David Britton curtails comedy tour at Back Door
Bloomington resident David Britton and his colleagues wrapped up the Comedians of the Galaxy tour Saturday night at the Back Door.
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Bloomington resident David Britton and his colleagues wrapped up the Comedians of the Galaxy tour Saturday night at the Back Door.
People collected around Jennifer Mujezinovic’s exhibit at the Fourth Street Festival from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Her tent stood directly in front of Mandalay Restaurant at the center of the festival.
Bloomington utility boxes have recently become a bit more beautiful with collaboration from local artists and community groups.
The art of mask-making is a deep-rooted tradition in human culture. The practice of this art precedes the convenience of ceramics and certain other materials.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Richard Sher stood between the audience and the panelists. “It is wonderful to be back,” he said, referencing his return to Bloomington. “We are just about set to play, but we have one more thing to do. This is a great new room. We know we have the sound mic, but this needs to sound happy, good and fun.” Scher is the host and creator of “Says You!,” a radio game show he has played host to for the last 18 years.“Says You!” travels the country challenging panelists and audiences with “quips and quibbles” concerning word games and brain bogglers. Tickets for the show sold out last Saturday at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. Cheers and applause roared for contributors to the show, the audience, the panelists and Sher.Award-winning quartets from the Jacobs School of Music played both shows. The Kenari Saxophone quartet played Saturday’s show, and Wasmuth String Quartet played Sunday’s show. Both groups played intros and interludes, which allowed panelists to ponder their answers.An encore show was presented Sunday in the music school.The show places an emphasis on humor and though teams are scored, there is no dishonor in losing.Panelists joke with each other as they play the game.The game is divided into rounds. The first round is called “definition and derivation,” wherein the panelists, who are broken into two teams, try to define words or phrases. One question was, “Where does the phrase ‘end of the rope’ come from?” The correct answer turned out to be when a horse was tethered, it would eat all the grass in the circular vicinity of its confinement, and therefore be at “the end of the rope,” trying to reach grass to eat. Other rounds were called “bluff rounds.” In a bluff round, a word is given to the panelists, and one team makes up three different definitions for the word. Only one definition is correct. The team that tried to deceive its opponents defined the word “nibby” as either being a toothless cat, a person who sticks themselves places they should not be and a cloth-covered, Victorian candy given to children and elderly people. A “nosy, over-inquisitive, interfering” person was the correct answer.Stanley Rarick, a Bloomington resident and fan of the show, said the show generally keeps the same panelists and occasionally uses guest members. Panelists all have media-related jobs and are familiar with each other. “You hear these people on the radio and you think, ‘You wouldn’t want to see that person,’ but they’re great.”Guest panelist Miah Michaelsen appeared for the show Sunday. She is Bloomington’s assistant economic director for the arts.She said she was elated to be on “Says You!” in the program brochure because it is better than folding laundry for her husband and two sons.Rarick said he saw the show at the Buskirk-Chumley and in the music school. The show in the music school concluded with the audience and cast singing “(Back Home Again in) Indiana.” Sher said the show would most likely be aired in late May or early June.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Player’s Pub will prepare for a night of diverse musicianship, both local and traveling, on Friday.Rick Fettig will perform for free during the Dew Drop Inn Happy Hour, which begins at 5 p.m. Country vocalist and songwriter Sheila Stephen will perform at 8 p.m., and the cover charge is $5. The final show of the night starts at midnight, and cover charge is $3. The band playing, DELTAnine, is traveling from its hometown of Kenosha, Wis. DELTAnine identifies as an electronica, funk-soul-styled band.Fettig takes his music on the road, traveling to nearby towns like Nashville, Ind., but Player’s Pub is his primary venue. Fettig’s songs tend to be obscure covers of country bands that sing about the unpretentious people who live and toil in the world.“Last year, WFHB celebrated their 20th anniversary, and in January they brought in Jim Hightower,” Fettig said. “And I and my violin player opened up for him, and Jim called it the ‘songs of the people.’”In addition to his musical hobby, Fettig helps maintain buildings around Player’s Pub.Fettig’s next show is with the band called The Ricci’s, which will take place May 11.Stephen, who integrates classic rock with her traditional country style, has had her current band for two years. However, she has been performing since she was 13 years old, having been influenced by her father to pursue her musical talents.“My show is about energy, but I am only a vocalist,” she said. “The musicians I have behind me, we just have a lot of passion. We are all older, but I don’t think you’d know that by watching us.”Stephen has performed as an opening act for many top-name country musicians. A few she named included Waylon Jennings and George Straight.“Over the 30-plus years of having my own band, I have had the fortune to work with some of the greatest country artists,” Stephen said.As local musicians, Fettig and Stephen agree that Player’s Pub is a Bloomington destination for ingenious music demonstrations. Stephen said Player’s Pub gives musicians who may not be from the same musical backgrounds the opportunity to communicate and bond.“Joe has bumped it up a notch musically,” Fettig said. “They cater to the people.”In Stephen’s opinion, Player’s Pub has given many musicians the chance to express themselves, where other venues may sometimes be too restrictive, seeking genres for niche crowds.“The Player’s Pub is one of Bloomington’s best-kept secrets,” Stephen said. “You just feel so warm as an artist and as a performer when you go in there because they are really supporting your craft, and they really support local music.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Comedy acts accompanied the aroma of pizza eaten by patrons Tuesday at Max’s Place, which stages Comic’s Night every other Tuesday.Comic’s Night was originally formed by a man simply known as Tucker, and was later sustained by Kenneth Armstrong and Bob Nugent. Nugent is also a member of the Limestone Comedy Festival, a three-day event staged at multiple Bloomington venues.Comic’s Night shows are laid-back and typically last about an hour and a half. Profanity may be used in good taste, but Armstrong and Nugent respect that Max’s Place is a family-oriented restaurant, and have moved the original starting time of the event from 8 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The later time does not, however, restrict the number or quality of performers brought to play.“We try to keep it around 10 to 12 performers,” Nugent said. “And we usually have a closer, somebody who ends the show that will do more time.”Nugent said auditioning for Comic’s Night is not necessary, as comedians are selected by contacting Nugent.“I generally ask that people perform at the Comedy Attic first,” he said. “For one, here it is not as easy. We are not going to have the size of the crowd they have, and if it is a smaller crowd, it is much harder to make them laugh.”The comedian community in Bloomington is why Comic’s Night exists. For the people who exhibit their acts, the event gives them the opportunity to compete with their fellow comedians. “In Indy, you don’t go to a show and see that guy again and think, ‘I want to do as well as he does,’” Nugent said. “Here, if I see Kenneth do well, I’m like, ‘Wow, I have to write better, because my friend is doing better.’”Nugent and Armstrong agree that the caliber of comedians places like the Comedy Attic bring to Bloomington is high. “Support Bloomington comedy,” Nugent said. “The Bloomington comedy scene right now, I would say is as good as Indy’s, probably as good as Cincinnati’s or Louisville’s.” Laughter for Nugent and Armstrong is essential to being a human being. To them, it is the sheer personification of happiness. So, Comic’s Night is their gift to Bloomington, they said, and they are grateful for Max’s Place giving their group a place to perform.“Everyone is a stand-up comic and been the guy that made everyone laugh,” Armstrong said. “Everybody wants that feeling, but it takes a lot of cojones to really do it on a stage in front of people.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Lexi and the Strangers, a honky-tonk bluegrass band, brought their act to Players Pub on Thursday. Opening the show with “The Mushroom Huntin’ Song,” Lexi Len Minnich asked the audience if they had been mushroom hunting yet this year. She announced she had found 60 morel mushrooms so far.“I am the champion mushroom hunter,” Minnich said, “That’s why I wrote this song.”Susan Thomas, who helps handle the social media aspects of Lexi and the Strangers, said last night’s show was their first time performing in the same venue.“We played with Lexi a couple years now,” Jason Payton said, who plays guitar for Lexi and the Strangers. “This is our first show with Jean. I am producing her upcoming record, so we will play a lot of songs from that.”Lexi and the Strangers have performed in the area for three years now. Last night’s show was their last before preparing for Morel Fest this weekend. The band will release their new album this summer.In addition to original music, Lexi and the Strangers also play some covers from other local bands.“We have one album recorded and mastered,” Minnich said, “I am getting ready to do a Kickstarter campaign to get it printed.”Minnich’s passion for country music was in part passed down through her family.“My dad was a musician,” Minnich said, “Lots of my other family members were musicians.” Her inspiration to perform on stage came at an early age. Surrounded by performing musicians, her singing and guitar acts began at age eight.“I just loved music, and there was always a lot of music around me as a kid,” Minnich said. “I was always marching down to band practice and telling them to give me a mic.”Her current band formed after Minnich played at a party show in Green County, Ind. Her fellow musicians decided to keep a regular band after that.Minnich is a mother of three children, but she said she still finds time to travel the state as a musician. Her five-piece band plays for hire. “We go all over Indiana,” Minnich said. She said she loves performing at the local bars, rodeos and barn dances.“When they put my name on the Bluebird sign I was like, ‘Oh, my god, I am a rock and roller,’ because I am from Bloomington,” Minnich said.The Bloomington audience has been excellent to her band, Minnich said.“I don’t care if I ever get famous because I always play for people that like to hear me,” Minnich said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Daniel Humphrey has played guitar since he was 7 years old. He said his father was a guitar player and once his parents bought him a guitar, the rest was history. The two brothers, Mark and Daniel Humphrey, started the jam rock band 800 lb. Gorilla in 2007.They will play at Players Pub today at midnight. The cover charge is $5.Initially, the band was a three-piece when they formed in 2007. One year ago, Brian Carson and Kwame Newton from the Lonely Women joined 800 lb. Gorilla, making them a four-piece.Once the band made this addition, Mark Humphrey said it found its style. “Since Brian and Kwame joined the band, our direction has gone more toward jam band,” Humphrey said. “Lately, we have really been working the other two members into the equation.”The band is based in Bloomington, but they tour around Indiana. They have also released a self-titled debut album, “800 lb. Gorilla.”One ambition of the band is to release a new album with Carson and Newton, who did not perform on the debut album. Humphrey said they are currently working on recording the new album.“We will probably have something to put in people’s hands by the summer,” he said. Both Humphrey and his brother Daniel have played as paid musicians since they were in middle school.Carson, a sophomore at IU majoring in arts management and current percussionist for 800 lb. Gorilla, recollected how he met Mark and Daniel Humphrey. He said he saw 800 lb. Gorilla perform at Rhino’s Youth Center and was impressed with its show. “A couple weeks later, I was on Craigslist and saw their ad,” Carson said.He responded to the band’s ad for a drummer and later brought Newton into the band with him. “Kwame is really great at incorporating organ sounds and sax,” Humphrey said. “The band is just working out really great for us.”Carson credits house shows for rising popularity of the band in Bloomington. However, he said the band still has its best audience responses from Players Pub, where it frequently plays. In addition to Players Pub, Carson said the band also enjoys playing at the Bluebird Nightclub. “We are trying to play Bloomington more now,” Carson said. Humphrey said the Bloomington community has been a very helpful and friendly place for his band to develop. “Bloomington has been a really great place to have a base,” Humphrey said. “And we have been able to branch out of it as a band and travel.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Progressive black metal band Deschain will debut its new album, “Grit Part I: Vigilance,” live Saturday at the Bishop Bar.The band’s frontman, Bryce Marley, was central to organizing the show, which Deschain will headline.“We did our last CD show with them,” Marley said about the Bishop. “We had a really good turnout.”Eschatos and Lawbringer, also metal bands, will open the show. Marley said his band saw Eschatos play in Kentucky, the band’s home base. “They played a killer set,” he said. “So, we asked them to play with us after that.”Following the two opening bands, Deschain will play its new album in its entirety. The album, which is just more than 36 minutes of recorded genre-blending music, will be sold at the show, but only cash will be accepted.Deschain was formed in Kokomo. When it moved to Bloomington with Marley and a former bandmate, the band chose to take a media angle to appeal to its audience, rather than touring.“We have decided to be active by writing new material, and constantly having it out there for people to listen to online,” Marley said. “Most of our fan base is in the Ukraine.” Marley described his band’s lyrics as a fiction story.“Grit Part I: Vigilance,” is part of a trilogy that takes place in the American West. The band is currently recording the second edition to this trilogy.“It is about an elderly law man who has to come to terms with choosing to be the sum of his actions, or the sum of his ideals,” Marley said.Marley was inspired by Stephen King’s “Dark Tower” series when naming his band. Although none of its music has directly described events from these books, the band chose this name to honor the story, which influenced its lyrical storytelling style. Deschain’s newest album was its first released through a record label, Razed Soul Productions, which is based in Minnesota. Adam Fisk, who performs with Deschain, said the new album has been generating attention. The album can be purchased on the band’s website, deschainmetal.bandcamp.com. The band also has an up-to-date Facebook page for its fans.Patrick Vollmer said since joining Deschain about a year and a half ago, his skills as a guitarist have improved. He said the band has motivated him to learn how to play faster, more complicated music. “We have always tried to write music that is both fun and challenging to play,” Reed said. “I think we have reached that point where we can expand our sound into new territory.”Dean Reed, another member of Deschain, said this is one of the band’s last performances in Bloomington. Several of the band members are moving, but Marley said the band plans to continue recording albums regardless. “It will be a show to remember,” Fisk said, “It should be an exciting event for Bloomington music lovers and Bishop regulars.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Phunk Nasty’s will perform at the Bluebird Nightclub tonight. The show begins 10 p.m., and tickets are $5. Audience members must be at least 21 years old to attend.Marshall Robbins and the Phunk Nasty’s formed about three years ago, and have performed at the Bluebird for the past two years. Dave Kubiak, owner of the Bluebird, said part of what the nightclub looks for on Wednesday nights is an energetic local band.“They always have a good college audience,” Kubiak said, “We are looking forward to having them.”The band is mostly made up of students from Jacobs School of Music. The vocalists for the band are part of a touring a capella group called “Gentleman’s Rule,” which is an offshoot of the group “Straight No Chaser.”Marshall Robbins, founder of the Phunk Nasty’s and senior at IU, said the band formed because of his love for jam-band music. It was during his sophomore year he met the keyboardist, Shawn McGowan. Robbins and McGowan are the only two original members of the band, which started as a funk jam band. Robbins selected the band’s name from the nickname Robbins had given the original bass player. He called him “Phunk Nasty” for his funky style. “We kind of have two bands,” Robbins said, “but we go under the same name. So, the original band was a jam and funk band. We still do that, but tomorrow we are doing the pop set.”For the pop set the band features two additional vocalists, Will Lockhart and Jesse Townes. “We also have a third vocalist, Emily Schultheis,” Robbins said. “She is amazing. She actually won’t be with us tomorrow, because she is auditioning for a musical on Broadway in New York right now.”Robbins said he met Schultheis through the theater program at IU. He met Lockhart and Townes through mutual friends when the vocalists were in need of a band to back them up.“We went from just being a jam-band to adding in the pop sets where we do covers and sing-along songs,” Robbins said, “but we still flip in the jam-band set.”Robbins said the jam-band set plays original music for half the set and cover music for the other half.The pop-set focuses more on cover music, but still incorporates original pieces.“When we do our pop sets we generally play for three straight hours,” Robbins said, “We let everyone get a featured moment.”Among the covers favored by the band’s audience are the songs, “Play That Funky Music,” originally recorded by the band Wild Cherry, “Sweet Home Alabama,” and “Stacy’s Mom.”From the cover band perspective, Robbins said Bloomington has a good audience for his group, and the Bluebird has provided his band with a venue affordable for their audience. The Phunk Nasty’s have also played at the Mousetrap in Indianapolis.A future ambition Robbins has for the band is recording original music for an album. He is not sure where the band will be in the next year and a half, since it is primarily made up of students with various interests, but Robbins hopes to keep the band together somehow. “I’m sure for the rest of my life I’ll be playing these original tunes and the covers we have enjoyed playing,” Robbins said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Bloomington Traditional Singers’ Circle meets every month to sing traditional folk music, often songs that were passed down orally for generations.But last Sunday’s event may have been the last time for the Singer’s Circle to honor those traditions.David Wood, founder of the Singers’ Circle, is moving away from Bloomington to Kansas.“It is only going to keep going if people keep coming to sing,” Wood said.The Circle is made up of a group of people that sings traditional folk music from England, Ireland and Scotland.The group has also incorporated associated traditions, which formed in the United States and Canada, as part of its singing event. They meet on the second Sunday of every month at the Runcible Spoon. The groups are usually small, ranging from two to 10 people, but the public is welcome to listen.Educated as a folklorist, Marge Steiner has been part of the Singers’ Circle since it formed about one year ago. She said she has been coming to the Runcible Spoon since it opened in 1976.“This was always a very congenial place,” Steiner said.She said she came to Bloomington to study folklore, but the quality of life in Bloomington influenced her decision to stay here. “This is home even though I am originally from New York,” she said.Traditionally, the songs sung at the Singers’ Circle were passed down through families orally. With the advent of accessibility to pen and paper, and later digital recording devices, it became easier to archive the music. A Celtic group called Scartaglen, founded near the town where Wood was raised, was an inspirational outlet that motivated Wood while he was studying traditional music.Wood has a diverse musical background and currently serves as a music director for WFIU Public Media and Bloomington’s First United Church. He said he enjoys generating musical experiences that can be appreciated by a broad audience with various musical interests.Traditional music is often folk songs, which have been passed through the generations. The songs are frequently learned by rote, which means the singers commit lyrics and melodies to memory through repetition.The majority of traditional songs sung in the Bloomington Traditional Singers’ Circle are unaccompanied, meaning only one vocalist will recite with no instruments. Wood said the songs that have a long-lasting effect on culture may have collective reasons for still being practiced. Often, he said, these factors are good stories turned into effective lyrics that define a cultural heritage. A deep meaning is often exemplified by a skilled voice and carefully selected lyrics. Many stories tell tales of people’s lives.“It brings people together,” Steiner said. “Many of the themes are timeless, whether it is love or loss or joy. These songs survived because they speak to people even in changing circumstances.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Ivy Tech’s rendition of the Shakespeare’s “Macbeth” will premiere at the John Waldron Arts Center today.A dark tale about murder, power hunger, evil and fortune, as well as the judgment that comes after, “Macbeth” will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. The 19-person cast is mostly made up of Ivy Tech students, but there are also some students from IU. The play will continue through Saturday and again April 17 to 19. Ticket prices are $15 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens.Director Jeffery Allen said he first became professionally acquainted with theater through another work by Shakespeare, “The Tempest.”“I started my career when I was 15,” Allen said. “It was performed in the zoo of all places. So, we were competing with the peacocks for attention. The peacocks won more frequently than we did.”As his career progressed, Allen found himself directing many classic theater plays. His ambitions during his three years of IU residency included helping improve programs at the Center for Lifelong Learning and the John Waldron Arts Center. Allen said the brevity of “Macbeth” allows it to be a good starting point for ambitious actors. However, the stage work required for the play presents a challenge. “It is a non-stop barrage of darkness and violence,” Allen said. “It is not unfair to say that this is a play that shows you evil.”Doug Shields plays one of the murderers Macbeth hires to commit miscreant deeds. “It is pretty brutal,” Shields said.Shields said the play was to be performed for a group of international students on Thursday, in addition to the other scheduled dates for viewing.Despite popular opinion, the character Macbeth is not a man controlled by the supernatural, Allen said. Macbeth’s fate is a series of violent choices, rather than seeds of fortune.Emphasizing the witches of the play, Allen said he incorporated his own personal nightmare about the incarnation of evil. He said he, along with the cast, put effort into exemplifying the blatant evil Shakespeare intended to represent through these characters.“Macbeth is a monster,” Allen said. “He is a man who gives into that which he wants, and that raises a good question for all of us. What stops us?” Rehearsal for this reproduction of “Macbeth” has been occurring since mid-February.“I have been very pleased with the dedication, the attention to detail and the willingness to just keep working,” Allen said of his cast.For Allen, the storytelling of “Macbeth” is not solely entertainment. It is an examination of human conduct, focusing on the drives, compulsions and consequences of a sociopathic murderer.“Art’s greatest role in our culture is to help us with that great ‘why?’” Allen said. “We don’t tell the story of “Macbeth” because we want to glorify a butcher. We tell the story so that we have a better understanding of how butchers come to be, and what we are going to do about one when we encounter one.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As student filmmakers lined up at the front doors of the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, they discussed whose films would be shown. No one knew which of the short films submitted would be featured or which would win awards.An annual event, Campus MovieFest presents five-minute short films created by aspiring IU student filmmakers. It provides students interested in the entertainment industry a chance to experiment, whether they want to learn about the business of making a movie or participating in the actual filming. The event started at 7:30 p.m. and was free of charge.Campus Movie Fest is a nation-wide college competition. According to its website, it began in 2001 and is the world’s largest student film festival.The Top 16 films were shown, and then winners were announced. “Happy To Be” won Best Picture, “Born Again” won Best Drama, “The Rebound!” won Best Comedy and Best Soundtrack and “A Helping Hand” won Best Story.Door prizes included a Harry Potter movie box set, an Alfred Hitchcock movie box set, and a Google Chromecast.IU sophomore Emelie Flower, director of submitted movie “RX,” said creators of winning films sometimes get to present their movies in Hollywood.“Tonight they will show the top 16 films,” Flower said, “Nobody knows what the top 16 are.”Josh Burkholder, lead actor of “RX,” said the movie he acted in was about a group of friends who are dealing a new drug. The drug shows the characters how they will die.Flower said “RX” was partially inspired by real-life experiences with friends.“It is a trip that shows you how you die,” Burkholder said. “Two characters actually kill themselves from taking the drug.”Sixteen featured projects, selected from the works of dozens of local student filmmakers, were presented at the Buskirk-Chumley. The Business Careers in Entertainment Club organized the event. The club at IU is a chapter of the national nonprofit organization Business Careers in Entertainment Association.Founded in 2002, BCEC is dedicated to providing its members with worthwhile opportunities in the entertainment industry by providing them with practical experiences and resources, according to its website.The organization works with both the business and entertainment aspects of the entertainment industry. “It has definitely been beneficial,” Flower said, “I have met new actors and actresses I want to work with.”Flower said a film she was involved with last year took her to Los Angeles after winning Best Drama and Best Actress. Films that win the Best Picture, Best Comedy, and Best Drama will be selected to move on to CMF Hollywood in June 2014 to compete nationally for $20,000 in cash prizes, professional gigs, and industry exposure.Representatives from companies such as Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network, Time Inc. and Atlantic Records are included in the experience. “It is definitely good for networking,” Flower said. “And finding out who is good at directing and who is good at cinematography.”Flower said Campus MovieFest is funded entirely by student organizations. “They give us a camera, a laptop,” said Burkholder. “Campus MovieFest does a really good job of making sure we are given what we need.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Two artists who focus on how struggle and hope are reflected in everyday nature will have their artwork featured on the walls of Blueline Gallery of Media Productions Friday night. Blueline Media Productions will present the works of Danielle Urschel and Alyssa Mahern as part of the Bloomington Gallery Walk. The opening reception is from 5 to 8 p.m. today. The exhibit will remain open until June 1.Urschel said her work is based on themes from everyday life. Both of her series use the seasons to represent her triumph over struggles.“I have a couple series,” she said. “One is kind of based on winter, and how desolate winter is, and it is called ‘Hope and Winter.’”Her other series featured a battle between birds and snakes. Urschel is also a member of the Bloomington Print Collective, a local non-profit print shop that provides services open to the public.Blueline owner Chelsea Sanders said while Urschel’s and Mahern’s artworks both depict nature, their styles differ in some ways. She said they make an excellent exhibition combined.“The way these two artists interact together is really captivating,” Sanders said.Mahern said her family’s support of the arts when she was a child influenced much of her work. When she taught public art to elementary students in Indianapolis, she enjoyed building kids’ confidence in making art. Mahern’s motivation to start painting came in those seven years when she was teaching art to children, but through a gloomier channel.“I began painting after serving as a juror on a murder case,” Mahern said. “It was four days that really had an impact on me.”The trial, she said, gave her a desire to communicate in a different way in order to expand her platforms and depict the humanity of the world.“Even the murderer was very human,” she said. Mahern said she put a lot of time into two particular series she worked on, which are being exhibited at Blueline. One of these, “Looking for a Home,” is a series of five paintings made from photos. “Those moments would have just passed by if I didn’t stop to look at them,” she said of the fleeting landscapes depicted in her art.Both Urschel and Mahern are selling certain works from their exhibitions. Blueline intern and IU senior Erin Ritchie said the Blueline’s new exhibit for Gallery Walk is very colorful. She is glad to be a part of the fusion of arts Blueline accumulates., she added.“There are usually free appetizers and drinks,” she said, “You can just walk around amongst the galleries and stop by each one.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The sounds of swinging mallets clanging on vibraphone bars, the reverberating thrum of bass strings and jazzy vocals will come to Players Pub tonight.Sarah’s Swing Set, a local three-piece jazz band with 11 years of performance experience, will play at 8 p.m. today. Cover charge for the show is $5. A percussionist will join the band.Musicians Sarah Flint and Robert Stright started Sarah’s Swing Set in 2003. Flint and Stright met each other while performing in another jazz group, Stardusters.Ron Kadish, an IU alumnus who plays bass for Sarah’s Swing Set, was added soon after.Flint said one of the attractions of her band’s live show is watching Stright play the vibraphone.“He is amazing to watch,” Flint said. “He has got those mallets flying, and it is a lot more interesting to watch than a piano player.”Flint said her band focuses on music from the American Songbook, which contains music primarily from the 1920s through the 1950s. A self-taught musician, Flint plays guitar, flute, ukulele and percussion, in addition to vocals. She currently instructs guitar and voice lessons in Bloomington and has been teaching music for more than 20 years.Flint has played in several bands of different genres. She also released an album this year with her other band, Hoosier Darling, also called Gozpel Gurlz. She said she does not have to try as hard to get her voice heard in jazz as she did with rock ’n’ roll. Her experiences with different genres do, however, affect her in her jazz singing.“Since I come from such a diverse background, singing hard rock and country, I suppose I might have a different take on the jazz style,” Flint said. “I also scat a little bit.”Scatting is a singing technique used to create a melody with nonsensical words.Sarah’s Swing Set’s live jazz shows sometimes incorporate guest musicians. Among these include guitarist David Gulyas and New York City saxophonist and clarinetist Charles Frommer. “The last few months have been just fantastic,” Flint said. “The crowds were wonderful, and the shows were really great.”Kadish is a versatile bass player. In addition to Sarah’s Swing Set, he has recorded music with John Mellencamp, Jennie DeVoe and Ruthie Allen Lincoln, among many other musicians.“I don’t really have a particular style,” he said. “I have a wide variety of styles that I call from.” Kadish recollected a recent time when Sarah’s Swing Set was scheduled to play at Oliver Winery during a downpour. “I got to the winery fully expecting them to say, ‘Sorry, but its raining too hard,’” he said. “And they didn’t. It was an outside gig.”He said an audience came out, despite the wet weather. Oliver Winery put up awnings for the crowd.“It was a blast,” he said. “Bloomington, where people sit out in the rain and listen to jazz.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Musician Aly Spaltro, otherwise known as Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, began her career in an unusual place — a DVD shop.Spaltro started writing and recording music late at night in Bart’s & Greg’s DVD Explosion in Brunswick, Maine, where she worked. The solo project Lady Lamb the Beekeeper is Spaltro’s brainchild, cultivated and inspired on those late nights after closing up the store.Lady Lamb the Beekeeper will perform at 9 p.m. today at the Bishop. Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door. Audience members must be at least 18 years old to attend.As far as touring goes, Spaltro said, the other musicians are just friends who tour with her to help play the songs as they were recorded.Spaltro has released records under Lady Lamb the Beekeeper since 2007. Last year, the Boston Music Awards presented her with the “Best Boston Artist Who Doesn’t Live In Boston” award.Mackenzie Blake, an IU sophomore and intern for Spirit of ’68 Promotions, said she thinks Spaltro will create an interesting live show.“I listened to some of her stuff,” she said. “It is really raw, and it is almost a little erratic at some points, which I think will make for a really interesting live show.”Spirit of ’68 Promotions, which was founded by Dan Coleman, is designed to bring a diverse crowd of musicians, local and touring, to Bloomington. According to the company’s website, one of their primary objectives is to “bring the music to you, because distance and high gas prices shouldn’t be a barrier to hearing great music.”Lady Lamb the Beekeeper, Blake said, is going to perform a good show because of the intimate setting the Bishop offers coinciding with the rawness of Spaltro’s style.“You can clearly tell she is not holding back,” Blake said.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Local band Charlie Patton’s War will play tonight at the Bishop along with Kentucky Knife Fight and Heather French Henry. Admission is $7, and the show starts at 9:30 p.m.Charlie Patton’s War is a four-piece multi-genre band. The band consists of drums, guitar, vocals and keyboards. Aaron Frazer, the band’s drummer and one of two vocalists, said the band has many different styles.Kyle Houpt, a guitarist for Charlie Patton’s War, said the band focuses on rock ’n’ roll with a nod to American roots music.Charlie Patton’s War formed in 2010. The band members met at the Jacobs School of Music where they were all recording arts majors, Houpt said. The band expanded from a duo consisting of Houpt and Blake Rhein, a guitarist and vocalist for Charlie Patton’s War.Frazer said he has traveled around the country with Charlie Patton’s War. He said the band’s last tour started in Indiana and then went through Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina before returning to Bloomington.He said the key to being on the road is keeping healthy and in a good state of mind. Aside from playing on the road, Charlie Patton’s War frequently plays Bloomington venues, too. “For Bloomington, we try to bring a really tight, special show,” Frazer said, “Our close friends and families are here.”Charlie Patton’s War’s name is a pun taken from the movie title “Charlie Wilson’s War.” Charlie Patton was a blues musician whose stage performances are something the band tries to reflect in their own shows, Frazer said.“Charlie Patton is one of the pioneers of the Delta blues,” Frazer said. “He was known for his performance style, which was pretty ferocious.”Charlie Patton’s War will be playing a few new songs from an unreleased album at tonight’s show.This will be their last show in Bloomington until they return from their next tour, which will take them to the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale, Miss.Frazer said Charlie Patton’s War has played for wide ranges of crowds, from empty rooms to packed houses. He said the band’s energy is undeterred by smaller crowds. “We try to bring a quality live show everytime,” he said.In addition to performing for a recent winter tour, Charlie Patton’s War released their first, self-titled album last year. Houpt said the band is a fan of Heather French Henry, and they are familiar with Kentucky Knife Fight via the Internet. Frazer said Charlie Patton’s War enjoys playing at the Bishop for a variety of reasons, including the fact that the venue does a good job of booking regional bands as well as local bands.“The Bishop is our favorite venue in town,” Frazer said. “It is because they consistently support original, live electric music in Bloomington.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Two local artists have undertaken a project that will serve as a gateway into the Bloomington Entertainment and Arts District for Bloomington’s southside community.(C)olumn will be a 13-foot tall stainless steel configuration of words meant to represent the renewal of the Bloomington area, as well as its history. The words chosen to express Bloomington will come from the community itself, so they will be direct representations of the community’s opinions.In order to accurately reflect the city through words, artists Jon Racek and Jiangmei Wu have requested input from the Bloomington community. Single words or short phrases that best describe Bloomington can be submitted at columnbloomington.com. Submissions will be accepted until April 16.These submissions will then be presented on the website so others can view them, and a number is added next to the word to show how many times each word has been submitted. The parenthesis encapsulating the “C” in (C)olumn characterize the structure’s creative design shape. The project will be formed in the shape of a “C.” This shape will be apparent from a bird’s-eye view, and the structure will expand upward in a cone-like shape, Racek said.In addition, the “C” illustrates some central themes that the words will focus on throughout the art project. The theme of connecting culture and community also plays into the “C” concept of the project’s title. The idea is to connect the cultural and historical aspects with the local renovations of the communal neighborhood that encompasses Second and South Walnut Streets, where the structure will be built, according to the project’s design concept. (C)olumn planners Racek and Wu work as faculty lecturers in IU’s Department of Apparel Merchandising & Interior Design. Wu earned her master of science in interior design as well as a master of fine arts in graphic design from IU. Racek received his master of architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture in 2004. The plan for (C)olumn, which they began brainstorming last summer, is to give community members something to look through and reflect upon when entering and exiting the BEAD district. Racek and Wu said this is their first public art project that has been accepted. “The idea is that you step inside the column and read the words with the city itself as the backdrop,” Racek said.The (C)olumn website asks submitters to describe Bloomington in one word, what they enjoy most about Bloomington, why they love Bloomington and where they like to go in Bloomington. Submissions for each answer are limited to 20 characters.Some of the more recent, common submissions include “home,” “people” and “arts.” Some of the more humorous submissions include “insufficient parking” and “little green place.”Students, local or otherwise, are encouraged to volunteer their own submissions, Wu said.To properly represent a college community, Wu said it must also represent the college students.“Students are an important part of the Bloomington community,” Wu said. “This is not just for long-term Bloomington members. The more ideas we get, the more authentic this project can be.”Rasek said (C)olumn will be created using a high-tech process. “The digital fabrication, I think, is interesting,” Racek said. “We will basically be taking a digital file and sending it to the fabricator, and they will be cutting all the text.” Initially, the structure’s shape will be designed in a 3-D modeling program. From there, the text will overlap the form. A fabricator will use a laser cutter to shape the words from six 5-by-10-foot stainless steel sheets, and will weld and roll the sheets. “We construct it in the 3-D modeling program,” Racek said. “We sort of deconstruct it, flatten it out and then we create it back into 3-D form through the fabrication process. Finally, we will install it onto the site.”Wu said the 3-D modeling program is also useful for making sure the artwork will fit properly and not interfere with traffic.The complete structure will be complete before Wu and Racek install it at its final destination.(C)olumn is expected to be a large, salient landmark, and will be illuminated at night once it is erected.“It will be big,” Racek said. “You know, we are cutting away a lot of material, but it will still be pretty heavy.”BEAD is a downtown cultural hub that comprises a 60-block radius. (C)olumn was proposed to and is funded by Bloomington’s Percentage for the Arts program. (C)olumn is meant to not stand only as a landmark, but also as a lens through which to see certain shops, historical landmarks and neighborhood attractions. Viewers will be able to see Seminary Park and the Chocolate Moose while standing inside the (C)olumn, Wu said. Racek said the structure will be designed so that two or three people can stand in it at a time.“The Chocolate Moose is usually a hotspot for us, especially when you have kids,” Wu said. “And it would be really nice to have a sculpture there for people to explore.”The sculpture that will signal the start of BEAD district has not yet been created. Racek and Wu said that they hope to have the artwork finished in August, and then they will place it on the southwest corner of Second and South Walnut Streets sometime this fall. “I think we approached the public art aspect of the commission in a sort of a different way,” Racek said. “We came up with a method of creating a piece of art, and then rely on the community to add the content.”Racek and Wu both said that they are interested in making future proposals for public art displays after (C)olumn is complete.“I think we are focused on this particular project,” Racek said, “but we will look around for other things when we are finished.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Fresh from the tomb, wrapped in bandages and ready to rock, Here Come the Mummies is playing March 14 at the Bluebird Nightclub. The band from Nashville, Tenn., is touring with its new EP, “A La Mode.”The Bluebird’s doors will open at 8 p.m. and the show is scheduled to start at 9 p.m. Tickets range from $20 to $22 and attendees must be at least 21 years of age.Here Come the Mummies is a band constructed around the concept that the members are actual mummies. They bring a mummified appearance into their live performances, with eight live performers dressed in mummy attire for each show.The band members’ true identities remain shrouded in anonymity. The band members say they are real mummies with musical inclinations. They claim they once toured nomadically as minstrels, and chased women more than three millennia ago.Java, one of the band’s eight live performers, stuck to his story when questioned about the band members’ obscurity. “We were not always anonymous, but it got old explaining to people that we were actually 3,500 years old and had names like Teknet, Horakhty and Sekhmet,” Java said.While the band’s musical influence tends to lean toward funk-induced rock, Java said they sometimes also venture into other styles such as Latin and ska.Beyond dressing like mummies, the band incorporates some dance moves and props into its live performances. The Freak Flag prop routine involves members of the band waving a flag out to the audience.There is also a prop called a “cowbelt,” which is an apparatus members of the band attach around their waists and thrust their hips in a lewd manner in order to play. Essentially this prop keeps beat much in the way a cowbell would.This is not the band’s first time playing at the Bluebird. Java said the band has been filling the local Bloomington bar for years. He described the energy of the venue as being profound due to the intimate nature of the establishment.Here Come the Mummies released its first album in 2002, entitled “Terrifying Funk From Beyond the Grave.” The band tends to write lyrics about adult themes.“Our lyrics tend to be slightly naughty and all about getting it on,” Java said.The band soon made regular appearances on the “Bob & Tom Show,” a radio program for WFBQ Indianapolis. The first time on the show, Java said the band was initially scheduled for just four songs, but by the time they finished, they had played eight.The new EP is free and available on SoundCloud. William Garraty, the band’s manager, said this EP is only the first of a series to come.“We want to give back to the fans that support the band,” he said.