Ann Wilson on inspiration and ways to agitate

Ann Wilson has been pushing boundaries since the release of Heart’s debut album, Dreamboat Annie, in 1976. Wilson joined the band in the early ’70s at the age of 22, and her younger sister, Nancy, soon followed suit. Between Nancy’s guitar virtuosity and Wilson’s killer vocals, the two changed the face of music, reframing preconceived […]

ARTS Pick: Rugged Arts: Back to School Jam

Remy St. Clair hosts Rugged Arts: Back to School Jam, with DJ Double U on the ones and the twos, at the regular hip-hop series that encourages artists to push themselves and put on entertaining, positive shows. The bill is stacked with up-and-coming local artists, including Waasi, Ade & Tayda, Cassanova and Zeus 4K, winner […]

Nicole Atkins finds a new muse in Rhonda Lee

Like many creatives, psychedelic indie rock songstress Nicole Atkins had to hit rock bottom to rise to a reawakened level of musicianship. Not only did she move from her longtime home along the Jersey Shore to Nashville, Tennessee, but she faced writer’s block, alcoholism and she literally fell into a sinkhole. Atkins, who will perform […]

ARTS Pick: Ku-umba Frank Lacy

Jazz musician Ku-umba Frank Lacy started out on piano at age 8, and 50-plus years later he is the master of multiple instruments, with trombone as his forté. Lacy’s impressive career includes stints as a composer, arranger, vocalist, conductor and physicist, as well as hundreds of collaborations with everyone from Joe Tex in the ’70s […]

Art’s role: Black Lives Matter’s protest alternative

On August 12, when hundreds of white supremacists gathered here for the Unite the Right rally, ostensibly to protest the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue, our city suffered terrible loss. Just a few blocks away from the destruction, Black Lives Matter held an Art in Action event at Champion Brewing Company. Organizer Leslie […]

“Wind River” is uncompromisingly tough

Not a single aspect of Wind River is easy to endure, but every shot, frame, line of dialogue, standoff and underlying theme is indispensable. The film turns every convention on its head in a plot involving a murder on a Native American reservation—the investigation is not depicted as a mystery, but implores both its characters […]

Beginning stages: Five acts making a Lockn’ debut

The Lockn’ Festival returns to Arrington this week, bringing four days of music to Infinity Downs Farm from Thursday through Sunday. The jam-friendly festival is largely returning to its foundational roots, with headlining slots featuring Bob Weir and Phil Lesh of the Grateful Dead, Widespread Panic, The String Cheese Incident and Gov’t Mule, which will […]

Portugal. The Man finds inspiration in the past

The old adage “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes” rings particularly true in 2017. You don’t have to search hard to find parallels between the current sociopolitical landscape and the one that served as a catalyst for the counterculture movement of the 1960s. This observation wasn’t lost on the members of Portugal. The […]

ARTS Pick: Extraordinary Stan Lee

You might know Stan Lee from his countless cameos in blockbuster Marvel movies or from the familiar characters he created (Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, the X-Men and Spider-Man, to name a few). But you’ll really get to know the iconic comic book writer by watching Extraordinary: Stan Lee, a nostalgic look at his life, broadcast […]