In the lighter time of year words arrived
concealed in branches. Flaubert exchanged
himself for words, night became a night of
words and a journey a journey of words, and
so on.
-Barbara Guest
This is the most popular feature (within the very relative confines of that word as it relates to this). A look at things I want to shine some light on - not everything I'm going to do, and not quite (as the old version was) everything I'd do if money and time were no object.
These are my top 5 suggestions for the week in question - named for my great pal Fred Pfening and named long before it was born, by A., who suggested "Rick's going to have a blog called 'Hey, Fred! Here's what's coming to town...' - whatever media strike my fancy. It could be all theater one week, it could be all films or all readings or all gallery shows, but most weeks will include some if not mostly music - I hope to spark some conversations and get people excited about what I'm excited for. If you read this, let me know what would make this more useful to you. As well, if you get any value out of this, please send me links/invite me on Facebook/send up a carrier pigeon to let me know about your events.
Happy birthday to me! As was my tradition for many years, I'm ditching town for my actual birthday for some outside culture - this year Louisville for just a taste of Humana and then Knoxville for Big Ears which I've said before was the most enriching time I've had at a festival musically in many years. So as with a couple weeks ago (for a trip I didn't get to make due to sickness) forgive me if this week's is a little more tossed-off than usual.
Theatre
Don Quixote: a pilgrimage by Jen Schleuter. Presented by Available Light Theatre; Van Fleet Theatre in the Columbus Performing Arts Center, 549 Franklin Ave. A little sorry I won't see this until it's second weekend but don't you make the same mistake! One of Available Light's signature forms is the exploded literary adaptation - great works collaged to include context and changing opinions regarding them. So I'm very excited to see this new installment in that vaunted tradition - a look at one of the greatest novels of the Western canon, Don Quixote, written by brilliant playwright and frequent collaborator Jen Schlueter and directed by Artistic Director Matt Slaybaugh. Opens on March 26. 8pm shows Thursday-Saturday except April 2, 2pm matinee Sunday April 12. For tickets and info visit http://avltheatre.com/shows/don-quixote/
Music
March 25: California Mavericks: Compositions by Cowell, Harrison and Cage. The Garden Theater, 1187 N High St. The Short North Stage's renovation and operation of the Garden Theater has been a boon all around. One of my favorite elements of their programming has been New Music at the Short North Stage which presents well-chosen chamber music programs in informal settings. I'm particularly excited about this newest program which looks at modernist giants who all originally came from California. The program includes Lou Harrison's "Song of the Quetzalcoatl" and "Song for Violin and Percussion Ensemble" performed by the Capital University Percussion Ensemble and featuring Elizabeth Chang, John Cage's "One4" played by Robert Breithaupt, and Henry Cowell's "Set of Five" performed by Elizabeth Chang, Maria Staeblein, and Ryan Kilgore. Starts at 7pm. Free.
March 26: Ritmos Unidos. Lincoln Theatre, 769 E Long St. This Afro-Caribbean jazz juggernaut should sound amazing in the warm acoustics of the Lincoln. Full of West Coast-tied players but formed in the hallowed land of Bloomington, Indiana, where percussionist Michael Spiro teaches at IU, they delve into and breathe through a panoply of Latin styles and music from the African diaspora. Starts at 8pm. $20 tickets available at Ticketmaster.
March 28: Day Creeper LP Release. Ace of Cups, 2619 N High St. Day Creeper's been one of my favorite bands since they formed in Columbus a few years ago, playing a writhing, electric fusion of hard mod-rock propelled by The Jam and classic Columbus for lack of a better word heartland rock. Aaron Troyer's songs are catchy and interesting, Laura Bernazzoli is one of my favorite bass players in town, eschewing the obvious Motown riffs and injecting strange angles without sacrificing the groove, and augmented by the current line up of Elijah Vasquez on drums and former drummer Dan Ross on second guitar is the most powerful, exciting lineup they've had. Churning drone-rockers Sex Tide open along with noise-pop band Brat Curse and Red Feathers. Starts at 10pm. $5 cover.
March 29: Steve Gunn and Ryley Walker. Spacebar, 2590 N High St. Two of the acts I'm most looking forward to seeing at Big Ears are winding their way through my hometown on Sunday. Steve Gunn's buzz has hit almost deafening levels with his breakthrough last year, Way Out Weather, and his brand new collaborative record with avant-bluegrass band The Black Twig Pickers. Ryley Walker, touring with him, finds the sweet center of a venn diagram between Van Morrison, Bert Jansch, and Nick Drake. This complex, emotional music should brace you for the week upcoming at the best sounding new rock club in town. Banjo player Nathan Bowles - of the aforementioned Pickers - opens. Starts at 9pm. Googling did not return a cover.
This is the most popular feature (within the very relative confines of that word as it relates to this). A look at things I want to shine some light on - not everything I'm going to do, and not quite (as the old version was) everything I'd do if money and time were no object.
These are my top 5 suggestions for the week in question - named for my great pal Fred Pfening and named long before it was born, by A., who suggested "Rick's going to have a blog called 'Hey, Fred! Here's what's coming to town...' - whatever media strike my fancy. It could be all theater one week, it could be all films or all readings or all gallery shows, but most weeks will include some if not mostly music - I hope to spark some conversations and get people excited about what I'm excited for. If you read this, let me know what would make this more useful to you. As well, if you get any value out of this, please send me links/invite me on Facebook/send up a carrier pigeon to let me know about your events.
Music
March 16: Perfume Genius with Jenny Hval. Wexner Center, 1871 N High St. Perfume Genius has made some fascinating records and is a great live show but I'm here to lobby you to show up early enough for Norway's Jenny Hval. I got turned onto her with an article in The Wire in 2011, and bought her record Viscera and was blown away by it almost immediately - it's rare to see a first album (I never heard her early work with rockettothesky) come out with that particular kind of bang, so fully formed, such an internal, personal work with such fangs bared for the world. When I got to see her the next year at Issue Project Room as part of New York's offshoot of the Unsound Festival, the perception and awe were only amplified. Her second record Innocence is Kinky added thicker grooves and backbeats and sharpened that idiosyncratic voice without sacrificing one iota of the weirdness and charm and her performance supporting it at last year's Big Ears Festival was the most intensely pure rock - but without the baggage that term sometimes countenances - I saw at that entire festival. It's a delight seeing her on bigger tours opening for acts like St. Vincent and now that she's signed to acclaimed US label Sacred Bones, who have put out some of my favorite music for the last few years, I can't wait to see what comes next. Starts at 8:00pm. $15 Tickets available at https://wexarts.org/tickets/1379
March 16: Torche. Skully's, 1151 N High St. Steve Brooks' stoner-metal juggernaut Torche has expanded its range and its melodic reach over the last few years and while I haven't dug into their new one, Restarter, yet - all accounts say it's a worthy followup to their masterpiece Harmonicraft. Especially since drafting second guitarist Andrew Elstner from St Louis's Riddle of Steel and Tilts, Torche has had an interest in big, sweeping, exciting melody without sacrificing the crunching, grinding riffs they came from. In a room with one of the best sound systems in town - when handled well - this should be a third-eye opener. Nothing and Wrong open. Starts at 8:00pm. $15 tickets available at Ticketweb.
March 18: YOB. Ace of Cups, 2619 N High St. YOB is one of those bands that will knock the wind right out of your lungs. A mix of bone-rattling doom metal with a heavy overlay of transcendent psychedelia - long songs played like their lives depend on them. Their last show at Ace of Cups is one of the best shows I've ever seen there so their return to the venue is much-anticipated. Ecstatic Vision and Lazer/Wulf open. Starts at 8:00pm. $15 Tickets available at Brown Paper Tickets.
March 19: Shannon McNally. Natalie's Coal-Fired Pizza, 5601 N High. McNally is one of the finest exponents of the soulful strain of Americana. She first hit my radar touring with Ryan Adams, Son Volt, and Victoria Williams and popped back up on it with recent stints with Rodney Crowell, writing and recording with Dave Alvin, and a fantastic EP with Amy Lavere. Great narrative-based songs, terrific playing, and a voice that will stick under your skin for days. Starts at 9:00pm. $12 Tickets Available at Vendini.
March 21: Talisha Holmes Ensemble. Dick's Den, 2417 N High St. Talisha Holmes is one of my favorite singers in town. Full disclosure: I've known her since we went to High School together. It always did my heart good when news of what she was doing filtered down to me, teaching at Capital, adding perfect vocals to hard-driving party bands like Capital Sound or MojoFlo, her stunning work with J. Rawls' Liquid Crystal Project. But even as a fan, when I saw her solo work with the Ensemble at Brothers Drake about two years ago it blew my hair back. She's assembled a catalogue of songs that fuse the sensuous tension of '70s Roberta Flack and the Whitfield-produced Temptations with the irrepressible joyousness of classic Stevie Wonder, but using textures that work at a pleasantly orthogonal angle to those classic touchstones and creating utterly personal, utterly modern work. No part of this is a self-consciously retro thing. Also, she works with the finest musicians in town - sometimes including Brandon "Bjazz" Scott, Adam Smith, Ron Hope, and Kyra Curenton - and has a great ear for the perfect cover - I've heard her get me grooving to covers of songs I didn't even like the original of (which will remain nameless). Seeing her in a room like this for three sets is a treat. Also, as my birthday is in the middle of the following week - if anyone were inclined to buy me a birthday drink, this is where I can guarantee you I'll be after dinner with my better half. Starts at 10:00. $4 cover.
This is the most popular feature (within the very relative confines of that word as it relates to this). A look at things I want to shine some light on - not everything I'm going to do, and not quite (as the old version was) everything I'd do if money and time were no object.
These are my top 5 suggestions for the week in question - named for my great pal Fred Pfening and named long before it was born, by A., who suggested "Rick's going to have a blog called 'Hey, Fred! Here's what's coming to town...' - whatever media strike my fancy. It could be all theater one week, it could be all films or all readings or all gallery shows, but most weeks will include some if not mostly music - I hope to spark some conversations and get people excited about what I'm excited for. If you read this, let me know what would make this more useful to you. As well, if you get any value out of this, please send me links/invite me on Facebook/send up a carrier pigeon to let me know about your events.
This is a week I'm going to be out of town so it's been assembled further in advance and I wasn't looking as closely for what's going on as I might be. Mea culpa. But these are all events I think deserve your attention and things I will either be at, or would be at were I in town.
Literary Paging Columbus: Spring Training. OSU Urban Arts Center, 50 W Town St. Hannah Stephenson's Paging Columbus is one of the most interesting interdisciplinary readings in town, drawing from poetry, creative nonfiction, literary fiction and genre fiction, based around rotating themes to show new connections and see what sparks fly. This month's is based around spring training - athletes, druids, conjurers, lovers, artists, it speaks to a deep need for warmth and green right now. It features Mike Wright, Julia Grawemeyer, Allie Wollner and one of my favorite poets in town, Izetta Thomas. Starts at 6:00pm. Free.
Music
March 11: Dave and Phil Alvin with the Guilty Ones. Valley Dale Ballroom, 1590 Sunbury Rd. I've waxed rhapsodic about Alec Wightman's work with Zeppelin Productions in the past. He's done more to bring a certain stripe of Americana singer-songwriter to town than almost anyone else I can think of, including legends like Dan Penn and Guy Clark we probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise. This is the 20th anniversary of his booking shows and, I'm pretty sure, the 15th anniversary of my going to one of his shows - the very same Dave Alvin gracing our fine stages this Wednesday. I've seen the Alvin brothers again and again - Dave probably a dozen times over those years, and Phil's still-ongoing Blasters four or five. Neither has ever disappointed me. But I've only seen them together once, at Bogarts on 2002's Original Five Blasters reunion. They reunited last year for a terrific EP of Big Bill Broonzy classics and friends who saw the first leg of that tour said it was fire - wall to wall Blasters hits, classic R&B drawing from the Broonzy catalogue and others, and Dave's own solo material, backed by Dave's well-oiled touring band. If you have any interest in the jukejoint blood of America's veins, do not miss this. Starts at 8:00pm. For tickets and more info please write to wightman51@aol.com.
March 11: Wolf Eyes. Double Happiness, 427 S Front St. I feel like I also saw Wolf Eyes here in town around 2000, maybe that same summer/fall I saw Dave Alvin at the Columbus Music Hall, and it similarly made me want to make something or set something I'd already written on fire and try to divine the future out of the ash. Through line up changes, what feels like a million splinter groups and affiliates, and countless releases, they've stayed true to their beautifully damaged aesthetic and the scalding, purifying joyousness of controlled noise but also pursued whatever interests struck them at any given moment. This should be bummer magic in the confines of Double Happiness. Doors at 8:00pm. $10 tickets available at Ticketfly.
March 12-15: Columbus Jazz Orchestra featuring John Clayton, Gerald Clayton, and the Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra. Southern Theatre, 21 E Main St. If you have even the slightest affinity for big band jazz, this is going to be special. John Clayton is a legendary bassist, composer, arranger and bandleader with a resume that includes Dr. John, Quincy Jones, Regina Carter and Henry Mancini and a long association with CJO's fearless leader Byron Stripling. His son, Gerald Clayton, is one of the finest up and coming pianists working today, a colorist with a fearless and faultless sense for rhythmic invention. And this is the one show of the year where CJO brings their protege group, the Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra, and lets them shine side by side with the experienced players. As entertaining a night of music as you're likely to see anywhere - it being in Columbus's most beautiful sounding theater is icing. 7:30pm Thursday, 8:00pm Friday-Saturday, 3:00pm Sunday. For tickets and more information visit http://www.jazzartsgroup.org/columbus-youth-jazz/john-clayton-conducts-cjo-cyjo-in-side-by-side-featuring-gerald-clayton-mar-12-15/
March 14: Todd Snider. Park Street Saloon, 525 Park St. If you ever need a refresher in how much of the world you can fit in a three minute sing-along song, you don't need to look much further than Todd Snider. After shaking off the expectations of being the next Tom Petty, Snider dug in, dug deeper and made one funny, sad, true, gorgeous record after another. This tour celebrates the 20th anniversary of his major label debut (and source of his one minor hit) Songs From the Daily Planet and the 10th anniversary of my favorite of his records, East Nashville Skyline, and set lists look like he's doing just about everything a fan would want to hear. Opener Kevin Gordon, who I saw at a Twangfest a number of years ago and he stunned even a crowd that lively - or maybe what I want to say is he cut through all the whiskey of the evening - is the perfect guy to go toe to toe with a crowd pleaser like Snider. Doors at 8:00pm. $18 tickets available at Ticketweb.
This is the most popular feature (within the very relative confines of that word as it relates to this). A look at things I want to shine some light on - not everything I'm going to do, and not quite (as the old version was) everything I'd do if money and time were no object.
These are my top 5 suggestions for the week in question - named for my great pal Fred Pfening and named long before it was born, by A., who suggested "Rick's going to have a blog called 'Hey, Fred! Here's what's coming to town...' - whatever media strike my fancy. It could be all theater one week, it could be all films or all readings or all gallery shows, but most weeks will include some if not mostly music - I hope to spark some conversations and get people excited about what I'm excited for. If you read this, let me know what would make this more useful to you. As well, if you get any value out of this, please send me links/invite me on Facebook/send up a carrier pigeon to let me know about your events.
Visual Art
Luminous Landscapes: New Work By Kellie McDermott and Carol Snyder. McConnell Arts Center, 777 Evening St. Any time Kellie McDermott has a new slate of work to exhibit it's a cause for celebration. Her encaustic paintings use those layers of wax to create both a sculptural, sensuous feeling on the canvas but also a dreamlike, unsettling distance. There's an emotional heat that comes out of her barren but vibrating landscapes that intermingles with an unstuck-in-time quality you have to see in person. Carol Snyder's work I don't know very well, but the images I've seen of her landscape-inspired pottery seem like they'll be fascinating in juxtaposition with the other work and I can't wait to see them in the flesh. Opening March 6th, 6:00pm-8:00pm. Exhibition Runs March 6th-April 26th.
Theatre
Trouble in Mind by Alice Childress. OSU Theatre Department, Roy Bowen Theatre in the Drake Performance and Event Center, 1849 Cannon Drive. Childress' 1955 play isn't performed often but it's a razor-sharp satire of where each of draws the line for our own principles, how ingrained prejudice hurts and diminishes everyone, and how easily the veneer of "well-meaning" can be ripped away. I comment OSU Theatre for tackling this almost-lost classic and I can't wait to see it. 7:30 Weeknights except Monday, 3:00pm matinées Saturday and Sunday March 4th-March 12th. For tickets and more info visit http://theatre.osu.edu/boxoffice
On the Edge: Short Plays by Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter. Short North Stage, 1186 N High St. For other theatre nerds, this is a stone delight. Four rarely staged short plays by Samuel Beckett and Harold Pinter staged in the green room of Short North Stage's Garden Theater. The Pinter plays are "Victoria Station", in which a cab driver and his controller argue over a pickup to the titular station, drenched in black humor and, like all Pinter, about far more than it seems on the surface; and "The Collection" about the shifting tectonic plates of an infidelity which has sometimes been seen as a trial run for his more acclaimed Betrayal; and "Night", a sketch about how people fall in love and how it's remembered. The Beckett is "Rockaby", which is a one woman play that serves as a fascinating repetition-driven look at aging. 8:00pm Thursday-Saturday, 2:00pm Sunday, March 5th-March 15th. For tickets and more info visit http://www.shortnorthstage.org/calendar/v/406 Music
March 2: Shilpa Ray. Rumba Cafe, 2507 Summit St. I've been a big fan of Shilpa Ray since she was in Beat the Devil and loved both her records as Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers. But I saw her with her new backing band at Cameo Gallery in Brooklyn last fall and can attest she's found a new level of purity and focus without sacrificing any of the rage or any of the delicious weirdness. At times it harkened back to a knives-sharpened Patsy Cline not unlike Neko Case, at times it conjured mutant disco, and at times it just flat-out rocked. Locals Dana, who I've heard fantastic buzz regarding, open. Doors at 8:00pm. $10 tickets available at Ticketweb.
March 8: Kevin Morby and Ryley Walker. Double Happiness, 482 S Front St. Morby and Walker are two singer-songwriters at the forefront of the latest wave bubbling over the edges of the new weird America. Kevin Morby has a smoother voice and accessible melodies but he never lets go of the mysteries in the song, he's not interested in a perfectly workshopped piece. Ryley Walker mines Bert Jansch-y territory not unlike early Six Organs of Admittance but with classical and jazz inflections that can shift right out of your grip, recalling James Blackshaw one second and his peer William Tyler the next, with riveting arrangements and a subsumed but never gone love of drone. A show on an early Sunday night that's your chance to get clean and reset for the next week. Starts at 8:00pm. $8 tickets available at Ticketfly.
