ARTS Pick: The Gina Clowes Project puts modern spin on the banjo

The solid accolades directed at The Gina Clowes Project are the result of the singer-songwriter’s years spent at competitions and gigging with other pros. Well-known in the world of bluegrass, banjoist Clowes’ modern approach reaches to crossover as she pushes mood and emotion through the frets, complemented by her thoughtfully constructed songwriting. Friday, May 11. […]

ARTS Pick: Ani DiFranco loves pushing boundaries

Ani DiFranco feels most comfortable when she’s pushing boundaries. After some downtime following her daughter’s birth, the singer-songwriter/activist/poet/DIY feminist is ready to be back onstage, connecting with like minds and “kicking ass and taking names.” DiFranco’s album Binary was released a year ago, but written before the 2016 election, and its themes are eerily clairvoyant. “I’m […]

ARTS Pick: Jump for Vance Joy

In 2009, James Keogh was a promising player in Australia’s Victorian Football League. He also played music, and, taking an alias from a Peter Carey novel he was reading, put himself into rotation in the Melbourne open mic scene as Vance Joy. He released his indie debut EP, God Loves You When You’re Dancing, in […]

ARTS Pick: Antoine Scott will keep you laughing

If it’s your goal to keep mama happy this Mother’s Day weekend—and it better be—then comedian Antoine Scott has you covered. Scott built a reputation for delivering beyond expectations in comedy clubs around the country. Fans say he leaves them gasping from laughter and they call him one of the funniest raw comics of all […]

The extraordinary works of Megan Elizabeth Read

Perched on a wooden stool inside her McGuffey Art Center studio, Megan Elizabeth “Mae” Read looks around the room at her sketches—a roughly defined nude male figure, a sequence of grayscale charcoal portraits including one of a little girl with butterfly face paint—clustered together near the floor. “You know,” she says before taking a pause, […]

Yessirov lets the songs out on new EP

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? This is something that Jeff Gregerson has thought a lot about as he’s made music throughout his life. Gregerson, 33, played first in high school rock and jam bands, and more recently as one half […]

ARTS Pick: Go along for the entertaining ride in Avenue Q

Part puppet show, part musical, Avenue Q is about a recent college grad named Princeton, who moves into a rundown apartment in New York City. Written by Jeff Marx and Robert Lopez, and based on the book by Jeff Whitty, the audience goes along for the ride as Princeton discovers that his nice neighborhood friends […]

ARTS Pick: Swimming With Bears is a good idea

Alternative four-piece Swimming With Bears is on a mission. The Austin-based group has been tirelessly honing its groovy sound since releasing its self-titled debut EP in 2016. Energy and style, from smooth lead guitar riffs to driven bass lines held steady by slick rhythms, are the keys to SWB’s feel-good soul. The new single “French […]