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June 23, 2004

ON THE ROAD AGAIN! -- Wiyot Girls Rule the World as the mighty Kickapoo Diva heads north for two exciting gigs!

Arigon Starr, Nicholas Peters and Thaddeus Graham are on their way to Seattle and Santa Barbara this weekend. The amazing LadyFest Seattle invited Arigon to perform on their Roots/Americana stage at the Hideaway on Friday night. On Saturday, Arigon is a featured artist at the 9th Annual Grassroots Radio Conference in Los Olivos, California. "We'll be within spitting distance of the Neverland Ranch! Watch our for those stray llamas! AAAAY!," laughed Arigon. Both venues will introduce Arigon to a new audience and reunite her with old friends. [Those are Arigon's friends Leona and Cheryl Seidner from the Table Bluff-Wiyot Tribe in Northern California. The Wiyots are receiving the deed for 40 acres of their sacred Indian Island from the City of Eureka on Friday! Congrats, y'all!]

On Friday, June 25th Arigon will perform with Anna Coogan, Sarah Severson, Euclid, An American Starlet and Carolyn Mark at the Hideaway. The cover charge is $8.00 and Arigon performs at 8:00 PM. More information is available on the LadyFest Seattle website.

On Saturday, June 26th, Arigon is part of the Grassroots Radio Conference. Over 30 community, Native and independent radio stations will be a part of the four-day event. "These folks serve my core audience and I am so happy they invited me to be a part of their conference," said Arigon. "I sure hope to see my friends from KIDE-FM, KUYI-FM, KMUD-FM, KPFK and KPFA!" Arigon is also looking forward to seeing her pal Gregg McVicar, host of the always entertaining "Earthsongs" at the gig.

APPLE I-TUNES A-GO GO -- We're pretty sure you've heard of Apple's online service to download songs from popular CDs. One amazing thing Apple did was reach out to independent music artists to add their music to the service. Thanks to the folks at CDBaby.com -- you can now download individual tracks from MEET THE DIVA, WIND-UP and BACKFLIP with a few clicks of the mouse. There are even folks who've already made music mix CDs featuring Arigon's music. One of our favorite things on the I-Tunes site is the part where they tell you what other customers have purchased. As of today -- here are other artists that Apple I-Tune customers have downloaded in addition to Arigon's music -- Robbie Robertson, Usher, Buffy Sainte Marie, Various Artists & Fritz Reiner, Johnny Cash, Bill Miller, Green Day, Jermaine Dupri, Michael Martin Murphey and Britney Spears!! Want to get in on this action? Visit the Apple I-Tunes website or download the program from your computer. Who knew? [That's Arigon with Bill Miller and Jim Boyd. Arigon wouldn't let us post the picture she took with Britney Spears. AAAAY!]

NATIVE VOICES AT THE AUTRY'S PLAYWRIGHTS' FESTIVAL -- Arigon was the hostess with the mostest and performer at the kick-off for Native Voices At The Autry's first Playwrights Festival. Five playwrights from across the US were selected to spend a week working on their plays and visiting local landmarks like the Southwest Museum. The group includes Diane Glancy, Marie Clements, Gina Kalloch, James Lujan and Rhianna Yazzie. Everyone gathered at Los Angeles' Occidental College last Sunday night for a meet & greet and general "where-ya-been-whatcha-been-doing" evening. Spotted at the gala were Harrison Lowe, Rob Vestal, Kalani Queypo, Tonantzin Carmelo, Brian Wescott, Miguel Najara, Paula Starr and Arigon's pals from the Autry Scott Kratz, Jenifer Roosevelt and David Burton. "Randy Reinholz and Jean Bruce Scott have put together a great program," said Arigon. For those of you in the Los Angeles area, you can be part of the retreat by attending the Native Voices Theater Roundtable panel at the Southwest Museum on Saturday, June 26 at 2:00 PM. The playwrights will be joined by folks from UCLA, USC, the Mark Taper Forum and other high profile artists. If you've ever wondered how to put on a theater production -- here is a great place to start! [Geek Alert -- The Lucille Y. Gilman Memorial Fountain at the main entrance to the Occidental campus is also known as the Star Trek Fountain thanks to its starring role in Star Trek IV.]

June 9, 2004

ALL SHE HAS TO DO IS ACT NATURALLY! -- New Diva Fans Are Popping Up Where You Least Expect Them!

Arigon Starr fans are a diverse bunch. Everyone, including college professors, urban teens, kids who swear she is better than Britney Spears, Native activists, comedians and fellow actors and musicians are die-hard Diva enthusiasts. [That's actor Gary Farmer with his copy of BACKFLIP] We recently received this awesome e-mail from a new Diva fan. We liked her note so much, we are sending her an Arigon Starr t-shirt!!

Hello Diva Starr,

My husband is a huge Beatles fan and when he was at our local library (Indianapolis, IN) he grabbed a CD which he though was one of Ringo Starr's because the library tag was over some of the name. Anyway, it turned out to be your Wind-Up CD. Wow, what a great surprise! We listened to it over and over again while we were painting our daughter's room. Your music has so much energy it really helped us keep up with our painting. A few days later, I was on a road trip and I found myself singing, "Pow-Wow boys get all the girls and Pow-Wow girls just rule the world..." I couldn't get your music out of my head, nor did I want to.

It is amazing how events that happen accidentally end up really surprising us. We are looking to add all of your CDs to our collection. Thanks for writing such energetic, thought-provoking music.

Best of luck and joy to you in all your future endeavors,
Amie

June 1, 2004

The memo went out far and wide, all across Indian Country. You might have seen it in your e-mail inbox. Submissions were being gathered for an acting showcase hosted by CBS Networks. The Diversity Department at the network put their casting department and Sonny Skyhawk on the trail to find the best unseen Native actors. Auditions were held in Hollywood and when the dust cleared -- there were only twelve actors chosen to show their stuff in front of the casting directors at CBS. Arigon will be featured along with Amy Mitchell, Tonanztin Carmelo, Princess Lucaj, Grace Renn, Atticus Todd, Monty Bass, Delanna Studi, Zahn McClarnon, Apesahnakwat, Crystal Lightning and Stacy Cole. The showcase will take place in Hollywood on June 16th.

For those of you folks who aren't Daily Variety subscribers, E! junkies or Entertainment Tonight fanatics -- an acting showcase is something that happens in Hollywood probably every 20 minutes. A group of actors rehearse short scenes and invite casting folks to watch them strut their stuff onstage. Now, most of these showcases are rarely attended by the people they are intended for. It is incredibly hard for actors to get seen by casting directors -- the folks who chose the actors on your favorite TV Shows. VP of CBS Casting Fern Orenstein told the group that CBS' chairman Les Moonves will be "strongly encouraging" casting directors from all areas of CBS' programming to attend the showcase. Arigon and her fellow showcase participants will be seen by casting folks from shows like "Joan of Arcadia," CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "The Bold & The Beautiful" and new shows like "Listen Up" (starring Jason Alexander) or "Dr. Vegas" (starring Rob Lowe).

Ain't that cool?

[Above photos are from Native Voices at the Autry's production of "Please Do Not Touch The Indians" and are courtesy of the Autry National Center. Top photo features Arigon as Wooden Indian Woman with her onstage "husband," Andrew Roa. The bottom photo shows Tonantzin Carmelo as Sister Coyote, Kalani Queypo as Brother Raven and Uzziel Martinez as Mr. Wolf.]