Cincinnati's fourth RAW: Natural Born Artists Showcase is just a week away and as usual has some of the city's most talented up and coming artists showing just what they can do. This year's showcase will be held at Bogart's on Vine Street on March 27th.
One of the more noteworthy contributors this year, is spoken word artist and writer Andrea Eddings, better known to the public as Cokethechoke. She will be doing a reading featuring visual art, and originally composed music by her boyfriend and collaborator Steven Zimmerman. I got the chance to sit down with her last week and pick her brain about this year's Mosaic Showcase.
CincyMusic.com: What do you think of this year's lineup for RAW?
Andrea: We're pretty jazzed about it. It's all kinds of artists in all forms. Filmmakers, musicians, painters, make-up artists, fashion designers, photographers, even a pole dancer! Everyone seems real nice and eager to share their work.
CincyMusic.com: What made you guys want to participate in the RAW Mosaic?
Andrea: I just thought it was such a dope platform for otherwise unknown talent to kinda get out there and celebrate and display their creativity. I like the idea of artists supporting artists. So I was totally down to contribute.
CincyMusic.com: What is that you guys do?
Andrea: Well, I'm a writer/poet. I've done different poetry events and things since I was a kid. I write something each and everyday. And Steve's a musician/composer. He plays drums. He's been in local bands- Cries of the Past, The Heartland etc. He's super good at what he does. We both are- in our own mediums so we decided to do something together awhile back. We've been in and around the music scene here in Cincy for years- since we were both kids actually. When this event came about, we figured it'd be a great place to debut this thing we've been plugging away at pretty much since we met. So we kinda combine the two- I write poems, he composes music that compliments them. It works well at evoking emotions which is really important to us as artists.
CincyMusic.com: You mentioned you've been 'in and around' the scene? Can you tell us a little more about that?
Andrea: (laughs) Well, I mean I'm an avid music lover so one of my favorite past times is going to shows. So I feel like I've been to just about every music venue in the tri-state. I went to school for AVP and got into promoting. Had my own internet radio show. Interned at Mad Hatter and Maxx Traxx. Everything I do is DIY and out of the love I have for my city. I just feel like there's a massive amount of talent in Cincinnati and it's gets overlooked for whatever reason. But Steve, like I said has been in touring bands for a long time. So the scene I was pushing he was contributing to-so it was cool to meet each other and find we had that in common.
CincyMusic.com: So what's next for Cokethechoke?
Andrea: So, so much. I like staying busy. Keeps me happy, keeps me sane. So we have a ton of projects coming up. We're having these weekly open mic/poetry events at Rake's End called Overflow. Which is like a call to all artists that want to showcase their craft to an audience that actually wants to support. We're planning on collaborating with other artists too like Rhythm Canyon, Sudan Moon, and Nelson ZePuqueno. Lightweight, trying to start a movement. We're steering more from the poetry thing and going to be performing as Station. With me as the vocalist. It's experimental/dream rock I guess you could call it. So doing shows, pumping out the creations, living the dream.
Make sure to check Cokethechoke later this month at Bogart's. Be sure to go to http://rawartists.org/cincinnati/mosaic to buy your tickets. Scroll down, select cokethechoke, and be prepared for her unique style to blow you away!
