THIS WEEK in this issue
SEP. 7- SEP. 14, 2011 VOL. 22 ISSUE 29 ISSUE #1056
15 A&E
ARTS GUIDE 2011
Here it is, your guide to the arts for the coming season. Behold! as our beat writers pick their favorite items, check out the descriptions for the top venues and organizations and salivate over our season highlights.
37 CLASSIFIEDS 10 COVER STORY 24 FOOD 39 FREE WILL ASTROLOGY 04 HAMMER 05 HOPPE 26 MUSIC 25 MOVIES 08 NEWS
cover story
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36 WEIRD NEWS
SUPER SHANNON
Shannon Linker juggles two roles, as the director of artist services for the Arts Council of Indianapolis and the director of Gallery 924, the contemporary art exhibition space within the Arts Council’s building at 924 N. Pennsylvania St. BY SUSAN WATT GRADE COVER PHOTO BY STEPHEN SIMONETTO
news
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RECYCLING IN FOCUS
Our photo essay chronicles the trip recyclables take from the curbside to commodity. From the claw pickup to bales of plastic, we document the step-by-step journey outcast items take to reinvention. BY HANNAH FEHRMAN
arts
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YES, THEY CAN DANCE
On Saturday, Sept. 10, the Indianapolis Ballet will present its third annual Evening with the Stars gala, featuring performances by soloists and principal dancers from major companies nationwide. BY RITA KOHN
music
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HOW THE HEADHUNTERS CAME TO INDY
Owl Studios, which snapped up most of the major players in the local jazz scene in its early years, has worked with some artists from New York City and beyond, but The Headhunters are perhaps their highest-profile signing — and certainly, no other Owl record can boast guest appearances by household names such as George Clinton and Snoop Dogg.
from the readers I would love to see neighbourhood-centric planning in Indianapolis the way I experienced it in Chicago (“Arts Blog: Naplab gives Indy neighborhoods a map,” Dan Grossman, posted to NUVO.net Sept. 1). The amount of urban sprawl in the 317 is just obnoxious. When citizens are less transient, they have more care for the place they live, play, shop, and learn. A strong neighbourhood becomes a community where people care for each other. Crime goes down and property values even out. Showing the richness of Indy’s neighbourhoods, instead of vague terms like “the near-east side” is the first step in that planning. Bravo to Naplab!
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POSTED BY CLAUDIA VIA NUVO.NET
corrections Endless apologies to Libertarian candidate for Indianapolis mayor Chris Bowen, whose first name was misstated on last week’s NUVO cover. We regret the error.
BY SCOTT SHOGER
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HAMMER Remembering 9/11 A day seared into our minds forever
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Bookmamas A Singular Evening with Rory Block (words and music) 9 South Johnson Avenue one block east of Ritter and one block south of Washington in Historic Irvington.
317-375-3715 www.bookmamas.com
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Friday, September 9th 7:00 p.m. She will sing and read from her recently published book, “When A Woman Gets the Blues” Tickets $20
hammer // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // NUVO // 100% RECYCLED PAPER
BY STEVE HAMMER SHAMMER@NUVO.NET
he anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks has brought with it a flood of television shows and books about that horrific day, adding to the extensive collection detailing in every imaginable medium the tragic history. Certainly no one old enough to remember the events of 9/11 will ever forget them but there seems to be an insatiable appetite to relive them over and over in the media. Like most other people, I expected Sept. 11 to be just another day at the office. I was asleep when the planes hit the World Trade Center. My then-girlfriend called around 8:30 and urged me to turn on the television. I did and saw a shaken George W. Bush making his first statement on the attacks, live from Emma Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla. I’ve always been fascinated with breaking news events but I still had to go to work, so I grabbed a portable color TV set I’d recently bought at a yard sale and headed to the NUVO office. NUVO is published on Wednesdays but printed Tuesday nights, which means the day before publication is filled with putting the final touches on the paper. Ads and stories are designed and any last-minute edits are made. That week, as so often happened, I’d procrastinated writing a long music feature the day before so I was a bit worried about getting it done. So sitting at work, on a screen about 3.5 inches wide, I watched the World Trade Centers collapse, the chaotic scene at the Pentagon and the smoke rising from the ground in Shanksville, Pa., where Flight 93 crashed. My first coherent thought was that thousands of people had likely died and that soon we would be attacking a country full of brown-skinned people. Rumors of local gasoline shortages began to circulate. I’m not quite sure why, exactly. It’s easy to forget that, despite it only being 10 years ago, things were much different then. The Internet was virtually crippled that day as traffic flooded news websites. The fastest source of information was TV and my tiny set was the only one in the office.
I had to turn off the TV after awhile and muster the concentration to write my story, a preview of a concert that, even as I wrote it, I knew would likely be cancelled. We were frustrated by the fact that most of that week’s NUVO had already been sent to the printer and was therefore unchangeable unless we wanted to bankrupt the company by scrapping the portions already printed and quickly assemble a new paper, which was financially impossible. Besides, what could we have added to the cacophony of coverage? We decided to leave the paper as planned. As a result, NUVO may well have been the only newspaper published on Sept. 12, 2001 that had no mention of the terrorist attacks. It went against every instinct we had as journalists but we had no choice. My feelings on 9/11 mimicked millions of others’: shock, disbelief, grief and anger. Our publisher, Kevin McKinney, came on the office intercom once the final pages of the paper had been sent to the printer. He told us we could go home and spend the rest of the day with our families — a typically classy act for him. The subsequent days were spent walking in a haze, wondering if what we had seen was real. The attacks were replayed so many times that it became numbing. At the end of the week, I took a day off and went to visit a friend in South Bend. The streets of every small town were lined with American flags, a sight I will never forget. For all of the later mistakes and, some would argue, crimes George W. Bush committed while president, acting as a calming force on 9/11 and the days that followed was his greatest and most lasting achievement. He visited a mosque and stated that America would never be at war with Islam, which he described as a “religion of peace.” Arguably more effective was his wife, Laura, who went on television to remind parents to hug their children and explain the tragedy to them. She urged parents to turn off the TV to spare children the horror of seeing the explosions replayed over and over. Mrs. Bush, as much as anyone else in government, provided comfort and reassurance when it was needed most. I’ll leave it to others to chronicle all that we have lost since 9/11, especially in terms of freedoms, the lives needlessly wasted in war and the rest of it. I can only return to the words President Bush stated just minutes after the attacks, as he finished his speech at the elementary school: “May God bless the victims, their families and America. Thank you very much.”
The subsequent days were spent walking in a haze, wondering if what we had seen was real.
HOPPE Dick Cheney’s 9/11 book tour Special guest or war criminal
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BY DAVID HOPPE DHOPPE@NUVO.NET
ick Cheney is back. Just in time for the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the assault on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., the former Vice President of the United States is out hawking his new memoir, In My Time. It’s become a cliché to say that the attacks on 9/11 “changed everything” in America. There is, of course, a hard nut of truth at the heart of every cliché. In this case, the truth is that 9/11 shook our society down to its toenails. We Americans are given to self-absorption; our country’s size, wealth and military might have contributed to what we have lately come to call “American exceptionalism.” Our Constitution and Bill of Rights surely play a part in this sense of self esteem as well, although, it now seems to a lesser degree. This may be one of the more significant ways 9/11 changed us. Based on his version of events, it seems we can thank Dick Cheney for this transformation. Cheney has not only been outspoken, he’s been proud to take credit for his role in using the 9/11 crisis as justification for the suspension of civil liberties, the breaking of longstanding treaties and the use of torture as an instrument of U.S. policy — or what people in other countries have called war crimes. Recently, on the Today show, he made torture sound like a new form of contraceptive device, calling it “safe, legal and effective.” At least he’s been consistent. In December 2008, shortly before he was due to leave office, Cheney told the Washington Times that he had personally approved the use of torture on high-profile prisoners. “I feel very good about what we did. I think it was the right thing to do,” he said, adding that he would do it again. Then Cheney went even further: “I think it would have been unethical or immoral for us not to do everything we could in order to protect the nation against further attacks like what happened on 9/11.” Calling this contention arguable is an understatement. Experts in the field of interrogation, from members of the military and law enforcement to Senator John McCain, who was himself the victim of torture at the hands of the North Vietnamese,
have not only refuted Cheney’s assertion, but warned that making torture part of American policy endangers our troops and could inspire more terrorist attacks. Cheney has never been swayed by these arguments. In 2005, less than a year after the re-election of President George W. Bush, then-Vice President Cheney sought to have Congress adopt legal language allowing the CIA to commit human rights abuses — war crimes — against foreign prisoners being held in undisclosed detention centers. The Washington Post, reporting on Cheney’s proposal, ran an editorial entitled, “Vice President for Torture.” It stated: “The vice president has been a prime mover behind the Bush administration’s decision to violate the Geneva Conventions and the U.N. Convention Against Torture and to break with decades of practice by the U.S. military. These decisions at the top have led to hundreds of documented cases of abuse, torture and homicide in Iraq and Afghanistan. Mr. Cheney’s counsel, David S. Addington, was reportedly one of the principal authors of a legal memo justifying the torture of suspects.” “The fact is, it worked,” Cheney said of waterboarding to Matt Lauer during his recent Today show appearance. “We learned valuable, valuable information in that process, and we kept the country safe for over seven years.” Arguments over the efficacy of torture as an interrogation technique have tended to skirt what may, for Cheney, have been an even more compelling reason to inflict pain: it makes people afraid. As far as Cheney is concerned, instilling fear is a good thing. The 9/11 attacks were a twisted gift for Cheney, a form of vindication and a permission slip. They were vindication because Cheney, like so many conservatives in the post Cold War, pre-9/11 world, were wondering how to keep Americans persuaded the world was as inherently wicked as Cheney and his mates always believed it was. “It’s still a hostile and dangerous world out there,” Cheney told a group of senior citizens in 2000. The 9/11 attacks proved his point. And the Hollywood-style audacity of the attacks provoked a level of public paranoia that must have taken even Cheney by surprise. It meant that, for a time, there was no form of revenge considered out of bounds. Americans wanted to hit back and hit back hard. There was hell to pay and Cheney fancied himself the paymaster. He set out to make a dangerous world afraid of the United States. Whether this has made us safer, or more fearful ourselves, is impossible to say. Seeing Cheney plugging his book, though, makes one thing clear. In the land of the free it takes a lot to be declared a war criminal. If you wonder what American exceptionalism really means, look no further than Dick Cheney.
Recently, on the Today show, Cheney made torture sound like a new form of contraceptive device, calling it “safe, legal and effective.”
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GADFLY
by Wayne Bertsch
HAIKU NEWS by Jim Poyser
some CEOs paid more than their companies spend on taxes — that’s FUCKED if Rick Perry ran U.S. we’d all shoot wild hogs from helicopters not only are we wasting money in Middle East, we’re losing it! Andre Carson takes Black Caucus/tea party spat to more fractious zone people hate Congress but love their own reps; we are fickle citizens Obama cancels EPA regs so we can die of pollution perhaps this is a jobs creation plan? sick folks need lots of healthcare! the problem is our consumerism and waste is killing the earth Prince fined four million dollars in law suit: when it purple rains, it pours Green Day lead singer kicked off plane for saggy pants; ‘least he didn’t pee!
GOT ME ALL TWITTERED!
Follow @jimpoyser on Twitter for more Haiku News.
THUMBSUP THUMBSDOWN 9/11 LESSONS: IN JOY AND PAIN WE ARE THE SAME
After the attacks of 9/11, the “never forget” refrain echoed nationwide. We’ve since forgotten a lot. We’ve allowed ourselves to wallow in poisonous partisanship, festering in suspicion of those who are different from ourselves rather than remember that we all bleed the same color. The 10th anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001 offers an opportunity to redeem our humanity by embracing the fundamental similarities that unite people across gender, race, politics and culture. This season allows us to meditate on how to rid the world of the pain, desperation and ignorance that allow terrorism of the domestic and international varieties to take root. We can honor the memories of the thousands killed by taking positive action. Donate blood, feed the hungry, fight illiteracy, allow peace to guide the words of our mouths and meditations of our hearts.
A SURVIVOR EYES THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE
Salvation from a year of predictable vitriol amongst Indiana’s gubernatorial candidates! (At least for a moment.) Rupert Boneham has formed an exploratory committee to gauge how much backing he can find to make a run for the governor’s office as a Libertarian, to determine, he says, “what kind of interest there would be for a fellow Hoosier…who is not in the political realm.” The long-time youth mentor who gained fame in his role on the reality TV show Survivor last week met with reporters to discuss his plans. “I know I am ready, I want to see if Hoosiers are ready,” Boneham said, noting he plans to make a final decision on whether to enter the race “within a matter of weeks.” He declined to outline any specific policy positions prior to making an official bid, so we’re waiting to see how much substance lurks beneath the hype. But, if only for a time, the race just became a whole lot more interesting.
WHAT’S IN YOUR WATER?
Been wondering if your tap water is suitable for consumption? This is your chance to find out for free, with help from the current Indianapolis Island resident and the recent subject of a NUVO cover story, Katherine Ball. Join her in collecting and examining water samples from the IMA’s 100 Acres lake from 2-4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 11. Ball encourages you to bring your own water samples, collected from your home, a nearby stream or some other source, to determine their contaminant levels. Ball’s focus during her six-week residency is on finding biological solutions to environmental problems.
THOUGHT BITE By Andy Jacobs Jr. Cable ad: “Want to cheat on your income tax and get away with it? Our team of experts can help you to be a deadbeat and push your just burden onto the next guy.”
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news // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // NUVO // 100% RECYCLED PAPER
news Headline
How does
subhead
BY A U T H O R A U T H O R@N UV O . N E T
THIS
become
THIS?
Recycling revelation
A day in the life of Indianapolis recycling BY H A N N A H F E H R MA N • E D IT O R S@ N UVO . N ET Sooner or later, everyone who recycles starts to wonder what really happens to all those milk cartons and old newspapers. That’s exactly what I set out to find when I visited one of the local “Materials Recovery Facilities” (MRFs) owned by Republic Waste Services. Since the city of Indianapolis doesn’t offer any recycling, it falls to private contractors like Republic. And at the company’s MRF near the corner of 96th Street and Zionsville Road, I saw how just one facility can recycle 20 tons per hour of paper, plastic, cardboard, and aluminum. It’s a noisy and smelly process, but the people at Republic don’t care because they love recycling — and they want you to love it, too. Before the recycling gets sorted, of course, it gets picked up at your home. Recently, Republic started using trucks with robot-like “claws” to empty the bins.
▲ The “claw” makes a driver’s life easier — and safer. But it has also allowed Republic trucks to more than double the amount they can pick up.
onnuvo.net 8
▲ Drivers like Chris, pictured here, control their
“claws” with a dash panel inside the cab. Chris takes great pride in his job — and in his truck. Another driver I followed washes his truck by hand every three days.
/NEWS
Manic Panic: Your enviro-PANIQuiz for the week by Jim Poyser
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▲ When Chris gets a full load of recycling, he drives to the MRF and dumps it in the truck entrance of a huge warehouse. Then, a new group of Republic employees begins processing the recycling.
Candidate Profiles: Mayor Ballard, Melina Kennedy and Chris Bowen
/PHOTO
▲ A bulldozer scoops up the recycling and drops it onto a series of conveyor belts. Up first is the “pre-sort.”
Demolition and Growth by Rebecca Townsend
▲ While drivers get help from their “claws,” here the workers must use their hands.
The whole time, the engines keep humming and the bulldozers keep beeping -- and, obviously, it smells like garbage. This conveyor belt moves faster than the one at the grocery store, so workers have only a few seconds to pull out unwanted items. And this belt doesn’t stop!
▲ In the far right end of the warehouse, stationed 30 feet up, workers stand next to a conveyor belt and pick out contaminants and non-recyclables. Phonebooks can be a problem; so are plastic grocery bags, which get sucked up by the vacuum duct hanging above the workers’ heads.
▲ After the pre-sort, the real recycling heads through a series of two vibrating conveyor belts. The first mechanical “screen” shakes out the newsprint and the glass; a second, more delicate “screen” separates small containers and mixed paper.
▲ Then comes one last conveyor belt, where Republic workers double-check the recycling for contaminants. They call this the “post-sort.”
All in all, it takes a truckload of recycling roughly 90 seconds to go from the “pre-sort” to the “post-sort.” At the end, the various types of recycling get dumped into organized piles in the middle of the warehouse. Eventually, Republic compacts and bales paper with paper, plastic with plastic, and so on, then ships the bales to production mills across the United States, where they get turned into new products.
And there you have it — That’s how recycling really happens here in Indianapolis. Republic Waste Services wants to get more and more residents recycling. In fact, the company has started giving select neighborhoods three months of free recycling, after which they ask people whether they want to continue the service with a
subscription. You can find out more on Republic’s website (http://www.alliedwaste.com/). And even if the company hasn’t reached your area, you can still drop your recycling at one of their MRFs. After all, now you know you’ll be in good hands. 100% RECYCLED PAPER // NUVO // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // news
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Super Shannon
A passionate, visionary force for Indy’s arts community
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BY S U S A N W A TT G R A D E E D I T O RS @N U V O . N E T
t’s a Thursday and Shannon Linker is preparing for the next day’s exhibition opening at Gallery 924. Ruler in hand, she steps outside to apply vinyl exhibition letters across the gallery’s street-side picture window, then fields a last-minute phone call from an artist still needing to drop off artwork later that afternoon. Professional and attentive, she makes me feel as if she has all the time in the world to meet, even though her schedule is thicker than ever these days. Linker juggles two roles, as the director of artist services for the Arts Council of Indianapolis and the director of Gallery 924, the contemporary art exhibition space within the Arts Council’s building on N. Pennsylvania St. Passionate and visionary about forwarding the role of artists in central Indiana, Linker is the Arts Council’s principal liaison on artist issues, with organizations throughout the city and state. “It’s my job to stand up and be the voice of the artist,” says Linker. And advocate she does, particularly lately, as her forefront priority is to spotlight visual artists during Indianapolis’ upcoming Super Bowl XLVI events. Linker includes the Super Bowl projects — 46 for XLVI, 46 public murals being painted throughout the city, and involvement with the Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association (IDADA) Art Pavilion, which will feature the works of local artists
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the weekend of the Super Bowl — among her numerous other responsibilities: organizing professional development workshops for artists, overseeing an online database of artists and a weekly artist opportunities e-newsletter, scheduling visual arts exhibitions at the notable Indianapolis Artsgarden, and championing for local art and economy through the Be Indypendent campaign. At the end of the day, it is Linker’s rapport with area artists that significantly stands out. Respect for her work resonates from visual artists such as Dorothy Stites Alig, who says about Linker, “She might be the perfect person for her job.”
Tireless advocate for artists A typical office day for Linker is, well, not typical. She might review Gallery 924 submissions or follow up with artists exhibiting the next month, update the Be Indypendent Facebook page and work with Lindsey Lord, assistant for artist services and the gallery. Then Linker may step out to meet with the IDADA advisory board or Super Bowl culture and arts committee, the latter co-chaired by the Arts Council’s president and CEO, Dave Lawrence. She also takes the time to answer such artist questions as: “I did this painting for a client, but do I own the copyright?” “Are there any studio spaces available around town?” “I’m looking to show a new body of work — any thoughts?”
cover story // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // NUVO // 100% RECYCLED PAPER
Linker thrives in tackling such questions and being a central resource for artists. She proudly states, “I like that people trust me enough to call me.” Nine years ago, when Linker began her career at the Arts Council as office manager, artists did not have a designated person to call. Still, Linker fielded questions from artists looking for programs to support them. She began a long list of what artists said they needed. “In those days,” Dave Lawrence explains, “the Arts Council’s funding was restricted to supporting arts organizations, and there was not a lot of funding for individual artists, except for the Creative Renewal Arts Fellowship supported by Lilly Endowment. Shannon was instrumental in taking the Arts Council in a new direction and developed artist services.” Private contributions and grants, not city dollars, help support the many current programs for artists that Linker oversees, such as workshops about the business of art. A workshop discussing tax reporting and accounting is where Dorothy Stites Alig first met Linker and noticed her behindthe-scenes professionalism. “Shannon always placed the limelight on the presenter or artist, never on herself,” Alig says.
Alig worked closely with Linker at Gallery 924 last May. “I developed a new appreciation for Shannon as an advocate and collaborator,” says Alig, whose solo exhibition Nocturnal Noon was successful in concept and sales. “At every stage of the project, I felt Shannon understood and encouraged my perspective as the artist. She had an opinion about things, but was very flexible and open to discussion. She wears many hats — in-house videographer, curator, marketing specialist, art therapist — and she plays all of those roles well because you can tell that she really understands and enjoys working with artists.” October will mark Gallery 924’s oneyear anniversary with an exhibition by the Indiana Glass Arts Alliance, a nod to last October’s stunning inaugural display of contemporary glass art by Ben Johnson. Linker says of the gallery’s opening, “We were all nervous and hesitant at first, until our first show with Ben. Then we saw how beautiful the space could be and peoples’ responses. People came in off the street to see it.” It was Lawrence who, in 2010 when the Arts Council moved from its upper-level suite near Monument Circle, saw the potential to develop the 1,300-square-foot gallery as a place
“It’s my job to stand up and be the voice of the artist.”
to feature the work of central Indiana artists. Situated near the former Ruschman Gallery, there is a history of art in the vicinity. “I was sort of reluctant to get on board because I knew it was going to be an enormous undertaking,” Linker admits. “And I was right, but he [Lawrence] just knew we could do it.” Despite the success of Johnson’s show and other well-executed exhibits, as well as positive feedback, high attendance and repeat visitors, gallery sales have been unpredictable. But patronage is integral to sustaining a vibrant art scene. The gallery’s goal is to sell artists’ work and build their careers.
A unifying force in arts community Marketing original art is also vital to the mission of IDADA, the all-volunteer and nonprofit organization that serves studio artists, art galleries and arts-related businesses within a 20-block radius of the center of Indianapolis. Linker was instrumental in supporting the creation of IDADA. When the organization first came to her to express an interest in teaming up, Linker encouraged the group to have a voice. IDADA heeded Linker’s advice by creating the First Friday Art Tour, a coordination of multiple art exhibition openings on the first Friday of each month. The tour quickly evolved into one of the downtown area’s premiere cultural events. Gallery 924 is just one of multiple venues on the tour. Linker strongly backs the organization. “There is a core of people who try so hard to make IDADA work,” she says. “But there are some things that artists and gallery owners can’t do.” It was on Linker’s advice that IDADA set up its advisory board and included among its members professionals from outside the art world, such as lawyers and accountants. She also meets monthly with the board and as needed with the group’s ethics and fair practice committee. “Shannon is crucial to our success,” says IDADA’s president, Abbey Pintar Chambers. “Even though our services overlap, IDADA provides a different angle on the arts and a more specific limitation. Shannon always has a lot of inside knowledge about things going on in the city and about grants and provides opportunities where IDADA can partner with the Arts Council.” Asked what makes Linker so important, Chambers responds, “She helps bring a sense of unity to the arts community.” Just recently, Linker communicated the Be Indypendent campaign launch to IDADA. The citywide movement — sponsored by the Arts Council and Indianapolis’ Cultural Development Commission (CDC) — has promoted the purchase of art made by Indiana artists. This fall, Linker is expanding the concept to include all local restaurants and other businesses. “Everything I do builds upon the next thing, so it’s all connected,” Linker says.
Super Art: Citywide Murals, 46 for XLVI Get ready for 46 murals in Marion County in celebration of the 46th Super Bowl. The Arts Council of Indianapolis and city of Indianapolis are preparing to merge the sports world with the art world
Seeing the development of artists’ careers and playing a hand in their successes is one reward of Linker’s tenure at the Arts Council. She has worked numerous times with Artur Silva, who was born in Brazil and came to town via New York City. Silva’s installations, paintings and videos are cutting-edge contemporary. He met Linker around seven years ago when she assisted him and artist Matt Eickhoff with a CDC grant and helped coordinate their “Gallery of the Machine,” a functioning vending machine that sells art and that was purchased by the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Shortly thereafter, Linker facilitated Silva’s commission of artwork for the World Swimming Championships. Silva is currently working on art for Union Station’s train shed, one of the mural projects for the Super Bowl. “Shannon nominated me for a residency, and I was competing with artists in the entire Midwest,” Silva says. The residency award was by nomination only at that time through the Alliance of Artists Communities and funded by the Joyce Foundation. Silva was selected for a residency at Ox-Bow in Michigan. “That residency opened up so many opportunities for my career,” he says, “and I didn’t find out who nominated me until much later, which shows her [Linker’s] modesty and genuine interest in helping without personal gain. Because we have worked on a few projects together, she was able to write me a recommendation letter, and this year I received a Pollock-Krasner grant, which is a great honor for any living artist.” Silva adds, “Don’t get me started on Shannon. She’s someone every arts organization wants to have in their decisionmaking room.” Reaching out to writers, dancers and artists of other disciplines is also within the scope of Linker’s work. “Visual artists seem to be more vocal with us about what they need,” according to Linker. “It doesn’t hurt that my background is visual art, so I understand where they are coming from on a more intimate level, but my job is absolutely to work with and assist performing and literary artists in any way possible, too.” Linker points out that performers, dancers and writers often have agents and belong to unions and other organizations that help them work through the perils of being an artist, whereas visual artists more often have to do it all on their own.” Linker suggests a bold solution: “Maybe a union for visual artists is what we need.”
Passionate and purposeful Linker’s understanding and knowledge of visual artists is not just due to hard work and arts administration experience. Linker holds two degrees in art history: a mas-
during February’s Super Bowl XLVI festivities. Diverse local and national artists were selected for Indianapolis’ first citywide mural project. Artworks should be in place by Oct. 31. Ten murals will be along downtown’s Central Canal, the densest concentration. Every bridge will feature a mural. Indianapolis ceramist Barbara Zech, for instance, is making two mosaics for the
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(Top) Abbey Pintar Chambers is president of IDADA. (Left) Dave Lawrence is president and CEO of the Arts Council.
ter’s from Texas Women’s University and a bachelor’s from the University of North Texas. Yes, Linker is from Texas. She grew up in a small town east of Dallas. Teased for her strong affinity for Texas and love of heavy metal music, there are lighthearted disputes about what music to listen to when installing art at Gallery 924. “Yes, I love heavy metal and hard rock and outlaw and Texas blues,” Linker says. Asked why, she responds, “Heavy metal is intense and intentional.” Of course, so is Linker. She also is a painter, though she quickly points out that she does not have much time to paint and explains in spirited detail why she does not call herself an artist. Here surfaces her spirit that fights not just for artists, but for her own convictions. Linker’s paintings, such as one from 1994 hanging in her office, address her interest in women’s issues. Women’s studies was her minor within her master’s program. Of her art, she says, “I incorporate an expressionist type of gesture and line with appropriated images and text.” Linker’s office canvas has a background of orange acrylic paint, a quote from Aristotle and interspersed blue-in-the-face portraits of men all talking about justice and equality, including an image of Linker’s father, who taught high school world history and coached basketball. “All my family members are teachers,” she says, adding that her mother is a special education teacher. “When I was in high school,” Linker recalls, “I would create things that I didn’t necessarily call art, but they were objects. One was made of Styrofoam, Play-Doh and Christmas lights. I was expressing myself and an idea with visual elements that were not traditional.” In college, she took an art appreciation course and had her canal’s Vermont Street Bridge. Chicagobased Mexican muralist Hector Duarte will have a painting on the canal’s north side, by West Street. Five Arts Council staff members are involved in all aspects of 46 for XLVI, including Project Manager Lindsey Lord. Lord works for Director of Artist Services Shannon Linker, who also is involved in the mural coordination. “Shannon has a won-
wow moment. Linker realized that from the beginning of time, people have been expressing themselves through art. “Most people would say that I’m most passionate about women’s issue,” Linker says. She speculates that the reason for this is rooted in her youth, when as an athlete she would fearlessly challenge boys in games of basketball and tennis. She saw that the boys’ teams played in a bigger gym and with the support of cheerleaders, and the lack of equality disappointed her. Tradition, seemed to be a main reason for the variation. “I’m kind of just anti-tradition,” she says. “So many reasons we do things are because of traditions.” Personally, Linker has become increasingly interested in supporting social service organizations, like the Julian Center, since the birth of her daughter, Sloan, now age one and a half. Her family includes her husband, Tom, a scientist originally from Canada, and Molson, their black German Shepherd, who just celebrated his 10th birthday with a party and hat. He sometimes visits Linker in her office. Linker admits she is always working. For instance, she’s found herself driving down the street and thinking, “Oh! That would be a great place for a mural!” Lawrence, the head of the Arts Council, says of Linker, “One of the things I most appreciate about Shannon is her passion and belief in the role of artists in our city. She thinks about artists all the time and how to serve the arts.” For her part, Linker credits the artists for inspiring her to approach her job with such enthusiasm. “This may sound hokey,” she says, “but I think I just care because the artists are so generous and caring and genuine and important.”
derful eye and has been a sounding board for matching sites with artists,” comments Dave Lawrence, Arts Council president and CEO. Linker hopes several big murals downtown will become city icons. Follow mural program developments online at www.indyarts.org/murals and see why the project is expected to put Indianapolis on the map for more than just sports. — SWG
100% RECYCLED PAPER // NUVO // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // cover story
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go&do
For comprehensive event listings, go to www.nuvo.net/calendar
do or die
Only have time to do one thing all week? This is it.
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Work by Kyle Ragsdale is on view at the JCC .
7 STARTS
WEDNESDAY
FREE
VISUAL ARTS PHOTO BY LAURA DOMELA
Wade McCollum stars in the title role.
7 STARTS WEDNESDAY PERFORMANCE ARTS
Dracula @ IRT
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Brian McCutcheon’s IMA exhibit is one of the most anticipated arts events of the new season.
9 STARTS FRIDAY
He’s back and he still wants to dr ink your blood in a fresh but faithful adaptation of Bram Stoker’s 1897 horror classic. Dracula sets up shop in London, and only Professor Van Helsing recognizes his vicious intentions. Peter Armster directs and Wade McCollum takes on the role of Count D. in all his dark and seductive glory in this Indiana Repertory Theatre offering. Take in the tale that inspired Buffy the Vampire Slayer, True Blood, Twilight and countless other TV shows, books and films. Sept. 7 - Oct. 1. Times and ticket prices vary. 140 W. Washington St., 635-5252, www.irtlive.com
VISUAL ARTS
Brian McCutcheon: Out of This World @ IMA Composed wholly of new works commissioned by the Indianapolis Museum of Art, Out of this World tells a story that unfolds from the moment you enter the museum. The exhibition mimics a children’s book narrative as it explores the Mercury and Apollo space programs in relation to contemporary culture. The base of a flight path sculpture sits in the IMA’s Pulliam Family Great Hall. The sculpture’s curvilinear metal track outlines the imagined trajectory of a toy rocket. The launch pad is positioned on the IMA’s second floor, with the sculpture soaring three stories before landing in the McCormack Forefront Galleries. Sept. 9 - March 4. Check the IMA’s website for museum hours. Free. 4000 Michigan Rd., 920-2660, www.imamuseum.org
Experience the dreamlike, vibrant oil paintings of acclaimed local ar tist Kyle Ragsdale. The exhibition’s title, Aliyah, is Hebrew for “ascend,” and the artist encourages viewers of his work to consider ascension spiritually and figuratively in his paintings. Ragsdale maintains a studio at the Harrison Center for the Arts, where he also serves as the curator of the main gallery. The Texas native lists Bjork, Gustav Klimt and 1950s furniture among his influences. Meet the artist at a Sept. 8 reception from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The exhibition begins Sept. 7 and continues until Oct. 24. Gallery hours vary. Free. 6701 Hoover Rd., 251-9467, www.jccindy.org
9 & 10
FRIDAY & SATURDAY
FESTIVAL
8 THURSDAY
Greek Fest @ Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church
FESTIVAL
Oktoberfest @ German Park It’s time to iron the lederhosen and fine tune your polka moves. The GermanAmerican Klub presents four days of beer, brats and dancing at tree-lined German Park on the city’s south side. There’s plenty of live music, with gr oups like Polkamotion and The Original Alpine Express taking the stage. Carnival rides and live magic acts keep the kids enter tained. Be sure to partake in the frickadellen, a meaty creation topped with sautéed onions and ser ved on a sesame seed bun. Do wn a Warsteiner and dance among the sy camores; it’s the second-best thing to being in Bavaria. Sept. 8-11. Gates open at 4 p.m. $5 admission; kids 12 and under fr ee. 8600 S. Meridian St., 888-6940, www.indianapolisgak.com
onnuvo.net
Kyle Ragsdale: Aliyah @ JCC Art Gallery
/ ARTICLES
Super Happy Funtime Burlesque by Paul F.P. Pogue Arts Council announces ARTI Awards by Tristan Schmid
Greek Fest celebrates its 38th year in the Indianapolis area and third year at its beautiful, sprawling facility in Carmel. The Holy Trinity Hellenic Dance Troupe returns, beclad in colorful costumes, for 12 performances. Live music comes from the band Kosta and The Wave. Tours of the architecturally stunning Byzantine Temple are offered. And of course, there’s the food! Indulge in freshly prepared
How will TV fill Oprah’s shoes? by Marc D. Allan Review of Contagion (Friday) by Ed Johnson-Ott Go&Do: your arts weekend by Jim Poyser
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Get your Greek Fest on this weekend!
spanakopita, dolmades, calamari, gyros and saganaki, along with tray upon tray of such Greek sweets as loukoumades and baklava. 4-10 p.m. Friday; noon - 10 p.m. Saturday. $7 admission; kids 12 and under free. 3500 W. 106th St., Carmel, 733-3033, www.indygreekfest.org
/ GALLERIES
FoodCon II at Harrison Center by Ted Somerville First Friday Food Truck Festival by Kelley Jordan
100% RECYCLED PAPER // NUVO // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // go&do
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GO&DO 10 SATURDAY FESTIVAL
Penrod Arts Fair @ IMA Spend a late-summer day soaking up a life-affirming blend of eclectic art, live music, fresh food and (typically) glorious weather at this must-attend arts extravaganza. Celebrating its 45th year, Penrod attracts people from throughout the Midwest to the verdant grounds of the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Approximately 150 artists, an extensive children’s area, five music stages and one culinary stage, along with a couple dozen local food and drink vendors, make Penrod one of the nation’s largest — and
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Penrod: Your one-stop shop for all-things-arts.
best — single-day art fairs. 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Admission: $12 advance; $17 day of event; kids 10 and under free. 4000 Michigan Rd., 920-2660, www.penrod.org
9 STARTS FRIDAY
PERFORMANCE ARTS
The Drowsy Chaperone @ Tarkington Theatre
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‘The Drowsy Chaperone’ is Civic’s first show at the new Tarkington Theatre.
10 SATURDAY FESTIVAL
The Drowsy Chaperone, a tribute to the Jazz Age musical and its restorative effects, opens with the narrator, a musical fan known simply as the Man in Chair, seeking to relieve his sadness by listening to a recording of his favorite 1920s musical. The show then bursts to life, transforming the man’s bleak apartment into a sparkling display of colors, costumes and lights. This lighthearted and engaging romp debuted on Broadway in 2006 and won five Tony Awards, including Best Book and Score. The show represents the first production at the newly opened Tarkington Theatre at The Center for the Performing Arts. Sept. 9-24. Days and times vary. Tickets: $32 - $39. 355 City Center Dr., Carmel, 923-4597, www.thecenterfortheperformingarts.com
FREE
French Market Festival @ St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church SUBMITTED PHOTO
Don a red beret, put your diet on hold and head over to the beautiful St. Joan of Arch Catholic Church for a veritable feast of authentic French cuisine. The menu includes such Left Bank favorites as tarte flambé, quiche, escargot, crawfish, étouffée, and a cheese, fruit and pâté plate. A raffle offers prizes ranging from an iPad to $1,500 in cash
Your friends from Second Helpings are serving up the goods at French Market Festival.
to a 50-cc scooter. The French Market Stage features 10 hours of live music from the likes of Mojo Gumbo and The Stardusters. There are also artisan booths, a bake sale and children’s games until 5 p.m. Noon-10 p.m. Free. 4217 Central Ave., 849-4709, www.sjoa.org 100% RECYCLED PAPER // NUVO // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // go&do
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BROAD RIPPLE CHAD DANIELS
6281 N. College Ave. Wednesday, Sept. 7-Saturday, Sept. 10
Chad Daniels has made appearances on “The Late Late Show” and “The Tonight Show” with Conan O’Brien. He’s recorded two cd’s and is a regular guest on the Bob and Tom show! Chad also has a half hour television special called “Comedy Central Presents…Chad Daniels.”
FOR RESERVATIONS, CALL 255-4211 Tickets: $8-$18
Upcoming: Wed, Sept 14 - Sat, Sept 17 Pete Lee
*special events not included
All shows are non-smoking
Tues, Sept 20 BOB & TOM Comedy All-Stars
DOWNTOWN PATTI VASQUES
247 S. Meridian Wednesday, Sept. 7-Saturday, Sept. 10
crackerscomedy.com
Patti is a regular guest on the wildly popular “Bob and Tom Radio Show” and has appeared on TBS’s brand new series “The Very Funny Show”, tapped during the “Just For Laughs” Comedy Festival. She is also currently writing her first book “ZIP IT! Just Because You Can Talk Doesn’t Mean You Should!”
COLLEGE ID NIGHT
FOR RESERVATIONS, CALL 631-3536
Every Thursday, show any ID (even your kids!) and pay only $5 admission with reservation
Upcoming: Wed, Sept 14 - Sat, Sept 17 Jeremy Essig Wed, Sept 21 - Sat, Sept 24 John Evans
1:00-3:30 HIGH SCHOOL BATTLE OF THE BANDS 4:00-4:45 JDRC 5:00-6:00 VINNIE & THE MOOCHERS 6:15-7:15 GENE DEER 7:30 - 8:45 HEALING SIXES 9:00-11:00 LARRY CRANE (STAGE LOCATED AT MAIN STREET AND 8TH AVE. IN FRONT OF NAPOLI VILLA)
GO&DO
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“People from Long Ago,” part of the Quest exhibit.
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We will never forget we love this photo of Zanna Doo!
11 STARTS
SUNDAY
11 SUNDAY
VISUAL ARTS
Quest for the West @ Eiteljorg Fifty of the nation’s most prominent Western artists bring their best work to Indianapolis for a combination art sale and exhibition. The fixed-price sale will be held on Sept. 10, with the exhibition opening to the public on S ept. 11. Note that art not sold on the day of the sale may be pur chased from the Eiteljorg Museum until the exhibition ends on Oct. 9. Be sure to check out the paintings of George Hallmark, winner of last year’s Quest for the West Artist of Distinction award. 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday-Saturday; noon - 5 p.m. Sunday. $8 for the exhibition; $250 for the Sept. 10 sale and reception. 500 W. Washington St., 636-9378, www.eiteljorg.org
SPECIAL EVENT
America Remembers 9/11 @ The Rathskeller Commemorate those whose lives were lost on Sept. 11, 2001 and honor the heroism of the firefighters right here in Indianapolis at this special event hosted by The Rathskeller. Scheduled speakers include Mayor Greg Ballard and IFD Chief Brian Sanford. As night falls, relax in the Biergarten with live music from such performers as Jimmy Ryser, Zanna Doo, Benito DeBartoli, The Woomblies, Living Proof, and Doug Henthorn and 4 on the Floor. A silent auction begins at 4 p .m. and ends at 8 p.m. All proceeds from the event benefit the Indianapolis Firefighters Bereavement Fund. 3-11 p.m. $5 suggested donation. 401 E. Michigan St., 630-0396, www.americaremembers.com
12 MONDAY
PERFORMANCE ARTS
Gala Opening Concert @ Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center FREE
Maestro Raymond Leppard seizes the baton and returns to the Fine Arts Center’s Ruth Lilly Performance Hall for an evening of Bach, Haydn and Mendelssohn. Accompanying Leppard will be violinist Ariana Kim, soprano Kathleen Hacker and pianist Richard Ratliff, along with the University of Indianapolis Festival Orchestra. A pre-concert conversation with Leppard, focusing on his recently published memoirs, begins at 7 p.m. A highly renowned and accomplished performer,
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Maestro Raymond Leppard leads the artists in Monday’s Gala.
Leppard served as the music director of the ISO from 1987 to 2001 and currently is an artist-in-residence at the University of Indianapolis. The performance kicks off the university’s Faculty Artist Concert Series. 7:30-9:30 p.m. Free. 1400 E. Hanna Ave., 788-3255, www.arts.uindy.edu 100% RECYCLED PAPER // NUVO // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // go&do
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A&E FEATURE Yes, they can dance
ICB showcases rising young dancers
O
BY RI TA KO H N E DI TO RS @N U VO. N E T
“In preparation to launch our residency company with performances next September, we focused on the dance scene in America and found a great mix of American and foreign dancers at the top of the international world of ballet, and have been fortunate to pull together a stunning program from classical to contemporary,” said Hesse. “In fact,” he added, “we’ve got some of the hottest contemporary choreographers on the program this year, including … a new commission fr om Margo Sappington with music by Michael Jackson, which will be on both the Friday and Saturday performances and has a great contemporary look.”
n Saturday, September 10, the Indianapolis City Ballet will present its third annual Evening with the Stars gala, featuring performances by soloists and principal dancers from major Simkin to headline both companies nationwide. However, this performances year’s festivities feature an added attracDanill Simkin, who thrilled last year’s tion on Sept. 9 – the Young Stars of Ballet. audience with his signature solo “Les “The performers on the Young Stars of Bourgeois,” returns to headline both Friday Ballet program include stars of today and and Saturday events. tomorrow,” explained Kevin Hesse, producSimkin was born in Russia to a ballet er/executive director of Indianapolis City family. Simkin made his stage debut at Ballet. “They are medal winners from interthe age of six, often dancing alongside his national competitions along with princifather Dimitrij Simkin. At age 12, Simkin pal dancers and soloists from American began participating in ballet competitions Ballet Theater.” The program also includes and galas around the world. members of the New York City Ballet, the Simkin went on to win several internaNational Ballet of Canada, ABT, Boston tional competitions before dancing his Ballet, and the Marinsky Ballet. first principal role with the Lithuanian The Young Stars of Ballet will showcase National Opera in 2007. In 2008, he plenty of local talent. joined the American Ballet Theatre as a “We are very pleased and honored to Soloist. His technical virtuosity is well have three emerging Indianapolis-based matched by his endearing personality, talents among the event’s soloists — which immediately connects him with Chris Lingner, Hannah Sink and Demitra the audience. Bereveskos,” explained Hesse. Simkin’s awards include the 2006 Senior The evening will feature 105 area dancGold Medal at the USA International ers from local schools in the Grand Defile, Ballet Competition, and First Prize/Gold choreographed by Carlos Dos Santos. Medal at the 2004 International Ballet Hesse describes the work as a spectacle Competition in Varna. In 2006, he joined marked by a flurry the ballet comof precise choreogpany of the Vienna raphy, quick transiState Opera as a tions, humor and demi-soloist. In virtuosity. 2007, he danced Hesse, along his first principal with Jolinda role as Basilio Menendez, the in Don Quixote, event’s perforas a guest with mance director, the Lithuanian selected the Young National Opera. Stars of Ballet Hesse underartists in consulscores Simkin’s tation with sevcommitment to eral ballet greats. people. “When Contributors I mentioned — Kevin Hesse, Producer/Executive included Franco the Young Director, Indianapolis City Ballet DeVita, Principal Stars program of the Jacqueline to Daniil he graKennedy Onassis ciously and excitSchool of Ballet edly joined the program – telling me, ‘I’m and Gailene Stock, Director of The Royal happy to do it for the kids .’” Ballet School. Joining Simkin are returning performers This year’s Evening with the Stars is Marcelo Gomes (ABT), Damian Smith, and themed as “International Stars of the Yuan Yuan Tan (San Francisco Ballet). American Ballet,” and includes soloists and principal dancers from American Growing the dance community Ballet Theatre, Joffrey Ballet, New York Kevin Hesse emphasized that this City Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. Also weekend of dance aims to acknowledge appearing are Guillaume Coté, guest artthe importance of teachers in the develist in residence of the National Ballet opment of an artist. In light of the occaof Canada, and Conrad Tao, pianist at sion, the ICB will honor Master Teacher Julliard School of Music. David Howard.
“[We] have been fortunate to pull together a stunning program from classical to contemporary.”
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a&e feature // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // NUVO // 100% RECYCLED PAPER
PHOTO BY GENE SCHIVONE
Guillame Coté is guest artist and r esident of the National Ballet of Canada.
Howard is celebrating his 45th year of teaching in America. Born and educated in England, Howard earned his first major role as a principal dancer at London’s famed Palladium Theatre, where he had the honor of appear ing in a Royal Command Performance before Queen Elizabeth II. Howard was a soloist for Sadler’s Wells Theatre Ballet (now The Royal Ballet) and also danced with the National Ballet of Canada. In 1966, Howard joined the faculty of the Harkness Ballet School in New York City. In 1977, Howard opened his own school adjacent to Lincoln Center. His classes have played an integral role in the professional training of many notable dancers. “We have a relatively diverse audience [in Indianapolis] and we would like to engage and entertain while deepening their knowledge and curiosity of the entire art form of ballet,” said Hesse. “I think the Young Stars program is especially valuable as it gives young audience members a chance to see their contemporaries flourish — hopefully imparting inspiration.” Said Hesse, “Indianapolis City Ballet is committed to developing a robust outreach program that engages audiences of all ages , including providing education materials about the ballet. “In the end,” Hesse concluded, “we continue to work as a relatively new member of the dance community of Indianapolis, seeking to grow the community and provide unique opportunities for dancers and audience members alike.”
PHOTO BY GENE SCHIVONE
The thrilling and engaging Danill Simkin r eturns.
INDIANAPOLIS CITY BALLET’S YOUNG STARS OF BALLET Friday, 7:30 p.m. EVENING WITH THE STARS 2011 Saturday, 8 p.m. The Murat Theatre in the Old National Centre, 502 N. New Jersey St. TICKETS:
General reserved seats: $70, $50 or $30 plus all applicable Murat box office fees. RESERVATIONS:
800-745-3000 or www.LiveNation.com. Patron seats are available by visiting www.indianpoliscityballet.org. Group rates for 10 or more call 317-339-1413
A&E FEATURE Big Car expands
Walker and Marsh find a Service Center
I
BY DAVID HOPPE DHOPPE@NUVO.NET
f you drive west on 38th St. and turn right on Lafayette Rd., the first thing you’re likely to see is Don’s Guns, our city’s hellzapoppin’ shrine to the Second Amendment. Next door to Don’s is a city landmark of a different sort: the work-in-progress known as the Service Center for Contemporary Culture and Community, a former Firestone tire dealership and the latest project by local avant-garde arts collective Big Car. The site-specific juxtapositions are enough to make even the most pomo of post-modern heads spin. The Service Center sits like an island in an asphalt sea, surrounded by the Lafayette Square Mall and a virtual archipelago of fast food joints, ethnic eateries, nail parlors and the occasional gentleman’s club. Cars and trucks barrel by; pedestrians take their chances. But this turns out to be a promising environment to test the Service Center’s premise that social practice art — an approach aiming to turn otherwise overlooked neighborhoods into beachheads for creative opportunity — can reenergize not just those neighborhoods but the city as a whole. Funders, from Pepsi to the Allen Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation, have climbed aboard. Even Mayor Greg Ballard has turned up to lend a hand shoveling mulch in the Service Center’s community garden. The leap into social practice art represents the latest stage in the evolution of what began in 2005 as the B ig Car Gallery in Fountain Square. An artists’ collective including, among others, John Clark, Kipp Normand, Tim Burris and Anne Laker, a large share of Big Car’s ability to thrive can be attributed to the indefatigable energies of Shauta Marsh and Jim Walker, a couple who are creative partners and life partners, as well. “What we figured out when we started working with Big Car was that visual art and performance and music weren’t connecting,” says Walker, sitting in the Service Center’s glass-walled workshop space a large room that once showcased tires that now, in addition to classes, can accommodate poetry readings and gallery exhibitions. The space provides a lending library with materials on the arts, cooking and gardening, plus a do-it-yourself publishing operation. There’s also a screening room, which currently has a series of videos fea-
turing mini documentaries about several of the ethnic restaurants in the neighborhood. Still to come: a large-scale performance space where the garage portion of the center used to be. In Big Car’s formative days, Walker and Marsh saw a lack of connection betw een the arts and potential audiences. They were troubled by the extent to which the ar ts they loved had become creatures of the academy — colleges and universities. “It’s almost a class division,” says Marsh, “a gap between fine art and people.” “We started Big Car because we loved it,” Marsh continues. “We made no money, in fact we lost our personal money — ever ybody did. But everybody chipped in. When you’re excited about something, you do a good job with it and people notice.” “We liked things that were experimental and different, that we weren’t seeing around here,” says Walker. “We wanted stuff that wasn’t here. We wanted to make it happen.”
Finding Fountain Square
Crammed into what had once been a shower space used by nuns, and intended to serve as a kind of studio wher e members could go to write or work on other personal art projects, Big Car grew into a gallery, thanks to the encouragement of Phil Campbell, the local arts entrepreneur who acquired the abandoned Murphy Building in Fountain Square. “I think we owe a lot of who we are and where we are now to Phil,” says Marsh. But in those days, Fountain Square wasn’t the urban destination it is now. “At the time, a big part of what we did involved getting people down there to our space,” says Walker. “That’s part of the reason we had so much going on all the time.” A typical evening at Big Car could involve a show of surrealist collages, — Shauta Marsh a multimedia video happening and an all-ages concert by a traveling band from another part of the country. “For a long, long time, whenever we had an event, I would go and walk the block looking for people who looked scared or lost,” says Walker. “We could have a drastically different show from one month to the next. That was sometimes a knock people had with us. There was a lack of consistency. But I think that was part of the idea. You bring a whole variety of people in. Maybe one month it was an abstr act painting show, but then it was something different. They all had the same goal of br inging something you didn’t see other places.” Walker says the gallery’s nonprofit status encouraged risk taking. “We were able to take chances on all kinds of things and not worr y about making money.” From the start, Big Car cultivated an environment that was open to all ages . “When I think about America versus other countries and how we treat youth, I think our kids are a little sheltered and we don’t trust them enough to understand ar t,”
“We started Big Car because we loved it.”
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a&e feature // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // NUVO // 100% RECYCLED PAPER
PHOTO BY MARK LEE
Shauta Marsh and Jim Walker have expanded the Big Car r each to a former Firestone tire dealership in Lafayette Square.
says Marsh. “We want to keep them in a certain place in our minds because w e don’t want them to grow up. But when you have all-ages shows, the kids are so into the experience of it.” Big Car became a place where parents and their teenagers could share an experience. “They can be in the same place ,” says Walker. Big Car and, by extension, Fountain Square, began to take on a gr itty urban aura with a distinctly Indianapolis flavor. Walker suggests that maybe that had something to do with where many of the Big Car crew came from. “A lot of us grew up in the country,” he says. Walker grew up in Warsaw, Indiana, Marsh in Greenfield. “The whole city is a lot of small to wns,” Walker says of Indianapolis. “Fountain Square is a small town. We came in and got to be part of making that small town happen.” Walker and Marsh came by their interest
in Fountain Square honestly, having lived in the newly christened Wheeler live/work artists’ building since it opened in 2000. They brought their first child, a daughter, home to the Wheeler immediately after she was born. “We were really interested in seeing that part of the city thrive,” says Marsh.
Community arts
Although Fountain Square has continued to be their home base, Marsh and Walker have expanded their focus to include Indianapolis as a whole. In part, this was a matter of necessity. Uncertainty over the future of the Murphy Building at one time prompted Big Car’s team to think of what they did independently of any one particular space. For over a year beginning in 2009, Big Car became a gallery without walls, producing Made for Each Other, a sequence of performances, gatherings, workshops and happenings in various ven-
ues and neighborhoods. Among Big Car’s collaborators during this time were the Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library and the Indianapolis Museum of Art. Operational support also came from contemporary arts patron Jeremy Efroymson. “I started thinking more about being a community arts organization,” says Walker. It was at around this time he discovered the Service Center on Lafayette Rd. A kind of critical mass was beginning to form in the city involving funders and urban design advocates who w ere increasingly interested in finding ways to integrate the arts into neighborhood redevelopment projects — not as add-ons or embellishments, but in the formative stages. The west 38th St. corridor and, in particular, the Lafayette Square area had already been identified as a preferred target for civic investment. So when Walker happened on the abandoned tire dealership hanging on the edge of the Lafayette Square Mall’s massive (and largely empty) parking lot, it was if the stars came into alignment. “I saw this building and I thought it ’s already on the street, it wouldn’t be hard to chew that much asphalt up with something on top of it,” he says, referring to a couple of the goals planners had emphasized — moving buildings along Lafayette closer to the street and finding ways to neutralize or eliminate the preponderance of asphalt in the neighborhood. Walker brought some of his Big Car colleagues to see the building and encountered members of the mall’s security team. They informed Big Car that the mall owned the building and gave Walker a contact number, which he called the next day. “We made it clear we didn’t have the money to rent the space,” he says. That didn’t matter. Mall ownership was more interested in finding a tenant. Before long, Big Car had a space in which to cr eate what many hope will provide a model for using the arts to help with neighborhood revitalization.
Practice not product
“The neighborhood has really embraced us,” says Marsh, joking that Don of Don’s Guns wondered aloud about what they were going to do with the enor mous pile of mulch that was delivered for the creation of the community garden. “We look at the garden as an art installation,” says Walker. “It has these shapes and different ideas.” Consisting of seven raised beds, including a large one in the shape of Indiana, the garden is growing a wide variety of produce, including peppers, sweet potatoes, squash, corn and cucumbers. Anyone is free to come pick whatever they can use. Over 150 volunteers have worked on the garden so far. “It’s about people working together,” says Walker. “It’s a collaborative project, but it’s practical. People can eat what’s grown here. It’s not just stacking a lot of static stuff in fr ont of the place to make it look like an ar t center.” “We’re challenging peoples’ ideas of what art is,” says Marsh. “I know Richard Serra said that if it’s not useless, it’s not art. Well, we’re calling this art and it actually is useful. We’re challenging old ideas that distance people from appreciating art, even though a lot of people who come thr ough here don’t consider it art.” This begs the question: Just how is what Big Car does different from activities offered at, say, a social services center?
PHOTO BY MARK LEE
Classes, art shows, multimedia events, movies — you name it, it’s probably happening at the Big Car Service Center.
“The practice of it is the art,” says Walker. “Not the product. The practice is really similar to social services, but the difference is in the creative and artistic approaches.” Walker relates how he and members of Big Car got people involved in making collages at a community picnic . “We had kids and adults and people w e would never have interacted with and who would never have interacted with each other, making art together. Collagemaking is the practice, and the social aspect is bringing people together. The product is secondary. We’re using art as a vehicle to the social, to maybe help a neighborhood, to bring people together.” Artists, says Walker, also bring a kind of engagement to the process that is different. “You give social workers this collage idea and they’re going to have a different attitude about it because it’s not their thing. Collage is an art form of mine, so I’m going to sit there and make one. When you have a social worker, a lot of times, unless they’re really into it, they’re going to stand back and they’re going to watch. It’s the same thing, sometimes, with teachers. A teacher who’s teaching writing should be down there, too. If they’re just standing back watching the kids wr ite, it shows they don’t really like writing themselves. Why should a kid like it? I think that’s a big difference. If you’re an artist, you’re going to be in it with them and your passion is going to come thr ough.”
Marsh adds, “A lot of times, when we go into these projects, we go in with an idea, but we don’t know the outcome. It’s like when a painter starts. They have an idea, but they don’t know for sure the direction it’s going to take. Instead of a painting being at the end of what w e do, there’s an explanation of what we’ve discovered and documentation.” Big Car’s social practice art represents a 180-degree turn from Modernist principles, which favored the artist as a rugged individualist who, first and foremost, was engaged in a search for personal truth. “No one’s that interesting,” laughs Walker. Walker also distinguishes social — Jim Walker practice art from the art of political protest that was in vogue during the 1980s and early ‘90s. “It’s actually providing some support for a solution,” he says. “We’re not going to solve world hunger by growing a garden out here. But it is a small thing that could pr ovide an example. Maybe other people will start to use parking lots for gardens when they can’t get access to space.” Marsh gestures to a blizzard of colorful post-it notes that have been attached to the walls — answers that workshop participants have put to questions, like “What condition is your condition in?” “Fair to good,” says one note. “Pert plus,” says another. “Ready for anything,” declares a third. Another question asks, “What do you believe in?”
“The whole city is a lot of small towns.”
“I believe in a big table. You are welcome there,” is one reply. This is not your typical arts outreach approach, says Marsh. “When I do these projects, I don’t feel like I’m doing people a favor. I get real excited about the stories they tell me and, at the end of the day, I feel really lucky to get to meet these people .” And there’s something more. “I worry about destroying the planet and our effect on the world,” Marsh says quietly. “Instead of throwing our hands up in the air, there’s this desire to make our art be something that helps.” ABOUT BIG CAR SERVICE CENTER HOURS: Wednesdays and Thursdays
11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m.2 p.m. Service Center will also be open various additional evenings and weekends for events. Visitors are welcome any time during those hours. On Wednesdays after school, teaching artists and volunteers will be present for dropin creative writing and art sessions for children. Programs for all ages will be available on both days. In addition, creativity workshops will be offered on Saturdays. Keep an eye on NUVO or on www.bigcar.org to learn more about these events, including pre-registration.
UPCOMING OPPORTUNITY TO HELP: Oct. 6 is this year’s Lilly Global Day of Service. On that day, according Walker, “Volunteers will create a mural that will go on the front of the building, build boxes around our garden beds and planter benches for outdoor seating, paint the interior of the garage bay space and help with general beautification of the area.”
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A&E REVIEWS
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Constance Edwards Scopelitis’ “A Wing and a Prayer” on view at Wug Laku’s Studio & Garage.
VISUAL ART 7TH ANNUAL IDADA MEMBERS’ EXHIBITION WUG LAKU’S STUDIO & GARAGE; THROUGH SEPT 30. e
Barry Blinderman, who works as the Director of the University Galleries at Illinois State University, was the juror for this year’s IDADA show. He provided a more generous selection than last year’s — both in terms of media and in number of pieces displayed. One standout, an honorable mention, was Flounder Lee’s “United States 1919 in Colon.” This work, which juxtaposed an old U.S. map over a grid of photographs taken at the former site of the School of the Americas in Panama, acknowledged a certain fraught history between the U.S. and its neighbors down south. Another standout was Jeremy Tubbs’ “Joe Bffsplk,” that verged on the photo-real in its depiction of street traffic in front of the Chicago Board of Trade building. Mind-blowingly, Tubbs used five different types of duct tape on paper as media in this composition. There was, of course, room for traditional painting at this show. One of the more traditional pieces — at least in terms of its acrylic on canvas media — was also one of the most conceptually strange. I’m talking about Dan Cooper’s 1st place winning “Doppler.” This painting showed an artfully composed country landscape that might’ve sufficed as the cover art for a James Taylor CD compilation — save for the circular swath of blank canvas swallowing up half the painting. My favorite, though, was Dorothy Alig’s “Chatter II,” (mixed media on washi paper) that conjured up a strange urban dreamscape filled with brilliant dabs of colors and fluttering birds. 1125 Brookside Avenue, 317-270-8258; www.wlsandg.com. — DAN GROSSMAN
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a&e reviews // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // NUVO // 100% RECYCLED PAPER
SUBMITTED PHOTO
Work by Adam Fung is on view at Mt. Comfort.
DARK ENERGY, DARK MATTER: PAINTINGS BY ADAM FUNG
MT. COMFORT (A SPACE FOR CHAMPIONS); THROUGH SEPT. 26. r A problem in trying to represent starscapes on canvas is that no painter alive can compete with the spectacular images that return daily from the Hubble Space Telescope in terms of realistic representation. Adam Fung’s answer to this dilemma is to try to portray the underlying substructure of the universe — what so far has eluded explanation by scientists. In Fung’s “The Sublime,” you see a field of stars where one squared of f section is darker than all the rest, as if he’ s revealing the dark matter underpinnings of the visible universe. There are also drips of yellow paint splashed across the star-field; perhaps they represent certain astronomical phenomena, but they also add Abstract Expressionist touches to this canvas. (Jackson Pollock was also an artist attracted to the sky as a subject.) In “Time Inverted” Fung also adds a textural element to his work by pushing a stiff brush through wet paint. With the resulting three-dimensional gridlines, he adds a textural element to this engaging work. 1043 Virginia Ave, Roberts.Casey@gmail.com — DAN GROSSMAN
FREAKS AND GEEKS
SOME GIRLS: NEW PAINTINGS BY JONATHAN MCAFEE
BIG CAR GALLERY; THROUGH SEPT. 30. e
e Earth House Collective; through Sept. 30. You’ll begin to understand Jonathan McAfee’s trajectory as an artist if you look closely at his entry and exit points in this series of paintings. One of the earliest, “Girl Wearing an Ironic Headdress,” (acrylic and oil pastel on canvas) portrays a young woman wearing nothing but a sleeveless shirt and an Indian headdress. She’ s depicted from thigh-level up, in motion, and the paints themselves seem to be in motion with thick brushstrokes of blue and white paint colliding behind her. The style is loose and free flowing and you often see bold Pop art colors where you might expect flesh tones. Somehow the painting remains true to its subject. So you have to describe this as a representational painting, despite the Abstract Expressionist influences. Other paintings from this series are pretty much in this same vein. That is, he harmonizes his various influences well. But it’s hard to say that about “Hairtoss,” the painting that McAfee completed last for this series. Here you see a massive blue edifice of a woman depicted nude from the waist up. Where her head’s supposed to be you see an explosion of thick brushstrokes in all colors of the rainbow. The result can’t be described as harmonious or representational and the painting may invoke certain dissonant associations in your mind. It’s absolutely breathtaking nonetheless. 237 N. East St, 317-6364060, www.earthhousecollective.org
This collaboration between artist Aaron Scamihorn and writer Jason Roemer gives new meaning to the word backstory. That is, Roemer’s short story text fills in the backdrop on three Scamihorn portraits on display at Big Car including “Crosstown Cab.” In this screenprint/painting, you see the face view portrait of one forlorn for tysomething dude, unshaven and bespectacled. Scamihorn is drawn to a Pop art style — Roy Lichtenstein meets Robert Crumb. The background text behind the portrait’s “geek” subject is in the contemporary American fiction vein — serious but funny short fiction akin to that of Barry Hannah. This subject of the piece has decided to pop the question to his high school sweetheart, after not seeing her at all for twenty years, and you know this has to end badly . Other represented figures of Scamihorn’s include a rather green looking Nicolas Sarkozy. And then there’s the portrait of J. Robert Oppenheimer against a bold red backdrop. Scamihorn has a great knack for getting the details just right in his portraits while also incorporating a slight edge of caricature. As a result, Oppenheimer’s eyes grab you from across the gallery with radioactive intensity. It was he, after all, who quoted Hindu scripture in reference to his handy new invention, the atomic bomb, saying “I am become death, destroyer of worlds.” 1043 V irginia Ave, 317-450-6630, www.bigcar.org. — DAN GROSSMAN
— DAN GROSSMAN SUBMITTED PHOTO
Jonathan McAfee’s “Hairtoss,” part of his Some Girls exhibit at Earth House .
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FOOD 10-01: improvements needed
Ambition and concept score high BY N E I L CHA R LE S N CH A RL E S @N U V O . N E T If we could award stars for ambition and concept, this smartly-appointed eatery in the heart of Broad Ripple would easily earn a four star rating. Unfortunately, however, we have to judge a place on its execution, and it’s in this department that 10-01 Food and Drink falls short. For the past few years there’s been a welcome resurgence in comfort food. This trend began in Europe, where chefs started to rediscover their grandmothers’ old recipes and techniques. Back came cassoulet, slowcooked shanks of various beasts, lots of offal and innards. In the right hands, these simple dishes can become objects of wonder. 10-01 attempts to recapture the past by offering comfort food with a “unique culinary twist.” I’m not sure what the twist is, but if it’s a matter of leaving out the salt and pep-
per, then the kitchen has triumphed spectacularly. We all know that comfort food can be a little salty, fatty and sweet. These are the flavors and textures that practically define the genre in its traditional setting. To put a modern spin on things by delivering food that is so under-seasoned as to be devoid of flavor is somewhat missing the point. Yes, it might be unique, but is it interesting, innovative or just displaying a lack of experience? On a recent visit, I failed to enjoy a savory meatloaf sandwich ($10) precisely for the reason that it wasn’t. Similarly my wife’s outside-in burger ($9) was aesthetically something of a mess, and tasted as if it were made from inexpensive supermarket-bought beef, with a grainy texture, no char and again, no flavor. The egg buns were quite good, but they were probably purchased. A dish of corn clam fritters was again unimpressive with its stodgy composition, and a side-dish of sweet potato French fries was bizarrely seasoned with what tasted like cinnamon sugar. Sweet potatoes don’t really need much additional sugar: their name should be a bit of a giveaway. The one redeeming dish of the meal was the toasted jalapeno corn bread with deep-fried bites of brie, served with a house-made cranberry chutney. This dish was sweet, savory and a touch salty, with nicely contrasting textures. On another positive note, 10-01 makes a game effort to use locally-sourced ingredients wherever possible. The menu could perhaps be more explicit about its sources,
PHOTO BY MARK LEE
10-01’s savory meatloaf sandwich ($10).
as this seems to be an area of interest for so many diners. With a number of excellent local brews and an interesting cocktail list, the restaurant more than makes up with its drink selection what it lacks (just for the moment, I hope) in the food department. The service staff at 10-01 is attentive and friendly, but the attention to detail, such as the busing of tables or cleaning up after diners, left a bit to be desired. I’m convinced that with a bit of care and attention, 10-01 could become a thoroughly decent restaurant, perhaps even a destination. Right now I’d recommend it more for drinks and people watching.
CULINARY PICKS NORTHSIDE NIGHTS @ INDY’S NORTHSIDE
On Sunday, Sept. 10, head over to Indy’s northside and enjoy a three-course meal for $30 at any one of 26 participating restaurants. A few eateries, such as Scotty’s Brewhouse (3905 E. 96th St.), are willing to double your dining dollar, offering a prix fixe meal for two for $30. This special event lasts two weeks, from Sept. 6-18. Diners should ask for the $30 menu upon being seated. Reservations are well-advised, as undoubtedly herds of people will be looking to eat filets and salmon at the likes of Sullivan’s Steakhouse (3316 E. 86th St.) and Ruth’s Chris (9445 Threel Rd.) for a mere 30 bucks. For more info: 571-9857, www.northsidenightsindy.com If you have an item for the Culinary Picks, send an e-mail at least two weeks in advance to culinary@nuvo.net.
BEER BUZZ BY RITA KOHN
SEPT. 7
Tomlinson Tap Room, Indianapolis City Market, 5 p.m.: Tapping party kicks off month-long 5th anniversary for Bjava Coffee and Tea with java brews from Bier Brewery, Black Swan Brewpub, Broad Ripple Brewpub, Flat12 Bierwerks, Great Fermentations of Indiana, Ram Restaurant & Brewery, Rock Bottom North and Sun King. They accepted Roast Mistress and national beer judge Sandy Cockerham’s challenge to brew beer with coffee added. Bjava also will be brewing specialty coffees at Tomlinson. (Note: Bjava Coffee and Tea, 5510 Lafayette Rd. #140,;317 280 1236; bjavacoffee@sbcglobal.net) Rock Bottom, 86th St., 6 p.m.: Tapping of Liz Laughlin’s seasonal Harvest Ale.
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a&e // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // NUVO // 100% RECYCLED PAPER
10-01 Food & Drink 1001 Broad Ripple Avenue 317-253-1001 1001fooddrink.com
HOURS
TUESDAY-SUNDAY: 11 a.m.-11 p.m.
FOOD: y ATMOSPHERE: r SERVICE: t
SEPT. 7, 8, 9, 10
Triton Brewing Co., at Fort Benjamin Harrison, 5764 Wheeler Road: Opening week features guest Indiana craft beers. Hours: Wed.-Fri., 3-10 p.m. & Sat. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. The tasting room has flat screens to watch sporting events. Food changes daily and includes: Hoosier Fat Daddy, Fat Dan’s Deli, Fat Sammies. For upcoming tappings of Triton beers call 317-508-3715 or visit www.Tritonbrewing.com Note: Triton’s Grand opening is Oct. 15 with live music; food by Chef JJ. The Ram Downtown, 6 p.m.: Tapping of Big Horn Oktoberfest, echoing Germany’s end of the summer celebration and contrasting with Ram’s Rhineland Kolsch light body, dry finish and touch of fruit. Upland Brewery is the only Indiana craft beer served at Lucas Oil Stadium this football season; on draft in sections 109, 132, and 514. Their release also states: “Upland is hosting an “Official Tailgate of Upland at the Patio @ High Velocity Bar in the JW Marriott of Indianapolis. Join us every home pre-game for $3.50 drink specials, land some free Upland and football gear, and get to know your community Upland reps.” The Tasting Room at 49th and College is now serving pints and beer flights for tasting. New hours: Sun.-Thurs. 4-10 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. noon-midnight. Food trucks: Weds. West Coast Tacos; Thurs. & Sat. Scratchtruck; Fri. Groovy Guys Gourmet Fries Check out Bier Brewery and Taproom’s weekly on-line “Brewsletter” in addition to what’s on tap carries a column “Corbin’s Corner” providing an excellent discussion about a beer style. Email tara@ bierbrewery.com to subscribe. Tuxedo Park Brewers homebrew store in Fountain Square, 1139 Shelby Street is starting an in-house homebrew club, MONK: “Midwestern Order of Ninkasi.” Call 317-408-6970 or visit www.tuxedoparkbrewers.com If you have an item for Beer Buzz, send an email to beerbuzz@nuvo.net. Deadline for Beer Buzz is Thursday noon before the Wednesday of publication.
MOVIES Epworth Church hosts eco-conscious films B Y S A M W A T E R M E IE R E D I T O RS @N U V O . N E T In these lean fall and winter months, as Hollywood leaves audiences malnourished, the Epworth-Sierra Club offers food for thought. As it has done since 2008, the Epworth United Methodist Church (6450 Allisonville Rd.) will host free screenings and discussions of ecoconscious films — this season, on the second Friday of each month at 7 p.m. The upcoming film series, which starts this Friday, is bound to be provocative. As Epworth Green Team chair Jodi Perras said, “Many of the films demonstrate that, when left to their own devices, the business community often does not take steps to protect human health and the environment. Profits become more important than people’s health and God’s creation. We agree we need jobs, but not at the expense of people’s health.”
Although the church offers free freshlypopped popcorn, ice water and lemonade along with the films, it does not necessarily invite a casual, passive movie theater atmosphere. The Epworth-Sierra club expects audiences to speak out and be inspired to act upon the films’ environmental warnings. “As human beings living in a democratic society, we have a responsibility to act when we see injustice and harm to our environment,” Perras said. “We hope people of all beliefs — whether they are Christians, Muslims, Jews, atheists or agnostics — will see the films and be inspired to do something with what they’ve learned.”
The featured films…
Dirty Business (Sept. 9): Indiana receives more than 90 percent of its electricity from coal-fired power plants, a fact made more alarming by this film. In this eye-opening documentary, Rolling Stone reporter Jeff Goodell rakes through the muck of the coal world, exposing the dangers of what is the largest single source of greenhouse gases. The film also highlights the renewable alternatives appropriate for this age of rapid climate change. Co-sponsored by Hoosier Interfaith Power & Light, the screening will include a discussion regarding how Indiana can move into a cleaner energy future. Gasland (Oct. 14): The drilling technology of “fracking,” or hydraulic fracturing, has unlocked a Saudi Arabia of natural gas beneath our feet. This film follows director
SUBMITTED PHOTO
A still from the film ‘Dirty Business,’ showing Friday at 7 p.m. at Epworth.
Josh Fox after he leases his land for drilling and embarks on a cross-country journey, uncovering the victims of fracking, such as a Pennsylvania town whose drinking water becomes flammable. This isn’t your typical documentary. As its website states, Gasland is “part verite travelogue, part expose, part mystery, part bluegrass banjo meltdown, part showdown.” Pig Business (Nov. 11): A contemporary David and Goliath story, this film follows Tracy Worcester, a mother and campaigner, as she confronts the giant meat corporations that sweep across the world and undermine its welfare. At the screening, you can meet the equally vigilant Indiana
CAFO Watch leader Barbara Sha Cox, who confronts factory farms here in Indiana. After the film, she will discuss her work and how Hoosiers can get involved in the factory farm issues that affect our water quality, air quality and overall health. Truck Farm (Dec. 9): The most lighthearted of the film series, Truck Farm tells of a man who planted a garden in his truck bed and used it to raise awareness of urban farming. Thanks in large part to filmmaker Ian Cheney, there are now truck farms across the country, including in Indianapolis. For questions about these films, call Epworth at 251-1481 or e-mail epworthgreenteam@gmail.com.
FILM CLIPS
FIRST RUN
OPENING
The following are reviews of films currently playing in Indianapolis area theaters. Reviews are written by Ed Johnson-Ott (EJO) unless otherwise noted. Raunchy, silly comedy starring Nick Swardson (Terry the roller-skating prostitute on BUCKY Reno 911!), Christina Ricci, Don Johnson and Stephen Dorff. Bucky (Swardson) is a LARSON: BORN TO BE A small-time grocery bagger going nowhere in life — until he discovers his conservative parents were once adult film stars. Armed with the belief that he has found his STAR destiny, Bucky packs up and heads out to LA hoping to follow in his parents’ foot(R) steps. 96 minutes.
CONTAGION (PG-13)
Steven Soderbergh directs an all-star cast in a thriller that follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the worldwide medical community races to find a cure and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself. At the same time, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society coming apart. The cast includes Marion Cotillard, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle and Elliott Gould. 106 minutes. See nuvo.net for Ed’s day-of-release review.
CONVENTO (NR)
Exploring art as a way of life, this award-winning documentary follows Dutch artist Christiaan Zwanikken, who, along with his brother and mother, lives in a 400-year old monastery in Portugal called Sao Francisco. Zwanikken resurrects deceased local wildlife by reanimating their skeletal remains. His mother and brother pursue their own paths, tending the flora and fauna. 52 minutes. On Friday, Sept. 9 at 8:15 p.m., you can experience this film in the serene setting of 100 Acres’ Ruth Lilly Visitors Pavilion. $5 for the public, free for IMA members.
THE DEVIL’S DOUBLE (R)
Summoned from the frontline to Saddam Hussein’s palace, Iraqi army lieutenant Latif Yahia (Dominic Cooper) is thrust into the highest echelon of the royal family when he’s ordered to become the “fiday” — or body double — to Saddam’s son, the notorious “Black Prince” Uday Hussein (also Cooper), a reckless, sadistic partyboy with a rabid hunger for sex and brutality. With his and his father’s lives at stake, Latif must surrender his former self forever as he learns to walk, talk and act like Uday. But nothing could have prepared him for the horror of the Black Prince’s psychotic, drug-addled life of fast cars, easy women and impulsive violence. 108 minutes. At Landmark’s Glendale Cinema.
WARRIOR (PG-13)
Haunted by a tragic past, ex-Marine Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy) returns home for the first time in fourteen years to enlist the help of his father (Nick Nolte) to train for SPARTA, the biggest winner-takes-all event in mixed martial arts history. A former wrestling prodigy, Tommy blazes a path toward the championship while his brother, Brendan (Joel Edgerton), an ex-fighter-turned-teacher, returns to the ring in a desperate bid to save his family from financial ruin. But trouble is brewing between the brothers. Early reviews are very positive. 139 minutes.
THE GUARD e (R)
A quirky mismatched cop story, The Guard is smart, funny, and packed with interesting personalities, including Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle, two of the best actors in the world. Gleeson is as good as he’s ever been as Sergeant Boyle — foulmouthed hedonist, skilled police officer, devoted son, and accomplished irritant. He has a fine time bothering FBI agent Wendell Everett (Cheadle), casually making outrageous racist remarks and then claiming he is merely busting his new colleague’s balls. Rich characters, caustic humor, emotion without a whiff of sentimentality, all of it set in the unassuming beauty of a small Irish village.
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music The Headhunters: How the platinumselling jazz-funk group came to Indy
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BY S CO T T S H O G E R S S H O G E R@N U V O . N E T
ow are we gonna fit these pygmies on here? That’s the question Rob Dixon and Gary Mielke, co-producers of Platinum, a new record by jazz-fusion band The Headhunters on the local label Owl Studios, were asking themselves when I visited them at Static Shack Studios this March. The final mix of the album was due within days, but the album’s executive producer, J. Allan Hall, had just thrown them a bit of a curveball, in the form of a field recording of pygmies that he wanted to be somehow included in the finished product. Well, it wasn’t completely out of left field (to mix baseball metaphors): Hall, also the president of Owl Studios, took a trip with Headhunters drummer Mike Clark to Russia in fall 2010. It was an old-school cultural diplomacy mission, a visit by Clark’s organ trio to hinterlands that rarely welcome professional groups from any genre. Dixon, a member of the trio, was also along for the ride; he’s a key reason why The Headhunters, the once-backing band for Herbie Hancock that has a Platinumselling record under its belt, are working out of Indianapolis these days — but we’ll get to that in due time. According to Dixon, Hall asked for the field recording to be added in recognition of the trip to Russia, when Hall learned that Clark had an appreciation for world music. But even a fusion band has its limits for just how much can be fused together, and Dixon and Mielke were gathered around a computer and mixing console, shooting the shit casually but also wondering aloud just where the sound byte would go. One room over, in a smaller studio, Clark was ready for his close-up, posing for new publicity photos while in town to oversee the final touches on Platinum — as well as adjudicate a jazz contest at Ball State and play a gig at The Jazz Kitchen. Someone yelled: “Don’t make him smile!” Apparently too many Owl Studios artists end up smiling in publicity portraits; the final results, show a serious but not forbidding Clark. Owl Studios may have its official headquarters on Monument Circle, where it shares space with Hall’s medical insurance business. But it’s in the Northside office building I visited in March, which includes Static Shack Studios as well as offices for, among others, Owl Studios’ go-to art director P.J. Yinger, that much of the recording,
onnuvo.net 26
PERFORMING AT THE JAZZ KITCHEN, 5377 N. COLLEGE AVE. Thursday, Sept. 13 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., $25, 21+ (Show two in the Indy Jazz Fest Sunset Series; a $99 ticket buys admission to all Indy Jazz Fest shows.) SUBMITTED PHOTO
The Headhunters at Static Shack Studios: from left, Derrick Gardner, Richie Goods, Bill Summers, Kyle Roussel, Mike Clark, Rob Dixon, Donald Harrison.
mixing and mastering takes place for a typical Owl Studios session, usually by Mielke.
Meeting Rob Things were winding down on that March afternoon, with Clark available to talk about his new record for a few minutes before heading south to get ready for his gig. He slumped down in a leather couch in a waiting room, exhausted after a long day of teaching and the work of making a record. “Is that a beer?” he asked his assistant of a cup being handed him. “Because I can’t handle a beer right now; that’d put me to sleep.” One key question I had for him: Just how did The Headhunters, who have existed in various incarnations after they transitioned from being a backing band for Hancock into a group independent of its founder, come to make a record for Owl Studios? And how did Clark, who is signed as an individual to Owl, make Indianapolis a main base for operations? It all began, according to Clark, with Rob Dixon, who seems to click with a lot of musicians, both new (fusion guitarist Fareed Haque, jam band Twin Cats) and old school (B-3 organist Melvin Rhyne).
/BLOG
Rib America, Neon Love Life, Indy Hostel Folk Fest, Marc Broussard, Earth, Wind & Fire, Indy Jazz Fest
music // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // NUVO // 100% RECYCLED PAPER
/PHOTO
“I came here to do a gig at The Jazz Kitchen with the organist Jerry Z, and somebody bailed at the last minute,” Clark said. “So whoever set that up called the club, called [Jazz Kitchen owner] David Allee, and they were like, ‘Well, maybe we’re not going to be able to do the gig.’ And David said, ‘Well, we’ve got a guy that’ll probably fit with Mike really well.’” Dixon sat in with the band for the night, and Clark took to him from the beginning: “It was like we’d been playing together for five years. I understood his musical language right away; I could feel his funk, and it worked with the funk I have inside me. I said, ‘I love this guy.’” Dixon, who had just walked in from the mixing room, added, “I was blowing you up on Facebook, or MySpace, or whatever.” “Yeah, it was MySpace then,” Clark said. “Nobody ever goes to MySpace; it’s like there is no MySpace. I don’t even check mine. I think somebody hacked it and there was a bunch of porn on it, and I didn’t even bother to take it off.” As time went by, Dixon, who works A&R for Owl, asked Clark if he wanted to record with his organ trio for the label. And then The Headhunters record followed; Clark can’t remember if it was he or Dixon who
Features: Interview with Wilco bassist John Stirratt; Spud Puppies
suggested the idea of a new project by the band, and it came to fruition almost by happenstance. “It wasn’t a thought-out plan; it was just a spontaneous thing,” according to Clark. And so the key figures began to assemble, including percussionist Bill Summers, the sole remaining original member of The Headhunters (Clark joined the group for its second album, Thrust, recorded in 1974 when the group was still a backing band for Hancock).
Becoming brothers Clark and Dixon may be somewhat of an unlikely pairing — after all, Dixon moved back from New York City a few years back, a place where it’s easier to pick up such accidental, fill-in gigs — but the success of Clark’s working relationship with Summers, which dates back 35 years now, might be attributed to some kind of fortuitous alignment of the stars. As Summers, reached via phone in New Orleans, tells it, Clark stood out in Hancock’s band when he first joined. “The original drummer with The Headhunters was Harvey Mason,” Summers said. “It was totally an AfricanAmerican band [before Clark joined]. With
reunite for Indy Hostel Folk Fest; A brief history of Marmoset Concert reviews: Neon Love Life, Punk Rock Night, Rib America, Marmoset, Indy Hostel
Folk Fest, Aaron Diehl Trio, Headhunters Album reviews: Neon Love Life, ‘Tuesday Night’; Lorax & Defame, ‘Cicada Shells’
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Bill Summers, master percussionist
The Headhunters, Michael and I were on different ends of the perspective; during the early days, Michael perceived me as Black Power: Stokely Carmichael, H. Rap Brown, Malcolm X, the Black Panthers. Michael always wondered, where does he stand on me: Was I standing against white folks, which would mean he would be my enemy, right? It was hard for him to figure out. And over the years, me and Michael wound up being the only two left in the band, and we’re joined at the hip. We have withstood the fire: We’ve threatened each other, we’ve fought with each other, we’ve cussed each other out, and now we’re as close as two brothers can be.” There were plenty of original members around when The Headhunters first went “solo,” releasing Survival of the Fittest in 1975, which featured Hancock as a producer but not performer. The group took its name from 1973’s Head Hunters, which marked Hancock’s turn towards an R&Band funk-inflected jazz fusion; three albums with the same backing band and a similar sound — 1974’s Thrust and 1975’s Flood and Man-Child — followed before Hancock stepped out. The Headhunters took a long hiatus through the ‘80s, but have been touring and recording for the past 10 years with Clark and Summers as co-leaders. Survival of the Fittest is the band’s only record to go platinum — hence, what one may read as an ironic or hopeful title to the band’s latest album, which isn’t yet within striking distance of that designation — and it featured the group’s best-known song, “God Make Me Funky,” an oft-sampled, joyful blast of funk. The song made plenty of money upon release, but Clark is still waiting for proceeds from its second life as a go-to beat for DJs during the early years of hip-hop. “My drum part off ‘God Make Me Funky’ could’ve been the first to ever be used in hip-hop,” Clark said, though he notes that that’s “debatable now” — and we certainly can’t confirm the claim. “I don’t care if I was the first or the five millionth. But Grandmaster Flash used it, and for some DJs, that used to be a must-have in your collection; if you didn’t have that, you were out of the club. I would have dug it a lot more if they’d have paid me for it…If you can’t play music, and you copy somebody who can plays music’s stuff — and most of those guys at that time could not play a note — then pay the guy who actually spent his life trying to play the music.
That’d be cool. So, whoever reads this, if you stole my stuff call Owl records and send a check; they’ll get it to me.”
‘Hey, that’s Spock’ Clark isn’t anti hip-hop, though; Platinum is the first Headhunters album to prominently feature contributions by emcees, including some household names (Snoop Dogg, Killah Priest) and local upand-comer Jaecyn Bayne, who’s currently recording what will be the first hip-hop album to be released on Owl. Clark said it hasn’t been a stretch to play hip-hop, that he’s been stretching all his life. “I’m a trained jazz drummer from the time I was eight years old; that’s really my forte, although I’m known for the funky thing,” he said. “The reason I’m known for the funky thing more than jazz is because Herbie Hancock’s record sold a million and I was on it; that pretty much took care of that. I’m not as famous as and don’t have the money that Leonard Nimoy does, but if you saw Spock in a leading role in a Broadway play, as soon as you walked in, you’d say, ‘Hey, that’s Spock!’ It doesn’t bother me; it’s not like I’m suffering from it, but it’s kind of ironic, actually, because my first influences were Count Basie, Duke Ellington; big bands, boogie-woogie. For me, it’s a natural progression; it’s not even a thing. I just try to play good all the time. But it’s not a challenge to go from one particular groove to another, at all.” Summers, for his part, thinks the addition of what he calls “urban aspects” to the Headhunters sound on Platinum is part of the band’s continual “evolution.” “Our music has always been urban,” he said. “Jazz is the essence of fusion, because it’s a fusion of cultures. And when, over the years, we make music and record music, my thing has always been about the fusion of cultures. That’s what I bring to the table.” A master percussionist, Summers has devoted his life to appreciating music made by other cultures — even if audiences in his homeland aren’t as likely to appreciate such skilled hand drumming. He differentiates his interest in fusion from Clark’s training in the straight-ahead jazz world. “Most people don’t have the training or the history, nor have they studied each individual instrument and their names, Story continues on page 28.
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Mike Clark on the set Story continued from page 27.
where they come from, how they were used traditionally, what rhythms are played on it,” he explained. “My background goes to a sacred level where I have been ordained a priest of the drum by another group of ordained priests in Cuba. So, I had to join a fraternity and memorize three or four hundred rhythms before I was recognized.”
No heavy cursing Hall laid down some ground rules when the Headhunters decided to incorporate hip-hop into the record, according to an article in Down Beat about the sessions: “No racial stuff; no heavy cursing; and no demonizing women.” Clark, who said that they had to cut out some lines from Snoop Dogg’s rap in order to stay within the rules, could abide wholeheartedly by two of Hall’s stipulations, if not the third. “If it was up to me, I would make a record where I cursed every word,” he said. “I would love the sound of that, but Al doesn’t see it that way, so we cooled down on the cursing. I was actually talking to this guy where we were going to make a record of dirty blues. It would probably make a million dollars, but I wouldn’t tell my family it’s me. They’d say, ‘I’m glad you’re doing so well. What happened?’” Snoop’s contribution is to the record’s most star-studded track, “D-Funk (Funk With Us),” which also includes a verse by Killah Priest, and what’s credited as a “philosophical interjection” by George Clinton, whose 20 seconds of spoken-word thoughts about funk and its role in the universe could serve as his answering machine message (having, incidentally, the same fidelity as a vintage answering machine message). Name recognition aside, Clinton’s contribution is fun but superfluous and Snoop also sounds a bit like he’s phoning it in, leaving Bayne, the local guy, to shine — as he does throughout the record, contributing fast-paced, tight verses that fit well within the context of any given song. Clark says that the album came together by committee, including appearances by stars like Snoop and Clinton that were facilitated by friends of friends: “People just started
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showing up, and when people started showing up they started bringing people with them.” Some contributors have been with The Headhunters for a few years, namely Donald Harrison, the New Orleans-based alto saxophonist upon whom a character in the HBO series Treme is based. But most players were new or recent additions to the group’s extended family, including Richie Goods on bass, Patrice Rushen on keyboards and Jerry Stucker on guitar. Several artists on Owl Studios lent their talents: not only Dixon, but trumpeter Derrick Gardner and singer Cynthia Layne, not to mention producer Mielke’s keyboard work on some tracks. Platinum isn’t purely or even mostly a hip-hop record: four of the album’s tracks feature emcees, but only “D-Funk” is given over almost entirely to vocals. The rest of the record does, indeed, accomplish a fusion between genres: there’s a James Brown-style funk number, “Paging Mr. Wesley,” written in tribute to Fred Wesley, the trombonist who wrote and arranged for Brown during his heyday; a Latin-flavored number by Summers, “Tracie,” that puts the percussionist front-and-center, while making room for a bright solo by Gardner; and the New Orleans-influenced “Congo Place,” named after Congo Square, where slaves were allowed to gather and party on Sundays in New Orleans. Owl Studios, which snapped up most major players on the Indy scene in its early years, has since set its sights beyond I-465; The Headliners became the labels most high-profile group when it was signed last year. Clark says it’s been a good relationship thus far, mostly because Hall is doing right by the artists on the label. “I guess it’s artist-friendly, because so far, since I’ve been here, no one’s ever told me what to play or how to play, or even suggested it,” he said. “The fact that Rob, a musician who plays as great as he does, is associated with a record company is unusual. They’ve treated me good with the bread, and they’ve treated me good as a human being, so that’s also different. And I’ve been with some record companies before that really didn’t understand me as a human being, an artist or a drummer, at all.”
FEATURE
Tiara Thomas:
First Ball State, now the world — but not before graduating
T
BY S CO T T S HO G E R S S H O G E R@N U VO . N E T
iara Thomas’s Twitter profile says a lot about the life she’s living now: “Just a college musician with a rockstar life, early morning flights then back to school the same night.” About a year and a half ago, the Ball State student and Indianapolis native was, indeed, just a college musician. Her YouTube videos — acoustic-guitar-andvoice covers of R&B and hip-hop hits, some originals with the same instrumentation — had picked up modest traffic, on the strength of her bright, soulful voice and capable guitar work. But it was a trip to Atlanta during her 2010 spring break that led her into the rock star life. With fake ID in hand (Thomas is now 21), she made her way to a popular club — “I guess there were some famous basketball players there; I wouldn’t be able to identify a basketball player to save my life,” she joked during a recent phone interview. But a friend was able to pick out Washington, D.C.-based rapper Wale from the mix. Thomas didn’t know him well at the time — his 2009 Interscope debut, Attention Deficit, was critically wellreceived but didn’t launch any chart-toppers — but she introduced herself, told him what she was up to. Wale was receptive, said he was looking for a Lauryn Hill-type artist. Four months passed without word. Suddenly Thomas was on a plane to New York City, accompanied by her dad. It was summer 2010, and the day of arrival she was in a studio, recording a track, “The Cloud,” with Wale. Not that she hadn’t been preparing all her life; the song, a summery ode to weed, was structured around a riff she wrote at age 16 that Wale heard her noodling around with in the studio. Things rolled from there. “The Cloud” was released on Wale’s 2010 “More About Nothing” mixtape. A video for the song appeared this year, giving Thomas a little more mainstream exposure. A year after her trip to New York, Thomas signed with a label co-owned by Wale, The Board Administration. She spent much of this summer with Wale and his crew in Atlanta, working on two projects: Wale’s upcoming second album, due to drop in November, and her own debut EP, which will release sometime after Wale’s album (and whose title she’s not yet ready to disclose). One track from the EP has already been released: “All Around the World,” which Thomas says will sound slightly different in its EP version. Although the singer has established herself as a soulful, indeed, Lauryn Hill-type, always armed with a guitar and easygoing riff, “All Around the World” tells of her range: there’s the smooth chorus, sure (“I’ve been all around the world / Came from the bottom / Making for the top”), but there are also more intense, rapid-fire, but still somehow sweet, rhymes that announce
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Tiara Thomas
her presence (“I’m the future of this game”) and cleverly reference Teddy Pendergrass and MC Hammer. Her story starts on the northeast side: a middle school talent show performance of Tupac’s “Changes” on piano, show choir at Lawrence North, church choir. Dad bought got her a guitar after refusing to buy a drum set; Thomas remembers writing her first song in the back seat on the way home from the store. Dad encouraged her to post YouTube videos; her parents were the first to comment on them when she finally did, her freshman year of college. There was B.W. (Before Wale) and A.W. (After Wale), traffic-wise: she picked up a good number of hits for her cover of Drake’s “Say Something,” but when Wale tweeted the link last year, the video started getting tens of thousands of views. All along, she’s been listening a wide range of stuff: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (which she says is the record that’s had the biggest impact on her); Elton John’s “Rocket Man” (“it just makes you feel good”); Tupac (“I don’t necessarily think he’s the greatest rapper, but he was so real, that that alone was touching…”). She’s starting to get used to all of these new opportunities, the one-on-one meeting with Pharrell Williams, the hang with Rick Ross: “It was really shocking to me at the time, but as a year went by, I kind of got used to it.” So why isn’t Thomas skipping her last year of school and going pro? “I don’t want to hear my mom and dad’s mouth about. I did three years of college, I got all these student loans; at least, I’m going to get something from it, I’m going to get a freaking degree.” She plans to look for a label — either major or independent would be fine; she learned in a music business class that independent is now the way to go — after she graduates. Meanwhile, she’s looking forward to getting her new EP out there, which will have some surprises. Take the track “Blow”: “If you’ve only seen YouTube videos of acoustic stuff, it’ll probably be really far out. It’s completely Cee Lo Green meets Katy Perry."
AT THE UP + UP SHOW WITH DJ TXT BOOK, EJAAZ, FLY.UNION, FLACO Earth House, 237 N. East St. 8:30 p.m., $10 advance (bit.ly/ UPandUP), $15 door, 21+ 100% RECYCLED PAPER // NUVO // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // music
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SOUNDCHECK Reception Hall 317-657-0006 3826 N. Illinois 317-923-4707 melodyindy.com
SUMMER CONCER on Beautiful Crys
T SERIES
tal Lake
Wed. 9/7 Grant Gilman & The Unfortunate Few, Vinny Vegas (Baltimore), The Red Rash...doors @ 8, show @ 9...$5.
Shows start at
8pm
Thursday Flying Toasters
Thurs. 9/8 MOLLY GENE(Missouri)... doors @ 8, show @ 9...$5.
Friday
Fri. 9/9 SUSAN & DAMON’S BIRTHDAY BASH! w/ STAND & DELIVER, THE PROFORMS, CHAKRAS(Cincy), JO’ MARTINI...doors @ 9, show @ 10...$5.
Tastes Like Chicken
HILLBILLY HAPPY HOUR w/ THE COUSIN BROTHERS and Miss Kimmy & Zorba... doors @ 7, show @ 7:30...$5.
The Dane Clark Band
Saturday
Sat. 9/10 PUNK ROCK NIGHT! w/ The Putz, The Dewtons, Those Crosstown Rivals, The Typos...doors @ 9, show @ 10...$5. Sun. 9/11 tba Tues. 9/13 JUXTAPOZE...electronic dj night...9p-3a...$2 (free w/ college i.d.). SPECIALIZING IN LIVE ORIGINAL MUSIC AND HIGH PERFORMANCE SOCIAL LUBRICANTS
247 SKY BAR LIVE LAUNCH PARTY! Indy’s Newest Live Concert Venue! September 8th, 8pm LOCATED DOWNTOWN INDIANAPOLIS 247 S. MERIDIAN STREET
D.A.M.P. PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS
SHOCK G of
DIGITAL
UNDERGROUND
w/Humpty Hump & DJ FUZE Also performing: members of Tornado Alley, #ATFU & Byron Barret
$15 in advance $20 at the door SPONSORED BY:
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music // 09.07.11-09.14.11 // NUVO // 100% RECYCLED PAPER
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Wilco
Wednesday
Saturday
POP ELTON JOHN
FOLK INDY HOSTEL FOLK FESTIVAL
Verizon Wireless Music Center, 12880 E. 146th St., Noblesville, 8 p.m., $26-139 (plus fees), all-ages After a fallow period of, oh, about three decades, Sir Elton Hercules has been making progressively more interesting artistic choices for the past 10 years, including the release of his second autobiographical record with his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin, The Captain & the Kid, in 2006. His most recent full-length, 2010’s The Union, a collaboration with the almost-forgotten Oklahoma singer-songwriter Leon Russell, helped to rescue the Russell from an obscurity he had fallen into since the ‘70s — part of it self-inflicted, the result of too many ragtime records recorded on MIDI. But what’s good for the goose is good, well, you know, and both artists found themselves recapturing a little of the youthful energy they radiated in the ‘70s on the project, with not a little help from T-Bone Burnett (giving the proceedings grit) and Taupin (contributing some lyrics, without the usual bombast). Not that Russell will be there Wednesday; it’ll be just John and his band, bringing with the greatest hits, perhaps playing a few tunes from the aforementioned late-period records.
Thursday HIP-HOP SHOCK-G AND DJ FUSE OF DIGITAL UNDERGROUND
247 Sky Bar, 247 S. Meridian St., 8 p.m., $20, 21+ The newly-opened 247 Sky Bar, which has occupied the old Hollywood Bar and Filmworks space above Taps and Dolls, is reaching out to the hip-hop crowd: last week, they brought in a member of the Wu-Tang extended family for a Rock the Bells aftershow; and this Thursday, the bar’s official launch party will feature Shock-G and DJ Fuse from the Digital Underground, the Oaklandborn, Parliament-Funkadelic-inspired rap group that scored its biggest hit with “The Humpty Dance.” We’re not sure what to expect from Shock-G after all these years, though a 2004 solo release, Fear of a Mixed Planet, proved that there was some weight behind his rhymes, and that Digital Underground (or at least its leader) was more than a novelty act.
Friday POP MARC BROUSSARD
The Vogue, 6259 N. College Ave., 8:30 p.m., $18 advance, $20 door, 21+ Marc Broussard didn’t get much love for his latest, selftitled record, his second for Atlantic and his first out-andout effort to make the charts by leaving behind his soulful, Bayou-based sound for slick, crossover territory. Good thing that his blue-eyed soul — in the region of Daryl Hall, but with deep Southern overtones — can’t be as easily neutered on stage; Broussard has been around for a touring act since his teens for good reason, and even if record execs haven’t figured out how to market him (hence their hiring of a big-time CCM producer for his latest), he still has a confident, distinctive, bluesy voice.
Indy Hostel, 4903 Winthrop Ave., 4 p.m., $10, all-ages The Spud Puppies, the local bluegrass and roots outfit that had departed from the space-time continuum for the last couple years, will reunite Friday for the first annual Indy Hostel Folk Festival, joined by Tony Marshall, Gamblin’ Christmas and Punkin Holler Boys. Rob Nichols has more on nuvo.net about the festival, which came to life following a tete-a-tete at the Corner Wine Bar open stage between Spud Puppy (and open stage emcee) Gary Wasson and Indy Hostel owner John Newton.
HIP-HOP THE UP + UP SHOW
Earth House, 237 N. East St. 8:30 p.m., $10 advance (eventbrite.com), $15 door See feature, pg. 29. Featuring DJ Txt Book, Tiara Thomas, Fly.Union, Flaco, Ejaaz; presented by De Gud Life.
INDIE ROCK MARMOSET, RICHARD EDWARDS, VESS RUHTENBERG, VACATION CLUB
Radio Radio, 1119 E. Prospect St. 9 p.m., $6 (brownpapertickets.com), 21+ Ten years of their masterwork, Record in Red, Marmoset celebrates they completed a limited-edition vinyl box set on Joyful Noise containing their four LPs: Today It’s You, Record in Red, Florist Fired and Tea Tornado. While new songs from their upcoming Sour Notebook are as exciting as anything that they’ve ever released — if anything, darker and more muscular than the songs on Tea Tornado — there is a sense in which the box set can be seen as a retrospective on their career. Read more from Thomas Doane’s essay on Marmoset on nuvo.net; Doane also penned the extensive liner notes to the box set. Rumor has it the band will play Record in Red in its entirety Saturday. Openers for the release show testify to Marmoset’s critical standing, with Margot singer-songwriter Richard Edwards and modernist architecture enthusiast Vess Ruhtenberg both taking sets. With Vacation Club, representing the Fountain Square garage band scene.
Sunday FUNK EARTH, WIND & FIRE WITH THE INDIANAPOLIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
The Lawn at White River State Park, 801 W. Washington St., 7 p.m., $26.50-69.50 (plus fees), all-ages One of the finest bands of the funk era, Earth, Wind & Fire found commercial success while trying out a variety of sounds and genres, including Afro-beat (drummer Maurice White played the kalimba, or thumb piano, on just about every album), funk, rock, jazz and Motown (their chart success having a lot to do with an ability to slow things down for a slow jam as easily as they could knock out a James Brown-style funk number or long-form fusion jazz). Their last record of note, 2005’s Illumination, successfully put the band in touch with the neo-soul movement, with appearances by OutKast and Raphael Saadiq helping to brush away any cobwebs.
SOUNDCHECK ALT-ROCK THE SCRIPT, SAFETYSUIT
Murat Theatre at Old National Centre, 502 N. New Jersey St., 7:30 p.m., $29.50-45 (plus fees), all-ages Radio-friendly Irish rock band The Script has catapulted to the top in the past few years, scoring opening gigs for Paul McCartney and U2 and landing singles on the top of the charts both here and in the UK. They’ve succeeded with a largely-familiar sound; though its founders worked as producers in the mid ‘00s in Los Angeles with hip-hop and R&B figures like the Neptunes and Terry Riley, The Script is very much in the alt-rock tradition, bringing to mind Matchbox 20 and The Wallflowers.
Monday
Wednesday, Sept 7th
JAZZ INDY JAZZ FEST: AARON DIEHL TRIO, JEFF MCLAUGHLIN
The Jazz Kitchen, 5377 N. College Ave. 7 p.m., $25, 21+ Indy Jazz Fest kicks off a week of weeknight performances (branded the Sunset Series) with a shared set by a couple young bucks: pianist Aaron Diehl, who won the lucrative American Pianists Association Cole Porter Fellowship earlier this year; and guitarist Jeff McLaughlin, winner of the 2010 Owl Studios Emerging Artist Competition. As part of his victory, McLaughlin, a grad student at IU’s Jacob School of Music; was given the resources to work up a record for Owl Studios, Blocks, that was released by the label earlier this summer. The Columbus, Ohio-born Diehl first came on the jazz radar when he was discovered by Wynton Marsalis; like Marsalis, Diehl knows his jazz history (ragtime can creep into his improvisations at the most surprising times).
ALT-ROCK MIDDLE CLASS RUT
The Vogue, 6259 N. College Ave. 8 p.m., $10 advance, $12 door, 21+ Go ahead and try to think of a worse band name — and the duo Middle Class Rut, which has the same guitar-anddrums instrumentation that The White Stripes popularized, does seem to complain about a lot of the stuff that a putupon scion of a middle-class manor might have the time, energy and inclination to complain about (“What I get ain’t half of what I give,” goes a line, for instance, from the lead-off track, “Busy Bein’ Born,” to the band’s latest record, No Name No Color). That said, it’s intriguing to hear a stripped-down band of this ilk kick out the jams like it was 1995 — instead of opting for a blues-based sound like that of The Black Keys — with Zach Lopez’s vocals recalling those of Jane’s Addiction’s Perry Farrell, and their grungy guitars gesturing towards key bands of the era (Rage Against the Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers, etc.)
Tuesday
JAZZ INDY JAZZ FEST: THE HEADHUNTERS
The Jazz Kitchen, 5377 N. College Ave. 7:30 and 9:30 p.m., $25, 21+ See feature, pg. 27.
BARFLY
by Wayne Bertsch
Wednesday,Sept14th
Gordon Bonham Frank Bradford & & Jess Richmond Doug Henthorn
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Marmoset ROCK WILCO, NICK LOWE
Murat Theatre at Old National Centre, 502 N. New Jersey St., 8 p.m., $27.50-45 (plus fees), all-ages For Wilco, like the rest of the world, 2001 was a crazy year. The new millennium had brought a change in drummers; the contentious recording of landmark album Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, with its seemingly prescient 9/11 allusions; the dismissal/departure of brilliant but troubled multiinstrumentalist and co-songwriter Jay Bennett; Reprise Records’ refusal to release the album, leading to the band’s departure from the label; and the fact that most of the above was awkwardly captured for posterity by a documentary filmmaker. A decade later, however, Wilco — unlike the rest of the world — seems to have settled into a comfortable groove, with its artistic and business operations motoring along like one big, happy, self-sufficient family. The expanded six-member lineup that began touring in 2004 has proved surprising stable and on Sept. 27 will release its third studio album (Wilco’s eighth), titled The Whole Love. The release will be the first on the band’s very own label, dBpm Records. Wilco also has entered the festival game as curator of Solid Sound, a three-day music and art extravaganza presented for the past two years by the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. NUVO last spoke to Wilco bassist John Stirratt in 2002, in the midst of the band’s turmoil; this week on nuvo.net, Scott Hall catches up with Stirratt, who says things have “come together in a wonderful way” for his band. With pub-rock great Nick Lowe, whose first album in more than four years, The Old Magic, will release this Tuesday. -SCOTT HALL
Thursday, Sept 8th
Thursday, Sept 15th
Uncle JuJu
Gene Deer
Friday, Sept 9th
Friday, Sept 16th
Jennie DeVoe
Brent James & The Contraband
Saturday, Sept 10th
Mark Hendricks & The Party LineThe Elect
Saturday, Sept 17th
The 8 Track Allstars
Sunday, Sept 11th
America Remembers
UPCOMING
THIS WEEK AT BIRDY’S THE SHADY ‘80S A NIGHT OF GREAT MUSIC WED. 09/07
BY BROODIS, VINYL SHRINER, HENRY FRENCH GLASS HALO, THE WRINGERS , COOLIDGE, MEMBERS OF THE LEISURE KINGS, LINES OF NAZCA AND MORE!
AFTON SHOWCASE
MOOCHIANO FEAT. BANO, RHYMESWAG AND YOUNG CHASE, GOLDEN, BRENT SMITH AKA THUR. TRU R&B, J REAL, DIRTYBOY MUSIC GROUP, 09/08 C.B.G., H.$.P, SOULJA SOULJA (RAPSPIRE), BLACK SHADOW, CLUTCH, SKRILLA & THE ZOO CREW, STUDENTBODY10, FLOSTORM, UNKNOWN A.K.A. JON DOE, KIKI ROMEO, DEM MIZFITTZ, ACE CAMACHO, GRITTY , B.A.M 226
FRI. 09/09
BATTLEOFBIRDYS.COM ROUND1 W/ END OF NINTENDO, PLAIN AS DAY, DEVAULT, COPING METHOD, FORSAKEN SIGHTS
SAT. 09/10
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NEWS OF THE WEIRD
Woodpecker in peril Plus, coal mining pollutants… or inbreeding?
The heavy hand of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service landed on 11-year-old Skylar Capo and her mom in June, after an agent happened to spot Skylar holding a baby woodpecker in her hands at a Lowes home improvement store in Fredericksburg, Va. Actually, Skylar had minutes before saved the woodpecker from the primed teeth of a house cat and was providing temporary TLC, intending to release the bird when the trauma had passed. The agent, apparently, was unimpressed, reciting a provision of the Migratory Bird Act, and two weeks later, another Fish and Wildlife agent knocked on the Capos’ door (accompanied by a Virginia state trooper) and served Mrs. Capo a citation calling for a $535 fine. (In August, Fish and Wildlife officials relented, calling the agent’s action a mistake.)
Compelling explanations
• Though a university study released in June linked birth defects to the controversial mining industry practice of mountaintop removal, lawyers for the National Mining Association offered a quick, industry-friendly rebuttal: Since the area covered by the
study was in West Virginia, any birth defects could well be explained merely as inbreeding. (A week later, the lawyers thought better and edited out that insinuation.) • Michael Jones, 50, told a magistrate in Westminster, England, in May that he did not “assault” a police officer when he urinated on him at a railway station a month earlier. Jones claimed, instead, that he was “urinating in self-defense” in that the water supply had been “poisoned by the mafia.” The magistrate explained that Jones’ argument “is not realistically going to be a viable defense.” • Inmate Kyle Richards filed a federal lawsuit in July against Michigan’s prison system because of the no-pornography policy in effect for the Macomb County jail (a violation of Richards’ “constitutional rights”). Other states permit such possession, claimed Richards, who further supported his case by reference to his own condition of “chronic masturbation syndrome,” exacerbated by conditions behind bars. Additionally, Richards claimed to be indigent and therefore entitled to pornography at the government’s expense -- to avoid a “poor standard of living” and “sexual and sensory deprivation.”
Ironies
• When Laura Diprimo, 43, and Thomas Lee, 28, were arrested for child endangerment in Louisville, Ky., in June, it appeared to be yet another instance of a mother leaving an infant locked in a hot car (91-degree heat index outside) while frolicking elsewhere (drinking with Lee at the Deja Vu club). According to a report on WDRB-TV, while the two were in the police car en route to jail, Lee complained that the back seat of the cruiser was uncomfortably warm.
©2011 CHUCK SHEPHERD DISTRIBUTED BY UNIVERSAL PRESS SYNDICATE Send your Weird News to Chuck Shepherd, P.O. Box 18737, Tampa FL 33679 or WeirdNews@ earthlink.net or go to www.NewsoftheWeird.com.
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classifieds
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RENTALS NORTH
Homes for sale | Rentals Mortgage Services | Roommates To advertise in Real Estate, Call Nuvo classifieds @ 808-4609
RENTALS EAST 4302 E. 10TH ST. Clean, 1BR Double. Appliances, AC, Basement. Across from from Lynwood Square. Available Now. $465/mo + all utilities. 317-403-3383
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HOTELS
Restaurant | Healthcare Salon/Spa | General To advertise in Employment, Call Adam @ 808-4609
EMPLOYMENT CAREER TRAINING HIGH SCHOOL DIPLOMA! Graduate in just 4 weeks!!! FREE Brochure. Call NOW! 1-800-5326546 Ext. 97 www.continentalacademy.com (AAN CAN)
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SALES/MARKETING NETWORK MARKETING Looking for individuals/couples to earn additional income in a ground floor opportunity. Must be self motivated. Training provided. 317-997-3243 SALES REPRESENTATIVE Work for a household goods moving company. We ship nationwide. Requires strong personal skills. Serious candidates only. Salary + commission. Call Benjamin at 317.716.5529. or e-mail Benjamin@1mastermovers.com
NOW HIRING Valet Parkers at Luxury Hotels Downtown Full Time/Part Time Availability Group Interviews Held Weekly Accepting applications at www.townepark.com
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MASTERSON PERSONNEL
Monday 9 am -1 pm • Wednesday 9 am - 1 pm • Thursday Noon - 4 pm at Redcats, 3003 Reeves Road, Plainfield, IN
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MOVING COMPANY SEEKS dependable drivers/movers with chauffeur’s license. Hard worker, good pay. Full-time or part-time. SALON/SPA Call us only if you are a hard HAIRSTYLISTS worker. Call Benjamin at Booth Rent Only. $150-$175/wk, 317-716-5529 or e-mail Private Room. Northeast Side. Benjamin@1mastermovers.com Call Suz 317-490-7894 SIGN OF THE TYMES SALON GENERAL New Location has space available for massage therapist, natu- ACTORS/MOVIE EXTRAS Needed immediately for upcomral nail tech, hair dressers and ing roles $150-$300/day dependaesthetion. Valerie 251-0792 ing on job requirements. No experience, all looks. 1-800-560RESTAURANT/ 8672 A-109 for casting times/ locations. (AAN CAN) BAR MOVIE EXTRAS BARTENDERS & SERVERS To stand in the background for a ALL SHIFTS major film production. Immediate openings. Apply in Earn up to $250/day, experience person, Weebles, not required. 3725 N. Shadeland. 877-718-7072 $$$HELP WANTED$$$ Extra Income! Assembling CD EXPERIENCED cases from Home! No Experience BARTENDERS, SERVERS, Necessary! Call our Live BUSSERS, LINECOOK & Operators Now! 1-800-405-7619 PANTRY COOK EXT 2450 http://www.easyworkDay and night availability. Fine greatpay.com (AAN CAN) dining experience required. Please apply between 2 - 4pm in Paid In Advance! Make $1,000 a Week mailing broperson at 50 S. Capitol Ave on chures from home! Guaranteed the second floor of the Westin. Income! FREE Supplies! No experience required. Start ST. ELMO STEAK HOUSE Immediately! www.homemailNow hiring experienced erprogram.net (AAN CAN) Cocktail Waitresses, Servers, and Bartenders. Availability in evenings. Requirements: professional, organized and friendly. Send resume to Lfox@stelmos.com
To advertise in Research Studies, call Adam @ 808-4609
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CALL CENTER POSITIONS $10/hr Apply at Morales Group 5628 W. 74th St.
Tues and Thursday 6am to 8am Or apply online and note you saw this advertisement. www.moralesgroup.net
Requirements: • College Students Welcome • 1st an 2nd shifts available • Flexible schedule • Attention to detail and customer service orientated • Confident and Clear Speaking Voice
We will be taking applications every Monday, Wednesday and Thursday Several skilled and entry level positions are available: Warehouse, Forklift Drivers, Production, General Laborers.
Please contact Masterson Personnel at 317-791-3000 with questions. * Bring proof of employment eligibility. Must be able to pass background check and drug screen.
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© 2010 BY ROB BRESZNY Services | Misc. for Sale Musicians B-Board | Pets To advertise in Marketplace, Call Adam @ 808-4609
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LEGAL SERVICES
GRESK & SINGLETON, LLP BANKRUPTCY/COMMERCIAL LAW VIAGRA FOR CHEAP Bankruptcy is no longer an embar317-507-8182 rassment. it is a financial planning tool that allows you to better take care of yourself and your family. We are a debt GARAGE SALE relief agency. We help people file for BIG Downtown Annual Yard Sale bankruptcy relief under the Bankruptcy Fletcher Place-Holy Rosary/Danish Code. Free Bankruptcy ConsultationsChurch BIG Annual Neighborhood Yard Evenings & Saturday Appointments Sale Saturday, Sept. 10, 8a.m. - 4p.m. $100.00 will get your bankruptcy started. Boundaries: East of East Street, south Paul D. Gresk of Louisiana Street, west of I-65/I-70 and 150 E. 10th Street, Indianapolis north of I-70 317-237-7911 INJURY ATTORNEY Auto - Motorcycle - Truck No Legal Fee Until You Get Paid Better Call Bill Guarantee: If We Don’t Win-You Don’t Pay William Schabler Injury Attorney 317-638-4343 8888 Keystone Crossing Suite 1300 AUTO SERVICES Indianapolis, IN 46240 A & J TOWING Top $$ Paid For Unwanted Autos www.emergencyattorney.com Lost Title? No Problem! 317-9028230 LICENSE SUSPENDED? Call me, an experienced Traffic Law Attorney,I can help you with: WANTED AUTO Hardship Licenses-No Insurance CASH FOR CARS Traffic We buy cars, trucks, vans, Suspensions-Habitual from Lifetime runable or not or wrecked. Open Violators-Relief Suspensions-DUI-Driving While 24/7. 987-4366. Suspended & All Moving Traffic FREE HAUL AWAY ON JUNK CARS. Violations! Christopher W. Grider, Attorney at Law FREE CONSULTATIONS www.indytrafficattorney.com 317-686-7219
Certified Massage Therapists Yoga | Chiropractors | Counseling To advertise in Body/Mind/Spirit, Call Nathan @ 808-4612 Advertisers running in the CERTIFIED MASSAGE THERAPY section have graduated from a massage therapy school associated with one of four organizations: American Massage Therapy Association (amtamassage.org)
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International Myomassethics Federation (888-IMF-4454)
Additionally, one can not be a member of these four organizations but instead, take the test AND/OR have passed the National Board of Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork exam (ncbtmb.com).
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ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Don’t be angry with the rain,” counseled author Vladimir Nabokov. “It simply does not know how to fall upward.” In the coming week, I advise you to apply that principle to a host of phenomena, Aries. Don’t get all knotted up about any force of nature that insists on being itself, and don’t waste your time trying to figure out how to disobey the law of gravity. It’s fine if you find it amusing to go against the flow, but don’t expect the flow to follow you in your rebellion. TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Where will you be in the latter half of 2016? What will you be doing? Now would be an excellent time to fantasize and meditate about questions like those. You’re likely to have a good bit of intuitive foresight in the coming days -- some ability to discern the embryonic patterns swirling in the mists. But even more importantly, you will have extra power to dream up potent visions for your best possible future and plant them as seeds in the fertile bed of your subconscious mind. GEMINI (May 21-June 20): I believe you’re close to getting permanent immunity from hell, Gemini. Take it as a metaphor if you like, but consider the possibility that there may soon come a time when you will never again be susceptible to getting dragged into the bottomless pit. You will receive the equivalent of a “Get out of jail free” card that forever guarantees you exemption from the worst of the nightmare realms. Please note: I’m not saying you will be forever free of all suffering. But if you simply keep doing the smart things you’ve been doing lately, you will tap into a reservoir of stabilizing poise so strong that “the devil” will have no further claim on your soul. CANCER (June 21-July 22): In “The Blood,” an episode of the TV show “Seinfeld,” George tries to go for “the Trifecta”: eating a pastrami sandwich and watching TV while having sex. His girlfriend isn’t pleased about it, though, so the triple-intense pleasure doesn’t materialize in the way George had hoped. But something akin to this scenario could very well work for you in the coming week, Cancerian. You will have a knack for stirring up more fun and pleasure that usual through the inventive use of multitasking. LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In Wiccan circles, a “familiar” is a supernatural entity or magic animal that serves as a spirit ally. Some witches regard their cats as their familiars. In Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy of fantasy books, the “daemon” (very different from a “demon”) plays a similar role: a shapeshifting creature that embodies a person’s soul. This would be an excellent time for you to develop a closer relationship with a familiar or daemon or any other uncanny helper, Leo. You have more hidden power at your disposal than you realize, and it’s a propitious time to call on it. VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “Wheel of Fortune” is a TV game show in which players vie to guess a mystery phrase that is revealed letter by letter. On one episode not too long ago, a highly intuitive contestant solved the puzzle even though just one letter had been unveiled. The winning answer was “I’ve got a good feeling about this.” From what I can tell, Virgo, you’ve got a similar aptitude these days -- an ability to foresee how things are ultimately going to develop simply by extrapolating from a few clues. I encourage you to make liberal use of your temporary superpower. (P.S. I’ve got a good feeling about this.) LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You have about 100 billion neurons in your brain. That also happens to be the approximate number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. Coincidence? I think not. As the mystic dictum reminds us, “As above, so below.” The macrocosm and microcosm are mirrors of each other. Everything that happens on a collective level has an intimately personal impact. The better you know yourself, the more likely you are to understand how the world works -- and vice versa. I urge you to be alert for concrete evidence of this principle, Libra. Your week will be successful if you make it your background meditation.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “By the year 2021, the complete gratification of sexual desires will be as easy and stress-free as drinking a glass of water.” That was one of 25 prophecies delivered to me by a polite, well-spoken madman I met on a July morning in a cafe in Earls Court, London back in 1990. Sixteen of his other predictions have come true so far (like “America will have a black president by 2010,” “You will become a famous astrologer,” “60-year-old women will be abl e to give birth”), so I’m thinking that the one about easy sexual gratification could turn out to be accurate as well. Until then, Scorpio, you may sometimes have to deal with periodic struggles in getting your needs met. Having said that, though, I’m happy to announce that the coming weeks are shaping up as one of your closest approximations to the supposed 2021 levels of erotic bliss. SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The beauty contests in Saudi Arabia don’t judge women on the basis of their physical appearance. A recent winner, Aya Ali al-Mulla, was crowned “Queen of Beautiful Morals” without ever revealing the face and form shrouded beneath her black head-to-toe garment. Instead, her excellence emerged during a series of psychological and social tests that evaluated her strength of character and service to family and society. I’d like to borrow this idea and apply it to you. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, you could and should be a paragon of moral beauty in the coming week -- a shining example and inspiration to all the other signs of the zodiac. CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Filip Marinovich calls his poetry book And If You Don’t Go Crazy I’ll Meet You Here Tomorrow. I’m borrowing that title for this horoscope. So here goes: If you don’t go crazy in the coming days, Capricorn, I’ll meet you here again next week. To be clear: There is an excellent chance you will be able to keep our appointment. The astrological omens suggest you’ll call on reserves of wisdom that haven’t been accessible before, and that alone could prevent you from a brush with lunacy. You’re also primed to be nimble in your dealings with paradoxes, which, again, should keep you from descending into fairytale-style madness. But even if you do take a partial detour into the land of kooky, I think it will have an oddly healing effect on you. See you next time! AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): There’s no better way to inform you of your task right now than to cite Hexagram 18 of the I Ching, the ancient Chinese book of divination. The title of the oracle is “Work on What Has Been Spoiled.” Here’s an interpretation by the I Ching’s translator Richard Wilhelm, with a little help from me: “What has been spoiled through human mistakes can be made good again through human work. It is not immutable fate that has caused the state of corruption, but rather the abuse of human freedom. Toil that is done to correct the situation bodes well, because it is in harmony with cosmic potentials. Success depends on diligent deliberation followed by vigorous action.” PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Breaking the rules could be a boon for your closest relationships if it’s done out of deep caring and not out of anger or boredom. Can you commit to tha t high standard, Pisces? I hope so, because it’s prime time to shake up and reinvigorate stale concepts about togetherness. You will never know how much more interesting your intimate alliances can be unless you put that vivacious imagination of yours to work. Would you be willing to buy tickets for a joint excursion to the frontier? Go hunting for surprises that recalibrate the dynamic between you and yours? Take a collaborative risk you’d never want to face alone?
Homework: Imagine you overhear a whispered conversation that changes your life for the better. What would it be about? Testify at Freewillastrology.com.
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