String Trek is the touring name of the duo, LaDonna Smith and Misha Feigin. >From Alabama, LaDonna is a "fire bucket" violist, violinist, and first generation pioneer on the American avant-garde improvisation front. She has also been the keeper/editor/producer of The Improvisor, a collective music journal of free improvisation now on the web at www.the-improvisor.com. Moscow born Misha Feigin brings the elements of poetry, vocals, the old-world romance and dynamic energy to the collaboration, improvising on guitar and balalaika.

• myspace.com/stringtrek
• All About Jazz reviews the 2008 release, Floating Bridges
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaDonna_Smith
• myspace.com/ladonnaviola
• myspace.com/mishafeigin

The Shaking Ray Levis is an ongoing collaboration of musicians with a common interest in improvisation. The project was conceived and led by the Chattanooga-based team of Dennis J. Palmer and Bob Stagner. They use storytelling, synthesizers, samplers and percussion to achieve their distinctive sound. They are the first American group to have recorded for Incus Records, the record label of British free improvisational guitarist Derek Bailey. Additionally, they have performed and recorded with John Zorn, David Greenberger, Fred Frith, Min Tanaka, Amy Denio, and Derek Bailey, as well as with many other critically acclaimed artists.

• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaking_Ray_Levis
• myspace.com/theshakingraylevis
• More about "Thealm Ol' Levi Boys"
• myspace.com/shakingraylevisociety

Paul Thomas is locally recognized as the former proprietor of the performance space/gallery/book store/coffee shop The X-Ray Café, and has performed with artists ranging from Allen Ginsberg to Sweet Teeth to experimental turntablist Maria Chavez. The duo of Paul Thomas and percussionist/electronic musician Chris Ray returns to Ciné with perhaps another sneak peek at Paul's video series Portraits of the New Subconscious.

• myspace.com/pt_109
• myspace.com/vostok88
• myspace.com/auxexperimentalartsevent
• check out Paul's art at the Fay Gold Gallery in Atlanta

Echo Canyon, rumored to have taken their name from a particular Simpsons episode, consists of three busy musicians collaborating in free-range improv style. Guitarist Craig Lieske (of Garbage Island, Diet Rock Star) is joined by percussionist Jim Wilson (also known as Diego Catalan, of Mother Jackson) and Chuck Bradburn (of Southern Bitch) on upright bass.

• craiglieske.com
• myspace.com/diegocatalan
• video - performance at Flicker Theatre

Killick, of Athens, Georgia, is active as a composer, performer, and promoter of a wide range of music. He plays quartertone electric guitar and the H'arpeggione, an upright acoustic instrument with 12 sympathetic strings. Killick focuses on the raw sound of his strings in all their microtonal glory; his style blends primitive folk, heavy metal, and sacred musics from around the world into a distinct voice. He has played with countless improvisers and performs regularly around the country. Killick runs Solponticello Records and is the fellow who put out a solo acoustic H'arpeggione version of Slayer's Reign In Blood.

• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killick_Erik_Hinds
• myspace.com/iamkillick

LaDonna Smith is a veteran improviser and visual artist whose work spans three decades. The Birmingham, AL native plays the viola and violin in a completely unique fashion that employs classical and extended techniques, and she has toured internationally and has performed at every major improv festival in North America.

“A virtuoso violinist, teacher, and co-founder of The Improvisor ("the international journal of free improvisation"), she is the image of feminine empowerment, the female criminal in pursuit of the ecstatic, potent, subversive and transcendent.” - Kelly Burnette, Perfect Sound Forever

Good Noise Bad Noise are a loose collective of improvising musicians, sound artists and video artists based in South Cumbria and Sheffield, UK. They play a mixture of electro-acoustic music and drone based free improvisation, mixing processed field recordings on laptops with live violin and live visuals.

“Good Noise Bad Noise are sensational at surrounding the listener with all these various odds and ends, ranging from Pandora's Box chaos to an entrancing industrial sonance” – EXP/AM review

Duet for Theremin and Lap Steel is a collaboration between Scott Burland and Frank Schultz of Atlanta, Georgia, creating a combination of sounds from two non-fixed-pitch instruments in an improv environment with a disregard for traditional styles. Their rich textures, swooning collages, and hypnotic pulses intend to drench the listener like a warm bath in the aural abyss.

“I love this music!” – Rhys Chatham, legendary avant-garde composer and musician

The husband/wife duo of Montana Skies seamlessly mix classical and rock music, with nimble
fingerstyle and flamenco guitar playing from Jonathan Adams and fiery cello (both acoustic and six-string electric) revelries from Jennifer Adams.

“[Montana Skies] is a new ensemble with a tremendous passion for the music they bring to their
audience.” – Fingerstyle Magazine