Call From Above

Featured in this video is a song written by Emmanuel Kawedi and Terracotta half-life. Emmanuel is an International graduate student from Tanzania at Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan and is featured here on vocals and congas.

What is The Zaagkii Project?

Working alongside members of several Ojibwa tribes, at-risk teens with the U.S. Forest Service-sponsored Zaagkii Wings and Seeds Project in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula will continue protecting pollinators during 2010 by helping to build the first-ever native species plants greenhouse on an American Indian reservation and hope to trace the Mexico Monarch migration.

During the summers 2008-2009, some 23 at-risk teens from Marquette, MI planted/distributed over 26,000 native plants seeds, helped transplant hundreds of native plant seedlings, hiked through remote forests with Zaagkii Project Native American college interns to learn importance and uses for native species plants, and have built and painted 36 mason bee houses and 18 butterfly houses with one of each placed by the USFS in The Peoples Garden at U.S. Department of Agriculture Headquarters, National Mall, Washington, DC.

For more information about the Zaagkii Project, visit ZaagkiiTV

Also, Kevin Baker accompanied Susan Payant, a.k.a. “The Butterfly Lady”, as she read a short story/poem about Monarchs by author/illustrator Lois Ehlert entitled Waiting for Wings. Skip about six minutes into this video for a taste of the interactive improvisational experience.

The Butterfly Lady

Big thanks to Jon Magnuson as well as everybody else at the Cedar Tree Institute for all their efforts.

Also, thanks to Greg Peterson for the videos and photos and all the great media work he does.

Check out the Photos

photos of the 2009 Culinary Journey

photos of the 2009 Cedar Tree Institute Midsummer Celebration

photos of the 2009 Halloween Party at Harley’s Lounge

photos of the Wild Rover on January, 8th 2010

There are still photos which are currently missing in action, but we’ll do our best to let you know whenever more are added to our gallery.

Last Wednesday, Terracotta half-life was involved in an event that was eagerly awaited and highly anticipated by many of our fans. The return to the Upfront. Well, it’s been about two years since last time we played the Upfront & Company in Marquette, Michigan. Since then, we’ve had many requests to perform there again due to the ample dancing space.

Our line up is slightly different has almost completely changed since last time we played the Upfront. Most recently the addition of Jerry Kippola on guitar has helped us evolve to the next step in the pyramid of musical enlightenment. One thing that hasn’t changed is the age-old power of music to make people want to move their bodies.

Thanks to everybody who came out and got funky with us and thanks to Dani for taking photos. It was great to see our friends out on the dance floor getting crazy. Shuffling their feet to the rhythm, jumping and twisting like sharks in a feeding frenzy… and of course the “ultimate humanoid limbo challenge” was a lot of fun.

So, I hope we satisfied all those who wanted to see us at the Upfront. If not, don’t worry. We’ll be back again on Wednesday March, 24th 2010.

THIS TIME IN 3D!

That’s right, three dimensions. No special glasses needed. So, mark it down. Don’t forget. Tell a friend. Bring a date. Come early. Stay late. Dance hard. You’ve got about a month to practice your moves before showing us all how drunk you can get talented you are.

Check out the photos

Terracotta half-life has gone through many changes over the last year, and so I figured our website should reflect them by getting a complete overhaul. Although the site has been completely redesigned, my goal was to maintain a similar feel.

The site is now more user friendly with a horizontal navigation bar just under the logo as well as at the bottom of every page. Also, the blog has been moved to the main page instead of being separated into different categories and buried in the site somewhere. This should make things a little bit more interesting around here. Look for more changes/additions coming soon.

Thanks,

Obadiah

Friday the 15th of January… two weeks into the new year and the new decade, but time was already running out. According to the prophets of old, the END was near, or maybe it wasn’t.

Either way, Terracotta half-life wasted no time getting into some serious grooves. Soon enough, a surly mob of amateur photographers swarmed the “dance floor” and unleashed a flurry of camera flashes and twitching limbs.

Maybe the prophets were wrong.

Maybe the paparazzi were dancing to the sound of the future.

Check out the photos

Friday the 13th was the dawn of a new era as Terracotta half-life played for a packed house at The Wild Rover in downtown Marquette. The crowd was energized, the dancers were frenzied and the beer was cold.

Aside from having great food and a relaxed atmosphere, The Wild Rover is Marquette’s newest music venue. You can catch Mike Waite every Wednesday night and live music every Friday night.

Sitting in on guitar was Sahl Metivier who has played with us in the past, and also plays in Bourbon Sprawl, a local Rock n’ Roll band. We all had a marvelous time and would like to thank everyone who was there, old friends and new. We look forward to playing at The Wild Rover again on December 11, 2009 and hope to see you all again. Special thanks to Brandon for taking photos. All in all, it was a funky good time.

Check out the photos

In order to send them back, we knew it wouldn’t be easy. It took all of our powers to round up the undead and send them back to the underworld. Our safari guide used his binoculars to find them, our cop used her handcuffs to subdue them, and our priest used his powers to close the portal. In the process, our drummer was bitten and became a zombie. Fortunately for us, zombies are great drummers so we decided to keep him.

p.s. If anybody is missing an arm, leg, or torso, please let us know because there was a pile of extras left over at the end of the night. We’d be glad to return them to their proper owners.

Check out the photos

Yesterday, Terracotta half-life performed for about 1,200 people at the first-ever U.P. Oktoberfest. This event was sponsored by the Michigan Brewers Guild, and was a smashing success. There were 25 of Michigan’s finest microbreweries and brewpubs represented.

The entertainment included Terracotta half-life as well as Flat Broke Blues Band. After getting rained out at the Seafood fest a couple weeks ago, we were very grateful for the beautiful weather. Just the thing to help work up a thirst for cold beer.

We all had a great time and would like to thank all of the folks who coordinated and sponsored this event, all the Brewers who shared their passion for beer, all the volunteers, and of course, all the beer lovers who came and helped drink it.

Unfortunately, there was a severe lack of Lederhosen all day. It was about 10:00 pm under the VIP tent when guild Executive Director Scott Graham and a couple of other guys finally donned their Lederhosen. Yes, it was worth the wait.

We’d like to hear your opinion, so please leave a comment below and let us know:

1. What was your favorite beer?
2. What was your favorite thing about UP Oktoberfest?
3. Which brewery had the best display?
4. Is there anything you would like to change about UP Oktoberfest for next year?

Check out the photos

Unfortunately the weather wasn’t cooperating and after raining all day Friday and all day Saturday, the powers that be decided to end Seafood Fest early at 5′oclock. We were scheduled to play at 5:15, which would’ve normally been a great time-slot, but not this time. So, as we were all standing around, I snapped a couple photos.

Check out the photos