Art and Culture

The Williams Brothers have been sensational on the gospel highway for more than 60 years.

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On this week's episode of Conversations With Creative Waco, host Kennedy Sam sits down with Fiona Bond, who shares a few fun ideas to keep in mind as we approach the holiday season. Then, she chats with Susan Sistrunk and Aaron Williams about the upcoming Uptown Art Walk happening on October 24th.

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

I have a terrific book for all the voracious consumers of literature.  The dust jacket is an opening to a rabbit hole of wonder.  Dear Fahrenheit 451 by Annie Spence, is her first book. This is one of those books you cannot stop reading and will always have a copy close by your side.

Philip Guston was an artist whose career spanned half of the 20th century and whose paintings are still the source of much discussion.  Maybe now more than ever. 

Painter Philip Guston was born in Montreal, Canada in 1913. His father and mother were immigrants from Russia and when he was seven the family moved to Southern California. His father, despairing over his inability to find work in the new surroundings, committed suicide when Phillip was about10. In part to deal with the grief he turned to art, often locking himself in a little

As a solo artist, as well as a member of the Swan Silvertones, Claude Jeter released a number of thrilling singles, including "You Can Just Whisper a Prayer."

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

One of my best collections are those set in a bookstore.  I now have about 20, and these are all wonderful stories.  The latest edition to this list is The Girl Who Reads on the Metro by Christine Ferret-Fleury.  She is an author based in France, and this is her first book translated into English.  She is also being published around the world.

The multi-talented Alex Bradford conquered Broadway as well as gospel music during his amazing - but far too short - life and career. 

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

Richard Ford has twenty plus novels to his credit, and nearly all are excellent reads. However, some stories in Sorry for Your Trouble are tiny bit weak.  These are samples of my favorites.

The Cotton Brothers' soulful gospel stomp "Be There Directly (Sitting Down) is a throwback to the glorious days of Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding. 

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Jane Austen is one of the most beloved writers of the late 18th and early 19th centuries.  Her novels have been widely admired read, re-read, and read again.  Gill Hornby, in his book, Miss Austen, has taken up the threads of the works of Jane. 

An original painting on the cover of a magazine reminds us that we’re all human, and we’re in this together.

The September issue of Vanity Fair has a cover that will catch your eye, even from a rack of nondescript magazines.  It features an original painting of Breonna Taylor in a wash of bright turquoise and teal.  It’s one of the most striking magazine covers I’ve seen in a long time.  And it puts the power of art on clear display.

Breonna Taylor was a young woman who was killed by police in Louisville, Kentucky back in March.  She was 26.  The artist commemorating her in this painting is Amy Sherald.  She’s originally from Columbus,

"Ashamed of Jesus" was R&B legend Cliff Butler's lone gospel recording as part of the Spiritual Keynotes for Nashboro Records in 1960.

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On this month's episode, host Kennedy Sam sits down with Chris Ermoian, local musician and founder of The Texas Music Café. Fiona Bond joins the conversation to help introduce "Texas Music Café: Destination Waco", a new TV show highlighting local musicians and live music venues.

Final air dates for the series had not been confirmed at the time of taping this