Art and Culture

"Lord, I'm the True Vine" is one of the earliest recorded precursors of gospel music, recorded in 1930 by the otherwise unknown Eddie Head & Family. 

Ready for a fresh start?

See what 2020 has to offer in Waco this week by taking in some art, laughing at the comedy club, or checking out the Oak Ridge Boys at the Waco Hippodrome!

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

Louisa Treger has an amazing dual history.  She started as a classical violinist, and then to a Ph.D in English.  She lives in London, and this is her second novel. 

By interacting with art from the past a contemporary artist can often create something new and powerful.

There are few forms of art more formulaic than the portrait. That’s not exactly a complaint—more than perhaps any other form of art, portraits serve a purpose.  Whether through canvas and paint, or marble, clay, or bronze their job is to convey what a person looks like, and to commemorate the ideas for which the person stands. If they don’t do that, they still could be a good work of art, but they fail as a portrait. 

Sister Lucille Pope and the Pearly Gates never had much luck in gospel music - but that didn't keep them from releasing a host of killer gospel songs. 

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

One of my most often reviewed authors is Ian McEwan.  I always learn a few things and add to my vocabulary while thoroughly enjoying his work.  His latest novel is Machines Like Me.  I pondered whether he likes machines or the machines like him.  Answering that conundrum will require a serious exploration of the human mind.

The end of the year is a good time to look back over at new art that you may have missed

One thing I always look forward to at the end of every year are the little retrospectives that come out in newspapers, magazines, and blogs about what things constituted the best art of the preceding 12 months. I like reading lists of what knowledgeable people think were the best recordings, the best plays, the best art exhibits, over the course of the year. Inevitably I’ve heard of, or seen, or listened to, far fewer of these than I should have and, I always have to admit that on some of the lists, I’ve never even heard of most of them.

Gladys McFadden and The Loving Sisters were both civil rights heroes and gospel music innovators. 

This week on Conversations With Creative Waco, guest host (and Creative Waco Executive Director) Fiona Bond interviews Tom Balk, Senior Park Planner at City of Waco Parks and Recreation Department and Robbie Barber, Associate Professor of Sculpture at Baylor University about the “Waco Sculpture Zoo”, which is being installed along the banks of the Brazos River between downtown and pecan bottoms. 

She also talks to Luann Jennings about a new program of professional development coaching for artists, performers and creatives wanting to build their arts-based businesses in Waco. And there is an installment of David and Art.  

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

Alice McDermont was born in Brooklyn, New York and has written several novels of life among those originally living in Ireland but who immigrated to the United States, particularly to Brooklyn.  She has won numerous awards and been listed as a finalist for several novels.    Someone: A Novel was longlisted for the 2013 National Book Award.  As the dust jacket reveals, Someone recounts the ‘devastating pains and unexpected joys with bursts of brilliant clarity and moments of profound confusion’.”  Marie is a child with thick glasses.  Unlike some stories, no one teases her or bullies her.  She has a brother who seems destined for a vocation as a Catholic priest.  Her father is ill, and her mother is a quiet, loving, but stern parent.  Her stories also reveal many details of life in pre-World W II.  I found this pleasant story full of wonderful depictions of people who share numerous insights into everyday life. 

Like all art, Christmas carols shape our moods and influence how we experience life.

I’m sure you’ve noticed that Christmas is the only holiday that has its own complete roster of music--of songs that accompany it each year like the Christmas decorations themselves that we pull down out of the attic:  songs that are in turn beautiful, thoughtful, comedic, clichéd, delightful, tiresome, and inspiring.  Why is this?  

Led by Little Joe Cook, the Evening Star Quartet's frenzied 45 "Have Mercy" is a superb example of magical marriage between doo wop and jubilee singing. 

Ho Ho Hoping you're enjoying the holiday season.

This edition of Act Locally Waco touches on a few events happening December 20th through January 4th.  We'll have a holiday hiatus December 27 and January 3.  However, you can see the calendar of events at ActLocallyWaco.org.

There are lots of thing going on in and around town.  Scroll to see some featured happenings or give the segment a listen.

Happy Holidays from KWBU and Act Locally Waco.

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

According to the dust jacket, Elizabeth Ames is a graduate of the University of Michigan MFA program, where she won the Hopwood Award.  She has published a number of short stories.  Elizabeth was born and raised in Wisconsin, and she currently lives in a Harvard dormitory with her husband, two children, and a few hundred under graduates.  This is her first novel, which always draws me to new writers.

Just because a painting doesn't seem to tell a story, it doesn't mean there's not a story there at all. 

Last month, the movie Midway, about the battle that was the turning point in the Pacific during World War Two, hit theaters and the reaction was lukewarm at best.  If you took your seat expecting a cross between a typical action movie and a video game based on flying a dive bomber, you might not have been too disappointed.   My initial reaction was that it did a fair job of relating the experiences of American air crews in 1941 and 42, but I was dismayed at how poorly it explained why and how the battle unfolded as it did.  For a battle like Midway the broader narrative is the most important element in making the smaller pieces of the story coalesce into something intelligible.