ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION — Marietta-based street musician Alex Guthrie, who received huge exposure in 2017 being surprised by Jennifer Hudson during an American Family Insurance ad, joined Team Kelly Clarkson on “The Voice” season 17 debut Monday evening. 

The R&B singer sang Al Green’s “Love & Happiness” for the coaches. Nobody pressed the button until late when Clarkson turned her chair. Gwen Stefani also chose to compete for Guthrie’s attention just as he was finishing his final note. 

NBC, WXIA-1! ALIVE (Atlanta) — We first met signer Alex Guthrie when he appeared in a commercial with Jennifer Hudson last spring.  The rising star’s career has moved forward, as he has hit the road and opened up for bands like multi-platinum rock stars Smash Mouth.

Guthrie, a Marietta resident, revealed to his Instagram followers he’s been sitting on an even bigger secret: He he will be a contestant on an upcoming episode of “The Voice.” [MORE]

WXIA-11 Alive, BNC Atlanta — Atlanta film community comes together to rise against hunger at an event hosted by PC&E, which rents equipment to film and television productions.. [video]

THE ESPORTS OBSERVER — DreamHack Anaheim has been announced for February 2020, marking the first edition of the gaming and esports convention series to take place on the West Coast of the United States.

The event will take place at the Anaheim Convention Center in California from Feb. 21-23. It will feature the familiar array of DreamHack event elements, such as to-be-announced professional esports tournaments, bring-your-own-computer LAN play, a cosplay contest, and music performances. [MORE]

CYNOPSIS ESPORTS — DreamHack is hitting California for the first time, announcing its debut with the launch of DreamHack Anaheim. The festival will run Feb. 21-23, 2020 for a 24 hour-a-day weekend will feature pro esports tournaments, amateur and varsity gaming tournaments, as well as its traditional bring your own computer LAN party, cosplay championship, panels, art, activities, expo, screenings, live music and more. Tickets will go on sale on Sept. 20.

“I cannot express our excitement at bringing DreamHack to the great city of Anaheim for our first-ever West Coast festival weekend — especially because it comes on the heels of our 25th-anniversary celebration,” said DreamHack Co-CEO Marcus Lindmark. “This debut event in Anaheim will be a not-to-be-missed experience for fans of esports and all things gaming.” [MORE]

SAN FRANCISCO, 90.3FM KDFC, “THE STATE OF THE ARTS” — pianoSonoma returns to the campus of Sonoma State University, bringing together artists-in-residence with adult musicians for two week-long sessions of coaching and performing. Michael Shinn, who with his wife Jessica Chow Shinn founded the festival, says there are masterclasses, four concerts by the artists-in-residence with wine tasting before, and two new pre-concert talks called ‘Artist Exchanges’. LISTEN HERE [MORE]

JAZZ 91.4 WCLK, “THE LOCAL TAKE” — This week on The Local Take I speak with Deborah Scott, the Executive Director for Georgia Stand-Up. This non-partisan organization is a "Think and Act Tank for Working Communites;" they promote civic engagement and leadership. Ms. Scott speaks directly to the upcoming 2020 Census and what it means for our communities.  

She says it is all about the money.  $900 Billion dollars will be up for distribution and undercounts will mean that our communities will not receive their fair share.  Scott shares that if 1% are missed that will result in a loss between $8M - $18M if 5% are not counted the numbers increase to over $90 million in funding loss to our community.  [MORE]

THE PRESS DEMOCRAT (Santa Rosa, CA) — PianoSonoma Music Festival: Now in its sixth year at the Green Music Center’s Schroeder Hall at Sonoma State University, this festival founded by pianists Jessica and Mochael Shinn brings together current conservatory music majors/recent graduates with working musicians to collaborate on a series of Vino & Vibrato concerts on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from July 23 to Aug. 1 as well as public master classes held on July 24 and July 31. New this year, the Tuesday concerts begin with pre-concert “artist exchanges.” All events include a wine tasting beforehand featuring Cartograph wines. Tickets cost $15 for one concert, $12 for two or more concerts. pianoSonoma.org [MORE]

WXIA-11 Alive (NBC) — Do you eat, sleep and breathe esports? Do you have a passion for everything gaming — from Smite and Mario Kart, to Madden and Rocket League? Are you an amateur interested in showcasing your energetic and charismatic personality while competing for an opportunity to turn gaming into a career? If you answered yes, you're in luck! [MORE]

DALLAS OBSERVER — The real drama of DreamHack, the annual esports tournament that brings some of the world's biggest fans and players who compete for hundreds of thousands of dollars in prizes, isn't just made by the pixels on the screen. It's also made in the stands like any great spectator sport.

DreamHack pits some of the world's most competitive gaming players and teams in some of the sport's most popular titles like Psyonix's octane-fueled soccer showdown Rocket League, Hidden Path and Valve's military-style first-person shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and EA Sports' pro football sim Madden NFL19. [MORE]

ESPN — After blowing through the rest of the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive field, Team Liquid and ENCE finally got a shot at each other on Sunday in the grand final at DreamHack Masters Dallas. And the matchup delivered, with the two squads needing three games -- and every point they could muster -- to determine a winner. In the end, Team Liquid finished on top, taking the best-of-three match with a 16-13 win in the deciding game. [MORE]

DEXTERTO — As the Group Stages for the six-day event draw to a close, teams are competing for the best placements possible in the Arena matches for a better chance to claim the top honors in Texas.

While teams will be plenty motivated to get the lion’s share of the $250,000 pot up for grabs, they’ll be happy to see the icing on top that the champions will earn after lifting the tournament trophy. [MORE]