest. The band recorded with the late Tiny Tim and played at the wedding reception for Talking Head’s David Byrne. From festivals and fairs of all varieties across the globe, rock clubs big and small, colleges, roadhouses, dances, cultural centers (including the annual Midsummer Night's Swing at Lincoln Center in New York City), Brave Combo has charmed countless listeners and won avid devotees. The band has won two Grammy Awards and been nominated for their work seven times.

The vivid music of Brave Combo can be heard in several films – David Byrne's True Stories, Clive Barker's Lord of Illusions, Late Bloomers, Fools Rush In, Envy and The Academy Award-winning The Personals. They appeared at Oktoberfest in the beloved American burg of Springfield on an episode of "The Simpsons," and in 2008 Brave Combo provided the musical score for PBS’s first-ever animated series, “As the Wrench Turns,” which resulted in an "Annie" nomination from the International Animated Film Society. Their music has also been featured on ABC’s hit series “Ugly Betty” and Fox Television's "Bakersfield P.D."  They have also contributed original music for ESPN and The Big Ten network.

Keyboardist, guitarist, accordionist and singer Carl Finch founded the band in 1979, releasing their first records on the band's own Four Dots Records. Alongside Finch for most of Brave Combo's 30 years has been multi-instrumentalist Jeffrey Barnes, who joined in 1983. Barnes is known for his lively and imaginative stage wear, as well as playing an array of reeds and woodwinds, harmonica, pennywhistle, guitars – you name it – sometimes in multiple, simultaneous combinations. Rounding out the current line-up are trumpet player Danny O'Brien, drummer Alan Emert and Little Jack Melody on bass guitar.

Brave Combo continues to tour extensively and is currently working on their next CD release.

Jurors for the May 2012 Cottonwood Art Festival are Kenneth Craighead, Director of Craighead Green Gallery; Greg Metz, University of Texas at Dallas Senior Lecturer of Arts and artist; Gabriel Dawe, artist; and Diana Pollak, Director of the Creative Arts Center of Dallas. Approximately 800 artists submitted work for the 2012 festival. Jurors selected 250 artists to exhibit their museum-quality paintings, sculptures, ceramics, jewelry, fiber art, fine glass, woodwork, mixed media and photography. All art must be for sale.

For more information on Cottonwood Art Festival, go to its website www.cottonwoodartfestival.com or its Facebook page www.facebook.com/CottonwoodArtFestival.  Whether shopping for art, listening to music, enjoying the outdoors or making art of your own, Cottonwood has something for everyone. There’s an art to having fun!

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Lisa Taylor
TrizCom Inc.
lisa@trizcom.com
214-914-1099

Serri Ayers
Festival Director, Cottonwood Art Festival
City of Richardson
972-744-4580
serri.ayers@cor.gov

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The Cottonwood Art Festival has announced Grammy Award winning band Brave Combo will perform as part of its annual event May 5-6, 2012 in Richardson, Texas.