For Immediate Release Contact: City Art Director Joel Long: joeltlong@yahoo.com City Art Presents Melissa Bond and JohnLouviere Salt Lake Public Library Main Branch 210 East 400 South Salt Lake City UT 84111 Wednesday December 11th 7:00—9:00 P.M. Writer MelissaBond and singer/songwriter John Louviere will read and perform their work on December11th at the Salt Lake City Public Library at 7:00 P.M. as part of the City ArtReading Series. Melissa Bondbegan her literary career in Salt Lake City 1995 by starting the city’s veryfirst Poetry Slam despite death threats and the claims that she’d be escortedto the border for such heresy. In 2002, she won the Mayor’s Artist Award forthe Literary Arts. In 2006, City Weekly magazine handed her a plaque that saidBest Poet in Motion for tearing out Katrina soaked drywall with her bare handsand putting together a multimedia show about said drywall and the people thatno longer lived inside. She was a finalist in the Western Publisher’sAssociation Maggie Awards for Profile writing in 2009. She then had twochildren in quick succession and everything that had nothing to do with keepinginfants alive stopped. “The Future Is Now” is the latest album bysinger/songwriter, John Louviere,and, by far, his best to date. The album was producedby multi-instrumentalist, collaborator, and recordingengineer Andrew Goldring at Soundcave Studios in Salt Lake City, Utah(http://soundcavestudio.com/). Louviere seems to have found a sweet spotin his collaboration with Goldring, as there are no misses on thisfine album. True to form, though, his brand of heartache matchedwith his understated, emotional, and melodic delivery continues to beas unique as it is beautiful. The release of his 2014 EP, Longest Year, marked atransition in the life of singer/songwriter John Louviere. “What I wanted wasto have a batch of songs that expressed true transformation - some sort ofpositive change or awakening. And in reality - it's exactly what I got: thecourage to tell the real story of how my life has been these past number ofyears.” Known for his honest, and witty stage presence, Louviere is aiming forthe heart. Twenty years in the making, he is emerging as a modern-daytroubadour and storyteller with lyrics that are as poignant as they are poetic.From his yearning, melodic voice and rich guitar, you will hear the influencesMark Kozelek, Bruce Cockburn, and Damien Jurado. “I’m a folk musician, I getthat. And true to folk musicians, I’m a storyteller. I just happen to tellpretty sad stories. Which suits me just fine.” Most featured readings are followed by an open reading. CityArt is sponsored by the Utah Arts Council, the Salt Lake City Arts Council,Catalyst, the Salt Lake City Public Library, Xmission, and the Zoo, Arts, andPark Fund. The event is free and open to the public. City Art is sponsored by the Utah ArtsCouncil, the Salt Lake City Arts Council, Zoo, Arts, and Parks, X-mission, andaudience donations. Joel Long