Punch Brothers interview

Chris Thile returns to the ASC

I have to admit, when Nickel Creek came to the ASC two seasons ago I didn't consider myself a fan.  I had never really taken much time to listen to their music and just thought it wasn't for me.  That all changed about 3 songs into the show.  I often think the word "virtuoso" is overused, but that was the word spinning in my head as I watched Chris Thile play.  Really amazing.  (My husband says the words that came into his head were "show off" and "annoying," but...to each his own.)



From everything I've heard from Thile's new band PUNCH BROTHERS, the sound is just fun and accessible, but still highly-skilled. "How to Grow A Women from the Ground" is one of those rare discs that I'll put on and play from start to finish - without shuffling (that never happens!)  So, I expect next Saturday's show to be a bright spot in an other-wise quiet musical January. 

If you're coming to the show, plan to stick around for the After Party.  Local madolin player Jason Bailey's band is performing and there's a chance that the guys from the Punch Brothers will stop by.  (They are definitely planning to sign cds in the lobby after the show.)

Check out this recent interview with the band. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jK7TeNlPLp0

Complexions Ballet to Feature U2

U2 might be the hardest working band in modern music, and is one of my favorite rock groups of all time.

The lineup of Bono (vocals), The Edge (guitar), Adam Clayton (bass), and Larry Mullen Jr. (drums) has remained unchanged since the band formed as teens way back in 1976. Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005, the band has sold more than 140 million albums worldwide, won 22 Grammy's, and is frequently involved in activism for human rights and HIV/AIDS awareness.

Over the course of three decades and 10 albums, the music of U2 has featured many different sounds and influences, including rock, soul, dance, gospel, alternative, blues, and country; the last two most notably on 1986-1989's The Joshua Tree and Rattle and Hum, albums that launched the band into superstardom.

This success came with both critical praise (for Joshua Tree) and then a backlash (Rattle and Hum) and created something of an identity crisis for the group. According to Adam Clayton, U2 was becoming a "shrill, sloganeering arena-rock band."

The group took a hard left turn in the 1990's by exploring techno and industrial music on Achtung Baby, Zoo TV, and Zooropa. The tracks on these albums were at times flippant, dark, and self-deprecating. In an effort to poke fun at the commercialism of pop music, stardom, and themselves, U2 went on a massive world tour that incorporated hundreds of video screens, over-the-top stage props, and multi-media effects. They came to Birmingham's Legion Field on this tour and it was one of the most impressive live shows I've ever seen.

As the 90's progressed, however, this stylistic makeover into pop/rock juggernaut alienated many of their hardcore fans. From 2000 to present, U2 wisely abandoned the campy, experimental kitsch of the 90's and rediscovered their more traditional sound with All That You Can't Leave Behind and How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, two albums that won back critics and fans alike.

As the group puts the finishing touches on its most recent album No Line on the Horizon (due later this year), their music is being featured in an unusual way right here at the Alys Stephens Center! Complexions Contemporary Ballet will feature a dance number choreographed to several songs from the U2 catalogue including "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For," "With or Without You," "Desire," and "Pride," among others. This unique program is being performed on January 16-18 for three shows: Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Don't wait to get your tickets because all three shows are expected to sell out! You can reserve your seats by calling our Box Office at (205) 975-ARTS (2787), toll free at 1-877-ART-TIKS, or go online here.

Face it, everyone is a little dysfunctional...

Congratulations to our "Dysfunctional Holiday Story" contest winner Deborah Barrett! Our E-Update Subscribers were asked to submit their favorite dysfunctional holiday story in anticipation of our presentation of "Second City's Dysfunctional Holiday Revue" Dec. 14. Deborah won a $25 gift card to the Alys Stephens Center. Here's the winning story...

Once upon a time several years ago, my family insisted on a buying a lovely Fraser Fir tree which was just too large and majestic.

After dear husband sawed on its trunk he decided it would do. We drug it up the steps and through the door and jammed it in its stand in the place of honor. Then he carefully strung the lights but decided it just wasn't straight enough, was still too tall, and didn't look good. To make it sufficiently straight and a bit less statuesque, he decided it needed a different stand which he brought down from the attic.

Unfortunately we didn't think the tree would well survive being pulled back outside through the door, since now the limbs had dropped appropriately to accommodate the lights. So we gently put it down on its side in the family room, lights and all, and attempted to exchange the stand. Alas, the trunk would not fit in the new stand, and thus required more sawing. By now his saw had about given out and so had he, but he would not be denied. With difficulty and after much ado, he fired up the chain saw right in the family room. This finally did the trick; however not only did we have wood chips flying all over and engine exhaust in the air, but oil leaked out of the saw in the process as well.

The tree was finally raised again and the decorations were completed, but at the time he swore he would not be getting another live tree. Fortunately, that proved not to be the case in subsequent, less traumatic years.

Hope you got a chuckle out of this story that's too ridiculous not to be true...

Deborah Barrett

Turning the concert hall on its ear

There is just something about live music. There is a spiritual aspect that is inherent in really good music that connects to the careful listener on a deep, almost primal level. Musicians speak the language of the heart, and they can touch your soul- bringing you to tears, or filling you with pure bliss. Music can take you on journeys, showing you worlds you never knew existed, often without ever uttering a word. Witnessing this magic being created right before your ears is an experience that can leave you mesmerized and stirred to the depths of your being, and often has the potential of changing you forever, if only in some small, internal way. Okay, enough hyperbole…. 

 

Here at the Alys Stephens Center, we’re not only constantly trying to bring you the most powerful performances by the most unique and important artists alive today, but we strive to present the art in such a way that it has the most profound impact on you, our audience. We know what it’s like to sit in rapt wonderment at a show - our staff is comprised of people who live to see live shows.  Ask any of our friends and they’ll tell you that we’re out and about almost every night of the week. For our education director, it’s theatre.  For our executive director, it’s dance. For me, it’s singer/songwriters.  For our marketing and programming director, it’s pretty much anything else. And as “professional show-goers”, we all crave the unique concert experience that will present great art in a fresh dynamic light. And what better way to witness the creation of musical magic than to be sitting “On Stage with the Band”?

 

 

And while we’re re-inventing the wheel, we thought, why not reconfigure the same old grand concert hall that we all know and love so well? So, we’ve turned the Jemison Concert Hall onto its proverbial ear. The band will be onstage, facing the Choral Balcony (yes, backwards) with a curtain drawn behind them, closing off the larger part of the hall. A limited number of onstage seats will be available, along with incredible birds-eye seating in the Choral Balcony. Sounds cool, huh?

 

So now, without further adieu, we are thrilled to announce our first ‘On Stage with the Band” performance, featuring the legendary COWBOY JUNKIES!  We would have been hard-pressed to find a better band to kick off the “On Stage” series. Their music encompasses everything that inspires us – it is at once dynamic and mournful, haunting, heartfelt, and blisteringly poignant. You can’t help but be drawn into the webs they spin, both lyrically and musically.

 

The concert will be Tuesday, February 10^th at 7pm. Tickets go onsale to the general public Monday December 15, 2008. Because we are expecting such a high demand for this show, we are offering an internet presale to loyal friends of the ASC. The presale will be available via www.alysstephens.org only, and will begin Monday December 8, 2008.  Check today’s ASC E-Updates for details.

 

 

 

 

Mom Always Like Them Best

One of the things about my job I like best is working side-by-side with so many talented people. One of our greatest talents is actor, playwright, and resident oddball Jerry Sims. Jerry not only serves as our House Events Manager, he also writes and directs many of our ASC Kids’ Club productions. His shows have included “Alice’s Tea Party,” “Christmas Comes to Mugwumpville,” and this season’s upcoming masterpiece, “A Dickens Vest Pocket Christmas Carol.”

In this blog, Jerry weighs in on the legendary Smothers Brothers comedy duo and the influence they’ve had on generations…

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As a teenager I eagerly awaited The Smothers Brothers show each week. I come from a family of disparate political views and outlooks towards life. The Smothers Brothers provided common ground for all of us. They were funny. Yes, they taught me that it was all right to question the norm and look at politics and life in general from something more than a singular, polarized point of view. But in doing so, they were funny. Their rooted influence includes such great American humorists as Mark Twain and Will Rogers. Their legacy of influence may be found in contemporary entertainers such as John Stewart and Lewis Black. Everyone may not have agreed on every message their rants and rages contained, but if you had a sense of humor at all, you had to agree that they were funny.They gave us the likes of musicians such as Richie Havens, Buffalo Springfield and Mason Williams (who wrote CLASSICAL GAS as well as Tommy's signature song, THE YO-YO MAN).

Any contemporary comedian of note graced their show, and a few lesser known comedians provided a somewhat obscure format for laughter. Who can forget "Pat What's His Name" and his perennial candidacy for president, or the "Share a Little Tea with Goldie Lady?"

Comedy is complex. A simple breakdown is that one either laughs at or with performers.

With the Smothers Brothers, you did both.

Mom was right.

Jazz guitarist and vocalist John Pizzerelli performs first, then the Smothers Brothers take the stage on Sunday, November 23rd. 

You can experience the next original production written by Jerry Sims: “A Dickens Vest Pocket Christmas Carol” on December 7th. Kids will love this show! Tickets are just $7.

Guest blogger Brent Warren logs in on Claire Lynch

The reason that we got into blogging was to provide a forum for people who love music, dance, and theatre to communicate and get out and support the arts in Birmingham. We’re so happy to welcome Guest Bloggers and insights from everyone. If you would like to be a guest blogger, just let us know!

This week Brent Warren logs in on Claire Lynch…

Dolly Parton credits Claire with “one of the sweetest, purest, and best lead vocals in the music business today.” You can’t beat references like that, and I agree 100%! The first time I heard Claire Lynch and the Front Porch String Band, I was struck by her amazing voice and unpretentious stage presence. I have seen her perform on many stages and venues, but no matter how large or small the setting, I feel as if I am sitting on her front porch, hearing the purest, seasoned music coming from these amazing musicians.

If you have ever been to a bluegrass festival, you must have seen all the “shade tree pickers.” They are scattered around the fringes of the festivals, in a circle, playing music. I once heard The Claire Lynch Band warming up for a show under a shade tree at Foggy Hollow Bluegrass Festival. I leaned around the tree, to get as close as I could, and as they played and sang very softly, their harmonies and instruments blended into one richly textured voice that I will never forget…it was special!

Lots of others think Claire and her band are special too. The International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) voted her Female Vocalist of the Year, and this year she will be inducted into the Alabama Bluegrass Hall of Fame; guitarist Jim Hurst has received two IBMA Guitar Player of the Year awards, and bassist Mark Schatz has received two IMBA Bass Player of the Year awards. Jason Thomas brings remarkable chops on fiddle and mandolin, and he seems right at home with one of the greatest bluegrass bands currently on the scene.

If you are a musician, you will be amazed and inspired. If you just love great acoustic music…you don’t want to miss this show!

- Brent Warren, Editor, BamaGrass Magazine

Brent is Editor of BamaGrass magazine, published by the Alabama Bluegrass Music Association. His real job is Art Director, and Manager for Southern Living magazine. He is a member of a Birmingham bluegrass band, The Newgrass Troubadours.

He says, “bluegrass music really opened my ears to some of the finest musicians in the business, but it’s also a great form of music for beginning pickers – its up to you how far you want to take it. And, the people you meet along the way are great.” He is married to Lisa, and has two daughters, Kendall (5) and Holland (2).