Arts Hound

Cover story: In honor of our Global Weirding issue, Albuquerque artist Jeff Drew created a custom cover illustration for EW featuring marine and terrestrial critters that may fall prey to the effects of climate change: harbor seals, California sea lions, red-eared sliders, western pond turtles, a sperm whale and more. Drew, who works in a distinct collage style, has crafted everything from Beastie Boys posters to covers for the Village Voice and Willamette Week, as well as several for this rag. Find more of his work at jeffdrewpictures.com Continue reading 

New pub and nightclub opening downtown

A new pub and nightclub is set to open downtown this summer in the former space of the Lord Leebrick Theatre Company's administrative office on Broadway.  The space will have two separate entrances and feature a pub and a nightclub, each with its own bar. The owner and operators say they want it to be a community-oriented space with a cozy feel and that it had to be downtown. "My mind kept going to a pub in southwest London," the owner says of the new venue's inspiration. Continue reading 

Country Roots

Singer-songwriter Iris DeMent brings her brand of roots-folk to Cozmic

Iris DeMent

No one has a voice quite like Iris DeMent — an aching, soulful twang reminiscent of a bygone era. “She’s the best singer I’ve ever heard,” Merle Haggard has said of the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter. DeMent has done timeless duets with John Prine and Emmylou Harris, and her songs have graced both the silver and small screens (2010’s True Grit and Northern Exposure). Via email, EW caught up with DeMent, who plays March 29 at Cozmic, to chat about music collaborations,  her music roots and her latest project. Continue reading 

Prepare to be Mesmerized

Harmonic Laboratory and Quixotic Fusion team up for an explosive arts festival at the Hult

Quixotic Fusion’s ‘Gravity of Center’

Sitting on the carpet of the Hult Center lobby on a misty February evening, a group of artists strain to look up at the towering ceiling with its jumble of M.C. Escher-like angles, balconies and staircases. They toss around terms like scrim and pulley and trapeze.  The group decides they want to fasten a net to the wood beams where aerial dancers can twist and twirl. One artist, Mica Thomas, describes the scene as “that big moment that kind of shocks you a bit before the ending.” Continue reading