It’s easy to recognize Brad Thorla in his capacity as the main booking agent for Annabell’s in Highland Square. On any given night you’ll see him running around the bar, laughing with bands and possibly even joining in on drums. What’s less visible is his role as creator of the successful Coreography Council, a zany multimedia zine now in it third volume, and a testament to Akron’s twin loves of rock music and gritty DIY projects. Sometimes Thorla collects media that lends itself better to print, sometimes audio. In Volume III we’re getting both. And we’re all waiting for it. Thorla is a lifelong Akron resident who wanted to bring together local musicians, artists and writers in a coherent community. After playing with local bands like Duunes, Hell’s Information and Sofa King Killer, he’d connected with people in every realm of artistic expression. Their talent inspired the idea of self-publishing a book of their work. “I decided to try and collect everything and put it in an easily digestible sampling of Akron and Kent art,” said Thorla. Because of his wide circle of connections, he didn’t have to do any advertising: Friends were eager to donate photographs, drawings, poems, paintings and short stories. The material Thorla received and assembled doesn’t come from the art scene advertised on the city’s website. In any city, the public art scene is often merely the glacier tip of an underground scene, populated by natives. The underrepresented artists of that scene is where the book comes from. It helps that the artists of Akron and Kent are so gifted, said Thorla. “There’s so much good stuff going on,” he said. “The weather’s really shitty eight or nine months of the year. You just want to sit at home and doodle or play guitar.” Volume I of Coreography Council was published in the summer of 2008. This first edition was a limited pressing and is hard to come by nowadays — less than 20 copies are still available, and the volume hasn’t yet gone into a second printing. And no wonder: Roughly 100 pages long, each issue was bound by hand with fabric scraps and twine. Each had a one-of-a-kind cover created by one of three local artists: Debra Degregorio, Molly LaRocco or John Straub (of Akron’s Ten Times clothing fame). Twenty artists were featured in the small booklet, including Robert Ledyard, Juice McKenna, Keith Freund and Ashley Limbach (who has since become a concert reviewer for Buzzbin), who submitted everything from photographs and drawings to journal entries and poems to conspiracy theories. Originally, Thorla had intended to publish Coreography Council as a series of books — but because of his experience in the local music scene, Volume II was presented in a totally different form. Volume II was presented as a three-CD set of music, released in spring of 2009 and featuring nearly 50 different local musicians. “It originally was only going to be one CD, but I just kept getting more and more awesome stuff to use,” said Thorla. “I’m really bad at saying no to people.” Also included was a comic-book insert by Matt Horak, and Michael Stangelo created the album’s collaged cover design. The bands featured include heavy hitters like Goodbye Ohio, Rachel Roberts, If These Trees Could Talk and Shivering Timbers and run the genre gamut: metal, acoustic, reggae, jazz, even a few comedy tracks. The order was chosen to create a flow when listened from beginning to end. Volume II was so popular Thorla went into a second printing in February of 2010; a third printing will be available in time for the release of Volume III this month. Coreography Council isn’t Thorla’s first foray into self-publishing. In 2010, he created a group to exchange handmade books with one another, inspired by the date October 10, 2010 (10/10/10). Each of the 10 members made 10 copies of a handmade book of personal writing. Then, everyone traded with one other and walked away with 10 new books to read. (Since then, Thorla has made additional copies of his own book.) Volume III of Coreography Council is slated for release November 26 and will include a cohesive blend of visual artwork and writing like Volume I and a CD or two like Volume II. Thorla is working with artist Julia Bunn on the design. Expect to see Debra Degregorio, Matt Horak and Jacob Trombetta and expect to hear As If, Megachurch and Low in the Sky. Like the previous editions, each copy will be completely handmade. On its release date, Volume III will be available at three different locations. Snag it at the annual Genghis Con 2011 (thegenghiscon. com) from noon until 6 p.m. at Beachland Ballroom (15711 Waterloo Rd.), or stop by the semi-annual local craft show Crafty Mart (craftymart.com) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The craft show takes place simultaneously at Musica (51 E. Market St.) and the WE Gallery (20 N. High St.). As if that’s not enough, an art exhibition showcasing the work of participating artists is scheduled that same day. On November 26 from 6 to 9 p.m., Square Records (824 W. Market St.) in Akron will be hosting the Coreography Council art show, featuring original pieces directly from the publication’s artists. In addition to the art, much of which will be available to purchase, the final remaining copies of Volume I, fresh copies of Volume II and the new edition of Volume III will all be available. Akron girly rockers As If will be performing; the show doubles as a release party for their latest album. Nor is this the end: Thorla promises to keep going with the idea as long as people were interested. “Our time is limited on this planet,” he said. “If you’re not devoting your time to something positive then you’re wasting time. Why would you want to waste your time?”