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2----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- www.whatzup.com- ---------------------------------------------------------------August 1, 2013-------------------------- Feature • Nic Cowan/Niko Moon-------------------------Making His Own Kind of MusicWHENSATURDAY8.10.13HeadwatersPark WestTICKETScan be purchased at Cap n’ Corklocations or at www.jani.org4 Advanced Sale $254 Day of Event $304 Designated Driver $10BRING CHAIRS & BLANKETSso you can enjoy a bottle of wineor beer with your friends!By Mark HunterThose of you expecting to hearNic Cowan perform at the BotanicalRoots Outdoor Concert Series on ahot August night are in for a surprise.Nic Cowan is now Niko Moon, andhe’ll be playing acoustic versionsfrom his self-titled debut CD asNiko Moon. The Botanical Rootsshow will be his first as Niko Moonand the first to feature his newmusic.Lee Miles, who isstill Lee Miles, andhis band IllegitimateSons will open.Cowan becameMoon a couple ofmonths ago followinga sudden insightinto the meaningof life. For Moon,that a-ha momentchanged everything.“I’ve actuallychanged my styleof music,” Moontold me via cellphone.“Thing is, Ihad a couple epiphaniesabout life. For one thing I got older. I justturned 30. But on a more personal level, Ibegan to question the life I was living.”Like a lot of grownups, Moon had hisvices. Trouble is, he said, his vices hadgrown up, too. “I wanted a new clarity inlife, wanted to write about different things.Before I just wanted to write party songs.Now everything is different.”Niko Moon made his name as Nic Cowan,a native Texan transplantedto Atlanta andraised in a family of musicians.Like his father,Moon was a drummerwhen he first startedplaying. He switchedto guitar in high schooland started writing songsimmediately. At first hebounced around genresand ideals, fromfronting apunk bandto leadinga worshipservice ata church.But noneof that satisfiedhim,so he startedmakingthe roundsto openmic nightsNIC COWAN/NIKO MOONw/ILLEGITIMATE SONSFriday, August 9 • 8:30 p.m.Foellinger-Freimann BotanicalConservatory1100 S. Calhoun St.,Fort WayneTix: $6 (12 and under free)260-427-6440www.botanicalconservatory.organd low-paying bar gigs, playing his ownmaterial and adhering to his father’s advice,which was to be original at the expenseof everything else. He played at night andworked at UPS and as an apartment complexmaintenance man during the day.In addition to his own tunes, he beganlearning covers so he could get more gigs.At one show he caught the eye of a bookingagent named Francisco Vidal. Vidal eventuallygot him a slot opening for Zac Brown.Soon Cowan found himself snugly underBrown’s wing, writing songs for Brown,touring with him and finally recording underBrown’s label.From the start, Cowan fit right in withBrown’s broad appeal. Cowan was a talentedsongwriter, a great singer and had noproblem joining the party. The one thingCowan lacked was focus, at least where hisstyle was concerned. His songwriting was allover the map, from Southern rock to Southerncountry-rock to urban hip-hop to R&B.And all those styles got room to move whenCowan recorded Hardheaded for Brown’sSouthern Ground Artists label.“I’ve always been really into all differentkinds of music,” Moon said. “The lastrecord had all types of different songs. I’vealways written in all genres. I never wantedto be classified as one certain kind of songwriter.”Now, Moon said, he’s found a way toput all the types of music he loves into onesound. He said it will be classified as rock,but he’s convinced he’s latched onto somethingunique. And he has his moments of insightto thank. Now instead of singing aboutwaking up to a six-pack and a shot, he’s------------------------------ Feature • Cinema Center-----------------------------Cinema Center Joining Digital AgeBy Deborah KennedyThere is much to mourn in the impendingdeath of 35-mm film, but there’s also asilver lining, and Fort Wayne’s Cinema Centerhas spun that silver into gold.In January of this year the not-for-profitmovie theatre received notification fromfilm distributors that they would basicallyhave to go digital or go dark. In response,the Cinema Center launched a campaignto raise the $50,000 needed to purchase adigital projector, and thanks to two matchinggrants – one for $5,000 from the WaterfieldFoundation and one for $20,000 from theChapman Fund – it appears they’ll be goingdigital beginning August 9.Cinema Center Executive Director JonahCrismore is an unabashed fan of 35-mmfilm but says joining the digital revolutioncould end up making Fort Wayne’s only arthousetheatre stronger in the end.“Digital is not nearly as romantic asfilm, of course. It doesn’t have the same ambience,but it should work out great for us.”As it is now, the Cinema Center oftenhas to get in a long line behind many othertheatres to screen the latest indie flick, andsome movies don’t get to the CC beforethey’re released on DVD. Digital copies arecheaper and easier to come by. They’re alsolighter. A typical film reel weighs 75-100pounds; digital is virtually weightless, andthat translates to shorter waits and longerruns.The real benefit to the transition fromfilm to digital is obviously that the CinemaCenter will be able to continue showing thesame quality independent, foreign and documentaryfilms it has since its founding 37years ago. And it’s personal for Crismorewho, eight years ago, had his life changedby a Cinema Center screening of a Frenchfilm.Continued on page 4“My wife and I had just started datingand we were looking for a movie to see.We got the times wrong – I can’t remembernow what we were intending to watch – andended up seeing Joyeux Noel, a movie basedon a true story about how soldiers fightingon opposite sides during World War I take abreak from fighting to celebrate Christmas.It’s a beautiful, simple story, and it remindedme of the great power film has to make usevaluate what we want out of life.”Crismore decided that night that whathe wanted was to devote himself to movies,and his position at the Cinema Center hasallowed him to create similar life-changingmoments for others.“It’s probably only going to get worsein Hollywood, but theatres like the CinemaCenter are proof that film doesn’t just haveto be mindless escapism. It really can makeyou examine your life and your world in awhole new way.”