ISSUE 325 January 2024
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January Arts Issue:
20 Local Comic Artists Predict the Future PLUS:
First tastes of Lacayo and Either/Or New year, new local shows at the Englert Felonious Munk takes the Teehee’s mic LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 1
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6 From the Newsletter 8 Ad Index 12 Letters & Interactions 17 Fully Booked 19 Contact Buzz 20 Arts Issue 2024 30 Bread & Butter: Lacayo 32 Bread & Butter: Either/Or 36 A-List: Local Showcase 40 A-List: Comedy 43 Events Calendar 57 Your Village 59 Dear Kiki 61 Astrology 63 Album Reviews 67 Book Reviews
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Local comic artists envision
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INDEPENDENT NEWS, CULTURE & EVENTS Since 2001 LittleVillageMag.com
EDITORIAL
PRODUCTION
Publisher
Digital Director
Issue 325
Matthew Steele
Drew Bulman
January 2024
matt@littlevillagemag.com
drewb@littlevillagemag.com
Editor-in-Chief
Production Manager
Emma McClatchey
Jordan Sellergren
emma@littlevillagemag.com
jordan@littlevillagemag.com
Arts Editor
SALES & ADMINISTRATION
artists to draw strips inspired by
Genevieve Trainor
President, Little Village, LLC
their fears and hopes for 2024.
genevieve@littlevillagemag.com
Matthew Steele
Also inside: New restaurants,
matt@littlevillagemag.com
new concerts, new albums, new
Cover by Anna Reishus
For this annual Arts Issue, LV commissioned 20 Iowa comic
News Director
books—all local.
Paul Brennan
Advertising
paul@littlevillagemag.com
Genevieve Trainor, Joseph Servey, Matthew Steele
Art Director
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Aly High loves drawing, jiu jitsu,
Josh Carroll is a writer and
Creative Services
cats, and friend to all, Sarah
drummer who lives in Cedar
Website design, E-commerce,
Shonrock. Fuck cancer.
Rapids.
Anna Reishus, illustrator and
Lucius Pham is a music video
designer. Game dev. Dog mom.
director, fiction writer and
Jordan Sellergren jordan@littlevillagemag.com
Meet the January Comic Artists:
Photographer, Designer
Publication design
Sid Peterson
creative@littlevillagemag.com
sid@littlevillagemag.com CIRCULATION
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Joseph Servey
self-published comic and zine
Matt Griffin is a comics
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creator based out of the Quad
creator and media researcher.
Cities.
Instagram: pup_jump
Corrections editor@littlevillagemag.com
Distribution Sam Standish, Andersen Coates, Joe
Dave Dugan is an Iowa
Matt Laux is a father, chef, and
January Contributors
Olson, Patrick MacCready, Courtney
City Press Co-op member,
artist, inviting everyone to be
Aly High, Anna Reishus, Avery Gregurich,
Guein, Joseph Servey, Heber Marti-
papermaker and cartoonist.
creative and joyful.
Brock David McConchie, Colson Thayer,
nez, Sarah Dirks
Dave Dugan, Derek Muse Lambert, Ethan
distro@littlevillagemag.com
Derek Muse Lambert is a
Ramona Muse Lambert is an
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Edvenson, Fang Wang, Jared Jewel, Jessica Carney, John Busbee, John Martinek,
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lan, Kent Williams, Kristen Holder, Lauren
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623 S Dubuque St
Ethan Edvenson is a mixed
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Laux, Natalia Matlag, Ramona Muse Lam-
Iowa City, IA 52240
media artist from Des Moines.
kamylienclown
bert, Rob Cline, Sam Locke Ward, Samuel
319-855-1474 Kassie Morlan is an Iowa City
Sarah Allen Reed is a
Little Village—Des Moines
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900 Keosauqua Way, Ste 253
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and wanderer. Website:
Des Moines, IA 50309
is also a sucker for a good
sarahallenreed.com.
cheeseburger.
Rambles: truckstop.coffee.
Jared Jewell is a freelance
Scott Hansen currently lives/
illustrator from Iowa City. His
works in Iowa City. Boo Boo
self-published work includes
Comic was created in 1999,
The Obol, Key Girl Bug and
resurrected as “Boo Boo’s
Salvus Philtrum.
World” in 2022.
Benson, Sarah Elgatian, Sarah Allen Reed, Scott Hansen, Tom Tomorrow SOCIAL MEDIA
Samuel Benson is a cartoonist
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From the Newsletter Four of the top stories featured last month in the LV Daily, Little Village’s weekday afternoon email written by Paul Brennan. Subscribe at littlevillagemag.com/subscribe
Along with banning books and targeting LGBTQ students, SF 496 also cut requirement for schools to provide information on HIV/AIDS and HPV (Dec. 1) The first day of December has been dedicated to raising awareness about HIV/AIDS and remembering those lost to the disease since 1988. Around this time, Iowa began requiring public schools to provide age-appropriate information about HIV/AIDS to public school students. That changed this year.
A holiday display at the Iowa State Capitol sparks a small satanic panic (Dec. 12) It’s been a basic part of the American legal landscape since the 1980s: if a government is going to allow private groups to put religious-themed displays on public property, then all religions must be welcome. That hasn’t stopped politicians in Iowa and across the country from protesting a Satanic Temple display in the Capitol rotunda.
In Waterloo, Trump avoids discussing Colorado Supreme Court decision but does mention Hitler (Dec. 20) “I never read Mein Kampf,” the GOP frontrunner clarified at a Commit to Caucus event after repeating his fascistic claim that immigrants from Africa, Asia and South America are “destroying the blood of our country.” Trump did not bring up the fact he was just barred from Colorado ballots.
PHOTO SLIDESHOW: The DSM Queer Youth Resource Center hosted an all-ages variety show at xBk Live on Wednesday, Dec. 20. The event showcased diverse talents, including performances in drag, music and spoken word poetry.
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THANK YOU TO THIS ISSUE’S ADVERTISING PARTNERS This issue of Little Village is supported by: Adamantine Spine Moving (59) Arnott & Kirk (48) Baker Paper Company (9) Broadlawns Medical Center (31) Bur Oak Land Trust (58) Catch Des Moines (66) Cedar Rapids Opera (42) Coralville Center for the Performing Arts (66) Coralville Public Library (68) Crooked Path Theatre Company (44) Des Moines Metro Opera (33) Des Moines Performing Arts (2) Des Moines Playhouse (14) Des Moines Symphony (15) FilmScene (16) Full Court Press (32, 62) Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden (7, 72) Hancher Auditorium (34, 35, 37, 41) Historic Valley Junction (33) Illuminate (12) Independent Cedar Rapids (62) - NewBoCo
- Goldfinch Cyclery - Next Page Books - Cobble HIll - The Daisy Independent Downtown Iowa City (10-11) - The Green House - Release Body Modifications - Critical Hit - Merge - Harry’s Bar & Grill - Fix! - Mailboxes - Beadology - Record Collector - Yotopia - Revival - Prairie Lights Bookstore & Cafe - Hot Spot Tattoo and Piercing Independent Highland Park / Oak Park Neighborhood (45) - Des Moines Mercantile - Bill’s Window and Screen Repair - The Collective - The Slow Down Independent Northside Marketplace (38-39)
(66, 71) Orchestra Iowa (47) Orchestrate Hospitality (60) Phoebe Martin, REALTOR (56) Polk County Conservation (8) Primary Health Care (49) Public Space One (61) Raygun (52) Riverside Theatre (48) Science Center of Iowa (7) Shakespeare’s Pub & Grill (59) Splash (18) Table to Table (58) The Club Car (59) The Englert Theatre (53) The Iowa Children’s Museum (15) The James Theatre (18) The Wedge Pizzeria (12) University of Iowa Stanley Museum of Art (8) Varsity Cinema (56) Vino Vérité (64) Wedding Show (55) Wig & Pen (60) Willow & Stock (70) xBk (70)
- John’s - Oasis Falafel - Marco’s Grilled Cheese - Russ’ Northside Service - Pagliai’s Pizza - R.S.V.P. - George’s - Artifacts - Press Coffee - Dodge Street Tire Indian Creek Nature Center (47) Iowa City Communications (58) Iowa City Community Theatre (44) Iowa City Public Library (60) Iowa Department of Public Health (7, 54) Iowa Nonprofit Alliance (9) Jethro’s BBQ (51) KRUI 89.7 FM (9) Kim Schillig, REALTOR (49) Martin Construction (58) Micky’s Irish Pub (15) Musician’s Pro Shop (12) New Pioneer Food Co-op (4) Nodo (15) Optimae Home Health Services
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INDEPENDENT
Downtown Iowa City Magic the Gathering. Video Games. Warhammer. Warmachine. RPGs. Board Games. X-Wing. Dice. LotR. HeroClix. Miniatures. GoT. Blood Bowl. L5R. Pokemon. Yu-Gi-Oh. Kidrobot Vinyl. Retro toys. Pop vinyl & plushies. Gaming & collectible supplies.
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Letters & Interactions LV encourages community members, including candidates for office, to submit letters to Editor@LittleVillageMag.com. To be considered for print publication, letters should be under 500 words. Preference is given to letters that have not been published elsewhere. I, PERSONALLY, LOOK FORWARD TO
all-female boards and commissions in Iowa’s future. Upon initial review of the final recommendations from the Boards and Commissions Review Committee, I felt angry, frustrated and, sadly, unsurprised. Merging boards to dilute expertise, eliminating commissions on topics we don’t want to discuss; this all fits neatly along the path our governor is dragging us along. But what stuck in my craw was the brazen recommendation to remove the gender balance requirement (Iowa Code 69.61A) from our “municipal commissions, committees, boards and councils.” The perspectives of men have, historically, been dramatically
12 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
over-represented on bodies that make economic decisions for us all, despite women outnumbering men and volunteering in community service organizations at higher rates, and we still have not achieved parity, despite the law being passed to include state level appointments in 1987 and extended to include local authorities in 2009. I’m looking ahead to January, as the 90th General Assembly reconvenes, and expecting these recommendations to move forward. Heedless of the testimony that has been, and will continue to be offered by subject-matter experts who are reliant on the entities that will be cut, merged or hamstrung, the Legislature will likely implement the proposed changes. So, soon, there will no longer be any reason
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not to staff commissions, committees, boards and councils and include not a single male member. It’s time for other voices to lead decision-making, so I urge every person to start nominating their non-male friends for every open position in their town, county, and in the state of Iowa. —Elinor A. Levin, Iowa City Iowa House of Representatives, District 89
Along with banning books and targeting LGBTQ students, SF 496 also cut requirement for schools to provide information on HIV/AIDS and HPV (Dec. 1) That’s honestly really sad. I received Gardasil as soon as it came out back in the 2000s and thanks to it I am HPV free and can now undergo less frequent exams which saves me money, time and discomfort. Who doesn’t want to protect kids from cancer?! —A.G.
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 13
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I N T E R AC T I O N S
Almost lost my mother 15 years ago to stage 4 cancer, it still has wrecked her health and left her in a wheel chair. Gardasil would have prevented that. Just another case of conservatives doing shit to fuck over their kids. —C.W. I lost my mom at age 72 to cervical cancer caused by HPV that she contracted when younger possibly from a sexual assault. The games that are being played here are not a joke. —Knellie
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I mean, why teach about STDs when they can teach “if you have sex you will die.” —F.C. They just don’t want kids to talk about sex in any way shape or form. They can talk about HIV as a disease that exists, but they can’t talk about it as an STD. It gets really stupid. I feel bad for our FCS teacher. —Earl
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Missing that Pop-Tarts mascot? This jumping pup is far more charming. Poptart, a year-old pittie mix, is a fan of hanging outdoors. She also loves food, so training should be a cinch (and our girl could use a bit of obedience work). If you’re craving a warm, sweet companion, Poptart’s for you—and she won’t disappear into a toaster, either. Dreams really do come true! Find her at the Iowa City Animal Center, iowaanimalcenter.org.
Send your personals for consideration to editor@littlevillagemag.com with subject line “Personals.”
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I N T E R AC T I O N S AG Bird threatens news organizations, claims they might be providing ‘material support for terrorism’ (Dec. 7) I think Larry Bird would make a better AG. —H.T. It’s about time they started going after Breitbart, Newsmax and FauxNews for enabling that Jan 6 crap. (reads article) Oh, I forgot. AG is republican. —Karl J. Light and nature abound in this Frank Lloyd Wright house, nestled in Cedar Rock State Park (Dec. 11) One of my favorite Iowa treasures! Beautiful site to visit. Glad they gave it to the State for all to enjoy! —Janine K. FLW used fixtures designed for Pullman passenger rail cars in the Usonian bathrooms. —R. Eric D. I loved this month’s magazine—going to visit here is a must this summer. Thank you for publishing this paper. —Margaret B. A holiday display at the Iowa State Capitol sparks a small satanic panic (Dec. 12)
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People are scared of a mannequin with a goat head covered in disco ball panels. It’s not even the cool sculpted one. Most are like ‘Meh.’ Really only the Christian nationalists are the only ones all up in arms about a cosplay mannequin, but they’re extremely vocal about their alleged marginalization and they have the governor’s ear. —F.C. ‘A real act of cowardice’: Mississippi politician raises thousands of dollars online after vandalizing Satanic Temple display at Iowa State Capitol (Dec. 15) The fundraising was the point, and the publicity. Minor charge in Iowa = scoring big on right wing media. —Todd H.
16 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
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Chinese Children’s Stories for a New Year
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ne of the top picks for the weekly Chinese Bilingual Storytime at the Iowa City Public Library (Fridays at 10:30 a.m.) is The Rice in the Pot Goes Round and Round by Wendy Wan Long Shang. While singing along to the sweet family-themed picture book, kids and parents can enjoy a big feast of Chinese food illustrations—and perhaps learn a few words. Bestselling children’s author and illustrator Grace Lin champions Chinese culture through warmhearted stories featuring family, community, identity and imagination. ICPL’s very recent acquisition Once Upon A Book (coauthored by Kate Messner) unfolds as an imaginative journey of a little girl named Alice, adventuring through the magical pages in her favorite book. Readers can enjoy searching for surprises hidden in the charming illustrations. The Amy Wu picture book series by Kat Zhang and Charlene Chua is the perfect combination of lyrical storytelling and vibrant illustration, portraying “real life” adventure stories from children of immigrant families. In Amy Wu and The Warm Welcome, Lin, a new friend from China, is greeted with a jolly dumpling party and a special banner welcome banner. Both Amy and Lin learn about the importance of inclusion through courage and creativity. ICPL’s holiday section includes stories centered on the Chinese New Year, coming up on Feb. 10. Some newer releases go beyond the gourmet foods and festive dragon dances; Friends Are Friends, Forever by Dane Liu and Lynn Scurfield demonstrates the strength of friendship and tradition through time and distance. Playing With Lanterns by Yage Wang and Chengliang Zhu (translated by Helen Wang) shares the extended excitement of the 15-day celebration with a vivid showcase of the folk custom of lanterns. To fulfill your cuteness quota, check out the beautifully illustrated picture book A Little Round Panda on the Big Blue Earth by Tory Christie and Luciana Navarro Powell, paired with a fun animal matching game. Finally, Playing at the border: a story of Yo-Yo Ma by Joanna Ho and Teresa Martines explores generations of music and culture, including the centuries-old rhythms of the Feng Yang Flower Drum. —Fang Wang LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 17
I N T E R AC T I O N S
LittleVillage
READER POLL What’s your broad prediction for 2024? World war
48%
World peace
9%
‘Also sprach Zarathustra’ Wurlitzer montage
6%
Vomiting off Tilt-a-Whirl
37%
From 54 votes
I would like to think that not one of the idiots that are worked up about this have read the tenets of the Temple, but what is worse is they have and are still against it. —Scott G. Keith Haring left his mark on Iowa City. Thirty-five years later, it will go on public display for the first time. (Dec. 18) A really cool story, and I will most certainly be making a trip to The Stanley Art Museum in May. —Matthew T.
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on Wagner (rjwagner.com) has contribut- expendable income—artist and entrepreneur ed to the likes of G.I. Joe, The Punisher, Aniekanabasi White proudly offered his sci-fi/ Nth Man, and Batman. Aniekanabasi romance motion comic collaboration Lost With White, or Basi Affia, is chief writer at his own All Hands for free last December. studio (sensiilstudios.com), introducing fans to White world-builds to the beat of his own exciting new characters such as Psiatic, Shaka drummer. A storyteller since first grade, he apand Solomon. proaches creativity like an improv artist, always These two Central Iowa artists have distinct thinking, “yes, and.” styles and stories to tell, but prove there’s more “Authors write what they know, and art rethan one path to success in the ever-expanding flects the culture, and vice versa,” said the vetrealm of comic books. eran and father. “Drawing from my experiences “My grandmother used to take my brothers in the Army, my experiences as a Black man and I to the old-time drugstore that was in her in America—I’ve met so many people from so little Iowa town,” Wagner said, reflecting on his many different walks of life, I’ve grown and own origin story. “My brothers always wanted changed on my own path. Pulling from all of candy, and all I wanted was comics. I blame her those diverse aspects really informs my work, for all of this madness.” what I am trying to put together.” Wagner attended the esteemed Kubert School In early 2022, White founded Sensi’il of cartoon and graphic art in New Jersey, found- Studios, becoming the first Black comic book ed by legendary publisher in the comics artist Joe state. But this cloak “Authors write what they know, and Kubert. While still of responsibility art reflects the culture, and vice versa. in school, Wagner isn’t dragging him Drawing from my experiences in the began his career down. Army, my experiences as a Black man by drawing back“It doesn’t really grounds for Stan feel like it has any in America—I’ve met so many people Woch in World’s from so many different walks of life, I’ve weight. I start to feel Finest Comics. it when I’m actually grown and changed on my own path. One of Wagner’s out, like at a comic ––Aniekanabasi White, Sensi’il Studios earliest credits was con, or on the news. a 1985 DC Comics … People remind New Talent Showcase (#15). His extensive re- me that this is needed, which is one of the things sumé is a continual explosion of iconic char- that drives me and keeps me going. acters and franchise-making superheroes: “I do know that I have some responsibility Superman, the Flash, Daredevil, Ghost Rider. here to execute with quality, shaping the stanOver his career, he’s worked as an animation dard and tone of what Black comic books and storyboard artist, games designer, portrait artist graphic novels are going to be. There are very and muralist (think Zombie Burger + Drink Lab few other companies that are doing this,” he in Des Moines’ East Village), providing custom continued. “When people think of manga or illustrations. anime, they have a sense of what they are go“I love to tell stories. I love narrative art. I ing to be receiving. It’s interesting to be on the love the solo nature of it,” he said. “You, the ground floor of an industry, to be able to define artist, are creating a world that you want your and shape what that experience is going to be reader to get lost in. It’s all up to you. It’s slight- for people who say, ‘oh, yeah, I have all of these ly God-like, this creating of a world. It isn’t art Black comic books.’” by committee, which is what most advertising Graphic novels and comics can serve as a art is. Sadly, it’s tons of work for very low pay gateway to reading for marginalized children usually. That’s why we all tend to drift off and and adults who may balk at basic books, but do more commercial work. It, generally, pays thrive on visual storytelling. Whether spinning more.” adventures with century-old superheroes or inIn an effort to get his studio’s groundbreak- novative original characters, Wagner and White ing stories to their target audience—young peo- feed a growing fan base—and a new generation ple who love comics but may not have a lot of of storytellers. LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 19
2024 Arts Issue SARAH ALLEN REED
R V. X E N
20 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
Anna Reishus / Little Village
LAUREN HALDEMAN
KASSIE MORLAN
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 21
2024 Arts Issue ANNA REISHUS
A LY H I G H
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D AV E D U G A N
SAMUEL BENSON
BENJAMIN SKEERS
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 23
2024 Arts Issue DEREK MUSE LAMBERT
RAMONA MUSE LAMBERT
24 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
M AT T G R I F F I N
JOHN MARTINEK
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 25
2024 Arts Issue JARED JEWELL
ETHAN EDVENSON
26 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
JARED JEWELL
M AT T L AU X
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 27
2024 Arts Issue B R O C K D AV I D M C C O N C H I E
LUCIUS PHAM
28 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
JOSHUA CARROLL
M AT T G R I F F I N
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 29
Bread & Butter LV Recommends: Eastern Iowa
Hello, Lacayo Flown-in fish, fresh-made corn tortillas and Brazilian cocktails are just a few features of Cedar Rapids’ newest Latin restaurant. BY JESSICA CARNEY
30 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
Jav Ducker / Little Village
T
he new owners of Lacayo—the NewBo restaurant that was formerly Caucho— “boomeranged” back to Cedar Rapids with the dream of opening their own restaurant. Armina Grizak Lacayo and Daniel Lacayo lived in Chicago before moving to Daniel’s hometown of Cedar Rapids in 2015 to work for local restaurateurs Carrie and Andy Schumacher. “It’s a story I hear a lot—somebody from Cedar Rapids brings their significant other back to live here,” Armina said. Originally from Orlando, Armina took a little time to get used to the pace of life in a smaller city. “People definitely go to bed earlier,” she said with a laugh. But she’s grown to love the city because of the people she’s met and the closeness of the community. “The support the community gives small businesses and the way they value the hard work that goes into them; it’s amazing,” she said. Armina has worked in restaurants for nearly 20 years, including at Caucho and Cobble Hill in Cedar Rapids. Daniel started out cooking at the Cedar Rapids Country Club in his early 20s and has worked at a variety of restaurants, including the Vernon Inn and Zeppelins, in addition to restaurants in the Chicago area. In April of 2023, the stars aligned for the couple to finally open their own place when Caucho went up for sale. In November, the name change became official. The Lacayos hope to showcase a variety of Latin cuisine beyond Mexican food in their eponymous restaurant. “We wanted to feature the cuisine of Daniel’s background and the places he’s visited,” Armina said. “Latin food is so diverse, and there’s something for everyone.” The restaurant features Peruvian ceviche with citrus (Armina’s favorite), a Spanish-inspired grilled octopus dish with chickpea and radish salad, and choripan with house-made Argentine chorizo—one of their best-selling items. The fish, like the pescado with parsnip puree and pickled fennel, is flown in fresh. And true to a Caucho tradition, the organic corn tortillas are still house-made daily. Diners can try something adventurous or something that might be more familiar to Midwesterners, like the white bean, pork, and
“We wanted to feature the cuisine of Daniel’s background and the places he’s visited. Latin food is so diverse, and there’s something for everyone.” ––Armina Grizak Lacayo
Jav Ducker / Little Village
LittleVillageMag.com/Dining
Lacayo 1202 3rd St SE #102, Cedar Rapids, lacayorestaurant.com
potato stew. If one half of the couple is adventurous and the other is picky, this might be the ideal place to eat. Guests can pair their meals with the Spanish and Portuguese wines on the menu, including a Chilean orange wine that Armina highly recommends. There’s also an extensive cocktail—and mocktail—menu. “We can make almost any drink without alcohol,” Armina said. Additionally, Armina and Daniel make a point to accommodate dietary restrictions. The house-made corn tortillas in particular are ideal for gluten-free folks, which includes Armina. Cedar Rapids has been super supportive of the restaurant’s transition, according to Armina. “The community cares about what’s here,” she said. Many people have reached out to the couple simply because they want to talk to the new owners and learn about their story and why they’re here. “It’s heartwarming,” Armina said. A group of businesspeople from Brazil came into the restaurant recently, and Armina said they greatly enjoyed the caipirinhas, a Brazilian drink with cachaca, lime and sugar. Armina’s pleased that there are a variety of new (or newish) restaurants in the area that can pleasantly surprise people from larger cities due to their diverse cuisine. “We want to keep elevating the cuisine in Cedar Rapids,” she said. One way the Lacayo’s are doing that is through events like their New Year’s Eve fivecourse Latin tasting menu. They also plan to continue being adventurous with their menu by adding new items they hope guests will enjoy. “We hope people keep accepting us with open arms. We’d like to still be here in 10 years,” Armina said.
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Bread & Butter LV Recommends: Central Iowa
Either/Or
The Lua crew has expanded their domain beyond beer to burgers and bologna. The results are drool-worthy. BY JUSTIN MEDINGER
Sid Peterson / Little Village
E
ither/Or is the latest venture from the restaurant group behind Lua Brewing in the Sherman Hill neighborhood of downtown Des Moines. “Lua is about craft beer and food, and it was our first so [it’ll] always [be] our baby, but it’s small,” said co-owner Scott Selix. “Either/Or is bigger on just about every scale. We still do craft beer and handmade food but we [also] have cocktails, a private event space, a huge patio with green space and a playscape and five fire pits. At Either/Or, you can do date night, a family night or Friendsgiving. It’s flexible for any occasion.” Situated on Grand Avenue off of 63rd Street, just across the street from Val Air Ballroom and
Either/Or 6222 Grand Ave, Des Moines 515-214-1831, eitherordsm.com
“I played soccer at the soccer fields just south of Either/Or. The huge patio, the connection to my old soccer club, the great location on Des Moines’ front porch from WDM, it all came together pretty quick with the tremendous team we have.” ––Scott Selix roughly 100 yards east of the West Des Moines border, Either/Or opened its doors in early fall 2023. Selix said he and his co-owner/wife Whitney Selix, as well as their restaurant partners, saw potential in the space right away. “I played soccer at the soccer fields just south
32 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
of Either/Or,” said Scott. “The huge patio, the connection to my old soccer club, the great location on Des Moines’ front porch from WDM, it all came together pretty quick with the tremendous team we have.” The cuisine at Either/Or is best described as
LittleVillageMag.com/Dining
elevated American fare with a focus on quality. The burgers are ground in house and made from 100 percent Iowa-sourced Certified Angus Beef, Selix promises. Juices are freshly squeezed for cocktails, and homemade bologna is made through a lengthy process. Chefs Cesar Vargas, Megan Snyder and James Arbaugh also brought Mexican and Asian influences to the menu. “We pretty much said, ‘let’s create a restaurant we’d want to dine at,’ and that’s what we did! So the food is approachable, but unlike stuff you’ll find elsewhere and always homemade,” Selix said. I had the pleasure of taking my two daughters with me to Either/Or on a Friday evening. Upon entering, you’re greeted with colorful and eclectic decor. The bar pops and the open kitchen gives you an inside look at how your dishes are assembled. A very cool, casual and comfortable feel right away. We were seated immediately, although the place was already very busy. The beer list had some impressive variety, but I couldn’t pass up a Lua brew. I went with their latest double IPA, Dancer. I love the hop combo and creamy texture, and although it checks in at 8.6 percent ABV, it’s scarily drinkable. Lua makes some of the best beers in Iowa, and this one is right up there for me as a favorite. If cheese curds are on the menu, there’s a 99 percent chance that my kids will have me order them. Either/Or’s Mexican cheese curds were more inspired than the average appetizer. House battered and served with pickled fresno chiles, cilantro and a chipotle ranch dressing, these were some of the best cheese curds any of us had ever eaten. We decided to do a bit of sharing and order a couple of sandwiches. The fried bologna sandwich would make Oscar Mayer blush—the flavor is off the charts, with almost a pepperoni spice. It melts in your mouth, and they stack this sandwich high with it. Another excellent sandwich, the vegetarian Italian mushroom sandwich was loaded with perfectly cooked mushrooms and topped with a delicious homemade giardiniera and a side of jus. Rice pudding is another of my daughters’ favorites, and Either/Or’s rice pudding was extraordinary. They added some apple compote and then topped their pudding off with a sesame tuile, which is a baked wafer. A great dessert to cap off a really wonderful meal. The way Either/Or plays with fresh ingredients and caters to the details is commendable and appreciated. I’m really excited to see what they bring to their ever-changing menu in the seasons ahead.
WINE FOOD BEER
SHOWCASE
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FOR TICKETS
DMMO.ORG/WFBS | 515-209-3257
HAPPY NEW YEAR from the Historic Valley Junction Foundation
valleyjunction.com
Shop. Dine. Celebrate. Local.
R E C E N T LY A N N O U N C E D E X C E P T I O N A L P E R F O R M A N C E S !
NICKEL CREEK
WITH SPECIAL GUEST THE STAVES Tuesday, February 6 / 7:30 p.m. A sum of more than their staggering parts, Nickel Creek is the trio that revolutionized bluegrass and folk in the early 2000s and ushered in a new era of Americana music. After a nine-year absence, mandolinist Chris Thile, violinist Sara Watkins, and guitarist Sean Watkins returned with Celebrants–a bounty of 18 disparate but loosely connected songs addressing love, friendship, time, and the universal travails of travel. The band’s live performance will be, as always, shot through with the trio’s virtuosic picking and shiverinducing harmonies. TICKETS
VIP $199 / Adults $85 / $65 / Students & Youth $85 / $25* * limited availability
ROY WOOD JR.
Thursday, February 8 / 7:30 p.m. Entertainment Weekly has described Roy Wood Jr.’s thoughtprovoking comedy as “charismatic crankiness” and he’s bringing both characteristics to the Hancher stage! He is an Emmy-nominated comedian, writer, producer, actor, radio personality, and podcaster primarily known for his stand-up comedy and work as a correspondent on The Daily Show. In 2017, he was named the host of Comedy Central’s This Is Not Happening. He has performed several stand-up specials on Comedy Central— and his second special, Roy Wood Jr.: No One Loves You, remains the network’s highest-rated original stand-up premiere. See why when you join us for a hilarious night of comedy. PLEASE NOTE: This performance will include adult language and themes and may not be appropriate for all audiences. TICKETS
Adults $60 / $45 / Students & Youth $25
LEARN MORE AND GET TICKETS AT HANCHER.UIOWA.EDU Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Paris Young in advance at (319) 467-4849 or at paris-sissel@uiowa.edu.
ROYAL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA
VASILY PETRENKO, MUSIC DIRECTOR ISATA KANNEH-MASON, PIANIST
Photo © Andy Paradise
January 24 / 7:30 p.m. Hancher Auditorium The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (London, U.K.) is uncompromising in its pursuit of excellence and inclusive in its appeal to music lovers of all stripes. Embracing a broad repertoire has allowed the orchestra to build a diverse live and online audience of more than 60 million people. In 2021, the orchestra welcomed Music Director Vasily Patrenko—and the chemistry between conductor and musicians has been palpable. As The Arts Desk puts it, “Petrenko’s left hand was hypnotic to watch, shaping phrases, highly expressive and fluid. The players responded by giving it their all, thrillingly, elementally.” The program features a pair of monumental Russian masterworks, an ideal match for the maestro. Pianist Isata Kanneh-Mason— the orchestra’s artist-in-residence and recipient of the coveted Leonard Bernstein Award — joins the ensemble for Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto, a multi-themed piece filled with virtuosic melodic invention. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will close the evening with a performance of Rachmaninoff’s sumptuous Second Symphony.
PROGRAM Claude DEBUSSY, orch. Ravel: Danse (“Tarantelle styrienne”), L. 69 Sergei PROKOFIEV: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, op. 26, with Isata Kanneh-Mason Sergei RACHMANINOFF: Symphony No. 2 in E Minor, op. 27
$
10 STUDENT & YOUTH TICKETS
TICKETS
Adults $115 / $75
/
College Students / Youth $10
Order online hancher.uiowa.edu Call (319) 335-1160 or 800-HANCHER Accessibility Services (319) 335-1160
HANCHER EVENT PARTNERS Leonard & Marlene Hadley
Candace Wiebener
Jean Koch
Warren & Maryellen Boe
The Stanford Family in memory of William (1930–2023) & Marlene W. (1933–2021) Stanford
Wendy Carter and Don Heistad in honor of Doris Preucil
LEARN MORE AND GET TICKETS AT HANCHER.UIOWA.EDU Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Paris Young in advance at (319) 467-4849 or at paris-sissel@uiowa.edu.
Culture
A-List: Eastern Iowa
Support Your Local Mosh Pit Iowa City’s homegrown creatives take the Englert stage for the 2024 Local Showcase Series. BY KRISTEN HOLDER
T
he Englert Theatre’s Local Showcase Series returns in 2024 with three nights of performances featuring exclusively local
artists. The goal of this series, spanning January and early February, is to group musically inclined newcomers with experienced veterans on the same night. It is also an opportunity to connect area musicians The first showcase on Saturday, Jan. 13 will focus on hardcore sounds with performances from Bootcamp, Bovinophobic Bile Puddle and I WILL on the Englert stage. Bootcamp consists of four Iowans, with Juliette Enloe on vocals, Oliver Weilein on drums, Molly Enochson on bass and Dolly
36 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
Sperry on guitar. Enloe said they chose the hardcore punk genre because “our drummer wanted to play really fast D-beats and we all love to rock. I love music that makes you shake your ass. The whole point of punk is to get a message out and to foster a community in a physical space.” This night promises to be loud, fast-paced and full of opportunities to let off some steam at the state of the world. “Our lyrics are inspired by politics and justice,” Enloe said. “We have songs about police and prison abolition, animal agriculture, the liberation of all people, housing, gender identity, anti-capitalism, anti-imperialism and the hatred of former secretary of state and war criminal Henry Kissinger, may he rot in hell. The cool thing about hardcore is that it’s a community. There’s a longstanding network based around reciprocity that spans the entire world even in places you would never expect.” Jan. 13 won’t be the first time Bovinophobic Bile Puddle (BBP) has split a bill with Bootcamp. BBP’s first demo came out in 2022 through Pokey’s Recordz, which is Bootcamp guitarist Dolly Sperry’s label. The band members said that they “definitely have hardcore
The Englert Theatre’s Local Showcase Series Bootcamp, I Will, Bovinophobic Bile Puddle Saturday, Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m., $10-15 Kay Killa, Deb Talan, Jim Swim Saturday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m., $10-15 Halfloves, Early Girl, Spirit Awake Saturday, Feb. 10 at 7:30 p.m., $10-15
Photo credits from left: Early Girl, Britta Gauer; Bovinophobic Bile Puddle, courtesy of the artists; Jim Swim, courtesy of the artist; Bootcamp, William Shaughnessy
elements, but we don’t really like to categorize ourselves. We take a lot of influence from sludge, crust, stoner and doom metal, grindcore and blues. Our lyrics are important, but the energy we emit through our riffs and performance is much more important. Even though most of the time our lyrics don’t hold too much meaning, they are well thought out.” In contrast to the hardcore, mosh-pit-inspiring music on the first Saturday of the series,
GET YOUR TICKETS: THEATRE.UIOWA.EDU/EVENTS
Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa-sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact the Hancher Box Office in advance at 319-335-1158.
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 37
Culture
LittleVillageMag.com
Jan. 27 will showcase more lowkey performances. The Liberty High rapper Kay Killa and folk-pop storyteller Deb Talan will open for Jim Swim, who weaves poetry with beats and instrumentals. Jim Swim is the stage name for Tyler James, a Davenport native who came to Iowa City to finish his bachelor’s degree after spending some years out of state. Students from West High School will recognize him as one of their English teachers, but outside of the classroom he records in his home studio and gigs around the region. James says his music is a blend of rap and R&B influences and synth-forward sounds. “My advice would be to try and make music you would want to listen to,” he said. “I think it’s OK to emulate and blend your inspirations in search of your sound.” Most of his music, he added, “is inspired by conversation, both internal and external. My favorite songwriters have a conversational aspect to their style, and they are able to express what’s deep and true in a natural, even easy way.” When he started out as a songwriter, words and ideas always came first. But lately, that process has been starting to “invert.” “An interval, a chord progression, a rhythmic pocket, a guitar tone—any of these can open up a feeling or a lyrical idea,” James explained. “The more I focus on the sound, the more I get out of my own head, and I really need that kind of practice … I start with the sounds of words first, the rhythm and vowel shapes, and then work toward some kind of sense from there. I try to find the feeling first, then the idea.” The third and final Saturday of the series takes place Saturday, Feb. 10, featuring Halfloves, Spirit Awake and Early Girl—a lineup full of indie, alternative and poprock performers. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for the general public cost $15, and student tickets are $10. Both are available for purchase online at englert.org, or at the Englert Theatre’s box office an hour before the event.
INDEPENDENT
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38 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM
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LittleVillageMag.com
Culture A-List: Central Iowa
The Hilarious Felonious Munk Once just the tough guy, Arif Shahid is now a dad, actor and stand-up star on the rise. BY COLSON THAYER
40 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
via the artist’s Facebook
W
hat does comedian, actor and social commentator Felonious Munk want Des Moines to know before his show at Teehee’s Comedy Club on Feb. 3? “My comedy is designed to make you giggle first, but also to make you think,” he said. “I don’t consider myself to be a super smart comedian, but I do think I offer a different perspective.” Early on in his career, Munk (real name Arif Shahid) decided he was going to be a comedian who talks about the important things. Someone who takes a stance. He points to Nina Simone as inspiration—“An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times,” she famously said—as well as Richard Pryor, George Carlin and Dick Gregory. “As much as I could appreciate Jerry Lewis falling down, I understood that was a very limited way of doing comedy,” Munk said. “I think that artists do have a responsibility to say what’s true to them. I don’t think that means every comedian needs to talk about current events or topical things.” Part of staying true to yourself is knowing your comfort zone and not straying too far from it, he said. Munk’s perspective is that of a husband and father of two—an “old guy” navigating gentle parenting and homeschooling a 7-year-old in the Chicago area. He’s also a former “tough guy” who sold drugs on the street and spent time in prison. It was after his release, and several miserable years in the car business, that Munk found his new direction in life. “A friend of mine said, ‘You’ve always been funny. You should come do this open mic with me.’ And I said, ‘That sounds like the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. I hate it when people laugh at me,’” Munk recalled. “I went and watched him … The next week, I went on stage and did the open mic, and it was one of those experiences where immediately you knew that was your thing.” That was back in December 2010. Over the course of 13 years, Munk’s comedy career has taken him all over the industry. He became a regular correspondent on traditional news in New York and Chicago; he was a comedy
correspondent on The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore; he began acting in 2019, and started writing in 2020, including for the White House Correspondents’ Dinner—all while continuing to do stand-up comedy. “It’s a combination of trying to get the next gig and then trying to figure out what you really want your career to look like,” Munk said.
“I think about going from sleeping in the cell with 20 other men and cleaning floors for 20 cents an hour, to being on a network TV show for two seasons and making way more money in a three-month period than I have ever made in my entire life.” “You’re trying to make money, but long-term you’re trying to figure out who you are, what you’re trying to say and what you’re trying to do. For me, that looks like turning down some stuff every now and then.” When it comes to performing, Munk likes his hands in the final edit. He wants to have control over what he looks like in a show—something he would not get from reality TV. Constantly in the back of his head are his 19-year-old and 7-year-old kids. Munk always asks, “What will
Felonious Munk, Teehee’s Comedy Club, Saturday, Feb. 3 at 7 and 9:30 p.m., $20
I not be ashamed of if my kids grow up to see it?” His digital footprint of viral YouTube and TikTok clips is carefully crafted with that in mind. Though the road was rocky, Munk is grateful for the journey to where he is today. “I step back from it to think about going from sleeping in the cell with 20 other men and cleaning floors for 20 cents an hour, to being on a network TV show for two seasons and making way more money in a three-month period than I have ever made in my entire life.” Some of Munk’s highlights include working alongside Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon and Margaret Avery, who was in the original The Color Purple movie. “I’ve done a bunch of really cool things already, but those things were all as a supporting person, and I think 2024 and 2025 are going to be really different for me,” Munk said. “I hope that Des Moines comes out and sees me before I start charging them $60 a ticket, because this is probably the cheapest they’re ever going to see me.” Munk is scheduled for two shows at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3 at Teehee’s Comedy Club. Advanced tickets for this 21+ event start at $20 and are available now.
This is a club you have to be a part of! Our popular Club Hancher series has always presented a diverse array of artists—and this year is no different. We invite you to enjoy table seating with beverages on offer in the intimate setting of Strauss Hall. Buy a ticket to the early set, the late set, or both. Just don’t miss these outstanding performers!
JEFF PARKER AND THE NEW BREED
HALEY HEYNDERICKX AND THE WESTERLIES
Saturday, January 27 7:00 & 9:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 7 7:00 & 9:00 p.m.
Jeff Parker is recognized as one of the contemporary music’s most versatile and innovative electric guitarists and composers. His electric ensemble The New Breed plays “grooves that ooze and wend, sounding like a broken trance, or like experimental hip-hop as science fiction.” (The New York Times)
Folk singer/songwriter and guitarist Haley Heynderickx’s introspective songs are infused by her religious Filipino-American upbringing. She joins forces with The Westerlies, a brass ensemble The New York Times calls “an arty quartet... mixing ideas from jazz, new classical, and Appalachian folk.”
Y LA BAMBA
LA DAME BLANCHE
Friday, March 22 7:00 & 9:00 p.m.
Friday, April 19 7:00 & 9:00 p.m.
Luz Elena Mandoza Ramos, lead vocalist of Y La Bamba, is an exceptional songwriter whose “earth-shaking voice and incisive lyrics…speak towards the duality of hurt and healing” (World Café). The band’s most recent record, Lucha, explores multiplicity—queer, Mexican American, and Chicanx identities as well as love, intimacy, and yearning.
La Dame Blanche is a singer, flautist, and percussionist who blends the Cuban music of her childhood with the sounds of hip-hop, dancehall, and cumbia, and plenty more. Her catchy beats are vehicles for female empowerment—and for summoning the spirits that will have you up and dancing.
LEARN MORE AND GET TICKETS AT HANCHER.UIOWA.EDU Individuals with disabilities are encouraged to attend all University of Iowa sponsored events. If you are a person with a disability who requires a reasonable accommodation in order to participate in this program, please contact Paris Young in LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 41 advance at (319) 467-4849 or at paris-sissel@uiowa.edu.
World Class Opera. Made in Iowa.
GIACOMO PUCCINI
Tickets may be purchased through the Ticket Office by phone at 319-366-8203, in-person at 119 3rd Ave SE, Cedar Rapids, or scan the code.
42 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/CALENDAR
PRESENTED BY THINK IOWA CITY
EDITORS’ PICKS: January 2023 Planning an event? Add it to littlevillagemag.com/calendar! Please include event name, date, time, venue name/address, admission price (or range) and a brief description (no all-caps, exclamation points or advertising verbiage, please). Contact calendar@littlevillagemag.com with any questions.
MUSIC
Jeff Parker and The New Breed, Hancher
CRANDIC Saturday, Jan. 7 at 7:30 p.m. MOSH Fundraiser for Striking Ingredion Workers & Thought
Auditorium, Iowa
Wrong EP Release Show, PS1 Close House, Iowa City, $10
City, Saturday, Jan.
Friday, Jan. 12 at 9 p.m. House
27 at 7 and 9 p.m.,
it Up! Ideal Theater & Bar, Cedar Rapids, $10
$10-35 Jeff Parker, a composer
and multi-instrumentalist heavily influenced by the contemporary music scene, is making his way to Hancher at the end of the month with his ensemble, the New Breed. He’s known as a versatile and innovative electric guitarist and composer, in addition to working in multiple mediums such as pop, rock, jazz, and new music. Parker has also been a longtime member of the Chicago-based quintet, Tortoise, which was one of the most “critically revered, sonically adventurous groups to emerge from the American indie scene of the early nineties,” according to his record label, International Anthem Recording Co. The show will take place at Hancher’s Strauss Hall in a laid-back, intimate setting.
Saturday, Jan. 13 at 10 a.m. CR Opera: Charlie and the Wolf, Cedar Rapids Public Library, Free Saturday, Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m. Local Showcase Series: Bootcamp, I Will, Bovinophobic Bile Puddle, Englert Theatre, Iowa City, $10-15 Saturday, Jan. 14 at 8 p.m. Birdlabs, Cenobyte, Bodiah, Dataclysm, PS1 Close, $10 Thursday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 p.m. Martin Sexton, James Theater, $35-45 Claudia Gschwend
Friday and Sunday, Jan. 19 and 21. CR Opera Presents: Tosca, Paramount Theatre, Cedar
Saturday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7:30
Friday, Jan. 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Rapids, $19-69
Yesterday’s Wine: A BBQ Wine
p.m. Royal Philharmonic
Foy Vance, Englert Theatre,
Dinner & Honky Tonk, Wildwood
Orchestra, Hancher Auditorium,
$20-49.50
Saloon, $15-40
$10-115
Troubadors, Wildwood Saloon,
Saturday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7:30
My Life Tour, CSPS Hall, Cedar
Iowa City, $20
Backroom Bass Sessions, PS1
p.m. Joe Kenkel, Dan Wriggens,
Rapids, $10-15
Close House, $7
Brennan Wedl, PS1 Close House,
Friday, Jan. 19 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m.
Rucksack Revolution w/Foxhill
Friday, Jan. 19 at 9 p.m. Otros
Saturday, Jan. 27 at 7:30 p.m.
$10
Outros, Dave Helmer, GMM,
Sunday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. Iowa
Sophie Mitchell, Gabe’s, Iowa
Jazz Composers Orchestra,
Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 8 p.m.
Killa, Deb Talan, Jim Swim,
City, $10
Coralville Center for Performing
FMWT: Chuck Johnson and
Englert Theatre, $10-15
Arts, $12-17
Cole Pulice, Trumpet Bloosm
Local Showcase Series: Kay
Cafe, Iowa City, $10-15 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 43
EDITORS’ PICKS: January 2024 Saturday, Jan. 27 at 8:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. NO
Friday, Jan. 19 at 8 p.m. Pert
Open Decks 3, Gabe’s, Free-$5
Nickel Creek w/the Staves,
SLEEP, Wooly’s, Des Moines,
Near Sandstone, xBk Live, $15-
Hancher Auditorium, $25-85
$20
20
Loving Memory, Frail Body,
DSM
Friday, Jan. 12 at 9 p.m. kLL
Saturday, Jan. 20 at 12:30 p.m.
Bootcamp, Gabe’s, $15
Sundays, Jan. 7, 14, 21, 28, and
sMTH, PLATFORM, Des Moines,
Des Moines Music Coalition
Feb. 4 at 3 p.m. Botanical Blues,
$22.49
Music University, xBk Live, Free
Saturday, Jan. 13 at 5 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 20 at 8 p.m.
Benefit for Iowa Abortion
The Cactus Blossoms, xBk Live,
Friday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m. Eric
Access Fund, xBk Live, Freewill
$20-25
Saturday, Feb. 3 at 6 p.m.
Thompson’s Soul Sessions
donation
DABLUESAPALOOZA, The
Quinter: Black Codes From
Olympic Theater, Cedar Rapids,
the Underground, Noce, Des
Saturday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.
Maurer Album Release, xBk
$5-30
Moines, $18-45
Danielle Nicole w/Katy Guillen
Live, Des Moines, $9.35-15
Friday, Feb. 2 at 5 p.m. In
Friday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Greater Des Moines Botanical
Mariachi Herencia De Mexico,
Garden, Free-$12
Englert Theatre, $15-40
Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. Nick
and The Drive, Wooly’s, $25 Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 3 at 8 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m. Big
Heads of State, CSPS Hall,
Head Todd and the Monsters,
Friday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. For
$20-25
Hoyt Sherman Place, Des
Once In My Life: A Night of
Moines, $35-70
Stevie, Luther w/Napoleon
Friday, Jan. 26 at 6:30 p.m.
& The Dirty Lowdown, Noce,
Vox Infinitus: a Live A Cappella
$18-44
Performance, Des Moines Art
Sunday, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. Heet Deth, Gabe’s, $10
Friday, Jan. 12 at 8 p.m. Kris Lager, xBk Live, Des Moines, $15-20
For tickets or more information, visit our website, www.iowacitycommunitytheatre.com, or find us on Facebook. Inherit the Wind is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatist Play Service collection. 44 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
Jackson Dean, Wooly’s, $25
Center, Free
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM
Nabihah Iqbal w/Double Dice and Annalibera, xBk Live, Des Moines, Monday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m., $16-20
Courtesy of xBk
London-born musician, producer and broadcaster is on tour in the U.S. and is making a stop at xBk Live. Her most recent and second album, DREAMER was released in April 2023, five years after her debut album. She’s been a resident DJ at NTS Radio in London, and is a frequent collaborator. Iqbal has worked with Chinese artist Zhang Ding on a Tate commission to compose music for the Turner Prize, and has collaborated with Wolfgang Tillmans as part of his Tate Modern exhibition. Don’t miss out on Iqbal’s performance at xBk, and also be sure to come on time for local favorites Double Dice and Annalibera.
INDEPENDENT
Highland Park/ Oak Park Neighborhood Shop • Eat • Drink • Live Support the businesses that make Iowa unique.
BILL’S WINDOW AND
SCREEN REPAIR 24-HOUR TURNAROUND 515-244-0443 / M-F 9AM-5PM billswindowandscreenrepair.com 3611 6th Ave., Des Moines
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 45
EDITORS’ PICKS: January 2024
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/CALENDAR
Winter’s Whisper: Silent Sunday Book Bliss, Swamp Fox Bookstore, Marion, Sundays, Jan. 7, 14, 21 at 3:30 p.m., $5
Public Domain
Beginning in January and lasting until March, Swamp Fox Bookstore in Marion will be opening the shop on Sundays for up to five readers to join them for a Silent Book Club in their cozy space. Swamp Fox encourages participants to bring their current read, a chair, cushion, blankets, and whatever else they need to be comfortable for an hour. Swamp Fox is asking each reader to reserve their spot for $5. It’ll be placed on your account and can be used toward a future purchase in the shop.
Friday, Jan. 26 at 8 p.m. Dom
Monday, Jan. 22 at 7 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 11 at 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. Two
Flemons, xBk Live, $20-25
Kaveh Akbar w/Melissa Febos,
Book Club: Beaverdale Book
Random Guys Improv Comedy,
Prairie Lights, Free
Browsers, Beaverdale Books,
CSPS Hall, Cedar Rapids, $10-15
Saturday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. Levi Hummon, xBk Live, $15-20
Free Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 14 at 12 p.m.
Mary Pipher w/Meenakshi Gigi
Sunday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. Meet
National Theatre Live: The
Sunday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m.
Durham, Prairie Lights, Online,
the Author: Kathleen Williams
Crucible, FilmScene—The
Jaime Wyatt, xBk Live, $20-25
Free
Renk, Beaverdale Books, Free
Chauncey, $8.70-20
Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 7 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 25 at 10:30 a.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m.
Friday-Sunday, Jan. 19-21. To
Kent Burnside, xBk Live, $15-20
Author Visit Storytime w/Jean
Mystery Book Club, Beaverdale
Kill a Mockingbird, Hancher
Herring, Iowa City Public
Books, Free
Auditorium, Iowa City, $65-119
LITERATURE CRANDIC Thursday, Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. Book
Library, Free Sunday, Jan. 28 at 2:30 p.m.
Opening Friday, Jan. 19 at 7:30
Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.
Meet the Author: Steve Dunn,
p.m. What the Constitution
Kevin Clouther, Prairie Lights,
Beaverdale Books, Free
Means, Crooked Path Theatre,
Free
Books, Iowa City, $20 Friday, Jan. 12 at 10 a.m.
Friday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m.
Meet the Author: Chris Arnone,
Kathleen Renk, Prairie Lights,
Beaverdale Books, Free
Saturday, Jan. 13 at 10:30 a.m.
of God, Riverside Theatre, Iowa
Monday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m.
Meet the Author: Joshalyn
City, $15-39
Jonathan Wells, Prairie Lights,
Hickey-Johnson, Beaverdale
Free
Books, Free
Song, Iowa City Public Library,
Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 7 p.m.
Free
Book Club 802 w/the African American History Museum, Prairie Lights, Free
Thursday, Jan. 18 at 4 p.m. Art
PERFORMANCE CRANDIC
Saturday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m. Paula Poundstone, Englert Theatre, Iowa City, $20-59.50 Monday, Jan. 29 at 7 p.m. Eulenspiegel Puppet Theatre:
Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m.
Uncle Rabbit’s Adventures,
Thursday, Feb. 1 at 7 p.m. Kij
The Rapids: An Improv Soap
Coralville Center for Performing
Johnson, Prairie Lights, Free
Opera, Mirrorbox Theatre,
Arts, Pay-What-You-Will
MLK Day Family Storytime, Iowa City Public Library, Free
Opening Friday, Jan. 19 at 7:30
Sunday, Feb. 4 at 2:30 p.m.
Author Visit Storytime w/Dan
Monday, Jan. 15 at 10:30 a.m.
25
p.m. A Case for the Existence
Free
January Book Club, Sidekick Coffee & Books, Free
James Theater, Iowa City, $15Friday, Feb. 2 at 6:30 p.m.
Lovers Trivia, Sidekick Coffee &
Cedar Rapids, $15
Lovers Book Club, Cedar Rapids
DSM
Museum of Art, Free
Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 7 p.m.
Opening Thursday, Jan. 11 at
p.m. Inherit the Wind, Iowa City
Hunter’s Classics Book Club,
7:30 p.m. Bette & Kate Join the
Community Theatre, $11-19
Friday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. Ted
Beaverdale Books, Des Moines,
Line, Mirrorbox Theatre, $10-15
Anton, Prairie Lights, Iowa City,
Free
Free 46 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
Opening Friday, Feb. 2 at 7:30
SMALL FILMS. BIG INSPIRATION. CEDAR RAPIDS IOWA CITY January 26 January 27 Big Grove Brewery Indian Creek Nature Center
SCAN TO GET YOUR TICKETS LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 47
EDITORS’ PICKS: January 2024 DSM Friday-Sunday, Jan. 12-14. STOMP, Des Moines Civic Center, $35-60 Saturday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. Joe Gatto’s Night of Comedy, Hoyt Sherman Place, Des Moines, $39.75-59.75 Saturday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. Chloe Radcliffe: Stand-Up Comedy, Teehee’s Comedy Club, Des Moines, $15-20 Monday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. Scriptease, Teehee’s Comedy Club, Free Saturday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m. Myq Kaplan: Stand-Up Comedy, Teehee’s Comedy Club, $15-20 Opening Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m. Mamma Mia, Des Moines Civic Center, $40164 Friday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. Kristen Toomey: Stand-Up Comedy, Teehee’s Comedy Club, $15-20 Saturday, Jan. 27 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Havana Hop, Temple Theater, Des Moines, $10 Opening Friday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. Our Town, Des Moines Playhouse, $29-43 Opening Friday, Feb. 2 at 7:30 p.m. EQUUS, Tallgrass Theatre Company, West Des Moines, $33 Friday, Feb. 2 at 9:30 p.m. Daniel Van Kirk: Stand-Up Comedy, Teehee’s Comedy Club, $15-20
CUSTOMIZED LEGAL SERVICES POWERED BY
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM Saturday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. Felonious Munk: Stand-Up Comedy, Teehee’s Comedy Club, $20-25
still from ‘Contempt’
FILM
CRANDIC Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 6 and 7. Contempt, FilmScene—The Chauncey, Iowa City, $10-13 Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 10 p.m. Late Shift at the Grindhouse: *Gutterballs*, FilmScene— The Chauncey, Iowa City, $8 Thursday, Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. Contempt, FilmScene—The Chauncey, $10-13 Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 13 and 14. Masculin Feminin, FilmScene—The Chauncey, $10-13 Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 6 p.m. Screening and Discussion of the Road to Justice for National Day of Racial Healing, Iowa City Public Library, Free Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 6:30 p.m. Masculin Feminin, FilmScene—The Chauncey, $10-13 Thursday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. Body and Soul, FilmScene—The Chauncey
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EDITORS’ PICKS: January 2024
We Live Here: The Midwest, Varsity Cinema, Des Moines, Saturday, Jan. 20 at 3:30 p.m., Free Join still from ‘We Live Here: The Midwest’
the Varsity, Central Iowa Rainbow Families, One Iowa, and Capital City Pride for a special screening of We Live Here: The Midwest. The film explores timely, personal stories of LGBTQI+ families who strive to build lives in their communities despite biased legislation and mounting prejudice. After the screening, Katie and Nia Chiaramonte, who are featured in the film, will share the impact of the film on their family. This screening is free and open to the public.
Rustin, FilmScene—The Chauncey, Iowa City, Monday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m., Free Rustin will be showing
still from ‘Rustin’
at FilmScene on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and is free (with an RSVP on FilmScene’s website). The film follows activist Bayard Rustin who faces racism and homophobia as he helps change the course of Civil Rights history by orchestrating the 1963 March on Washington. Rustiin challenged authority, never apologized for who he was and spotlights a man who, alongside Martin Luther King Jr., dared to imagine a different world.
Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 20 and 21 at 11
Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 26 at 10 p.m. Late Shift at the
a.m. The Picture Show: Kubo and the Two
Weekend, FilmScene—The Chauncey, $10-13
Grindhouse: The Salvages, FilmScene—The Chauncey, $8
Strings, FilmScene—The Chauncey, Free-$5 Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 7 p.m. Pride Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 20 and 21
at FilmScene: The Doom Generation,
Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 27 and 28.
Weekend, FilmScene—The Chauncey, $10-13
FilmScene—The Ped Mall, $8-13
Hail Mary, FilmScene—The Chauncey, $10-13
Sunday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m. Vino Vérité: Lost
Thursday, Jan. 25 at 3:30 p.m. The
Wednesday, Jan. 31 at 6:30 p.m.
Soulz, FilmScene—The Chauncey, $12-25
Picture Show: Kubo and the Two Strings,
Hail Mary, FilmScene—The Chauncey, $10-13
FilmScene—The Chauncey, Free-$5 Sunday, Feb. 4 at 4 p.m. Art & Krimes by
Monday, Jan. 22 at 6:30 p.m. Erin Brockovich, FilmScene—The Chauncey, Pay-
Friday, Jan. 26 at 7 p.m. Backcountry Film
Krimes, FilmScene—The Chauncey, Pay-
What-You-Can-$10
Festival, Big Grove Brewery, Iowa City, $15
What-You-Can-$10
50 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM Monday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. Somebody: The Revolutionary Films of Madeline Anderson, FilmScene—The Chauncey, Pay-What-YouCan-$10
DSM Monday, Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. Varsity Trivia Night, Varsity Cinema, Des Moines, Free Friday, Jan. 12 at 1:30 p.m. Everything Everywhere All at Once, Franklin Avenue Library, Des Moines, Free Sunday, Jan. 28 at 1 p.m. The Film Lounge Premier, Varsity Cinema, Free
COMMUNITY CRANDIC Friday, Jan. 13 at 4 p.m. Opening Reception: Parking Portal by Hilary Nelson, Public Space One, Iowa City, Free Tuesday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. One Night Stand w/Exec Director Sean Ulmer, Cedar Rapids Museum of Art, Online, Free Saturday, Jan. 20 at 2 p.m. Moss & Mimosas w/Beno’s, The Green House, Iowa City, $80 Saturday, Jan. 21 at 10:30 a.m. WinterFest, Iowa River Landing, Coralville, Free Saturday, Jan. 21 at 11 a.m. Writing Arts Grants & Proposals, PS1 Close House, Free$20 Saturday, Jan. 27 at 10 a.m. Puzzle Palooza, NewBo City Market, Cedar Rapids, $30-40 Saturday, Jan. 27 at 12 p.m. Corridor Games on Demand, Cedar Rapids Public Library, Free Sunday, Jan. 28 at 4 p.m. Fire & Ice, Penn Meadows Park North, North Liberty, Free Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 4 p.m. Exhibit Opening Celebration for ‘Making the Book, Past and Present’, UI Main Library, Iowa City, Free Saturday, Feb. 3 at 5 p.m. Match In A Minute: Valentine’s Speed Dating & Mixer, Goosetown, Iowa City, $25-45
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 51
Courtesy of Diversions
EDITORS’ PICKS: January 2024
Diversion’s Board Game Pop-Ups, The Green House, Iowa City, Wednesdays, Jan. 10, 17, 24, 31 at 6 p.m., Free
Shake up your Wednesday night, get out of the house and venture to the Green House for Game Night with Diversions, a new board game cafe coming soon to Iowa City. They’re hosting a series of weekly game nights in January as they work on finding a physical location for the cafe. The fun begins at 6 p.m., and will end at 10 p.m. The Diversions crew will be bringing games, but folks may also bring their own if they would like. 52 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM DSM Saturdays, Jan. 6, 13, 20, 27 and Feb. 3 at 10:30 a.m. Learn on Saturdays, Greater Des
UPCOMING EVENTS
Moines Botanical Garden, $16-120 Mondays, Jan. 8 and 22 at 10:30 a.m. Mainframe Coffee Social and Workshop, Mainframe Studios, Des Moines, Free
JAN
13
Thursday, Jan. 11 at 6 p.m. Cocktails and Cardboard, The New Northwestern Cocktail & Wine Bar, Des Moines, Free
Local Showcase Series
Bovinophobic Bile Puddle, i will, & Bootcamp $10 - 15 tickets
Martin Sexton
Friday, Jan. 12 at 8 a.m. One Iowa’s Brew & Legislative Preview, Slow Down Coffee, Free
Live at The James Theater
JAN
18
Friday, Jan. 12 at 5 p.m. Opening Reception: Jeff Fleming, Moberg Gallery, Des Moines,
JAN
Saturday, Jan. 13 at 12 p.m. Winer WonderBags Tournament, Captain Roy’s, Des Moines, $20 Monday, Jan. 15 at 4 p.m. Forest MLK Jr. Day Celebration, Franklin Avenue Library, Des Moines, Free Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 6 p.m. Paint & Sip, Big Grove Brewery, Des Moines, $35 Saturday, Jan. 27 at 11 a.m. Flash Tattoo Collective, Big Grove Brewery, $50-150 Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 7:30 p.m. Paddling with Polar Bears, Des Moines Civic Center, $15-48
qUAD CITIES Sunday, Jan. 7 at 1 p.m. Finding Home Performance and Workshop, German American Heritage Center, Davenport, Free w/RSVP Tuesday, Jan. 9 at 6 p.m. Attack from MAWs IX Pinball Tournatment, Midwest Ale Works, East Moline, $15 Thursday, Jan. 11 at 6:30 p.m. Iowa Harm Reduction QC Volunteer Night, The Center,
englert.org/events
Free
20
Paula Poundstone Stand-up comedy
Foy Vance
with Bonnie Bishop
JAN
27
Deb Talan, Jim Swim, & Kay Killa $10 - 15 tickets
The Joke Machine Tour Co-Presented by: Mammoth Live
02
28
Mariachi Herencia de México
Sponsored by: Iowa City Downtown District
John Waite
10
JAN
Latin Grammy award-winning band
40 Years of Missing You Tour Co-Presented by: Mammoth Live
FEB
26
Local Showcase Series
Demetri Martin FEB
JAN
FEB
09
Local Showcase Series Halfloves, Early Girl, & Spirit Awake $10 - 15 tickets
Matthew Sweet
Live at Wildwood Saloon
FEB
14
Free Friday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. Divine Feminine Fitness HIIT Workout, Center for Intuitive
SEASON SPONSORS
Healing, Moline, $12
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 53
EDITORS’ PICKS: January 2024
Vertical Moments in Fiction: Generative Writing Workshop, Midwest Courtesy of the Midwest Writing Center
Writing Center, Online, Thursday, Jan. 18 at 6 p.m., $20-30 This one-time virtual workshop with Iowa
Writers’ Workshop alum Logan Hoffman-Smith will examine the ways truth and trouble can be reflected through voice, sound, and vertical moments. We’ll look to short stories and essays to foreground our conversations about verticality and truth in art. Writers will come out of this class with a stronger understanding of what animates their own work and/or having made headway on new stories.
Saturday, Jan. 13 at 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 23 at 4 p.m.
Monthly Community Meal,
Beginning Stained Glass Class
Metropolitan Community
for Adults, Bishop Hill Creative
Church of the Quad Cities,
Comments, Bishop Hill, $75
WATERLOO/CF
Saturday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. The
Mondays, Jan. 8, 15, 22, 29 at
College Hill, Cedar Falls, Free
Rush Cleveland Trio Memphis Send Off Party, Octopus
4 p.m. Monday Night Game
Davenport, Free Saturday, Jan. 27 at 7 p.m.
Night, SingleSpeed Brewing Co,
Thursday, Jan. 18 at 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 18 at 3:15 p.m.
Frozen Fructose Laundromat
Waterloo, Free
Artist Reception: Emily Minnie,
Read to a Dog, Bow Wow With
Record Release with Del
Books, Robert R. Jones Public
Rockford, Rozz-Tox, Rock
Monday, Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. Music
Library, Coal Valley, Free
Island, $10
Bingo, Library on the Hill, Cedar
Thursday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m.
Falls, Free
Winter Cabaret Series: Stand-
Waterloo Center for Arts, Free
Saturday, Jan. 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 28 at 12 p.m.
Up Close with Living Lands
Commander Bounty, Games
Friday, Jan. 12 at 6 p.m. Film
Community Theatre, Pay-What-
and Waters, Figge Art Museum,
Plus One, Davenport, $10
Screening & Q&A w/Filmmaker
You-Can
$10-25
Up Comedy, Cedar Falls
Jacquil Constant, Waterloo Sunday, Jan. 28, 2 p.m. Knit
Sunday, Jan. 21 at 11 a.m. Sound
& Sip Sweater Workshop,
Foundations Woodworking
Homemade Hippie, Fulton, $45
Center for the Arts, Free
Friday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. Sons of Serendip, Gallagher Bluedorn
Saturday, Jan. 13 at 6:15 p.m.
Performing Arts Center, Cedar
Academy Open House, Sound
Murder Mystery Party, The Black
Falls, $22-51
Foundation Woodworking
Hawk Hotel, Cedar Falls, $75
Academy, Milan, Free Monday, Jan. 22 at 6 p.m. Handy at Home Workshop: Fix That Wall, Butterworth Center & Deere-Wiman House, $25 suggested donation Monday, Jan 22 at 5:30 p.m. Psychic Development 101: Tarot & Qabalah, Intuitive Healing, Moline, Free-$23
FIND MORE EVENTS! LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/CALENDAR
54 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
Courtesy of Gallagher Bluedorn
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM
Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. Thursday Reading Series, Mae Latta Hall, Cedar Falls, Free Friday, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. World Chorus of the Drum, Waterloo Center for the Arts, $20-25 Friday, Jan. 26 at 8 p.m. Comedy Time: Tyler Walsh, The Loft, Waterloo, $10-15 Sunday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m. Charlie Berens Old Fashioned Tour, Gallagher Bluedorn Performing Arts Center, $4065 Tuesday, Jan. 30 at 6:30 p.m. Red Herring Theatre: POTUS: Or Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive, Hearst Center for the Arts, Cedar Falls Opening Friday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. The Book Club Play, Cedar Falls Community Theatre, $12-22 Saturday, Feb. 3 at 7 p.m. Candlelight Concerts: Joel Sires and Friends, Cedar Falls Women’s Club Saturday, Feb. 3 at 9 p.m. Winterland Trio, Octopus College Hill, $10
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 55
56 January 2024 LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325
YOUR VILLAGE
THE ER D N E K EE
W
YOUR WEEKLY EDITORCURATED ARTS COMPENDIUM, A.K.A.
Stuff to Do IN YOUR INBOX EVERY THURSDAY SUBSCRIBE
LittleVillageMag.com
A First-of-its-Kind Caucus
B
y the time January is half over, we’ll know for “Trump University” courses (two weeks after whether every poll published about the the 2016 election, Trump agreed to pay $25 milIowa Republican Caucus was correct and lion to settle the case), and a civil lawsuit filed by Donald Trump has won the first contest in his ef- the New York Attorney General, who found “a fort to Grover-Cleveland himself into a noncon- shocking pattern of illegality” in how Trump ran secutive second term. It’s not entirely impossible his self-named charity (a judge ruled in favor of that another candidate won’t win, but disgraced the AG and in 2018 ordered the Donald J. Trump former president, and one-time Ottumwa resident, Foundation shut down permanently). As he’s running in 2024, Trump is facing crimRichard Nixon stands almost as good a chance of beating Trump on Jan. 15 as DeSantis or Haley, inal trials in state and federal courts on 91 felony counts and is a defendant in multiple civil lawand Nixon’s been dead since 1994. Being alive isn’t one of the qualifications for suits. If he wins a second term, Trump would undo president actually listed in the Constitution, but alive or dead, Nixon would be disqualified by the Cleveland’s signature accomplishment as pres22nd Amendment, which states, “No person shall ident: reducing political cronyism in the federal be elected to the office of the President more than government by greatly expanding the number of twice.” No state would allow a candidate covered civil service positions filled on the basis of merit. by that prohibition, added in 1951, on a ballot. Trump and his advisors want to reclassify as many Not even if that candidate was immensely popular as 50,000 nonpartisan civil servants who work on with people likely to threaten to kill election offi- policy issues, so they can be fired and replaced with people who have been screened to ensure cials or willing to attack the U.S. Capitol. The 14th Amendment became part of the they are loyal to Trump. Of course, Constitution 83 years Cleveland was no before the 22nd, and it Even though Grover Cleveland is the paragon. Like Trump, prohibits anyone who only one to do what Trump is athe avoided military served in public office tempting—win a presidential election, service (but Cleveland and then engaged in did so legally by hiring “insurrection or rebelafter losing one as an incumbent, by a substitute to serve in lion” or gave “aid or defeating the man he lost to—the two his place in the Army, comfort” to those who otherwise have very little in common. instead of getting a did, from ever holding suspiciously con“any office, civil or military, under the United States” again. As 2024 venient doctor’s note about “bone spurs” in his begins, only the Colorado Supreme Court and heels). And like Trump, Cleveland was accused of Maine’s Secretary of State have concluded this sexual assault (for Cleveland there was only one accusation, while more than a dozen women have disqualifies Trump. “I am mindful that no Secretary of State has said Trump sexually assaulted them, and a jury ever deprived a presidential candidate of ballot found him civilly liable in one case). Cleveland also held most of the racist and xeaccess based on Section Three of the Fourteenth Amendment,” Maine Sec. of State Shannon nophobic views men of his class and era did, but Bellows wrote in her decision. “I am also mindful, the racist and xenophobic views Trump espouses however, that no presidential candidate has ever are so extreme he felt the need to tell a crowd at a Waterloo rally in December, “I never read Mein before engaged in insurrection.” Both Bellows and the Colorado Supreme Court Kampf.” According to all the polls, Trump’s racism and are deferring action on removing Trump from the ballot so the former president can appeal the de- xenophobia are unlikely to hurt him in the Iowa Republican Caucus. On Jan. 15, we’ll find out if cisions. Even though Grover Cleveland is the only one those polls are right. —Paul Brennan to do what Trump is attempting—win a presidential election, after losing one as an incumbent, by Have a burning query about defeating the man he lost to—the two otherwise something in your community? have very little in common. Submit your question to Cleveland, a Democrat, won his first term in 1884 running on his decades-long record as a editor@littlevillagemag.com political reformer. Trump, a Republican, won his and LV will investigate. first term while contesting a class-action lawsuit We’ll let you know if we find accusing him of defrauding everyone who paid an answer. LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 57
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DEAR KIKI
LittleVillageMag.com/DearKiki
D
ear Kiki, My wife put on a few pounds after having our kid and I’ve realized that I find her incredibly attractive now. The issue is, she wants to lose the weight. I’m worried that my obvious attraction to her with a bit extra might make her feel guilty about it (she’s made passing comments to that effect) but I don’t want to pretend that I’m not attracted to her because I feel like it would make it worse! I don’t know what the right option is. I love her and I want her to do what makes her feel more happy and confident, but I don’t know what the appropriate way is to make her feel like I love her no matter what she looks like. Help!
D
Signed,Craving Her Curves
ear Craving, There’s two points that I want to get out into the open here. They’re unassailable and at the crux of your dilemma, and I think it will help to make them perfectly clear.
before you turn the heat on, or whether eating locally raised meat is more ethical than being a vegan with a higher carbon footprint. However, there are a couple of other considerations that complicate your situation, and it’s worth taking time to consider them in making your own choice about how far to bend. The first is the way that childbirth can affect a person’s sense of self. Your wife may be having a hard time seeing herself when she looks in the mirror—and the fact is, losing weight may not even resolve that problem. If this is her first child, you need to be sensitive to the fact that she is fundamentally different now. She may need support from you that starts with a graceful acceptance of the changes she wants to make to her body but continues further as she grows into her new identity. The second is this statement: “I don’t know what the appropriate way is to make her feel like I love her no matter what she looks like.” Finding a resolution to this should be your top priority,
TAKE SOME TIME TO REWIND TO THE BASICS. THE “LOVE LANGUAGES” CONCEPT CARRIES SOME RELIGIOUS BAGGAGE THAT MAKES IT EASY TO REJECT, BUT THERE IS TRUTH TO THE SIMPLE IDEA THAT EACH OF US HAS SPECIFIC WAYS THAT WE EXPRESS LOVE AND THAT HELP US FEEL LOVED BY OTHERS. It’s her body, and the only thing that matters in terms of changes to it (aside from health) is whether or not she feels comfortable. AND We can’t control what turns us on, and (limited ethical exceptions aside) it shouldn’t make us feel shame or embarrassment. Finding a way to live in the tension between these two truths isn’t going to be easy. But coming to the conversations knowing that you are both right, and the only question is how much you’re each willing to bend to the other’s comfort puts you both in the right mindset to set ego aside. Then, it becomes no different than the question of what temperature it needs to hit
frankly. And that’s completely independent of your situational concern. Understanding how you each give and receive love is paramount to a grounded and healthy relationship. Take some time to rewind to the basics. The “love languages” concept carries some religious baggage that makes it easy to reject, but there is truth to the simple idea that each of us has specific ways that we express love and that help us feel loved by others. Discuss those with each other, and (re)commit to making those practices a daily habit. Once you’re settled back into the security of feeling loved unconditionally, you’ll both have an easier time discussing these tricky questions. ––xoxo, Kiki
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AST R O LO GY
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Capricorn-born Lebron James is one of the greatest players in basketball history. Even more interesting from my perspective is that he is an exuberant activist and philanthropist. His list of magnificent contributions is too long to detail here. Here are a few examples: his bountiful support for charities like After-School All-Stars, Boys & Girls Clubs of America, the Children’s Defense Fund, and his own Family Foundation. I suggest you make Lebron one of your role models in 2024. It will be a time when you can have more potent and far-reaching effects than ever before through the power of your compassion, generosity and beneficence.
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AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I propose we make the shark your soul creature in 2024. Not because some shark species are apex predators at the top of the food chain. Rather, I propose you embrace the shark as an inspirational role model because it is a stalwart, steadfast champion with spectacular endurance. Its lineage goes back 400 million years. Sharks were on Earth before there were dinosaurs, mammals and grass. Saturn’s rings didn’t exist yet when the first sharks swam in the oceans. Here are the adjectives I expect you to specialize in during the coming months: resolute, staunch, indomitable, sturdy, resilient. PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In the 19th century, many scientists believed in the bogus theory of eugenics, which proposed that we could upgrade the genetic quality of the human race through selective breeding. Here’s a further example of experts’ ignorance: Until the 1800s, most scientists dismissed the notion that stones fell from the sky, even though meteorites had been seen by countless people since ancient times. Scientists also rejected the idea that large reptiles once roamed the Earth, at least until the 19th century, when it became clear that dinosaurs had existed and had become extinct. The moral of the story is that even the smartest among us can be addicted to delusional beliefs and theories. I hope this inspires you to engage in a purge of your own outmoded dogmas in 2024. A beginner’s mind can be your superpower! Discover a slew of new ways to think and see. ARIES (March 21-April 19): Among couples who share their finances, 39 percent lie to their partners about money. If you have been among that 39 percent, please don’t be in 2024. In fact, I hope you will be as candid as possible about most matters with every key ally in your life. It will be a time when the more honest and forthcoming you are, the more resources you will have at your disposal. Your commitment to telling the truth as kindly but completely as possible will earn you interesting rewards. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): According to tradition in ancient Israel, a Jubilee year happened every half-century. It was a “trumpet blast of liberty,” in the words of the Old Testament book Leviticus. During this grace period, enslaved people were supposed to be freed. Debts were forgiven, taxes canceled and prisoners released. People were encouraged to work less and engage in more revelry. I boldly proclaim that 2024 should be a Jubilee Year for you Bulls. To launch the fun, make a list of the alleviations and emancipations you will claim in the months ahead. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “Make peace with their devils, and you will do the same with yours.” The magazine Dark’s Art Parlor provides us with this essential wisdom about how to conduct vibrant relationships. I invite you to make liberal use of it in 2024. Why? Because I suspect you will come to deeply appreciate how all your worthwhile bonds inevitably require you to engage with each other’s wounds, shadows, and unripeness. To say it another way, healthy alliances require you to deal respectfully and compassionately with each other’s darkness. The disagreements and misunderstandings the two of you face are not flaws that discolor perfect intimacy. They are often rich opportunities to enrich togetherness.
By Rob Brezsny
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian author Franz Kafka wrote over 500 letters to his love interest Felice Bauer. Her outpouring of affection wasn’t as voluminous, but was still very warm. At one point, Kafka wryly communicated to her, “Please suggest a remedy to stop me trembling with joy like a lunatic when I receive and read your letters.” He added, “You have given me a gift such as I never even dreamt of finding in this life.” I will be outrageous here and predict that 2024 will bring you, too, a gift such as you never dreamt of finding in this life. It may or may not involve romantic love, but it will feel like an ultimate blessing. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Renowned inventor Nikola Tesla (18561943) felt an extraordinary closeness with sparrows, finches, pigeons and other wild birds. He loved feeding them, conversing with them, and inviting them into his home through open windows. He even fell in love with a special pigeon he called White Dove. He said, “I loved her as a man loves a woman, and she loved me. As long as I had her, there was a purpose to my life.” I bring this to your attention because I suspect 2024 will be an excellent time to upgrade your relationship with birds, Leo. Your power to employ and enjoy the metaphorical power of flight will be at a maximum. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “All the world’s a stage,” wrote Shakespeare. He was comparing life to a theatrical drama, suggesting we are all performers attached to playing roles. In response, a band called the Kingpins released the song “All the World’s a Cage.” The lyrics include these lines: “You promised that the world was mine / You chained me to the borderline / Now I’m just sitting here doing time / All the world’s a cage.” These thoughts are the prelude to my advice for you. I believe that in 2024, you are poised to live your life in a world that is neither like a stage nor a cage. You will have unusually ample freedom from expectations, artificial constraints, and the inertia of the past. It will be an excellent time to break free from outdated self-images and your habitual persona. LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): At age 10, an American girl named Becky Schroeder launched her career as an inventor. Two years later, she got her first of many patents for a product that enables people to read and write in the dark. I propose we make her one of your role models for 2024. No matter how old you are, I suspect you will be doing precocious things. You will understand life like a person at least ten years older than you. You will master abilities that a casual observer might think you learned improbably fast. You may even have seemingly supernatural conversations with the Future You. SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Here are excellent questions for you to meditate on throughout 2024. 1. Who and what do you love? Who and what makes you spill over with adoration, caring and longing? 2. How often do you feel deep waves of love? Would you like to feel more of them? If so, how could you? 3. What are the most practical and beautiful ways you express love for whom and what you love? Would you like to enhance the ways you express love, and if so, how? 4. Is there anything you can or should do to intensify your love for yourself? SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Like the rest of the planet, Scotland used to be a wild land. It had vast swaths of virgin forests and undomesticated animals. Then humans came. They cut the trees, dug up charcoal, and brought agriculture. Many native species died, and most forests disappeared. In recent years, though, a rewilding movement has arisen. Now Scotland is on the way to restoring the ancient health of the land. Native flora and fauna are returning. In accordance with astrological omens, I propose that you launch your own personal rewilding project in 2024. What would that look like? How might you accomplish it? LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 61
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ALBUM REVIEWS
DANDELION STOMPERS Whirlwind Sessions Vol 1 DANDELIONSTOMPERS.BANDCAMP.COM
R
ecently, John Kenyon—executive director of the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature organization and one of our area’s most insightful arts analysts—and I were both in the audience at the Englert for a performance by the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Kenyon wrote about the concert in his “My Impression Now” Substack, using the apt phrase “mixture of tight and loose” to describe the sound of the touring arm of the legendary torchbearers of traditional New Orleans music. That description can also accurately be applied to Whirlwind Sessions, Vol. 1, the new album by Dandelion Stompers. The ensemble, which was named “Best Local Band” by Little Village readers in 2022, is all in on the sounds of early jazz. And listeners to this energetic record—recorded live in early 2023 at Flat Black Studios in Lone Tree—will be all in on the band. The members of the octet consistently find a sweet spot that includes a rock solid sense of swing while also providing space for vocalists and instrumentalists to meander a course both ahead and behind the beat. The unshakable swing is built on the foundation provided by Tim Crumley on percussion (who has an unerring sense of when to accent a moment), Brandi Janssen on upright bass, Marc Janssen on guitar and Chris Clark on baritone saxophone. Katie Greenstein on trumpet, Suzanne Smith on clarinet and Devin van Holstein on alto saxophone (disclosure: van Holstein and
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The narrator of the first verse is a dying father, giving a son his final advice.The second verse is in the voice of a neglected mother: “I don’t know what they told you, son, but the darkness comes for everyone. There’s a light I can’t see, and I hope you do better than me.” It’s a love song, but like Bob Franke’s song says, it’s hard love, the love in a family torn apart by regret and pain. Whitmore has a novelist’s imagWILL WHITMORE ination, taking on the voices of the Silently The Mind Breaks downtrodden, of people who nevWILLIAMELLIOTTWHITMORE.COM er see over the edge of the hole f you’ll permit a strained simi- they’re living in. Maybe living on le, Will Whitmore is like Iowa’s the Mississippi surrounded by farmbasketball phenom Caitlin Clark. ers struggling to hang on and people He’s never been anything short of working jobs that will never let them ridiculously excellent, and he makes get ahead gives him his insight and it look—or sound—easy. I’ve seen empathy. Whitmore is a songwriter him hold hundreds of drunk college in the tradition of Woody Guthrie. kids spellbound with nothing more He’s not a dirt farmer, but he knows than a pawn-shop banjo and his a few and has the imagination to voice. That kind of talent and charis- capture their stories in words of one and two syllables. ma is rare. “Bunker Built For Two” is a surSilently The Mind Breaks benefits from the economy of Whitmore’s vivalist’s love song. It’s both funny songwriting: always simple, the and serious as a heart attack, a love good kind of simple. It’s sturdily song for the apocalypse. “Dance constructed with nothing unnec- With Me” has the simple drumming essary added. The production of and two-chord arrangement of a the album has the same aesthetic: Velvet Underground track. “C’mon clean, clear and uncluttered. The and dance with me, I won’t be around forever.” It’s a song that says more than it says, if THEY CONSISTENTLY FIND A SWEET SPOT THAT INCLUDES that makes sense. A ROCK SOLID SENSE OF SWING WHILE ALSO PROVIDING It’s a come on, a SPACE FOR VOCALISTS AND INSTRUMENTALISTS TO MEANpickup line predicated on impending DER A COURSE BOTH AHEAD AND BEHIND THE BEAT. doom. Will Whitmore’s bit of languor or rushing ahead with arrangements include other instru- excellence comes as much from the a touch of urgency. And she sings ments (bass, drums, keyboards) but things he won’t do as the things he the old-timey lyrics that dominate Whitmore’s singing and playing are does. He never says too much, but this record without irony and with center stage. Nothing loud or flashy he implies a whole lot. Every song has an untold backstory and underan appealing swagger. distracts from the songs. These attributes are all on display Whitmore’s voice sounds as currents, usually of mourning reon “Aggravatin’ Papa,” the standout though it’s been roughed up by a gret, and loneliness. And yet he’s a track on the record that also offers lifetime of Chesterfield Straight Lee County boy raised on the shore each horn player a moment to shine. cigarettes, but he sounded that way of the Mississippi. Good music reIt’s a midtempo number, so it isn’t 20 years ago. It’s a rough-and-ready quires some artifice, but the artifice full of fireworks from Roche or the instrument, but it works for his mu- in Silently The Mind Breaks stays horns, but it burns at just the right sic. It’s hard to imagine anyone else in the background, leaving the man with the pawnshop banjo singing speed. And Roche is dynamite singing these songs. throughout. The song “Darkness Comes” is plain about hard truths. —Kent Williams —Rob Cline the emotional center of the album. I are both members of the leadership team for Hancher Auditorium) combine with Clark to provide stirring ensemble playing and engaging solos. Each horn player offers up a bright (but never too bright) tone and successfully balances sweetness and sauciness. Clark winningly handles the lead vocals on “Root Hog or Die,” and Janssen’s vocal on “Who Stole the Preacher’s Whiskey?” (a song by Iowa City legend Dave Moore) is a highlight of the record. All of that would make for an enjoyable and impressive take on traditional jazz on its own. Katie Roche’s lead vocals, however, elevate Whirlwind Sessions Vol. 1 the way a tornado can whisk a house to new heights. Roche has an unerring ear for what each song—indeed, each phrase of the lyrics of any given song—needs from her weighty alto voice. She can growl down low and deliver a featherlight note up high. She knows when a talky tone—as on the band’s rapid-fire run through “Comes Love”—is useful and when a touch of vibrato can warm up the end of a line. She never loses track of the pocket, but she refuses to be constrained by it, laying back with a
I
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 63
Vino Vérité is a series of thought-provoking, chance-taking, and visually-arresting films paired with hand-selected wines and dessert.
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In this gritty, southern hip-hop hybrid film, Katherine Propper draws intimate and heartfelt performances from her charismatic cast, including rapper Sauve Sidle, in this odyssey of friendship and self-discovery. self-discover
SUNDAY, JANUARY 21, 7PM Director Katherine Propper in person! Ticket includes film, reception and handpicked wine.
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ALBUM REVIEWS
GOLDBLUMS Bless Me for the Get Better GOLDBLUMS.BANDCAMP.COM
O
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and wildly unsettling. There are screaming voices and distant crashes buried in the mix here, complicating the band’s particular vision of new age meditation music. They rescue it, though, with the ever-changing electronic harmonium drone of “deliver me from what’s nestled within…” As with the rest of the music on this release, it is uniquely comforting with hints of a sinister outcome not yet arrived. With “awash,” GOLDBLUMS relents to a straight up country rock guitar solo to make it familiar. Lyrical epiphanies include “So I sit here pushing buttons by myself/I’d sell my soul but it ain’t got much wealth,” and, later, “I’m lost here I’ve got nowhere else to go/I’ll even ghost out my own funeral.” The final track, “knocked down,” feels like a coda, a real carnival lullaby to send both record and listener out into the waiting winter. This is as sanguine as GOLDBLUMS ever get, with synthesizers and keyboards eventually fading into a single, diminishing note. GOLDBLUMS greatest achievement here is that absolutely nothing on Bless Me for the Get Better feels musically forced. Throughout, they are able to follow the advice of the meditation that opens the record: “Just get here. Breathe gently, and
ver the last few years, the Des Moines-based group GOLDBLUMS have recorded with a wide sonic palette, including elements of garage punk, noise pop, and even some stoner sludge metal into their music. On their latest, Bless Me for the Get Better, they present six tracks full of whispered meditations and deeply aural, sometimes eerie music. These are devotionals for this garbage timeline, strummed out with as much country drawl as rowdy angst. To facilitate the approach to that divine headspace, the record fittingly begins with “mungy/ bungy,” which centers around the opening words of what sounds like a guided meditation from Ram Dass. One could imagine a whole possible album of tracks like “mungy/bungy,” with AMIDST THE WHISTLED GOLDBLUMS supplying MELODY AND HAZED-OUT musical textures to his particular word journeys. VOCALS, A SPIRITUAL They have plans of their TWANG FLOURISHES. own, though. On “burnMANY OF THE LYRICS ARE er,” the band drifts in and out of a drunken country OBSCURED, BUT WHEN strum. Amidst the whisTHE WORDS “SUCK DOWN tled melody and hazed-out THAT INNER BRAIN” ARE vocals, a spiritual twang flourishes. Many of the SAID, YOU CAN’T HELP lyrics are obscured, but BUT AT LEAST TRY TO. when the words “suck down that inner brain” are said, you can’t help but at least try sit with what you are experiencto. It took me until “bust” to realize ing.” You don’t have to stay there that the vocals on this release re- forever, but it’s always nice to get mind me most of Harmony Korine’s to be wherever GOLDBLUMS “singing” in his uncanny film Trash land, for as long as they allow it. Humpers, somehow both familiar —Avery Gregurich
BELLYARD Bellyard SUMPPUMPRECORDS.BANDCAMP.COM
I
owa music is nothing if not eclectic. Put a track by early ’90s progpunkers Fetal Pig side-by-side with something spawned in the late ’90s by genre-less ramblers Why Make Clocks, for example. You’d be forgiven for not being aware that both acts were fronted by Des Moines’ Sump Pump Records maestro Dan Hutchinson. And if you’re a bit newer on the scene, and you were a fan of Fetal Pig and aware of Hutchinson’s involvement with from Bellyard—the new project from Why Make Clocks alums Hutchison, Boonie and Will Tarbox—but hadn’t yet dived into the Why Make Clocks back catalog, you’d be forgiven if your first reaction to hearing it the new album (out Jan. 29) was, “Wtf is this?!” At least, I hope I’ll be forgiven. Because that phrase ran through my mind at least a dozen times over the course of my first couple of listens. It was never a negative reaction, but rather one of sheer wonder. It wouldn’t be wrong to refer to my experience as gobsmacked. And it hasn’t dulled. I fancy myself difficult to surprise. But this album continues to catch me off-guard moment by moment, teasing, denying and ultimately superseding each expectation. It’s at once familiar and fresh, like a lost classic. Hutchinson’s warm voice has a nostalgic, off-kilter aesthetic, walking that Michael Stipean line between Kurt Cobain and Sebastian Bach—part visceral and raw, part achingly lovely. The album kicks off with “Storm,”
a dreamy 10-minute track that drives home the info in the band’s bio: “The partnership quickly picked up where it left off and new music emerged. Music that now favored a more lyrically optimistic and musically collaborative experimentalism.” The track, which adds fourth official band member Jason Parrish along with contributions from Nathan Emerson and Matt Jesson, sounds like a jam session with artists who have been together for decades, not a trio coming back to each other after a 14-year hiatus. Each of the remaining five tracks shifts tone slightly, sometimes leaning into an Americana feel but never losing that undercurrent of exploration, either musically or lyrically. It sits at a musical crossroads frequented by the Meat Puppets, perhaps, and the trippier contemplations of the Grateful Dead. Calling it prog country would be hamfisted, perhaps, but not incorrect. There’s a lot of sadness on this album, lyrically. But it never indulges itself in regret. It’s grounded instead in an aggressive optimism, a deft example of the rising philosophy of “hope punk” and various defiant joy movements. “I finally put it to the page, in hopes I’d finally leave the cage behind,” Hutchinson sings in “Break the Spell,” the second track. And, on “The Red Light is Not Your Enemy,” the urgent, driving third offering, “Seems too strong to resist; but have you ever really even tried?” These are tunes that play to every middle-aged anxiety, reminding Gen X that it’s OK to still be working toward something, to still be unsettled and unsatisfied. That seems like a trivial take, or perhaps even a self-serving one, I know. But it also feels like a necessary message for a generation that was forced to redefine growing up in a world that explicitly, even aggressively, has lacked security. “I just want a slice of the ugly truth,” track four (“Ugly Truth”) insists: and that’s what this album feels like. Just a single slice of the truth that we face. It sits as an invitation. Are there others ready to add their own slice? I hope so. —Genevieve Trainor
LITTLEVILLAGEMAG.COM/LV325 January 2024 65
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BOOK REVIEWS
ALEC HERSHMAN For a Second, In the Dark MWC PRESS
F
or a Second, In the Dark is a distinct collection of poems in which Alec Hershman takes us on a daunting yet humorous journey through reality. Released in October, 2023 by MWC Press, FaSItD marks Hershman’s third publication. It was published as the 2021 Foster-Stahl Chapbook Series Editor’s Choice Selection for Rock Island, Illinois’ Midwest Writing Center. [Ed. note: This reviewer worked in the internship program for the Midwest Writing Center over the summer of 2023, but had no connection to MWC Press or to this release.] Imagery of bowling ball-like police officers, pulsing tomato beds and wealthy pigs assist in depicting how people are simply pawns in society, both victims and prey to the cruelty and dreariness that life has to offer. In the poem “Natural Selection,” Hershman observes humanity’s absolute fate: Is this the replica? Puppets are ingesting other puppets, and the whole cast, it seems, Is strung on one string that runs gut to throat. It is through the calls of nature, like the flash of thunder or the heavy rustling of trees, that ground the individual: or rather, bring a psychedelic awareness to their misery. Yet trembling ponds, knotted birds and milksoaked forests slowly begin to play into this destructiveness. The most memorable poem is
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“To The Sky His Druzy Forehead,” a piece committed to the normalization of detaching from the world around us as all of it passes without influence (“By some point it seems too quickly / we replace the people in our days”). The scene is set with the un-thrilling removal of a neighbor by the police from his home, as he is suspected of poisoning his wife. The speaker’s lack of regard for such a heinous incident is rationalized in the last stanza, where strangers are compared to vapor, lasting only seconds, barely visible in the first place. In contrast, a quick but dark interaction becomes permanent, like an annoying rhyme you can’t seem to forget, running through your mind at random. This grappling with bystander ethics becomes all the more poignant when paired with the eerie coincidence of the collection’s title. In 2022, after this collection was submitted for consideration in the Foster-Stahl series, but before it was ultimately published, one of the officers involved in the death of Breonna Taylor published a memoir of that 2020 incident. The title? 12 Seconds in the Dark. It seems unlikely that Herschman intended For a Second, In the Dark as an intentional reference. (The title comes from a line in a poem about an elevator.) But that only heightens the discomfort of recognizing the coincidence. In the second set of poems, Hershman offers a view far more centered on the speaker’s thoughts and experiences. Once a builder of log homes and Christmas display models, the speaker finds himself the cotton snow forced onto the prebuilt world. Despite the harsh truths he explores, Hershman’s poems offer us hope. For a second, in the dark, we revert to the tender beings we were born as, forgetting to wear the suits tailored for us by society’s merciless designer. We realize we have a role to play, however small it seems: not in a world of puppet masters, but among the forces of the natural world. ––Natalia Matlag
THEODORE WHEELER The War Begins in Paris LITTLE, BROWN CO.
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s a reader, I have largely ignored the historical fiction genre. The War Begins in Paris (2023), by Theodore Wheeler, shows me that I have been remiss. Through it, I’ve learned that at its best, the genre turns a mirror toward the reader and subtly pushes us to see history repeating itself. And it can show us how to act. With deft and clever prose, our narrator shows us how any ordinary person can end up overwhelmed and under the spell of those whom history would paint clearly as the bad guys. The book, which follows two women journalists in Western Europe during World War Two, is funny—surprising and soft—and the characters are easy to love, despite their obvious flaws. But it’s not the sort of poorly researched, soft-edged book that sanitizes the Holocaust for the sake of a nice story like so many hot sellers. In the prologue we are introduced to the main characters—and the narrator (third-person omniscient) immediately uses humor to make it clear that the Nazi is not the woman we will sympathize with. “Jane loved the church. All its pompous glory … Much the same as she loved the pomposity of Fascists and their claims to empire,” Wheeler writes. “That kind of ambition was addictive to some—aspiring to rule the world as the Romans did, as Charlemagne did, to make themselves a link in the chain of history. Not to say
the Church and the Fascistas were the same thing, but in Spain that decade, in Jane’s heart, they were close enough.” I needed this where it came, in the opening of the story, because I had not yet properly interpreted the book’s epigraph (from journalist Martha Gellhorn): “No one is a Nazi. No one ever was.” It took a large portion of the narrative coming into shape for me to see that, while Jane is an addictive energy, she is really the vehicle through which we learn the insidiousness of fascist ideology. It is through the other woman, usually called Mielle, that we navigate the relationship to the war, homeland (Mielle’s is a Mennonite enclave in Iowa) and belonging. Mielle never sways toward Naziism. But she is entranced by Jane, her former professional hero, and by that woman’s lifestyle at a time when Mielle feels isolated. The War Begins In Paris possesses the hypnotic combination of meticulous research and readable, comfortable, beautiful prose. So often, writers of period fiction pull their punches to entice a few more readers, only to do a disservice to both history and their own writing. Wheeler sacrifices nothing, steadily growing his plot toward its own ends. There are moments in which Mielle’s life in 1938 holds an uncanny similarity to my own today: watching friends grow steadily into strangers as ideologies morph, seeing anger fed by injustice transform into bigotry as an ugly matter of course. There are striking insights into how trauma changes us and one sad, perfect quote about the life of a writer, “I will never understand you journalists. What good does it do to make enemies all the time? And then to sign your name at the top! How terrible.” This book is necessary at this moment in time. And it’s an important work to hold close for those of us looking for hope to find us on the flip side of worry. —Sarah Elgatian
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AUTHOR JEN LOEB JANUARY 27, SATURDAY, 11:00 AM SCHWAB AUDITORIUM An avid and accomplished climber, Iowa native Jen Loeb will discuss what it was like to summit Mt. Everest in a photographic and video presentation of her journey.
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Exhibit in our community display case. Non-profits can also reserve it to highlight their work or events. Email kdale@coralville.org for more information.
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It’s a Mystery! Book Group JANUARY 10 WEDNESDAY 10:00 AM ROOM A
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BOOK REVIEWS
JEFF BREMER A New History of Iowa UNIVERSITY PRESS OF KANSAS
“H
istory doesn’t repeat itself,” the saying goes, “Historians repeat each other.” There’s some truth in that, but the bigger truth is that most people just repeat whatever version of history they learn in school, seldom venturing far beyond what they learned in a general survey course. (Many LV readers may be exceptions to that rule, but the rule remains valid.) Specific details fade as time passes, exact dates drop away, but the general shape of the story that was told remains and goes on to shape how a person views the world and their place in it. That’s why a text like Jeff Bremer’s A New History of Iowa is so important. Published in September by the University of Kansas Press, it’s the first comprehensive general history of the state published in almost 30 years, and it greatly expands the story of the state. Not just in the extra decades it covers—the text goes through from the peoples in what became Iowa prior to European contact to the end of 2020—but also in the stories and perspectives it includes. Bremer, an assistant professor of history at Iowa State University, follows the path taken by Dorothy Schwieder, the author of the previous general history, Iowa: The Middle Lan. That book, published in 1996, greatly expanded the range of stories it told to give the reader some understanding of Iowa as a state with diversity well beyond any American Gothic-tinted stereotype of Iowa being a land of nothing but white farmers. (Although Iowa: The Middle Land doesn’t mention it, Schwieder
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percent to my taste and entirely appropriate to the subject matter at this moment in history. No approach to examining the distinct space that punk music occupies in the Black community (and that statement’s reciprocal) is left untouched. Especially effective is “No Whites on the Mic,” the interstitial roundtable of “femme organizers of new Black and brown punk festivals” conducted by Samm Saxby. JAMES SPOONER Co-editor Spooner’s portraits of the & CHRIS L. TERRY, ED. participants (along with his portraits Black Punk Now of each contributor that introduce SOFT SKULL PRESS each piece) anchor the collection ’m a sucker for an anthology. like an ambitious and successful Short work requires a certain bal- bass line. The questions are insightance of delicacy and force that long- ful and engaging, and the answers form writing can work around, and contextualize the rest of the work, the curation process of selecting, pushing back against the urge to collecting and presenting those piec- define like a singer surfing a crowd. My “in” for having an excuse es is its own truly under-discussed art form. It’s something that I love to review this collection comes to do, and I especially enjoy expe- nearly at the end, just before the riencing thoughtful examples of it section labeled “Outro.” Former Iowan (now Texas-based) Dr. from others. Joanna Davis-McElligatt offers up an illustrated coda, “10 LIKE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUNK AND ROCK, Commandments of Black Punk BLACK PUNK NOW BOTH CHALLENGES AND ADVANCES According to Matt Davis.” Matt Davis, an Iowa City ANTHOLOGIZING, FROM THE INTERWEAVING OF punk rock icon (Ten Grand) and FICTION AND NONFICTION AND THE ECLECTIC ARRAY brother to Davis-McElligatt, OF CONTRIBUTORS TO THE THROUGHLINES TYING died at 26 in 2003. The presentation of his philosophy here THINGS TOGETHER AND THE AGGRESSIVE VISUAL is achingly beautiful, featurPUNCTUATION-CUM-INTERPOLATION. ing drawings of the siblings as children and teens as well as may sound like a daunting prospect, Enter Black Punk Now (October thoughtful religious imagery and commentary. And his words thembut it’s not. Bremer is an engaging 2023 from Soft Skull Press). writer, and is admirably clear when From cover to cover, this labor selves are an unforgettable summary dealing with both the big picture and of love is a delectable example of of the ethos of the collection. As he says in commandment 5: with details. He can even make clear the form. Like the relationship besuch potentially complicated sto- tween punk and rock, Black Punk “We all die, but we don’t end.” Music historians will be citing this ries as the various military outposts Now both challenges and advances known as Fort Des Moines, and how anthologizing, from the interweav- collection for decades. Educators the one that gave state’s largest city ing of fiction and nonfiction and the will be leaning on its accessibility it’s name was almost called Fort eclectic array of contributors to the to engage students. But most imporRaccoon (which possibly could have throughlines tying things together tantly, Black Punk Now is the sort lead to Iowa having Raccoon City as and the aggressive visual punctua- of collection that young punks will read for inspiration, deconstruct for its capital). tion-cum-interpolation. A New History of Iowa provides The contributions of editors practice and internalize for generaan excellent opportunity to update James Spooner and Chris L. Terry tional wisdom. Like the best punk the story you tell yourself and others are delightfully balanced, resulting rock, and the best anthology work, about the state and its people. in a volume that is as engaging to it is authoritative while remaining ––Paul Brennan look at as it is to read. It tilts a bit elastic and inviting conversation. academic in tone, which is both 100 —Genevieve Trainor played a part in that history herself. She was the first woman to become a professor of history at ISU.) In part because so much work has been done by other scholars in the intervening decade and in part because he is a careful and thorough historian, Bremer offers an even fuller picture of varieties of people and events in the more than 300 years his book covers. “Many familiar topics and people appear—such as the Black Hawk War, the Amana colonies, Annie Wittenmyer, the Cow War, and the Farm Crisis of the 1980s,” Bremer said in a Q&A with ISU’s Center for Excellence in the Arts and Humanities. “A New History of Iowa also includes less well-known topics, such as the Anti-Monopoly Party, Meskwaki code talkers, Iowa’s CCC camps, Des Moines’ branch of the Black Panther Party, and 19th-century Chinese immigration.” Sitting down to read a wide-ranging history that covers centuries
I
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ACROSS 1. Dipped-in partner of 44-Across 6. Realm that smells like steak, according to some astronauts 11. Clean Water Act org. 14. Prepare to be dubbed, perhaps 15. Henry VIII’s house 16. Cat or power follower 17. Combined 18. Mosque leaders
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LittleVillageMag.com
By Karen Lurie, edited by Ben Tausig
19. Squat unit 20. What a Victorian would call Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon 22. Fuck, marry, ___ 23. Did a stroke, say 24. Frozen drip 26. Like sashimi 29. “Gee, who’da thunk it?” 32. Paige Bueckers’s sch. 34. A lot of them might be
for sale 35. Trait transmitter 36. Individually owned apt. 38. Big beer buy 42. Fends (off) 44. Dipped partner of 1-Across 45. Varsity sport in some New York City public schools 50. Doja Cat’s genre 51. Not remotely
52. Frost 54. Total merriment 55. Reading every word of, perhaps 61. Air head? 62. Stud, e.g. 63. Type of essential acid 64. Teeny colonist 65. Vibes 66. 501s, for one 67. Website marketing tool, briefly
33. FAQ reader, maybe 36. Give the willies 37. Like off-year election years, in the U.S. 39. Broadcast 40. Seaweed wrap spot 41. Clairvoyant’s claim 43. ___ Girl (TikTok aesthetic) 44. “I and the Village” painter 45. Rigid beliefs 46. What some power users may be, extremely 47. Did before 48. ___ trap 49. Fleece 53. That Montague boy 56. Bharwa bhindi veggie 57. Bring up, or something you can bring up 58. Brawny rival 59. Thora’s role in Ghost World 60. Actress Tracee Ellis ___ 62. Faux follower
DOWN 1. Overlook 2. Chlumsky of Veep 3. Cordelia’s dad 4. Dumps, as a stock 5. Grant access 6. Mark of The Scarlet Letter 7. Mountain lion, in much of Latin America 8. Naked guy in church 9. Inherit 10. Often-chaotic hosp. areas 11. Fortify 12. Spanish dish whose name means “frying pan” 13. Word coined in PC Magazine in 1990 21. Spring sign 22. Art that’s so bad it’s good, perhaps 25. Roz Brewer of Walgreens, for one 26. Hairpiece DECEMBER ANSWERS 27. Expert J A C K S P A R T V P E T 28. Took home the AWA I T A T A R I OR E D A NN YG L OV E R WA X Prudential Cup E Y E D OO Z E T H E T A L I AM OU T ROS trophy, e.g. C A T E B L A NCH E T T 30. Chinese provCH A SM I S H P ROP T A C S K E P T I C I R E ince where Lanzhou V SOP I R A A S P E N T E S S A T HOMP SON beef noodles origMOR P H S A V I A inated AMU S E DU K E R E F I R E C K E A NUR E E V E S 31. Mirena, for one I N K E L F I N SME L L A S S
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