May 20, 2016 (Friday) - It is quite an honor to be nominated for any one Flagpole Athens Music Award. Thayer Sarrano and the album Shaky find themselves nominated in three different categories: Album of the Year, Rock Artist of the Year, and Music Video of the Year. You can fill out your ballot directly here. If your mind is weary, or perhaps you don't know the local Athens music scene as well as you should, permit us to help you adhere to Guildwater standards. Be forewarned, we are biased, but only mildly so. First, vote Thayer Sarrano in all three of the categories noted above. Then, don't forget to choose her also as "Band/Artist of the Year (April 2015 - March 2016)," regardless of genre, tucked away at the very bottom of the ballot. Next, circle back to the top. First, write-in Kenosha Kid under the category of "Jazz," because their fantastic music easily falls under that rubric, and Dan Nettles plays guitar with Thayer, when the spirit moves them, and calendars align. Second, move to the genre of "Punk / Heavy Rock" and choose The Powder Room, because they are smoking, and Bubba McDonald is a member of that band, and he plays bass with Thayer, when the aforementioned spirit and calendars move them equally. Third, move to the genre of "Folk / Americana" and select Dave Marr, because he rocks, and Thayer plays in his band, when they move the spirit. Fourth, glide to the curious category of "Upstart of the Year," and tick Wanda, because they are cool, and William T. Kissane and Zack Milster, who have been known to play with Thayer (as documented on this website), also double in that band. Fifth, step lively toward the category of "Album Cover Art" and check Kishi Bashi - String Quartet Live! -- because he is gifted, and Thayer opened for him at the Cox Capitol Theatre last year, and because we told you to. Sixth, when the November presidential elections arrive, we would counsel you to write-in Thayer Sarrano. Say "no" to Trump. Say "no" to Clinton. Vote Sarrano! Beyond these recommendations, you are welcome to fill your ballots out as you see fit. Not because we have don't have opinions about the other categories and the other artists. Actually, we do. We simply don't like to be too bossy. Gracious thanks to Flagpole Magazine for nominating Thayer Sarrano for their esteemed awards.  

May 20, 2016 (Friday) - We are pleased to announce the release of the second and third video from Five Fingertips. It is for the song "The Poster Children," another track from his self-titled debut album. The video was, in some ways, quite fun to make. The Films Division of the Guildwater Group especially enjoyed renaming, compiling, and sequencing 8,061 time-lapse JPG images, captured across late December 2015 and early January 2016. Ranking number two on their list of pleasurable activities was the joy of changing the batteries on the GoPro Hero 4 Black every three hours, particularly at 4 in the morning. Both of those tasks were preferable to forcing Five Fingertips at watergun-point to stand in front of a camera, to sing, and to "strum" his guitars. Their greatest tribulation of all, however, was grafting his mug atop everything, marring the rhythms and wonders of mother nature's daily sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset. To help with the tedium (we meant, "sheer delectation") of editing the video, the Films Division, for the longest time, used an unmastered instrumental track of "The Poster Children," during sequencing. We decided then to release also an instrumental version (link below) of this same video, stripping out all this Five Fingertips footage. Just raw, pure nature, and a few boats. We continue work on another clip for another unnamed song. Onward, huskies. [Editor's Note: "The instrumental version of this video has since been removed from YouTube."]   

May 4, 2016 (Wednesday) - Thayer Sarrano performs tonight at the Five Spot in Nashville. This event is part of a showcase -- the very first of its kind in a forthcoming series -- hosted by the Songs Not Silence community. Songs Not Silence is an organization, helmed by women, that seeks to feature the best female musical talent based in Nashville, all while donating a portion of its proceeds to various women’s organizations across the state of Tennessee – a most noble cause. Joining Sarrano on the bill this evening will be: Joanna Barbera, Treva Blomquist, and Rachel Pearl. Barbera is a native of Hudson Valley, New York. She has a new EP slated for release this year. Blomquist hails from Chehalis, Washington. Her fourth album – So We Would Know – was released in 2013. Pearl is a native of Bowling Green, Kentucky. Her latest single is entitled “Tidal Wave.” Sarrano has three albums to her credit: King (2009), Lift Your Eyes to the Hills (2012), and Shaky (2015). All the best to Songs Not Silence in the pursuit of their laudable endeavors.   

"History has shown that men have always held all the concrete powers. From patriarchy's earliest times they have deemed it useful to keep woman in a state of dependence. Their codes were set up against her."

- Simone de Beauvoir

May 4, 2016 (Wednesday) - We are delighted once again to thank Phil Maq of 89.3 WHFR FM out of Dearborn-Detroit, Michigan. Good DJ Phil extended his courtesy of last week, featuring the music of Five Fingertips on his "Prime Time Theme Attic Show." DJ Maq situated Five Fingertips alongside: Angela Perley and The Howlin' Moons, Gigi Scott and Trouble Town, Dylan Sires and Neighbors, Reverend Freakchild, Effort Award, Space Heater, Jessica Lee Wilkes, Oak City Roots, the Kinks, Bruce Springsteen, and Pete Seeger, among others. Five Fingertips was most pleased about the inclusion of the Kinks, whose "You Really Got Me" still sounds as dangerous as anything ever recorded by that milquetoast boyband Nirvana. Interested parties can access the live 89.3 WHFR stream here. Many thanks to Phil Maq and WHFR from the Guildwater Group and Five Fingertips himself. We greatly appreciate your support. As an aside, we are wrapping up the new Five Fingertips video, scheduled for release in a week or two, unless color-grading goes awry.   

April 28, 2016 (Thursday) - Thayer Sarrano performs tonight at Aisle 5, located in the Little Five Points district of Atlanta, GA. She joins onstage deep state, and headliners Roadkill Ghost Choir. The Choir hails from Deland, Florida, yet maintains close ties to Athens, while deep state derives directly from that same city. This evening's Sarrano set will consist of her band. Next this same bill will be featured again tomorrow -- Friday, April 29th -- on the Rooftop of the Georgia Theatre, where Thayer will perform solo. Thayer Sarrano had the honor of playing keys and singing backup with Roadkill Ghost Choir, when they appeared live in early 2014 on the Late Show with David Letterman. These spring Sarrano shows arrive after a short-notice opener back on April 14th, for Mary Bragg at The Country in Nashville, TN. Also performing with Sarrano and Bragg that evening then was Jacob Allen Deaton of Atlanta, GA.

We would also like to use this space to thank the various authors of Flagpole Magazine for their positive review of Thayer Sarrano at the Slingshot Festival in early April. Although the performance was hastily relocated from the Rooftop of the Georgia Theatre, to the nearby Globe, owing to inclement weather: "Sarrano rocked through a heavier-than-usual set featuring a new, stripped-down trio...." Warm thanks to the Flagpole for the write-up.   

April 28, 2016 (Thursday) - We would like to thank Phil Maq of 89.3 WHFR FM out of Dearborn-Detroit, Michigan. Good DJ Phil had the generosity of featuring the music of Five Fingertips on his "Theme Attic Show." Five Fingertips found himself situated alongside: Angela Perley and The Howlin' Moons, Oak City Roots, Neil Young, Jill Suttie, Lindsay Lou & the Flatbellys, John McKinley Band, Gigi Scott and Trouble Town, and Colony House. You can access the live stream of 89.3 WHFR here. Warm, kind thanks to Phil Maq and WHFR from the Guildwater Group.