David Bazan @ Ladies Literary Club

Photos By Evan Daniels

http://www.davidbazan.com/

Water Colors at REPUBLIC

Wed., March 17, Kelly Walkotten was awarded the distinction of Grand Rapids Photographer of the Year by the Grand Rapids Camera Club.

That distinguished work will be showcased in an exhibit at REPUBLIC beginning March 31 at 7 p.m. Walkotten's signature underwater photography will transport viewers to another world. Her work has been shown in several publications, including scuba, nature and travel magazines.

Walkotten's work began with a simple point and shoot camera with underwater capability. Now it has taken her on assignments around the world to places like Belize, Fiji and the Great Barrier Reef; places the rest of of dream about, let alone get to go on assignment. More than 20 images will be on display. For further examples of her work, click here.

"Clownfish"- Photograph courtesy of Kelly Walkotten, Kelly Walkotten Photography

Happy Oberon Day!

Kiss winter goodbye, because today is the unofficial start of summer.

Oberon, Bell's Brewery's popular American wheat ale, is on tap today. Great way to get rid of "The Mondays," eh?

Extreme Home Makeover: Grand Rapids Edition

Ty Pennington and his crew of hammering, dry-walling do-gooders want to "move that bus" into Grand Rapids. That said, they are looking for a house to fix up, and a family to help.

"We are looking for the deserving people and inspiring families that America can really root for," said Rebecca Shumsky, the show's casting supervisor.

The show, which airs Sundays on ABC, renovates existing homes that are not meeting the needs of the families that live there into customized, functional homes that can meet specific challenges for occupants.

West Michigan residents can nominate themselves or others, but it needs to be done by April 5.

To be eligible, families must own their own single family home. Nominations must be emailed to castingmichigan@gmail.com with an explanation of why the family deserves the renovation, along with the names and ages of family members, and a description of the challenges that their home poses. All nominations must include a contact phone number. For more information, click here.

Tulipalooza

Organizers have announced the lineup for Tulipalooza, the outdoor concert series that wraps around the Tulip Time Festival on May 6-8.

Headliners include Since October wsg AG Silver and The Effort on Thursday, sponsored by WGRD. Friday, the Tulip Timers welcome Thirsty Perch Blues Band wsg The Vincent Hayes Project and Flashback on Friday, sponsored by 97 LAV. Saturday's WHTC/VAN Concert Event features STARFARM wsg Mid Life Crisis and Why Not Astronaut.

Tickets are $10-12 in advance and $12-15 at the gate and there are VIP tix available for about $20. Or you can save a bunch by purchasing a a 3-night pass for $25.

Spending your weekend with GRAM

No, not your grandma (though you could take her with!), but the Grand Rapids Art Museum. This weekend's schedule offers events for everyone, from date night to family fun.

Friday will feature a gallery talk and walking tour of the Alexander Calder Jewelry exhibit, beginning at 6 p.m. Piano music will be played in the lobby beginning at 5:30, and the cafe offers food and drinks.

In keeping with the metal-working theme of the evening, David Huang, who has an exhibit in the LaFontsee Gallery, and Scott Carey of Metal Arts Studio will be holding demos and discussions about their craft in the GRAM's East Court. Stay late and take advantage of the ballroom dancing (just tell yourself its great exercise when everyone around you is a better dancer).

Saturday will feature events for Art for all Families. Adults and kids alike can learn, participate in, and bring home creations.

Sunday the 21st will feature cellist Alicia Eppinga and violinist Megan Crawford with the Grand Rapids Symphony for the final performance of the winter concert series. The performance begins at 2 p.m at the Wege Pavilion.

Go, and enjoy the official end of winter.

Goo Goo Dolls to visit DeVos Hall

Buffalo rockers Goo Goo Dolls will visit DeVos Hall on Sunday, May 9.  Tickets go on sale Friday, March 19 at 10 a.m.  For more, visit LIVE Nation.  

Cynthia Hagedorn is square

At least her art tends to be. As March's artist in residence at the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center, Hagedorn's work will be on display for the remainder of the month. Tonight (March 15), from 6-7:30 p.m., there will be a second opening of her exhibit. It will feature live music and food, and of course, the artist herself.

Hagedorn seems to be an art fanatic. She is an independent docent at the Art Institute of Chicago, and runs the Holland-based Square Peg Events, LLC which uses art to enhance events. She also creates art herself, and uses her unique style to convey meaning and balance as a form of self-expression.

Hagedorn uses bold colors and patterns in her work, and often finishes a piece in one sitting. She works in acrylics for that reason- they blend easily and dry quickly. The bright colors mean a lot to her. "It's the way I think life should be- vibrant, full and alive."

The opening is a free event, open to the public.

Joanna Newsom Opens Tour in Grand Rapids

Review and illustration by A.E. Kieren

Friday, March 12, Joanna Newsom performed the opening date of her new North American tour in Grand Rapids, at the Calvin College Chapel. The Chapel was an ideal venue for Newsom. The audience was seated in 360 degrees surrounding Newsom and her enormous orchestra harp. Calvin's Show Promoter, Kenneth Heffner rightfully bragged that even when filled to its 1,000 seat capacity, no audience member is ever further than 50 feet away from the act.

Newsom played a two-hour set of mostly new material, with the occasional bone thrown in for the fans of her previous albums. The new songs are all wonderful and she gave a great show. It should be mentioned though, that apart from a Joanna Newsom concert, there might be few opportunities to watch a beautiful woman play a full-size pedal harp. The visual element of the experience adds another dimension of value to the concert tickets. After the set, Miss Newsom graced the audience with an encore, followed by a brief, moderated Q&A.

The show was a unique and extraordinary live music experience.

Are your feeling a bit green?

With St. Patrick's day around the corner, the Michigan Irish Music Festival is hosting a 3-day party, stretching from today until Sun., March 14. This year, downtown Muskegon's Fricano Event Center will host Irish music, food, dancing, and of course, Guinness.

Friday's event line-up boasts a silent auction, and the energetic music of The Waxies, voted last years best Irish band in Michigan. Saturday, Fonn Mor will take the stage, playing a mix of modern and traditional Celtic music, and there will be a second silent auction. On Sunday, Slide IE will give a concert. The band is from Ireland and plays traditional music.

Tickets are $6 on Friday and Saturday, and $10 on Sunday. A weekend pass will save you some money at $20. Doors open at 5 p.m. Fri. and Sat, and 4 p.m. on Sunday. Music starts at 5:30 each day.

It's not quite a Ben Stiller movie, but it's close.

Enjoy your own night at a museum. The 54 Jefferson "Old" Grand Rapids Public Museum building is being recycled into a new and unique exhibition.

"Michigan- Land of Riches: Re-examining the Old Grand Rapids Public Museum," is a collaborative effort between students and professors from 7 different area universities. The show will open to the public April 16, with a reception and longer hours.

Among the student and faculty installations will include the Hope College Team's deep and artistic examination of UFO's and crash sites, Kendall College's new use for sheep's shears, and an 80-foot whale suspension, and much more.

The display will also incorporate the exhibitions and dioramas already present at the 54 Jefferson location. Access to the museum's collection is part of what makes this experimental idea so inspired. GVSU Professor Paul Amenta, the project director and curator, says it is an "effort to re-imagine and re-examine future uses" of the museum. President and CEO of the GRPM Dale Robertson hopes the step, and partnership with area higher-ed may one day lead to a permanent re-opening.

WARNING: QofH's Apothecary may be addicting

By Mitchell Terpstra

Band: Question of Honour
Album: Apothecary
RIYL: Queen, Top Gun Soundtrack

Question of Honour's latest release, Apothecary – its 11th release in as many years – is an avalanche of high-riding vocals atop fast-paced, heavy-handed electric guitar melodies. The lyrics consistently explore tenuous or botched relationships and societal failures with poignant sincerity. If the honest, searching lyrics aren't enough to suck you in, then give them a listen for their frequent ecstatic guitar riffs. The album will be available everywhere March 19, 2010. Question of Honour is Hugh Wygmans (vocals, guitars, and keyboards), David Wygmans (drums and vocals), and Ken Pitchford (bass guitar and vocals).

"Laughter is the breast medicine."

The Pink Ribbon Comedy Tour will be rolling into Grand Rapids this Thurs., March 11 at 7 p.m. The show, which will take place at Dr. Grin's in the B.O.B., will benefit Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

30% of ticket sales will be donated to the foundation, which supports breast cancer research. The 70-show tour, which will visit 25 states, will donate a minimum of $10,000 to the breast cancer cause.

The show features four comedians, Brenden T. Gleason, Nick Hoff, Law Smith and Kevin Richards. Richards' own mother Renee was diagnosed because of his involvement. The hope is that the show will increase not only funding, but awareness of breast cancer and the need for more research.

Ada Bike Shop Rolls Into Additional Location

Here's a way to cut two costs in one fell swoop: pedal a bicycle. On one hand, avoid escalating gas prices, which will only find new roofs to go through. On the other, avoid the cost of gym memberships, which are only for those uncreative type who fail to see the the free fitness potential out-of-doors.

Fortunately for those who appreciate the multiple benefits of thrifty, healthy modes of transportation, Ada Bike Shop has opened a new location in the "bike shop desert" of East Grand Rapids. Ada Bike Shop owner Jim Ippel purchased the Fulton Heights Mower Sales and its 2,000-sq. ft. retail space back in November. Because this new store of his is located at 1311 Fulton Street, next to the popular Schnitz Deli, and in the constantly revised Fulton Heights area, Ippel is looking forward to a more diverse patronage which includes young families, college folk, teens, and other urbanites.

New services at 1311 Fulton will include bicycle, scooter, and bicycle-accessories retail as well as bicycle repair. In addition, Ippel has kept Steve Vos, former owner of the mower shop, on staff as his small engine expert. Together they'll continue to sell lawnmowers and snowblowers and the Kymco-brand of scooters.

Halestorm @ The Intersection (3-7-10)

Hip Hop for Haiti

This Friday and Saturday (Mar. 5 and 6), Muskegon's CARBON/Blue Note will host what is likely to be remembered as one of the best hip hop mash-ups West Michigan has ever seen.

When the event was conceptualized as a hip hop event to benefit Haiti, with a few local artists performing. From there, it grew. This weekend will see more than 30 artists and groups perform a huge variety of hip hop music. Notably, this month's cover girl DJ SuperDre is in the line up, along with D-12's DJ Young Mase, Rick Chyme, and many more.

Acts from all over the state will be present, and Leif Kolt (formerly of Mich., presently of Cali.) will come back for the event. Area groups have supported the event and coordinated the volounteer effort en masse.

103.7 WUVS, The Grand Rapids Hip Hop Coalition, The American Red Cross, MICRGrand Rapids and others have lent hands and dollars to promote it. Entrance is $15 dollars, and the event is 21+.

It should be noted that there is a dress code in place, with no hats, plain colored t-shirts, tank-tops worn by men, sagging or baggy pants, hoodies or sports jerseys allowed.

Music and Voices Tell A Story: Opera Grand Rapids Finds A Permaent Home

By Theo Andrews

The once nomadic Opera Grand Rapids has officially moved into its new, permanent home. From 4-7 p.m. today, the company will give informal tours to the community showcasing their newly constructed residence.

This was a long time coming. The opera company has wandered for the past 42 years from abandoned, and raccoon-infested, abodes like Frank’s Nursery to a vacated Hollywood Video, as well as empty warehouses where the heat didn’t work and temperatures were ghastly cold. Certainly this is not the kind of situation you’d imagine a professional Opera company operating in, but they did; for four decades.

“It went from shabby to shabbier,” said Production Manager Catherin Wiegandt. “With this new building, everything is going to get better.”

The Betty Van Andel Opera Center is a two-story tall, 14,000 square foot facility that includes: a permanent box office, costume shop, prop storage, offices, meeting rooms, a library, and most importantly, real rehearsal rooms.

“The building doesn’t necessarily act as a performance center, but a learning center,” says Wiegandt. “It is a chance to develop community outreach.”

Performances will still be held at DeVos Hall, but the new building—located at 1320 E. Fulton St.—will serve as a space dedicated to providing educational and public programming; the intended experience Opera Grand Rapids wants to deliver.

Formal dedications will be held on June 16.

'Music or Death' is more than a title to Jeff Lionheart

Review by Rebecca Lee

The classical violins and flutes of the orchestra don’t often mingle with their undersophisticated relatives—the electric guitar and drums—but Jeff Lionheart’s new album Music or Death joins them together in an unconventional musical mixer.

Released on Jan. 12 by 615 Records, Music or Death not only boasts upbeat, classic rock style tunes but rock ballads, sentimental ballads, and cheery melodies. Beneath the blaring electric guitar, pulsating drumbeats, and pointed resonance of Lionheart’s voice, Grand Rapids Symphony Orchestra’s violins and flutes add depth and dimension to the sound.

The song “Inside of Me,” featured in the film Being John Malkovich, highlights the orchestra’s contribution. Other songs on the album, “Don’t Bring It On Again” and “Rain,” downplay the orchestra and instead display Lionheart’s grit—parading his rockin’ four-octave vocal range.

Since the age of four, Lionheart has been a music enthusiast—inspired by British bands like the Beatles and Radiohead. Though unable to read or write music, he composed and arranged the 40-part orchestration for his latest album. According to former drummer Greg Jackson, Lionheart’s passion will push him to make it in the music industry or die trying—which inspired the album's title. Lionheart dedicated the album to Jackson, who passed away this last year.

Currently receiving radio airplay in ten states—from Oregon to Virginia—Lionheart has stretched beyond the boarders of his home state, Michigan. With his unconventional musical combos, classic rock vocals, and fervent passion for music, he will either go far, or die trying.

Nonpoint and Cold Rock The Orbit Room

Photo and review by Elena Nieman

If you weren’t lucky enough to make it to the Orbit Room Saturday for Nonpoint and Cold, you missed out. Nonpoint gave a stellar performance, and its cover of Phil Collins “In the Air Tonight” definitely had a hard rock spin to it.

After the band got off stage the lead singer of Nonpoint, Elias Soriano, was up by the merchandise signing things and taking pictures with his fans. It’s refreshing to meet a national touring band and not feel intimidated. Elias radiated kindness to the fans.

Cold then took the stage to close the night and what a night it was. Cold's trademark psychedelic spider whirled onstage and the drummer’s face was painted with black light reflective paint. Additionally, the black lights hanging from the drum set it certainly set the mood for something spectacular, and it was.

Brewery Vivant to Bring New Life to Dead Spot on Cherry St.

This image represents Locus Development's planned renovation of the former funeral home chapel and Spectrum Health childcare center at 925 Cherry Street, as seen from Lake Drive.

In French vivant means "alive" or "lively," which is perfectly appropriate considering New Holland Brewing Co. co-founder Jason Spaulding plans to resurrect a dead spot on the otherwise flourishing Cherry Street.

Spaulding, in conjunction with Locus Development, has a $3 million plan underway to remodel the former funeral home chapel at 925 Cherry St. into a 140-seat taproom and to renovate the former Spectrum Health childcare center next door into a micro-brewery. Spaulding expects the micro-brewery to turn out 5,000 barrels of beer a year, of the French- and Belgian-tradition, meaning specialty strains of yeast combined with hops, grains, spices, and fruits. That European beer tradition will be further enhanced by the outdoor beer garden and piazza which will face the "cobblestones" of Cherry St.

In both his beer and food menu, Spaulding hopes to use as many local ingredients as possible, in order support the local economy. Also, he plans to hire up to 50 employees in the first season of business, which shouldn't hurt.

Spaulding should have plenty of the necessary experience to pull off the venture. After co-founding New Holland Brewery Co. in 1996 with Brett VanderKamp, he spent over a decade honing his beercrafting skills at that stalwart of the Michigan beer scene. Then two years ago Spaulding split ways to further hone his craft at a brewing school in Munich, Germany. Don't be surprised to find Spaulding with some innovative brews up his sleeve when Brewery Vivant opens this fall. If all goes to plan, construction should begin this spring.