GREEN PERFORMER MYRNA CLAYTON CREATES COMMUNITY: ATLANTA TO EURASIA
‘Music Ambassador’ In ‘American Music Abroad’ Tour, International Events
In Atlanta
ATLANTA —
With well-known selections like Ray Charles’ “Georgia On My Mind” and Gladys Knight’s “Midnight Train To Georgia” that tell the story of her home to strangers abroad, Myrna Clayton is preparing Atlanta audiences for her upcoming EurAsia tour with the U.S. State Department’s American Music Abroad Program. And, with spring in the air, she’s adding “green” tunes to two upcoming international events in Atlanta as well.
One might say she’s becoming a “music ambassador” with an environmental “twist”. It’s a role that’s been evolving and that Myrna is now ready to share from:
“Songs like Marvin Gaye’s ‘Mercy Mercy Me’ make us think about the critical importance of our environment,” the self-acknowledged “green performer” enthuses.
“Coming together as community, being able to see we’re more alike than different — that gives us an ability to focus and take action.
“We only get one environment. We can’t impact an issue of this size without a sense of community.”
Looking down at invisible notes, “finding” what she needs, Myrna continues to enthuse:
“Just consider the message delivered by Louis Armstrong back in the 60’s, with his unforgettable rendering of ‘What A Wonderful World’. Music is a catalyst. A catalyst in having us discover a sense of community, of ‘one world’. Music has the power to cross the boundaries of language, culture, politics, and race. I have seen it happen in Atlanta, Georgia — and I have seen it happen in Moscow, Russia.”
In recent performances at “First Friday at First” in downtown Atlanta, and then at the Averitt Center for the Arts in Statesboro, GA, Myrna shared with her Georgia audiences how she would represent them during her EurAsia tour. She even shared a way for them to know where she’d be performing, and how to follow her tour. A sense of fun, excitement, pride — and yes, community — began percolating.
That sense of pure community is what spurs Myrna Clayton to perform around the world — as she puts it, for “all creation, human beings and the environment”.
Before she goes on tour, Myrna will be busy creating community right here in the metropolitan Atlanta region through plans to highlight International Jazz Day April 30th, 2018 at Atlanta’s Red Light Cafe. Gathering momentum before she leaves the United States, she’ll be featured at a special kick-off performance May 4th, 2018 at the U.S. Diplomacy Center in Washington, D.C.
While Myrna typically tours solo, performing with local musicians from city to city, Myrna will tour/perform in EurAsia with her own band: Marcus Williams (drums), Ron James (sax), Thomas Blalock, Jr. (bass: electric /upright), and Philip Adair (piano/keys).
They call themselves “The Myrna Clayton Experience”.
When she returns, Myrna is eager to offer Atlanta audiences — and those joining from around the world — an international “green” performance on World Environment Day June 5th, 2018.
What has Myrna Clayton so energized, at such a pace? Here’s what she has shared with quiet conviction:
“It is my deepest desire to connect these global communities, and create a sense of community across the world.”
For information about Myrna Clayton’s upcoming performances:
(for bookings, contact Jay Jones, abelrecords@gmail.com, 404.840.9575)
To receive text messages from Myrna about what country she’s performing in while on the American Music Abroad tour in EurAsia, text: 404.482.2209
Itinerary for “The Myrna Clayton Experience” in EurAsia:
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May 3: Arrive DC
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May 4: DC programming and orientation; kickoff performance
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May 5: Depart for Vilnius, Lithuania
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May 6: Arrive Vilnius
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May 7-10: Programming/rest
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May 11: Depart for Tallinn, Estonia
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May 11: Arrive Tallinn
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May 12-15: Programming/rest
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May 16: Depart for Riga, Latvia
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May 16: Arrive Riga
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May 17-20: Programming/rest
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May 21: Depart for Minsk, Belarus
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May 21: Arrive Minsk
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May 22-25: Programming/rest
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May 26: Depart for Chisinau, Moldova
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May 26: Arrive Chisinau
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May 27-30 Programming/rest
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May 31: Depart for US
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