Rock and ROTFLMAO: A Music and Comedy Benefit for the National Network of Abortion Funds

I'm producing Rock and ROTFLMAO: A Night of Music and Comedy to Benefit the National Network of Abortion Funds next Saturday, April 30! Creek and Kills is playing, as well as the fantastically fierce bands Choked Up, Frida Kill, and Lady Bits! And if that weren't enough, we'll also start out the night with three hilarious stand-up comedy sets from Sarah Hartshorne, Chanel Ali, and Christi Chiello! Tickets are here: https://tinyurl.com/2p8k8haw Big thanks, too, to my co-producers, BIG MERMAID! And our business supporters (with fantastic raffle prizes for you): Brooklyn Brewery, Beacon's Closet, Books Are Magic, and Nunchi! SEE YOU at PURGATORY on Saturday, April 30th!

Many August Things! EP Release from CREEK AND KILLS! And THEATER TO THE PEOPLE Looking for New Collaborators!

 August Is Busy...CREEK AND KILLS Is Releasing Our New EP, "Unstitching"

This release has been almost a year in the coming...we recorded all of this EP separately in our homes, a true pandemic passion project that kept us going.

If you want to hear what it's all about, and support us, go to the lovely Bandcamp and do it up:

https://creekandkills.bandcamp.com/album/unstitching-ep

If you'd like to check out what folx are saying about "Unstitching," check out this beautiful review from Full Time Aesthetic:

https://fulltimeaesthetic.com/2021/08/creek-kills-unstitching-ep/?ltclid=5fb5784a-b46f-4d89-9b13-0f3f8bc7e5dc

 

Also, AUGUST!  THEATER TO THE PEOPLE Is Interviewing Interested Folx to Join Our Third Ensemble Sept.-Oct. 2021...

...if you or someone you know is interested, please drop us a line...we're interviewing through the end of August...

 

So Many Exciting Things In the Works...Here's One: FALCONWORKS THEATER and OFF THE HOOK

 There are so many exciting things happening!  So after a break from new posts here...I'm going to be posting a lot over the next few months!

First up, in April, I started working with Falconworks Theater as the Teaching Artist leading their Off the Hook program, where we collaborate with young people (ages 10-13) to help them write original plays.  We will be producing these exciting new works virtually in June...more soon!

OCTOBER GOINGS-ON: SHORT PLAYS with CLUTCH and CREEK AND KILLS RAISES $ for REPRODUCTIVE JUSTICE

 Hello, hello!

Wow, every week is such a journey these days...hope all of you are hanging in there!

Continuing to make music and theater during all of this is definitely keeping me sane, and I am so grateful to the other artists I collaborate with for being resilient and creative and INSPIRING ME.

Here are some things I've made (in collaboration with amazing people!) that I want to share...

 

CREEK AND KILLS has released a new single, "September 15," and all of our music/merch sales on Bandcamp (until we say otherwise) will go to the Center for Reproductive Rights and the National Network of Abortion Funds.

Want to support?  Go here: https://creekandkills.bandcamp.com/

And...I have a couple of short plays, ON THE VERGE and LIBERTY ENLIGHTENING THE WORLD, which are going to be presented via live stream as a part of the empowHER Reading Series from Clutch Productions.

ON THE VERGE IS UP FIRST, SATURDAY 10/3 and SUNDAY 10/4

Theme 1 of the empowHER Reading Series  Premieres Saturday at 7pm

The readings will be streamed through the Clutch website and Facebook page.

Tickets are FREE but RSVP recommended.

Premiere Stream: Saturday, October 3rd at 7pm (EST)
Encore Stream: Sunday, October 4th at 3pm (EST) 

Featured pieces include (and order to be determined):

ON THE VERGE
By Kate Bell
Directed by Raquel Almazan
Matt and Stevie are on tour, sharing their very un-douchey electronica performance art with America! Nothing can stop them – except for the snowstorm of the century and a lonely stranger's desperation.

HOLY INAPPROPRIATE
By Allison Fradkin
Directed by Lee Douglass
In the Christian Patriarchy Movement, it is wholly appropriate for girls to be seen and not heard as they fulfill their life's mission of submission. But what happens when these docile disciples come to the revolutionary realization that using their voices and making their own choices is not akin to the sin of vanity – or insanity?

SOMEONE
By Emma Goldman-Sherman
Directed by Lee Douglass
Have you thanked your mother today? No One does the dishes forever in this comic look at the never-ending cycle of the domestic labors of love.

HER PARTY
By Debora Peña
Directed by Aleesha Nash
Marianne has never been more proud of her daughter, Anne, a recently published academic at the beginning of what will certainly be a highly successful career. She has given her child everything, living vicariously through her achievements. When an unexpected guest arrives at the party, old wounds open and fears of being overshadowed yet again leave Marianne no choice but to speak her truth.

STEADFAST! Part 1
By Jane Willis
Directed by Vanessa Morosco
Washington is at a boiling point. Protesters have been labeled traitors by the President, and their lives are in danger. White and Black women struggle to navigate the deeply embedded racism that divides them from unity. Welcome to 1917 and the Suffragists’ fight for the Vote!

 

The New Creek and Kills Single, "The Parade Now," Available on Bandcamp

Creek and Kills is very excited to announce the release of our new single, "The Parade Now," available for download on Bandcamp!

Track Cover Photo by Michelle Layne Lawson
www.mlaynelawson.com

At the beginning of quarantine, we were developing the music for this song along with "Unstitching," but the lyrics came later, as Black Lives Matter protests surged in the Twin Cities, here in NYC, and across the world. We have been working on becoming better white allies and accomplices to the movement, and we acknowledge that this work must be ongoing, and we're committed to that continuing process. "The Parade Now" is dedicated to all of the BIPOC communities who have been fighting for justice and equality for too long.

In June, thanks to many supporters, Creek and Kills raised over $1,200 for two Twin Cities organizations doing antiracist work.  Now, at least until the end of August, all of our music and merch sales will be donated to these two antiracist organizations here in NYC:

IntegrateNYC. https://www.integratenyc.org/
and
The Audre Lorde Project. https://alp.org/

If you want to support, please go to our Bandcamp page: https://creekandkills.bandcamp.com/

For more information about Creek and Kills: www.creekandkills.com

Creek and Kills Summer of Giving

https://creekandkills.bandcamp.com/

Creek and Kills is making this summer a "summer of giving."  After raising over $1200 during the month of June for two anti-racist organizations in the Twin Cities, we're turning toward home, and for July and August, all of our music and merch sales on Bandcamp will go to these two anti-racist organizations here in NYC:

INTEGRATENYC

and

We'll be releasing our new single "The Parade Now" on Friday, August 7th on Bandcamp.
Come help us raise money for both of these amazing anti-racist orgs here in NYC:

https://creekandkills.bandcamp.com/

Help CREEK AND KILLS Raise Money for Anti-Racist Resistance

During the month of June, all money raised 

from any of CREEK AND KILLS 

recordings or merch will go to:
Black Visions Collective  
www.blackvisionsmn.org
and Women for Political Change www.womenforpoliticalchange.org






Both organizations are doing incredible work fighting racism, patriarchy, white supremacy, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, and classism in the Twin Cities and beyond. Let's help them to make lasting change for the better!

We're releasing our new single, "Unstitching," today as a part of our fundraising push to raise money to support anti-racist resistance.

You can see the video for "Unstitching" (beautifully edited by our drummer, Erin!) here:
https://youtu.be/z6np_siFNUI

We wrote and recorded "Unstitching" during the COVID quarantine, each of us working separately, sending files back and forth. I learned how to use Garage Band, Erin learned how to use MIDI drums, and Marc did the mixing/editing with us over video conference. Now that we're back in a space together (in masks), we're loving to get to play this new song as a band in real time.

If you'd like to buy the new single and help us to support the cause, go to the Creek and Kills bandcamp page: https://creekandkills.bandcamp.com/

Special June Dates: 

Friday June 5th--"Unstitching" release date and NO BANDCAMP fees--all CREEK AND KILLS sales on bandcamp will go to Black Visions Collective and Women for Political Change

Friday June 19th--All bandcamp fees will go to the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and all CREEK AND KILLS sales on bandcamp will go to Black Visions Collective and Women for Political Change

Every other day in June...any money we take in for recordings or merch will go to Black Visions Collective and Women for Political Change

Strength and love to you...thank you!  xoK

Theater to the People: HOME Is Looking for Our Second Ensemble

 

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS—ALL LEVELS OF THEATER-MAKING EXPERIENCE WELCOME

Theater to the People: HOME is a series of theater-making workshops with a special focus on social justice and community building around the issues of immigration and gentrification. It is open to adults (18+) of any level of skill and experience. Participants will develop an original short theater piece through improvisation, physical theater and clowning techniques, creative writing, music, and devising as an ensemble, using theater making as a tool to discuss the social-justice issues connected to the theme of “Home” and what it means in our rapidly gentrifying “city of immigrants,” where many of us find our sense of safety and ability to feel at home threatened by outside forces.

All workshops will be conducted in both Spanish and English, but speakers of any language are welcome.

REGISTRATION IS FREE, BUT PARTICIPANTS ARE NOT COMPENSATED.

WORKSHOPS ON MONDAYS, 7–9 p.m.

March 2–May 11, 2020

A commitment to MOST of the workshops is requested, but drop-ins to “try it out” are welcome.

All workshops will occur at BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange, 421 Fifth Avenue, Brooklyn, NY

More info: www.theatertothepeople.com

Register by e-mail:TTTPHome@gmail.com

Theater to the People: Home is a part of BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange’s Creating Space Series.

 

CREEK AND KILLS @ Alphaville Tuesday 2/11 with Gang Box and Basic Bitches

We are very excited about next Tuesday...we have a new song about making out in an empty subway car!  Come out and let us romance you, no matter how you feel about all the Valentine's madness...

CREEK AND KILLS @ The Way Station on Saturday January 18th

Happy new decade!  2020!  Here we go...

I'm very excited to be starting it off sharing a bill at Brooklyn's The Way Station with some amazing musicians: The Elgin Marbles!  Faith NYC! And of course, it's always an honor to be up there playing with Marc and Erin in Creek and Kills!

Also, we added the sexy blues stylings of Miss Jane and the Morning After Band at 11pm!

So come join us!  It's going to be a great night of music...

THE WAY STATION
@ 683 Washington Avenue

SATURDAY, JANUARY 18th

8pm The Elgin Marbles
9pm Faith NYC
10pm Creek and Kills
11pm Miss Jane and the Morning After Band

No cover, tips only (so bring your bills to show these folks some love!)

Creek and Kills @ Branded Saloon Sat. 12/28 with The Whores and Que Sick

Need to work out some of the holidaze madness?

Come celebrate 2019 with Creek and Kills on Sat. 12/28 at Branded Saloon in Brooklyn!

We're very excited to share the stage with Que Sick and The Whores...AND we're welcoming drummer Erin Harney to Creek and Kills!  She'll be working with us moving forward into 2020...so come on out and let's have some fun!

8pm Que Sick
9pm The Whores
10pm Creek and Kills

NO COVER, tips only

My new short play UNNATURAL GAS @ the empowHER Reading Series from Clutch Productions

I am excited to be a part of Full Circle through Clutch Productions, and we have created an evening of short plays for their empowerHER reading series around the theme of ...

WELLNESS: how women's experiences and roles impact their health, sense of self, agency, personal and political power. 

https://www.clutchproductions.org/empowher

It's happening this Sunday, 12/15 @ 5pm 

Primary Stages Studios, Studio B

307 West 38th Street, Suite 1510

My short play Unnatural Gas will receive its first public reading as a part of the event! 

CREEK AND KILLS @ Our Wicked Lady on Thursday 12/5 for Thursdays for the Cause

I'll be playing bass and crooning out the tunes with Marc and Jon...

 

Thurs. 12/5 

@ Our Wicked Lady

153 Morgan Avenue, Brooklyn!

Thursdays for the Cause

(all proceeds going to local non-profits that are doing GOOD work)

9pm Creek and Kills (w/special guest drummer Jon Quinn!)

9:45 Significant Others

10:30 Waterfall Strainer

Creek and Kills @ Alphaville with Night of Cups and Wild Yawp Tuesday 11/19

Marc and I are excited to play Alphaville in Bushwick for the first time (with special guest drummer Jon Quinn), with our friends Night of Cups and Wild Yawp!  Also, Marc's b-day is the next day, so come celebrate with us!

TUESDAY, 11/19
8pm doors
8:30 Night of Cups
9:30 Creek and Kills
10:30 Wild Yawp

Get tix here: https://dice.fm/event/pvl7p-creek-and-kills-wild-yawp-night-of-cups-19th-nov-alphaville-new-york-tickets

Alphaville is at 140 Wilson Avenue in Brooklyn!  Hope to see you there!

Creek and Kills Hosts Ladycentric Rockalicious Vol. III @ Branded Saloon, FRI NOV 1, DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

Come celebrate DIA DE LOS MUERTOS with Creek and Kills!
@ Branded Saloon
603 Vanderbilt Avenue
BROOKLYN!!!

8pm Buck Fang
9pm Creek and Kills (with special guest drummer, Heather Wagner)
10pm The Subtexts

CREEK AND KILLS Has a New Album For You...

The Reverse Engineers transformed into Creek and Kills this summer, and now our first album is hot off the presses and available here:

http://store.cdbaby.com/cd/creekandkills

And we have a beautiful new video for one of the singles of the album, "Scaith," directed by our friend Manny Bocchieri, and edited by the amazing Amy Grumbling.  You can check that out here:

We had a truly joyous release party on Friday 9/20 @ The Way Station with the wonderful talents of Fisty, The Shook Ones, and The Lousekateers.  Here are some fun pics of that night from our very talented friend Patrick Bryant:

From the bar...

Our back-up singers Shakeerah Fredericks, Victoria Scott, and Gretchen Poole were amazing!

Rock, rock, rock!

Me and Marc flying!

The Shook Ones are so fierce...

The Lousekateers on fire! 

The ladies of Fisty were bringing it...

 The fall will be FULL of chances to come here us live!

Two Chances This Memorial Day Weekend to See The Reverse Engineers...before we TRANSFORM

You have TWO chances to see The Reverse Engineers this Memorial Day weekend...

Friday, May 24
8:00pm

The Safari Room at El Cortez

17 Ingraham Street, Brooklyn, NY 11206

$10 cover

 

 

AND

 

Saturday, May 25, 6pm, The Lousekateers Album Release Party!

TRE plays at 7

Target Acquired at 8

and The Lousekateers at 9

YONKERS BREWERY

92 Main Street, Yonkers, NY

 

We have a big announcement...come and see us transform right before your eyes!

Theater to the People: HOME Work-in-Progress Performance and Discussion Sat. 4/13, 7pm

Theater to the People: HOME

A workshop performance and discussion

Directed by Julia Cavagna and Kate Bell

Saturday, April 13, 2019

7:00pm

Brooklyn Arts Exchange Theater

421 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY

Tickets ($10 Suggested Donation) available here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/theater-to-the-people-home-work-in-progress-performance-tickets-59188278735

theatertothepeople.com

Facebook and Instagram: theaterttpeople

I've been truly blessed to be a part of an interesting new theater project this spring.  I've collaborated with the Argentinian actress/director Julia Cavagna on a series of theater-making workshops for adults in Brooklyn, bringing together people who are not usually in a room together, people who've immigrated here recently and people who have lived here all their lives, people with theater experience and people who have never been on stage before, people in their 20s to their 60s, people who have five different first languages (English, Spanish, Quiche, Swedish, and Japanese). 

We have all come together every Monday for the past six weeks to use theater as way of thinking about HOME.  We're also exploring how collaborative creative practice can create community across social divides like race/ethnicity/class and help us to brainstorm together to respond to the political and economic challenges that arise when we talk about immigration or gentrification.

We would like to share what we've created with all of you and talk to you about it! 
Come join us on Sat. 4/13!

CALL FOR PERFORMERS/CREATORS...JOIN ME FOR THEATER TO THE PEOPLE: HOME

I am presently recruiting for a devising workshop for adults (18+) that's going to happen on Monday nights in Brooklyn starting on March 4, with a culminating sharing of work-in-progress in mid-April.  My collaborating lead artist, Julia Cavagna, and I received a Brooklyn Arts Council grant to support this new work; we're calling the project Theater to the People: HOME.  It's a social justice theater project for both accomplished theater-makers and people who have never been onstage before, working together to create a performance about immigration and gentrification in NYC.  Julia is from Argentina originally, and all workshops will be bilingual, Spanish and English, but speakers of all languages are welcome.  (Spanish flyer below.)

REGISTRATION IS FREE!

Register by calling Brooklyn Arts Exchange at 

(718) 832-0018 or info@bax.org

MERCH GIRLS Staged Reading on Sat. 2/9, 4pm @ Alchemical Studios

I'm very excited to announce that my newest play, Merch Girls, will be having a staged reading at Alchemical Studios (Studio One) on Saturday, February 9th @ 4pm. 

We received support from a Park Avenue Armory Education Space Grant to workshop the play over the past few weeks, and this reading is the first in a series this winter/spring from Ant and Dove, a writers collective.

More information is below...

If you'd like to come, please reserve your place through our Eventbrite:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/merch-girls-by-kate-bell-a-staged-reading-sat-29-4pm-tickets-55668389652

Ant and Dove Collective Presents:
 MERCH GIRLS
by Kate Bell
Directed by Ariel Francoeur
A Staged Reading, Saturday, February 9th, 4pm

Alchemical Studios, 104 West 14th Street, Studio One (1st Floor)

MERCH GIRLS SYNOPSIS:  Justine, Nora, and Kelly have this high school thing in check. They get good grades, don’t hate their mothers, and have boyfriends that play together in one of the coolest bands in town, Korova Milkbar. And the boys let the girls run the merch table at all the shows. High school rocks! But when one of Justine’s teachers kisses her, the girls start asking questions about whether everything is as great as it seems. Left by the boys to pack up their gear after a gig, Justine, Nora, and Kelly play the boys’ instruments for the first time together, and summon a voracious monster made of teenage girls, a force of pure destruction from outside the gendered power structure. The monster wants to sell the merch girls on the idea that it’s time to destroy the world and start over. A sci-fi feminist adventure for everyone trying to figure out what to do with their anger in this #metoo moment, Merch Girls explores the power and danger of female rage and asks what comes next after our monsters are released into the world.

Featuring:

Jessica Batista

Alexis Braxton

Caylyn Creager

Jeff Ebner

Ann Herberger

Carolyn Kang

Julia Labusch

Gabriela Llarena

Stephanie Miller

Turner Morehead

Jillian Puhalla

Jake Robbins

Deborah Rose

Niki Sawyer

Adi Schor

Emily Sullivan

Alani Waters