#epic love stories postponed to march

[notoriousbeb]

The My Tears Ricochet Deep Dive

While this song obviously has a clear reference to Taylor’s masters being sold to Scooter Braun in November 2019, I don’t think that’s the full story being told here.

When she released Folklore, Taylor shared via Instagram that “My Tears Ricochet” is about an “embittered tormentor showing up at the funeral of his fallen object of obsession.”

Now, why is she fallen? Because her work has been taken from her. Okay, one question answered. ✅

Now, who is the “embittered tormentor obsessed” with Taylor? Scooter Braun, of course…But see, I actually don’t think it’s that simple. I get why that’s the obvious first choice, though.

(Back story for new kids who don’t know why Scoots is trash: In July 2016, Taylor was outcast and called a snake due to a leaked phone call by Kim Kardashian and her then-husband Kanye West. Scooter was Kanye’s manager. Then Kanye put out the video of the song in question from the call—featuring a naked Taylor lookalike. Then Justin Bieber posted that video to Instagram with a photo showing him on a video call with Scooter and Kanye. The caption said, “Taylor Swift what up.” So, they’re all three supreme douche-canoes of the highest order).

However, I think Scooter’s top priority (as always) in buying Taylor’s masters was simply to make money. And if he pissed her off while doing so, that was probably a delightful bonus. But I wouldn’t say he bought her masters because he was obsessed with her. This deal was nearly three years later, and nothing had popped off between the camps in the interim.

I have more on this tormentor/obsessor/muse, concept; but first, back to Folklore. Upon its release, Taylor also revealed in a YouTube livechat that it was the first song she wrote for the album. And that leads me into a bit of timing discussion.

I think Folklore was the result of a few seismic events in Taylor’s life: a run-in with Harry at Ed’s wedding in December 2018 (which I think helped to spawn his second solo album, Fine Line); followed by talking to him during early quarantine in March 2020 in Los Angeles when the Lover tour got postponed and then cancelled; the pandemic itself pushing her, like many of us, into some serious introspection; and, of course, the sale of her masters to Scooter in 2019.

Since this is the very first song Taylor wrote that ended up on Folklore, my speculation is that perhaps it was penned in those first couple of days of the pandemic, before she reconnected with Harry in LA.

Fine Line would have been newly released—just three months prior—and on her birthday no less.

Which leads me back to the tormentor and obsessor. You know what I might find tormenting, if I were Taylor? If I’d been waiting for this one guy to grow the fuck up for years and then (perhaps after we ran into each other at our good friends’ wedding?), he confessed to me that he still wanted me but, even at 25, he still didn’t have his shit together (please see, “Renegade,” “To Be So Lonely,” and “Peter”).

Then, after I piece myself back together following snake gate, some epic twat who bullied me online back then buys my work out from under me from the guy I thought I had a good working relationship with (Scott Borchetta) and while I’m dealing with that bullshit my ex I’m still pining for releases album on my birthday with songs seemingly about us and how he still wants me.

Yeah, that’d have me plenty tormented. And feeling like, since his first album was also quite “a tip of the cap” to me (his words) as well that, yeah, someone was a little obsessed with me.

So, anyway, the lyrics:

We gather here, we line up, weepin' in a sunlit room And if I'm on fire, you'll be made of ashes, too

We open at the funeral Taylor told us about. Then referencing a potential cremation. If she’s burning, so is he. Because they’re twin flames? Because they’re so close?

Even on my worst day, did I deserve, babe All the hell you gave me? 'Cause I loved you, I swear I loved you ‘Til my dying day

Does this sound like someone talking to either a bully or a former business associate? To me it sounds like a very messy, very difficult, former lover.

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace And you're the hero flying around, saving face And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake Cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet

I can see how people could think this was about Scott, but not Scooter. But T herself said this whole thing was about one muse: The embittered obsessor attending her funeral.

Anyway, my take: it’s a lover she couldn’t let go of easily, so it ended messy.

And now he’s out promoting an album full of songs about them, pretending it’s not, because he’s a gentleman. But while he’s acting like she’s nothing to him, they both know what he said to her in private, and what those songs are really about, and no matter how much she cries and waits and wants him to grow up and come get her he just can’t — or won’t.

We gather stones, never knowing what they'll means Some to throw, some to make a diamond ring

This is a Biblical allusion to Ecclesiastes 3:5: “A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing.” I think she’s referring here to an idea revisited again in “loml,” that she thought she’d be safer and maybe get the life she wanted with someone more stable, versus being in a relationship that left her starry eyed, like she was with Harry…and that’s how she wound up with Joe for six years.

You know I didn't want to have to haunt you But what a ghostly scene

Ah, would it really be a Haylor lyric breakdown if we weren’t talking about ghosts and haunting at some point? 👻 They obviously haunt one another because they can’t shut up about each other. (Not that I’m complaining!)

Two Ghosts: “We're just two ghosts swimming in a glass half empty.” ....Ready for it?: “Wonder how many girls he loved and left haunted.” Cardigan: “I knew you'd haunt all of my what-ifs.”

You wear the same jewels that I gave you As you bury me

Even while doing the press for Fine Line, H was wearing her ring. Should we talk some more about the Haylor ring? Or burying and graves? Nah. I think these posts sum it up very well.

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace 'Cause when I'd fight, you used to tell me I was brave And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake Cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet

I think these lines could be a reference both to things he’s said to her and in his songs about her, particularly the pointed ones. “Lights Up,” for one, which to me, reads like an argumentative back-and-forth about why must things change in a relationship against the backdrop of fame. It also seems to include a tie to “Peter” with “I’m never coming back down,” as compared to “I didn’t want to come down.”

And I can go anywhere I want Anywhere I want, just not home And you can aim for my heart, go for blood But you would still miss me in your bones

And where is home in this case—and so many others? Each other.

And I still talk to you When I'm screaming at the sky And when you can't sleep at night You hear my stolen lullabies

I imagine this is her picturing him listening to her old albums, as she hadn’t done her rerecords yet. Also, again, doesn’t this all seem a bit…intimate and dramatic for a business relationship? Like, picture this moment in the Eras Tour in your mind, please, and tell me with a straight face that you’d sing like this for your former boss. It certainly doesn’t seem like anything you’d say to someone like Scooter. Why would she ever want to talk to him at all?

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace And so the battleships will sink beneath the waves You had to kill me, but it killed you just the same Cursing my name, wishing I stayed You turned into your worst fears And you're tossing out blame, drunk on this pain Crossing out the good years And you're cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet

So, this is where we get into the “embittered” part of Taylor’s original description of the song’s muse—the person visiting her funeral. Why is he bitter? Because he lost her. She didn’t stay. Perhaps because his own bad behavior pushed her away. “All the light couldn’t put out the dark running through my heart?” “I know you were way too bright for me. I’m hopeless, broken.” Also, and again, please see, “Renegade,” and “To Be So Lonely,” and “Peter” and also “Chloe or Sam or Sophia or Marcus.”

[trashendence]

Just read this ask and answer and that ‘Buck has no idea the power he holds over Eddie’ hit me like a freight train because it’s such a constant theme.

it’s clear in how Buck is the first person Eddie seeks for advice on Christopher, or Ana, or even Shannon. Buck takes all of it as Eddie simply opening up to him, and he’s glad to be someone Eddie trusts enough to talk about his private life with, but he doesn’t get that Eddie is waiting for Buck’s input on everything. “You’re not gonna say anything?” when Shannon is back is actually “You think I’m fucking it all up?”, “I told my kid to believe in the Easter Bunny but now I gotta tell him none of it is real” is really “Where did I go wrong with that? Should have I been harsher with him?” and all the Ana stuff is self-explanatory.

When Buck tells Eddie he knows what not being loved back feels like, what he’s really saying is, “You’re acting like Abby and that’s not you. I know that’s not you because you would never do that to m- Ana.” And he believes it, really, but he also can’t help but remember how Abby never actually listened to him asking her to come back, she’s never seen how he was waiting for her for months, so why would Eddie, of all people, listen to him?

Except Eddie does, he breaks up with Ana and things between him and Buck- are stilted. And maybe none of them knows who’s supposed to lead now, because Eddie is a mess, traumatized and scared and waiting for something he’s not even sure is there, while Buck has never taken control of anything in his relationships, so he sure as hell won’t start now that Eddie is pulling away and Taylor says she loves him. That wouldn’t be fair.

It’s so beautiful how this whole arc points to Buck being the one who has to take the lead. Break up with Taylor, reconnect with Eddie, help Chimney and Maddie when they finally come back, heal his own wounds.

It’s giving everything.

[positivexcellence]

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After 15 seasons of angels, demons, vampires, werewolves, Scooby-Doo, Hitler, the Titanic and several apocalypses, “Supernatural” is ending in appropriately epic fashion: Sam and Dean Winchester vs. God, for all the marbles.

“How are these two humans going to face off against the ultimate celestial being?” asks Jensen Ackles, who plays Dean on the horror-tinged CW series.

Jared Padalecki, who plays Dean’s younger brother Sam, gives a simple answer: “The way they always have. They just buck up and do it.”

After COVID-19 postponed filming of the last two episodes of its final season, “Supernatural” returns Thursday (8 EDT/PDT) for its last seven hours to deliver a cataclysmic ending for a show and its two monster-hunting siblings that have become a cult hit with a passionate fan base. (The series finale is scheduled for Nov. 19.)

“We reapproach everything and see the culmination of what Sam and Dean have gone through for 15 years and their efficiency at doing just that,” Padalecki says.

“I love the fact that they had us get to the final level and face the big bad,” Ackles adds. It’s “this big, climactic, amazing showdown, but filtered in with them doing what they do best, which is just hunting your run-of-the-mill things that go bump in the night.”

Thursday’s return is a somewhat lighthearted affair: Sam and Dean discover a housekeeping wood nymph named Mrs. Butters (guest star Meagen Fay) in their bunker, and she gives them a taste of all the holidays they’ve missed before things go awry, “Supernatural” style.

“It's easier to come back with an episode like this than something that would be deeply depressing or heavy,” says executive producer Andrew Dabb. “Those episodes are coming.”

The ensuing weeks will see Sam and Dean preparing for a dust-up with the Almighty, aka Chuck (Rob Benedict); the Winchesters searching for God’s sister Amara (Emily Swallow); and a flashback to an early case when the siblings were kids, “which fills in an interesting part of their story but also ties in thematically and emotionally what Sam and Dean will be going (through) in the present day," Dabb says.

He adds that the final round of episodes centers on the climactic face-off and “how do you fight that fight, knowing that God’s keeping you around for some pretty petty manipulative reasons, and he's still trying to puppet-master our guys a little bit. How do you break free from that for hopefully the last time?”

Dabb also promises to reveal "new sides" of key characters like the angel Castiel (Misha Collins), Jack (Alexander Calvert) – the devil's son, who may be the key to defeating God – and Billie (Lisa Berry), the reaper currently holding the position of Death, as well as Chuck and Amara: "As often happens on 'Supernatural,' you may be a big cosmic player, but you still have sibling issues."

In addition to giving proper send-offs, Padalecki reveals that sacrifice –  always a “Supernatural” hallmark – plays a big role, too. “The most inspiring things for me, and for a lot of fans I've met in person, have been the moments where Sam and Dean go through something and then wake up the next day or the day after that or the next week and go, ‘OK. It's time for me to get back at it.’ And there's a lot of that in the final couple of episodes.”

Before they could film those 19th and 20th episodes, the stars were “shoveled back to Austin,” Texas, from Vancouver on March 13 due to COVID-19 and, spending time with their wives and kids, got “a little appetizer” for what life would be like post-“Supernatural,” Padalecki says. (He's starring this season in CW's "Walker," a reboot of 1993-2001 CBS drama "Walker, Texas Ranger" that starred Chuck Norris.)

“The silver lining is that we got to take a break and recharge our batteries,” says Ackles, who calls the penultimate episode a “season finale” and the last a “series finale.” “Certainly the season could have ended after 19 and would have been like, ‘OK, that makes sense.’ But then we come back for one more episode and just knock you straight in the teeth.”

Sam and Dean vs. God: 'Supernatural' returns for a final round of episodes to 'knock you straight in the teeth'

[handsofdarkness]

After The The Aftermath – An Interview With Sharon Den Adel Of Within Temptation

Sharon Den Adel Talks About The Bands Recent Virtual Reality Show, New Album, Tours, And More

Dutch symphonic metal legends Within Temptation have been quite busy as of late. The band recently held an impressive virtual reality stream event, which was unlike anything we’ve seen before. Along with ‘The Aftermath – A Show In A Virtual Reality,’ the band has also released a brand new single, ‘Shed My Skin,” featuring German metalcore act, Annisokay. I caught up with frontwoman Sharon Den Adel, to talk about the recent stream, the new single, and what the band has planned in terms of a new album, and going on tour.

Thanks for speaking with me, Sharon. You’re coming off the release of your event, ‘The Aftermath, A Show In Virtual Reality’, which has been getting a lot of praise. How have you felt about the feedback you’ve been received?

A lot of fans seemed to have liked it. The technology is something new. It’s only the tip of the iceberg that we touched. And it looks a little bit like a game crossed with a music video. It being a show, it did not look as flashy as, say, some of our music videos. Which most people understood, but some didn’t. It’s a new technology after all .I was really happy to see that a lot of people did get the idea behind it, and how we made the show.

The show had to be postponed briefly, and during the filming, did you encounter many technical hurdles?

It was something that we were afraid of that might happen. That was also why the show was prerecorded because we didn’t want to have the show stopped halfway because the data might not have been managed. So that’s why we prerecorded it.

But we still had a lot of technical difficulties because we are pioneering here. After all, it’s a new program. Everybody does it in their own way, and it’s only been out recently. There’s only one other, a Dutch dance event, who did it the way we did as well. And because of so many multi-cameras and all this imagery that’s behind them to canalize the data, it’s a big process. And when something goes wrong, you have to start over again. So there are a lot of technical things that can go wrong, and it takes a lot of time to process.

Fans like to try and immerse themselves as much as they can into streamed content because live shows are something that we all missed, and we miss the feeling of being there. But how difficult is it as a performer to get some of those feelings when there’s no audience to feed off of, and you’re surrounded by green screens?

It’s difficult because you have to really imagine the audience there. But we did have the crew there trying to get me into that vibe, applauding and stuff like that. But it of course, it’s different. I also knew that I had to do it in a very short amount of time. We did it in one day, like the recordings of everyone and all band members.

So it was like, okay, you have one shot, and you better do it well, and immediately go into that vibe as if you are on stage. So you really have to use your imagination a little bit. But I was really happy that people would be watching this, and keeping that in mind is what got me through it.

Something the band is notorious for is performing with these elaborate stage setups, beautiful wardrobes, and stunning visuals. How important was the storytelling aspect of the show, and who came up with the idea of the post-apocalyptic theme?

Robert was really working on that, and I worked with it as well. We’ve seen so many doomsday kind of films over the years. These big, epic movies and stuff. So that was the inspiration, especially coming from a pandemic and talking about where is the world going, and how we living in it.

There was the inspiration from that. It’s something that’s an ongoing process. We also have the Silent Force album; we were inspired very much by that theme, especially because a lot of things were happening in the world at that time as well, as it is now.

How did you go about choosing a setlist for this show? Of course, there was new material, but did you select songs on storytelling aspects to match the overall apocalyptic theme?

Yes, that’s the case because we felt like if you’re telling a story, you need to find the right songs to back it up and give that atmosphere. It also helped that we’ve also had a lot of songs in the past touching this theme. I think it’s also nice for the ones who bought a tickets to see some older songs. Songs that we haven’t played for a long time, like for instance, ‘Forsaken’, which is really an old and golden song from the Silent Force album.

Fans were greeted with many surprises and big moments, but personally for you, what was your favorite moment from the show? And what song did you enjoy playing the most?

The song that registers for me is ‘Shed My Skin”. For the vocal nerd that I am, it’s nice to go from really high to really low. And it’s a real challenge for a singer. So I was really happy to put that song in the setlist.

And very well done too! It was great to see Tarja again; what was it like working with her and getting her to make an appearance for the event?

We always keep in contact with each other, and it’s always an easy connection to make with each other. And we’ve always worked really well with each other, and it’s always fun to work with her. She’s somebody who goes really for the music and is passionate about it. It’s really nice working with her, always.

I’ve always had contact with her throughout the year, and it’s always great, but this time it was not face-to-face. We had a camera crew go to Spain so she could be recorded there. She was very busy with a lot of other stuff as well. So that was the best way to record her live.

Speaking of collaborations, your most recent single, which we’ve talked about, ‘Shed My Skin,’ has a bit of a metalcore twist, and you appropriately collaborated with metalcore act, Annisokay for the song. How did the collaboration come about? And did you specifically write this song for the collaboration?

It’s more that we are always interested in bands who are new and who bring a new sound to the scene. This was a sound we’ve never noticed before. Not for Annisokay, but the metalcore scene was just something that we didn’t listen to much. So for us, it was kind of a new sound with a new vibe, and one of the bands that we like was Annisokay.

And we felt like, okay, let’s approach them and see if they are interested in doing a song with us. And we had already written it. Everything was finished, but they were able to do their own interpretation, but they stayed close to what we had written. It was really fun to work with them.

They are very talented guys, they are very melodic with their music and that’s something that we always like as well. Because we wanted to bring something heavy with the guitars and everything in the music, but we also wanted to bring out a lot of melodies, and that’s something that they do with metalcore.

So we wrote the music and thought it would be cool to approach a band that comes from that scene. And they were our favorites, so we called them and they were really cool and very down to earth and easy people to work with. So yeah, I was happy to meet them and work with them.

Do you enjoy working with other styles of metal and sub-genres, and do you think you’ll do more in the future?

We’ve always done that throughout the years. I think we’re a typical kind of band who likes orchestras and epic kinds of sounds. Throughout our career, we have worked with so many different people. Mina Caputo of Life of Agony, Papa Roach, and some Polish artists. It’s not always people that everybody knows. Sometimes it’s a singer-songwriter, sometimes it’s from totally different kinds of genres that people would not expect from us. But it’s just that some people you really admire or a style that you think is so beautiful that you want to integrate it into your own music. And we’ve always done that in our own way.

Do you plan on releasing any more new music this year, and when can we expect a new album?

We are planning to do maybe one more song this year if things turn out the way we want them to. And, hopefully, at the end of next year, we have a new album out, so we’re working hard trying to manage everything that we have in mind and trying to release new singles every few months. That’s a new idea that we want to try, releasing a new song every three or four months. And so far, we have managed to do that. We’ll see if we can keep it up. You also need to have the right inspiration, of course, to write new stuff.

Are there any shows that you’ll be playing during the festival season?

We’re going to Finland next week, so I’m looking forward to that stuff first, and it’s the only summer festival this year, unfortunately. We also have one in October, which is in the Netherlands, which is also a big festival. I’m looking forward to that as well. But I’m wondering if it will be able to take place because a lot of festivals in the Netherlands have been canceled because of COVID again, unfortunately.

Otherwise, it’s just the shows that we have with Evanescence on the ‘When Worlds Collide” tour, which starts in March and in April. We also have some Russian shows in February, but we have to see how this pandemic is going to go, and where it’s gonna go.

I was just about to bring up the ‘When Worlds Collide’ tour with Evanescence. Do you think that any time in the future we might see a North American tour as well?

I hope so. I think that it’s something that’s on our list, but we don’t know when we’re going to go, because we did have some things cooking, but then the whole pandemic started. We still have to catch up with all these tours that are planed. All the tours and the festivals that we have planed are going to continue and hopefully, after that will be, we will come your way.

We would love to have you guys here. We’re really excited for the upcoming single and the ‘When Wolrds Collide tour,” Which I think is going to happen because everything is opening back up. I just shot my first huge festival here. I travel all over, and there are festivals opening up all over here. So I think that we will be the world stage in seeing how things go in terms of these big festivals if they continue or get postponed due to COVID.

Yeah, I totally understand. And I would love to come to America again, it’s been a while!

We can’t wait to have you guys here, and thank you for speaking with me, Sharon, do you have anything else that you would like to add or say to the fans?

Thank for you the interview, it’s nice to give everyone an update on how were doing here in Europe, and we hope to come your way soon!

[black-arcana]

After The The Aftermath – An Interview With Sharon Den Adel Of Within Temptation

Sharon Den Adel Talks About The Bands Recent Virtual Reality Show, New Album, Tours, And More

Dutch symphonic metal legends Within Temptation have been quite busy as of late. The band recently held an impressive virtual reality stream event, which was unlike anything we’ve seen before. Along with ‘The Aftermath – A Show In A Virtual Reality,’ the band has also released a brand new single, ‘Shed My Skin,” featuring German metalcore act, Annisokay. I caught up with frontwoman Sharon Den Adel, to talk about the recent stream, the new single, and what the band has planned in terms of a new album, and going on tour.

Thanks for speaking with me, Sharon. You’re coming off the release of your event, ‘The Aftermath, A Show In Virtual Reality’, which has been getting a lot of praise. How have you felt about the feedback you’ve been received?

A lot of fans seemed to have liked it. The technology is something new. It’s only the tip of the iceberg that we touched. And it looks a little bit like a game crossed with a music video. It being a show, it did not look as flashy as, say, some of our music videos. Which most people understood, but some didn’t. It’s a new technology after all .I was really happy to see that a lot of people did get the idea behind it, and how we made the show.

The show had to be postponed briefly, and during the filming, did you encounter many technical hurdles?

It was something that we were afraid of that might happen. That was also why the show was prerecorded because we didn’t want to have the show stopped halfway because the data might not have been managed. So that’s why we prerecorded it.

But we still had a lot of technical difficulties because we are pioneering here. After all, it’s a new program. Everybody does it in their own way, and it’s only been out recently. There’s only one other, a Dutch dance event, who did it the way we did as well. And because of so many multi-cameras and all this imagery that’s behind them to canalize the data, it’s a big process. And when something goes wrong, you have to start over again. So there are a lot of technical things that can go wrong, and it takes a lot of time to process.

Fans like to try and immerse themselves as much as they can into streamed content because live shows are something that we all missed, and we miss the feeling of being there. But how difficult is it as a performer to get some of those feelings when there’s no audience to feed off of, and you’re surrounded by green screens?

It’s difficult because you have to really imagine the audience there. But we did have the crew there trying to get me into that vibe, applauding and stuff like that. But it of course, it’s different. I also knew that I had to do it in a very short amount of time. We did it in one day, like the recordings of everyone and all band members.

So it was like, okay, you have one shot, and you better do it well, and immediately go into that vibe as if you are on stage. So you really have to use your imagination a little bit. But I was really happy that people would be watching this, and keeping that in mind is what got me through it.

Something the band is notorious for is performing with these elaborate stage setups, beautiful wardrobes, and stunning visuals. How important was the storytelling aspect of the show, and who came up with the idea of the post-apocalyptic theme?

Robert was really working on that, and I worked with it as well. We’ve seen so many doomsday kind of films over the years. These big, epic movies and stuff. So that was the inspiration, especially coming from a pandemic and talking about where is the world going, and how we living in it.

There was the inspiration from that. It’s something that’s an ongoing process. We also have the Silent Force album; we were inspired very much by that theme, especially because a lot of things were happening in the world at that time as well, as it is now.

How did you go about choosing a setlist for this show? Of course, there was new material, but did you select songs on storytelling aspects to match the overall apocalyptic theme?

Yes, that’s the case because we felt like if you’re telling a story, you need to find the right songs to back it up and give that atmosphere. It also helped that we’ve also had a lot of songs in the past touching this theme. I think it’s also nice for the ones who bought a tickets to see some older songs. Songs that we haven’t played for a long time, like for instance, ‘Forsaken’, which is really an old and golden song from the Silent Force album.

Fans were greeted with many surprises and big moments, but personally for you, what was your favorite moment from the show? And what song did you enjoy playing the most?

The song that registers for me is ‘Shed My Skin”. For the vocal nerd that I am, it’s nice to go from really high to really low. And it’s a real challenge for a singer. So I was really happy to put that song in the setlist.

And very well done too! It was great to see Tarja again; what was it like working with her and getting her to make an appearance for the event?

We always keep in contact with each other, and it’s always an easy connection to make with each other. And we’ve always worked really well with each other, and it’s always fun to work with her. She’s somebody who goes really for the music and is passionate about it. It’s really nice working with her, always.

I’ve always had contact with her throughout the year, and it’s always great, but this time it was not face-to-face. We had a camera crew go to Spain so she could be recorded there. She was very busy with a lot of other stuff as well. So that was the best way to record her live.

Speaking of collaborations, your most recent single, which we’ve talked about, ‘Shed My Skin,’ has a bit of a metalcore twist, and you appropriately collaborated with metalcore act, Annisokay for the song. How did the collaboration come about? And did you specifically write this song for the collaboration?

It’s more that we are always interested in bands who are new and who bring a new sound to the scene. This was a sound we’ve never noticed before. Not for Annisokay, but the metalcore scene was just something that we didn’t listen to much. So for us, it was kind of a new sound with a new vibe, and one of the bands that we like was Annisokay.

And we felt like, okay, let’s approach them and see if they are interested in doing a song with us. And we had already written it. Everything was finished, but they were able to do their own interpretation, but they stayed close to what we had written. It was really fun to work with them.

They are very talented guys, they are very melodic with their music and that’s something that we always like as well. Because we wanted to bring something heavy with the guitars and everything in the music, but we also wanted to bring out a lot of melodies, and that’s something that they do with metalcore.

So we wrote the music and thought it would be cool to approach a band that comes from that scene. And they were our favorites, so we called them and they were really cool and very down to earth and easy people to work with. So yeah, I was happy to meet them and work with them.

Do you enjoy working with other styles of metal and sub-genres, and do you think you’ll do more in the future?

We’ve always done that throughout the years. I think we’re a typical kind of band who likes orchestras and epic kinds of sounds. Throughout our career, we have worked with so many different people. Mina Caputo of Life of Agony, Papa Roach, and some Polish artists. It’s not always people that everybody knows. Sometimes it’s a singer-songwriter, sometimes it’s from totally different kinds of genres that people would not expect from us. But it’s just that some people you really admire or a style that you think is so beautiful that you want to integrate it into your own music. And we’ve always done that in our own way.

Do you plan on releasing any more new music this year, and when can we expect a new album?

We are planning to do maybe one more song this year if things turn out the way we want them to. And, hopefully, at the end of next year, we have a new album out, so we’re working hard trying to manage everything that we have in mind and trying to release new singles every few months. That’s a new idea that we want to try, releasing a new song every three or four months. And so far, we have managed to do that. We’ll see if we can keep it up. You also need to have the right inspiration, of course, to write new stuff.

Are there any shows that you’ll be playing during the festival season?

We’re going to Finland next week, so I’m looking forward to that stuff first, and it’s the only summer festival this year, unfortunately. We also have one in October, which is in the Netherlands, which is also a big festival. I’m looking forward to that as well. But I’m wondering if it will be able to take place because a lot of festivals in the Netherlands have been canceled because of COVID again, unfortunately.

Otherwise, it’s just the shows that we have with Evanescence on the ‘When Worlds Collide” tour, which starts in March and in April. We also have some Russian shows in February, but we have to see how this pandemic is going to go, and where it’s gonna go.

I was just about to bring up the ‘When Worlds Collide’ tour with Evanescence. Do you think that any time in the future we might see a North American tour as well?

I hope so. I think that it’s something that’s on our list, but we don’t know when we’re going to go, because we did have some things cooking, but then the whole pandemic started. We still have to catch up with all these tours that are planed. All the tours and the festivals that we have planed are going to continue and hopefully, after that will be, we will come your way.

We would love to have you guys here. We’re really excited for the upcoming single and the ‘When Wolrds Collide tour,” Which I think is going to happen because everything is opening back up. I just shot my first huge festival here. I travel all over, and there are festivals opening up all over here. So I think that we will be the world stage in seeing how things go in terms of these big festivals if they continue or get postponed due to COVID.

Yeah, I totally understand. And I would love to come to America again, it’s been a while!

We can’t wait to have you guys here, and thank you for speaking with me, Sharon, do you have anything else that you would like to add or say to the fans?

More Within Temptation

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[yesthatssadirichardslove]

'Dune, 'Licorice Pizza' and 'West Side Story' top Hollywood guild noms

LOS ANGELES

Sci-fi epic "Dune," coming-of-age drama "Licorice Pizza" and musical remake "West Side Story" received major boosts in Hollywood's awards season race Thursday as several of the film industry's top guilds unveiled their nominees.

The movies earned nods from Tinseltown's directors', producers' and writers' unions, putting then in contention alongside presumed early Oscars frontrunners "Belfast" and "The Power of the Dog" -- which also secured multiple nominations.

But hopes that mainstream crowdpleasers such as superhero blockbuster "Spider-Man: No Way Home" or 007 installment "No Time To Die" might enter the awards race were thwarted.

Hollywood's guilds each host their own annual ceremonies to honor the year's best films ahead of the season-capping Academy Awards.

The guild awards are often considered bellwethers for the Oscars and, by coincidence this year, Academy members also began voting for their own nominees on Thursday.

The Directors Guild of America's top award-winner in particular has a strong track record of predicting the Oscar for best director -- the same victor has been selected for both prizes on 16 of the last 18 years.

This year, the DGA shortlisted Kenneth Branagh for "Belfast," Jane Campion for "The Power of the Dog," Denis Villeneuve for "Dune," Paul Thomas Anderson for "Licorice Pizza" and Steven Spielberg for "West Side Story."

Those same five films also featured in the 10-strong shortlist unveiled by the Producers Guild of America on Thursday.

There has only been one best picture Oscar winner in the 31 years of the PGAs which did not start off with a nomination from Hollywood's producers -- "Braveheart" in 1996.

Notably absent from any of Thursday's nominations were Joel Coen's "The Tragedy of Macbeth" and Ridley Scott's "House of Gucci."

Thursday's nominations provided a particular boost to films such as "Dune," a star-studded adaptation of Frank Herbert's sprawling novel set on a desert planet plagued by monstrous sandworms.

"Dune" had failed to land any major nominations from the Screen Actors Guild earlier this month.

"Licorice Pizza," a nostalgic 1970s love letter to Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley, and "West Side Story" had also missed out in the leading SAG categories.

The Writers Guild of America announced its own nominees Thursday, again including "Dune," "Licorice Pizza" and "West Side Story."

"Belfast," which captures the outbreak of violence in 1969 Northern Ireland from a child's perspective, and "The Power of the Dog," a gothic Western set in 1920s Montana, were not eligible under the WGA's rules, but have scored strongly in nearly all other nominations.

This year's awards season has been elongated after the Oscars were pushed back to March 27, reportedly to avoid clashing with February's Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl in Los Angeles.

Several other awards shows were also postponed due to the surge in coronavirus cases sparked by the highly contagious Omicron variant.

[dottodotfestival]

DOT TO DOT FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES ARTISTS FOR FIRST EVER AUTUMN EDITION OF THE MULTI-VENUE FESTIVAL

Tickets for Dot To Dot are priced from £25 and available now through alt. tickets!*

Dot To Dot Festival have announced the first artists to join the bill for their 2021 event, this year taking place in September; the first autumn event in the 16 year history of the award-winning festival with a reputation for bringing the hottest new talent to city-centre stages.

This year’s event continues Dot To Dot’s rich tradition of championing emerging talent, with the announcement that SPORTS TEAM will headline the festival in Bristol and Nottingham on the 25th and 26th of September respectively. Since last playing mid-way down the D2D bill in 2018, followed by a breakout 2019 for the 6-piece band, Sports Team have garnered an unparalleled reputation for excellent live shows that are guaranteed to be injected with raw energy. Their consistency in both performances and releases, have also earnt them a high standing as one of the best British bands right now, championed by the likes of DIY, 6 Music, NME and many more. 2020 saw the band release their debut album, Deep Down Happy, to much critical acclaim and a Mercury Prize nomination.

Frontman Alex Rice said: “Can’t wait to be back, this’ll be the first time we’ve played our debut album since it was released in 2020. A two night inter-city headline feels the right way to dip our toes back in.”

Joining Sports Team for D2D’s 2021 edition, are British alternative rock band, PALACE. With two albums under their belt and sold out tours at home & abroad, the London trio will be bringing their revered, shimmering indie rock to D2D. Their anticipated latest EP Someday, Somewhere was released in October and builds on the beautiful sound and image they have curated over the previous 6 years, lending promise to atmospheric live performances ahead.

Dublin 4-piece GIRL BAND will also be showcasing their tremendous live reputation in Bristol and Nottingham this September. Highly regarded and renowned for their genre-defying cataclysmic noise and infamously ferocious shows, a taste of which can be heard on their 2020 Live at Vicar Street release, but will really need to be seen first-hand to be believed.

DO NOTHING return to Dot To Dot Festival for 2021. Since emerging through 2018 & 2019, and with debut EP Zero Dollar Bill released in 2020, the Nottingham band have fast become one of the UK music scene’s most exciting prospects; with frontman Chris Bailey’s acerbic & quick-witted lyricism, their driven post-punk-meets-Talking-Heads sound, and a formidable reputation for exquisite live shows. 2021 has already seen the 4-piece release 2 singles in anticipation of their second EP, Glueland, expected March 12th.

Elsewhere on the D2D 2021 line up is genre-bending rap artist, SAM WISE. A member of cult London rap crew, House of Pharaohs, who name Frank Ocean among their fans. The Kennington native has also notably featured on tracks by the likes of Octavian, winner of BBC Sound of 2019, as well as building a solid reputation that is entirely his own through the release of his mixtape, Sorry You Were Saying, showcasing his witty storytelling, impeccable flows and fluid approach to genre and tone.

South-East London collective STEAM DOWN will bring their energetic live show to Bristol and Nottingham. Since forming back in 2007, Steam Down have received two Jazz FM awards, which include ‘Live Experience of the Year Award’ and ‘The Innovation Award’; accolades that clearly emphasise the impact and importance they’ve had on the UK’s flourishing jazz scene throughout the decade.

OSCAR LANG will bring his ever-growing, genre-crossing back catalogue to Bristol and Nottingham this autumn, showing no sign of slowing down following the release of two EPs and one album in 2020. Also fresh from a new release; their debut album, Speed Kills, London’s loudest breakout band CHUBBY AND THE GANG are certain to make an impression at Dot To Dot this year, if the 28 minutes of the album itself are anything to go by. The unruly punk energy and hardcore kid sensibilities displayed throughout the record are guaranteed mosh pit starters that will have crowds spilling pints and screaming gang vocals back at them.

Also on board are minimalist rock band YARD ACT who have been gradually dropping proto-punk/post-punk infused singles since mid-2020, with just a handful of singles and a handful of gigs, they have already earned themselves a tip as “one to watch” from The Guardian back in August. Likewise, self-described ‘dream pop trip hop’ three-piece, DRUG STORE ROMEOS’ appearance at Dot To Dot will certainly be one to catch, after being named for Annie Mac’s AMP London emerging artist series in 2020 and generating further buzz with the release of three singles during the year.

Singer-songwriter AARON SMITH has amassed 8 million+ Spotify streams of his sincere and communicative songs since growing up in the small Scottish town of Polmont, and joins the Dot To Dot bill, as does Birmingham-based rapper KOFI STONE, whose debut album, released in 2019, included features from Loyle Carner, Maverick Sabre and Ady Suleiman, and saw him truly arrive as one of the most exciting rappers on the UK hip-hop scene, thanks to his soulful and introspective flow. New Zealander MOLLY PAYTON will bring her powerful voice and the melancholic vulnerability of her songs to the festival; a relative newcomer, Payton released several attention-grabbing singles throughout 2020, culminating in two EPs. 

British R&B and trap artist S-X is set to perform, having released an impressive three LPs since 2018, as well as gaining notoriety through working with numerous artists as a record producer, including YouTube star KSI, who he occasionally joins on Celebrity Gogglebox, and with a debut album on the way LOW ISLAND will be at Dot To Dot this September, bringing both uplifting electronica and intimate ballads to crowds at the multi-venue metropolitan festival.

Dot To Dot Festival prides itself on seeking out the freshest emerging musical talent and 2021 is no exception, particularly with the appointment of Sports Team as headliners, a mere 3 years since they first played the festival. Dot To Dot organiser and Director of Live at DHP Family, Anton Lockwood, said: “After having to postpone our 2020 event, we couldn’t be happier to be announcing D2D 2021. We simply can’t wait to celebrate live music with some of the most exciting emerging acts this year – Dot To Dot has always been about seeing your new favourite band in the middle of the day and your favourite band as headliners. We’re sure Sports Team became a lot of people’s new favourite band when they played in a late afternoon, smaller stage slot 3 years ago, and having them as headliners now really demonstrates this approach and ethos.”

Completing the bill so far, and filling some of those smaller stage slots that this year’s headliners have graced in the past, are: Bristol-based, queer punk-trio, GRANDMAS HOUSE who combine a love of post-punk with surfy melodies; the unconventional songwriting and pop-leaning sensibilities of MOA MOA; Manchester-based post-punk trio LIINES; WALT DISCO, who draw influence from ‘80s post-punk legends and modern-day art-pop chic; The sweet bedroom pop of 18 year old TINYUMBRELLAS; Crouch End quintet, SAD BOYS CLUB, with their emotive and ambitious indie-pop sound; JOEY MAXWELL, whose bedroom pop is R&B infused and layered with blunt lyricism; Space-rock five-piece, finding romance and humour in everyday life, JUNODREAM; LIZZIE REID and her songs of love, loss and heartbreak from Glasgow; the atmospheric soundscapes of epic proportions created by ELLYSSE MASON; the amorphous creative entity that is FOLLY GROUP, encompassing a group of friends whose practice spans various disciplines; Full-time busker turned indie tastemaker favourite, TAYO SOUND; the macabre stories, told over ear shredding guitar and rattling drums of WYCH ELM; Plus many more still to be announced.

Tickets for Dot To Dot are priced from £25 and available now through alt. tickets: https://bit.ly/3syZyKX

*Subject to Site Permissions and Licensing

With the announcement of the government’s roadmap detailing plans to lift social distancing restrictions by 21 June, we are so excited to be able to bring D2D back to the streets of Bristol and Nottingham in September this year. We’ll be working really hard to ensure we can deliver the Dot To Dot that we all know and love in the most safe and enjoyable way possible. Should there be any changes to government guidelines which cause us to reschedule or postpone the festival, rest assured your tickets will be valid for the new date or refunds will be available.

Subscribe to Dot To Dot’s social media pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, as well as online at www.dottodotfestival.co.uk to stay up to date on the latest line up announcements and to keep yourself in the loop for all things Dot To Dot.            

[independentartistbuzz]

Good News, Good Music 2.0

In this second installment of Good News, Good Music we continue to delight you with all of the positive responses we have received for our partnership with our friends at Cyber PR Music. Without further adieu, we bring you part 2 (hey, that rhymes!)

Please Follow the Spotify Playlist below to hear all of these amazing tracks.

Thanks to all of the artists who shared their music AND their good news.

Matt Charleston | “Painted Roses (On My Sleeve)”

Completed His debut With 55 Upcoming Artists & Producers

Throughout 2020 I worked on and completed my debut album with 55 nationwide upcoming artists and producers. Releases New Year’s Day!

Halvdan Presthus | “By the Seaside”

Used The Lockdown Time Strengthen & Launch A Website

As a Norwegian songwriter I released my first single in 2019, after deciding to make music full time. I started by booking several concerts with my folk-group, before the Epidemic hit. Since then, I have tried to write and record new songs to prepare for a change for the better as a musician. I’m glad to share that I have launched a new website. Believing that working together we can, through hard work,-reach a new creative power to develop new strong human music.

I found these words of wisdom that might inspire some creative people:

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours..” - H.D.Thoreau

Will Kreth, Founder MediaGroove Label | “Isolation Compiation - Pt. 1″

Released “Isolation Compilation - Pt. 1” Thanks To A Successful Kickstarter Campaign

My “good news / good music” story is that my indie label (MediaGroove) released a compilation album this year - really against the odds - because there were so many unfinished tracks when we started. In December 2019, my label raised money on Kickstarter for a full album by one of our artists, but when the pandemic and lockdown hit - it was damn impossible to wrangle all the tracks into completion. So, we decided to put out a compilation EP of a handful of different artists instead, with songs that only needed editing, mixing and mastering - not full "construction and renovation." MediaGroove’s “Isolation Compilation - Pt. 1” was released October 23rd. I learned a lot in producing and releasing this EP.  For instance, how Spotify doesn’t let you promote / pitch songs from a compilation for advance playlisting!   That was an eye-opener and a bit of a rude awakening. 

Calvin & The Coal Cars | “Wayward Daughter”

Did A Drive-In Show For 300 Paid Attendees, NPR & Magazine Interview

We are a country/Americana band out in Montana called Calvin and the Coal Cars. Our debut album release show was scheduled for March 21, 2020 and was looking like it was about to sell out at The Pub Station in Billings. However, six days before the show it was postponed indefinitely. Despite the obvious drawbacks, we have kept a bit of our momentum. We immediately scheduled a Facebook Live show that was streamed on a couple other platforms, and because of our quick action we got an interview on NPR (our first on terrestrial radio). We also produced a Drive In show that was a great success. We had nearly 300 paid attendees and hired a production company that was able to project our band on the big screen, with 4 camera operators. That show ended up getting our first magazine interview. We also used the time to record our follow up album, The Greatest Hits Vol II, which we plan to release March 21, 2021. So while times are tough, we’ve managed to keep creating.

Shaka Banton | “WE ARE the Ones”

Wrote & Released A Dedication To Jacob Blake Who Was Shot 7 times In His Back

This song touched me deeply because of all the non equality for some people I dedicated this song to that and Jacob Blake who was shot 7 times in his back, at that point enough is enough, and as an artist I had to say something. I said I want this song to really sink in and touch the hearts of people to wanna make change in the world. I can't lie, producing this song brought a tear to my eyes because I couldn't wait for the message to be heard. We are the ones, the hook came to me super fast I knew right then that the message would have to be heard.Being African in America is not easy you have to go 10x harder then others to be recognized but where there's a will there's a way, a passion that can't be turned off by anyone.

Tiger Scientist & MJ Raven | “When”

Helping People Cope With Anxiety Through Music 

Boy was it a year, but I'm thankful for the hard truths it made me confront and the growth that came from that. It also allowed my wife and I to finally begin our long-talked-about music project, an epic 5 EP cycle about coping with anxiety and development in the modern age. The first EP comes out in January and the first single is out now, called "When." It's an epic journey through the mind and learning we can be stronger than our anxiety attacks.

Linc Bradham | “The Darkest of Nights”

An Arabic Linguist Serving In The US Army Is Shifting Military Careers

My audio engineer who is also my good friend and I have been working weekly towards me switching careers as an Arabic linguist in the Army into the Army Band as a production engineer. He and I have been working together musically for years and met by chance at a show here in DC! He mixed and mastered my first EP that came out in September and my single Shine which released on 15 December.  Years after meeting, we’re now doing weekly virtual lessons (one of which we finished 5 minutes ago!) so I can learn the production side of things and succeed at the Army Band production engineer audition next year. I’m so grateful to be changing careers to what I’ve always loved and dreamed of doing - music. Since we’re talking about good news, here’s the title track off my EP, The Darkest of Nights. (“Even in the darkest of nights, the smallest of lights, will prevail.”)

Jeremy Weinglass | “The Twelve Days of Christmas”

Played A Senior Center onThanksgiving And Changed A Woman’s Life

On Thanksgiving I was fortunate to have a rare live gig playing piano for the residents at a senior living facility. This has been an especially tough year for these folks since they are not able to have outside family members come visit, all their usual activities are extremely limited and no live music or entertainment since March. I had a fairly small, yet very attentive audience that stayed throughout my entire 2 hour performance where I shared music, stories and gratitude. When it came time to wrap up, I thought I'd conclude with a sentimental Christmas piece (from my album releasing the next day). As I finished, "I'll Be Home for Christmas," a woman approached the piano with tears in her eyes and pulled her mask down and said, "I asked to receive a sign from my husband in heaven that he was here with me right now [pause and sobbing] and THIS was it." She gave a soft smile through her tears and I immediately wept and then she walked away.

Rock Supreme | “Cruise Control”

Released New Music Despite The Pandemic

I did release some new music on 11.27.20, it’s a EP called “Signed Sealed & Delivered” available on all streaming platforms. Be safe out there.

Jon Fuller | “Litany of HeartBreak”

Inked A Distribution Deal That's Focused on International Listeners

On the good news front, I was able to finish and release a fully-animated CGI music video for my track "I.love.you" (the album the song is on came out in 2013, so it was truly a multi-year labor of love!), and I was able to ink a distribution deal that's focused on international listeners, which I'm particularly excited about.

Sherry-Lynn Lee | “Wasted Space in My Heart”

Learned Production, Experimented And Pushed Her Limits - Wants To Help Other Women Do The Same

When we met Ariel in 2017, I didn't know the first thing about production. Fast-forward to today, I can now engineer, produce, mix and master our records. Several of our self-produced songs have been signed to publishers and agents. I've even started producing other artists in addition to George's and my own solo project. Music supervisors and major label producers alike have told me that I'm a talented producer and should seriously consider it as a career path. So I spent most of 2020 learning, experimenting and pushing my limits, all while having a blast doing it. 

In "Wasted Space In My Heart", I used office supplies to create the percussion elements and processed them to create a fun indie pop song. I hope that sharing this will inspire more women to get into production and experience the thrill of realizing a musical vision from idea to master. 

Doug Fergus | “Wannabe”

Released An Honest & “Goofy” Song - And Got 900 Pandora Streams Per Week

When Covid and the shutdowns and that reality started to kick in...I freaked and I thought, "Even though i'm 'older' , what if I miss my chance at ever achieving some form of success?" I blurted out,  "I don't want to be a wannabe anymore!" Then I thought, cool song title!

So I quickly wrote and recorded the song at home and put it out, lack of professionalism be damned! 

Then a magical moment: One of my goofiest songs, "Wannabe" got added to several artists playlists on Pandora and I went from a pitiful 5 or 6 streams a week to over 900 a week!!

Danielle Todd | “A Solo for Autumn” & “Crazy”

Wrote A Custom Song For A Frontline Worker

I was contacted by Desjardins Group and asked to perform a song for somebody in Canada that was going through a rough time because of the pandemic. I was given a girl named Autumn, who was a frontline worker. Her sister contacted Desjardins with the most wonderful message about how hard her sister is working. That night, I wrote this song called "Autumn" and sent it in to Desjardins. Within a few days, Autumn had her very first song written for her and she was brought to tears. It was really nice to help a stranger out during this time.

Night Ride | “D.A.Z.”

Inspired By BLM Collaborated On A Track To Raise Money For Charity

This has indeed been one hell of a year - but the Black Lives Matter movement really impacted me the most. I was straight up experiencing white guilt and felt I had to do something. 

I partnered with two of my close friends who are amazing talented artists and we wrote and created a track with 100% of the proceeds going to charity. The track also raised awareness of police brutality - being named after Daz, a family member of one of my friends who passed at the hands of police. A lot of people helped out and gave their time for free to create a music video and to promote the track and we are now raising money for the charities that need it most!

Stay tuned …There’s more Good News Coming!

[ladystylestores]

Artist Toyin Ojih Odutola on drawing intricate portraits of black life

Written by Jacqui Palumbo, CNN

Nigerian-American artist Toyin Ojih Odutola is known for her rich, textural portraits of black life, layered through intricate ballpoint pen, charcoal and pastel.

Born in 1985, Ojih Odutola is fundamentally a storyteller, influenced by the narrative traditions of her childhood. Her 2017 show at the Whitney Museum, her first solo exhibition in New York, unfolded a dual, interconnected narrative about two fictional aristocratic families in Nigeria.

More recently, when the Barbican Centre in London closed due to Covid-19 restrictions in March, it was just days before her first UK exhibition, “A Countervailing Theory,” was set to open. Now, with the show postponed, Ojih Odutola has put together a virtual exhibition for New York’s Jack Shainman Gallery, “Tell Me a Story, I Don’t Care If It’s True,” made primarily of works created while the artist was at home over the past few months.

Ojih Odutola is exhibiting new work, made during lockdown, at a virtual show for New York’s Jack Shainman Gallery. Credit: Toyin Ojih Odutola

Her yet-to-be-seen Barbican show centers around myth-making and features 40 drawings based on an ancient legend, set in Nigeria, that the artist imagined herself. Her more intimate virtual show for Jack Shainman, meanwhile, focuses on solitary, free-flowing stories told through images and text.

Here, Ojih Odutola discusses both exhibitions, her rich exploration of black identity and how art can be a balm and a space for agency in a time of crisis.

Ojih Odutola’s 2017 show at the Whitney in New York helped raise her international profile. Credit: Beth Wilkinson/Toyin Ojih Odutola

CNN: Can you walk us through what your Barbican show will look like when it’s unveiled?

Toyin Ojih Odutola: Some pieces are seven feet tall and some are really, really small. It’s all based on a myth I wrote last year involving an ancient civilization and set in Plateau State in central Nigeria. For me, it was a need to delve into visual storytelling in a way that was engaging and different, and felt very present.

There are these striations throughout each drawing, and they may look like a decorative motif, but in fact, it’s the system at work. When you see a drawing fully populated with these lines, you’re seeing the system that is not spoken, not seen, but is everywhere in the world of these characters. It influences and affects them but they don’t acknowledge it. It’s just there. So of course it affects everything.

(The exhibition) deals with gender, power, hierarchies, oppression and imperialism in a way that I hope, once it’s unveiled, is very subtle and nuanced and talks about the insidious nature of systemic oppression.

The Barbican show gave Ojih Odutola the opportunity to work on an ambitious scale, mixing large-scale and intimate monochrome works based on an imagined ancient myth. Credit: Toyin Ojih Odutola/Barbican

How did your new virtual exhibition, “Tell Me a Story, I Don’t Care If It’s True,” come about?

The title of the show came to me in February before lockdown. It was something that felt right and applicable to the time. It’s a series of diptychs, standalone drawings and standalone text works. They’re stories that came to mind, which was quite new for me because I tend to plan things a lot. This show was much more introspective.

These stories are anecdotal; they’re isolated vignettes. There’s not too much context, but just enough information to understand. There’s a conversation happening between image and text. In one, you encounter a figure leaning against a couch, and you may have your ideas about what that figure is thinking — the interiority of that moment. And then you read the text, and go back and forth between the two, and form your own meaning.

Viewership is an activity. Take a moment, take a beat. I hope that it’s a way to question what you see and read.

Which oral or written traditions related to myths have influenced you?

I grew up in a household where the oratory was the means. Gathering around and hearing someone tell a tale is a huge part of Nigerian culture. I also grew up in a house with two amazingly funny parents who love to tell stories about anything. I’ve always treasured that. And it wasn’t until I got much older that I realized how precious it was to have that experience and to have access to that.

When I first started my career, I was just drawing figures and not really thinking about narrative. But there’s a wealth of knowledge that I already have in my own personal history and experience — and I can apply that to a visual narrative and really help people see the possibilities of figurative work.

Ojih Odutola is exhibiting new work, made during lockdown, at a virtual show for New York’s Jack Shainman Gallery. Credit: Toyin Ojih Odutola

I’m heavily influenced by comic books and animation. For the Barbican show, engaging with epic mythology was my way of being completely free and creating something from scratch. Unlike “Tell Me a Story, I Don’t Care If It’s True,” there’s no text (in the Barbican show) — there’s no reference for the audience, and everything is otherworldly and strange. But what I hope is that as they walk through that space, they start to acclimate themselves to my visual language.

You often explore the texture and meaning of skin in your work. How has this evolved with your practice?

Initially I wanted to figure out a way to visually translate what skin felt like. I use sinewy lines; it’s very layered, and I was mostly doing ballpoint pen ink works. And then I began including other drawing materials like charcoal and pastel, and now, most recently, colored pencil and graphite.

Ojih Odutola compares black skin to water, calling it “a mercurial surface, a terrain…a place where so much beauty and positivity proliferates.” Credit: Toyin Ojih Odutola/Barbican

When I think about the surface of skin I think about the work of multimedia artist Roni Horn, who uses water as a metaphor for a surface that’s ambiguous and ever-changing. I think about skin in a very similar light. Skin is a terrain. It’s a landscape that you project meanings onto. It has its own history.

When I look at black skin, I think of it as a mercurial surface — a terrain, a construct, a projection, but also a place where so much beauty and positivity proliferates. It includes so much and it holds so much.

Following the death of George Floyd, there’s been so much conversation about black trauma, depictions of black people in the media and how those images are circulated. How do you think art can play a role at this time?

There’s a lot of noise — images can be noisy. But with art, it’s just you and this work. You’re in dialogue with it, and there’s no right or wrong way to engage. Art provides the opportunity for people to be still, to think and digest this moment and try to understand it.

Ojih Odutola wants her art to provide a space through which viewers can reflect and arrive at their own interpretations. Credit: Toyin Ojih Odutola

I have made a pact with myself, as an image-maker, that if I am going to contribute images to the plethora of those available on the internet that I will not show black pain, deaths or trauma.

That’s my choice. And if you are an artist who does deal with those things, fine. I’m not saying it’s right or wrong, but for me it’s very important that I provide images and texts that give people something else to engage with because we already know that trauma and pain is a sad and unfortunate thing that connects black people globally.

Black people are catalysts. In every society we’ve been a part of, our culture has left an indelible mark. That is no accident. And so we shouldn’t always think that we’re coming from a place of lack, that we are powerless. I’m not saying that these aren’t realities. But it’s not how we should read ourselves as a community, as a collective (and) as a diverse, brilliant diaspora.

And as someone who’s a part of the diaspora, I want to give people space to engage with potential, to engage with our capabilities. Yes, they are afraid of us because they don’t know what we’re capable of. But we should not be afraid of what we are capable of.

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[newyorktheater]

  Hamilton Off-Broadway in February, 2015 with original cast memberstop left to right: Phillipa Too as Eliza Hamilton, Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr,Bottom left to right: Okieriete Onaodowan , Lin-Manuel Miranda, Daveed Diggs, Anthony Ramos. See July 3

Les Blancs by Lorraine Hansberry. See July 2

Amadeus, see July 16

We Are Freestyle Love Supreme, see July 17

Carousel. See July 10

Heroes of the Fourth Turning . See July 18

Below is the day-by-day calendar of “theater openings”* in July, 2020. The big news is the release of “Hamilton” online at Disney Plus — and (less hyped) the “Freestyle Love Supreme” documentary on Hulu — but in truth Lin-Manuel Miranda’s shows are not all that’s exciting this month in the world of online theater — a world in which “online” and “theater” have been synonymous since physical theaters were shut down in March (though there are small signs this may be changing; see July 13). And most of the other shows don’t require subscriptions.

Among the scheduled delights are acclaimed plays by Pulitzer finalist Will Arbery (July 18) and MacArthur “genius” grant winner Samuel D. Hunter (July 11), as well as a new Richard Nelson Apple Family play (July 1) and a new documentary play about frontline medical workers by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, creators of The Exonerated and Coal Country (July 8.) There a couple of inventive substitutions for the usual summer theater festivals.

Since so many shows are being put together at the last minute — sometimes not announced until the very day of their launch .. and there also have been fairly frequent last-minute postponements/cancellations/replacements — I will be updating/filling in this preview guide every day, and highlighting the offerings each new day with the link up top. This calendar as of this moment offers a glimpse of what’s in store. Come back day by day for a better look.

Here are some ongoing series that have proven to be reliable sources of art and entertainment.

Four offer live performances (often called readings) of original plays: The Homebound Project Livelabs: One Acts from MCC Play-PerView Viral Monologues from 24 Hour Plays

Play-PerView makes an exception this month to its original plays with what counts as a coup — the live reading of the Pulitzer finalist play “Heroes of the Fourth Turning” (which was supposed to debut last month but was postponed, as were a good number of productions due to the Black Lives Matter protests.)

A fifth offers live readings of classics and recent favorites: Plays in the House, Stars in the House’s twice weekly matinees  and now Plays in the House Teen Edition.

Three offer recordings of previous (glorious) stage productions.

Metropolitan Opera National Theatre at Home The Shows Must Go On from Andrew Lloyd Webber

For details about these and other ongoing series, check out my post Where To Get Your Theater Fix Online  (which lists, for example, the many long-running online sites such as BroadwayHD and Marquee TV that offer video-capture recordings of shows that were on stage)

All performances are free unless otherwise noted, although almost all hope for a donation (either to themselves or to a designated charity.)

*My definition of theater for the purposes of this calendar generally does not extend to variety shows, cast reunions, galas, panel discussions, documentaries, classes, interviews — all of which are in abundance this month, many worth checking out. My focus here is on creative storytelling in performance. (I make an occasional exception for a high-profile Netathon,involving many theater artists.)

A reminder that this calendar lists when the shows “open.” Some are live and available only for that one performance. Others are available for a week or weeks afterward or longer.

July 1

Die Mommie Die Plays in the House Launches at 2 p.m. Available for four days. In this latest of Stars in the House’s Wednesday matinees, Charles Busch is joined by BD Wong, Willie Garson, Brandon Contreras, Jennifer Cody and Ruth Williamson in this reading of his campy 1999 melodrama Die, Mommie, Die!, a mix of Aeschylus and Bette Davis.Directed and narrated by Carl Andress.

The Book of Job Project Theater of War Launches at 4 p.m. live only The latest from Bryan Doerries terrific community-oriented theater using classic texts (best-known for Antigone in Ferguson), is a dramatic reading of The Book of Job as a catalyst for discussion about injustice during the COVID-19 pandemic. Featuring performances by Jeffrey Wright, Frankie Faison, Kimberly Hebert, David Strathairn, David Zayas, and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

And So We Come Forth Apple Family Productions Launches at 7:30 pm. Available for 8 weeks The Apple Family, a dramatic series of plays which first appeared 10 years ago, returned last April with the premiere of a play written especially for Zoom, What Do We Need to Talk About? Now this second Zoom play, And So We Come Forth is set in early July 2020, amidst massive protests against injustice and racism in our country, as well as the anxious easing of a worldwide lockdown.

Richard II, part 1 Shakespeare@ Home

Shostakovich’s The Nose Metropolitan Opera Launches at 7:30 p.m., available for 23 hours It all begins with an absurd scenario: A hapless Russian bureaucrat wakes up one morning to discover that his nose has gone missing. He eventually locates his fugitive facial feature, which has been masquerading as a human being, but has no luck reattaching it. Based on a satirical short story by Nikolai Gogol

Mary’s Mixology The Tank Launches at 8 p.m. Kev Berry’s monologue about his first year on the wagon. “What does it mean for a gay man to give up liquid courage?”

Borders Queerly Festival Launches at 8:30 p.m. live Boaz and George meet on Grindr. They are attracted to one another instantly and want to meet in person, but something prevents them from doing so. One lives in Israel, the other- in Lebanon. Also Friday at 3 p.m. The festival also offers three short plays tonight starting at 7 p.m.: Before We Can Make a Final Decision, Backup Plan, and an excerpt from “I Tried” by Veronica Garza, “my one woman show that I’ve been working on about the men I slept with in my struggles to be straight”

  July 2

Les Blancs National Theater Launches 2 p.m. Available until July 9 In this final play by Lorraine Hansberry (A Raisin in the Sun), in a production directed by Yael Farber in 2016, a society prepares to drive out its colonial present and claim an independent future. Tshembe, returned home from England for his father’s funeral, finds himself in the eye of the storm.

Hypochondriac! Theater in Quarantine Launches at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. The first installment of a new adaptation of Molière’s The Imaginary Invalid by David McGee and Joshua William Gelb.Featuring Gelb, Jessie Shelton, and Alex Hawthorne

Bizet’s Carmen Metropolitan Opera Launches at 7:30 p.m., available for 23 hours The tale of the irresistible and free-spirited Gypsy, whose fatal attraction with the jealous soldier Don José burns too hot for them to control.

July 3

Hamilton Disney Plus Available from this date on. A live-capture of the stage production with the original Broadway cast, which was shot over three days in June 2016. A Disney Plus subscription is required. One way to look at this is that it costs $6.99 to see “Hamilton” and you get a month to watch everything else on the service (which includes titles familiar to theatergoers though not the same versions — Frozen, The Lion King, Aladdin.) Here is my video review of “Hamilton” in 2015:

Here is my review of Hamilton on Broadway in 2019

  Mozart’s Don Giovanni Metropolitan Opera Launches at 7:30 p.m., available for 23 hours Mozart’s 1747 melodic version of the Don Juan myth, with two baritones starring alongside one another as the title Lothario and his faithful yet conflicted servant, Leporello, as well as three memorable female roles—multifaceted women who both suffer the Don’s abuses and plot their revenge.

July 4

Donizetti’s Don Pasquale Metropolitan Opera Launches at 7:30 p.m., available for 23 hours Beverly Sills stars in her final performance as a clever young widow, who goes up against a crusty old bachelor, no match for her wiles.

A Capitol Fourth PBS 8 – 9:30 p.m. The annual July 4 celebration will feature new performances from locations across the country, as well as highlights from the concert’s 40-year history. Among the performers are theater artists Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelli O’Hara, Mandy Gonzalez and Renée Fleming

July 5

Rossini’s La Donna del Lago Metropolitan Opera Launches at 7:30 p.m. available for 23 hours The retelling of Sir Walter Scott’s shadowy epic of clan warfare in 16th-century Scotland, which is at heart a classic love triangle.

July 6

Summer Stock Streaming Festival Mint Theater Available through July 19 Archival recordings of three old and forgotten plays that the Mint resurrected (which is what they do; I saw two of these on stage and found them fascinating.) “The Fatal Weakness” written in 1946 by George Kelly: Society woman Ollie Espenshade, after 28 years of marriage is still an incurable romantic (her fatal weakness). Perhaps discovering that her husband is a lying cheat will cure her?

“The New Morality” written in 1911 by Harold Chapin who died at age 29 in World War I: A comedy set aboard a houseboat on a fashionable reach of the Thames in 1911, in which brazen Betty Jones restores dignity to her household and harmony to her marriage.

“Women Without Men,” written in 1938 by Hazel Ellis: An all-female cast tells this humor-laced tale set in the teacher’s lounge of a private girls boarding school in Ireland in the 1930’s, where young new teacher Jean Wade, popular with her students but at odds with her quarrelsome colleagues, is accused of sabotaging her main antagonist.

July 8

Unveiled Premiere Stages at Keane Separate live showings at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets $10 Rohina Malik plays five Muslim women navigating complex social issues in a post 9/11 world. Following the screening, Ms. Malik will host a live Q & A with all ticket holders.

The Line Public Theater Launches at 7:30 p.m. Available until August 4. This new documentary play by Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen (The Exonerated, Coal Country) presents the experiences of frontline medical workers in New York and their battle to save lives in a system built to serve the bottom line. The cast includes Santino Fontana, Arjun Gupta, John Ortiz, Alison Pill ,Nicholas Pinnock , Jamey Sheridan and Lorraine Toussaint

July 9

The Deep Blue Sea National Theatre Launches at 2 p.m. available until July 16 In this play by Terence Rattigan, Hester Collyer (Helen McCrory) is found by her neighbours in the aftermath of a failed suicide attempt, which leads to the story of her tempestuous affair with a former RAF pilot and the breakdown of her marriage to a High Court judge.

July 10

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Carousel Lincoln Center Launches at 8 p.m. The latest of Lincoln Center’s Broadway Fridays (rescheduled from June 5) features a free digital stream of its concert production of this Rodgers and Hammerstein musical featuring the New York Philharmonic and starring Kelli O’Hara, Nathan Gunn, Stephanie Blythe, Shuler Hensley, Jason Danieley,Jessie Mueller, Kate Burton, Tony winner John Cullum, and New York City Ballet dancers Robert Fairchild and Tiler Peck.

Freedom Riders An online reading of Richard Allen and Taran Gray’s award-winning Freedom Riders: The Civil Rights Musical

July 11

The Few Play-PerView Written and directed by Samuel D. Hunter, featuring Gideon Glick: Four years ago, Bryan abandoned his labor of love: a newspaper for truckers. Now he’s returned—with no word of where he’s been—and things have changed. His former lover is filled with rage, his new coworker is filled with incessant adoration, and his paper is filled with personal ads.

July 12

Hershey Felder: Beethoven Based on Memories of Beethoven: Out of the House of Black-Robed Spaniards, a first-hand account by Dr. Gerhard von Breuning.

July 13

Plays about memory loss Food for Thought Productions 1:30 p.m. — 3:30 Louise Lasser and Bob Dishey star in this in-person event of three short plays (Arthur Miller’s “I Can’t Remember Anything,” Robert Anderson’s “I’m Herbert” and Daniel Rose’s “Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem”) held at The Coffee House Club, 22 West 44th Street, available first come, first served by calling 646-366-9340 or emailing info@foodforthoughtproductions. However, “if you’d rather watch from home, you can request the Zoom link.” staged reading of short plays about memory loss starring Tony nominee Bob Dishy and Louise Lasse

Richard II, part 1 Public Theater/WNYC 8 p.m. Saheem Ali directs this radio adaptation of Richard II, the Bard’s take on how the title monarch lost his crown. André Holland (Moonlight) stars, and the supporting cast includes Oscar winner Estelle Parsons, Tony winner Phylicia Rashad and Tony nominee John Douglas Thompson. The production will be broadcast in four installments from Monday, July 13 through Thursday, July 16 at 8 p.m. ET nightly on WNYC. Listeners in the New York tri-state area can tune in at 93.9 FM or AM 820. It will also stream nationwide at WNYC.org.

July 14

Richard II, part 2 Public Theater/WNYC 8 p.m. Saheem Ali directs this radio adaptation of Richard II, the Bard’s take on how the title monarch lost his crown

July 15

The Homebound Project Available through July 19 The fourth edition

The Droll Bard of the Gate Launches at 7 p.m Meg Miroshnik’s play is the second offering in Paula Vogel’s play series,

Richard II, part 3 Public Theater/WNYC 8 p.m. Saheem Ali directs this radio adaptation of Richard II, the Bard’s take on how the title monarch lost his crown. licia Rashad as the Duchess of Gloucester.

July 16

Amadeus National Theatre Launches 2 p.m. Available until July 23 Lucian Msamati portrays the envious court composer Antonio Salieri who is envious of the obnoxious genius Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart In this popular play by Peter Shaffer that was turned into an Oscar-winning film.

Richard II, part 4 Public Theater/WNYC 8 p.m. Saheem Ali directs this radio adaptation of Richard II, the Bard’s take on how the title monarch lost his crown.

July 17

“We Are Freestyle Love Supreme” Hulu A documentary about the improv theater company co-founded by Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Virtual Fire Island Dance Festival he first-ever stream in the event’s 26-year history will feature world premieres of three new pieces and three beloved festival favorites.

July 18

Heroes of the Fourth Turning Play PerView Will Arbery’s 2020 Pulitzer Prize finalist will now take place July 18 at 8 PM ET on Play-PerView after postponing the June 13 reading in solidarity with Black Lives Matter

July 20

Project Sing Out! Playbill Launches at 7 p.m. A one-night-only livestreamed event featuring musical performances, spoken word and special appearances from a variety of Broadway and TV’s biggest names, including Audra McDonald, Chirta Rivera, Don Cheadle, Vanessa Willams.

July 21

Coriolanus Bedlam

July 25

Knife to the Heart Play-PerView In this play by Stan Zimmerman and Christian McLaughlin, ulie Ann and Marshall are expecting their first baby—with Marshall’s mother Rhonda hovering over them and Julie Ann’s fellow teacher Deacon providing moral support. Everything’s going smoothly until Julie Ann accidentally learns just what exactly the bris Rhonda’s planning involves, and all good will and politeness dissolve.

July 2020 Online Theater Openings: Hamilton, PLUS. What’s streaming day by day Below is the day-by-day calendar of “theater openings”* in July, 2020. The big news is the release of "Hamilton" online at Disney Plus -- and (less hyped) the "Freestyle Love Supreme" documentary on Hulu -- but in truth Lin-Manuel Miranda's shows are not all that's exciting this month in the world of online theater -- a world in which "online" and "theater" have been synonymous since physical theaters were shut down in March (though there are small signs this may be changing; see July 13).

[minkinsmusic]

Day 1 …. I have accepted a challenge (from Edward Benjamin Blau II Esquire) to post seven albums that I love – one album per day. He’s changed the rules a bit, though… so here is how this will go:

These will be records that had an effect on me, not necessarily because I love them, but because they represent something in my life. So yes, posting albums WITH EXPLANATION as a way to connect with my Facebook friends. Your comments would be nice as well. Each day I will ask a friend to take up the challenge. This is number one. Let’s unleash the love and memories …

U2 was coming to Cleveland’s old Municipal Stadium October 6th, 1987 touring behind the record shown below. A great album that pushed the band into the next hemisphere of popularity and importance. We had just moved to Akron in July and there was no way I could spend hours standing in line at the Chapel Hill Sears Ticketmaster location. When I arrived about 30 minutes before they went on sale the line was 50 yds long in the parking lot. Wearing a shirt & tie, I made a sign out of cardboard that I needed two tickets and hoped someone buying 2 (limit 4 or 6) would help me out. Somehow I got someone’s attention near the front of the line and I offered to buy one of their tickets if they bought me two. We ended up in the first row of upper box seats on a blistering cold night with winds howling off Lake Erie. What a show.

The Hitchcock twist to this tale was the night I came home from work prior to heading up to the concert. My wife Ellie had been to the doctor that day and we found out we were going to have a baby. October 6, 1987.

  Day 2 …

  Ah, the memories overwhelm me. There’s not a lot to do growing up in Canton, Ohio when you’re 16 with a driver’s license. What’s crazy is that the best thing happening was driving north on Cleveland Avenue to a little po-dunk one stoplight rural community (mid 70’s) called Uniontown. It was there we found salvation … classmates Sally & Red were part of the handful of friends making the journey to Boulder Junction. This old lumber built structure made dulcimer/wood instruments and would host musicians on the weekends. Performing on a tiny stage on a monthly rotation were the likes of Alex Bevan, Charlie Wiener, Jim Ballard, and the man with the booming voice John Bassette. With no liquor license (only natural fruit juices were sold) we had no problem attending. Closing your eyes and listening to their records can literally take you back to that heavenly space.

Ah, but the Hitchcock twist to the tale. As one of the major instigators of planning the Senior Cut Day Party, I took a flyer and wrote a letter to John Bassette pretty much describing the above and wondering if he would come perform. Never heard back from him. On the afternoon of this epic day, Steve Red Michel was playing guitar on the sound system we set up in the shelter. A large African American man shows up with a guitar. OMG he showed up. He played several songs then disappeared. Like an angel …. Thanks Alex B for inspiring me to tell this story. 💖 RIP John Richard Bassette 22/29/1941 to 11/9/2006. 💖

Day 3 …

It was only in January that I took an extended weekend roadtrip to Memphis. I’ve been to Music City several times for AmericanaFest, but had never driven the extra three hours to see the historical landmarks of Staxx, Sun, Graceland, and the Lorraine Motel. Breaking up the trip with overnights in Nashville each way equated to finding some good live music. Brandi Carlile was playing the historic Ryman Auditorium and had sold out all 6 nights! The secondary market prices for good tickets were pretty steep, but I kept my eye on the listings. Finally, I found 2 single tickets on the main floor aisle Row Q and S for $40/each.

After trucking down the highway, checking into our hotel, and having dinner. It was off to the Ryman. Brilliant singer/songwriter Natalie Hemby (part of The Highwomen) opened and I kept my eye on some empty seats in front of me. As soon as her set ended, I grabbed Ellie and waltzed her down to the 9th row where four spots were unattended. Needless to say, this is where we remained.

Brandi Carlile put on a show that was Springsteen-esque. Besides Hemby, The War & The Treaty and Sheryl Crow were guest performers. The Grammy Award artist and producer of several albums by other songwriters just blew the audience way leaving it all on stage. I bought this record when I came home.

The Hitchcock twist to the tale is that this would be the last big show I’ll see for the foreseeable future … January 16, 2020.

Nirvana (full-band instrumental) Hold Out Your Hand Raise Hell Lovesick Blues (Hank Williams) The Story The Eye A Case of You (Joni Mitchell) The Mother Do Right Woman, Do Right Man (Aretha Franklin) (with The War and Treaty) If She Ever Leaves Me (The Highwomen) Crowded Table Redesigning Women (The Highwomen) Redemption Day (with Sheryl Crow) Pride and Joy Encore: Mainstream Kid The Joke Cannonball Party of One

Day 4 ….

This album marks my very first assignment with Lost Highway Records on March 14, 2002. I mailed in a postcard from a Lyle Lovett CD asking fans to be part of the LH street team. After some time passed, I was contacted by the label to assist in the Cleveland market. Those that attended this show remember it was the “migraine” concert in which Adam’s performed without a spotlight on him. I worked dozens of shows (while still running the optical office), including assignments in Columbus, and was later promoted to “Captain” status. Artists included the likes of Adams, Lovett, Willie Nelson, Lucinda Williams, Elvis Costello, Kim Richey, Tift Merrit, The Jayhawks, Ryan Bingham, and John Eddie to the Mercury/UMG label promoting singer/songwriters eventually falling into a category now referred as Americana. When I started writing my music column, I penned a letter to label founder Luke Lewis thanking him for the opportunity to represent LH and moving on. Besides connecting with some of these artists, I met lots of great people along the way …

The Hitchcock twist to this story is a great book by Thomas O’Keefe titled “Waiting to Derail: Ryan Adams and Whiskeytown, Alt-Country’s Brilliant Wreck” that came out on June 26, 2018. Adam’s demise quickly followed with a postponement of released material. The other twist is I chose this album on 04/20/2020 …

Day 5 ….

Emmylou. That’s all I need to say. One of the most iconic voices in music. She’s on just about everybody’s records lending her gorgeous vocals besides a long and lustrous songbook of her own. Portions of her career with Gram Parsons and her very own Hot Band are Hall of Fame worthy.

I really wanted to see Emmylou in concert and she wasn’t coming to Cleveland anytime soon. I caught wind of a show in Pittsburgh by Calliope – The Pittsburgh Folk Music Society on May 19, 2000 at Carnegie Library Music Hall. Time for a roadtrip.

The space was like walking into a Shakespearean theater. Of course, I had decent seats on the floor of this intimate, old performance space with the small balcony extremely close to the stage. Emmylou was performing with the Spyboy band and ranks in my top twenty concerts. The album shown below is my favorite Emmylou record and gives me chills everytime I hear it.

The Hitchcock twist to this story is that the lead guitarist for Spyboy was the one and only Buddy Miller (wearing the baseball cap). I have become a fan and admirer of both Buddy and his wife Julie’s work; especially due to my wingman I called out with this post.

Day 6 ….

I initially began writing Minkins Music in January 2007 for Mimi’s Magazine, my longest supporter, before retiring the column in December 2019. A story on Griffin W House back in 2008 during the Flying Upside Down tour took me behind the music and the life of the Springfield, Ohio native now residing in Nashville. Not only was the story a shot in the arm for Griffin, but it elevated my game leading to additional avenues to expand my column.

A college degree from Miami of Ohio in 2002 in English Literature and Writing, his thoughts were to enroll in graduate school, but his poetry professor gave him the inspiration to channel his creativity toward being a songwriter rather than following in his footsteps. The passion and determination in House’s songs have since been filled with personal, richly detailed snapshots of his life and Flying Upside Down received my “Best Album of 2008” award. The record hit singles “One Thing”, “Live To Be Free”, “Waiting For The Rain to Come Down”, and “The Guy That Says Goodbye to You is Out of His Mind” first caught my ear from Mike Marrone, program director and DJ extraordinaire of the somewhat deceased “The Loft” channel on SXM.

The Hitchcock twist to this story is that a lot has happened since for House, as well as my own personal story, with the highs and lows along the roller coaster of living life that all of us encounter. But music, and especially writing stories, is the common thread that connects many of us … including those mentioned in this post 💖.

Day 7 …. today is the final official day and I included albums #8 & #9 to weave this story

I grew up in Fort Wayne, Indiana and my sister was a dozen years older than me. Along with children’s records from Disney, Tubby The Tubba, and The Chipmunks, there was a copy of Peter, Paul and Mary sitting out to play on the phonograph. Moving was released on January 15, 1963 and I had just turned four years old. I played songs like “Settle Down”, “Flora”, “Morning Train”, and “A’Soalin” over and over again …. not to mention big hits “This Land Is Your Land” and “Puff”. Along with invisible friend George, they kept me company.

On Feb. 9, 1964, The Beatles made their first live U.S. television appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show. More than 70 million Americans gathered around their televisions to watch four young men from Liverpool make history. I had just turned five years old, and we watched Ed Sullivan every Sunday night. The following year Help was released on August 6, 1965 along with a movie on August 25, 1965. Two of the first movies I remember seeing in the theater when I was six years old were Thunderball (Dad’s pick) and Help (Karen’s pick).

In the fall of 1966, the family packed up and moved to Canton. I was seven years old and my sister was long gone to Indiana University. We lived in a townhouse apartment for a couple years before moving into a little bungalow. At some point my sister transferred from IU to Kent State pursuing a fine arts degree. There were so many historical points on the timeline to mention leading up to the release of Tommy by The Who on May 17, 1969. We received two newspapers a day (The Cleveland Dealer and Canton Repository) before cable and 24/7 news reporting. My folks had a record collection made up primarily of Broadway Shows, Classical Music, and comedy records. I still had my kids records and some 45’s purchased at the local department store Giant Tiger. By this time I was ten years old. I remember sitting in our little bedroom turned family room when my sister said you need to listen to this record. I must have played it a zillion times.

The Hitchcock twist to this story is that I’m not sure if my sister remembers or realizes the influence of these three records on my vinyl addiction. I’m sixty-one years young now. 💖

Ah, but does there need to be another Hitchcock twist to tie these all together?  My last posting was on December 25, 2019.  After twelve years of writing it was time to take a break.  I had a difficult time just trying to sit down and write a story about the Nashville/Memphis road trip that took place a few months ago.  Thinking about this challenge of not just picking records I love (I have a sixteen cube Ikea unit of vinyl and another six drawers of CDs) but one’s that had either an interesting story or impact on my life.  Maybe there’s still a little life in these fingers after all.  Stay tuned for the rest of the story …  

7 Albums That I Love – 1 Per Day Day 1 .... I have accepted a challenge (from Edward Benjamin Blau II Esquire) to post seven albums that I love - one album per day.

[esonetwork]

Better Late than Never blog series…goes west: Netflix miniseries ‘Godless’ (2017) – Part 2

New Post has been published on https://esonetwork.com/better-late-than-never-blog-seriesgoes-west-netflix-miniseries-godless-2017-part-2/

Better Late than Never blog series…goes west: Netflix miniseries ‘Godless’ (2017) – Part 2

Well, when I posted the first part of my review of the Netflix miniseries “Godless” back on March 5, I had no idea how much my life would be changing in the next couple weeks.

Since then, the university I work for has been shut down due to growing concerns about the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19), and I’ll be working from home for the foreseeable future. It’s a strange and scary time, as so many of the normal routines of life have shifted. As a movie reviewer, I’ve found that many of the films I was planning to review over the next couple of weeks have been postponed. My local movie theater is closed down, and the regional comic con I was planning to attend this weekend was cancelled.

However, I’m going to continue my Western-focused blog series, because as geeks I think it’s important that we keep podcasting, blogging, and consuming media that brings us joy. Now that I’ve finished “Godless,” I highly, highly recommend this Netflix series for anyone who is looking for interesting content to stream right now.

Catching up

I covered the first two episodes of the series in my initial blog post, but since I published that a while ago, here’s a quick recap of what the show’s about:

This Western series follows multiple complex characters, including widow Alice Fletcher (played by Michelle Dockery), who’s known plenty of tragedy and likes to keep to herself; sheriff Bill McNue (Scoot McNairy), who still grieves the loss of his wife and is now losing his sight as well; outlaw/terrorist Frank Griffin (Jeff Daniels), who leaves behind a trail of blood wherever he goes; and former outlaw Roy Goode (Jack O’Connell), whose conscience finally gets the better of him and motivates him to turn against Griffin.

The story is primarily set in La Belle, New Mexico, a town that is populated mostly by women (the majority of the men were killed in a tragic mining accident). The women of this town are caught in the crossfire between Roy and Frank, and they’ll do whatever it takes to protect their town and their families.

Revenge and justice

Wow, this was such a great show — I feel like I can’t praise it highly enough. I do appreciate that it is a true miniseries; it tells a complete story in seven episodes, and I honestly wish we’d get more limited series from both big networks and streaming services. With this format, you get to tell a story that’s more expansive than if this same narrative was scrunched down into a two-hour movie, but there’s also a heightened sense of urgency because you know the number of episodes is limited (versus stretching the story across multiple seasons).

Another thing that really helps this series stand out is that it truly felt balanced between male and female characters. Westerns have long been a male-dominated genre, and it’s not often you get to watch a large number of female characters in this type of film. I loved seeing so many wonderful female characters get to play such an active role in the story.

This series manages to be both an epic Western — with a truly high-stakes shoot-out at the very end, with the town’s survival in jeopardy — and a more intimate character drama. You get to learn more about the complicated connections between Roy and Frank, and the reasons why Alice is so hesitant to trust or rely on others.

Spoilers ahead!

There are so many things I want to talk about in this series, and I just can’t keep the discussion spoiler-free any longer, so this is your warning to stop here if you haven’t seen the series yet.

Frank Griffin is a truly terrible man (shout-out to Jeff Daniels for such a creepy and effective performance), and I didn’t feel sad for him one bit when he came to a violent end. But, it was fascinating to hear about how his backstory drove him down such a dark path. Roy Goode could have easily ended up like Frank — especially since, for a time, Frank was like a father to him.

But Frank finally goes too far, and Roy flees, knowing that he’s painted a huge target on his back by leaving the gang. Unfortunately, his interactions with the people of La Belle draw Frank to the sleepy little town, and the women have to take up arms and fight him off, many good people dying in the process.

I liked seeing how Roy became a mentor to Alice’s young son, Truckee. Roy is a much better father figure to Truckee than Frank was to Roy, and you can see how heartbroken Truckee is when Roy eventually has to leave town.

I was pretty sure there would be some kind of romantic subplot between Alice and Roy, and while I’m glad it was explored and I thought it was done well, I appreciated the bittersweet ending, where they each had to go their separate ways. They both find freedom from their pasts, but for Roy, that involves a new life in California.

The show builds up a lot of hype around who will be the person to finally take down Frank Griffin. He’s constantly saying “I’ve seen my death, this ain’t it.” Roy turns out to be the one who kills him, telling Frank, “You’ve seen wrong” when Frank doubts that these are indeed his final moments.

While it makes sense narratively why Roy would be the one to kill Frank, bringing the story full circle, this was maybe the one thing that disappointed me slightly about the ending. I really liked the idea that there was something slightly supernatural going on here, and Frank had genuinely seen a vision of his death. It would have been really interesting if, at the very end, he realizes that he’s actually experiencing the moment from his vision and is going to die. I also would have liked to see one of the female characters defeat Frank, either Alice or Mary Agnes, the sheriff’s sister.

Anyhow, that’s not a criticism, just more of a personal preference as to how I would have liked to see the story end.

Riding off into the sunset

While I’m really tempted to wish for a second season of this show, because it was so good, as I said earlier, I appreciate that this was a limited series and I think it’s best to leave it as it is.

I used to think of the Western genre as being stuffy and outdated, but after this “Better Late than Never…goes west” blog series, I definitely don’t believe that anymore. “Godless” may be set in the past, but the storytelling feels fresh, new, and exciting. It takes risks and delves deeply into its characters, and I loved every minute of it.

[sciencevsromance]

Coachella 2018 (Weekend 1, belated)

Every year, it’s tempting to search through the lineup, fashion, and scene reports to come up with a grand unifying theory of a given year’s Coachella lineup. Going in, the obvious candidate was the striking absence of rock headliners and major nostalgia acts from the lineup. But midway through the festival, it became obvious that there was one Coachella 2018 story and that story was #Beychella.

Having postponed last year’s performance due to her pregnancy, Beyoncé made up for lost time by stacking the stage with a pyramid of bleachers filled with well over a hundred dancers, musicians, drum corps, and cheer squad. Opening the set with “Crazy in Love”, attired in an instantly iconic custom yellow Balmain hoodie (evoking a fictional historically black college Greek system, the house of Beyoncé Knowles) paired with tiny jean cutoff shorts (a nod to an esteemed Coachella tradition) she proceeded through five costume changes( https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/beyonce-coachella-2018-most-iconic-moments.html), hovering at one point in a crane above the crowd (“Drunk in Love”), and with the help of a few very special guests (a dance-off with her sister Solange and a duet with her husband Jay-Z), and a very welcome three song Destiny’s Child reunion, she used her two hour set to make the festival her very own. And thanks to the lack of counter-programming (sorry, X Japan), almost everyone who was at Coachella was at the mainstage to witness it.

She was the first black woman to score a headlining spot and employed her numerous gifts as a singer, dancer, and creative force to make the performance intense, compelling, and utterly unforgettable. It felt less like a festival headliner than a takeover, or at least a reconfiguration and expansion of what’s possible. I’ve been going to Coachella for over a decade and have never seen anything quite like it (sorry Kanye).

In the last few years, there is no Coachella story more evergreen than the festival’s ongoing growth. From one weekend to two, to expanding the grounds to accommodate even more stages and attendees. This year was no exception, with the footprint expanding even further into an adjacent polo grounds. The most dramatic consequence of (and motivation for) this land-grab was to finally carve out a separate space for a new, once again, impossibly larger Sahara tent to be moved from its longtime home in the back corner of the festival to a privileged spot adjacent to the main entrance, iconic Ferris wheel, and opposite the festival’s mainstage. Although this reconfiguration drastically improved traffic flow throughout the grounds, getting anywhere within view of the new tent (more of an airplane hangar, suitable for studying elite alien technologies) remained even more difficult. In part because the tent’s programming, long a home for EDM and electro-bros, had been shifted to a strong hip-hop and DJ lineup that included French Montana and Migos (who we missed because, again, getting anywhere with a sightline of the stage required far more perseverance than we had).

However, the additional stages allowed for considerable diversity in genre and performers. It is hardly enough, but somewhere around a third of the acts were female-fronted or contained female band members. This diversity spanned genres — highlights included sister act, Ibeyi playing a moving, layered, show that at one point sampled a Michelle Obama speech to a small devoted crowd at the Gobi tent, sparkly surf rock from Alvvays, Tash Sultana laying out ground rules forbidding racists, homophobes, or transphobic audience members from her sunset performance in the Mohave tent, all the way to another sister act, HAIM, arguably the highest-billed rock act at the whole festival nabbing the opening spot for for Beyoncé. Pausing between epic guitar riffs (and faces), Esme Haim related a fond Coachella memory about the time that she was accidentally dosed with mushroom-laced chocolate from Ke$ha to fend-off a type one diabetic episode, the psychedelics hitting just as it was time to run across the field to see Prince, leading me to re-evaluate my understanding of the flow and scope of time.

And, if anyone could challenge the #Beychella narrative, it was Cardi B riding an ascendant hypewave to draw an enormous late afternoon crowd to the mainstage lawn to make a claim on rebranding the festival #Bochella. Like Beyoncé, she brought her own (smaller) crew of dancers to work the poles, a host of guest drop-ins (Rihanna, G-Eazy, Chance the Rapper), and lived her best life while not letting her advanced pregnancy slow down any of her filthiest dance moves. Whereas Beyoncé achieved high art over two hours, Cardi’s only aim was to fit as much fun as possible into thirty minutes.

Of course, there was still room for old time rock and roll at Coachella. We started the festival with a set of sappy anthemic rock from mega-producer Jack Antonoff’s little side project, Bleachers. In Coachella drop-in super special surprise guest fashion, he was joined for a few songs by “Canadian Queen of Pop” (Carly Rae Jepsen), and had enthusiastic support from a live band that, like any good son of New Jersey, included a giant saxophone in the backline. Perhaps riding that LOVE, SIMON bump (and including the song he wrote for the movie) the tent was a place for girls on shoulders and tentative gestures of Bro-affection for some touchy-feely hugs among buds catching big #feels under the sun.

Other random high/lowlights included a few kinda pitchy sadboy songs from The Weeknd, hearing St. Vincent slaying on guitar while walking over to a confident performance from a silver suited Perfume Genius, Kygo running an electro variety show, Odesza’s crystalline summertime vibes accented by flame throwers and a marching drum line, Kygo pressing play and welcoming a series of drop-in vocalists (“drop-in” is a Thing We Say Now), David Byrne and a stage full of musicians constantly in motion, closing with a cover/reconfiguration of a cover of Janelle Monáe’s “Hell You Talmbout,” chanting the painfully long list of the names of the too many high profile victims of police brutality.

On the arts front, standouts were Edoardo Tresoldi’s magnificent trio of intricate wire mesh temples (Etherera) defined the southern horizon, dusty daytime mirages that snapped into sharper relief when illuminated at night. NEWSUBSTANCE’s Spectra, a seven story spiral tower wrapped in 32 custom shades of rainbow-colored glass was instantly iconic inside and out. Walking up the corkscrew ramp offered spectacular intensely monochromatic color-filtered views of the immense crowds and surrounding mountains, a brief respite from the festival noise, and endless opportunities for selfies.

In other gross miscellany, we only dropped into a couple offsite parties, staying at the T-Mobile/Pandora Cree Estate takeover long enough to grab a beach towel and sample some pink confections (the dry desert heat is not kind to macarons, freshly spun cotton candy fares better), but not until Dillon Francis took over poolside DJ duties. At Amex’s party, organizers engeniously covered a giant section of the Parker’s back lawn with geometric Fortress of Solitude style tenting to combat the merciless afternoon sun with a refuge that featured fruit bars, temporary tattoos, and a ridiculously boozy lemon cocktail. We didn’t show up early enough for the SoulCycle or Yoga clinic.

On the fashion front, floral crowns are gone, sparkle dandruff is here. For women, beach goth is perhaps in decline with metallic mesh replacing black lace as the cover up du jour. plus a whole lot of sequins and metallics. For dudes, basic bro is forever, with tropical megaprints — preferably matching shirt and shorts sets — as a more practical RompHim and flashy alternative to basketball jerseys. In VIP excess, the wristband provides few perks beyond access to the Rose Garden (worth it) and fun foods like desert sushi, extremely marked up sake, and Korean influenced pizza. But main campus catering has improved, too: LA (by way of Seattlw) coffee celeb Kyle Glanville had a pop-up outpost of Go Get Em Tiger in the gen pop marketplace alongside Ramen Hood’s vegan stand (surprisingly tasty and welcome as the temperatures dropped after sunset). Sad days for celeb-watching: multi-year tradition of nearly tripping over Jared Leto was broken. We did see Darren Criss, EJ Johnson, and K Stew at the same VIP tequila stand (at the same time, yet separate). And, just as it seemed like the era of Paris Hilton sightings at Coachella was over, we passed her on the VIP path going into the festival Sunday night just as we were making an early pre-Eminem escape, providing a weirdly magical end to an annual festival traditions that is maybe only 35% “about the music” (for me) but I guess I’m cool with that when that percentage pays off with a few big “Coachella Moments”.