KNOXVILLE, TN—The Knoxville Museum of Art announces the winter series of Alive After Five and a new start time for the programs. After more than sixteen years of Alive After Five beginning at 5:30 pm, the series will shift the start time slightly to 5:45 pm for the first show on January 8 and then move to 6:00 pm for subsequent shows.

Alive After Five presents a variety of quality musical entertainment year-round from local, regional, national and even international performers. The 2010 winter series will feature performers from Cleveland, Ohio; Houma, Louisiana; Toulouse, France; Charlotte, North Carolina; Mississippi and Florida, as well as the East Tennessee area.
The winter series of Alive After Five premiers Friday, January 8, with a performance of classic rhythm & blues by Soul Connection. This nine-member band originated in Oak Ridge in the mid-1960s under the name of Soul Sanction. In 1968, they won the Tennessee State Battle of the Bands and competed in the National Finals in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The band broke up in the early 1970s, as band members pursued education, careers, and family, but they reunited in 1988 at the urging of their old classmates to perform at their 20th-year class reunion. Inspired by the success of that performance, Soul Connection stayed together and once again enjoyed great popularity with their dynamic male and female vocals and a horn section reminiscent of the Motown and Stax records of the ’60s and ’70s. They opened shows for such artists as B. B. King, Ray Charles, Bobby “Blue” Bland, and James Brown, and became one of the most popular bands to perform at Alive After Five.

In 2006, personnel changes in the band required them to relinquish the name Soul Sanction. They decided to let the audience at an Alive After Five in August of that year vote on a new name for the band, and they’ve been Soul Connection ever since.
            Admission to the winter premier of Alive After Five is $10 for general admission and $6 for museum members and college students with ID. Ages 17 and under are admitted free. Alive After Five is sponsored by Cherokee Distributing Company, Metro Pulse, and WDVX-89.9FM. For more information about the Alive After Five series, please contact Michael Gill at (865) 934-2039.          
 
The 2010 Winter Series Schedule for “Alive After Five”:
                        (all shows at 6:00 pm except as noted)
January 8 @ 5:45 pm – Soul Connection  Rhythm & Blues
                        $10-general admission, $6 museum members and college students with ID
January 15 – Wallace Coleman  Classic Chicago-style Blues
                        $9-general admission, $5 museum members and college students with ID
January 22 – Steve Brown & Friends  CD release party for Brown’s “Within”
                        $8-general admission, $4 museum members and college students with ID
January 29 – Lonesome Coyotes  Western Swing and honky-tonk
                        $10-general admission, $4 museum members and college students with ID
February 5 – Will Boyd Project featuring Kelle Jolly  Jazz and R & B
                        $8-general admission, $4 museum members and college students with ID
February 12 – “Fat Friday Mardi Gras Masquerade Party”
with Josh Garrett & The Bottomline  Blues and Louisiana music
                        $10-general admission, $6 museum members and college students with ID
February 19 – Philippe LeJeune  Piano Blues, Jazz and Boogie-woogie
                        $9-general admission, $5 museum members and college students with ID
February 26 – “Wild Women Don’t Have the Blues” Tribute to Ida Cox
with Robin Rogers  Blues
                        $10-general admission, $6 museum members and college students with ID
March 12 – Satan & Adam  Blues
                        $9-general admission, $5 museum members and college students with ID