Life After Life By Jill McCorkle Shannon Ravenel Book 352 pp. Monday, March 25, 7:30 p.m. Quail Ridge Books & Music Raleigh Tuesday, March 26, 7 p.m. Flyleaf Books Chapel Hill Additional events scheduled for late April It might seem brave of Jill McCorkle to set her first novel in 17 years in Pine Haven, […]
David Klein
Bio: David Klein lives in Chapel Hill with his wife and two sons. His first book, If 6 Was 9 and Other Assorted Number Songs, is available at his website.Link: http://www.if6was9thebook.com/Twitter: http://twitter.com/DKleinandFall
Posted inArt
Cory Doctorow on the teen imagination, paranoia and the late Aaron Swartz
Homeland By Cory Doctorow Tor Teen; 400 pp. Cory Doctorow appears at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 16, at Chapel Hill’s Flyleaf Books. In Cory Doctorow‘s novels for young adults, teenage “techno-ninjas” do battle with the powers that be, often represented by the Department of Homeland Security. Little Brother (2008) depicted a police-state crackdown in the […]
Posted inMusic
Kid stuff: The Buzztown Band makes the children sing—and the parents content, too
As a veteran of the Triangle music scene, Brian Buzby has faced his share of low turnouts. But when he and his Buzztown Band took to the Broad Street Cafe stage two weeks ago, it was, as he happily proclaimed before kicking off the first number, the largest gathering he had ever played for. But […]
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Swingtown
When I taught my young sons how to play backgammon last year, I added some nontraditional nomenclature to the mix. The two pieces that have the farthest distance to travel around the board are called Homer and Jethro. These bumpkin monikers were just a silly attempt to offer a bit of narrative to the game, […]
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Bring them home
A few months ago, an email arrived from my sons’ school. That afternoon, administrators had briefly placed the school on lockdown, due to a “matter that involved a parent.” That parent had not gained access to the building, the email assured, and had quickly been arrested. This didn’t cause me any great alarm. Perhaps I […]
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Fall around
I had no illusions about what one man with a rake can achieve against mid-November leaf fall in North Carolina. Both of my neighbors have leaf blowers, as do my in-laws, who live right across town. They might have let me borrow one, but I’m not interested. There is a satisfaction in doing certain tasks […]
Posted inMusic
Live: Wooden Wand lets them ponder
Photo by Leah Hutchison Toth Wooden WandDuke Coffeehouse, DurhamFriday, Nov. 30, 2012 James Jackson Toth’s set at the Duke Coffeehouse Friday night provided stirring testimony to the enduring power of one person playing a guitar and singing words that matter. Introducing himself by his nom de rock, Wooden Wand, and singing songs from Blood Oaths […]
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How a lifetime’s wait produced one of the Triangle’s best new bands, The Human Eyes
The Human Eyes play Tir na nOg Thursday, Nov. 29, at 10 p.m. with Ryan Gustafson. Songwriters tend to reveal themselves early in life: Maybe they show a knack for picking out melodies on the piano. Perhaps they beg their parents for a guitar before their 10th birthday. Others spend long hours immersed in an […]
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Live: Yep Roc 15 ends with a fan’s finale
If Night 1 featured Yep Roc’s biggest names, and Night 2 emphasized the label’s power-pop predilections, Night 3 was all about roots: Triangle-area roots and roots music in general. As such, it featured the showcase’s folksiest between-song patter (discounting Robyn Hitchcock’s trademark parallel-universe digressions on Night 1, which comprise their own own category). Early on, […]
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Live: Yep Roc’s 15th anniversary goes power pop for Night 2
Night 2 of Yep Roc 15 was power pop time. Following an opening-day bill packed with heavy hitters that resulted in the Cat’s Cradle being crammed almost to capacity, the mood on Friday was more subdued, the vibe less celebratory and more perfunctory as the show rumbled to life at its appointed 8 p.m. time. […]