CONVERGENCE MMX ANNOUNCES FINAL LINEUP INCLUDING THE DEBUT SOLO APPEARANCE OF PILAR DIAZ IN SAN FRANCISCO

MEDIA CONTACT:
ANN BLANKENSHIP – PRODUCER
E-mail: convergencefest@gmail.com
Web: www.convergencefest.com
Tel: 415-244-8250
Fax: 815-425-8910

San Francisco, California – CONVERGENCE is pleased to announce as part of this year’s lineup, the debut solo appearance of Pilar Diaz in San Francisco. “For some time I’ve wanted to present a show with great female rockers, so Pilar is a great addition” says CONVERGENCE producer Ann Blankenship. “Pilar and her band, Los Abandoned, performed at my first indie rock concert “Music for Smart People”, so I guess she’s an alum of sorts and it’s great to have her back again.”

PILAR DIAZ

Chilean-born and California-bred, Pilar Díaz is a talented singer-songwriter whose life highlights her many interests. Moving frequently between Santiago and LA as a child, she was taught guitar by her parents, both of whom were acclaimed folkloric musicians.  Her voice was soon heard on various cartoons in her native and newfound countries. Accurately reflecting her adopted hometown of Los Angeles, she spent her teenage years going to punk shows in Hollywood, and her bedroom walls had as many photos of Victor Jara and Violeta Parra as they did REM and Bjork. She graduated from CalArts, where she majored in classical voice (specifically opera), was a member of a Bulgarian women’s choir and Balkan music group, participated in a gamelan ensemble that toured Bali, and led a popular campus band with Ryan Francesconi, who currently serves as Joanna Newsom’s musical director. During and after college, Díaz worked with Danny Elfman on numerous soundtracks, and her vocals appear in films like Spiderman and Sleepy Hollow. With her rock band Los Abandoned, a bilingual new wave outfit whose debut album was lauded everywhere from the LA Times to Perez Hilton, she performed on Conan O’Brien and KCRW, gigged with Sonic Youth and Neil Young, and played before a crowd of 40,000 in Mexico City. Díaz has now chosen to go solo, working on new songs and exploring new songwriting partnerships. She aims to continue the hybridity of her life experiences and wide artistic tastes, while increasing the personal nature of her songwriting and maintaining her vibrant and unique stage performances. (Alexis Rivera) -  For more information about Pilar Diaz please visit her website at www.pilardiazmusic.com or listen to Piñata (Mexican Institute of Sound Remix).

PILAR DIAZ – HIGHLIGHTS

• 2009
  • Released self-titled album internationally
  • Mexican Institute of Sound remix of single “Pinata”
  • Press: Latina, Nylon (Mexico), Austin Chronicle
• 2010
  • Pachanga Festival in Austin Texas
  • Latest video for “Ilegal En Estyle” has caught the attention of Perez Hilton, Alto Arizona and the Los Angeles Times

CONVERGENCE MMX FEATURED ARTISTS

LE BUTCHERETTES – In only 3 short years Le Butcherettes has created an international buzz.  In 2009 the band was voted as best performance at the Indie-O-Awards and in 2010 band leader, Teri Gender Bender (aka Teresa Suarez), was selected as one of only 2 performers from Mexico to participate in the 2010 Red Bull Academy in London (the other performer was art-rocker Juan Son) This coming June, Le Butcherettes will be one of the featured  at the Sonar Festival in Barcelona, Spain as part of the Red Bull Academy Showcase.

The band has also been garnering recognition from more established indie acts such as The Yeah, Yeah, Yeahs and The Dead Weather who both invited Le Butcherettes as support on their tours through Mexico. Musical mentorship has also come from Mars Volta founder and producer Omar Rodriquez-Lopez who has produced their debut LP “Sin, Sin, Sin”.

First known as a girl band, Le Butcherettes was created in 2007 by vocalist/guitarist Teresa Suarez who hails from Guadalajara, Mexico. Quick acclaim was achieved in the Mexican underground scene for their live act which included the band dressed in 50′s women’s attire, referring to women as being slaves performing household chores, using brooms, feather dusters and bloody aprons.

This year, Le Butcherettes will be performing in San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco as part of the U.S. leg of their “Sin, Sin, Sin” tour. The San Francisco date will include performances for both CONVERGENCE MMX and the Mission Creek Music & Arts Festival. The Mission Creek performance will be an acoustic  “short set” including a poetry reading from Teri Gender Bender’s new book “El Caparazon Perdido” (The Lost Carcass). www.myspace.com/lebutcherettes

MARCELO BAEZ – In February of 2006 Marcelo C. Baez debuted the first Nacotheque party in the basement of a small club in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Shortly after he met Amylulita, who had eclectic tastes and an ample knowledge of Indie and Pop in Spanish. They decided to work together to expand the event and promote extraordinary music from around the world. Without any type of promotion in the mainstream media in any language, the event continued to grow, establishing it as one the best parties in New York City. The music is an eclectic mesh of Spanish-language, rock n’ roll, new wave, indie rock, baile-funk, nouveau-eighties, electropop, disco, cumbia, and some hip-hop. DJ Marcelo is currently producing his own music, having done remixes for bands such as Kinky and Circo. He has a new music project, which will be announced in 2010. – www.nacotheque.com

ABOUT THE PRODUCER AND CONVERGENCE

For over a decade, Ann Blankenship has been highly active in supporting her local arts community.  In 2001 she was asked to join the Carnaval San Francisco Advisory Board where she assisted with event production and sponsorship development.  Participation in Carnaval San Francisco exposed her to the many musical traditions of the Americas and fed up with the rather homogenous sounds of mainstream American pop she began venturing beyond musical borders to discover what else was happening musically throughout the Americas.

In 2007, Ms. Blankenship created The Brown Note Latin Rock Project to promote independent Latin alternative rock groups. That year she produced and presented her first concert – “Music for Smart People”.  This concert featured the groups Volumen Cero, Luminous Family Trust and Los Abandoned.

Ms. Blankenship currently partners with the Mission Creek Music & Arts Festival in developing their Latin and international music programming. In 2008 she produced for Mission Creek, the first CONVERGENCE concert series, which featured 13 bands including The May Fire, Monte Negro and Sergio Iglesias and The Latin Love Machine. In  2009, CONVERGENCE expanded its programming with its first international headliner Juan Son from Guadalajara Mexico, a premier of the documentary “Rhythmic Uprising” and a Latin alternative band showcase called “AlterLatino”.

CONVERGENCE strives to support emerging Bay Area and international talent, to firmly establish continuous “indie-national” programming in the San Francisco Bay Area and to encourage collaborations and foster community between alternative and independent artists locally, nationally and internationally.

ABOUT OUR SPONSORS & EVENT PARTNERS

INTERSECTION FOR THE ARTS is San Francisco’s oldest alternative art space (est. 1965) and has a long history of presenting new and experimental work in the fields of literature, theater, music, dance, and the visual arts. Intersection’s mission is also to nurture and support the San Francisco-Bay Area’s cultural community through service, technical support, and mentorship programs. Intersection provides a place where provocative ideas, diverse art forms, artists, and audiences can intersect one another. – www.theintersection.org

MISSION CREEK MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL is an annual collaborative effort presented by a consortium of local independent concert promoters, musicians, artists, filmmakers, dancers and multi-media performance artists. Through this forum, Mission Creek strives to foster community among local Bay Area artists showcase emerging artists and musicians and bring innovative and diverse programming to a wider audience. Bay Area artist and musician, Jeff Ray, is the Founder and Executive Producer. www.mcmf.org

TRES AGAVES is a celebration of the spirit of Jalisco, Mexico. Through a commitment to quality food and drink, we share our passion for the traditions of this unforgettable region. After all, Jalisco is more than just an idyllic landscape of rolling blue agave fields. It’s the birthplace of Mariachi and sombreros. And perhaps most importantly, it’s the home of the vibrant culture that gave us the world’s most distinctive and wonderful spirit: Tequila. – www.tresagaves.com

TEQUILA CORRALEJO – Hacienda Corralejo was founded in 1755 and was the first commercial producer of tequila in Mexico. Today, over 200 years later, production continues at Corralejo much as it did in the past. Corralejo Tequila takes pride in its heritage as the top quality, handcrafted producer of Mexico’s first and finest tequila. Blind tasted in Mexico City against the country’s 21 top tequilas, Corralejo Reposado Tequila won the Grand Award in 1997. www.tequilacorralejo.com

FLIP VIDEO CONVERGENCE is excited to partner with the FLIP Spotlight program in filming and documenting this year’s events! www.theflip.com

THE MEXICAN BUS – Transportation services for this event are provided by The Mexican Bus. For almost 2 decades, The Mexican Bus has been delighting Bay Area party revelers with an authentic bit of Mexico on wheels. For more info about The Mexican Bus please see their website at www.mexicanbus.net

CALL FOR SPONSORSHIPS

CONVERGENCE is eager to partner with companies that share its vision in supporting cutting edge artists from throughout the Americas and Beyond. To inquire about sponsorship opportunities for your company, please contact CONVERGENCE producer Ann Blankenship at convergencefest@gmail.com.

CALENDAR EDITORS PLEASE NOTE:

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