“How many times have I told this story?” Erika MacDonald asks this question repeatedly in her Rogue Festival show The Barn Identity. Each time she tells it, another tiny piece of the story falls into place. Is it about swirling leaves? Barns falling down? Going to a movie? An old woman in a bed? Losing identity? Architecture? Poetry?
What if William Shakespeare wrote Hamlet in the 1990s? And some of the actors were drinking on the job? It would probably look like The Fools Collaborative Presents S’Will: The Emo Prince of Denmark.
After last year’s Marty’s Turn, I got a hankering to perform my own writing again. But I had learned a few things since Merely a Player, which served as my playwriting and solo show debut in 2020, also at the Rogue Festival: 1) I don’t have the bandwidth to learn and perform an entire, traditional solo play, and 2) I need a team. I need to be directed. I need someone to help me develop the script, and I need someone with an eye for design.
After last year’s Marty’s Turn, I got a hankering to perform my own writing again. But I had learned a few things since Merely a Player, which served as my playwriting and solo show debut in 2020, also at the Rogue Festival: 1) I don’t have the bandwidth to learn and perform an entire, traditional solo play, and 2) I need a team. I need to be directed. I need someone to help me develop the script, and I need someone with an eye for design.
Wouldn’t it be cool if there were an event that showcased local artists: musicians, singer-songwriters, poets, and spoken-word artists? And wouldn’t it be cool if it happened EVERY month, instead just a one-off? And wouldn’t it be cool if part of their mission was to include diverse voices from all over our community? And wouldn’t it be even cooler if those live shows were also broadcast on a powerful, local FM radio station?....Ah….we’re in luck! Using some Measure P funds, KFCF 88.1 FM will be doing just that.
When I read my advance copy of Janie's Got a Gun: Crime Fiction Inspired by the Music of Aerosmith, edited by Michael Bracken, and published through White City Press, it dawned on me that we may be living in the golden age of music-inspired mystery short stories.
I have been enjoying Thomas Hayes’ beautiful voice on stage for a number of years, as he has performed in numerous shows here in the Valley, including recently in The Secret Garden at Roger Rocka’s—reviewed here in KRL. H
Mark your calendars for October 11 and prepare for a night filled with music, community, and Halloween spirit. It’s Scary On The Surface Part 3 is entering its third year, featuring live local music, food and drink, trick-or-treat bags for kids, face painting, and more. This Halloween-themed event will be hosted at the Selma Arts Center in downtown Selma on Friday, October 11. With tickets priced between $12 and $15 (children 10 and under get in free), this night promises fall fun the whole family can enjoy.
Music is always one of the earliest components of a story I write. I find a song––sometimes on purpose, mostly on accident––that inspires a sensation of a story. Listening to Chris Cornell’s “You Know My Name” and Danny Elfman’s “Little Things” gave me an inkling of a pairing on the run, on the streets, wits and danger, and crimes afoot.
I sat my father down recently to get the scoop on his upcoming free show slash record release show party.
My dad is Blake Jones, that one local musician who won’t quit, leader of Blake Jones & The Trike Shop, thereminist extraordinaire, Beatles fanatic, chocolate enjoyer, and all-round good guy.
