KEXP Presents: Audioasis Community Partnership & Benefit Show 4/3

By McKenna Haley

KEXP’s Community Partnership Benefit Show will be at EMP Museum on Friday, April 3rd. This month’s show is an all ages benefit for TeenTix that is fully curated by EMP’s Youth Advisory Board, and hosted with DJs sets by KEXP’s Street Sounds DJ Larry Mizell, Jr. Enjoy live music from Gifted Gab and the Sound Off! 2015 Audience Favorite Winner Emma Lee Toyoda, plus films from youth filmmakers presented by The National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) and readings from Youth Speaks Seattle in EMP’s newest exhibit, Infinite Worlds of Science Fiction! TeenTix is focused on the empowerment of young people by giving them a way to actively participate in and shape the arts community. This month, the collaboration between EMP’s Youth Advisory Board programmatic curatorial vision, TeenTix and KEXP will bring music, poetry, and film created by young people in hopes of inspiring other teens to take advantage of the opportunities that TeenTix provides experience art of all kinds. This night is all about the teens and their participation in the Seattle arts community! Show your support by joining us at EMP to see what the EMP Youth Advisory Board has planned. Though different in musical styles, Gifted Gab and Emma Lee Toyoda are inspiring examples of how young artists are fearlessly throwing themselves into the Seattle music and arts community and succeeding! Gifted Gab:Seattle Rapper and sole female member of the hip hop crew Moor Gang, Gabby Kadushin — better known as Gifted Gab — will be performing on Friday. Gifted Gab has been rapidly solidifying her position as a strong female rapper on-the-rise since her 2012 EP release Queen La’Chiefah and more recently her first full-length Girl Rap which was released in May 2014. This unapologetic performer knows how to combine her way with words and charisma to tell her stories on stage.

Emma Lee Toyoda:Emma is Sound Off! 2015’s Audience Favorite Winner and will feel right at home on stage at EMP Museum’s Sky Church. Though described as a singer/songwriter, Emma Lee Toyoda and her backing band perform songs that are a wonderful marriage between folk and indie-rock music that could have easily been inspired by the music of Feist or the more obvious Pacific Northwest influence, Fleet Foxes. Emma’s voice is captivating, and I am excited to see what she and her band are all about when I see them perform live this weekend!

Tickets for the benefit will be $7 for the general public and $5 for TeenTix members. Teens can learn more and sign up for the free TeenTix membership that enables them discounted access to 53 arts institutions and their events in the Puget Sound region. For more information, visit the Audioasis page at KEXP.ORG.