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Blissful blues. Sounds like an oxymoron, but that phrase hits at the essence of The California Honeydrops, who take the catharsis of singing the blues to a devil-may-care, happy-go-lucky level. The New Orleans-inspired stylings of the five-piece band from Oakland overflow with unabashed, easygoing joy, or in the spirit of The Big Easy: Laisser les bon temps rouler! Continue reading
Musical institutions too often destroy the very music they prize by refusing to look forward, relying instead on constant rehashing of the greatest hits of earlier decades and centuries. This month brings to town some progressive musicians who are keeping their traditions alive and growing. For example, Brothers Colin and Eric Jacobsen are proving that classical music is no musty museum but rather a living tradition. Continue reading
Abandoned homesteads on plains of matted golden grains. A door’s once glorious enframement, now peeling like an onion, pieces of its papery skin withering at its feet. A pristine cerulean bedroom, empty save for squares of sunlight from a four-pane window. Forgotten houses collapsing under the weight of moss, mold and time. These are the images that photographer Jason Rydquist seeks in his visual exploration, from Michigan to the forsaken corners of Oregon, and they will be on display in his show Retrospect starting March 29 at Sam Bond’s. Continue reading
Eating Jell-O is so passé. At Maude Kerns Art Center, it is art. In its 25th year, the Jell-O Art Show captivates audiences with its jiggling creativity. This time around, the theme for the benefit — hosted by Maude Kerns and Eugene’s Radar Angels — is “iJell-O.” “The iPhone or the iPad is the iJell-O,” says Michael Fisher, the exhibit coordinator at Maude Kerns. “But the artwork doesn’t necessarily have to do with the theme. It can be anything.” Continue reading
Not too long ago, a friend and I had a conversation about how much the societal conflict between the religion he holds dear and the fact that he's gay made him feel like crap for a long time. He said that feeling like he had to choose between two parts of himself that felt equally true was one of the darkest times he's ever had. His happy ending to that conflict, luckily, was meeting a wonderful man who was already connected to a community that embraced them both. Continue reading
Tango is more than simply a dance; it is a means of seduction and romance. And while its origins are rooted in South American culture, the tango has become an international language. Continue reading
Once upon a time, I was an Oz purist. Not for the 1939 movie, though I liked it well enough, but for L. Frank Baum’s books, which I read until they were ragged. The first time I saw the cover of Wicked, Gregory Maguire’s novel about the Wicked Witch of the West, I stopped dead, thinking: One does not do that to Oz. Continue reading
When EW caught up with The Horde & the Harem (THATH)’s Ryan Barber, he was in heaven. Well, at least music heaven for the hip-and-up-and-coming as well as the hip-established: South by Southwest. Continue reading
LA-based Foxygen takes your dad’s classic rock LP collection, consumes it and filters it through their ADHD brains, regurgitating 2012’s Take the Kids Off Broadway or 2013’s We are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace and Magic — big, sloppy, messy records referencing everything from the Rolling Stones to the Kinks to the Mysterions, but with a certain post-vinyl-revival sense of irony; like Brooklyn’s MGMT, they don’t limit their frame of reference to punchy classic rock. Continue reading
There’s a sweetness inherent in the name Bent Knee … a marriage proposal on bent knee, an apology on bent knee, Prince Charming holding the glass slipper on bent knee. But all that sweetness goes out the window when Courtney Swain starts singing “I Don’t Love You Anymore.” Continue reading