Williamston Theatre Sponsors A Stop Of The Joy Box Express July 8

On Friday, July 8 at noon, Mr. B and the Joy Box Express will be stopping to perform at Williamston's Bandshell in McCormick Park. They will play Boogie Woogie music for approximately 90 minutes. The concert, sponsored by the Williamston Theatre, is free and open to the public.

Mr. B's Joybox Express is a project designed to raise awareness and funding for groups dedicated to improving the health and well being of children, especially groups providing children access to arts and athletics programs. The heart of Mr. B's Joybox Express is a custom made trike that nestles a 352-pound piano. Two "dummy hubs" at the rear of the trike allow two "pusher" bikes to attach themselves. In this configuration the vehicle supports 3 riders, and is four feet wide and sixteen feet long. Blues and boogie-woogie pianist Mr. B and fellow musicians conduct bicycle tours, with all instruments in tow (including guitar with solar-powered amplifier, string bass, and drum kit-in-a-suitcase), performing benefit concerts and promoting charitable giving for partner organizations along the route.

Blues and boogie-woogie pianist Mark Lincoln Braun (Mr. B) has become one of the premiere purveyors of a vanishing art. Having learned his craft first-hand from the early masters, he is a rare living link to the first generation of blues and boogie pianists. Steeped in the rich legacy of this tremendously exciting music, Mr. B learned directly from blues and boogie legends like Little Brother Montgomery, Boogie Woogie Red, and Blind John Davis. In demand for both educational programs and concert performances, he has performed coast to coast and throughout Europe, Canada, Mexico, and South America. In 2002 he was a guest artist at the Irving S. Gilmore International Keyboard Festival. He is also the organizer of the annual Mr. B?s Blues and Boogie Piano Celebration that attracts major figures in the blues and jazz piano world to Ann Arbor for collaborative performances with Mr. B.

The Williamston Theatre is a not-for-profit, professional live theatre company, dedicated to producing plays that excite, engage and entertain our audiences. The theatre opened its doors in 2006 and has received a number of local awards including the 2008 Robert Busby Award for extraordinary overall contribution to theatre in the Greater Lansing Area. The theatre is located in downtown Williamston (exit 117 off of I-96) just south of Grand River Avenue. Information about the company and the final show of the 2010-2011 Season, the World Premiere of Joseph Zettelmaier's And The Creek Don't Rise, are available online at www.williamstontheatre.org or by calling (517) 655-SHOW (7469).

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