It took the singer of "Restless Leg" all of a week to grow restless enough during the quarantine to brainstorm what is literally the most colorful idea yet for helping other out-of-work music professionals.
Sean "Har Mar Superstar" Tillmann and his visual artist fiancée Laura Hauser have teamed up with a couple of other talented Twin Cities illustrators, Stacey Combs (aka Stace of Spades) and Michael Gaughan, to launch "Coloring Books for a Cause." The new series of imaginatively drawn coloring books was launched with a first edition based around First Avenue and the bands that have performed there — appropriately timed to the club's 50th anniversary.
"The Big Coloring Book of First Avenue" is available via coloringbooksforacause.com. All proceeds from the $20 limited-edition books go to the Twin Cities Music Community Trust Fund, a long-standing nonprofit set up by First Ave to help music professionals in need (including stage crews, bartenders and other venue staff). Different subjects and different causes will be picked for subsequent editions in the series.
So what exactly can one expect of a First Ave coloring book? There are a few pages featuring the club itself, including the stage, a starry wall and women's bathroom (keep your black crayons and markers handy, kids!). There's also a paisley-shaped Prince maze.
Tillmann summed up the dual purposes for the books in a preface: "We hope that, if this project becomes a success, we can make more coloring books to benefit many others while keeping you entertained during these uncertain times."
Donations can also be made directly to the series' first cause at twincitiesmusiccommunitytrust.org. □
