Arts & Culture

Word Of Mouth 05.25.2013

Rebecca Lavoie — Fri, 24 May 2013 18:51:09 +0000

Our favorite content, all in one spit-polished piece of ear candy.

This week, a program pairs juvenile delinquents with Russian literature, a musician asking NYC commuters what inspires them, a play about traumatic brain injury, Pulitzer Prize winning author Elizabeth, and the healing power of a special horse named Chester.

Traumatic Brain Injury Takes The Stage

Virginia Prescott — Fri, 24 May 2013 14:09:03 +0000

The novelist and former television producer Kate Wenner is the writer behind “Make Sure It’s Me,” a play about five Iraq War veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury and the doctor devoted to helping them. The play is premiering in New Hampshire on June 1^st at Portsmouth’s West End Studio Theatre. Leslie Pasternack is the show’s director – she’s also associate director of “Act One”.

Whitey Bulger: America’s Most Wanted Gangster

Virginia Prescott — Thu, 23 May 2013 18:03:57 +0000

At the time of his capture in 2011, James “Whitey” Bulger was wanted for 19 murders, extortion and loan sharking committed during his reign over Boston’s Irish mob between the 1970s and 1995. During 16 years on the lam, Whitey became the subject of myth; characterized alternately as a “good bad guy”, and, in Martin Scorsese’s 2006 film, The Departed, a venal sociopath.

Shelley Murphy and Kevin Cullen, a pair of Boston Globe journalists have drawn on 25 years of reporting to create a more complete and nuanced portrait of the restless boy from the Boston projects who became the most wanted fugitive of his generation. Tonight, Murphy and Cullen will be at the Red River Theatre for a screening of The Departed and at a pre-screening reception and talk.

Tristan Omand

Zach Nugent — Thu, 23 May 2013 17:20:12 +0000

Tristan Omand, a Manchester based singer-songwriter tells stories of America’s rough edges, his songs tend towards characters who’ve been kicked around by life, their surfaces hardened by booze, women, and lives spent on the road. Last week Tristan came in to play a few songs in Studio D and talk about the characters and stories in his songs.

Life. Support. Music.

Virginia Prescott — Thu, 23 May 2013 15:36:30 +0000

We dug up this interview from 2008 with Jason Crigler, the composer of the musical score for Make Sure it’s Me.

In August of 2004, Jason Crigler, a highly-regarded guitarist, suffered a brain hemorrhage during a gig in New York City. His pregnant wife rushed him to the hospital and got the bad news: doctors told Jason’s family that he might not live through the night, and if he did, little of the Jason they knew would be left.

A Music Workshop With Vinx

Virginia Prescott — Wed, 22 May 2013 18:34:00 +0000

Vinx has performed, recorded and toured as a singer and percussionist with Sting, Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, and many others. As far as we know, he's the only R&B crooners of his caliber currently working and residing in the state of the New Hampshire. This memorial day weekend he’ll be leading Soul Kitchen Volume 29 – that’s three days of collaborative jams and songwriting workshops hosted at Dreamsicle Arts and Entertainment Studios in Suncook Village. But first, we invited Vinx to our Concord studio to tell us a little bit about the event, and maybe even give us a lesson or two.

Remembering Ray Manzarek

Virginia Prescott — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:23:30 +0000

Back in 2010, I interviewed Ray Manzarek, founding member of The Doors. I was sad to hear of his death earlier this week, and went back to listen to that interview...here it is in case you want to hear it, too.

Cathy Grier: Troubador, "Subway Girl"

Virginia Prescott — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:29:45 +0000

While everyone else is going somewhere, musician Cathy Grier is staying still. She's the New York City Subway Girl.

Clamoring For Tolstoy...In Juvie?

Virginia Prescott — Tue, 21 May 2013 14:22:45 +0000

“Books Behind Bars” is program which pairs undergraduates from the University of Virginia with inmates at the Beaumont Juvenile Correctional Center to read classic Russian literature. Prison staff notice a marked change in behavior among inmates who take the class, and researchers have documented similar improvements in decision-making, social skill, and civic engagement among prisoners and undergrads who participate in the class.

The Sketch Book Project

Virginia Prescott — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:16:27 +0000

Artists from one hundred and thirty-five countries have submitted sketches, doodles and ambitious notebook illustrations to The Sketchbook Project, a crowd-sourced art project that’s been exhibiting collective creativity from contributors worldwide since 2006. With more than twenty-seven thousand sketchbooks housed in its Brooklyn Art Library and a trusty mobile library hitting the road for a nation-wide summer tour, Sketchbook’s ever-growing collection of art shows no signs of slowing down; Steven Peterman, founder and director of operations for “The Sketchbook Project”, joins the program to tell us more.

The Routines Of Creative Geniuses

Virginia Prescott — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:12:14 +0000

Hemingway, Darwin, Joyce, Tesla and Picasso were all remarkably different in their temperament and creative output, but they had one thing in common: a successful routine. From Franklin’s solitary nude reading hour to Picasso’s silent lunch gatherings, the outstanding rituals and habits that created genius are as fascinating as they are unexpected. Combing through over 160 accounts of creative minds, Mason Currey’s new book “Daily Rituals: How Artists Work” uncovers the daily almanac of history’s most eccentric, troubled and genius figures. Mason’s writing has appeared in Slate, Print, and Metropolis, where he was an editor for six years.

An Eisner Nomination For A New Hampshire Comic Artist

Brady Carlson — Wed, 15 May 2013 21:44:44 +0000

For filmmakers there’s the Oscars, for children’s authors there’s the Newbury Award, and in the world of comics and comic art, there’s the Eisner Awards, named after legendary artist and author Will Eisner.

This year one of the Eisner nominees for Best Publication for Early Readers up to age 7 is Sara Richard, who lives and works here in New Hampshire. She’s nominated for her book “Kitty and Dino.”

Summer Arts Roundup

Virginia Prescott — Wed, 15 May 2013 19:31:48 +0000

The works of two important Chinese artists, the return of a festival of experimental sound, and a retrospective by a legend of pop art are all on the summer events radar of Michelle Aldredge. She’s a writer and photographer and the creator of the Gwarlingo website and podcast. It’s an online resource for conversations about creativity and finds in the world of contemporary art.

Speaking Up About Violence In A "Forgotten" Country

Brady Carlson — Mon, 13 May 2013 22:00:47 +0000

It may be the largest war in the world that we don’t hear about. The death toll of what is now called the Great War of Africa likely stretches into the millions.

The Rebranding Of Sylvia Plath

Virginia Prescott — Mon, 13 May 2013 19:23:05 +0000

This year marks the 50th anniversary of poet Sylvia Plath’s death by suicide, the singular lens through which many readers and academics have viewed her life, writing, and marriage. Now, a new generation is re-discovering Plath from a fresh perspective, one not colored by her sad and macabre death.