Happy Monday America, NXT Radio is back and on the air. Lucky for you we have no zany morning crew (or is that cru?) with wacky sound effects, recycled jokes, ticket giveaways or annoying bits.

Annoying host? Well, sorry.

On this week's show I sat down with Dominic D'Alessio, the founder of Evolve2Advance about their get-together/family meal/house party this Saturday called "Stew n' Crew."

You can check out this week's show in the player on the right, or download it. Music in this week's show comes from Graymatter.

Evolve2Advance is another in seemingly growing number of community groups dedicated to art, music and culture.

You may remember the E2A crew from previous events such as the Evolution Soundsystem in 2006 and the Radiance Arts and Culture Festival in 2007.
The events always feature a confluence of live music by DJs and other musicians, and art, sometimes even live "see-it-as-it's-made" art.

D'Alessio said the idea behind Stew n' Crew was to continue in that tradition of community building and taking it a step further. With so many issues going on in Portland, Maine and across the country, why not create a place where people can come together to just talk, he told me.

What better setting than the table? The idea of "breaking bread" together is an old one, but holds up. Think about it. If you had the choice of sitting around a meeting or sitting down to eat with someone, which would you choose?

Maybe good food loosens the gut and the mind as well.

Stew n' Crew takes place this Saturday at SPACE Gallery beginning at 8 p.m. It's $6 to get in $10 if you also want to eat. Food will be provided by the Beetroot Kitchen, the Wildroot Farm, the Winter Cache Project and the Portland Food Co-op.

The night's music comes from Boondocks, Lukaduke and Matt Aruja among others. Art will be on display from people such as Zack Howard, Leif Sherman Curtis, Ratio and Mike Francis.

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