Arts and Music

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Garrison Keillor on Female Singers, His Stroke, and Chet Atkins

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010
Does Garrison Keillor ever slip out of his radio persona? A phone conversation from Eugene, Ore., a few hours before a show, offers no clues. With his deep baritone and carefully chosen words between measured pauses, he’s exactly the same guy who has offered the latest news from Lake Wobegon on nationwide public radio more Saturdays than not since the Ford administration. Full story »

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The Sword Heads Into Orbit on 'Warp Riders'

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010
After lumbering through Dungeons & Dragons-style sword-and-sorcery kingdoms for two albums, Texas quartet the Sword shoots off into outer space on Warp Riders. Full story »

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Jazz Fest 2010 Continues After Hours

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010
The Knoxville Jazz Festival didn’t end with the last announced event, astonishing as it was. Full story »

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The Songbirds Prepare for Benefit Show with Thad Cockrell and Mumford & Sons

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010
The Songbirds’ fresh vocal harmonies and simply arranged Americana have earned Ashley Wells and Lisa Speck a spot in the hearts of Knoxville music fans since the pair first began performing covers at the Preservation Pub two years ago. Wells and Speck met in church and, after receiving encouragement from Knoxville’s local music community, decided to write and perform their own material. In preparation for their upcoming performance at the Square Room, Wells fills us in on what she’s recently had in rotation. Full story »

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KMA’s 'Contemporary Focus'

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010
The University of Tennessee’s Art and Architecture building must have been especially quiet last Thursday. Or half of it, anyway. That night at the Knoxville Museum of Art, a free public preview of its newly opened Contemporary Focus 2010 exhibition was held. Full story »

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KSO Closes Its Season With Colorful 'Pines of Rome'

Wednesday, May 26, 2010
When the last concert in May rolls around, Knoxville Symphony Orchestra audiences have already sadly resigned themselves to the fact that without any sort of summer series in Knoxville, it will be three long months until they see the orchestra again. On the bright side, though, Maestro Lucas Richman and the KSO did everything possible, musically speaking, in last weekend’s season finale concert, Pines of Rome, to tide us over until the fall. Full story »

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'Sherlock’s Last Case' Fulfills All the Requirements of Summer Theater

Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010
Theater companies reserve the summer for their frothiest, most lightweight entertainments. Theatre Knoxville Downtown opens its sixth season with Sherlock’s Last Case, a play so unencumbered by meaning that it practically evaporates before your eyes. And if the company puts the production over with more brio than skill, it’s all part of the summer theater experience. Full story »

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No Surprises, Just Epic Warfare, in 'StarCraft II'

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010
Eleven million sold or not, the specifics of a franchise that nearly stole away an entire generation of South Korean gamers is surprisingly hard to pin down for the uninitiated. “Warcraft in space” doesn’t make sense to those unfamiliar with the genre; “SimCity meets Halo” is even worse. Full story »

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'The Art of the Steal' Shows How Subculture Becomes High Culture

Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010
The Art of the Steal (MPI DVD) painstakingly reveals the shameless maneuvering of various Philadelphia politicians, administrators, philanthropists, and wealthy men to turn Albert C. Barnes' collection of modern art into yet another center-city tourist attraction. Full story »

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The Inaugural Knoxville 24-Hour Film Festival Unleashes Some Winning Creativity

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010
In keeping with similar contests around the country, the time limit wasn’t the only guideline. To keep things interesting—and level the playing field against anyone who would attempt to start before the allotted 24-hour window—three elements had to be present in each film: a landlord, a dictionary, and the phrase, “Try to be incognito when you meet them.” The resulting films, screened prior to the awards ceremony last Thursday at the Bijou Theatre, were almost universally impressive. Full story »

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DC's Latest Takes on the Green Arrow Universe are Hit or Miss

Wednesday, June 9, 2010
DC’s new Justice League series has missed the mark, but Gail Simone’s Birds of Prey is off to a good start.
Full story »

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Larsen Jay, Local Entrepreneur and Producer of 'That Evening Sun'

Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010
Head of DoubleJay Creative, which does high-tech PR and video work, Larsen Jay was once famous for spearheading Market Square’s holiday skating rink. But he turned motion-picture producer with last year’s release of That Evening Sun. Full story »

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Mind the Gap on iPhone 4

Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010
By simplifying nearly everything about the smartphone experience while simultaneously opening their product to outside development and locking down that same development into only styles which help unify their vision, Apple positioned themselves via the iPhone as frontrunners in next-gen telecommunications. Say what you like about Apple, but they know how to build a solid, appealing piece of hardware. Or at least they did until the iPhone 4. Full story »

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Despite Efforts, "Lulu in Marrakech" Unconvincing

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Diane Johnson has perfected the contemporary novel of manners. Or more particularly, she has mastered the expatriate version of such, a cross between Henry James’ American on European Tour and Jane Austen’s Social Commentary. In previous works, such as Le Divorce (1997), Le Mariage (2000), and L’Affaire (2003), Johnson’s central characters are invariably newly arrived Americans set adrift in European, mostly French-speaking, settings of subtlety and expatriate compromise. In her latest work, Lulu in Marrakech, Johnson relocates the setting from Europe to Morocco.

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