Katie Goodman conducts improv comedy/life coach workshop within shouting distance of WY

Katie Goodman, improv comedian, author, and rabble-rousing singer/songwriter ("I Didn't F*ck It Up"), will be conducting a workshop at Chico Hot Springs, MT, Oct. 8-9. This is as close as she will ever get to Wyoming, unless she tap-dances over the border into Yellowstone while she's at Chico.

Here are the details:

Katie will present her workshop teaching how to use the tools of improv comedy in every day life. This workshop will be presented at the gorgeous Chico Hot Springs, one hour from Bozeman, near Yellowstone National Park in Montana.

Click here for reviews and testimonials. For additional information about the workshop, click here.

The cost is $255 which includes a beautiful Chico lunch both days and Katie's book to take home. Rooms run from $45 - $200, so to book your room, call Chico directly and pick what you like: 406-333-4933. Most participants stay over Saturday night, but you are certainly welcome to make a longer retreat of it and stay Friday and Sunday or longer. The workshop hours are 9am - 4:30 both Saturday and Sunday.

Lunches are provided for workshop participants both Saturday and Sunday. Exceptional cuisine from one of the region’s finest restaurant is available in the Chico Lodge restaurant for breakfast and dinner, as well as other budget options nearby. Other activities available include massage, hiking, horse-back-riding and more. And of course, the wonderful hot springs of Chico are included with your stay at the Lodge.

To register or for more information, email us or call 406-522-7623. 

Cheyenne artist takes many pieces and creates a work of peace

Cheyenne artist Forrest King took these items from Sept. 11 ceremony...

...and constructed this work of art seen in background at International
Day of Peace ceremony in Herschler Building.

Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead penned a proclamation marking Sept. 21 at the International Day of Peace. At today's lunchtime ceremony at the Herschler Building honoring this day of peace, the Rev. Rodger McDaniel read the proclamation because the Gov was busy with the "lying in state" events for the late U.S. Sen Malcolm Wallop.

Gov. Mead's proclamation mentioned the United Nations many times. The International Day of Peace originated in the U.N. in 1981 and was first celebrated on Sept. 21 in 2002. I couldn't help but wonder how nuts the proclamation would make Gov. Mead's U.N.-hating Tea Party followers. They'll never read it, of course. But if they did, heads would be exploding all over Wyoming.

Sen. Wallop was no fan of the U.N. or of peacenik ways. He was a Cold Warrior, one of Ronald Reagan's staunchest supporters.  I doubt if the International Day of Peace ever deserved a ceremony, much less a mention, at Sen. Wallop's digs in Sheridan County.

My thoughts were not in keeping with the peace and justice ways of today's ceremony. But that's how it goes when you've spent two decades as an outlier in the reddest of red states.

Cheyenne's International Day of Peace featured fine words by Christian, Jewish, Muslim and UU leaders. Music too. And a work of art by local artist Forrest King.

At the Sept. 11 commemoration at the State Capitol, Forrest collected mementos from different faith communities. These items represented the brokenness of 9/11. Forrest was charged with bringing a sense of hope to these materials via his art.

And he did. Forrest is sending more photos. For now, the above images show the items from the Sept. 11 ceremony and the sculpture fashioned by Forrest. I'll do a more complete description of the work in future posts.

I leave you with the words that Rev. McDaniel left us with: "All in Peace. Go in Peace. Create in Peace. Live in Peace."

Shalom

For everything (even 9/11) there is a season

As always, the arts were front and center during this morning’s televised tenth anniversary of trying to make sense of 9/11.

Performances by choirs and singer/songwriters and classical musicians punctuated the reading of the names at the Twin Towers memorial. Each of the politicians who spoke referenced a poem or a Biblical verse, which is another type of poetry. You might even say that the reading of the names is a very long epic poem. The readers themselves ended their recitations by remembering their loved one who died on 9/11. A short personal haiku amidst the epic poem.

Former NYC Mayor Rudy Guiliani read the verse from Ecclesiastes that was put to song (“Turn, Turn, Turn”) by anti-war and environmental activist Pete Seeger in 1959 and made famous among non-Bible readers in 1965 by rock-era legends The Byrds.

Ecclesiates 3 1-8

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to throw away;
a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

This only seems to emphasize the fact that, while poems and music and Biblical verses bring some comfort and understanding to tragedy, they don't seem to make grief any easier to bear. Sometimes they bring up issues that still desperately need to be faced.

After Giuliani’s speech, Paul Simon sang "The Sound of Silence" accompanied only by his guitar. Simon began composing the song after the Kennedy assassination. It became one of the standards of Simon & Garfunkel performances and nearly every young person alive in the sixties knew the words. This morning, Simon’s words and guitar chords echoed eerily off of the big buildings still under construction. His words argue that “silence like a cancer grows” and many prophetic warnings are gobbled up by the sounds of silence. Sounds a little bit like what we’ve seen the past 10 years in the U.S. The silence, however, is really the sounds of millions of screaming voices blaring out of the Tower of Babel worlds of the Internet and Cable TV.

The famous hymn “Amazing Grace” was performed by flautist Emi Ferguson. “Amazing Grace” was co-written by repentant slave ship sailor John Newton and renowned British poet William Cowper. It’s now performed often on bagpipes, notably at the funerals of fire fighters and soldiers. I heard many pipe band renditions of this standard over the weekend at the Scottish Irish Highland Festival in Estes Park.

It’s no namby-pamby verse. The author is crying out in anguish, thanking God’s “amazing grace” for saving “a wretch like me.” This takes humility. This takes courage. Something that we saw plenty of in those who gave their lives for others on 9/11/01.

"How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying" cast performs at The Hynds Sept. 8

Things are looking up for Cheyenne’s downtown. Reconstruction, music construction, farmers’ markets, artist lofts, music and big murals. All these help boost the prospects for Wyoming’s Capital City.

Art Design & Dine is one of the many events that have brought new life to downtown. Started two years by arts dynamo Georgia Rowswell, this second-Thursday-of-the-month event has expanded from an art walk featuring a few galleries and a restaurant to an evening gala with arts, food and music. The Cheyenne Arts Council now plays a big part in the event.

The LightsOn! Project at The Hynds Building joined the mix when the building’s renovated ground floor art space opened in June. Big happenings there at the next AD&D:

Join us as we kick off September's ART DESIGN & DINE, Cheyenne's Monthly Art Tour at The Hynd's, on September 8 with a live performance by the cast of Cheyenne Little Theatre's production of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying.  

This production opens Cheyenne Little Theatre's 82nd Season of continuous entertainment for all theatre enthusiasts throughout the region!  Members of the 28-person cast will be on hand from 5:15-6 p.m. to perform musical selections from the show to give everyone a sneak preview of the show that will open on September 23. FMI: www.cheyennelittletheatre.org

How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying was originally presented on Broadway in 1961, starring Robert Morse as J. Pierrepont Finch. It won seven Tony Awards, the New York Drama Critic Circle Award and the 1962 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was successfully revived in 1995 starring Matthew Broderick and this past February a new revival with Daniel Radcliff (of Harry Potter Fame) and John Larroquette, opened on Broadway, has won Tony Award's and has been proclaimed a huge hit. With a magnificent score that moves to the rhythm of the city by Academy and Tony Award winner Frank Loesser, this exciting, new production brings one of Broadway’s funniest and best-loved musical comedies to the Cheyenne Little Theatre stage. 

Peat Bog Mysteries will play Celtic music following the musical theatre performance. Harpist Michael Riversong will provide musical accompaniment to the evening's figure-drawing classes.

A good time will be had by all. 

Roy's a Liberal who sings funny songs about conservatives

Roy Zimmerman was born in San Francisco and still lives in the Bay Area. He could dwell forever in this cone of Liberalism. Yet something inside keeps urging him to get out and meet "Real People," those salt-of-the-earth types that conservatives love, in theory.

A bunch of us Real People went out to see Roy in concert Thursday night at the UU Church of Cheyenne. Some of you may not think of Unitarians as real people or UU as a real religion. We rarely hear about the Cheyenne Unitarians waging holy war against, say, the Sunni wing of the Unitarians over in Laramie.

Despite their namby-pamby ways, UU seems to thrive and put on great programs at their midtown church.

Roy Zimmerman's concert was one of those programs.

Roy wanders the country, seeking out pockets of Liberals to sing to. His plan is to play in all 50 states before the 2012 elections. He did the same thing before the 2008 elections, missing only Hawaii (too far away), Alaska (too cold) and New Mexico (didn't know it was in the United States). He won't make the same mistake again. This time, he started in Alaska, came to Wyoming and this weekend is in Colorado. You probably didn't know this, but Colorado Springs has a UU Church and Roy will play there Sunday. The American Taliban which make up most of the religious in Colorado Springs will not be amused.

One of the funniest songs from Thursday's Cheyenne concert was "The Abstinence Song."

"Abstain with me baby
Abstain with me all night long."

He sang it in a strained voice, as if attempting to keep his devilish desires in check. He also sang "The Bible Tells Me So," which recalls all the great marriages in the Old Testament. You know, King Solomon and his 700 wives and 300 concubines.Another great song is "My Conservative Girlfriend." He used to sing this with Anne Coulter in mind. Now he sings it to Michelle Bachmann.

"Moammar Ghaddafi gives us a glimpse of what a Michele Bachmann presidency would be like," he said as a prelude to the song.

Amen.

You can't visit Wyoming without bringing up the specter of Dick Cheney. And lo, he is quite spectrous. And his new book is out so his Satanic Majesty is all over the news.

Roy sang his "Chickenhawk Song," spelling out the litany of all those draft-dodging warmongers (like Cheney) who were only too happy to send your sons and daughters to die in Iraq and Afghanistan. Possibly the most touching song of the night was the ballad about being the "Last Man to Die in Afghanistan."

He didn't let Liberals off the hook. There was a satiric song about how hard it is to be a Liberal, and one about the "psychedelic relics" of the sixties. And a touching ballad about how regular people are trying to rise up against the bullshit. He reminded us that "hope" and "change" are powerful words, but there is a third one we need to remember: Struggle.

Three words: hope, struggle and change.

Roy is traveling the U.S. with his Starving Ear tour. This is his answer to the Hungry I in San Francisco, a place that featured outspoken activists of the fiftes and sixties. People like Mort Sahl, Bill Cosby, Lenny Bruce, Glenn Yarbrough and a host of others. Hungry I = Starving Ear. I get it.

Look up Roy's stuff at www.royzimmerman.com

September 2011 a time to celebrate the creators over the destructors

The arts can bring us together and, sometimes drive us apart.

After 9/11, the arts were a strong healing force in America. Ten years after, I still remember that beautiful "America" A Tribute to Heroes" telethon that featured performances Bruce Springsteen, Neil Young, Wycleaf Jean, The Dixie Chicks, Celine Dion and so many others. Music was this Sept. 21 show's centerpiece. Unlike most televised music events -- MTV Awards, Grammies, etc. -- the egos were left at the door and they just played.

On that night, when you and your Republican neighbors were watching the same show and thinking some of the same thoughts, who would have thought that we would be such a miserable and contentious and downtrodden nation as we are now? Who would have thought we would still be waging war in Afghanistan and one in Iraq? Who would have predicted how mean-spirited our politics would become? It disgusts me and I hope it disgusts you.

Me -- I'm part of the problem. I regularly attack the other side for what I see as knuckleheaded politics. They, in turn, attack me. That's O.K. a healthy give-and-take of ideas is a good thing. That makes our country stronger. It shows us that the terrorists really didn't win on that sunny day ten Septembers ago. But when we spend all of our time in name-calling mode, I'm not so sure. When politics becomes another excuse to tear our neighbor down, I'm not so sure. After 9/11, we were talking. Our leaders were operating on the same page. Healing and recovery became our goal.

That didn't last long.

Does that mean that I'm going to leave my Cassandra ways behind and become all Pollyanna?

No. I will keep fighting the Know Nothings. But, during September, I'm going to write about constructive things that may make our lives just a bit better. The arts, just to name one topic. The arts are a constructive force. To create is to see toward the future.

And I leave you now with a healing song from from the 2002 CD by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, "The Rising." Great CD. The title song could have been in that long-ago healing concert. It's a performance of "The Rising" at a 2003 concert in Barcelona. Barcelona residents know a bit about rising from the ashes. It was a city in ruins after the Spanish Civil War which divided Spain for generations (and Spaniards are still dealing with it). Is there another civil war in America's future? Let's hope not. Here's the concert link: http://youtu.be/eNnB4dkVRJI. Some of the lyrics:

Can't see nothin' in front of me
Can't see nothin' coming up behind
I make my way through this darkness
I can't feel nothing but this chain that binds me
Lost track of how far I've gone
How far I've gone, how high I've climbed
On my back's a sixty pound stone
On my shoulder a half mile line

Come on up for the rising
Com on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Left the house this morning
Bells ringing filled the air
Wearin' the cross of my calling
On wheels of fire I come rollin' down here

Come on up for the rising
Come on up, lay your hands in mine
Come on up for the rising
Come on up for the rising tonight

Brother Duane said "eat a peach for peace," so I did

Eat a peach, ya'll

Eat a peach for peace.

That's what Duane Allman did. In an interview shortly before his death by motorcycle in October 1971, Duane was asked in an interview what he was doing for the revolution. Replied Duane:

"There ain't no revolution, it's evolution, but every time I'm in Georgia I eat a peach for peace."

Eat a peach. Let the juice run down your chin.

That's what I did this morning. It was a Colorado peach from Palisade, where they grow ones almost as good as the Georgia variety. Peach State. Peachtree Street, where Margaret Mitchell stepped off a curb and was killed by a car.

When I eat a peach I think of the Allman Brothers namesake album, the last one recorded with the full original band makeup, before Duane and Barry Oakley discovered the joys of driving motorcycles in Macon, Georgia.

Eat a peach for peace.

I did a little farmers' market shopping, as I said in my previous post. The Depot Plaza was crowded with vendors and shoppers. Miller Farms out of Platteville had some good deals. I was intrigued by Miller Farms flyers announcing its fall harvest festival. From Labor Day weekend through mid-November, Miller Farms opens the gates for "harvest-your-own" days. In October, the farm has pumpkin harvesting and a haunted adventure, including a corn maze. Interesting how Front Range farms, at least those that have survived the housing development boom of the past 30 years, have gone in big for the local foods movement. Miller Farms has a big Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program. It's not officially a state historic site but it does advertise that it's been around since 1949 and is "a true Colorado treasure."

In September, I am going down to Miller Farms to pick my own.

I wonder if people can shop at farmers' markets and avoid grocery stories. Some of us are having a tough time making ends meet. Grocery prices have climbed with transportation costs. Unemployment is low in Wyoming, but it's not exactly a hot market for those looking for work. Hiring is hot in the energy industry, especially in the Niobrara oil shale country of northern Colorado and southeast Wyoming. The service industry is always hiring, although jobs are barely minimum wage. The job market for professional is static, although that's better than "awful."

I spent $30.70 at today's market and probably got enough food for the weekend. Here's what I bought:

Goat chops from Wag's Livestock in Laramie, $9.70
New potatoes from Destine Hoover's Laramie County farm, $3
15 ears of corn from LaSalle, Colo., $5
Container of Palisade peaches from Dick's Place, Cheyenne, $10
Slice of strawberry/rhubarb coffee cake from Robin's Treats, Laramie, $3

I probably should have bought steaks from Wag's but Jim Waggoner talked me into goat. I told him I'd never tried it and he replied that this was enough of a good reason to buy some. I had to agree. Jim and Sue spend their Friday afternoons and evenings at the Laramie market and then drive over the pass to Cheyenne for Saturday.

At the farmers' market work, I would have had to spend at least $100 to get through the week. Even then, I'd have to go to Albertson's for milk and other food items. I still think it's great that Community Action of Laramie County now takes credit, debit and EPT cards. And this is only second weekend for thew Saturday market.

But, as the Miller Farms flyer said, "eat nutritiously, buy locally and be healthy."

Eat a peach for taste. Eat a peach for "local." Eat a peach for health.

Eat a peach for peace.

Creative placemaking in downtown Cheyenne

Abby Rowswell

Very encouraging to see the Cheyenne Arts Council add music to the gallery walk held the second Thursday of the month in central Cheyenne. I should say "music and the written word." I was the featured writer at AD&D last month at Clay Paper Scissors. Melodic I was not. But there was some humor.


There will be two venues hosting musical performances at the August 11 art tour. 

First make your way to the Cheyenne Artists Guild at 1701 Morrie Ave (in Holliday Park) for a duet by Harpist David Shaul and Oboist Abby Rowswell. The concert will have two sets. The first from 5-6 p.m. and the second from 7-8 p.m.

Abby Rowswell recently graduated from Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, with a Bachelor of Arts in Music and French. Most recently, she played with the Beijing International Chamber Orchestra while working in China. Music is one of her many passions, including knitting, cooking, and reading good books. 

David Shaul is a Wyoming native who studied pedal harp with Suzanne McDonald. Over the years his range has expanded to include cross-strung, Celtic, Latin, and Asian harps. He has been principal harpist with symphony orchestras in Arizona and California. A virtuoso performer on both folk and pedal harp, Dave does concerts, workshops, and lectures on World harps, pan-Celtic, and Renaissance/Baroque harp music. Dave's harp styles range from Latin to European to Asian. With a Ph.D. in anthropological linguistics from U.C. Berkeley, he speaks two Native American languages.

From 6-8 p.m., enjoy the fiddling fingers of Phil ‘N' The Blanks at Deselms Fine Arts at 300 East 17th Street. 

Phil ‘N’ the Blanks is a family band from Cheyenne. Julee and Dave Kramer (Mom and Dad) have been performing together since high school so when little Phil started fiddling in the 4th grade it was only a short time before he was begging to go gigging too. Since 2005, the band has performed a mix of bluegrass, Celtic, swing and gospel music in a variety of venues throughout Colorado and Wyoming.

This month's music has been provided through the Cheyenne Arts Council

House concerts catching on in Cheyenne

Casper musicians Amy Gieske and Cory McDaniel perform at a Cheyenne house concert Sunday evening. Cheyenne organizers snagged the duo on their way back to Casper from a fund-raiser for Habitat for Humanity in Albany County. House concerts are nothing new but catching on in Wyoming as a grassroots way to hear live music in an intimate setting.  Photo by Linda Coatney.

Roy Zimmerman offers a satirical antidote to Red State weirdness with a Sept. 1 Cheyenne concert

The Unitarian Universalist Church in Cheyenne hosts Roy Zimmerman on Thursday, September 1 at 7 p.m. Below is some information about Roy and there is much more on YouTube or his web site.

“Live From the Starving Ear” is 90 minutes of Roy Zimmerman’s wickedly inventive satirical songs.  The Tea Party, the economy, same-sex marriage, Socialism, Creationism, guns, taxes, abstinence and yes, Obama, all come under tuneful scrutiny. “There’s a whole new political landscape,” he says, “painted by Jackson Pollock.”

In twelve albums over twenty years, Roy has brought the sting of satire to the struggle for Peace and Social Justice.  His songs have been heard on HBO and Showtime.  He has recorded for Warner/Reprise Records.  He’s been profiled on NPR’s “All Things Considered,” and he's a featured blogger for the Huffington Post.  Roy’s YouTube videos have garnered over six million views and tens of thousands of comments, many of them coherent.  And yes, he has a website: http://royzimmerman.com/

The Los Angeles Times says, “Zimmerman displays a lacerating wit and keen awareness of society’s foibles that bring to mind a latter-day Tom Lehrer.”

Tom Lehrer himself says, "I congratulate Roy Zimmerman on reintroducing literacy to comedy songs. And the rhymes actually rhyme, they don't just 'rhyne.'"

Joni Mitchell says, "Roy's lyrics move beyond poetry and achieve perfection."

Watch one of Roy's YouTube videos at http://youtu.be/qNi1sevKNd0

Star Wars Festival "food-raiser" set for July 7

Is it possible that Darth Vader is a force for good in the universe?

We often rely on arts and music and creativity to lift our spirits during hard times. They also help turn on lights where darkness reigns.


Fellow prog-blogger and minister Rodger McDaniel announces this good (and fun) cause:


Highlands United Presbyterian Church announces its "Star Wars" Festival “food-raiser” for NEEDS. The STAR WARS FESTIVAL, is scheduled for 6:30-9:30 p..m., Thursday, July 7, at the Highlands United Presbyterian Church, 2390 Pattison Ave., Cheyenne . The public is invited to attend. Admission is FREE with the donation of any non-perishable food item or baby item such as diapers. All items collected will be donated to NEEDS, Inc. for its food bank.


A variety of events are planned as part of this family evening: 

6:30 p.m. - Intergalactic Meet-and-Greet
Want to meet Darth Vader, Imperial Stormtroopers or R2D2? Come early to the talk and meet some of your favorite characters from the Star War films. Bring your camera and take as many pictures as you like! Re-enactors include members of the Mountain Garrison of the 501st Legion -- www.501st.com. Members reside in both Colorado andWyoming.

Dr. Toby Rush presents "The Music of Star Wars"

7:30 p.m. -- Presentation: The Music of Star Wars 
This 90-minute multimedia presentation from UNC music professor TOBY RUSH, includes excerpts from all six films. Dr. Rush will present the music of Star Wars and explore how John Williams used the soundtrack to help tell George Lucas' epic tale.

9 p.m. -- Costume Contest
Wear your Star Wars costume! Guests are encouraged to dress as characters from any of the Star Wars films. A short fashion show, allowing guests to strut their stuff, will be held following Dr. Rush’s talk. Prizes will be awarded for the top outfits!

All this FREE with your donation for NEEDS! So bring the family, this is one event you don’t want to miss! And it’s for a good cause – with all foodstuffs to be donated to NEEDS Cheyenne. 

Highlands Presbyterian Church is located in north Cheyenne at 2390 Pattison Avenue. From Dell Range at Mountain, drive north onMountain Road to the intersection of Pattison and Mountain.

For more information, contact Rodger McDaniel, pastor of Highlands Presbyterian, at 307-634-2962 (church office) or rodger.mcdaniel@bresnan.net.

Linda hits the road with poetry in her heart and a ukelele in her hands

Sign in the window at Beyond Baroque

My friend and colleague Linda Coatney just returned from a five-day road trip with The Monk -- Detroit spoken-word poet and activist M.L. Liebler -- and Peter Lewis, one of the founders of the seminal California rock band, Moby Grape. Linda is a poet and plays the ukelele. She keeps insisting that Don Ho's favorite musical instrument is making a comeback -- Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder has an entire CD of uke tunes -- but I have my doubts.

The entourage hit a few of California's literary and music hot spots, including Beyond Baroque Literary Center in Venice Beach and the Ashkenaz Music & Dance Community Center in Berkeley. Linda chronicled the trip in a post on the Wyoming Arts Council blog. Go to http://wyomingarts.blogspot.com/2011/06/on-road-with-monk-and-moby-grape.html

Talking about Netroots Nation Monday night at Laramie County Democrats meeting in Cheyenne

Van Jones

If I can get my laptop (and myself) to function properly, I will be showing a few clips from happenings at the recent Netroots Nation conference during the monthly meeting of the Laramie County Democrats at the IBEW Union Hall, 810 Fremont St., Cheyenne, on Monday, June 27, 7:30 p.m.

Although I have an entire composition book filled with notes, I thought that a few vids might be a lot more fun than a reading a batch of my scribbles from the event. I am especially fond of Jill Sobule's new song about the Tea Party that she debuted at the conference. There's a rousing speech by Van Jones and a wry, deadpan address by Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, Minneapolis hometown boy. And if we get bored, we can always look at footage of Wingnut Andrew Breitbart trying to crash NN11 because The Right Online conference across the street was so bloody boring.

So come on out. All are welcome. It's free, although LarCoDems' treasurer Gary Roadifer may badger you for spare change. Sometimes we have cookies. Get more info at www.laramiecountydemocrats.org

Testing 1-2-3 in Pinedale

Shotgun Party

Summer is festival time in Wyoming. The Pinedale Fine Arts Council sponsors the SoundCheck festival this weekend. Three bands, all with Austin connections, are featured.

The Pinedale Fine Arts Council will be presenting the fourth annual SoundCheck mini-music fest on June 25, 2011 in the American Legion Park (5 p.m., free) in Pinedale. SoundCheck was first conceived four years ago following PFAC's purchase of a new sound system via grant monies from the Wyoming Cultural Trust. The inaugural event was a hit so it became an annual festival with attendance growing each year. This is sure to be the music event of the summer so mark the date on the calendar, dust off your cooler and camp chairs and come listen to some great music!

Notice that this event has its roots in seed money from the Wyoming Cultural Trust, with funding provided by the Wyoming State Legislature. Every arts event in Wyoming is like a pie in the face to the regressive elements which would shut down free expression and artistic entrepreneurship and creative placemaking and just plain fun. Support these events, and let your legislators know that you support their efforts at making Wyoming a better and more progressive place.

Jill Sobule: "They say they want their America back, WTF do they mean?"

NN11: Telling our stories in in art, in words, in music

One of the mantras I've heard at this conference: we must tell our stories.

A writer knows this. Story telling is our trade. But there are always new stories -- and new ways to tell them.

Favianna Rodriguez is an artist and activist. She's taken on the immigration battle -- specifically Arizona's SB1070 -- with posters. They are designed around the slogan "undocumented and unafraid." It's her way of changing the conservation from thew scary term "illegal immigrants" to "we may not have papers but we are not afraid to stand up and be counted."  Her goal is to blend "the power of image with stories." Proceeds from sales of "undocumented and unafraid" posters go to AltoArizona, one of the groups fighting SB1070 and its many spinoffs. Wyoming saw at least one of those in its recent legislative session.

Favianna was moderator of a panel "Educate, Agitate, Inspire: How Artists are Fighting Anti-migrant Hate." Panelists spoke about the many methods being used in the fight. Musicians have organized a boycott of Arizona gigs. It's called Sound Strike. L.A.'s Javier Gonzales said a number of musicians and groups have signed on. The effort is being pushed by Rage Against the Machine guitarist Zack de la Rocha. Boycotting artists include Cypress Hill, Conor Oberst, Kanye West, My Chemical Romance, Ben Harper, Steve Earle, My Morning Jacket, Mos Def, Chris Rock, Steve Earle and others. Sparks have flown over the boycott, with some performers wondering how their stories can be told to a live audience if they are not playing in Phoenix and Tucson and Flagstaff. But boycotts against Arizona's excesses have been successful in the past. Amazing how quickly some legislators can change their minds (and votes) when the tourism and convention businesses take a hit. We saw that in the wrangle over the Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday.

Artists and musicians tell stories. Amazingly enough, so do writers. Poet Ken Chen of the Asian American Writers Network was a panelist. He spoke about Word Strike, an effort to bring a group of writers to Arizona in September to speak out against SB1070. A September caravan is planned from New York City to the Southwest. Imagine a bus full of writers and poets! I spoke to Ken later and said we'd like to have him stop in Cheyenne or Laramie. He wasn't sure of the itinerary, but we'll be in touch.

The most touching story came from Gaby Pacheco of Miami. She and three of her friends grew tired of the immigrant battle at home and decided to walk to D.C. to meet with Pres. Obama. The story was : "this is what illegal looks like." Four intelligent and motivated young people who are sick and tried of being harassed and harangued and portrayed as "The Other" in the MSM.

Gaby Pacheco

"It was scary walking through the South," said Gaby. "We told our stories thousands of times. We Tweeted and blogged as went, and videotaped the whole thing."

They were surprised by the media coverage. They also were surprised by the huge support generated by social media. They also were unafraid. They went to small town police stations and confronted them about their harassment of local Hispanics. The KKK protested at one stop -- shades of the Freedom Riders of the 1960s. Lots of Tea Party types showed up with big flags and hateful words. It was turned into a short film -- we saw a clip. For more, go to www.trail2010.org.

Many stories and many ways to tell them in the age of new media.

"The Rapture" accompanied by music and art

I'm in rapture over the many fine arts events that will be taking place when The Rapture arrives on Saturday, May 21. What better time to get "Left Behind" when you have these cool things to choose from:

Cheyenne International Film Festival at the Historic Atlas Theatre

"Footloose" at the Mary Godfrey Theater (with cast of talented locals)

Professional development workshops for visual artists at Works of Wyoming at the Laramie Plains Civic Center. Workshops followed by Laramie Burlesque's "Judgement Day Cabaret."

Two huge plant sales! Seed and Weed Garden Club sells seeds and seedlings and offers advice at the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens and the Laramie County Master Gardeners will have its annual plant sale at the Depot Plaza downtown.

On the day after, enjoy authentic Yiddish food, Klezmer music and Israeli folk dancing at the Yiddish Food Festival at the Mt. Sinai Synagogue in Cheyenne.

So much to live for...

ProPublica video answers the musical question: "What the frack is going on?"

The good folks at ProPublica have produced a video rap that explains fracking for you. Here's the chorus:

What the frack is going on with all this fracking going on
I think we need some facts to come to light
I know we want our energy but nothing ever comes for free
I think my water’s on fire tonight

As seen on New West

Public/private partnership brings music treasures to a PC near you

From Voice of America (VOA) comes news about a great public/private partnership:

Grammy-winning performer Harry Connick, Jr., was on hand recently to help the Library of Congress launch a website that offers 10,000 rare and historic sound recordings to the public in digital format for the first time - at no charge.

The massive collection includes popular music, opera and early jazz as well as poetry and famous political speeches. Al Jolson, Arturo Toscanini, Enrico Caruso and George Gershwin are just some of the musical giants featured in the collection.

The site, called National Jukebox, is a collaborative project between the Library of Congress and Sony Music Entertainment. It offers online access to a vast selection of music and spoken-word recordings produced in the U.S. between 1901 and 1925.

James H. Billington, the Librarian of Congress, characterizes the collection as a “vast treasure trove of recordings produced in the U.S. prior to the end of 1925.”

"It includes early jazz, famous speeches, poetry, humor, opera, dance music with authoritative production information for each recording," says Billington.

The Library of Congress holds the largest collection of historic sound recordings in the United States. They're stored and digitally preserved at a special facility in the state of Virginia. The Jukebox recordings come from that facility.

Richard Story, president of the Commercial Music Group of Sony Music Entertainment, says the remarkable collection traces the roots and development of American music and includes the work of “some of the most influential, most important artists ever."

Are those predator wolves or trophy wolves flying jets over Wyoming?

"Wolves Flying Jets" is a song by Greenhorse. Are these predator wolves or trophy wolves? And can they be hunted while flying jets over Wyoming or Montana or Idaho?

Ask Greenhorse when the group (with Wyoming origins) performs tonight at the WYO Theater in Sheridan.

The song --



Wolves Flying Jets by Greenhorse