YES! Weekly - January 26, 2022

LOCAL HAUNTS

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PORGY AND BESS

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Publisher CHARLES A. WOMACK III publisher@yesweekly.com EDITORIAL

ERIC GALES looks to take his place amongst blues royalty with his upcoming album, “Crown” out via Provogue/Mascot label group on Jan. 28. For Gales, “it’s all about going to the next level, man,” he said. Celebrating five years of sobriety, he considers “Crown” a crowning achievement; and the keystone step on his path to ascension.

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The 2019 UNCSA School of the Arts Film and Animation graduate, along with his colleagues, Savannah Gisleson, a directing graduate, and Katie Sanderson, who graduated with a BFA in Film Production and a Minor in Arts Entrepreneurship, decided to bring his film, LOCAL HAUNTS, to life with the help of a few friends.

6 The RiverRun International Film Festival’s ongoing “Indie Lens Pop-Up” virtualscreening series will continue Tuesday with producer/director Jennifer Redfearn’s timely and topical documentary feature APART...

7 This Friday, the 10th annual North Carolina High School ORGAN FESTIVAL AND COMPETITION will open at the host school...

8 It is both surprising and shameful that PETER BOGDANOVICH doesn’t have a star along Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, and yet, a single star wouldn’t do him justice anyway.

8 As an educational leader and president of the Guilford County Association of Educators (GCAE), I feel a deep sense of loss to learn that Superintendent DR. SHARON L. CONTRERAS will be departing GCS in August.

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The award-winning documentary The VELVET QUEEN (La panthere des neiges) follows renowned wildlife photographer Vincent Munier and novelist Sylvain Tesson on their expedition to the Tibetan plateau, one of the least accessible regions on the planet.

14 The Greensboro Opera production of PORGY AND BESS that ended its brief run at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday may seem an odd fit for Greensboro-born polymath Rhiannon Giddens. Not that Giddens doesn’t know opera.

15 ERIC ROBERT wants to run against Nancy Vaughan and Justin Outling in Greensboro’s 2022 mayoral election. But he can’t file until February, and neither can anyone else.

18 Transitions and storytelling abound from nouveau-Americana group, FAREWELL FRIEND, who after three albums and a handful of years, are looking to reintroduce themselves and hit the road. They’ll bid farewell to their current incarnation over two shows, the first on February 4 at the Gas Hill Drinking Room in Winston-Salem.

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DISTRIBUTION JANICE GANTT ANDREW WOMACK We at YES! Weekly realize that the interest of our readers goes well beyond the boundaries of the Piedmont Triad. Therefore we are dedicated to informing and entertaining with thought-provoking, debate-spurring, in-depth investigative news stories and features of local, national and international scope, and opinion grounded in reason, as well as providing the most comprehensive entertainment and arts coverage in the Triad. YES! Weekly welcomes submissions of all kinds. Efforts will be made to return those with a self-addressed stamped envelope; however YES! Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited submissions. YES! Weekly is published every Wednesday by Womack Newspapers, Inc. No portion may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher. First copy is free, all additional copies are $1.00. Copyright 2022 Womack Newspapers, Inc.

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January 26 - February 1, 2022

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UNCSA graduates launch film, start production company

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he Vampire sub-genre has been around since 1922’s Nosferatu, with various adaptations and takes on the bloodsucking creatures of the night.

Naima Said “We didn’t want to create just a Contributor standard horror film.

Rather, we wanted to welcome the concepts of exotica and romanticism in a beach-themed film that introduces three vampiric women and the contrasting characters that they portray,” said director and co-writer Jordan McLaughlin.

The 2019 UNCSA School of the Arts Film YES! WEEKLY

JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 1, 2022

and Animation graduate, along with his colleagues, Savannah Gisleson, a directing graduate, and Katie Sanderson, who graduated with a BFA in Film Production and a Minor in Arts Entrepreneurship, decided to bring his film, Local Haunts, to life with the help of a few friends. As a matter of fact, the majority of the crew for the upcoming film are UNCSA alumni.

“I confided in her (Katie) about my upcoming project, which I originally planned to take place in Asheville, with a mountain-esque perspective before deciding on a beach approach, and she fell in love with the idea. Next thing I knew, I had my producer. During the next several months, I had constructed a few outlines of the film, but none of them felt right, so in early 2020 I asked Savannah to join me as co-writer on the project,” McLaughlin shared. “We have worked on shorts and episodics together, but this was our first

collaborative feature and our most special yet.”

Local Haunts has become the first feature film in progress for the trio’s new production company, Doomsday Soirée. Filming for the feature will begin in the fall.

“The film is set in Lost Cove where three vampiric women find a tentative home of their own in this quiet beach town,” Gisleson said. “The story follows Phaedra, our most prominent character, the one that stirs the pot and continues with traditional gruesome vampiric practices, unlike the rest of the group. Tuesday is a lost immortal soul that seeks love and deeper meaning, continuing to find her way in the world, but won’t let go of her past memories that

keep her from finding her footing. And Katrina, the wiser one, who is hundreds of years older, is content where she stands, attempting to exert that same energy to both Tuesday and Phaedra. We took a lot of inspiration from the ’60s and ‘80s

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Jordan McLaughlin B-horror films that share the surf culture and campy atmosphere we were looking for in our new world. This film is about a world outside of itself, where one takes off their rose-colored glasses to see the whole community is strange. Monsters can come from people, and in return, illustrate the fear of the human psyche. In the story, every person our vampires connect with dies, knowing that every new person to enter their lives they already know the outcome, and the story is about coming to accept it rather than hiding. What it means to connect with people when you know it’s temporary.”

Only partial casting has been confirmed as the crew continues processing casting call tapes. “We did not expect to gain so much publicity for our project. We got people from all over the United States and learned so much from watching others bring the characters to life with their own interpretations, and that is how we found Cassandra Phillips-Grande, a multidisciplinary artist based in Vancouver, British Columbia, who will be playing Tuesday,” Sanderson shared. “We have also been lucky enough to introduce to our cast Alexander Folk, who has been in Hollywood for over 50 years, Chase Yi, Sky Ebolar, Kenneth Best, Austin Kress, and Chopper Bernet, who you may recognize from his work on Terminator 3.”

With the script complete, and the film entering pre-production, the rising cases of COVID-19 present a new challenge to the team.

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Savannah Gisleson “I recently moved to California, while Savannah resides in New York. We began planning from coast to coast to meet up with Katie to begin scouting locations for the film,” McLaughlin explained. “Living in a COVID-world as a filmmaker isn’t ideal, but it is detrimental to the industry as a whole.”

In the summer of 2020, after careful planning and multiple COVID tests, the crew began scouting in California for the perfect primary shooting location.

“We started in San Diego, moved up to Pismo beach, and ended in Ventura. We were searching for a very specific vibe, and we hadn’t found it during our time in California. While we were all together, we began reminiscing on our time in WinstonSalem, and it took us graduating to realize we had the aesthetic we were searching for right in front of us. The eerie storytelling atmosphere is prevalent in the Carolina beaches, especially in the off-season,” Sanderson said. “Plus, North Carolina natives are very friendly and easygoing when interacting with filmmakers. They sometimes offer up their space without charge or issue, unlike highly known film communities that know all protocol, pricing, timing, and the knowledge of previous films that have been shot in that exact same spot. It loses its value. One time while we were shooting American Waste, our last short project at UNCSA, we went to a junkyard in the middle of nowhere run by a husband and wife, whose hospitality was indescribable.”

Katie Sanderson

Doomsday Soirée prides itself on family-style filmmaking, with heavy community involvement on and off the screen.

“Everyone is putting something into it, even if you aren’t getting something out of it. It’s the labor of love and the connections you make, especially when you’re attached to people who are interested in your project. Filmmaking is challenging, but it’s also supposed to be fun, which can be seen by how crazy we are willing to go with our characters and their dialogue.

The mixing of high and low art that blends with the combination of costum-

ing, SFX makeup, and cinematography,” McLaughlin explained. “It takes a village to make a movie, and a decent budget to make sure it’s shot, but in the midst of it all, it has the potential to be something great.”

For more information and updates, visit https://www.localhauntsfilm.com/ the-crew. To donate, visit https://wefunder.com/localhauntsfilm. !

NAIMA SAID is a 22-year-old UNCG theatre graduate and host of Heeere’sNeeNee Horror Movie Podcast.

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A mother, Tomika, and her child from Apart

RiverRun rolls with latest “Indie Lens Pop-Up” screening The RiverRun International Film Festival’s ongoing “Indie Lens Pop-Up” virtual-screening series will continue Tuesday with producer/director Jennifer Redfearn’s timely and topical Mark Burger documentary feature Apart, which will be presented at 7 p.m., Contributor in association with UNC-TV PBS North Carolina.

The film focuses on three women who were previously imprisoned for drug-related charges, as they struggle to readjust to life with their families and the stigma of being labeled felons by society. They must re-establish trust with their loved ones and in themselves as they seek redemption and reconciliation.

The post-screening virtual discussion will be moderated by ncIMPACT host Anita Brown-Graham and Kristen Powers, executive producer of Benevolence Farm.

The Apart screening is a free event, but registration is required and can be done so by signing up at https://riverrunfilm.com/.

“We are looking forward to hosting this event,” said Jane McKim, RiverRun community director. “Apart is such a raw, touching story of motherhood and re-entering society after time in prison. It’s a poignant look at what this experience looks like. As always, our partnership with PBS North Carolina and the Indie Lens program is one that brings wonderful films to our viewers.”

Regarding the ongoing series of screenings, “we have been a partner of the Indie Lens Pop-Up series for a number of years and are honored to be one of a select group of screening partners nationwide,” said Rob Davis, RiverRun executive director.

The 24th annual RiverRun International Film Festival is scheduled to take place April 21-30, 2022. For more information about this and other RiverRun events, visit https://riverrunfilm.com. !

See MARK BURGER’s reviews of current movies on Burgervideo.com. © 2022, Mark Burger.

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North Carolina High School Organ Festival and Competition notches a perfect tenth This Friday, the 10th annual North Carolina High School Organ Festival and Competition will open at the host school, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA), 1533 S. Mark Burger Main St. in WinstonSalem, and at Contributor Augsburg Lutheran Church, 845 W. Fifth St. in WinstonSalem.

According to Timothy Olsen, the festival director and UNCSA School of Music’s Kenan Professor of Organ, competitors are expected from Massachusetts, New Jersey, Ohio, Virginia, and right here in North Carolina. The guest organists will be able to meet with their fellow organists from around the country, tour the UNCSA organ facilities on campus, listen to UNCSA organ students perform in a studio recital, and participate in workshops, masterclasses, and lessons throughout the weekend.

The competition will take place Saturday, followed by workshops, lectures, and master classes on Sunday. The organ studio recital is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

Friday in Crawford Hall, located on the

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UNCSA campus. Olsen’s students will perform selected works by Cesar Franck, whose bicentennial will be celebrated this year, and admission is free. Information can be found here: https://www.uncsa. edu/performances/events/20220128organ-recital.aspx.

Audience members will be required to comply with local health mandates regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. The competitors’ performances and Winners Recital will be closed to the public this year as a result.

Prizes for the competition include the Thomas S. Kenan III first prize of $2,000 or one year of in-state tuition at UNCSA; second prize of $1,000 sponsored by the Piedmont NC Chapter of the American Guild of Organists, as well as a $3,000 scholarship to UNCSA upon matriculation; third prize of $500; and the John and Margaret Mueller Hymn Prize of $350.

Competition winners will also receive a special gift. “We are grateful to the Leupold Foundation for offering a volume of their new Bach edition to each of the prize winners,” said Olsen.

For more information, the official UNCSA website is https://www.uncsa. edu/. !

See MARK BURGER’s reviews of current movies on Burgervideo.com. © 2022, Mark Burger.

PHOTO BY ALLEN AYCOCK

Timothy Olsen

[ WEEKLY ARTS ROUNDUP ADVERTORIAL] LOCAL ARTIST HIGHTLIGHT | DABNEY RUFFIN

Dabney Ruffin is a local artist from WinstonSalem, North Carolina who focuses on oil painting.

Her passion for art began as a young child where she spent time tracing.

“I honestly didn’t know I had much of an interest until high school,” Ruffin Joshua Ridley revealed “I tore my ACL and took a ceramics Marketing & class because I couldn’t Communications participate in athletics.

Manager I could have spent every day in the studio.” Ceramics class is where Ruffin’s career interest in art began. Ruffin originally attended the University of Colorado in 2009 where she declared a major in art and minor in psychology. During her studies at CU she worked in printmaking, painting, and sculpture with wire. She continued her undergraduate studies at Salem College - following the same path as her two great aunts.

While at Salem College, Ruffin recalls her two most influential professors, Kim Varnadoe and Sharon Hardin. Ruffin declared her concentration in oil painting, and graduated from Salem College in 2013. During January Term, Salem College’s experience for students to focus on internships, professional work, and community service, Ruffin traveled to Lexington, VA where she interned at the Lexington Artists Co-op. While there, she worked with Marsha Heatwole, who was the first person to teach Ruffin how to build her own canvas. Ruffin described her internship and experience working alongside Heatwole as “very influential.”

Dabney Ruffin is featured in the exhibition Women in the Arts: Celebrating 250 Years of Salem Academy and College which is guest curated by Kim Varnadoe.

The exhibit is currently on display in the Milton Rhodes Center for the Arts through March 26, 2022. Her piece The Rock Series #1 Oil on Canvas is featured in the exhibit. Ruffin’s piece originated from a larger body of work that was displayed in a two-person show in the Mary Davis Holt Gallery located in the Elberson Fine Arts Center on Salem College’s Campus.

“I had gotten to this place in painting and in art where I had gotten a lot of pressure to create work for them. . . something that wasn’t for me,” Ruffin expressed. She recalled her change in creative perspective as taking mundane objects such as rocks and using the medium of oil painting to make them eye catching.

“I was picking up rocks and I found myself more interested in the material and the process,” Ruffin shared as she was describing her creative process of making paintings for her Rock Series.

Dabney is an artist, a mother, and a full-time employee. She became a mother in 2018. During her pregnancy, she recalls that she had to stop painting because of the fumes involved while working on her craft. She had to explore new mediums to express her creativity. Ruffin got into gardening and turned that into her niche. “The first garden I ever created was the year my son was born,” Ruffin shared “I laid my garden out like an art piece. . . it was like sculpture almost; that was my way of still being able to find creativity in my life.” She even used the vegetables she grew to inspire watercolor sketches. She later learned how to use a sewing machine and made her son Foster Gardner a Halloween costume. She found ways to incorporate her creativity and artisanship into her family life. “From painting to crafting. . . I was finding anyway possible to make creativity fit into my life,” Ruffin stated.

When asked if she had any advice for artists who share similar experiences Ruffin responded, “You have to just start. The hardest part is just putting down that first brush stroke.” Her commitment to working with children dates to time spent at Arts for Life, a non-profit that supports kids with cancer. Ruffin volunteered for the organization for three years. During her time there she sparked a collaboration with Arts for Life and the Art-O-Mat. In addition, Dabney Ruffin has worked with several other non-profit organizations such as IFB Solutions and the Wachovia Garden with Home Moravian Church. Ruffin has also completed commission work for Stella Brew, a neighborhood craft beer and wine market in the Ardmore neighborhood of Winston-Salem. During her two-year commission project, she participated in live painting where community members could observe, interact, and ask questions during the work process.

Today, Dabney works with A Bridge to Achievement as a Behavioral Analysis Technician. She begins her graduate program in February at Bay Path University.

Ruffin will be earning her Master’s in Applied Behavioral Analysis with a concentration in autism spectrum disorder. Following graduate school, she will pursue a certification to become a board-certified analyst BCBA. ARTS COUNCIL is the chief advocate of the arts and cultural sector in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. Our goal is to serve as a leader in lifting up, creating awareness and providing support to grow and sustain artistic, cultural and creative offerings throughout our region. We acknowledge that it takes every voice, every talent, and every story to make our community a great place to live, work, and play. Arts Council is committed to serving as a facilitator, organizer, and promoter of conversations that are authentic, inclusive, and forward-thinking. There are over 800,000 art experiences taking place in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County annually. To learn more about upcoming arts and culture events happening in our community please visit www.cityofthearts.com.

JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 1, 2022

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Remembering Peter Bogdanovich

t is both surprising and shameful that Peter Bogdanovich doesn’t have a star along Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, and yet, a single star wouldn’t do him justice anyway. Truth Jim Longworth be told, it would take at least a dozen stars Longworth to properly honor Peter. That’s because at Large he was a director, writer, producer, editor, cinematographer, film preservationist, actor, casting agent, documentarian, author, voice-over talent, and film historian. And, oh yes, he was a college professor who taught directing at the UNC School of the Arts for a while.

It was during that period of time that I caught up with Peter the Great for a series of conversations about his career. He was generous with his time and loved talking about filmmaking, of which he was both a fan and an expert. Peter Bogdanovich passed away on January 6. He was 82.

I wrote a series of columns about Peter

back in 2011, one of which dealt with his directorial debut (Targets), and the other about his signature masterpiece, The Last Picture Show, which, at the time, was celebrating its 40th anniversary.

Targets, produced in 1968, is the story of an average American man who goes off his nut and turns into a mass-murdering sniper. One of the killer’s targets is a retired Hollywood horror icon, played by Boris Karloff. I asked Peter if he had hoped the film would bring about better gun laws in America.

“I thought it would raise a little bit of controversy. It didn’t raise much. The thing that’s awful about the film is that it’s not dated. Unfortunately, that story (a guy gets a gun and starts killing people) is still very much alive.”

And while there’s a message in all of Bogdanovich’s films, they are not, per se, message films. Most were made for the pure enjoyment of the audience, whether period pieces, slapstick comedies, or musicals. Targets was the exception, and, for the most part, so was The Last Picture Show, which portrayed life in a dying Texas town. The film won Oscars for character actor Ben Johnson, as well as for Cloris Leachman in one of her few dramatic roles.

I asked Peter if he shot Picture Show in black and white in order to save money.

“That had nothing to do with it. In fact, it was probably a little more expensive to do it in black and white because the labs weren’t used to it. The period of the film was early fifties, which was still a black and white period. The other reason is Orson Welles told me, ‘Every performance looks better in black and white,’ and he was right.”

Peter was also a master at spotting talent and assembling a cast. In addi-

tion to tapping Johnson and Leachman for The Last Picture Show, he also hired Ellen Burstyn, and two young unknowns, Jeff Bridges and Cybill Shepherd, to co-star in the dark drama. He also launched the career of Tatum O’Neil in Paper Moon, for which she won an Oscar. Given his expertise at casting, I was surprised to learn that he has a disdain for the auditioning process.

“Auditioning is humiliating, and not a fair way to judge talent. You get one actor in the room and he’s very nervous, then there are other actors who are very good at reading, but when they get to performance it isn’t as good as it promised to be in the reading.

That’s why I would often cast people by just sitting and talking with them for a half-hour or forty-five minutes.”

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Peter is not his film credits, but rather it was his unmistakable voice, and how he used it to keep Hollywood alive, whether lecturing, narrating a documentary, providing commentary on DVDs, doing podcasts, or just having a private conversation. That voice will be missed. !

JIM LONGWORTH is the host of Triad Today, airing on Saturdays at 7:30 a.m. on ABC45 (cable channel 7) and Sundays at 11 a.m. on WMYV (cable channel 15).

GCAE Leader Reflects as Guilford County School CEO Departs As an educational leader and president of the Guilford County Association of Educators (GCAE), I feel a deep sense of loss to learn that Superintendent Dr. Sharon L. Contreras will be departing Kenya N. GCS in August. Dr. Donaldson Contreras’ departure will be a loss for our district’s students, Contributor teachers, and community. She is an accomplished leader whose contributions will have a positive and lasting impact on Guilford County.

During her nearly six years at the helm of Guilford County Schools, Dr. Contreras has remained focused on equity, excellence, and innovation. As GCS superintendent, she made significant investments in professional development, instructional resources, and student support services to ensure access to high-quality teaching and learning for all students throughout YES! WEEKLY

JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 1, 2022

the district. Dr. Contreras transitioned GCS to a 1:1 technology district, creating future-ready learning environments for all students. All 70,000 students and 5,000 classroom teachers have technology devices.

Dr. Contreras’ commitment to the Guilford County Schools is further evidenced through her vision to ensure future-ready school buildings across our district. The Joint Facilities Committee of the Board of County Commissioners and the Board of Education resulted in the Comprehensive Master Facilities Plan and a prioritized construction list. Dr. Contreras’ approach boldly addressed the deteriorating and aging infrastructure of the facilities in Guilford County Schools. Educators across the district were all proud when she testified before the United States Congress about the conditions in which children learn and teachers teach and the embarrassingly low salaries of educators.

The new buildings, signature academies, and changes to career and technical education will contribute to the economic development of Guilford County and be a significant part of her legacy.

Dr. Contreras was a pioneer in her response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Unlike school districts across the state and country, she ensured that no employee lost their job. Additionally, she was the first NC superintendent to pay time and a half to school nutrition workers and bus drivers. The community applauded her decisiveness as she opened school sites for the children of first responders and those without housing during the COVID 19 school closures. Dr. Contreras has been a beacon for the community during multiple crises. Her leadership anchored the school community during destructive tornadoes and staffing shortages.

Despite the divisiveness that threatens our nation and consumes our local public school systems, Dr. Contreras was tenacious and remained focused on addressing the complications driven by state and federal funding issues. The superintendent often bore the brunt of criticism for longstanding inequities, funding, and structural inadequacies—issues exposed during the COVID-19 crisis.

Indeed, there have been times when GCAE’s demands differ from the super-

intendent’s recommendations. Recently, GCAE strongly supported the use of ESSER funds to provide staff bonuses.

The superintendent has shown she was never against paying GCS employees their worth. She believed the state of North Carolina should take responsibility for the fair compensation of educators and staff in our public schools. She did not waiver in this conviction and never failed to advocate for adequate funding and pay for GCS employees.

Dr. Contreras has served as a professional role model and career coach, and I am proud of her as a community leader. While I am disheartened to learn she is leaving Guilford County Schools, I celebrate Superintendent Contreras as she transitions to become the CEO of The Innovation Project. The state of North Carolina and the 17 districts she will soon serve will be better because of her leadership. !

KENYA DONALDSON is an educator of 23 years in Guilford County Schools. Donaldson is the president of the Guilford County Assoc. of Educators.

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flicks

The Velvet Queen rules above most nature documentaries

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he awardwinning documentary The Velvet Queen (La panthere des neiges) follows renowned wildlife photographer Mark Burger Vincent Munier and novelist Sylvain TesContributor son on their expedition to the Tibetan plateau, one of the least accessible regions on the planet.

This is a world unto itself, one far removed from the concerns of civilization. This is the land of antelopes, bears, wolves, and the snow panther, the elusive and ethereal “velvet queen” of the title. These creatures have survived for thousands of years with no help or hindrance from mankind, and the film emphasizes that it should stay that way.

The Velvet Queen, which marks an auspicious feature debut for writer/ producer/cinematographer/co-director Munier, and writer/cinematographer/ co-director Marie Amiguet, is less a film than an immersion. The sights captured here have rarely been captured before, and it’s impossible not to respect the stark beauty of the region, nor the arduous efforts undertaken by the filmmakers to bring this imagery to the viewer.

One could make the humorous observation that the Tibetan plateau is a nice place to visit but you wouldn’t want to live there. Indeed, humans likely couldn’t live there, given its remoteness and perennially freezing climate. Yet there’s no denying its expanse and impressiveness.

In addition to the breathtaking cinematography (by Amiguet, Munier, and Leo-Pol Jacquet) and Munier’s equally stunning photographs, there’s a majestic and mournful score

by Warren Ellis and Nick Cave, including the closing song “We Are Not Alone.” As well as showcasing the beauty of WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

2021-22 Season

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Spiders and Snakes, My Girl Bill mary goals to remain with The Jive Aces and many more man classicsisbythe Stafford.

This is a land where interlop26 Sons of Mystro er. It is therefore something of a privilege april that we — the viewers — are granted 23 In The Light of Led Zeppelin such access by the filmmakers.

29 Ballet Folklorico de Los Angeles In a way, Munier and Tesson (purposely) take a backseat to the onscreen May 15 Raleigh Ringers proceedings. They’re there to photograph and chronicle, not to interfere or Acts and dates subject become involved, and their enthusiasm to change. For up to date news, visit our website. for their task is palpable. As uncomfortSATURDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2022 able as their surroundings may be, they visit: HighPointTheatre.com for more information | For tickets call: 336-887-3001 exhibit no regrets about embarking on such a journey. This is something bigger and more important than they are, and it deserves — even demands — to be captured on film, both for posterity’s sake and as a genuine celebration of nature at its most basic and simple, and often at its most impressive.

(In French with English subtitles) !

Garrison Keillor and the hopefull Gospel Quartet

Jim Stafford & John Ford coley

See MARK BURGER’s reviews of current movies on Burgervideo.com. © 2022, Mark Burger.

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GOVERNMENT AT WORK

In the United Kingdom, as of Jan. 29, flouting a new highway code rule will cost you up to 1,000 pounds, the Mirror reported. The rule requires someone Chuck Shepherd inside a car to open the door with the hand farthest from the door, employing a technique known as the Dutch Reach.

In other words, if you’re driving (on the right side of the car), you would use your left hand to reach around and open the car door. (The technique is borrowed from the Netherlands, thus the name.) Rule 239 reads: “This will make you turn your head to look over your shoulder. You are then more likely to avoid causing injury to cyclists or motorcyclists passing you on the road, or to people on the pavement.”

If a person in a car injures someone by opening with the wrong hand, a fine will be levied. Cycling UK estimates that more than 500 people are injured every year by car doors.

WAIT, WHAT?

Cameron Newsom, 42, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was treated for stage 4 squamous cell carcinoma on her tongue in 2013, the New York Post reported.

Removing the tumor meant also removing part of her tongue, which doctors replaced with skin and muscle taken from her thigh. Through all of her experiences in treating the cancer, she said, “The weirdest part ... was when I felt a rough texture on the ‘thigh’ part of my tongue — and when I looked in the mirror, it had started growing leg hair!” Newsom had to learn to speak again and still finds eating a challenge, but she’s back to being a gymnastics coach, even with her fuzzy tongue.

IT’S A LIVING

Xavier Long, 20, of Yerkwood, Alabama, has discovered a way to profit from human jealousy and insecurity, the Daily Mail reported. Suspicious partners pay Long to flirt on social media with their loved ones as a loyalty test, and Long rakes in the proceeds: In one week alone, he made over $2,000. Long said he receives about 100 requests for help every day and charges a minimum of $10. If a woman he’s paid to flirt with gives him any of her personal contact information, he considers her a “fail.” “I’m helping people, so I feel like it’s a good thing in a way,” Long said. “Doing these tests has allowed me to stop working a 9-to-5 job.”

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JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 1, 2022

WHEN PIGS SWIM

Veteran surfer Ingrid Seiple was catching a wave on Dec. 18 off Oahu, Hawaii, when she saw something floating like a log in the water, KITV reported. She at first thought it was a Hawaiian monk seal, but, she said, “That’s when I realized it was a pig, and it saw me. It started swimming toward me as fast as it could! It was very close and getting closer. I pushed the board between the pig and I and it bit my board.” Seiple thinks the wild boar was chased into the ocean by hunting dogs.

“It looked like it had an injury on its face,” she said. Seiple escaped the boar without harm, but no word on the pig’s condition.

DON’T SEE THAT EVERY DAY

Motorists on I-59 in Tennessee on Jan. 12 got a closeup look at the world’s largest cast-iron skillet as it made its way on a flatbed truck to the future Lodge Cast Iron Museum in South Pittsburg, Tennessee.

The big fry pan measures 18 feet from handle to handle and weighs more than 14,000 pounds, United Press International reported. It will be used outside the museum, which is set to open in late summer.

Get your selfie stick ready!

JUST REWARDS

Mayor Chen Qimai of Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, has ordered a clever punishment for people convicted of drunk driving in his community. Oddity Central reported that offenders will have to clean funeral parlors to give them the experience of being close to death. In January, 11 drunk drivers spent hours cleaning a mortuary, refrigeration unit and crematorium. “I had never been close to death, and it felt disturbing,” one offender said. When they were finished, they reportedly expressed their deep remorse and said they wouldn’t drive drunk again.

MISTAKEN IDENTITY

Police were called to investigate on Jan. 15 after a motorist on the M11 in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England, spotted what they believed were the sneakered feet of a dead person rolled up in a carpet in another car. A law enforcement spokesperson explained, however, that the feet belonged to “a mannequin dressed as Prince Charming who was on his way to a themed birthday! Thankfully, this was a false alarm.” Metro News reported that the driver was advised to “avoid such circumstances occurring again.” !

© 2022 Chuck Shepherd. Universal Press Syndicate.

Send your weird news items with subject line WEIRD NEWS to WeirdNewsTips@amuniversal.com.

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[KING Crossword]

[weeKly sudoKu]

SLICK MIDDLE

ACROSS 1 5 9 15 19 20 21 22 23 25 26 27 28 31 32 34 35 36 42 43 44 45 47 50 58 63 64 65 66 68 70 71 73

Musical McEntire Bank acct. underwriter Skate parts Church seats Students at Yale — avis (one of a kind) Actor Shaw Take one’s leave Photoelectric cells used for IDing Title heroine of a 2001 French film Onetime rival of Nintendo Charges to get some quick cash Property of a body in motion Vardalos of the screen Morales of “Bad Boys” Roman 1,501 Noisy tot toy Principles of household management Rooted (in) Hidden obstacle Kitchen flooring, to a Brit Sullen Gore and Pacino Humorous impact Tightens, as one’s fist Track circuit Chute-deploying jumper Goth foe Fixed fashionably Dollar part Author — Rogers St. Johns Taj Mahal locale Person on a most-wanted list

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77 78 80 81 83 84 87 89 91 94 95 96 99 103 108

Geraint’s patient wife Averse (to) Swanky Diplomat Suffix with ethyl Strong coffee Suffix with fact One frosting a cake, e.g.

All-out attempt Potentially shocking fish Discontinued iPod Rock concert equipment Speak like Daffy Duck Hits, as a fly Imaginary band on the earth’s surface 113 Form a single file 115 “— tu” (Verdi aria) 116 Healing sign 117 Drink in a schooner 118 Luge, diving and biathlon 123 Saintly 125 Sit heavily 126 Clause’s cousin 127 Face-off area in hockey (or what’s found in eight answers in this puzzle) 129 Article in Germany 130 Yamaha products 131 “— girl!”

132 The Bradys’ Alice, e.g.

133 Elk relative 134 Sharply focused 135 Low in pitch 136 Poker cost

DOWN 1 2 3 4

Sends back into custody Euphoria Female honcho “You wish!”

5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 24 29 30 33 37 38 39 40 41 46 48 49 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61

Most liberated Go on a brief yacht outing Furious state Wine vessel Marlon of film Chinese noodle dish Aid in wrongdoing Sandwich shop Actor Bana of “Munich” Control the course of Pre-euro Spanish money Puts forth Move like a hula dancer Didn’t leave Ho-hum grades “No worries, dude” Catch red-handed Here, to Yves Pulitzer-winning novelist Jennifer Ltr. extra Uncanny Wets a bit “Ew, gross!”

Marina del —, California PC screen type Frigate, e.g.

Ralph of “The Karate Kid” Duel weapon Govt. med approver Bona — Smoothed (out) “My Heart Will Go On” singer Dion Brokerage employee Alpine abode “The Raven” co-star Bela Absorbed Academy URL ending

62 67 69 72 74 75 76 79 82 85 86 88 90 92 93 97 98 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 109 110 111 112 114 119 120 121 122 124 128

Writ for court appearance Arafat’s gp.

Dayton-to-Toledo dir.

Trac II successor “Time — the essence” Team VIP Olden times Clucking bird “— -haw!” (rodeo shout) Bad deed Swindle “Doggone!”

Penne — vodka Mental haze “You’re oversharing,” in texts They may run Windows Some trig functions Like “penne” and “graffiti” Seek pleadingly Go ahead of Went uphill or downhill Baseballer Mays “Who’s interested?”

Tone down Have dinner Liam of film Author Hemingway Australia’s main airline Force along Kid-lit’s Longstocking Uppercut landing area Part of QED Windmill part Healing sign Columnist Bombeck Socrates’ “H”

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Ready the Throne: Eric Gales ascends with “Crown”

E

ric Gales looks to take his place amongst blues royalty with his upcoming album, “Crown” out via Provogue/ Mascot label group on Jan. 28.

Katei Cranford For Gales, “it’s all about going to the next level, man,” he Contributor said. Celebrating five years of sobriety, he considers “Crown” a crowning achievement; and the keystone step on his path to ascension. “It’s celebrating being sober.

Of the work on building a platform, but mostly it’s about having a conversation with the masses,” he explained. “All looped into one.”

And it’s a conversation Gales is ready to have, as “Crown” resonates hard, candid truths about himself and the world around him—combining his traditional elements of blues, rock, soul, and funk, with guitar work that remains masterful, while taking a backseat to lyrical and vocal prowess.

The story of its origin spans his entire career, starting as a wunderkind with a major record deal at 16 in 1991. Struggling with addiction through the early aughts.

Facing limitations in the face of actively rebuilding and almost non-stop recording.

And ultimately: triumph.

While a success in many rights—Gales released a number of signature guitars and pedals this year alone—his notoriety has been self-admittedly hampered by substance abuse over the years. “Crown” looks to correct that status, thanks in part to an old friend, Joe Bonamassa.

“While I was dealing with my affliction, Joe’s career skyrocketed,” Gales explained.

“I put myself in the backseat through my drug addiction. The world knows me, but the world doesn’t know me,” he said. The pair reconnected onstage, for the first time in 25 years, during a Blues Cruise in 2019.

The resulting guitar duel amassed more than three million plays on YouTube. And set Gale’s path to “Crown” in motion.

Looking back on the 10 years between that reconnection and Gales’ 2009 rock bottom (in the Shelby County Correction Center for possession of drugs and a weapon) he continued recording and touring. He moved to Greensboro in 2012, after headlining the 26th annual Carolina Blues YES! WEEKLY

JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 1, 2022

Festival—where a musical meet cute with a girl in the crowd blossomed into matrimony with his wife, LaDonna, who often lends backing vocals and takes the lead on the track “Take Me Just As I Am,” (originally a Lyn Collins tune that appeared on “James Brown’s Original Funky Divas”).

Heralding the ways “Funky Divas” highlights the voices of Black women, and praising LaDonna’s own vocality, Gales reinforced the importance of elevating those voices. “There’s a struggle, ya know? Just being Black is one thing. But being a Black woman, it makes things even double-harder,” he said. “She’d been doing background vocals for me on songs, and I saw it as time for me to flip it—and back her up.”

“And it just turned right out,” he continued, emphasizing the partnership and camaraderie essential to the record. “I got her back, she’s got mine—and everything in between. That’s how we roll. And we’re just gonna keep going forward.”

Trucking forward (perhaps with some Jackie Wilson in the background) “Crown” is paved with the support of Gales’ partnerships and a pendulum of struggles— both between, and beyond, himself—ultimately rising triumphantly.

Not stingy with the flowers he’s due, Gales knows all too well the world is far from a rose garden, with production incidentally beginning the day after George Floyd was murdered. “I was angry and infuriated and I just started talking and venting about things,” he explained—noting the reaction held by producers, Joe Bonamassa and Josh Smith. “Joe said: ‘Eric, I stand with you.’ Him and Josh, both.

They kept telling me, ‘we stand with you.

Please keep talking. Everything you’re talking about is material for this record.’”

The result begets songs like “Too Close To The Fire,” a blues-rock burner that drops references to Mississippi in 1964 and the heat Black men face walking down streets.

“The Storm,” meanwhile, wrestles the grooves of racism that popularize Black art while condemning Black people. A horn section and R&B stylings offer a base for Gales’ pointed, acapella shout, “how can you love what I do, but hate who I am?”

At its root, “Crown” reinforces Gales as a man with something to say—furthering the pattern of soul-bearing and face-melting established on 2017’s “Middle of the Road” and 2019’s “The Bookends,” (both on the Provogue/Mascot label group).

Progressing over 13 tracks (plus three instrumental vignettes) “Crown” uplifts

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PHOTOS BY KATRENA WIZE

Eric Gales, with his wife LaDonna Gales’ talents beyond the guitarmanship for which he’s known. “They came with the mindset of not making this the best Joe Bonamassa record, or Josh Smith record,” he recalled of the mindset engaged by his producers and contributors (Tom Hambridge, James House, and Keb’ Mo). “We all came together to make this the best Eric Gales record.”

With that, “Crown” is open and candid.

Gales is transparent and personal about his history of substance abuse. His stint in jail. The hope he holds for social change, despite the racism he sees and experiences. The emotive opener, “Death of Me” breaths fire into the blues-rock instrumentation Gales is known for. Lyrically, he looks back on the darker corners of his own history in a conversation with himself. As the album unfolds, the audience becomes more acquainted with the artist he is toWWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

day, a notion unpacked in the closing track, “My Own Best Friend.”

Turning outward, Gales urges for change on “Survivor,” a track on which it’s hard to shake the Hendrix comparisons so often made in his direction. In that pursuit, he’s ready to celebrate a change within himself and showcase a new direction of his music, while holding hopes for a change in the world.

“This isn’t just a guitar record,” Gales emphasized. Laying heavy on vocals and lyrics, “Crown” serves more than plates of riffs and noodles most guitar-folk conjure.

“It’s a nice change from the beaten path,” he said, reinforcing his pursuit to elevate his presence as the full-package he’s proven himself to be. Reflecting on his personal reliability and dues paid, “I give it my all,” he said, “whether it’s beatboxing or rapping [with fellow Memphians, Three

6 Mafia] sitting-in or playing the spoons. In the studio, on stage. I can’t help it, I give a million percent every night.”

Recent Triad appearances reinforce the tenacity and “lively presence” Gales is known for—he practically hopped off an international flight and onto the stage over the weekend, joining Tab Benoit at the Blind Tiger.

Gales’ guest-solo with Gary Clark Jr. at the Tanger Center for the Performing Arts in October was heralded as a “showstealer” and ranked among the tops of several year-end lists (among the likes of Mdou Moctar and Dream Theater) in major publications like MusicRadar and Guitar World magazine.

Describing the experience as “not bad, not bad at all,” Gales has his eyes on center-billing—the concept outlined in the single, “I Want My Crown,” on which he and Bonamassa exchange licks in a fired-up, blues rock tête-à-tête—with horns ringing Gales triumphant.

Offering metaphors beyond solo battles, the accompanying video narrative shows Gales riding top-down against a Memphis skyline, as lyrics explore his journey from the bottom-up. A guitared boxing match with Bonamassa ensues, followed by victory footage and Gales seated appropriately on his throne.

“There was always a brotherhood with us,” Gales said, emphasizing the playful nature of the battle tone. “When we reconnected, Joe said to me, ‘You’re a badass guitarist; it’s your turn to get your seat at

the table to wear your crown.’” The pair appears together for the February issue of Guitar World Magazine, equally crowned on the cover as “2021’s Kings of the Blues.”

“In that particular instance, it’s not a competition,” Gales explained. “It’s from the heart. This is what can happen when people, Black and white, who came here to make a grandstand about music and about things happening in this world, get together.” Reflecting on the span of time between pandemic production and the upcoming release, Gales remains steadfast. “This isn’t just no bullshit 16 songs,” he said. “We worked our ass off during the pandemic—over the past year and a half.

We caught COVID and kept pushing.”

“We’re some tough old bastards,” he added, “and we’re just gonna stand tall until the wheels fall off.”

Here in Greensboro, Gales is quick to credit Benjy Johnson at Earthtones Recording for helping keep those wheels rolling. While most of the album was tracked in Nashville, Gales recorded his solo for “I Want My Crown” at Earthtones, along with backing vocals and a few other elements that appear on the record.

“He piled it on thick and heavy,” Johnson recalled of the session, “but he piles it on thick and heavy every time we record here.”

Having worked with Gales on a variety of projects (along with artists like Reliably Bad, Charlie Hunter, Cory Wong, and Banjo Earth) Johnson is excited to watch the album come to fruition after a few pandemic pauses. “The fact that it’s been in the works that long and hasn’t lost any steam is really a testament to how good it is,” he said, admitting his surprise on the initial listen. “After I heard the whole record, and realized this is not a guitar record—it’s got guitar spots, sure—but this is a song record and the songs on it are ridiculous.”

With “Crown” wrapped and ready for release (including a special golden doublevinyl), Johnson and Gales look forward to upcoming endeavors currently underwraps themselves. “We’ve done a lot of recording here that we can’t necessarily talk about yet,” Johnson noted, “but they’ll come out after this record has kind of said its piece.”

Meanwhile, Gales is anticipating the upcoming album and its accompanying release show in his hometown of Memphis.

“It’s one of the biggest nights of my life,” he said of the evening, which he’ll begin by playing the national anthem and halftime show for the NBA Memphis Grizzlies, followed by the “Crown” album release party at Railgarten with MonoNeon, River Kittens, and Bonamassa as a special guest.

Ready the throne, y’all.

“Crown” comes out on January 28. !

KATEI CRANFORD is a Triad music nerd who enjoys spotlighting artists and events.

JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 1, 2022

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Rhiannon Giddens excels in problematic masterpiece at Tanger Center The Greensboro Opera production of Porgy and Bess that ended its brief run at the Steven Tanger Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday may seem an odd fit for Greensboro-born Ian McDowell polymath Rhiannon Giddens.

Not that GidContributor dens doesn’t know opera. Before she became a Grammy and MacArthur-winning folk singer and multi-instrumentalist (not to mention writer, historian, and ethnomusicologist), she was a classically trained Oberlin grad, and she hosts the Met’s radio show and podcast Aria Code.

And George Gershwin’s score for Porgy and Bess is a masterpiece of 20th century American music, populist as well as highbrow. The songs Gershwin conceived as arias have become part of the informal canon known as the Great American Songbook.

Giddens was the main attraction of the first opera to be performed at Tanger. But while a historic role for Black women, Bess is not necessarily a great one, and not just because she only gets one of the opera’s marquee arias, the final and briefest reprise of “Summertime,” after it’s been done twice by the character Clara (in this production, the Marian Anderson Awardwinning soprano Indira Mahajan, who sings it very well indeed).

Called a “Folk Opera” on its 1935 premiere, Porgy and Bess was one of the first major productions in which all of the Black characters were played by Black performers, as George Gershwin and his librettist brother Ira contractually required it never be done in blackface. It was also the first in which the leads, chorus, and much of the supporting cast were filled by classicallytrained Black singers.

Subject to both acclaim and controversy in 1935 and its 1942 revival, its stateside reputation waned after World War 2. By the late 1950s, it was largely forgotten in America, and when performed, was often done in a musical theater or jazz rather than operatic manner.

But in 1977, it was revived by the Houston Grand Opera in a style that embraced the O-word, with “Folk” removed. For the first YES! WEEKLY

time, it was billed as “The Great American Opera,” a description regularly applied to it ever since.

Considered as either an opera or musical, its best aria/song is the magnificent “Summertime,” the rare moment in the show where Gershwin’s music is matched by words that Stephen Sondheim called “the best lyrics in musical theater.” They are also among the few in colloquial but standard English, rather than a white man’s idea of phonetic dialect.

That song, and all the music, is transcendent, but the narrative and other words reflect a vision of Black poverty reimagined

by Depression-era rich white progressives.

It’s a masterpiece, but a problematic one.

While that criticism may seem “woke,” it’s been made by performers and critics for the better part of a century.

A week before the original run closed in 1936, Black composer Hall Johnson wrote that it was “not a Negro opera by Gershwin, but Gershwin’s idea of what a Negro opera should be.” A few years later a Federal Theater production was canceled when performers from the Negro Repertory Company of Seattle criticized the show as racist.

Harry Belafonte turned down the role of Porgy in Otto Preminger’s film version for being “racially demeaning.” Second choice Sidney Poitier said he found the role insulting but was coerced into it by producer Samuel Goldwyn. When the film was released in 1959, novelist James Baldwin called it “a white man’s vision of Negro life.”

Seventeen years before that, when Etta Moten played Bess in the 1942 Broadway revival, she insisted the N-word be removed from the libretto. The Gershwin brothers, who had tried to get Moten to play the role in 1935, agreed. But they did not otherwise change the personality of Bess. Originally envisioned as a minor character, and not given much more nuance when the role was expanded.

When the audience first sees her, Bess is the mistress of the brutal gambler Crown, who terrorizes the residents of Catfish Row, an impoverished Black community outside of Charleston, and she buys “happy dust” from coke dealer Sportin’ Life.

After murdering a fellow gambler, Crown flees, and Bess is taken in by the sweet and gentle Porgy, a disabled beggar. While Crown hides on a nearby island, Bess and Porgy fall in love, and Porgy pays for her “divorce” from Crown.

JANUARY 26 - FEBRUARY 1, 2022

PHOTO BY LUKE JAMROZ

But Crown is not a party to that deal.

At the end of the first act, he reclaims her, in a scene that some productions play as seduction and others as rape. After Crown exits the story, a moment that brought cheers from the Tanger audience on Sunday afternoon, the future would seem bright for the lovers. But Porgy goes to jail, and pusher Sportin’ Life gets Bess addicted again, and convinces her to accompany him to New York, where he intends to pimp her out. The story ends with the saintly and all-forgiving Porgy released and setting off to find her and bring her back.

This is where Giddens’s diverse talents really benefitted the Greensboro Opera production. She has not performed opera in 18 years, and never in a professional production, and was only able to rehearse with the cast for a few weeks. She may not have been the best opera singer on that stage but was easily the best actor, giving Bess more power and poignancy than the libretto did.

At times it was difficult to tell how well she compared vocally to the other principals, as all of the lead singers were regularly drowned out by chorus and orchestra, which sometimes seemed at odds with each other. This wasn’t just a problem from where I sat in the Loge. At the intermission, multiple audience members, some of whom had orchestra seats close to the stage, told me they had similar problems.

If Giddens gave the best performance, there were some other very good ones.

Thomas Cannon, who has already won im-

pressive awards and reviews since graduating from Julliard, was a moving Porgy with a deeply powerful voice. Michael Preacely’s Crown was imposing, well sung and menacing, although Giddens did more to sell his character’s sexual attraction than he did.

Drug dealer Sportin’ Life, who gets the great “It Ain’t Necessarily So,” is one role almost always played by actor-dancers with jazz chops rather than opera (the music for his witty song is based on, of all things, Jewish liturgy). He was quite good, but his vocals were not only sometimes obscured by the orchestra, but by the sound and effort of his excellent dancing.

As Serena, whose husband is murdered

by Crown in the first act, Angela Renée Simpson’ was as terrific as one would expect of a singer who has performed that role in a production broadcast from Lincoln Center. That she was sometimes hard to hear says more about the problems with acoustics and conducting the orchestra than her impressive voice.

The Grammy-nominated Sidney Outlaw, as the honest hardworking fisherman Jake, displayed the rich baritone that’s been praised by the New York Times. I’ve already mentioned the award-winning soprano Mahajan, who as Jake’s wife Clara sings the lullaby “Summertime” to their baby three times. She was also Giddens’ understudy, and her voice was as fine as one would expect of someone who has played Bess at the Teatro di San Carlo, the Washington National Opera, The Los Angeles Opera, and across Europe.

Another vocal standout was tenor Chauncey Packer, fine as murder victim Robbins, and a showstopper as the Crab Man. But ultimately if paradoxically, it was Giddens’ show, whether despite or due to the handicaps of both the material and the way the orchestra was conducted. I hope the next time I see her in a musical or opera, she will have a better part. If the Gershwin estate allows it, perhaps a talented writer will rework this libretto the way that Tony Kushner did the script of Spielberg’s West Side Story, and bring out nuances either absent or only hinted at in the text. If that happens, Bess may become a great role as well as a historic one. !

IAN MCDOWELL is the author of two published novels, numerous anthologized short stories, and a whole lot of nonfiction and journalism, some of which he’s proud of and none of which he’s ashamed of.

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Pause in Candidate Filings impact GSO Elections Eric Robert wants to run against Nancy Vaughan and Justin Outling in Greensboro’s 2022 mayoral election. But he can’t file until February, and neither can anyone else.

On December 8, Ian McDowell the State Supreme Court suspended all filings for elecContributor tions in North Carolina. The Court also pushed back the dates of the 2022 primary and the municipal elections already rescheduled from last November, moving them from March 8 to May 17, 2022. This came two days after the filing period opened on Dec. 5, 2021. According to the State Board of Elections, more than 1,400 candidates filed statewide before suspension became effective.

Those who managed to do so included Outling, current District 3 representative for Greensboro City Council, who in a normal election year would have already vacated that office, as he would have already won or lost his mayoral bid against Vaughan.

Mayor Vaughan told YES! Weekly that she had been waiting to file for re-election until her daughter was back from college and could accompany her to the Board of Elections office, but by the time that happened, filing was on hold.

“I reached out to one of our legislators this morning,” Vaughan told YES! Weekly on December 19, “and asked if they would consider taking municipal races out of the moratorium on filling and allow us to hold city council elections in March as originally announced, rather than moving them to May or even June.

But I don’t know if they will be able to do anything on that.”

Outling filed two hours before the moratorium and announced having done so on December 10.

Robert, who is as critical of both Outing and Vaughan as they are of each other, told YES! Weekly that he had intended to file on December 10, and will do so as soon as filing resumes on February 24.

Robert, a partner and designer at QUB Studios, sued the city in 2015 over what he alleged was his promised share of a $6.6 million federal EPA brownfields grant. According to reporting by Joe Killian in the News & Record that year, Robert and Vaughan were close friends WWW.YESWEEKLY.COM

PHOTO BY JOHN GESSNER

Cecile “CC” Crawford

Eric Robert

Justin Outling

Nancy Barakat Vaughn

until Robert deposed her over the information she had allegedly revealed to him in private conversation. He dropped the suit in 2016.

The one candidate who has been able to file for the mayoral race is not happy that filing has not resumed.

“Community members deserve fair elections,” Outling told YES! Weekly on January 19. “It’s really important for, where people have concerns about political and legislative districts, that they have the recourse to litigate that and ensure that the Constitution is complied with. However, it’s disappointing and regrettable that races and offices completely unaffected by the outcome of the lawsuit over redistricting are further delayed.”

Outling criticized his opponent and

fellow council members for voting last June to move the mayoral and at-large elections from November 2021 to March 2022.

“I think it was regrettable and an error for them to vote to delay elections, including those that were unaffected by any delays in cities receiving census information. Those that are actually affected by census results or constitutional issues are one thing, and I think there can be a reasonable debate about delaying those elections, but for offices unaffected by those issues, I think the bedrock issue is that you’re elected to serve the term that the community has given you the privilege to serve.”

As YES! Weekly reported at the time, council had no say about moving the district elections, as the state legisla-

ture gave them only two options: either a single election in Spring 2022 or an election for Mayor and the three At-Large representatives in 2021 and the five district races in 2022. As then At-Large rep Michelle Kennedy pointed out, a split election would have allowed the loser of the mayoral election (or any of the three At-Large ones) to run for a district seat several months later, and Outling could have theoretically lost his mayoral bid yet still retained his District 3 seat.

As previously reported, the postponed dates are fallout from the ongoing legal battle over North Carolina’s gerrymandered electoral districts.

On January 11, a three-judge panel in NC Superior Court called the maps the result of “intentional pro-Republican partisan redistricting” that could “potentially lead to results incompatible with democratic principles and subject our state to ridicule.” However, the judges ruled the maps do not violate the state Constitution.

This implied that partisan gerrymandering is constitutional and removed one roadblock to House Bill 605 becoming law. If that bill is not vetoed by Governor Roy Cooper, it will move elections again, to June 7. Cooper has been consistently critical of the bill but has not said if he plans to veto it.

Another candidate prevented from filing by the December 8 ruling is Cecile “CC” Crawford, who is challenging Goldie Wells for the District 2 seat. Unlike Outling, Crawford supports the delay.

“As the delays are a result of gerrymandered maps that hurt Black and Brown voters, I fully support the delays if it results in fair maps,” Crawford told YES! Weekly last week. “The only difficulty has been having to reprint literature with the changing dates, and making sure I will be down there on the first day filing opens back up.”

When asked about the delay, Robert was sanguine, an appropriately French word, considering his heritage and the pronunciation of his surname.

“The issue delaying the current elections is an important one, and we must be patient while the matter is being litigated. Those most impacted by this standstill are the citizens and communities that desire a change in current leadership.” !

IAN MCDOWELL is the author of two published novels, numerous anthologized short stories, and a whole lot of nonfiction and journalism, some of which he’s proud of and none of which he’s ashamed of.

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HEAR IT!

Farewell Friend says “hello”

T

ransitions and storytelling abound from nouveau-Americana group, Farewell Friend, who after three albums and a handful of years, are looking to reintroKatei Cranford duce themselves and hit the road. They’ll bid farewell to their Contributor current incarnation over two shows, the first on February 4 at the Gas Hill Drinking Room in Winston-Salem.

“Lord willing and the Covid don’t rise, we’re goaling for 100 out-of-town shows this year,’’ said ringleader Tom Troyer, employing a catch-phrase this writer is soon to wear out.

Standing center, Troyer is something of a dusty poet, a preacher’s kid from Indiana who’s built his home, music, and Black Rabbit Audio recording studio in the Triad.

“I’m blessed here in Greensboro with songwriter circles, open mic nights, and shows,” he said, reckoning his relative success to his relatives out west. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately about my extended family and immediate family ties in Indiana, he explained. “My mom passed away in November; and my parents spent terminal years sharing a double-wide with five adults: one with diabetes, one with cancer, two with developmental delays and special needs; and one a retired minister.”

Troyer uses song and story to process and unpack “some guilt and frustration,” exploring the various tensions and forms of isolation he’s witnessed over the past

few years—referencing his mom and aunt playing hymns in small Wesleyan churches as formative influences, while noting Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, Perpetual Groove, and The War on Drugs amongst more contemporary fare.

Those tensions especially come to a head in Farewell Friend’s sophomore release, “Glenwood and Gomorrah.” Poetic observations roll through the tracklisting, as Troyer mirrors his own reflection. “Do I stay in Greensboro investing in communities that are transient or at best transitional while UNCG gobbles up Glenwood,” he mused topically. “Who are the characters I hold onto here? What friendships last? Am I wasting time here while I should be in another state helping take care of my mom?”

It’s a contrast to Farewell Friend’s first record, “Lineage,” which weaves fiction and allegories so close to home they hit by surprise—an experience Troyer compares to Marvel’s multiverse. “I think about other versions of myself and how they would be responding to different versions of events as they unfold,” he explained, turning to analogies of brothers and betrayal woven through the album.

Shifting his songwriting approach, Troyer’s aim is to better himself as a storyteller, invoking biblical themes in their 2021 release, “[SAMSON]” and shunning singles in the traditional sense. Instead releasing videos for “Birds in Flight” and “Paper Airplanes.” The former, “a song about connecting to an audience and delivering a narrative; and seeing if there are others who exist in some of these same tensions or can relate to the way I tell a story.” The latter, a tune he’d put between The National and Tiny Ruins.

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“I’m just not strategic,” Troyer admitted of his release approach. “I record albums and still hope to capture people’s attention for 25-35 minutes and then they want to hit repeat.” While he sees ways that notion might be antiquated in today’s streaming world, his focus is more on using videography to help shape and define his abilities as a storyteller. “I survived the pandemic emotionally by learning video stuff and now I feel I’m putting those energies into a reliable, viable, engaging concert presentation of my songs,” he explained. Their next video, for the song “Did and Didn’t,” will drop in February, exclusively on Patreon.

It’s all part of an effort to bid against “scrolling years away,” Troyer said of their Patreon establishment, which offers exclu-

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sive content to paid subscribers. “It’s an attempt to be honest, active, and candid,” he explained. Troyer sees potential in the platform as “a space where a community can be built around our creative efforts and keep us accountable in sharing and sharpening our music.”

Working through the nuts and bolts, “right now it all revolves around sharing live recordings, either one a month, a whole show, or the whole archive,” he explained. “All levels get a newsletter and updates about what’s coming up and what’s going on in this jumbled up songwriting, engineering, production process.”

Beyond the Patreon-exclusive video release, Farewell Friend will be at the Gas Hill Drinking Room on February 4 with Laura Jane Vincent. They’ll be at Oden

Brewing on February 25. Afterward, they’ll say farewell to their current incarnation.

“These shows will be the last ones to see Farewell Friend in the form to which you may have grown accustomed,” Troyer noted. “We’ll be building a leaner road crew and our hometown shows will be— let’s say, a little more over the top.”

Shifting from the core of Mark Byerly, Evan Campfield, and Aaron Cummings, Troyer is shaping up an outfit from within their circle. “Evan and I have done a lot of work recently with Zack Covington in the studio for Wild Roots Rising and Jack Gorham,” he explained. “That core group along with Laura Jane Vincent has become a bit of a focus group for taking this show on the road. We’re aiming at 100 out-oftown shows in 2022.”

“‘Lord willing and the Covid don’t rise’ as it were,” he continued, leaning into life’s transitions—harkening a sort of yearning for simpler times. “Remember when there was this crazy thing people did called ‘bobbing for apples’?” he mused. ”How insane is that? Will we ever see people bobbing for apples again? How perfectly benign and idiotic and beautiful. I can’t wait.”

Bobbing for apples may be pretty far off, but in March, Farewell Friend plans to head to Byerly’s farm in Wilkesboro to workshop songs for the upcoming album “The Silent Years.” Fans can follow the progress on Patreon. !

KATEI CRANFORD is a Triad music nerd who enjoys spotlighting artists and events.

COMING TO WINSTON-SALEM March 18, 20 & 22, 2022 The Stevens Center of the UNCSA PiedmontOpera.org or 336.725.7101

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Visit yesweekly.com and click on calendar to list your event online. home grown muSic Scene | compiled by Austin Kindley

ASHEBORO

Four SaintS BrEwing

218 South Fayetteville St. | 336.610.3722 www.foursaintsbrewing.com thursdays: taproom trivia Fridays: Music Bingo Jan 29: Sterling Scott Feb 5: ty Bru

Feb 6: randolph Jazz Band Feb 12: graymatter Feb 19: Corey Hunt and the wise Feb 20: Honky tonk Jam w/ Mark Dillon & Friends Feb 26: Creatio Mar 5: william nesmith

CHARlOttE

BoJanglES ColiSEuM

Best Nightlife in the Triad

2700 E Independence Blvd | 704.372.3600 www.boplex.com Feb 2: Joss Stone & Corinne Bailey rae Feb 6: winterjam22 Feb 26: 4th annual Queen City Blues Festival Mar 3: tracy lawrence & Clay walker w/ alexandra Kay Mar 10: Celtic woman Mar 16: tyler, the Creator Mar 25: toBYMaC Mar 30: Bob Dylan apr 1: Marisela apr 16: For King & Country

CMCu aMpHitHEatrE This Week @ Breathe

Wed 8pm

Mike Lawson Karaoke 7pm $25 Breathe Bucks to Best Performance

Thursday 7pm

Sinatra Tribute with Tracey

Friday & Saturday 9:30

DJ Mike Lawson Dance Party

former Uptown Amphitheatre 820 Hamilton St | 704.549.5555 www.livenation.com apr 20: Modest Mouse May 16: leon Bridges Jun 5: Barenaked ladies

tHE FillMorE

1000 NC Music Factory Blvd | 704.916.8970 www.livenation.com Jan 27: Cheat Codes Jan 28: tenille townes Feb 1: YungBluD Feb 1: BigBaBYguCCi Feb 5: Subtronics Feb 6: Mammoth wVH & Dirty Honey Feb 8: Muna Feb 10: K.Flay

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January 26 - February 1, 2022

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1819 Spring Garden St | 336.272.9888 www.theblindtiger.com Jan 28: the Breakfast Club Jan 29: Bear with Me, Boy named Sue, Caffeine Daydream Feb 4: red: acoustic tour Feb 5: Fit For an autopsy Feb 10: Big Mountain w/ Mighty Mystic Feb 12: zoso: the ultimate led zeppelin experience Feb 15: Smile Empty Soul, autumn academy, Sunflower Dead Feb 17: Fish narc, 8485, Blackwinterwells Feb 18: tim Montana Feb 20: immolation w/ imperial triumphant, Mortiferum

Carolina tHEatrE

310 S. Greene Street | 336.333.2605 www.carolinatheatre.com Jan 28: ill intentions Jan 30: glenn Miller orchestra Feb 5: Viva la Muerte Feb 11: rock 92’s 2 guys named Chris Comedy all-Stars Feb 11: gregory amos Feb 14: the ghosts of liberty Feb 19: anthony Harrison Feb 25: Camel City Yacht Club Feb 26: MoSoul Mar 5: Dw & the Spirit Kings

CoMEDY zonE

1126 S Holden Rd | 336.333.1034 www.thecomedyzone.com Jan 28-30: David Koechner Feb 11-13: Jesus trejo apr 1-3: Jason Banks

ConE DEniM

117 S Elm St | 336.378.9646 www.cdecgreensboro.com Feb 12: 3 Chambers: raekwon x ghostface x gza Mar 1: Stephen Marley Mar 19: Steel panther

Flat iron

221 Summit Ave | 336.501.3967 www.flatirongso.com Jan 27: laura Jane Vincent

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& Debbie The Artist Jan 29: Chris Meadows Band Feb 1: Charlie Hunter & George Sluppick Duo Feb 4: Ed E. Ruger FEb 6: Ranford Almond Band Feb 10: Charlie Hunter & George Sluppick Duo Feb 11: Prez Feb 17: Justin Reid & Farewell Friend Feb 18: Frazier Sluppick Ware Feb 19: Bob Fleming and The Cambria Iron Co. Feb 22: Anamika Feb 26: Antion Scales Mar 1: Jake La Botz Mar 4: William Hinson & Kate Yeager Mar 5: Starlight Speedway

GARAGE TAvERn

5211 A West Market St | 336.763.2020 www.garagetaverngso.com Jan 28: Gipsy Danger Band Jan 29: Retrovinyl Band Feb 5: Radio Revolver Feb 26: Cory Luetjen & The Traveling Blues Band Mar 5: Second Glance Band

GREEnSBoRo CoLISEuM 1921 W Gate City Blvd | 336.373.7400 www.greensborocoliseum.com Feb 4: Ricardo Montaner Feb 5: no Limit Reunion Tour Feb 9: Chris Tomlin Feb 11: Billy Strings Feb 12: Mike Epps

PIEDMonT HALL

2411 W Gate City Blvd | 336.373.7400 www.greensborocoliseum.com Feb 12: Andy Gross

SouTH EnD BREWInG Co. 117B W Lewis St | 336.285.6406 www.southendbrewing.com Tuesdays: Trivia night

STEvEn TAnGER CEnTER

300 N Elm Street | 336.333.6500 www.tangercenter.com Jan 29: Symphonie Fantastique Feb 3: The Beach Boys Feb 4-6: Rent Feb 12: Heather Headley Feb 15: Yusef Salaam Feb 17: Home Free Feb 18: The Temptations and The Four Tops Feb 19: Circle of Friends Feb 23-Mar 6: The Lion King Mar 8: Lyle Lovett Mar 10: Bert Kreischer Mar 12: 90’s Kickback Concert Part 2 Mar 13: The Simon & Garfunkel Story Mar 15: Anne Lamott Mar 19: The Ten Tenors www.yesweekly.com

Mar 24: Rodney Carrington Mar 26: Walker Hayes Apr 1: Bob Dylan

THE IDIoT Box CoMEDY CLuB

503 N. Greene St | 336.274.2699 www.idiotboxers.com Jan 27: Mo Alexander Jan 29: Paul Hooper Feb 5: Cabell Wilkinson Feb 12: Robert Baril Feb 12: Eric Brown Feb 16: Drew Harrison Mar 5: J Bliss

high point

GooFY FooT TAPRooM 2762 NC-68 #109 | 336.307.2567 www.goofyfoottaproom.com Jan 29: Michael Chaney

HIGH PoInT THEATRE

220 E Commerce Ave | 336.883.3401 www.highpointtheatre.com Feb 4: new Date Garrison Keillor and The Hopeful Gospel Quartet Feb 5: Jim Stafford & John Ford Coley Feb 6: Triple Threat’s 18th Annual Benefit Performance Feb 18: The Machine Feb 19: Darin & Brooke Aldridge Feb 26: Jon Reep

SWEET oLD BILL’S

1232 N Main St | 336.807.1476 www.sweetoldbills.com Jan 27: Matt Walsh’s Blue Revue Feb 3: Shiela’s Traveling Circus Feb 10: Decade’s Band Feb 17: Broad Street Blues Band Feb 24: Eversole Brothers

jamestown

THE DECK

118 E Main St | 336.207.1999 www.thedeckatrivertwist.com Jan 27: Renae Paige Jan 28: Spindle45 Jan 29: Hampton Drive Feb 3: Wesley Bryan Feb 4: Stephen Legree Feb 5: Simerson Hill Feb 10: Kelsey Hurley Feb 11: Retro vinyl Feb 12: Cory Luetjen & The Traveling Blues Band Feb 17: Jamie Pruitt and Coia Feb 18: Stereo Doll Feb 19: Radio Revolver Feb 25: Jill Goodson

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BrEathE CoCktail loungE

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olD niCk’S PuB

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liberty

thE liBErtY ShoWCaSE thEatEr 101 S. Fayetteville St | 336.622.3844 www.TheLibertyShowcase.com Feb 5: t. graham Brown Feb 12: nature Blu and Drifters review Feb 19: Wade hayes Feb 26: lee greenwood

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linColn thEatrE

126 E. Cabarrus St | 919.831.6400 www.lincolntheatre.com Jan 26: Cheat Codes w/ kastra Jan 27: Dopapod Jan 28: Who’s Bad: the ultimate Michael Jackson Experience Feb 3: american aquarium w/ old 97’s

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Bull’S tavErn

408 West 4th St | 336.331.3431 www.bullswsnc.com Wednesdays: karaoke Jan 26: Chaos FM

Jan 29: night train w/ Crystal Boswell Croyle Feb 4: granite City rollers Feb 5: Sidekix Feb 11: Muddy Creek revival Feb 12: Jimmy Shirley Jr and the 8 track 45 Band

thE raMkat

Earl’S

121 West 9th Street | 336.448.0018 www.earlsws.com Jan 28: Jason leak Jan 29: aaron hamm & the Big river Band

FiDDlin’ FiSh BrEWing CoMPanY 772 Trade St | 336.999.8945 www.fiddlinfish.com Jan 28: Sam robinson

170 W 9th St | 336.754.9714 www.theramkat.com Jan 27: Songwriter’s Circle w/ Emily Stewart, ryan Johnson, Billie Feather, & Colin Cutler Jan 28: abbey road Feb 3: runaway gin: Phish tribute Feb 12: Cosmic Charlie Feb 19: Cannibal Corpse, Whitechapel, revocation, Shadow of intent

500 S McDowell St | 919.996.8800 www.redhatamphitheater.com May 7: aJr Jun 16: Cody Johnson Jul 16: Barenaked ladies

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1400 Edwards Mill Rd | 919.861.2300 www.thepncarena.com Feb 10: imagine Dragons Mar 2: Eagles

638 W 4th St | 336.777.3348 www.foothillsbrewing.com Jan 26: Discount rothko

11141 Old US Hwy 52, Suite 10 | 336.793.4218 www.facebook.com/midwaymusichallandeventcenter Mondays: line Dancing w/ Denise Jan 28: Branded Classic Country

421 W 27th St | 336.727.2236 www.wsfairgrounds.com May 20: Classic Country Concert Series

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last call

[THE ADVICE GODDESS] love • sex • dating • marriage • questions

NEEDY GONZALES

I’ve saved some of your columns about how women evolved to seek successful men who seem commitmentminded (more likely to stick around and provide). I’ve noticed Amy Alkon that women in pop culture (movies and Advice books I’ve read) constantly choose the Goddess bad boy (the “jerk”) over the guy next door (the “nice guy”). This doesn’t seem to make sense, given a woman’s evolutionary desire to find a mate who a) won’t leave her and b) will provide for her offspring. Do the “jerks” get the girl, or does it just seem that way? —Curious

Though some women go through a bad boy phase — sometimes for decades — women, in general, aren’t seeking a “jerk” but a man whose assertiveness role model isn’t a plastic container of hummus.

Bad boys, in the extreme, are feral, rulebreaking, narcissistic rebels with the air of someone who’s been in prison — or probably should be. Women of course don’t make “My Perfect Man” checklists like: “Lying, womanizing, bar-fighting jailbird who’ll put $2K in booze and strippers on my debit card.”

However, the fictional women you bring up are a special category and choose bad boys for good reason. Consider the novelist’s challenge: keeping the reader’s attention. This takes conflict — constant obstacles to a character getting what they want. If a fictional woman does get a “hap-

pily ever after” — the bad boy realizes he can’t live without her and vows to go good — it can’t come in Chapter Two. Over here in real life, there’s this idea that only “damaged” women choose bad boys.

Nuh-uh. In fact, many strong, emotionally together women are drawn, at least initially, to the bad boy — though not because he’s bad.

“Bad boys tend to have lots of positive traits that come along for the ride” with the badness, cognitive scientist Scott Barry Kaufman explains. “When women say they like ‘bad boys,’ they seem to mean ... men who are exciting”: extroverted, fearlessly assertive, unpredictable thrill-providers. In short: Women don’t want jerks; they want guys who aren’t boring. Bad boys are also fiercely masculine, and there’s nothing that makes a woman feel uber-feminine like her polar opposite.

Women don’t lust after these renegade misfits because they’re into being mistreated. In fact, evolutionary psychologist Geoffrey Miller notes that “Around the world, women list ‘kindness’ as one of the most desired traits in a boyfriend” (in a massive global study by evolutionary psychologist David Buss). Miller drills down on the sort of kindness that’s the biggest draw: “Displays of real altruism — empathy, thoughtfulness, generosity and self-sacrifice.”

That said, the motivation behind this matters. The lady-pleasing guy gives to make things better for others who are struggling. The needy beta boy gives to get, hoping he can bribe a woman into wanting him by becoming her never-say-no choreslave.

In other words, though “nice guys” lament that they’re just too considerate, generous, and decent to get the girl, they’re

answers [CROSSWORD] crossword on page 11

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[WEEKLY SUDOKU] sudoku on page 11

wrong. It isn’t nice guys women reject, but overly nice guys: weaselly suckups who need the companion app to “Find My iPhone,” “Find Me Testicles!”

Bad boys have special appeal for two groups of women: women who just want some hot hookuppy fun and women with high levels of “sensation seeking.” The term, coined by social psychologist Marvin Zuckerman, describes a personality trait marked by a longing for novel, varied, intense experiences and a willingness to take risks to have them.

Certain contexts — like war, famine, or constant gang violence — can shift bad boys into consideration as possible romantic partners. Evolutionary anthropologist Jeffrey Snyder and his colleagues find that “the greater a woman’s self-perceived vulnerability to violent crime,” the stronger her preference for a mate who can protect her: a big scary-dude human hammer other men know better than to tussle with. However, that preference “can be a double-edged sword,” because “the use of aggression for personal gain outside of the home is one predictor of partner abuse.”

Ultimately, the answer to your question, “Do the jerks get the girls?” is: Often,

yes — often temporarily. Bad boy qualities like narcissism — playing out in selfishness, attention-seeking, and an overblown view of one’s own greatness — are obviously undesirable in a long-term relationship.

However, narcissists rule at first impressions, exuding confidence and charisma and drawing on what psychologist Gregory Louis Carter describes as a “’used-car dealer’ ability to charm and manipulate.”

The dark side isn’t without a bright side.

Bad boys often become teaching tools for the women who’ve been burned by them — though the takeaway is not “Just gotta find me a wimpy suckup” but to hold out for a strong, confident man with signs of good character. (The meek, sadly, will inherit the trowel — and the privilege of drywalling a woman’s house while she’s off having sex with the guy who tried to cheat on her with her sister.) !

GOT A PROBLEM? Write Amy Alkon, 171 Pier Ave., #280, Santa Monica, CA 90405, or email AdviceAmy@ aol.com (www.advicegoddess.com). Follow her on Twitter @amyalkon. Order her latest “science-help” book, Unf*ckology: A Field Guide to Living with Guts and Confidence. ©2022 Amy Alkon. Distributed by Creators.Com.

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