Artisound Productions, housed in Studio 3OneOne6, will livestream a Christmas spectacular featuring Gabrielle Cavassa, Joshua Starkman, Shea Pierre, and Flighteous.
Audio engineer, Artisound co-owner, and event producer Keenan McRae says, “This year has been an especially tough one all the way around. Although it’s the most difficult climate we’ve seen as a nation in a while, I have been blessed by the New Orleans music community who has kept me working throughout this time. My original forecast when covid hit was that myself or my company was not going to make it. It is truly due to the deep rooted community values and traditions that the New Orleans music industry is not only still alive but growing.
“With this Christmas special I want to say thank you to this community and add to that hope for others that the dream is not over. My goal from the beginning of moving here was to immerse myself and learn everything I could so I would be able to add to the rich history of music in this city. It’s such an honor that the people have given me the opportunity to do so I figured this is one small way to wrap up the year and say thank you. This was also a huge opportunity to learn from and work with some amazing artists, musicians, and people and I just could not say no once the idea was presented. ”
Locals may recognize host and performer Gabrielle Cavassa originally from her American Idol days but more recently she has performed across the country and internationally with some of the music’s most creative voices, including Adonis Rose & the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, Irvin Mayfield, Ashlin Parker and Jamison Ross. She’s shared the stage with such lauded artists as Cyrille Aimee, Quiana Lynell, Kermit Ruffins, and Shannon Powell.
A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Shea Pierre started his musical journey at the age of 4. He joined his family’s gospel group, the Williams Sisters, and began playing for various churches in the New Orleans area. He later attended the prestigious New Orleans Center of Creative Arts, where he studied with Michael Pellera, Chris Severin, Ellis Marsalis, and Jason Marsalis. While in high school, he toured parts of South Africa with the Batiste Brothers Band from New Orleans.
Flighteous is a producer and rapper as well as a graduate of the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts. He has worked with Grammy-winning sound engineer Steve Reynolds and DJ Raj Smoove. This summer he debuted Water for the Thirsty.
Joshua Starkman is a social media staple, who is known for his cheerful guitar and “Have a great day” catchphrase. With hundreds of videos and several thousand Instagram fans, Starkman has performed with Grammy Award-winning keyboardist Nigel Hall, Helen Gillet, K.C. O’Rorke (Flow Tribe), Anjelika “Jelly” Joseph (Tank and the Bangas), among many others.
To stream the Artisound Christmas event, produced in partnership with OffBeat, tune in to OffBeat’s Facebook or Artisound’s Facebook page 8 p.m. CST Sunday, December 13. Tamika Jackson and OffBeat’s Veronika Lee will co-direct the project.
When asked for his inspiration to perform in the series, Starkman told OffBeat, “My inspiration is to have a great day and to have a great Christmas, we love you have a great day!”
