Situated just on the other side of the Appalachians, about a five-hour drive from the Triangle, is the sweet little city of Knoxville, Tennessee. The occasion for my first-ever visit was Big Ears, a small but broadminded festival that convenes some of the greatest minds in contemporary experimental music. But while Big Ears was worth […]
Allison Hussey
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International Bluegrass Music Association Announces its 2016 Wide Open Bluegrass Headliners
The International Bluegrass Music Association’s World of Bluegrass convention has been a boon to Raleigh, and it returns to the city for the final week of September this year. In addition to its business conference, IBMA brings its Wide Open Bluegrass festival downtown, and the institution announced the headliners for this year’s big shows at […]
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Moogfest 2016, Day Three: Lights, Colors, and Good Vibrations
Moogfeset 2016 Downtown Durham Saturday, May 20, 2016 Janelle Monáe didn’t perform at Moogfest, but she did serve as a powerful, propelling force for much of Saturday nonetheless. Early in the day, she discussed the upcoming movie Hidden Figures with screenwriter Allison Schroeder. Set for release in 2017, the movie explores the lives of three […]
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Live: Up Against Moogfest, Analog Aretha Reigns Supreme in Durham
Aretha Franklin & Moogfest Durham Performing Arts Center & Downtown Durham Thursday, May 19, 2016 Spend time at a music festival, and your conversations will inevitably turn to, “So what are you going to see later?” On night one of Moogfest, those answers included Gary Numan, Miike Snow, Ryan Hemsworth, and Jlin. But in the […]
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Carolina Performing Arts Announces 2016-2017 Season With Philip Glass, Sufism in Mind
Last night, UNC-Chapel Hill’s Carolina Performing Arts rolled out the roster for its 2016-2017 season. The organization announced three distinct pillars of programming to define much of the year. “Glass at 80″—a large look at perhaps the most famous member of American minimalism’s big four, Philip Glass—is the largest and most specific point of interest. […]
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Out of Dodge
My truck died last month. Breaking the news to friends has felt like a death in the family. “I’m so sorry for your loss,” one said in earnest. I never expected the hardest breakup of my twenty-four years to be with a temperamental piece of machinery that gave me trouble but mostly got me around […]
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The Emotional Delights of You Won’t
YOU WON’T FRIDAY, MAY 20 CAT’S CRADLE BACK ROOM, CARRBORO 8:30 p.m. $10–$12, When the Boston duo You Won’t takes the stage, the instruments outnumber the personnel several times. There’s guitar and drums, a singing saw, harmonium, wind chimes, a whirly tube, a bass ukulele, and so on. Watching Josh Arnoudse and Raky Sastri conjure […]
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Moogfest 2016: Don’t Have Money for Moogfest? Here’s How to See Lots of It for Free
Even relative to other local music festivals, Moogfest isn’t cheap. Weekend passes sell for $249, about $80 more than the cost of Hopscotch and $30 less than a bonus-heavy VIP pass to the Art of Cool. But the city and county of Durham combined financial forces to help fund an ambitious agenda of free programming […]
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Tomorrow’s Symphony Concert with Itzhak Perlman Canceled, Transgender Opera to Be Performed at the State Legislature Thursday
Bad news, symphony lovers: Violinist Itzhak Perlman, who was scheduled to perform with the North Carolina Symphony tomorrow night, has canceled his appearance. The statement that he gave to the symphony and his fans follows: “I have spent a lifetime advocating against discrimination towards those with physical disabilities and have been a vocal advocate for […]
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Elton John Jumps on the Anti-HB 2 Train in a New Op-Ed
As North Carolina continues to sit in in the national spotlight of shame over HB 2, public figures have weighed in on the situation—Bruce Springsteen, Joel McHale, and, y’know, the Department of Justice. This morning, Elton John joined the chorus in an op-ed published online at The Hill, a D.C.-based publication that covers national politics. […]
