Art and Culture

On this month’s episode, host Kennedy Sam sits down with Samuel Thomas, a co-founder of the Deep in the Heart Film Festival, to hear a few updates on what to expect for this year’s at-home edition coming next month. In the second half of the episode, local artist Cade Kegerreis will be talking about his first solo exhibiton, Devolved, which is now open at Cultivate 7twelve.

I’m Jim McKeown, welcome to Likely Stories, a weekly review of fiction, Non-Fiction, and Poetry.

According to the dust jacket, Elliot Ackerman served five tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and is the recipient of the Silver Star, the Bronze Star for valor, and the Purple heart.  His essays and fiction have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The new Republic, and Ecotone, among other publications.  He currently lives in Istanbul, where he writes on the Syrian Civil War.  He is a true hero.

Saving our stages means keeping afloat places where people can hear the magic of live music.

On one of my last voyages out before the lockdown last spring, I went to New York City for a couple of days to give a talk.  New York is one of my favorite places and I had one night free, all to myself.  I wanted to hear some jazz and I wound up downstairs at Birdland, one of the most famous jazz clubs in the world, listening to a talented cabaret singer named Marissa Mulder.  She did a really nice set of Lennon and McCartney songs backed by guitar, bass, piano, and drums.  The crowd was knowledgeable, appreciative, and responded really well.

Just a few weeks later Birdland was closed.  I felt like I’d been on the last plane out of Casablanca.

In a grim cascade from coast to coast, all music venues great and small closed within a few days.  The group I play with here had a gig cancelled on March 12 and there’s been no place to play since.  I would like people to understand that places that host live music represent a crucial piece of the art scene in any town, from Waco to New York City; and, beginning last spring, the question quickly became how, and if,

Edna Gallmon Cooke's beautiful mezzo-suprano voice and unique story-telling style deserve to be better known among gospel fans today.

Hear the full track below. 

I’m Jim McKeown, welcome to Likely Stories, a weekly review of fiction, Non-Fiction, and Poetry.

Swedish author, Fredrik Backman, has written six thrilling stories of life in Sweden.  Most revolve around ice hockey.  The seventh is every bit as wonderful, tragic, filled with love, hate, and greed.  Us Against You continues the story of “warfare” between two rival towns over hockey supremacy.  I have loved every minute of these stories, and you will, too!

A flowering of Russian art a century ago changed what we thought a painting or a ballet had to be. 

The Patterson Singers released a number of fine gospel 45s and LPs before switching to the soul music giant ATCO label in the early 1970s.

Hear the full track below.

I’m Jim McKeown, welcome to Likely Stories, a weekly review of fiction, non-fiction, and Poetry.

One of the most talented writers to come out of South America is Isabelle Allende.  She began her career with The House of Spirits, which gave her world-wide acclaim.  Since then, she has written twenty-four bestselling and critically acclaimed novels.  Her latest book is A Long Petal of the Sea.  She was born in Peru, raised in Chile, but she now lives in California.

Over 100 years ago, Russian folk music provided the doorway to a flowering of Modernism. 

Anytime you hear the word “Russian” these days, there’s a good chance one of the next words you hear will be “interference.”  The image of Russia this inevitably creates is that of a power operating on the fringes of Europe—or on the fringes of western democracies more generally. It reflects a suspicion that has a long pedigree.  After the fall of Napoleon, the European states all looked apprehensively at Russia with  

The husband and wife duo known as the Consolers were the most traditional sounding group on the gospel highway for more than 30 years. 

Hear the full track below!

I’m Jim McKeown, welcome to Likely Stories, a weekly review of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry.

I have read several books by Lily King—The English Teacher, The Pleasing Hour, and Euphoria.  All were resounding successes.  Naturally, I was immediately drawn to her latest book, Writers & Lovers: A Novel.  This story tells of a writer desperately trying to finish the manuscript of her first novel.  It began with Case Peabody shortly after the death of her mother.  Page after page reminded me of so many of the things I have dealt with recently.  The first line touched me deeply. 

Seeing Hamilton reinforces what the Ancient Greeks knew about theater.

I knew every word of most of the songs, if not all of them. I knew all of the little inside references to other classics of musical theater and at least a fair number of the ones to the world of contemporary pop music. I knew the history, of course; I knew the story. But I wasn’t prepared for the effect that finally watching the staged version of Hamilton had on me.

I talked just last week about the way in which online offerings are not the same as seeing something in person, whether in a school classroom, or a concert, museum, or opera, so I knew that

The Harold Bailey Singers were one of Chicago's most beloved gospel groups in the mid-1960's.

Hear the full track below!

This week, host Kennedy Sam sits down with podcasters Travvis Scott and Zach Burke to discuss their new podcast Invisible Icon: The Tom Wilson Story. She is also joined by Fiona Bond to discuss the state of the Waco music and arts scenes.