New Live TV Show, Miserable City, Records first Episode at Finn's

A new local arts TV show and DVD series launches the recording of its first episode on Thursday, March 3, starting at 8 p.m. at Mickey Finn's Pub.

Under the snarky moniker, "MISERABLE CITY, you're in good company" (a little slap toward Forbes Magazine's recent declaring of Toledo among the top on its Most Miserable Cities list), the show will be a combination of live music, poetry and spoken word readings, and later, artist profiles.

"This could go for months, maybe years," says project lead man, Tim Ide, who plans to donate a DVD of of the series to each library branch in the county. "It's about documenting the early part of the 21st Century in Toledo. We have good quality cameras, excellent sound provided by Pat at Finn's, and a great line-up of acts."

Taking place every Thursday evening, the show will be filmed live, Austin City Limits style, with each musical guest performing two identical sets, which will later be spliced and edited to ensure a quality end result. Interspersed in the show down the road will be a mixture of local events footage, artist profiles, readings, and much more.

"It's a big project," says Ide, "and I'm really excited about taking it on." Ide and his parter, Megan Bremmer, also hope to air the show on local TV networks for greater consumption.

The first episode in the series will kick off on Thursday, March 3, with performances taking place between 8 and 11 p.m.

The acts on the inaugural bill consist of local poets John Dorsey and Ryan A. Bunch (yup, me!) and music guests, the eclectic soul-jazz group, It's Essential (pictured) and singer-songwriter, Bowling Geen-based band, Abby Ray.

Bands or readers interested in taking the stage are encouraged to contact the project's presenters at justajunkie@yahoo.com.

Mickey Finn's is located at 601 Lagrange St. No cover. www.mickeyfinnspub.com