Erin Markey, Shaina Taub, Ike Ufomadu and More Join Joe's Pub Working Group

Joe's Pub at The Public announces the new class of Joe's Pub Working Group (JPWG), formerly known as "Pub Club," the venue's artist development program dedicated to enhancing the career sustainability and growth of performing artists.

Entering its third year, which commences January 2017, JPWG welcomes a range of artists - alt-cabaret performer and writer Erin Markey; bandleader and percussionist Courtnee Roze; performer and composer Shaina Taub; actor and comic performer Ike Ufomadu; and singer-songwriter Julian Velard - that represents the diversity and scope of the nightly programming at Joe's Pub.

"Existing at the center of one of the most vibrant performance ecologies in the world, we have the great fortune of intersecting with hundreds of unique artists every year. But we are at a time when formal structures to support these artists have started to diminish. We are honored to have these artists call Joe's Pub home and help them deepen both their practices and their relationships to their audiences," said Shanta Thake, Director of Joe's Pub.

An extension of The Public Theater's commitment to supporting artists, Joe's Pub goes beyond the standard functions of a music venue, providing extra support to the many artists that pass through the venerated room by offering programs like JPWG and New York Voices, an artist commissioning series. By furnishing a range of administrative and curatorial services, dedicated to project-based goals, JPWG offers both personalized practical and creative assistance and a group dynamic to deepen a communal atmosphere for developing new, ongoing and collaborative work.

Joe's Pub maintains a rare perspective with its place at the crux of New York's live music and downtown performing arts scenes. Joe's has not only spring-boarded the rise of global superstars like Adele and Janelle Monáe but it also serves as home for the genre-defying projects of artists like Bridget Everett and Mx Justin VivIan Bond. The Pub also remains on the forefront of visionary artists at critical points in their career development, like the five individuals represented in the new class of JPWG.

Past participants include Bridget Barkan, Ali Grieb, Celisse Henderson, Larry Krone, Danny Lipsitz, Stephanie McKay, Michael Mwenso, Trish Nelson, Isaac Oliver and Kaylyn Marie Scardefield.

Learn more in the video!

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Erin Markey, who was recently named one of "Brooklyn's 50 Funniest People" by Brooklyn Magazine, makes music, shows and videos. She has shown work at Under the Radar Festival, New Museum, PS 122, New York City Comedy Festival, Ars Nova, Lincoln Center Director's Lab, UCBeast, Bard Spiegeltent, Tasmania's Festival of Voices, San Francisco Film Society and frequently at Joe's Pub at The Public Theater. She is frequently recognized by Time Out New York as a Top Ten Cabaret Artist and she was listed in Artforum's Top Ten Best Music of 2016. She is a company member of Obie Award-winning company Half Straddle. Her new musical, A Ride On The Irish Cream, co-composed with Emily Bate and Kenny Mellman, premiered at Abrons Arts Center in January 2016 and will tour in 2017. She is currently developing a new show, Boner Killer, to premiere at Joe's Pub for Under The Radar Festival in January 2017.

Courtnee Roze is a composer, producer, vocalist and percussionist (djembe and conga drums), leading an eclectic New York-based instrumental fusion/percussion-driven project and band known as Courtnee Roze The Musical. The project tells an in-depth testimony of a young female musician through song and dance. The stage visual celebrates the triumph, hardships and barriers broken by this phenomenally creative artist. Roze's project combines funk, fusion, deep African grooves, monologue, soul, jazz stylings, live dance, heavy percussion and a vocal pattern that is non-metrically structured. Roze is also well-known for her work on Grammy Award-nominated single "Crooked Smile" by J. Cole.

Shaina Taub is a Vermont-raised, New York-based songwriter and performer. A Jonathan Larson Grant winner and previous composer-in-residence at Ars Nova, Taub made her Lincoln Center solo debut in their 2015 American Songbook series, and her concerts have been featured on NPR/WNYC's Year's Best Gigs list. She played Feste in her original musical adaptation of Twelfth Night, commissioned by The Public Theater, at the Delacorte Theater as part of their Public Works initiative. She wrote songs for and starred in Bill Irwin and David Shiner's Old Hats, directed by Tina Landau at the Signature Theatre. Her songs have been performed by Audra McDonald and Sutton Foster, and she writes tunes for Sesame Street. She's currently writing a new musical about Alice Paul and the American women's suffrage movement. Her latest album Visitors is available at www.shainataub.com.

Ike Ufomadu is an actor and comic entertainer. He is creator and host to a number of original, live shows including: his evening of talk-show entertainment Ike at Night (Under the Radar/The Public Theater, The Bushwick Starr, JACK); his night of comedy and music Nightcap | by Ike (Joe's Pub); his one-man variety hour Ike Night (Ars Nova, San Francisco Sketchfest); his Christmas show Ike for the Holidays (Manhattan Inn); and more. He performs stand-up across New York, including Union Hall and UCB. He's also featured in several episodes of The Special without Brett Davis. Ufomadu has collaborated with many OBIE-winning theater companies like Young Jean Lee's Theater Company, 600 Highwaymen and Hoi Polloi. He trained at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts; the International Theatre Workshop in The Netherlands; and Studio Five's theatre and dance programs in Indonesia.

Julian Velard is a Native New Yorker, pianist, singer and songwriter. His music stylings and comedic timing has made him a fixture on The Howard Stern Show and NPR's Ask Me Another. Velard turns the piano-pop tunesmith stereotype on its ear with a refreshing, urbane twist: a biting 21st century wit in a stylish package. Think Harry Connick, Jr. with the panache of a Brooklyn hipster, recalling Stephen Sondheim or Randy Newman at their peak. His music initially took hold overseas nearly a decade ago, where praise from The Guardian, Time Out London, and The Sunday Times, led a UK major label record deal. Velard's music has found a cult following in Holland, where performs regularly and headlines Amsterdam's Legendary Paradiso. Velard has toured internationally alongside Jamie Cullum, Paul Carrack, Amy MacDonald. He's written scores of songs for others, including Matt Bellassai's popular web series "To Be Honest", podcast themes for The New Republic and Audible, and UK Pop Sensation and X-Factor Host Olly Murs. He's released four albums of original material, with his fifth due out in June.

Named for Public Theater founder Joe Papp, Joe's Pub at The Public opened in 1998 and plays a vital role in The Public's mission of supporting young artists while providing established artists with an intimate space to perform and develop new work. Joe's Pub presents the best in live music and performance nightly, continuing its commitment to diversity, production values, community and artistic freedom. The organization also offers unique opportunities like New York Voices, an artist commissioning program that provides musicians the resources and tools needed to develop original theater works. Commissioned artists have included Ethan Lipton, Toshi Reagon, Bridget Everett, Allen Toussaint and more. In 2011, the Pub received a top-to-bottom renovation, leading to improved sightlines, expanded seating capacity and a new menu from acclaimed Chef Andrew Carmellini. With its intimate atmosphere and superior acoustics, Joe's Pub presents talent from all over the world as part of The Public's programming downtown at its Astor Place home, hosting approximately 800 shows and serving over 100,000 audience members annually.

The Public Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director Oskar Eustis and Executive Director Patrick Willingham, is the only theater in New York that produces Shakespeare, the classics, musicals, contemporary and experimental pieces in equal measure. Celebrating his 10th anniversary season at The Public, Eustis has created new community-based initiatives designed to engage audiences like Public Lab, Public Studio, Public Forum, Public Works, and a remount of the Mobile Unit. The Public continues the work of its visionary founder, Joe Papp, by acting as an advocate for the theater as an essential cultural force, and leading and framing dialogue on some of the most important issues of our day. Creating theater for one of the largest and most diverse audience bases in New York City for nearly 60 years, today the Company engages audiences in a variety of venues-including its landmark downtown home at Astor Place, which houses five theaters and Joe's Pub; the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, home to free Shakespeare in the Park; and the Mobile Unit, which tours Shakespearean productions for underserved audiences throughout New York City's five boroughs. The Public's wide range of programming includes free Shakespeare in the Park, the bedrock of the Company's dedication to making theater accessible to all; Public Works, an expanding initiative that is designed to cultivate new connections and new models of engagement with artists, audiences and the community each year; and audience and artist development initiatives that range from Emerging Writers Group to the Public Forum series. The Public is located on property owned by the City of New York and receives annual support from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs; and in October 2012, the landmark building downtown at Astor Place was revitalized to physically manifest the Company's core mission of sparking new dialogues and increasing accessibility for artists and audiences, by dramatically opening up the building to the street and community, and transforming the lobby into a public piazza for artists, students, and audiences. The Public is currently represented on Broadway by the Tony Award-winning acclaimed American musical Hamilton by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and in Spring 2017, Lynn Nottage's acclaimed new play Sweat.. The Public has received 59 Tony Awards, 168 Obie Awards, 53 Drama Desk Awards, 54 Lortel Awards, 32 Outer Critics Circle Awards, 13 New York Drama Critics Awards, and five Pulitzer Prizes.

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