10 Reasons to be Excited for the Blackwing Experience

The Blackwing Experience is just around the corner. You may be getting tired of the hype, but we know many of you are just as excited as we are, so here are 10 reasons to get even more excited for the Blackwing Experience.

10. Meet Simpsons animator Stephen Reis

Stephen is the lead animator and storyboard artist for the Simpsons. Has been for years, and he’ll be at Tuesday night’s party showing off his skills and visiting with attendees. He’ll also lead an animation workshop at the kids’ creativity camp on Wednesday.

9. Learn the real lineage of the hit song “Wagon Wheel”

Unfortunately, there’s a generation of mainstream radio listeners who think “Wagon Wheel” was penned by Hootie and the Blowfish leader-turned-country-crooner Darius Rucker. It was actually an unfinished Bob Dylan song that Old Crow Medicine Show turned into a cult classic. The Old Crow co-founder and lead vocalist will not only play a solo set at Thursday’s show, but participate in a special in the round session where the musicans will take the stage and discuss the songwriting process behind this and other great songs.

8. Meet the Pink Panther

Well, you can at least meet the guy who created the Pink Panther newspaper strip. Eric Teitelbaum is also a cartoonist for the New Yorker and co-authored the best selling table-top cartoon book, “No Respect”, with his brother Bill and famed comic Rodney Dangerfield.

7. Write a song with Ted Russell Kamp

The talented songwriter, producer, multi-instumentalist and long time member of Shooter Jennings’ band will be at The Party Tuesday night to talk songwriting and help attendees write an original song. Attendees will be able to submit lyrics or finish a lyric started by someone else throughout the evening. After the party, Ted will sort though everything, write a song using the lyrics, and take the song into the studio for a recording session. And Studio 602 will document the whole thing on video.

6. Learn from the world’s most respected animation historian

Charles Solomon is not only an accomplished animator, but has written over a dozen books on the subject. He’s written for the New York Times and LA Times, and will moderate the first ever “ChuckTalk,” a round-table discussion on the evolution of creativity with Chuck Jones’ grandson Craig Kausen, Charles Berolzheimer, Jenny Lerew and Christian Tamburr. And, stop by early for a musical introduction by Christian Tamburr and John Miller.

5. Play with Camera Lucidas, Camera Obscuras and a Zoetrope

Meet the good folks from Lucid Arts and play with some cool tools that turn virtually anyone into a portrait artist in a matter of minutes. This was one of the most popular areas of the Blackwing Experience in NYC. It only takes a few minutes to find out why.

4. Hear a live set from the guy No Depression Mag deemed “one of the most important singer-songwriters of our time”

Willy Tea Taylor has been called folk, country, bluegrass, and Americana, and No Depression once said “it’s hard to listen to his songs and say better songs have ever been written.” Another music writer at SavingCountryMusic.com went so far to say that “If you only have time for one name of a songwriter that could change your life, I would go with Willy “Tea” Taylor.”You’ll get to find out for yourself on Thursday night at the Blackwing Experience.

3. See Andrew Combs’ first major West Coast appearance

American Songwriter ranked Andrew Combs debut album as the 29^th best album of the year. Not just country or rock, but of any genre. High praise for a 26-year old Texas native who’s taken the rest of the country, as well as the UK, by storm in recent months.

2. See the World’s Biggest Pencil Timeline

A comprehensive timeline of the woodcased pencil, from the day the first chunk of graphite was discovered, all the way through the relaunch of the Blackwing 602. See why the timeline, and the world’s official pencil font, won a prestigious design award last year.

1. Sit and draw in Chuck Jones desk… with one of his original Eberhard Faber Blackwing pencils

Chuck’s drafting table, desk and other items will be on display at the exhibit. Sit in the seat that created Bugs Bunny, Wylie Coyote and other legendary Looney Tunes characters. Plenty of Chuck’s original art will be on hand and on display as well.