Band finds member and is discovered online

Band finds member and is discovered online

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/band-finds-member-and-is-discovered-online/

Ohad Cadji | For The Pitt News

August Ruins' drummer Kory Caldarelli found a place in the band through a Craigslist ad.

August Ruins

The Smiling Moose (1306 E. Carson St.)

Saturday, 7:30 p.m.; 21+

$5

412-431-4668

Pitt senior Kory Caldarelli didn’t know that joining a band through a Craigslist ad would eventually land him a contract with a major record company.

This year the punk band August Ruins, composed of members Caldarelli, Eric Sebula, Reggie Little and Butchy Sebula, signed a contract with From The Depths Entertainment in summer 2010, an indie label located in Reading, Pa. Vocalist and guitarist Eric Sebula is a Pitt junior and drummer Caldarelli is a fifth-year Pitt senior, double majoring in anthropology and music. The band is now preparing to go on its first tour and will play at the Smiling Moose on Saturday.

Caldarelli joined when the group was in the midst of change. The band developed a sound different from their previously screamo metal vice, changed its name and line-up, then set out to find a new member — Caldarelli.

Caldarelli found the band’s ad on Craigslist and learned that all of its members were from Irwin, Pa., his original hometown. He joined the band in 2008. From the beginning, August Ruins was different from the other groups he performed with, he said.

“We did intend to go somewhere,” Caldarelli said. “We had the same goal in mind. We were all in bands before that weren’t too serious. So from the beginning, we wanted to be dedicated to this.”

One year later in 2009, the newly named August Ruins released an EP album titled The Ghost and the Gasoline. The band worked on songwriting and constantly looked for venues to play, hoping the hard work would pay off.

It did, when From The Depths Entertainment found recordings of August Ruins’ music, despite the group never having contacted the label. It’s typical for the company’s employees to search for sounds online and contact bands they like, according to band manager Mike Bohn of From The Depths Entertainment.

“We go out and find the artists rather than just letting them come to us,” Bohn said. “August Ruins had that sound that we couldn’t really ignore. They’re bringing back catchy punk-metal that can be played on the radio.”

Once he was convinced that the band’s sound was perfect for the company, Bohn got in contact with August Ruins. The company invited the band to meet in Philadelphia, but the two parties mostly conferenced by way of phone calls because the band was not able to travel across the state.

“We met with Mike and he liked us. Everything just kind of moved forward from there,” Caldarelli said.

And according to Eric Sebula, everything moved quickly.

“We recorded. We recorded again,” he said. “We had an indie record deal in three months. Now we have a major label consideration. I’m not sure how this all happened. I’m not going to complain.”

August Ruins currently has an independent promotional label with its record company giving the band extra help and money to work on the legwork for the band.

“Right now, they do everything I can’t stand doing,” Sebula said. “They do management. They promote us. They call venues. They literally speak for us. They do things that would take us weeks to do in days.”

Producers also helped the band tweak its sound even more, helping it create more and more of a punk vibe that moves away from its metal roots.

“It’s more like a mutual understanding,” Bohn said when describing the relationship between the company and the band. “We don’t interfere with their direction, and they understand they need to work hard ... And their hard work is paying off. They were a featured artist and were on a Billboard chart for a while.”

The band now has even more time to work on its music as it prepares to tour over the summer. When the group isn’t together, Sebula often composes at the small recording studio in his house.

The band tweaks it when the members come together, but Sebula writes a majority of the first draft and e-mails copies of it to his fellow band players. He feels their songs have some intelligence and an opinion without becoming too political.

“It’s underground punk rock,” Sebula explained. “It has a message, even if it’s hard to pin down.”

The band is intent on touring and writing a full-length album while the band members have the time in the midst of school and work, Sebula said.

“It just keeps getting bigger and bigger,” Caldarelli said.

New CD more upbeat than last one

New CD more upbeat than last one

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/new-cd-more-upbeat-than-last-one/

Pala—FrienldlyFires

Friendly Fires

Pala

XL Recordings

B+

Rocks Like: Phoenix, Passion Pit, Empire of the Sun

Four years after releasing its debut album, Friendly Fires is back in action with a new release — as well as a tweaked sound — that’s hard to resist.

Friendly Fires still sounds like dance punk, but the band’s mood isn’t as somber as it used to be. Though certain tracks on Pala, particularly those that reach back to the band’s old sound, aren’t extremely uplifting, just as many preach about enjoying life in its present state. That variety affords the album a satisfying balance between new and old.

The band’s music combines a punk sound with a dance-club beat while adding a dash of percussion and funk. The result is a pretty darn appealing sound. The track titled “True Love” especially benefits from this combination of influences — the band takes a common topic and an overused title and brings it something fresh.

But not every song is happy — “Chimes” dials up the funk with lyrics like, “Kissing the lights / Missing your love / All through the streets / You’re on my mind.”

Another song, “Helpless,” uses the image of a rising tide to describe feelings of drowning and despair, complete with seagull sound effects to enliven the impression of a nearby vast ocean. This is a strange track — while other songs include appropriate mood music, it’s hard to tell what this one is trying to do. It’s as if the band tried to combine its old somber sound with its newer, upbeat sound. It didn’t necessarily work.

As with most albums, the singer’s voice is not always distinct from the music. Although some songs are perfectly understandable, others are not.

Overall, though, this album is solid and perfectly paced. Hopefully this band won’t take another four years to release something good.

Share Jazz singer’s crooning charming

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/jazz-singers-crooning-charming/

Jazz singer’s crooning charming

Courtesy Seth Cohen PR

Karrin Allyson

’Round Midnight

Karrin Allyson

Concord

Grade: B+

Sounds Like: Jane Monheit, Diana Krall

Cabaret at Theater Square

Tomorrow, 8 p.m,

Tickets $25.75 - $30.75

(412) 456-6666

www.culturaldistrict.org

21+

With three Grammy Awards under her belt, American jazz vocalist Karrin Allyson has some high expectations to meet with her upcoming album ’Round Midnight.

And she will meet those expectations. Allyson’s style is full of charm for jazz lovers. Her vocal work is impressive: She can switch between sounding soft and heartfelt to sounding low and even scratchy, bringing in a wide range of emotional depth through her voice alone.

The lyrics add to the depth and variation of her songs, with some offering insight into heartfelt moments and others invoking bittersweet or even angry memories of love gone wrong. The words themselves are beautiful, like in “I’m Always Chasing Rainbows,” where Allyson sings, “I’m always chasing rainbows / waiting to find a little bluebird in vain.”

Every track is strong but quiet in its musical delivery. Take “Goodbye,” a ballad about lovers parting ways, in which Allyson softly sings, “So you take the high road and I’ll take the low / it’s time that we parted, it’s much better so / so kiss me as you go / goodbye.” Here the music draws listeners in, ambling along with a slow piano, guitar and assortment of percussion instruments.

The percussion adds a layer to the mix and serves as a pleasant addition in the lulls between lyrics. In the end, however, the piano and vocals are this album’s strongest points musically.

Allyson’s songs are all well-thought-out, smoothly composed and haunting, resonating even after they end. Jazz lovers will be pleased, and the genre might even gain a few new fans with the release of this album.

Pittsburgh Opera honors executed nuns

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/pittsburgh-opera-honors-executed-nuns/

Pittsburgh Opera honors executed nuns

“Dialogues of the Carmelites”

April 30 – May 8

Directed by Eric Einhorn

Benedum Center

$20-$150

www.pittsburghopera.org

412-456-6666

“Dialogues of the Carmelites” might have been written in 1957, but its story goes back to 1794.

Next weekend, the Pittsburgh Opera will present its final show of the season: a three-hour long French opera created by Francis Poulenc. The story takes place during the French Revolution and focuses on the Martyrs of Compiègne, the 16 nuns who were guillotined in 1794 during the final days of the Reign of Terror in France.

Taking part in the show is Amanda Majeski, who plays the character Blanche. Blanche leaves her wealthy family to go to a convent, dreaming of taking control of her life and making a difference in the world. Soon, however, a series of events destroys the relationships Blanche forms at the convent, leading to the dramatic conclusion when the remaining nuns decide how much of a sacrifice they’re willing to make for their faith.

Although Blanche experiences a seemingly unending series of traumatic events, Majeski enjoys playing the character.

“She goes from a child rebelling to an adult in three hours,” Majeski said. “It’s a dramatic story tied up in beautiful music.”

Nevertheless, the role is an exhausting one: The singing is a challenge even for someone trained in opera, Majeski said.

“It’s much more disciplined singing,” Majeski said. “It takes a lifetime of practice and you have to make a beautiful sound while being dramatically interesting.”

Though operas have translator scripts that flash above or beside the stage, Majeski’s job is to act in a way that will allow people to know how a character feels without necessarily needing to read anything.

“I’m sure if you didn’t look at the supertitles, what we do with our voices and action would speak through,” she said. “But you do want to know the details.”

All of the cast currently spends a minimum of six hours a day in rehearsal, under the eyes of multiple directors, including William Powers, director of administration and artistic operations. Powers has the job of overseeing rehearsals to watch for problems that others might miss, such as script mistakes. He also checks in with the cast to make sure everyone is comfortable and understands their role.

So far, Powers said his job has been relatively easy.

“Every time I go in though, they’re discovering another layer and bringing the story alive,” he said. “It’s also a fascinating story. The drama and the actual story this is based on is remarkable and hardly told.”

The history of the opera is something taken into constant consideration, by the French conductor Jean-Luc Tingaud as well as by Powers.

“I asked him how well these nuns are known [in France], but he said they aren’t very well-known,” Powers said. “They’re really buried in a mass grave. There is no dignity to that. But the dignity comes alive in this opera and its acting. This opera asks hard questions. What do you believe in? How firmly do you believe? What will you give up for your beliefs?”

In Powers’ experience, most people think of older operas from different musical periods when they imagine what these shows sound like. Although “Dialogues” was heavily influenced by artists of the past, this opera has its own distinct style.

“The musical medium is different from, say, Mozart,” Powers said. “We are able to explore the breadth of the repertoire. It’s a different musical medium. Here’s a medium that should be heard that draws upon the composers of the past and even revolted against them.”

Planning for the show began as early as January 2010 at the Pittsburgh Opera, said Debra Bell, director of marketing and communications. One issue the Pittsburgh Opera dealt with is the fact that “Dialogues” is not as well known as other operas.

“It sounds so different from Italian in the language and the style,” she said. “This opera is an opera but it’s small, intimate and thought-provoking.”

The Pittsburgh Opera has made a point to emphasize that this is a serious show with strong religious themes and what they consider a fantastic and inspirational ending, Bell said.

Even the cast received some help getting into character from the Pittsburgh Opera: They received study guides exploring the history of the events behind the show at one of their first meetings in the beginning of April.

“This is a show that just hits you,” Bell said. “We say this is a show that may change your life. Opera has definitely changed my life. I’ve wept like a baby at shows. They can bring issues of all kinds to a personal level.”

Gallery aids three craft makers in art journeys

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/gallery-aids-three-craft-makers-in-art-journeys/

Gallery aids three craft makers in art journeys

Courtesy Society for Contemporary Crafts

Anne Drew Potter's ceramic work appears like a group of human-like pieces talking in a circle with one left out.

“Bridge 11”

Lia Cook, Mariko Kusumoto, Anne Drew Potter

Society for Contemporary Craft Main Gallery

2100 Smallman St.

412-261-7003

Free

One local gallery is trying to help artists who stand on the bridge between obscurity and fame.

The Society for Contemporary Craft on Smallman Street is one of the only museums dedicated entirely to crafts in the Steel City. They display what the center calls “craft media,” which encompasses almost all arts except paintings and photography and is made with materials such as clay, wood, fiber, glass and metals, said Kati Fishbein, exhibitions coordinator for the SCC.

“We really try to show craft artists from around the world who are technically skilled,” Fishbein said.

The Bridge Exhibition Series, now in its 11th installment, began in 1988 and takes place every two years at the gallery and features artists throughout the nation. The exhibitions display the works of people in the middle of their career.

“They may not be very well-known, but they’re past the emerging stage,” Fishbein said. “They have a solid background and body of work. So these shows celebrate artists in the middle of their career.”

This year’s Bridge exhibit features about 30 to 40 pieces created by three artists invited to the exhibition by the SCC.

One of the three craftmakers is 34-year-old Anne Drew Potter, an artist who began working with ceramics as a young child.

Potter has a figurative installation on display composed of 16 sculpted ceramic figures. Most of the figures seem to be talking at the same time in one circle, while another figure sits alone to the side.

The piece is meant to deal with the idea of individual versus group identity, Potter said.

“The art is representational,” she said. “There’s recognizable imagery and they look human. But they’re ambiguous, too. You can’t tell what gender or age or race they may be. So the people are both recognizable and not recognizable.”

This sort of distortion in image as well as the theme of isolation versus inclusion are attributes of most of Potter’s work, the artist said.

“It goes down to my interpretation of how we deal with the identity of self and how we rely on ourselves, but we also rely a lot on group dialogue and conversation of the outside world to try to structure our understanding,” she said. “We need to have a sense of belonging, but we need to have a self of selfness from our own bodies. So individual versus group identity is just an inherent tension.”

While Potter is looking for viewers to interpret her message, 68-year-old Lia Cook is looking to get feedback.

“I just want a response,” Cook said about her artwork. “I’m listening. I’m very interested in hearing from people.”

Cook mostly works with fibers and weaves artwork out of the material. Bridge 11 features a series of woven canvases of various sizes that resemble photographic faces. Some images are clearer than others, but they are all the result of a combination of modern looms run by computers and Cook’s ability to create and alter the images in Photoshop.

Cook has worked with various art techniques since the 1970s. She originally dabbled in painting, sculpting and photography before discovering an interest in weaving after a trip to Mexico. Over the years, she has found that the human touch is a subject appeals to her.

“I’m really interested in the hand,” Cook said. “There’s a lot of things about hand-made now [in our culture], but what about the hand itself? What does the evidence of the hand -made bring to our experience?”

With this in mind, Cook creates pieces that have “depth” and pieces that people want to touch, she said. There’s no agenda behind her works beyond curiosity for the responses people will have.

“Everything is more personal,” she said. “I’m not interested in telling anyone a story. I’m interested in people’s associations with their own personal stories.”

The final artist, Mariko Kusumoto, has a number of smaller pieces made from various metals and woods on display at the SCC gallery. Kusumoto’s style employs traditional Japanese forms and adds in Western influences, which leads to the creation of objects such as small teapots or Japanese doll displays with Western images or symbols. Many of her collapsible pieces are similar to a pop-up books — if examined closely, more and more components of the pieces become visible. One of the pieces, a box shaped like a house, opens to expose numerous carvings of imagess such as people and birds.

Cook feels that the way the gallery is set up — leaving a lot of room between the pieces — helps display the three different artists’ work well.

“You can walk around,” she said. “There’s space. You can see things from multiple angles and engage in them.”

All of the pieces contribute to the idea of promoting and respecting craftsmanship, Fishbein said.

“There’s a definite technique that needs to be mastered,” she said, speaking about the art mediums found in the SCC and the Bridge 11 exhibit specifically. “There’s a more homely background to it, such as the fibers and weaving. These are all mediums that, in the history of art, have not been welcomed into the world of fine art. They’re considered more part of the craft world.”

Handmade Arcade attempts local DIY revival

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/handmade-arcade-attempts-local-diy-revival/

Handmade Arcade attempts local DIY revival

A previous Handmade Arcade event.

Courtesy Larry Rippel

Handmade Arcade

David L. Lawrence Convention Center

1000 Fort Duquesne Blvd.

Saturday, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Free Admission

In 2004, 32 vendors served about 1,000 attendees at a craft fair. Now, in 2011, 120 vendors will serve a crowd that, last year, numbered 10,000.

Currently in its seventh year, the annual Handmade Arcade has grown over time into a mixture of a craft showcase and a social event and has become a champion of locally made eco-friendly goods. The items sold can vary, but include jewelry, children’s toys, clothing, art prints and sometimes bath products.

The Handmade Arcade might not be one of the biggest craft fairs in existence, but it has the distinction of being “one of the first indie craft shows in the country,” said Rebecca Morris, an organizer and Pitt alumna.

The joy of the Handmade Arcade, Morris said, comes from the way it goes “back to a simpler way.”

“With so many mass-produced items, it’s nice to appreciate something handmade,” Morris said. “Here people can meet the maker, which isn’t something you get to do with a typical transaction.”

For Jennifer Baron, who is both an organizer and vendor, being involved with the Handmade Arcade has been a “natural process” from the start. Before the Handmade Arcade began, Baron started an online craft store with her friends in New York and began selling greeting cards on the website Etsy under the name Fresh Popcorn Products, a tribute to her favorite snack food.

Baron eventually moved back to Pittsburgh and expanded her interests. She began collecting vintage food packaging, made patches out of recycled fabric to sew onto shirts and fashioned shirts and tote bags.

“Before this even started, I’d traveled to national craft fairs,” Baron said. “Friends and I were carpooling across the country. We saw a need for this in the city. There was a void.”

When Baron saw a flyer advertising the Handmade Arcade, she signed up at once. She sold her handmade shirts and collages at the event in its first year and soon found herself assisting in organizing the entire fair.

Others have returned to Pittsburgh for business reasons. But vendor Jenn Gooch is a “Pittsburgher by choice,” moving to the Steel City from Texas after attending Carnegie Mellon for graduate school.

“The nice thing about Pittsburgh is it’s one of those places you can afford to live and pursue things you wouldn’t be able to pursue otherwise, like crafts, art and music,” Gooch said.

Although she sewed as a child, Gooch is relatively new to the craft scene. She began making scarves and hats to sell about a year ago, after wanting to redesign a hat she purchased but didn’t particularly like. What began as making items for herself turned into a small business, as friends expressed interest in the items as well.

“It’s one of those things that if you find what you really like, it may be expensive or not interesting enough,” Gooch said. “I like hats, but it’s a dying art as far as having a local hatmaker goes.”

Gooch’s hats are handsewn and usually made out of panels of separate pieces and various materials picked up at thrift stores, she said.

While Gooch’s interest and business are relatively new, Baron said her interest in crafts goes way back.

“It’s something that has been with me since childhood,” Baron said. “It’s ingrained in me since my mom was always sewing. She’d make clothing, curtains and pillows. I still have the curtains she made in the late ’60s, and they’re in wonderful shape. I collect those vintage things and interests from the family.”

This year, the fair also features hands-on demonstrations for interested guests, giving shoppers a chance to work with materials themselves to create prints or scrapbooks at the Handmade Arcade.

Vendors work at other places around the city during the year, including WildCard, a store in Lawrenceville owned by Morris that currently features several of Baron’s products.

“That store has become a brick-and-mortar version of Handmade Arcade,” Baron said. “We sell our products and do demos there. It’s a great hub for indie craft making in the city.”

The Handmade Arcade, though, remains a valuable resource for everyone involved, Baron said.

“We’ve evolved in terms of audience and space, but we’ve also created a community within the greater arts scene and we helped shape it and bring it to life,” she said.

Craft exhibit shows art with function

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/craft-exhibit-shows-art-with-function/

Craft exhibit shows art with function

“Hand Made: Contemporary Craft in Ceramic, Glass and Wood”

Balcony Gallery at the Carnegie Museum of Art

4400 Forbes Ave.

412-622-3131

Two Pitt students couldn’t take any classes about crafts at Pitt, but they did learn about them working on a new exhibition in the Carnegie Museum of Art.

Jennifer Lue and Marie Williams, both senior art history majors, went to work as research interns, writing notes, biographies and a glossary for an exhibition of handmade crafts. The exhibition, titled “Hand Made: Contemporary Craft in Ceramic, Glass and Wood”, displays crafts such as a handmade tea pot and a rocking chair.

Pitt studio arts professor JoAnna Commandaros explained that crafts are artistic goods that also have a practical purpose in people’s lives.

“Most of the craft history comes from some kind of utilitarian or some kind of functional background,” she said, giving the examples of metalwork — referred to in the art world as small metals — and pots.

The “Hand Made” exhibit was a long time in the making and features about 100 pieces by artists of multiple nationalities collected over a period of years, said Rachel Delphia, the assistant curator of decorative arts and design.

“In the last decade and a half we began collecting more glass, and in the last five years we made the decision to collect wood as well,” she said. “With some old collections and traditions that have been going on for a long time, we had a real opportunity to showcase craft and to show people what we have across the board.”

The pieces in the art exhibit were created over a period stretching from the 1960s to 2009. While other handmade pieces are on display in permanent exhibits in the art museum year-round, “Hand Made” allows a narrow and in-depth focus on a span of 50 years, Delphia said.

Lue, who is also an English writing major, said in an e-mail that she’s learned not just about how to put together an exhibit, but also more about crafts.

“Decorative arts doesn’t regularly get taught at the undergraduate level here at Pitt ... and I think it often, unfortunately, gets stigmatized as lesser than “fine arts” like painting and sculpture,” Lue said. “Working on the “Hand Made” exhibition helped me understand the amount of sheer labor and technical skill that goes into creating these pieces.”

Commandaros agrees with Lue that Pitt does not have classes specifically targeted at learning crafts, partly because of resource constraints. But she said that many classes teach the basics of craft work — such as ceramics and fiber work — and that interested students can take a directed study course with a professor to gain skills in that art form.

As for the stigma against crafts, Commandaros feels that the arts have come a long way, explaining that when she went to school, she was not allowed to major in both sculpture and small metals.

“I think my generation and the generations before me had to really fight for there to be not a distinction [between “crafts” and “fine arts”] within the university settings within academia,” the professor said.

Delphia said the functionality and commonness of crafts that might have caused a stigma in the past can actually help people relate to the exhibit. Most of the material used is ceramic, wood or glass, with only “trace amounts” of other materials, explained Delphia. She said that the materials in the exhibit might be more “accessible” to viewers than those of other pieces.

“Most of these are mediums we remember as children in art classes,” Delphia said. “People have a sense of what clay feels like. We also have so many ceramic objects in our lives that we look at them and appreciate them as objects and as tools in our homes. This isn’t always the case. There are things in the museum you can only imagine in the museum. But these could come home with you.”

Lue and Williams were impressed by the talent on display in the gallery by the end of the project.

“You have to perfect the process, and that takes years and years of work and sometimes groups of people to complete,” Lue said, explaining that many artists in the past taught themselves how to work with these mediums because of an overall lack of education or mentors in the field.

“The sheer amount of work that goes into turning a wooden bowl or creating a ceramic vessel is just mind-blowing,” Williams said. “I definitely think that people don’t necessarily appreciate these mediums in the same manner that people appreciate painting or sculpture, because the result is not codified as being exclusively an art object.”

This art exhibit also features interactive technology. Touch screens similar to those currently found in the Carnegie Museum of Natural History display material put together by Lue and Williams.

Delphia has hopes that visitors will go home inspired to dabble in the crafts field themselves.

“The main idea for me is really that there’s something new possible, even with what we think as the most traditional techniques,” Delphia said. “They strike us somehow whether in form or color or the way it was created. It’s endless creativity.”

Natalie Bell contributed to this report.

Band attempts to incorporate world into its tribe

Band attempts to incorporate world into its tribe

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/band-attempts-to-incorporate-world-into-its-tribe/

The members of One World Tribe draw from a wide array of genres.

Courtesy One World Tribe

One World Tribe

Thunderbird Cafe

4023 Butler Street

April 9 at 8 p.m.

$8 in advance, $10 at the door

412-682-0177

Kennedy Thompson’s band plays all his favorite styles of music — fulfilling a childhood dream of his.

Today, Thompson’s Erie-based collective One World Tribe boasts an eclectic lineup of 12 regular musicians and occasional guests, with a repertoire encompassing hip-hop, reggae, funk and Latin.

“The whole concept was that we would bring many different styles together that were related in some way,” Thompson said. “At the very least, I wanted very diverse [people] with a strong grasp on [the styles], or to find a master in one of those styles.”

Growing up in Detroit, Thompson was influenced by the music he listened to — especially Santana — and his cousin, who played the drums. His interest in performing only increased when he began studying music himself.

“I wanted to be able to play a lot of what I liked in different genres,” Thompson said. “Putting a lot of genres under one roof, so to speak. It took me a year and a half to get the right members.”

Band member Frank Singer, who plays guitar, keyboard and drums, had briefly spoken to Thompson in 1993 when the two met in Pittsburgh. Singer received a call from Thompson two years later. “We’re staring rehearsal,” Thompson said. From there, the band kicked off.

Part of OWT’s mission is to conflate different genres, tastes and musicians. Singer believes the band’s continued soldarity underscores its major theme: coexistence.

“Our backgrounds are very different,” Singer said. “So we have managed to coexist things that many people in this country argue can’t coexist, like our religious and spiritual backgrounds. But as for topics [in our music] we have things from love to peace and political freedom and diversity and everything else.”

At first, the group performed covers of the bands that inspired them, and it later moved into composing its own music. Thompson said the process is different for every song. Sometimes everyone contributes, and sometimes only one person writes a song. But OWT has never had to sit down and discuss what messages may come through in their music.

“It’s kind of always been understood,” Thompson said. “We want to play music that uplifts man. Music that brings people together, because music is a universal language.”

Member Ron Williams, aka Preach Freedom, stressed that even though there’s “no discrimination” about song topics in the band, they try to make their music family-friendly and uplifting. In other words, instead of just complaining about issues in their songs, they try to push for solutions, he said.

Williams has also taken a strong liking to teaching in classrooms as a guest musician. Raised on Motown and gospel music, Williams is talented with multiple instruments, playing “anything I put my hands on.”

“I’m always in communities working with children, since I know this is a gift that can help people,” he said. Referring to the redemptive power art held for him when he was surrounded by gang violence on the street, Williams said, “I came up in the ’80s and ’90s, so music saved my life. And to show people there’s other things they can do artistically, I talk to them.”

Music is a powerful tool that allows people to “forget,” he said.

“In this diverse country of ours, when it comes to music, people don’t mind a person’s background,” he said. “Music doesn’t care who you are or where you’re from. It has allowed me to fit with people. People listen to you and I recognize that. I try to use music for humanitarian reasons.”

Recently, Thompson has started working as a director and CEO for Billionaire Records. So far, he said, his new job has helped OWT with its own music.

“Working with a lot of different artists helps me in the band because I have resources to pull,” he said. “In the last album there were bands making guest appearances, which was cool. We had a whole new arsenal to the album.”

Going on 16 years of playing with the band, Singer said its chemistry endures.

“Kennedy made connections with people who may never have met,” he said. “The band is about something. We have fun this way.”

Studio arts exhibits students’ work

Studio arts exhibits students’ work

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/studio-arts-exhibits-students-work/

Visitors at the 2011 Studio Arts Student Exhibition look at Grace Ginn's photography.

by Steve Garfinkel | Senior Staff Photographer

2011 Studio Arts Student Exhibition

Studio Arts Students at Pitt

Frick Fine Arts Gallery

Now through April 30

412-648-2430

Free

People don’t always immediately take well to Grace Ginn’s photography — the pieces feature images of the body so close that sometimes it’s difficult to discern what body part is being shown.

“I’ve accepted that in order to make a piece successful for yourself, not everyone will be happy with it,” said Ginn, a senior majoring in studio arts. “Some people may find my work disturbing or hate it, but even that negative feedback is needed.”

Ginn — along with 26 other students — has an opportunity to show her artwork at the 2011 Studio Arts Student Exhibition, an annual presentation of students’ work hosted in the Frick Fine Arts buidling.

Each year, studio faculty select artwork that is best suited for display from submissions made by senior students. The faculty may also select artwork from their classes regardless of the level or major of their students. This year’s exhibit features 94 total pieces and takes up four rooms in the gallery.

“The exhibition is an opportunity for the students to present their work publicly and to defend it through gallery talks, which is ultimately participating in the profession of what we do as artists. Work sitting in the studio has no resonance until it is shared,” Delanie Jenkins, chairwoman and associate professor of the studio arts department, said in an e-mail.

Ginn’s photography sits on a sidewall in the exhibit and catches the eye’s attention because of its nature and topic. Ginn loves photographing the human body and thinks of photos as “recordings of sculptures I’m creating with models,” in that she might manipulate the body by squeezing a particular part of skin or taking a close picture of two body parts together.

Ginn doesn’t necessarily view the negative responses of her photography as a bad thing.. .

“I think that’s what art, in a way, tries to do,” Ginn said. “It tries to get people thinking, get people to react, get them to think in a different way. It isn’t the same as the academic world.”

After this exhibit, Ginn will finish up her classes at Pitt before going to graduate school at Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. for design.

Aside from explaining and defending their work, exhibiting pieces in this setting also gives students opportunity to show their art to collectors..

“Collectors have purchased works from exhibitions, and really seeing the work on the walls, in the elegance of the space, the work reaching a public — is quite a thrill,” department chairwoman Jenkins said. “The show reaches beyond campus and can help their career, and for some who won’t necessarily pursue art, it is still a significant accomplishment and marker. This exhibition is as significant as graduation for many students.”

Another senior considering a career in art is Benjy Blanco. The studio arts and English literature major has three pieces on display in the exhibit — a sculpture of a bushmaster snake in shattered wood, a video exploring Latino culture and a series of etchings mapping out iconic mythological events.

“Ultimately, the reason why I pursue art is surprisingly mechanical — here is where my talents lie,” Blanco said in an e-mail.

Blanco found his way into the field through a hobby. As a child, he created his own toys, and he never gave up on the skill through high school and college. As a result, he continues to enjoy hand-on creations.

“I don’t necessarily see my future in the high-art, gallery-crawl scene — but as long as I’m making physical things, be it a trade or some form of teaching, I know I’ll be fulfilled because it’s the best expression of my natural skills,” Blanco said.

He plans to take a year off after completing college before attending graduate school to obtain education certificates.

One of the things in this show that he finds to be a change from the usual class routine is the feedback from the judges. Jenkins said that a panel of three to four judges from the studio arts department offer critiques and advice during the exhibition process.

“This is a capstone experience,” Jenkins said, explaining that some students have been in exhibits before while others have not, and that the exhibition is a highlight of the hard work students do as artists.

The critique-and-discussion process takes students out of the comfort of the classroom, Blanco said.

“Your work has to be able to stand on its own — it’s a little frightening but exhilarating to start engaging in this next step,” he said.

Livan to bring dark rock to Pittsburgh

Livan to bring dark rock to Pittsburgh

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/livan-to-bring-dark-rock-to-pgh/

Off The Grid

Livan

Pumpkin Music

B-

Rocks Like: Depeche Mode

Performing with Peter Murphy

Tomorrow

Diesel

Doors open 7 p.m.

Tickets $25 advance/$30 at door

elkoconcerts.com or ticketfly.com

21+

United Kingdom musician Livan knows his rock music.

Livan’s third full album features 11 tracks of dark rock that pay homage to British bands from the 1970s through 1990s in a post-punk style. Each song has hints of electronica and was reportedly recorded in one take, making the songs as close to live performances as possible.

With titles like “Undead,” “Little White Lies” and “Where I Bleed,” it’s safe to say that the lyrics in these songs might be subject to personal taste. Livan delivers his lyrics with a voice that rises, going from a whisper to a hoarse scream at a moment’s notice. He isn’t perfect, though, as he fails to enunciate, and the words get lost in the music half the time.

Luckily, his music makes up for the flaws in his lyrics. Some of the music comes in a fast and furious pace, demanding that people rock out while listening and barely giving listeners time to keep up.

Other songs like “Meet Me On The Other Side” are heavily instrumental, with the repeated lyric “Meet me on the other side” humming along synthesized guitars and keyboards.

Songs like “The Silence,” which change the tune of the songs from hardcore to almost mellow compared to the opening tracks, become more like classic rock with some impressive guitar chords and harmonizing vocals.

If anything, this album is worth it for some pretty cool instrumentals. This is some dark rock with kick to it.

Pittsburgh pop singer’s EP swings from love to anger

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/pittsburgh-pop-singers-ep-swings-from-love-to-anger/

Pittsburgh pop singer’s EP swings from love to anger

Courtesy MSO PR

Tino Coury

Page One

Tino Coury

Eleventh Records

Rocks like: The Black Eyed Peas, Far East Movement

B+

Pittsburgh has a reputation for encouraging musicians and providing strong musical backgrounds to locals. Tino Coury is no exception.

The 22-year-old’s six-track EP, titled Page One, provides some great dance beats and intriguing teasers for future work. With several singles already making their way up Billboard and Top 40 charts, his first release mixes pop with electronic music.Each track tries to take on a different emotional journey, from looking for casual fun, to love and eventually on to anger.

Coury’s first song, “Up Against The Wall,” is set to a fast beat that’s hard to ignore and easy to dance to. It’s the very definition of a party song: a rhythmic pace about dancing in a club and looking for lighthearted fun.

“Diary” sounds a little bit like Owl City. Coury mourns the fact that the woman he loves doesn’t feel the same way — although it’s a little bit off-putting to hear the lyrics, “I read your diary.”

“Circles” provides a decent interlude featuring a fantastic electronic orchestra moving the music along and an uplifting, albeit average, chorus with lyrics like “Sometimes you gotta live and you gotta let go / Cause I know your best is about to show / Life is just a circle, circle.”

The other songs are “I F***in’ Hate You,” “Memory” and “Leave Me My Pen,” which finish up this emotional musical journey with hurt feelings, sadness, strength and longing.

Still, there’s a bit of a teenage angst sort of tone that didn’t feel quite as present on the first half of the album.

With this EP playing out like a very emotional day in the life of a very young person, it will be interesting to see how Coury continues to grow musically with future releases and time to continue to test out his style and see what audiences want from him as a musician.

Films highlight complexities of immigration

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/films-highlight-complexities-of-immigration/

Films highlight complexities of immigration

CMU 2011 International Film Festival: Faces of Migration

Thursday through April 10

$4 per screening or the festival pass of $20 for 15 events

Tickets and passes are available online

www.cmu.edu/faces

A mass of people taking to the streets to protest a bill affecting immigrants inspired director Esau Melendez to create a film about the movement. He believes that when he started the process four years ago in 2006, people didn’t realize how big this issue would become.

“Half a million people marched in the streets to stop a bill that would criminalize the people,” he said, referring to proposed and strengthened border security,. “...This has to be the biggest movement in the history of immigrants, but I don’t think anyone saw what happened in May 2006. This movement is for people who are here contributing to society and who want to be recognized but are forced into the shadows.”

From those experiences, he came up with the idea for “Immigrant Nation! The Battle for a Dream.” The director will appear at both of the screenings of his documentary at the upcoming Carnegie Mellon University 2011 International Film Festival.

In its fifth year, the film festival will feature a number of films exploring issues related to migration, explaining what drives people to immigrate and the impact the movements have on both the countries people leave and the countries they move to.

Though its theme changes annually, the film festival always brings in award-winning films and documentaries with “artistic merit” from around the world, festival director Jolanta Lion said in an e-mail.

Every year, Lion said she looks for “independent, foreign and documentary feature-length films that have not yet premiered here in Pittsburgh and on occasion that have not premiered in the United States” that connect with the festival theme. Even students can submit through a short-film competition.

Lion has a strong history in film, teaching in Poland and then at Pitt up until 2006. Now the director of the film festival, Lion is able to “take part in the world of film” in a new way by distributing different works to the audience in a “thematic way.”

Melendez’s film has been shown in the United States at more than a dozen festivals and has won several awards. The film, which was the director’s first work in the genre, has a potential national release planned for September of this year.

He described the story as “action-driven” rather than debate- or opinion-driven, using the stories and voices of people involved in the movements to tell a larger story. For Melendez, the film isn’t just about the people he followed. Instead, it’s about a massive rights movement among the immigrants.

“It’s about the story of these people, who may be activists or regular citizens, who are fighting for the rights of the immigrants,” he said. “So the entire documentary references that struggle. And there’s no voice-over — it’s told entirely by people involved.”

Melendez spent the film-making process networking and meeting people he could follow to tell the story about immigrants and their rights in the United States. After following his subjects for a year and a half, he took time to carefully put the film together.

“It was difficult to get it done,” Melendez, who spent four years on the 96-minute film, said. “In the beginning, I began in the recession, and it was so hard to get money for this.”

On the other hand, while Melendez spent years on his project, Mike Ott spent only a month creating his 84-minute film, and less than half a year editing it.

A man who “stumbled” into filmmaking with no clue about what he wanted to do with his life after college, Ott created “Littlerock,” a fictional film about two Japanese tourists stranded in Littlerock, Calif. One of the characters falls in love and moves in with a local, making herself at home in the area. The entire film revolves around the characters finding ways to communicate without speaking the same language and dealing with prejudice against foreigners.

“The initial idea came from traveling abroad and being in situations where everyone spoke a different language than me,” Ott said in an e-mail. “It started making me think about how daunting it must be when people come to America and don’t know the language, and how hard it must be to try and assimilate.”

Ott, however, says the film is about much more than assimilation.

“I think it’s about a lot of things,” he said. “It’s about how language connects us as well as divides us, it’s about the American dream versus the American reality, it’s about examining America through a foreigner’s eyes.”

Ott also said that the film could be about “young people finding their way,” making it accessible to students attending the film festival.

‘Shrek’ treks to ‘Burgh singing new tunes

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/shrek-treks-to-burgh-singing-new-tunes/

‘Shrek’ treks to ‘Burgh singing new tunes

Courtesy DreamWorks Theatricals (Joan Marcus)

Left to right: Eric Petersen as Shrek, Alan Mingo, Jr. as Donkey, Haven Burton as Princess Fiona

“Shrek The Musical”

Tuesday - Sunday

Directed by Jason Moore

Benedum Center

$22-$68

412-456-6666 or pgharts.org

Alan Mingo Jr. spends several hours a day surrounded by ogres, a lord and a princess.

The actor plays Donkey in the upcoming show “Shrek the Musical.” And from the beginning of the role, that meant wearing hooves on his hands.

“From the first rehearsal they had me in hooves on my hands,” Mingo said.. “It changed things. I’m used to having use of my hands. Here in rehearsal they had me wearing these hooves. The actual costume is beautiful and comfortable, but having the hands covered was a struggle. But by now it’s natural, which is weird to say.”

Donkey accompanies Shrek, the now-famous ogre, as he attempts to rescue a princess from a tower in hopes of reclaiming his swampy home.

“Shrek The Musical,” currently touring after its Broadway run, reenacts the first movie in the “Shrek” series, though there are new plot twists and more original music added. Just like in the movie, there are moments for children mixed in with adult humor for older crowds.

The show’s creators, David Lindsay-Abaire for book and lyrics and Jeanine Tesori for music, expanded on the Duloc welcoming song and kept “I’m a Believer” at the end, but the rest of the score is original.

But one of the biggest challenges that actors like Mingo face is adapting a well-known movie character for the stage in a way that does justice to the original — without copying it.

The solution for Mingo is to be true to the character. He doesn’t try to impersonate Eddie Murphy, the voice of Donkey in the movie, but instead he “does what the character itself would do.”

“It’s not vastly different,” Mingo said. “You recognize the donkey when you see and hear him. But because the musical takes place through the first movie and we have other situations that didn’t happen in the movie, once the audience recognizes him they go along with the ride with me. The whole objective was you can’t go wrong if you stay true to the Donkey’s situation.”

Mingo’s no stranger to Broadway shows based on movies. He has acted in “The Lion King” and “The Little Mermaid,” but Donkey brought in a new experience for him because of the costume’s “practicality.”

“The costume pretty much looks like a donkey,” Mingo said. “I look like I’m in a suit giving the shape of a donkey. It’s like looking at a donkey staying on his hind legs.”

The Donkey costume is especially comfortable. There is fishnet underneath that allows for ventilation, making the costume more practical than costumes used in other shows.

Other costumes in the show aren’t necessarily as easy to wear as Donkey’s — the Shrek costume takes quite a bit of work. Jorie Mars Malan, the make-up assistant, specializes in the prosthetics that are part of the Shrek character make-up.

“Most shows only have one or two [make-up artists], and most shows only require hair and the actors do their own make-up,” Malan said. “This is just intense and they can’t do it on their own every day.”

The make-up for the Shrek costume alone takes 90 minutes to put together, Malan said. It includes a bald cap with a face opening, a latex foam piece that covers the actor’s head and includes ears, and three silicone pieces for his face that leave only his eyes and mouth exposed.

“Most of what goes on his face is glue. Then I paint everything to blend the pieces. It’s amazing because those pieces once on look very seamless. I feel like I’m talking to a cartoon character,” Malan said.

Malan is responsible for making the rest of the cast look cartoon-like as well.

Sean McKnight has a different job. He might play any male role on a given night. He works on the show as a swing, learning all of the male roles so he can “swing” into any part when necessary. He’s also a dance captain responsible for knowing and teaching choreography for the show.

“Shrek’s costume and make-up is genius. If you saw him up close you would think he’s an ogre,” McKnight said, recalling a time he sent a photo to a friend who didn’t recognize the person underneath the make-up.

But well-constructed costumes don’t mean the actors won’t have trouble with them.

“I have never been in a show with costumes this gigantic,” McKnight said. “‘Shrek’ backstage is a show in and of itself. The traffic backstage is massive. As a cast member, learning what I have to do on stage is one part of my job, and learning what to do backstage is another part and just as important. Backstage is so organized and timed to the last second.

The cast takes an hour to actually tests how long it takes to move on and off stage in each new theater to ensure nothing goes wrong on opening night. Once that’s in order, they can perform for audiences. And McKnight, like Mingo, stresses one point — “Shrek” isn’t just for kids.

“It’s impossible to leave the show unhappy. It’s full of energy,” he said.

Artist begins as mechanic before painting ‘idle’ cars

Artist begins as mechanic before painting ‘idle’ cars

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/artist-begins-as-mechanic-before-painting-idle-cars/

Courtesy Pittsburgh Cultural Trust

“Idle”

709 Penn Gallery

709 Penn Ave. at Seventh St.

Friday through April 3

412-471-6070

For most people, a car is associated with travel and little else. Colin Noonan, however, had a different mentality when creating the 12 paintings in his “Idle” exhibit: The automobile became a private space, wherein the driver and the vehicle both sit still, doing nothing.

“Idle” features pieces that merge two classic genres of art — oil paintings and portraits — to depict people stalled in their cars. The exhibit, which represents a change in the artist’s work, will open Friday and remain open through April 3.

For Noonan, focusing on portraits was a switch from landscape paintings.

“Making stills become such a caged way of working that people lumped me into a category that wasn’t satisfactory,” Noonan said about prior pieces and exhibits. “People wanted to put me into a classical sort of mode. My new work is an attempt not to divorce myself from the classical model but to update it and keep the fashion of the day.”

Returning to Pittsburgh in 2003 after studying art in New York, Noonan felt burned out after dealing with “a stressful time in my life.” With school over, he felt the urge to work and found a job as a mechanic at the German Motor Werks Garage.

“I was interested in the art of mechanics because it’s similar to art,” Noonan said. “It’s something you can learn.”

Noonan’s interest in art never completely disappeared, and the artist now uses a corner of the garage as his studio. He occasionally helps with maintenance, but for the most part, he “tries to be a ghost and work in the space next to the workers.”

To help with his “Idle” portraits, Noonan asked people to model for him, including Eva Mueller, a junior at Chatham University studying interior architecture. She’d previously studied photography and knew Noonan through networking with Pittsburgh’s artistic community.

“He had talked to me about what his art was about and he was trying to emulate the still life portraits of people,” Mueller said. “He wanted them to be reflective of a mystery. If you are looking at an oil painting and you see a portrait of somebody, it tells a story. I think that’s what he was trying to do. And I’ve had some experience with photography and that was how he started his process.”

Noonan used photos he took to help build the art he created, but Mueller still came into the shop four or five times during the process to help Noonan capture just what he wanted.

“It’s hard just to paint from a photo, so he did have me come in for other sessions just to get that image in his head that the photo wasn’t telling him,” Mueller said.

Noonan’s studio setup also intrigued Sonja Sweterlitsch, the manager of community art with The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. After discovering some of Noonan’s landscapes on display at a cafe, she researched the artist and began to talk with him about doing a show.

Sweterlitsch said she was intrigued by Noonan’s current comparisons between the human body and the car as a machine.

In the exhibit there’s “a car being stalled as well [as the people], in a way,” Sweterlitsch said. “It’s a meditative moment and still moment, which is interesting because these are oil paintings. They’re layer upon layer and take time to work on and require you to slow down and look at the contemporary subjects in this quiet meditative way. You’ll wonder what they’re thinking or notice more about the shadows across their faces. It’s really filled with stillness. It really does match a car being idle as well.”

Noonan’s art brings something new to the gallery, Sweterlitsch said.

“They’re images based in the garage as well as people on cars and people as individuals,” she said. “It’s very figurative which is different from what we’ve shown recently. And traditional oil paintings are different, too.”

Mueller said she was impressed with the results of Noonan’s latest endeavor.

“I think they look almost scary for how real they are,” she said. “I didn’t expect them to turn out like that. I was just surprised and pleased. He’s very good at what he does.”

Noonan called his art something that can’t be described and has to be seen, explaining that the artwork “goes way beyond simple sad or longing. So [the title] refers back to the idea that I’m not trying to depict young people happily chopping wood in some propaganda. This isn’t a picture of people who are glorious. But it’s also not the worst thing in the world to be where they are and to be idle.”

‘Hair’ entangles audience in 60s conflicts

‘Hair’ entangles audience in 60s conflicts

http://pittnews.com/newsstory/hair-entangles-audience-in-60s-conflicts/

Courtesy Joan Marcus

“Hair”

Now through Sunday

Diane Paulus

Heinz Hall

Pitt Arts Tickets $27.50-$62.43 (must be purchased by Thursday at noon)

Tickets $20-$69

412-392-4900 or www.pgharts.org

Director David Truskinoff hopes he can not just entertain, but also inspire his audiences to act like the characters in “Hair.”

The show follows the lives of a tribe of long-haired hippies in New York City. Claude, his friend Berger, their roommate Sheila and their companions struggle to balance their own beliefs and their relationships with their conservative families with rebellion against the war and the politics of the time.

Truskinoff hopes that the musical’s look at the ’60s counterculture movement will inspire young people to raise their voices.

“During the 1960s, younger people in their teens and twenties and college age were so much a part of the political goings and the protests,” Truskinoff said, remembering the Civil Rights, feminist and hippie movements of the time.

“They had such a strong voice. Sometimes, unfortunately, it isn’t the same today ... It can only be a good thing for younger people to see that now and to revisit what the movement was about. I can only hope to get it sparked up again,” he said.

The award-winning musical originally opened on Broadway in 1968, pushing boundaries the same way its subject matter did. The show’s use of “slang, profanity, nudity and overt sexuality,” as well as the presence of a racially integrated cast on stage created a major stir and was incredibly progressive for the time, said Richard Teaster, manager and director of Pitt’s Men’s Glee Club.

One act even ended with a nude scene, creating commotion in a culture where simply growing out one’s hair was a radical notion.

Though the show came from a different time period, the issues and ideas within it remain powerful and important today, said actor Josh Lamon, who plays several characters in the production, including Claude’s father, Margaret Mead and a member of the Tribe.

“It’s great because young people are introduced to this era that shows the hippie movement,” Lamon said. “It isn’t just hair and flowers, it was a protest and was about how important it is to stand up for one’s belief.”

Lamon’s hardest job is to act as Claude’s father, a conservative who wants his pacifist son to join the Vietnam War.

“We’re so different,” Lamon said. “I actually base the character off of my grandfather. [Claude’s father] is a conservative Republican who believes we have to fight the war no matter what, and he pressures his son to go to Vietnam. To play this character is challenging for me, but it is interesting, especially because I see older generations relate to the parents in the show.”

Considering recent events in Egypt and even the current political divide in the United States, the messages in “Hair” and the views of all the characters remain incredibly relevant as people struggle to make themselves heard today, Lamon said.

The music in “Hair” is just as important as the story. Teaster mentioned in an e-mail that the songs that presented their messages in ways that were less “in your face,” such as “Aquarius/Let The Sunshine In,” can still be heard on oldies stations today.

But the ironic songs were not received well at the time it came out, Teaster said.

“From a purely musical perspective, the show was not well-received by such legendary Broadway composers as Leonard Bernstein and Richard Rogers,” Teaster said. “Bernstein remarked, ‘the songs are just laundry lists.’”

The music has also proved to be a major influence on more recent works, Teaster said.

“I think the work influenced other pieces which would incorporate more rock idioms such as ‘Tommy,’ ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ and even shows as recent as ... ‘Spring Awakening,’” he said.

Working with the show now creates fond feelings of nostalgia for Truskinoff, who began working on “Hair” immediately after the end of the revival tour of “Rent” last year.

But portraying the turbulent time period these songs came from is an immense task which required time and research long before production began, Truskinoff said.

In addition to trying to make the show as authentic as possible, Lamon also sought to maintain the atypical interaction between the cast and audience actually pulls the audience into the show.

“At the end of the show, the entire audience is invited on stage to dance with us,” Lamon said. “It is remarkable to see people let go and hug each other, and to look out and see people dancing in the aisles and holding hands. You don’t get that with other shows.”

Even the 10-piece band gets into the show, standing on stage rather than sitting in an orchestra pit and allowing interaction between the instrumentalists and the characters, even though the band isn’t always a key part of the plot.

While all of the musical’s themes are delivered in an entertaining fashion, Truskinoff approaches “Hair” with respect, feeling that it allows serious commentary on issues such as the war today and where civil rights issues stand.

“The underlying themes remain real today and are very serious,” he said.