Copious Notes

The Opera House's new look

Go into many towns in the United States and you can find old theaters that were once the hub of activity sadly showing their age with paint peeling, curtains falling and creaky old seats breaking as an era slips into oblivion. That is not the case with Lexington’s 122-year-old Opera House. Even last year, visiting artists such as the Broadway seasoned cast and crew from 12 Angry Men were singing the theater’s praises.

If they could see it now.

Over the summer, the Lexington Opera House underwent a $2 million renovation, updating the seats, soundsystem, dressing rooms and many other accomodations. Patrons get their first look tonight as the UK Opera Theatre opens its production of La Boheme. But Tuesday afternoon, photographer David Perry and I got an advance tour with Opera House General Manager Luanne Franklin. Above, you can see a slide show from our visit.

Click here for a larger version of the slide show.

Click here for the whole story on the renovation.

Click here for more on La Boheme.

And click here for the Opera House’s upcoming schedule from LexGo.

rctalk: Joy Whitlock's 'God and a Girl' and Eyesuponus' debut disc

Memphis-based Joy Whitlock has released her first album, "God and a Girl." Photo by Krystal Mann | Ardent Records.

Joy Whitlock | God and a Girl

Christian rock presents a lot of artists who simply appear to be part of “mirror culture,” a Christian Avril Lavigne, Christian Maroon 5 or whatever the flavor-of-the-moment-a-few-moments-ago is.

Joy Whitlock is an artist with something to say, as opposed to something to be.

According to her press biography, Whitlock is a fairly new Christian, a preacher’s daughter who went through something of a dark journey before embracing her faith. And one of the first artists to embrace her was Todd Agnew, whose taste for songs of faith that still ask questions is reflected in Whitlock’s full-length debut album, God and a Girl.

There are some moments on the album that soar into full radio-friendly production such as Holding on to Me. But a lot of the disc tracks much closer to the opener, The Cost of Being Free, a bluesy tune with guitars buzzing and twanging straight through the amps while Whitlock sings with the graveliest alto we’ve heard in Christian rock since Jennifer Knapp.

Many of the songs seem to have autobiographical roots, songs about shedding a sketchy past for a life of faith that can sometimes be hard to navigate and stick with. Testify is a particularly striking, plainspoken testimony that really comes in the form of the singer confessing and asking God to testify for her. It ends with a sober perspective on a common childhood prayer:

Now if I should die in my sleep
Something grabs hold of this heartbeat
Whether I struggle or go in peace
All that I ask
Is let it be you that I see
I see

The primary fault in the disc is really length. At 14 tunes and a little over an hour in playing time, it does start to drag a bit. Trimming out a few cuts may have given Whitlock a more succinct and consistent first impression. But then we hear so few voices like Whitlock’s, it seems a tad silly to complain about too much of her. She comes onto the scene as an authentic voice, and you want to wish her success, and wish that success won’t spoil her.

Versailes- and Georgetown- based Eyesuponus is also out with a debut disc. Fishers of Men is the first  bow for the the quartet that got a pretty big gig in the Summer of 2007, when it placed in the money in the Ascenxion Scout competition and was rewarded with a set at the Ichthus Festival.

That boost really gave the group a sense of mission heading out of the festival.

Fishers of Men was another year in the making, but now that it’s done, the guys in the band are using all available venues to market it, putting the CD in most area Christian and mainstream record stores, including CD Central and Joseph-Beth Booksellers. It’s also available on Amazon, iTunes and many other e-tailers and download sites.

Photo, above: Eyesuponus -- L-R, Jonathan Hensley, Christopher Cool, Chris Simpson and Eric Drane -- played the Edge Stage at Ichthus June 16, 2007. The Versailes band's set was their reward for coming in fourth in the Ascenxion Scout Competition. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

The Pavarotti look

Tenor Jeremy Cady rehearses the role of Rudolfo in the University of Kentucky Opera Theatre's production of La Boheme in the Schmidt Vocal Arts Center on Oct. 7., 2008. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo. Below: Luciano Pavarotti.

Tuesday night, I went over to the Scmidt Vocal Arts Center at UK to shoot some photos for a feature we’re running in Sunday morning’s paper about University of Kentucky Opera Theater tenor Jeremy Cady, who is singing the role of Rudolfo in La Boheme the next two weekends — he shares the role with tenor Phumzile Sojola.

As always, it’s fun to shoot artists at work. During this rehearsal, I had this particularly striking moment when I was looking at shots on my camera. There was one of Jeremy in the midst of singing Che gelida manina, eyes closed, mouth wide open, hands clutching at his chest.

“That looks like Pavarotti,” I thought.

Of course, it was Jeremy, a 34-year-old doctoral student at UK, who is racking up and impressive string of leading tenor roles, as well as leads and supporting parts in regional opera companies such as Kentucky Opera in Louisville and Cincinnati Opera. But with that image in mind, it was interesting to sit down with Jeremy the next afternoon and hear him start talking about how one of his early inspirations was a recording of Pavarotti singing Che gelida:

“Pavarotti was the first tenor for me that really sparked my imagination and amazed me with the power of the human voice to just soar over the orchestra.”

During that interview, Jeremy also said that rehearsal was the night that the opera, his favorite, really came together for him. That was the result of lots of listening, lots of work, and maybe he was channeling a little something too.

Here are a few other shots from that rehearsal:

Top to bottom: Director Michael Ehrman; David Baker as Schaunard, Mark Elliot Golson II as Colline and Eric Brown as Marcello; Jeremy Cady, Mark Elliot Golson II, Christopher Baker and Eric Brown; Jeremy Cady as Rudolfo and Amelia Groetsch as Mimi.

Met Live HD: Richard Strauss' 'Salome'

Karita Mattila in the title role of the Metropolitan Opera's production of Salome, which shows in movie theaters across America this weekend. Photo by Ken Howard | The Metropolitan Opera.

The Metropolitan Opera’s Live HD series gets started this weekend — more than a month and a half earlier than last year — with a live broadcast of Richard Strauss’ Salome at 1 p.m. Saturday. It will show in Lexington at the Lexington Green Movies 8 and the Regal Hamburg Pavilion 16, and repeat at both locations at 7 p.m. Oct. 22.

We’ll be seeing the new modern-dress production by German Jürgen Flimm with set and costume designs by Santo Loquasto.

According to the New York Times’ Anthony Tommasini though, the reason to see the show is Karita Mattila in the title role.

“Given the physical and emotional toll of her portrayal, that she could also sing this daunting role with such gleaming power, eerie expressivity and, most remarkably of all, beguiling lyricism was stunning. When the opera ended and Ms. Mattila appeared alone before a black curtain, looking spent and dazed, she seemed almost frightened by the vehemence of the audience’s applause and shouts of ‘Bravo!”’

Salome, considered a 20th Century masterpiece by many, is the story of King Herod’s beguiling stepdaughter and her infamous role in the execution of John the Baptist. In the already emotionally unbalanced world of opera, Salome does outdo itself in eroticism — including the dance of the seven veils, which ends with Salome naked — and grisliness. It is not to be missed, though you may want to leave the younger kids at home. It is also a one-act opera that clocks in at a tidy 90-or-so minutes.

Met Live HD is getting off to a modern, er, relatively modern start, with John Adams’ Dr. Atomic Nov. 8.

rctalk: Erlanger's Seabird coming to UK

Seabird frontman Aaron Morgan and guitarist Ryan Morgan during the video shoot for Rescue, their song that is featured in ads for the ABC series Pushing Daises. Photo from Seabird's MySpace page.

Aaron Morgan’s band has a recording contract with an EMI label and a song being used as part of an ad campaign for the Emmy-winning ABC series Pushing Daisies.

But he is still going to work in Downtown Cincinnati as an information technology contractor for Great American Insurance, fixing computers and networks.

“People think I’m crazy,” Morgan says, noting that his brother, guitarist Ryan Morgan, and bassist Chris Kubik have both quit their day jobs to focus on the band, Seabird.

“I’m the only one left who still has a job, and really, that’s because my employer has been so flexible, letting me go when I need to and come back when I need to,” Morgan says.

It also isn’t like they planned to do this whole band-with-recording contract thing. Seabird got its start when the band’s original drummer, Aaron Hunt, heard Morgan’s songs and suggested they start a band.

“He somehow convinced me to record three songs in his bedroom,” the keyboardist and singer says, “and he submitted them to a battle of the bands competition at the Underground,” a Cincinnati Christian music club.

They slipped the tape in just 30-minutes before the submission deadline. It put Seabird toe-to-toe with 22 of Cincinnati’s best bands.

“I thought, this is a terrible way to start a band, competing with all these bands we should be making friends with,” Morgan recalls.

Or maybe the bands should be making friends with Seabird.

Review: '1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die' by Tom Moon

This is a book for those of us who have the Beatles next to Beethoven on our CD shelves, maybe with Sidney Bechet and Beck in between.

Tom Moon made his name as a pop music critic for the Philadelphia Inquirer, Rolling Stone, NPR and other outlets. But his new book, 1,000 ­Recordings to Hear Before You Die, reveals the mind of a pure music fan who likes anything, as long as it’s good.

That’s a profile a lot of music fans like to have. But most of us have some holes in our passion, often “I hate country” or “that rap crap.”

With Moon, it is hard to find any holes.

Modern classical music?

There’s Steve Reich’s ­Music for 18 Musicians, along with discs of Elliott Carter, Charles Ives and others.

Bluegrass?

He’s got yer Bill ­Monroe, along with yer Flatt & Scruggs and deeper cuts.

Jazz?

Moon (photo, right, from Workman Publishing) was in Maynard Ferguson’s big band, and he touches all the greats, and many you haven’t heard of.

Maybe the most ­impressive thing about Moon’s selections is his command of a wide swath of world music, pulling in favorites from around the globe.

But what really makes the book indispensable is the writing. Moon is a critic at the top of his game, ­intricately exploring what makes these greats great.

Natasha's next stage

Ryan Case and Shayne Brakefield on the new stage at Natasha's Cafe, where they will present The Mystery of Irma Vep, Oct. 5-17. Photo by Rich Copley.

Folks who turn out to see Balagula Theatre's production of The Mystery of Irma Vep will also see the debut of the new stage at Natasha's.

For years, the cafe has built an audience for its theater offerings usually performing on a stage the size of a modest walk-in closet. It definitely has its charm.

But, according to Balagula theater director Ryan Case, cafe owners Gene and Natasha Williams decided the audience had grown to the point it was time to expand the seating and the stage.

So, Natasha's boutique has moved up to the corner to Main Street and Esplanade as Props Lifestyle Gallery. In the boutique's space is a stage in the back corner of the additional space that was once the boutique, and seating will fill the floor in front of it. A bar will move in where the small stage used to be.

Case says Vep, a two man, myriad-character play could not have been produced on the old stage. He did not know what will follow Vep playwise, though Natasha's has regular schedule of music in addition the theater.

rctalk: Anberlin's 'New Surrender'

Anberlin are drummer Nate Young, bassist Deon Rexroat, singer Stephen Christian, guitarists Joey Milligan and Christian McAlhaney. Photo by James Minchin, courtesy Universal Republic.

Anberlin | New Surrender

The press kit for Anberlin's Universal Republic debut, New Surrender, identifies the group as, "one of the truly viable indie-to-major success stories ready to blow in 2008." Of course, Christian pop fans know you could replace "indie" with "Christian," and still have an accurate statement.

Anberlin released its first three studio albums and one b-sides package on Tooth & Nail Records, the launching pad for acts such as P.O.D. and Underoath that have easily walked between the Christian and mainstream markets.

Anberlin has done that too, particularly with its 2007 release Cities.

The major label jump finds the Central Florida act as you would expect a band making this transition: sounding as confident, polished and nimble as ever. There is also no dilution of Anberlin's thoughtful meditations on life and faith, that have rarely been overt but always been challenging to those who took time to listen.

Anberlin is a neopolitan package of sounds from some solid post-punk pop to lovely acoustic-based vocal tracks such as The Unwinding Cable Car, one of the most inventive, sublime cuts on Christian radio in the past year.

New Surrender starts out on an aggressive note with The Resistence and rocks through the brainy and intriguing Breaking. The strongest signal these two songs send is that New Surrender will be owned by the guitarists Christian McAlhaney and Joey Milliagan. Considering they have just been together since the release of Cities, these axe men have become quite a pair in a brief time.

Being a major label debut, this disc does resurrect a previous hit, The Feel Good Drag from 2005's Don't Take Friendship Personal. It fits in, but also amplifies Anberlin's growth, seen in songs such as the symphonic Retrace and Breathe, poppy Burn Out Bright (Northern Lights) and Younglife, and apocalyptic Miserable Visu (Ex Malo Bonum).

New Surrender is an album that immediately starts to grow on you, and rewards repeated listenings with deeper insights and surprises, as well as a lot of fun. It's exactly what a band reaching out to a wider audience needs.

Also out today: Amy Grant's Christmas Collection releases today (we're going to do a Christmas disc roundup soon) as is Newsboys' Live in Houston. With Tobymac's live disc, Houston just seems to be the hip place to record in front of a crowd lately.

Speaking of Live, don't forget Seabird is at UK next Wednesday.We have a story about the Erlanger band coming up this weekend. Also, we reviewed Fireflight last week at Lexington Christian.

The UK Symphony's growing discography

UK Symphony Orchestra conductor John Nardolillo conducted the National Symphony Orchestra with Arlo Guthrie earlier this month in the same program the UK Symphony recorded last year. Photo courtesy of the National Symphony Orchestra.

Friday night is the season-opening concert by one of Lexington’s most active recording artists: the University of Kentucky’s student orchestra.

The student designation for the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra seems like a mere technicality as it has made several world premier recordings in the past year that have made it to the desks of influential critics.

“Playing Pasatieri’s skillful orchestrations under the assured leadership of conductor John Nardolillo, they sound more like a professional orchestra than a student one,” Opera News critic Joshua Rosenblum wrote in a review of the UK Opera Theatre and UK Symphony’s recording of Thomas Pasatieri’s Hotel Casablanca.

Recommending the same recording, “with enthusiasm,” FanFare magazine critic Henry Fogel wrote, “It is wonderfully encouraging that this production is from a university’s opera program, and that their student orchestra plays at such a high level as well.”

In 2006, it seemed like a pretty huge deal when the UKSO recorded Music of the Horse for Keeneland.
Since then, the orchestra has recorded three more albums: In Times Like These with folk legend Arlo Guthrie, the world premier recording of Epoch: An American Dance Symphony by George Frederick McKay, and the Hotel Casablanca recording, also a world premier.

Discussing an upcoming project -- a production of George Gershwin’s Porgy & Bess to be presented during the World Equestrian Games in 2010 -- UK Opera Theatre director Everett McCorvey called Nardolillo, “My soul mate in big ideas.”

Indeed, the University of Kentucky Symphony director is pursuing the same sorts of projects that helped the opera programs’ star begin to rise in the late 1990s and early 2000s:

■ Bringing in big name talent to work with students.
■ Pursuing high profile projects.
■ Getting the group on stages outside of Central Kentucky.
■ Getting the group recorded, so even if I’m in some far-flung locale with Bill Kurtis, as long as I have a wi-fi connection, I can listen to UK’s musicians.

Review: 'Rent Filmed Live on Broadway'

I should tell you: Frankfort's Will Chase as Roger connects with Renée Elise Goldsberry as Mimi in Rent Filmed Live on Broadway. Below: Adam Kantor as Mark sings for the cameras. Bottom: Tracie Thoms as Joanne and Kantor in The Tango Maureen. Copyrighted photos by Casey Stoufer for Sony Pictures.

This is how Rent should be seen on film.

In 2005, the Rent movie came out with great anticipation, and, to a lot of viewers like me, great disappointment. Chris Columbus' film did have great moments. La Vie Boheme and Jesse L. Martin's reprise of I'll Cover You stand out to me as iconic movie musical scenes.

But the movie picked apart the flow of Jonathan Larson's creation, making it more of a standard issue movie musical than the rock opera that it was, and the film as a whole felt hollow. It left a lot of us telling people who wondered why we are so enraptured with this show, "You have to see the stage version."

Well, the Broadway production is closed now, but this weekend, you can see Rent Filmed Live on Broadway at movie theaters around the country. The film was made during some of Rent's final Broadway performances, earlier this month. As a bonus for we Central Kentuckians, Frankfort native Will Chase plays Roger, the rocker struggling to connect with others while he faces the inevitability of AIDS.

Chase's interpretation is different from the Broadway Cast Recording and film Roger, Adam Pascal. He's a bit more subtle, with less of an angry edge. But the internal struggle is clear, and we can hear why Chase has become a go-to-guy for Broadway rock musicals.

He has a strong counterpart in Renee Elise Goldsberry as Mimi, who enters with a gorgeous, full voice in Light my Candle, and never flags.

For the uninitiated, Rent is a Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical about residents of the Alphabet City neighborhood in New York in the early 1990s. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La Boheme, and these Bohemians struggle with poverty, AIDS and personal travails while trying to pursue their artistic ambitions. Adding to Rent's legend was lyricist and composer Jonathan Larson's tragic death from an aortic aneurysm hours after the final dress rehearsal for Rent's Off-Broadway opening.

All of the film cast is strong, and embodies the energy that made this show go for 12 years on Broadway. Rentheads will have no problem locking in on the story, while people more oriented to the movies may have to work a little bit to wrap their heads around some of the representational theater that takes place. 

Director Michael Warren and his camera crew did seem to have a little trouble capturing some of the full-stage ensemble numbers, particularly the title tune and the Christmas Bells that leads into Over the Moon. But Moon is one of the pieces that is captured exquisitely -- even got some in the crowd mooing on Thursday night at Fayette Mall -- in addition to Tango Maureen; One Song Glory, where we see how beautifully stage director Michael Greif isolated Roger on stage; Contact, filmed to accentuate its ghostly wildness; Will I? and Without You.

The last two, from Larson's music and lyrics to Warren's camera work, really help illustrate the big themes and personal stories that helped Rent pave the way for Broadway to address topics that were once taboo and make people see themselves and their friends in this New York story. That's the theme we also see in Seasons of Love, Rent's signature song that takes those huge topics of love, seasons and a year and breaks them down into 525,600 minutes. The final rendition of Seasons in this film also features the original Broadway cast of Rent.

Hopefully a DVD of Rent Filmed Live on Broadway is coming. If asked, "what is it about Rent?," the best answer still is to tell people to try to see it live. But this film is a solid document of this piece of musical theater history.

~ In addition to Will Chase, read more about Kentuckians in the national spotlight in Lu-Ann's Kentucky News Review.

Review & pics: Fireflight at Lexington Christian Academy

Fireflight lead singer Dawn Richardson performs with the band at Lexington Christian Academy on Sept. 24, 2008. Below: Me in Motion's Seth Mosley. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.

Wednesday was a school night. But hey, if you had your homework done, there was nothing wrong with rocking out for a couple of hours.

That seemed to be the philosophy behind a concise and energetic show by Fireflight and Me in Motion at Lexington Christian Academy last night. The concert was booked at the last minute by Ichthus Ministries when a date opened on the Orlando band's schedule.

That put one of the hottest bands in Christian rock on the LCA stage to perform a just-over-hour-long set topped by their smash Unbreakable, an interpretation of the adulterous woman story from the Gospels. Led by charismatic frontwoman Dawn Richardson, the band wasted little time getting on stage and getting cranked up -- school night, after all -- showing the harder edges of a group that's been getting a lot of radio play this year.

Stand Up, early in the set, got the crowd going with its descending riff that even sparked a mosh pit for a few minutes. So Help Me God kept the energy going until the band slowed it down for a brief Bible message and its power ballad Forever.

Fireflight is still a relatively young act, enjoying chart topping success while still asking for donations to a tour bus fund. An hour seemed to be the right length for the group, rounded out by guitarists Justin Cox and Glenn Drennen, bassist Wendy Drennen (Glenn's wife) and drummer Phee Shorb. Their energy never flagged as they seemed to feed off the largely teenage crowd in the the theater, and their songs were distinctive, largely thanks to Richardson's theatrical interpretations. She did momentarily go flat, though since that vocal kerfuffle also befell Me in Motion's Seth Mosley, you had to wonder if it was a glitch in the sound system.

Anyway, Me in Motion, based out of Ashville, Ohio, got the evening off to a spirited start. The trio did not appear much older than the kids they were playing for. But they did have a grasp for the basics of post-punk pop rock that should serve them well as they grow.

Here are some more pics from last night, and there are others if you hit the "continue reading" link.

Fireflight bassist Wendy Drennen whips into a number.

Front row fans capture some memories.

rctalk: Fireflight at LCA tonight

Dawn Richardson and Wendy Drennen of Fireflight perform June 12 at the Ichthus Festival. Copyrighted photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

Less than a month after hosting Jars of Clay, Lexington Christian Academy is back in the local Christian rock scene hosting Fireflight and Me in Motion at 7 p.m. Wednesday. This concert is brought to us by Ichthus Ministries, and Fireflight was indeed part of last Summer's Ichthus Fest, closing out the first night on the Deep End Stage with a scorching set.

While Fireflight was in Wilmore for Ichthus, we spent a few minutes with the band on their tour RV, a nice air conditioned living room on the road, which was one of their perks for having a great year with the success of their hit album and single, Unbreakable.

With the band coming back to town, it seems like a good time to share a few clips from that interview, in which we talked about some of their favorite songs from the album and what it has meant to the group's
career.

I apologize for the audio not being the greatest, but the comments -- mostly from lead singer Dawn Richardson, bassist Wendy Drennen and guitarist Glenn Drennen -- are well worth putting up with the background noise.

On their favorites from Unbreakable:

On the success of the album and song, which was featured in the ad campaign for NBC's Bionic Woman series:

UK Opera will present 'Porgy & Bess' at World Equestrian Games

Alicia and Everett McCorvey at a May event preceeding UK Opera Theatre's Grand Night for Singing. Alicia had just finished singing Can't Help Lovin' that Man from Porgy & Bess, which the UK Opera will present during the World Equestrian Games in September 2010. Copyrighted photo by Tom Eblen | LexGo.

The University of Kentucky Opera Theatre will present George Gershwin's Porgy & Bess during the World Equestrian Games.

"We will have all of these people coming over from Europe who hear European opera all the time," said Everett McCorvey, director of the UK Opera. "I was trying to think of a quintessential American Opera, and Porgy & Bess popped into my mind."

That shouldn't be surprising, as McCorvey has sung in more than 600 performances of Porgy & Bess and met his wife, Alicia Helm McCorvey, working on the Metropolitan Opera's production of Porgy in 1984. It's an opera that McCorvey has long wanted to present in Lexington, and the coming of the Equestrian Games in September 2010 provided the perfect catalyst.

This is the first performing arts event that has been announced for the games, though numerous groups are planning to present events during the Equestrian Games. LexArts has already announced a second edition of HorseMania that will be on exhibit during the games.

This Porgy will involve numerous other organizations. It will be a co-production with the American Spiritual Ensemble, which McCorvey directs. The group will also be performing in Lexington during the games. Porgy will utilize the chorus from Kentucky State University, the UK Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Nardolillo, and be presented elsewhere in the state before and after the games, including performances in Madisonville, Elizabethtown and Owensboro at RiverPark Center.

One or all of those centers may be involved in building the sets for the new production of the 1935 opera, which tells the story of a crippled man trying to save a woman from the clutches of her pimp and drug dealer in a Charleston, S.C., slum.

Other opera news: The UK Opera Theatre's March event, originally announced as a gala to honor retired UK voice professor and former Metropolitan Opera star Gail Robinson, has been expanded into a full-scale production to honor her: Gaetano Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor March 6, 7, 13 and 14, 2009. Lucia was one of Robinson's signature roles.

'Constant Star' a timely history lesson

Lisa Clark (front, center) is one of five actors who play Ida B. Wells and other characters in Actors Guild of Lexington's production of Constant Star. Behind her are (L-R) Sylvia Howard, Mia Harris, Cathy Rawlings and LaNora Faye Long. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.

She stands in the middle of the stage, with four interrogators around her. The accusations fly:

Getting married was a distraction.

Having children showed a lack of commitment to the cause.

How can she be a wife and mother and still be a powerful agent of change?

A mother belongs at home.

No, those are not scenes from the first play about  Sarah Palin play to hit the stage.

This scene actually takes place about 1900 in Constant Star, Tazewell Thompson’s spiritual musical about journalist and activist Ida B. Wells that opened last weekend at Actors Guild of Lexington. It draws more than a few knowing laughs and deep breaths as we contemplate how things have and have not changed.

On the change side, Constant Star reminds us that less than a century ago, black people were routinely murdered in community spectacles. Now, we could be on the verge of electing a black man as president of the United States or a wife and mother of five as vice president.

On the other hand, the show reminds us that many of the issues faced by women and African-Americans are still alive and well in the 21st century.

rctalk: Underoath's 'Lost in the Sound of Separation' . . . Fireflight's coming to town

Underoath are vocalist Spencer Chamberlain, keyboardist Christopher Dudley, guitarist Tim McTague, bassist Grant Brandell, drummer Aaron Gillespie, and guitarist James Smith. Copyrighted photo courtesy of Tooth & Nail Records.

While Christian rock is now readily accepted, even in churches that don't use it as part of their worship, hardcore metal remains a genre a lot of listeners have a hard time wrapping their minds around as a product of faith. How do you find the message is music where the vocalist sounds like he or she is in the very act of retching and the music sounds so angry?

Even as someone who listens to music for a living, there have been times I've walked away from a metalcore set, say at Ichthus, thinking the fans are hearing something I don't get. I have to add though, that when you sit down and talk to a lot of these groups, hardcore describes their faith as well as their music.

For several Underoath albums though, there has been no doubt where they're coming from, and the Tampa band's latest disc is masterpiece of faith-based metal.

One of the things Underoath is constantly credited with is finding melody in the madness, a trick that can be largely credited to drummer Aaron Gillespie, who had a hit of his own in 2007 with the debut of his side act, The Almost. And melody certainly is an aspect of the band's sound, something that makes it accessible to people unwilling to endure 45-minutes of punishing sound to find a message to hold onto. Even in Underoath's accessible world, their music is still an acquired taste.

But more than melody, Underoath finds majesty. It finds majesty in how it pairs melody with howl, the firmness of the rhythm section of Gillespie and bassist Grant Brandell, and the intricate harmonies and melodies the rest of the band lays on top of their base, worthy of comparison to John Bonham and John Paul Jones.

Most of all, in this album, this album finds majesty in a deeply explored theme of searching for God in the midst of despair and loss. That is ultimately what makes Lost in the Sound of Separation a Christian rock masterpiece, and it puts to rest any question whether metalcore can convey a message of faith.

Fireflight concert: Riding the success of their hit single and album, Unbreakable, Fireflight blazes into Kentucky next week with a Sept. 23 show in Louisville and Sept. 24 gig at Lexington Christian Academy.

The concerts are presented by Ichthus Ministries, which brought Fireflight to its festival in June.

New music: Today, we get new music from Nevertheless, which opens for Fireflight in Louisville, as well as 33 Miles, Decyfer Down, Group 1 Crew, Bebo Norman and Krystal Meyers, who we liked last week.

Superchick's Rock What You Got was reportedly used on MTV's The Hills this week, and the band's music is also featured on race car driver Danica Patrick's website.

George Zack's grand finale: Pictures and notes

 "It's an easier job when you're playing for friends," George Zack told the audience in the Singletary Center for the Arts before conducting his final piece with the orchestra. "It's an easier job when you're performing with friends."

It is not often a conductor steps down from the podium after 37 years on the job conducting the same orchestra in the same town. Zack's grand finale turned out to be a warm evening -- not just due the humid weather that's invaded Lexington -- with a few unusual moments.

• After the first movement of Tchaikovsky's Violin Concerto, Zack and soloist Aaron Rosand received a standing ovation. Applause between movements is getting to be more common, but the standing O seemed to be a reflection of the evening's high emotions.
• Before going onstage for the second half, Zack noticed Rosand's chair was still onstage. He told orchestra manager Shannon Cline it needed to be removed, but little did he know it was there for him. Zack was treated to a performance of Aaron Copland's Celebration Fanfare, conducted by Philharmonic violist Paul Englebrecht. After that, he was presented with the score, signed by Copland in 1977.
• After the first movement of Brahms' Symphony No. 1, Zack momentarily left the stage. Overcome with emotion? Not quite. He left his glasses in his dressing room.
• At the end of the second movement, he and everyone in the hall stopped because of musical tones that were filtering into the hall. No one could identify the source, but Cline said they guessed it might be related to a resynchronization of clocks on the University of Kentucky campus at 9 p.m.

Zack was honored with a party after the concert in a tent next to the Singletary Center.The tables were adorned with figures in tails and music was provided by Jay Flippin, a frequent collaborator with the Phil. Our Howard Snyder went to the party and will have a report next week. Also, a photographer from our photo website, Snapped, was there.

Speaking of photos, here are the rest of Matt Goins' images from last night's concert.

 

 

Zack gets a hug from orchestra manger Shannon Cline as she presents him with roses.

 

Zack presents concertmaster Dan Mason a rose.

Finally, don't forget to read Loren Tice's review of the concert.

George Zack slide show

We visited the Lexington Philharmonic's rehearsal Monday night to talk to music director George Zack and some of the orchestra's musicians about his final concert at 7 p.m. Sept. 12 at the Singletary Center for the Arts Concert Hall. Here's what we brought back.

To see a larger version of the slide show, click here.

The curtain rises on the 2008-09 arts season in Lexington

Cathy Rawlings plays journalist and activist Ida B. Wells and other characters in Actors Guild of Lexington's production of Taezwell Thompson's Constant Star. Photo by Rich Copley.

The 2008-09 arts season gets started this weekend with a rush of activity, including a milestone in Lexington arts history Friday night: George Zack's final concert conducting the Lexington Philharmonic as its music director. We have thoughts and some stats about Zack's 36-years with the orchestra here and at LexGo.

Two big plays open tonight:

~ Actors Guild of Lexington presents Tazewell Thompson's Constant Star, and the author will visit Saturday.

~ Studio Players bows with the British door-slamming comedy Don't Dress for Dinner.

Sunday, the University of Kentucky Art Museum opens its new exhibit, Masterworks by Kentucky Painters, 1819-1935.

And also Sunday, we publish our annual Fall Arts Guide. Get out your planners.

A 'Rent' closing reader

 The closing night cast of the Broadway musical Rent included Frankfort's Will Chase as Roger, Michael McElroy as Tom Collins, Eden Espinosa as Maureen, and Rodney Hicks as Benny. Copyrighted photo by Casey Stouffer for Sony Pictures' Releasing.

Rent's grand finale appears to have created one of those wish-you-were-there moments you can really only get from live performance.

The groundbreaking Broadway production closed Sunday night after 12 years and 5,124 performances at the Nederlander Theatre.

Of course, 525,600 minutes is what Rentheads truly care about, the time being the measure of a year and the show the story of struggling artists in New York's East Village battling AIDS, addiction, poverty, society and some fading dreams of glory. 

Most shows close quietly with a notice and a last bow in front of the dwindling audience that prompted the end of the run. But Rent became a cultural icon, and by numerous accounts closed in front of an adoring audience that got to see original cast members join the current performers for a rendition of the hit Seasons of Love.

~ The Associated Press reported that last night's performance was dedicated to Jonathan Larson, the creator of Rent who died right after the final dress rehearsal, just like the first show. Reflecting on Larson, producer Allan S. Gordon told the AP, "I don't miss what he didn't write. I feel bad that he isn't here to enjoy what he did."

~ Broadwayworld.com covered the dedication of a bench at the real Life Cafe to Larson.

~ Over the Weekend, The New York Times' Anthony Tommasini reflected on his historic interview with Larson, just hours before he died.

~ Sara Krulwich, the Times' photographer with Tommasini on that assignment, recalls her journey with Rent, including telling the cast that Larson had posthumously won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Both of their pieces remind me of the value of arts journalism and beat reporting as the first draft of history.

The closing cast included Frankfort's own Will Chase as Roger, and though Rent has closed on Broadway, we will get to the see the show. The final cast was filmed, and the it will be shown in movie theaters Sept. 24, 25, 27 and 28. The Lexington Theatres will be Regal Hamburg Pavilion and Fayette Mall Cinemas.

rctalk: Chris Tomlin's "Hello Love" and Questapalooza pics

Chris Tomlin (center) with bandmates (L-R) Matt Gilder, Travis Nunn, Jesse Reeves, and Daniel Carson. Photo courtesy of EMI Christian Music Group.

Chris Tomlin | Hello Love

I really wanted to love Chris Tomlin's new album. 

Seriously, despite our curmudgeonly reputations, critics love to see or hear something great, and where should you expect that more than from someone who has already proven their greatness? Chris Tomlin is ostensibly the voice of Christian music today, an artist responsible as much as anyone for merging the worlds of the church and contemporary Christian music. I have enjoyed his music and learned to play some of his songs myself, so it seemed like a good day when Hello Love arrived in the mail.

But after a few listens, it seemed like someone needed to give Tomlin a little push.

This isn't a bad recording. There are a number of terrific songs here including Sing, Sing, Sing and God of This City, which we heard earlier this year on the latest Passion CD, and a gorgeous new rendition of an old hymn, All the Way My Savior Leads Me. There's also Jesus Messiah, the hit single that preceded the album. It's all good.

It also sounds very familiar, a stringing of melody, chorus and vertical lyric that is starting to sound repetitive as praise and worship settles down from hot trend to establishment. Tomlin just seems a bit too comfortable as Tomlin, so while there are definitely some nice songs here, there's nothing as compelling as, say, How Great is Our God or Made to Worship. Granted, no one writes a blockbuster every time, but it would feel a bit better hearing less compelling Tomlin if we were in turn finding some adventure like we do in his fellow Texan and Passion artist David Crowder.

Unfortunately, Hello Love, even with its standout tracks, sounds a bit too much like the complacency that ails contemporary praise and worship.

Questapalooza photo album: Photographer Gabriel B. Tait and I were out at Questapalooza Sunday with our cameras, and I put together a little photo album you can see by clicking here (If you're checking in early Tuesday, I need to get into the office to get Gabriel's photos in). We saw legions of you with cameras out there, and if you've got photos you'd like to share, upload them to our new Snapped service and give Questapalooza a presence there. (Photo, right: Kutless' James Mead and Nick DePartee jam at Questapalooza. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.)

Questapalooza 2008: The Music

Kutless gets the crowd waving their arms in the late afternoon sun of Questapalooza. Below: Faces of Kirk Franklin at Questapalooza. Bottom: Henry Shrader (left) took on Kutless guitar player Nick De Partee (right) in Guitar Hero and won. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.

At Questapalooza, you had to keep reminding yourself this was an event put on by one church.

From the stage set to the video work - complete with steady camera on a crane - to the solid sound to the solid lineup, this was a purely professional Christian music show.

Another reminder, of course, was the lineup that attracted an estimated 6,500 people to a field next to the Quest Community Church property Sunday. Questapalooza, in its third edition, presented gospel legend Kirk Franklin along with chart toppers Kutless and needtobreathe.

Questapalooza started in 2006 with a head-turning but modest lineup including Shaun Groves and Tait. Last year, it upped the ante with a certifiable  superstar in TobyMac. This year, they went for a genuine legend in Franklin. 

Franklin was also a cross cultural move, and indeed, Questapalooza attracted as diverse a crowd as you'll see at a Christian music event.

The man proved worthy of the draw in a set marked by dance moves out of James Brown's playbook, a tight ensemble including Lexington's Terry Baker  on drums, and hits such as Revolution, Hosanna and Imagine Me.

One thing that you are reminded of seeing Franklin is he is not a traditional singer. In fact, his few moments singing had the modest sweetness of Kermit the Frog singing It's Not Easy Being Green. Franklin is more of a frontman, rapper, hype man and even preacher. Though he was the biggest star of Questapalooza's history, he may have also done the most to fulfill Questapalooza's goal of building community, stopping numerous times to exhort people to come together to hug and declare things they want to give up in 2008 so they can live a more Christian life. Franklin was connecting to the back edges of the temporary amphitheater, which goes along way toward telling you why he's enjoyed 15 years of success in Christian music and crossed racial barriers that others haven't cracked.

By the way, Terry Baker got a big introduction, and then there was one of those moments that can only happen on a hometown show, when Baker's 15-year-old daughter Amber sat in at his kit, and I'm here to tell you, keeping the beat runs in that family.

Another thing to love about Questapalooza is they give all the bands a good long time to play. No 30-minute sets, which are common to festivals, here.

So Kutless got to honestly show us what we missed when they got rained out Ichthus, and that would be a tight arena-rock set including Take My Pride Away and Show Me the Truth to get the crowd pumped and Sea of Faces to slow it down. John Micah Sumrall went for the very cheesy ending of punting an open water bottle into the crowd, but it worked as 20-year-old Dustin Lanier fielded it like he was on special teams or something.

The band also provided a fun interlude with guitarist Nick De Partee taking on Quest Kid Henry Shrader in a Guitar Hero contest. Shrader had won a Guitar Hero competition in the festival site during the day. The two faced off over Pat Benatar's Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Shrader's guitar skillfully shredding, De Partee struggling with clunky amp sounds.De Partee said before the competition he'd only played Guitar Hero three or four times.

South Carolinians needtobreathe opened the musical portion of the festival with their bluesy sound and a healthy serving of new material, including Girl Named Tennessee, which really got the crowd dancing.

Despite oppressive heat today, it was well worth being out at Questapalooza for the music, and you have to think organizers have set the bar pretty high for '09.

Read our story about Questapalooza.

Watch here for a Questapalooza photo album in the next day or so.

Interesting: If everyone's estimates are right, Questapalooza outdrew Nine Inch Nails, Sunday.

Kirk Franklin's Questapalooza gig a homecoming for his drummer

Terry Baker, photographed by guitarist Doc Powell, has played drums for Kirk Franklin since 2000.

When Kirk Franklin plays Questapalooza Sunday night, a Lexingtonian will be keeping the beat.

Terry Baker joined Franklin’s band eight years ago, fulfilling a dream to play for a gospel star.

“I’ve been playing drums since I was a young guy,” says Baker, a 1990 Bryan Station High School graduate. “I always wanted to play with a gospel artist. I never thought of going for a secular career.”

He first met Franklin when he was playing drums on a TV show, Bobby Jones Gospel on BET.

Baker moved away to be on the show, but the Franklin gig allowed him to come back to Lexington and his family: wife Elaine and three children, Amber, 15; Terry Jr., 12, and Lauren, 7.

He attends House of God Church on Georgetown Road.

That’s when he’s in town.

Beating the skins for a gospel superstar means a lot of weekends on the road, including overseas trips to Europe and Africa. Baker really treasures the hometown gigs, though.

He’s had the chance to play a couple of Ichthus Festivals in Wilmore and in Rupp Arena when Franklin came with Franklin ­Graham’s crusade in 2000.

“That was shortly after I started playing with Kirk,” Baker recalls. “It was pretty incredible to play in Rupp Arena.”

And Quest Community Church, which presents Questapalooza, won’t be bad either.

“When I got the e-mail asking if I was available for these dates, and I saw the Questapalooza date, I was really excited,” Baker says. “It’s always fun to play for your family and friends.”

Chamber Music Festival slide show

As promised Sunday, here is our slide show from rehearsals of Daniel Thomas Davis' Book of Songs and Visions for Piano Quintet, a new work commissioned for this years Chamber Music Festival of Lexington. Davis was in town yesterday and will be back at the end of the week to work with the musicians on the piece which has its world premier Saturday night.

• Click here for a larger version of the show
• here for our story about the composition
• and here for Sunday's post including an audio sample from the piece

Daniel Thomas Davis' new piece for the chamber fest

In only its second year, the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington has commissioned a new work for the event. Daniel Thomas Davis's Book of Visions and Songs will premier Aug. 30 at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion. It's an 18-minute work for Piano Quintet that was created based on Davis' visits to Central Kentucky earlier this year and written in Italy, Virginia and his current home of Ann Arbor, Mich., where he teaches composition at the University of Michigan.

These days, of course, a lot of that work is done on computers, including creating facsimiles of the piece to give the composer an idea what the piece sounds like. As of today, the Chamber Music Festival of Lexington ensemble has not played the piece, but Davis has given us permission to post the sample version of the second movement of the piece. Keep in mind, this is just a sample of what it will sound like. (Click the play button to hear it.)

Read about the piece at LexGo, and this one from our first chat with Davis.

Photo of Davis, above, by Rich Copley.

rc talk: Rick Warren excels in candidate forum

Republican presidential candidate John McCain (left) and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama (right) with Pastor Rick Warren (center) during the Compassion Forum at the Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif., on Aug. 16, 2008. Copyrighted Associated Press photos by Mary Altaffer (above and McCain) and Alex Brandon (Obama).

I'm a little bit behind on my listening, so I'm going to pass on an album review this week. But there was a big event in Christian pop culture in the past few days worth mentioning.

Now, I don't call Saturday night's  Saddleback Church forum for presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain part of Christian pop culture to diminish it. At le blog, we give popular culture very serious consideration, and with the runaway success of The Purpose-Driven Life, Pastor Rick Warren is undeniably a major name in Christian popular culture. And it was undoubtedly that big name that persuaded McCain and Obama to make Warren's church their first venue for a joint appearance since becoming their parties' presumptive nominees for president.

Sometimes I feel like I'm the only guy who hasn't read Purpose-Driven Life and does not have tremendous familiarity with Warren, beyond the fact that his Orange County, Calif., church is one of the mega, mega churches in America.

But I came away from watching the forum fairly happy with Warren's choice of topics and selection of questions. After spending the first half of the year hearing TV anchor and political pundit after TV anchor and political pundit launching pointless, gotcha and inside baseball questions at the candidates, it was refreshing to see Warren ask some basic questions and hear how the candidates answered them.The forum probably didn't change the way many viewers would vote. But if, say, you came in thinking Obama was just an empty suit full of rhetoric, you maybe saw a more thoughtful and aware man than you believed he was. And if you thought McCain would just be a third term of Bush, maybe you saw someone who was more his own man.

In a way, Warren kind of sabotaged himself, because his approach didn't really produce any nuclear moments or break any news. (That said, the forum was all over the Sunday talk shows, and Warren was featured on Larry King Live and Nightline Monday.) The biggest news from the event was suspicion that McCain, who went second in Warren's parallel interviews, was apprised of the questions before he took the stage and not in a "cone of silence," during Obama's appearance, as Warren had asserted. McCain did indeed seem more precise and prepared than Obama, though that could also be because he was possibly better prepped by his staff or he was comfortable playing to an audience predisposed to favor him.

That showed most in Warren's question about abortion, which was phrased as, at what point does a baby have human rights? Obama had to tread lightly through a desire to see abortion reduced but support for Roe vs. Wade because he doesn't think women take abortion lightly.  McCain comfortably took the applause line, "At conception." In person, this was an easier crowd for McCain, because evangelical Christians have been a core constituency for the Republican Party for decades. And it was probably even easier on TV, because a lot of progressives were not interested in this forum because they see it as another blow to the separation of church and state.

I am happy religion has not been a centerpiece of the 2008 presidential campaign thus far because, as a Christian, I'm sick and tired of seeing Christianity prostituted for political gain.

But I didn't mind this forum.

Like any minister, Warren deals with real people and tough issues every day. He oversees ministries local and international and has a broad world view. It actually got me wondering who else could question the candidates who would come at it from outside the Washington political-and-news communities. Yes, there were a few slanted questions, like the phrasing of the abortion question. And I would have liked to have heard him work in a few more global issues, which he told Larry King he wanted to do, rather than revisit the gay marriage thing, again. But the candidates knew they were coming into a venue with a point of view, and should have been prepared for that.

Warren succeeded overall because he asked questions real people think about. He wasn't trying to extend the  bloodsport game of politics. He was trying to get the viewers and candidates to think, which in 21st Century politics, people don't do enough.

Despite no reviews . . . there are some marquee releases today that we're listening to: Charlie Hall's The Bright Sadness, Brandon Heath's What if We?, Bart Millard's Hymned Again, Jimmy Needham's Not Without Love, and This Beautiful Republic's Perceptions.

In the next week or so, watch out for coverage here and in the paper of Labor Day weekend's Christian music events here in Lexington: Lexington Christian Academy's back to school bash, featuring Jars of Clay, and Questapalooza, featuring Kirk Franklin.

These shows must go on

Gil Thurman as Burl Sanders and Evan Sullivan as the Rev. Mervin Oglethorpe in Smoke on the Mountain. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo. Below: Ed Desiato in the 1950s.

Two hit plays from this summer are getting second runs on alternate stages.

■ Ed Desiato’s performance as John Barrymore packed Natasha’s Bistro in June. At 8 p.m. Aug. 21, he’ll give another performance of Barrymore at The Kentucky Theatre’s State Theatre. The show, by William Luce, portrays the stage and screen icon reminiscing at the end of his career. Tickets are $15 adults, $12 students and seniors. Call (859) 231-7924.

■ Smoke on the Mountain, the debut production of the Lexington Stage Company, played to sold-out crowds for most of its July run at Studio Players’ Carriage House Theatre. The gospel musical set in a rural North Carolina Church in the 1930s moves to Danville for four performances at Centre College’s Norton Center for the Arts. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Oct. 3, 3 and 8 p.m. Oct. 4 and 3 p.m. Oct. 5. Tickets are $30 each and available by calling 1-877-448-7469 or visiting the Norton Center website.

Norton Center 2008-09 lineup features Tony Bennett, NY Phil

Joshua Bell will perform Jan. 26 at the Norton Center. Photo by Chris Lee.

The Norton Center for the Arts at Centre College in Danville is coming off its most successful season ever and appears poised to top itself in 2008-09.

Season subscribers will soon receive a brochure with a lineup topped by legendary standards singer Tony Bennett; pop music legend Little Richard; the New York Philharmonic Orchestra with Lorin Maazel at the podium; the Kentucky premiere of The Drowsy Chaperone, the 2006 Tony Award winning hit; and arguably the hottest violinist in the world, Joshua Bell.

Here’s the complete lineup, in chronological order. All performances are at 8 p.m., unless otherwise noted:

Sept. 20: Little Richard.
Sept. 30: Olga Kern, pianist.
Oct. 3-5: Smoke on the Mountain, Bluegrass gospel musical, 8 p.m. Oct. 3, 4; 3 p.m. Oct. 4, 5.
Oct. 12: Spanish Brass, 3 p.m.
Oct. 14: Altar Boyz, off-Broadway musical.
Oct. 21: Cirque d’Or, Chinese acrobats.
Oct. 24: The Beach Boys, 8:30 p.m.
Nov. 12: Soweto Gospel Choir.
Nov. 18: Al Green.
Dec. 4: The King’s Singers.
Dec. 11: Movin’ Out, Broadway musical.
Jan. 12: 100 Years of Broadway, musical revue with Broadway veterans.
Jan. 13: Giselle by the State Ballet of Russia.
Jan. 16: Tony Bennett.
Jan. 26: Joshua Bell, violin.
Feb. 10: Drumline Live, African-American band show.
Feb. 17: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Broadway musical.
Feb. 19: Red Priest, irreverent early music group.
Feb. 26: Kodo, Japanese percussion ensemble.
Feb. 28: Handel’s L’Allegro, il Penseroso, oratorio presented with visiting and local musicans.
March 1: Tempesta di Mare, early music ensemble.
March 5: New York Philharmonic with Lorin Maazel, conductor.
March 11: St. Petersburg Male Choir.
March 12: Moscow Cats Theatre, acrobatic cat show.
March 15: Orion String Quartet, 3 p.m.
April 11: The Drowsy Chaperone, Broadway musical.
April 15: Annie, Broadway musical.
April 23: Garrison Keillor.
April 27: Ain’t Misbehavin’, Broadway musical.
May 30-31: Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass, presented at Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill.

The performances are sold in a variety of season ticket packages costing $966 to $177, depending on performances. Single tickets already are available for some shows. Single tickets for others will go on sale later, depending on availability. Call 1-877-448-7469 or visit the Norton Center's website for information and tickets.

rctalk: Seabird's "'Til We See the Shore"

Seabird frontman Aaron Morgan wails at the 'Til We See the Shore album release party on the Belle of Cincinnati, June 27. Photo by Jon Willis | Seabird's MySpace page.

Traveling with Seabird, we see a lot. The Northern Kentucky band's debut album is a journey from pain to victory with strong images such as the beginning of a long-delayed romance, a victim claiming victory and a dying soul claiming its salvation.

And there is nary a moment that you don't know where you are on this journey, primarily because of frontman  Aaron Morgan's theatrical voice and his equally evocative keyboards. They start off jaunty in the lead-off track, Black and Blue, but can be haunting and turn those rhythms into rings on songs such as Patience. Seabird is hardly a one man band though. There are touches, such as a banjo intro that turns into a guitar riff on Stranger, from the rest of the quartet: guitar player Ryan Morgan, bassist Chris Kubik, and drummer Aaron Hunt.

What's most striking about this exceptionally accomplished debut are the images, both precise and abstract. Cottonmouth (Jargon) is the best of the bunch, with lyrics slowly rising in what sounds like a pump organ accompaniment:

The days, you said you were smarter, knew you were harder
They're over
And the days you told us to grow up, told us to shut up
They're over
But I promise, the words that you said, stuck in our heads
They'll haunt you

You listen, mesmerized, wondering if this is drawn from some specific event or something general, such as people persecuted based on their faith. Then you remember songwriting is an abstract art, and you listen more to this package of 12 captivating songs. And then you listen again and again, intrigued, hoping for more soon. It's a debut that already puts Seabird in league with some of Christian rock's most accomplished and literate acts, such as Jars of Clay and Switchfoot.

All of this is also a reason I've already marked the band's Oct. 8 concert at the University of Kentucky on my calendar. Seabird seems like it will be something to see.

State Fair: The Kentucky State Fair usually offers a Christian pop act, and this year is no exception. In fact, there are two: P.O.D. plays Aug. 14 and Newsboys Aug. 18. Both shows are free, at 8 p.m. in Papa John's Cardinal Stadium.

Highbridge Fest star wins an Emmy: Brock Smith graduated from Asbury College in May, and he already has a head-turning item to put on his resume: Emmy Award winner.

Smith’s short film Visceral, which cleaned up at Asbury’s Highbridge Film Festival in April, snagged a student Emmy in the 44th Annual Ohio Valley Regional Emmy Awards. The action film is about a government’s failed attempts to create a clone soldier, and at Highbridge, it was lauded for its special effects and sound.

Smith, a Lexington resident, will be part of Asbury’s crew filming the Olympic Games in Beijing, this month.

Tasha Harris: A cautionary tale

Tasha Harris, shown here performing at Renfro Valley before her life was consumed by drug and alcohol addiction. Lee County drug court is giving her a chance to sing again. Photo provided by Renfro Valley.

Click here for Brad Luttrell's video of Tasha Harris talking about her situation and singing You Don't Know Me.

Amy Wilson has a story in the paper and LexGo today about Beattyville singer Tasha Harris. As a teenager, Harris seemed to have the world in front of her: Everyone loved to hear her sing, she had a regular gig at Renfro Valley, and the support of influential people who opened doors for her.

For me, this was the most telling part of the story:

“I thought it would come together for me," Harris said. "I thought it would just come and fall into my lap. I never sat down and did a plan.”

But Gabbard (TV executive Ralph Gabbard, who was Harris' primary booster) died unexpectedly in 1996, when he was 50. She was only 21.

She tells you she almost got that record deal. A lot of non-specifics follow. She was in Nashville in a record company office once, was just sure this was going to be her life. Her picture on those walls, her music in those elevators. Name of the building is a little vague. Did have her name mentioned in a Billboard magazine column. “We think we've spotted a star in Tasha Harris,” it read. Two more times she was mentioned, she says, in that same column. Then not again.

Soon, the story continues, she was filling the void of a career that was foundering with drugs and alcohol. That put her in drug court, where judges try to work with convicted offenders to clean up and get their lives on track without going to prison. In a stroke of judicial creativity, Circuit Judge Tom Jones has opened the door for Harris to sing a couple of numbers at Renfro Valley tonight, not so much to restart her career, but to give her a glimpse of what could be if she stays on the straight and narrow.

I've never met Harris, but I've heard her story before. Not her's, specifically, but the part about a performer being amazingly talented, having a lot of people interested, and doors that are just about to open. It's only a matter of time before you'll be hearing them on your radio or seeing them on the screen -- movie or TV.

If you're an arts and entertainment writer, you hear that a lot. You even write about about a number of these folks who truly seem promising, taking their first steps into what they hope will be lives of fame and fortune. That's where Harris' story becomes very familiar, and becomes a cautionary tale.

rctalk: Relient K's 'The Bird and the Bee Sides'

Doesn't this look like a promo photo for a band that would release an album called The Bird and the Bee Sides? Or was it a case of auto-focus follies? Photo courtesy of Gotee Records.

Relient K | The Bird and the Bee Sides

It seems like Relient K would be a fun band to hang out with in the studio. The group has one of the most noteworthy senses of humor in rock, and it's continually evolving into one of the most sharp and creative bands out there. Wouldn't it be fun to be there to hear the jokes and witness a stroke of genius.

That's the feel you get from, The Bird and the Bee Sides, ReK's new between-album EP that's not really an EP. 

It's closest to a B-sides and rarities collection a la my all-time fave of that genre, R.E.M.'s Dead Letter Office. But Bee Sides is quite a bit more substantial than most of those collections, with numerous tracks that demonstrate growth from Relient K's last studio effort, 2007's Five Score and Seven Years Ago.

We see most of that growth in the first 13 tracks, known as The Nashville Tennis EP. A lot of that perspective is relational, with songs of devotion such as Curl Up and Die and You'll Always Be My Best Friend, evangelism with I Just Want You to Know and Hope for Every Fallen Man, and justice in The Last, The Lost, The Least. The latter song is written and sung by bassist John Warne as part of this album's experiment of having each band member write and sing a tune. Through its last several recordings, Relient K has given us this feeling that the guys we used to picture firing spitballs from the back row of the class are getting serious about life.

But not too serious.

There's a lot of fun on this disc, including a few minute-long numbers like a couple of takes on the fellow-band shout-out Five Iron Frenzy is Either Dead or Dying. Quite a few songs on the second half are pulled from previous Relient K EPs, and then there are offerings like beautiful acoustic versions of Up and Up and Who I Am Hates Who I've Been.

Far from being a collection of toss-offs for fans, The Bird and the Bee Sides could create new followers for Relient K.

Jay in 3D: Third Day's outstanding new album, Revelation, hits stores virtual and terrestrial Tuesday, and the band will be on national TV that night performing on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, at 11:35 p.m. on NBC.

Liner note: I wrote the Revelation review a few weeks ago with a pre-release copy and was curious to see how Brad Avery's credit would be handled, since he worked on Revelation before leaving the band. On the last page of the CD booklet, which I received last week, Brad is listed as, "additional guitars." By the way, Tim Parker's cover art is a representation of Salvation Mountain, a public art project by Leonard Knight in Calipatria, Calif.

Labor Day Christian pop weekend: A few weeks ago, we told you Quest Community Church has moved its Questapalooza Festival to the Sunday of Labor Day weekend, with headliner Kirk Franklin, plus Kutless and needtobreathe. Well don't look now, but Lexington Christian Academy has booked Jars of Clay for its Back to School Bash Aug. 29 and 30, which will include a football game and carnival, culminating with Jars at 8:30 p.m. Aug. 30. Tickets for the show are $25 each. Click here for the LCA website and information (click Jars of Clay concert under the "news" heading).

Katy Perry: If you listen to Top 40 radio, you can't miss Katy Perry's I Kissed a Girl. It doesn't sound like anything you'd hear on Christian radio, considering most of the evangelical community is pretty down on homosexuality. But Katy Perry was once on Christian radio as aspiring teen star Katy Hudson (her 2001 self-titled debut's album cover, right) -- not that Kate Hudson. Christianity Today has a pretty thorough -- and pointed -- commentary on Perry and her current career. I'm going to qualify here that just because I refer you to something doesn't mean I endorse every word, but this is interesting reading.

'Hair': No nude scene, but . . .

Click the play button to see photographer Brad Luttrell's audio slide show about SummerFest's Hair. Click here to see a larger version, and here to read about director Mike Thomas' return to the Arboretum.

The announcement that Hair would be one of the SummerFest shows this year provoked a question: Will people be getting naked on The Arboretum stage?

In many productions, the first act of Hair ends with the men burning their draft cards and the cast stripping down as they sing Where Do I Go? Many fans of the show think the nude scene is crucial for Hair, an iconic rock musical that grew out of the 1960s counterculture.

But director Mike Thomas says that nowhere in the script is the nudity mandated. Festival directors took that into consideration when they decided that there will be no nude scene in The Arboretum when Hair runs July 23 to 27.

The optional nude scene, however, is hardly the only R-rated element in Hair, and those other parts are non-negotiable. Thomas says Hair’s creators and rights administrators “want the script to be done as it’s supposed to be done.” So audiences who come out to The Arboretum will hear a colorful array of profanity, sexually suggestive material, including the song Sodomy, blunt discussion of race issues and an extensive portrayal of drug use.

“Caution,” Thomas says. “Is it sexually suggestive? Yes. Does it have adult language and content? Yes. I wouldn’t bring children. Beware.”

So why is SummerFest, which has theater-education programs for elementary and high schoolers and has tried to position itself as a family event, presenting a show that even the director says is not suitable for all ages?

“For our purposes, artistically, that is what it was and what it still is,” Trish Clark, executive director of the Kentucky Classical Theatre Conservatory, says of the decision to present Hair. “Why hide that fact from our children? It’s not like the children don’t know. They’re hearing, seeing and witnessing all of that.”

BlondeTV 7: Where's Frankenstein?

On last night's Legally Blonde the Musical -- The Search for Elle Woods, the final four competitors got a little cheerleading training. In this photo from August 2006, Laura Bell Bundy took a tumble into the world of cheerleading with Robert Eskridge at Town & Village School of Dance in Paris, Ky., in preparation for originating the role of Elle Woods on Broadway. Copyrighted Herald-Leader photo by Matt Goins.

At the end of last night's audition on Legally Blonde The Musical -- The Search for a more reasonable title, judge and writer Heather Hach said, "I completely want to do a Frankenstein and combine the comedy of Rhiannon, Bailey’s professionalism and star quality, the freshness of Lauren and Autumn’s voice."

Well, that sort of takes us back to our original misgiving about this reality TV as Broadway audition thing: They've ended up with a field where no one is a complete picture of Elle Woods, so there's going to be some settling to do to fill this role.

Yes, this blog is a bit of Autumn rooting section, but she is not the dancer Bailey is, doesn't have the charisma of Rhiannon and lacks Lauren's youthfulness.

Ultimately, the judges decided Lauren was a bit too youthful and sent her on home before the show ended. The other shoe will drop next week when another finalist is sent packing at the beginning of the episode before the last audition. The final show down will be in the Palace Theatre in front of director Jerry Mitchell, who has the last call.

It's hard to imagine Rhiannon will make it, because she wound up very winded in the audition with What You Want last night, and her vocals were a horror show. That would create a Bailey-Autumn finale and they're not two really friendly competitors. Bailey was relishing Autumn's tribulations with tap dancing last night, and Autumn doesn't believe any of the final four have earned their shot at Broadway the way she has.

I'm going to stick with my Autumn prediction, maybe not quite as confidently as last week. A key to me was when Bernie Telsey talked to Autumn about her dancing and said, "when it’s in your body, you're Elle, 100 percent." Autumn's been straight up about not being a great auditioner. But it is much easier to believe that she can get that character in her body in the few weeks between the end of the competition and her first performance, which is actually next Wednesday, than it is to believe Bailey could develop the depth or Rhiannon could develop the vocal chops and  to play Elle. All that said, I can't help thinking Autumn may be a better Elphaba or Millie.

And you know, the Southern pride side of us may like to see the role already played by Louisianan Reese Witherspoon and Kentuckian Laura Bell Bundy go to South Carolinian Bailey. We'll see, next week.

BlondeTV 6: 'Just let me be legally blonde.'

It was an up and down night for Natalie on Legally Blonde The Musical -- The Search for Elle Woods. She won the first competition, a photo shoot in which the idea of standing on a bunch of law books apparently put her over the top. But ultimately she was sent packing because the judges just couldn't see her as Elle Woods.

This episode, in which the contestants got their hair styled blonde to put them all on equal footing in the looks department, was the big redemption for Autumn. After a horrible week in which she bombed in the dance audition, got sick on stage -- reportedly from eating bad yogurt, not nerves -- and wound up in the casting office for the second straight week, she needed a big night to reclaim her front-runner status. And she made a big move with a vocal audition that, from what we were shown, was miles ahead of the competition in maturity, confidence and interpretation.

Autumn was buoyed by a coaching session with Seth Rudetsky, in which he talked to her about having a tough time in auditions and advised: “Say, ‘I’m doing an amazing-few-minutes show.’ It’s not about getting to the next level. It’s about, ‘I’m getting a few minutes to perform on stage.’”

She also seemed to get a lot out of the final five's audience with the current Elle Woods, Lexington's Laura Bell Bundy. Autumn asked Laura what she took from the role, creating a very authentic moment from the Tony nominee who choked up answering:

"Spirit is the word – inspired. I became more true to myself . . . I get emotional thinking about it . . . it’s been the best experience of my life, because I grew as a human being, because of my character, because of my connection to her and my openness. And the fact that I got to express emotion and not hold things in was good therapy for me and I grew as I was finding her.”

It was neat to see Laura still retains a lot of the same emotions she had about this part and this show nearly two years ago, when she was just grasping the reality that she would originate the role of Elle Woods on Broadway. Though she's now been playing the part for well over a year, last night gave you the impression it must be tough for her to walk away.

Autumn seemed to appreciate that, which felt somewhat appropriate, because she definitely walked away from last night's show as an heir apparent.

Now, we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves. Afterall, two weeks ago, Emma seemed to right her ship, and then she was sent packing last week. But this week was different. Autumn's only rival was 18-year-old Lauren, and while the judges liked her, they seemed to feel she probably needed a few more years of work.

Bailey and Rhiannon came up a few steps behind her. Last night, they were auditioning with the title song at the moment Elle feels like she's lost everything she thought she'd achieved. Autumn grasped the complexities of that in a difficult and emotional song. If they can get the dances in Autumn's legs, at this point, it's hard to not see her as the next Elle Woods on Broadway.

Above: Laura Bell Bundy in the first promotional photo for Legally Blonde -- The Musical. Photo courtesy of Barlow Hartman.

As always, check out Seth's breakdown of last night's show.

Franklin & Kutless headline Questapalooza

Kirk Franklin will headline the third annual Questapalooza at Quest Community Church.

Urban gospel star Kirk Franklin will headline Questapalooza 2008, which is moving to Labor Day weekend.

Questapalooza, which is in its third year, is an outreach event presented by Quest Community Church that is also becoming one of Central Kentucky's highest profile Christian pop music events outside of the Ichthus Festival. This year's Questapalooza, Aug. 31, will actually give attendees a chance to see an act they missed at this year's Ichthus. Kutless, whose June 13 Ichthus performance was scuttled by thunderstorms, will also be playing on a bill that will be filled out by needtobreathe.

But topping the bill will be Franklin, an artist Quest associate pastor Justin McCarty says the church was so eager to get, they moved the Questapalooza date to book him before he heads off on a European tour. The first two Questapaloozas were the second full weekend in September.

"We got to meet him at a meeting of churches in the Willow Creek Association," McCarty says of Franklin, "and we were really impressed with him."

The 3,000-member Quest congregation has also been hearing and singing music by Franklin, one of the most successful artists at crossing over from the gospel to Christian pop music markets in the past decade.

In its first two editions, Questapalooza has been a successful tool for recruiting new members to the church off of Reynolds Road.

"Last year, we had 6,000 people show up," McCarty says. "That means there were a lot of people here who had never been on the Quest campus before."

He said there were no formal attendance goals for this year's event, but hopes are that the combination of Franklin's broad popularity and being on a holiday weekend will help the event top itself once again.

"We're sort of hoping to make this a destination event for the Holiday weekend," McCarty said. "People can come out and enjoy the rides and food and fellowship and music and there's no school the next day."

McCarty said tickets should go on sale in late July or early August. Watch the festival website and Copious Notes for more information.

rctalk: Kutless' 'To Know that You're Alive'

Portland, Ore.-based Kutless are bassist Dave Luetkenhoelter, drummer Jeffrey Gilbert, singer Jon Micah Sumrall, guitarist Nick DePartee, and guitarist James Mead. Photo courtesy of BEC Recordings. 

No one will ever accuse Kutless of being an innovative band. There's probably nothing on the band's new album, To Know That You're Alive, or any of their  other releases that wasn't already done 20-or-more years ago. You hear echoes of Bon Jovi or Whiteheart, if you're older, or, say, Skillet if you're younger. It's emotionally-charged arena, anthem rock. Everybody sing along.

So it would be easy to slag Kutless for not doing anything new. But what they do is pretty inspired, employs a classic rock structure to speak to modern audiences, and hey, this is Christian rock -- don't we need anthems?

Things get started right away on To Know with The Feeling, a "We come into your town, we help you party down," raver with a little spirituality thrown in. The title track is power rock tune that makes being a Christian sound like a James Bond movie or a horror flick the way it portrays confronting the darkness of the world. Call it histrionic or dramatic, it's a theme that runs through several songs, including The Rescue and most effectively in Promise You, a chronicle of overcoming abuse. Kutless also effectively writes  for worship audiences, where its Strong Tower album was directed, with tunes like Complete and You.

No, none of it is terribly original for Christian or mainstream rock. But the guys in the band have grown as focused songwriters, able to carry even the most dismissive listener through three verses, chorus and bridge; guitarists James Mead and Nick DePartee have developed their voices; and bassist Dave Luetkenhoelter and drummer Jeffrey Gilbert are a full-throttle rhythm section.

The new album makes you kind of sorry we missed Kutless when its Ichthus Festival set was rained out last month. And that may be the biggest sign the Oregonians are doing things right. They may not be making rock history, but they're making solid rock.

Stay tuned: Apparently another shot at seeing Kutless locally is coming soon. Check back a little later to find out where.

rctalk: Jon Foreman's 'Spring' and 'Summer'

Switchfoot frontman Jon Foreman has just completed a series of four seasonal EPs.

Jon Foreman | Spring and Summer EPs

The Fourth of July week seems to be an appropriate time to to praise a great American songwriter. With his Spring and Summer EPs, Jon Foreman has cemented himself as just that. We should add that the Swithfoot frontman is a brave songwriter, as some of the lyrics on these recordings will land him in Dutch with some of the Christian music community that has made him a star, and an exquisite craftsman.

Like on the first two EPs, Fall and Winter, Foreman is freed from any constraints or obligations the band format holds, and he uses that space to perfectly augment songs with what they need. I do not know if Foreman recorded these six-song sets sequentially, but the last two -- which have just been released on one CD,  same as the first pair -- show growth over the intitial efforts.

The closest thing to Switchfoot is Summer's Resurrect Me, which sounds like Switchfoot gone to seed, in a good way -- a great little cacophony of clangy steely guitars over a steady4-4 beat. Seriously, it could slip into a Switchfoot set with no problem.

But there are numerous songs that couldn't, their string and wind accompaniments perfectly accenting the songs, but also making them distinctively Foreman's.

Foreman is also a much more blunt songwriter on his own. The rap on Switchfoot's songs have often been that they are brilliant, but so couched in metaphor and cleverness that the listener could easily miss the point -- and this is a point of concern to some who question Switchfoot's commitment to Christianity.

There is no missing the point here. Some faith-community listeners may wish Foreman was murkier when they hear Instead of a Show, a tune as incendiary as anything Derek Webb has written. In the song, Foreman lambastes the church for putting on shows while ignoring the hurting world around it.

Away with your noisy worship
Away with your noisy hymns
I stop up my ears when you're singing 'em
I hate all your show
Instead, let there be a flood of justice

Some will be angry with  Foreman for saying it. Some will say it needed to be said. Either way, Foreman grows as a challenging songwriter. But lest anyone use Show to question Foreman's faith, these EPs have some of his most spiritual writing to date, such as Spring's Your Love is Strong and Summer's House of God, Forever, an interpretation of Psalm 23 that ranks with 24 as one of the loveliest things Foreman has written.

As far as we know, things are good in the Switchfoot camp. They released a track for the Prince Caspian soundtrack last month, and have a tour in the offing with Third Day and Jars of Clay. But this solo voice Foreman has started using is quite compelling. Let's hear more.

Concert alert: Hawk Nelson is in Winchester at 6 p.m. July 5. We'll have more on Hawk later this week, but click here to buy tickets.

EW's New classics: Up for debate (of course)

John Travolta in Pulp Fiction. Is it really the No. 1 classic movie of the lat 25 years?

Last weekend, the editors of Entertainment Weekly dropped their annual summer double issue and gave  us a good two weeks of debating material.

Is Pulp Fiction really the best film of the last 25 years?

Does Amy Winehouse's year-old debut already deserve Top 10 classic status?

Public Enemy doesn't make the Top 50?

Yes, it's another set of lists. We say that with no derision, because hey, we're going to give you some lists on Sunday. Lists are fun, because they are always a matter of opinion, which means most everyone who reads one will have some modicum of disagreement with it.

EW's new lists are pretty ambitious: The New Classics is 1,000 of the best movies, TV shows, albums, books and other stuff over the past 25 years. My favorite list was actually the final one: Tech, where they named the, "top 25 innovations that changed entertainment."

Even there though, I'd argue against ranking the iPod at No. 4, below the DVD player, Napster and TiVo. Yes, the DVD is a cool advance in home video, but it still was just another method of delivering the videos in some tangible form. The iPod introduced the concept of owning a whole album without leaving your home, or even just picking and choosing the songs you want; singles, but you choose what's a single. It's the most radical change in the distribution of recorded music since the beginning of recorded music. How do you top that?

See, arguing it is almost inescapable.

Pulp Fiction, for me, was a good place to start. I've always considered it a bit overrated, over romanticized. Good movie, snappy dialog and engaging story structure, but not quite all that.

But if you want to argue towering influence, then its No. 1 seems a bit more legit. How many Pulp wannabes have we seen since 1994? Interestingly, Forrest Gump, the movie that beat Pulp Fiction for the Oscar for best picture, isn't even on EW's Top 100. (It's worth noting that EW has always been in love with Pulp.)

There are some nice picks on the movie list, such as Blue Velvet at No. 4, acknowledging the off-kilter brilliance of David Lynch, and giving Merchant Ivory's A Room with a View a nod at No. 24. The Helena Bonham Carter starmaker ushered in the chick-flick-as-literary-costume-drama era we're still in today.

 The music list had several nice visionary choices, such as Madonna's self-titled 1983 album at No. 5, OutKast's Stankonia at No. 12, and R.E.M.'s Life's Rich Pageant at No. 32. All were great albums, and all set the stage for the artists' subsequent chart toppers -- Like a Virgin, Speakerboxx/The Love Below and Document, respectively. But then, somehow, Nirvana's Nevermind is left off in favor of MTV Unplugged. ?!

See, debating is sooooo easy. And fun.

I will also give EW props for trying to limit the number of entries from any one artist to one or two. I seem to remember years ago when Rolling Stone dropped a list of the best rock albums ever, and half the Top 10 was by The Beatles. But then, that list also gave this young rock fan a lot of listening to go do.

And this list from Entertainment Weekly seems to come at a perfect time, right before the laziest days of summer. I'd write more, but I've got some watching and listening to do.

P.S.: A very cool thing about the Top 50 stage list is that four of the shows -- Angels in America (No. 1), Elaine Stritch at Liberty (17), Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk (24) and Topdog/Underdog (49) were all directed by Frankfort's own George C. Wolf. People, we don't revere this guy enough.

Christian music update: Ichthus edition

Tobymac cedes the stage to vocalist Nirva Dorsaint-Ready during his set at Ichthus 2007. Photo by Rich Copley.

Tobymac | Alive and Transported

I am taking a morning walk through my suburban neighborhood, but in my head, I am at the Ichthus Festival or anywhere Tobymac is presenting his backflipping, breathless show.

There's often a gulf between the thrill of a live show and the recording. But in the case of Tobymac's generous Alive and Transported, that is nary a trickle. Granted, there is nothing quite like seeing Toby, who headlines Ichthus Friday night. But this disc -- and the accompanying DVD in the tangible set -- really takes you there.

One chief way is by being a real concert document, taking you through the flow of the event, from hyper openers such as Boomin' and J-train to the Spanish-guitar-based Irene and the dc talk classic In the Light and the subsequent fever spike of Yours. He also gives us a rarity for the concert disc: the encore. On disc, he closes out the Houston concert with Diverse City and returns with a quartet of tunes, including Jesus Freak and Extreme Days, which no audience would let t-mac leave without doing.

In addition to Tobymac's music, with a dash of his old band, dc talk, one of the other strong suits of his concerts has been that it's a real band effort, with Toby many times giving the spotlight to his supporting players.

It's just like a Tobymac concert and, "bang to the bip, it makes me want to flip."

Big screen: This is a reminder that you can see Alive and Transported on the big screen at movie theaters across the country tonight, and in Kentucky at the Showcase Stonybrook in Louisville at 7:30 p.m.

Ichthus gets an early start: Since the Ichthus Festival moved from April to June, it has been pushing back  the music's start time on Thursday earlier and earlier. Now, festival-goers who arrive early can get a full three days of music, and even some more.

There's the Gotee showcase on the main stage Wednesday night, and Thursday morning cranks up with the Ascenxion Scout Competition's Battle of the Bands at 9:30 a.m. on the Deep End Stage.

The battle will pit the 10 winners of the online Scout competition against each other to determine who will get the grand prize of a main stage slot for a couple of tunes on Friday night. The third-place winner will play the Edge Stage late Friday afternoon and the second-place winner will play the same stage Saturday night.

The competitors come from as far away as California, though Thursday morning should have a distinctly Kentucky flavor with bands from Louisville (mile 7), Somerset (Live Fish), Whitesburg (Thusia), and Justin Harris, whose Myspace page simply lists him as being from Kentucky.

After that, at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Cincinnati's Divine Day will play the Deep End, their reward for winning a Battle of the Bands at Cincinnati's Underground club last fall.

Got tickets?: If you don't have tickets to Ichthus yet, and you want to go, fest officials advise that your best bet will be to wait until you get to the site. Online sales ceased this weekend, and since most of the Ichthus staff is out on the farm, your chances of getting tickets by phone, (859) 858-3001, are hit and miss.

Ichthus' independent spirit

The video for Meditation by Baltimore-based Ashes Remain will headline the Ichthus Festival's Independent Stage Friday, June 13. (Below) Canadians Manic Drive headline the Indie stage Thursday.

The Ichthus Festival is expanding its offerings to four stages this year, adding an Independent stage within the campground at what was once known as the worship stage. The stage will be, "dedicated to completely independent artists," according to the festival website.

It's a move that makes a lot of sense in the current music marketplace where even reasonably well-known artists are eschewing some of the comforts of record labels for grassroots business via the Internet and lots and lots of touring. And a quick run through the Net reveals a lineup of seemingly high quality acts booked for the intimate outdoor venue. The Friday night lineup looks particularly intriguing with After Edmund and Breaking the Silence playing a bill topped by Ashes Remain. Other artists you may recognize include Lake Cumberland's Nineball and Brooke Barrettsmith.

Click here for the complete Indie Stage lineup. An number of acts will also be playing the Edge Stage or the Deep End Stage.

One piece of free advice: If you are an early to bed type, you may want to avoid camping near the stage, up toward the festival-site side of the campground. If, on the other hand, you want to watch bands from your tent door . . .

Before Ichthus, Smith will get her hands dirty with fans

New artist Stephanie Smith will be working with an Ichthus local mission project before the festival. Photo courtesy of Gotee Records.

Stephanie Smith will be on the main stage at the Ichthus Festival twice, but before that, she’ll be in Lexington joining festival goers who get into town early to work on a mission project organized by the festival and several Central Kentucky ministries and churches.

“One of my goals in this music-band-rockstar thing is not just to stand on the stage and show people that I like to sing,” Smith says. “I really have a heart to better the community and serve and love people at their point of need. This is an opportunity to do that and to get to know the community.”

Smith’s desire to serve is, in large part, due to the failure of her first attempt at a recording career.

“I went to college to pursue music and pursue the rock-star thing,” Smith says.

It went well, and it went to her head. Her wake up call came in a comment from her mother who told her at 18, “I don’t care if this is all taken away from you, because I don’t like who you’ve become.”

Smith ended up going on a soul-searching journey that included a trip to Guatemala, where she found herself carrying cinder blocks up a muddy hill to help people build sinks in their kitchens, and to Africa where, for two weeks, she lived on $1 a day.

“It gave me real insight into the world outside of America,” Smith says.

Video: Grand Night for Singing

A Grand Night for Singing opens this weekend at the Singletary Center for the Arts. In our story for today's paper, we talked about the talented "brain trust" that puts Grand Night together from scratch, every year. To compliment that, photographer and producer Emily Spence and I went out to talk to some of the singers about the tunes they get to share and the town and gown camaraderie of Grand Night.

Christian music update: Dave Barnes review

Dave Barnes | You + Me + The World

Though Dave Barnes is a somewhat atypical artist in the Christian market, he initially seems easy to categorize. You think of him in that Mat Kearney, Matt Wertz -- maybe he should be a Matt Barnes? -- group of singer-songwriters with a faith base and a mainstream audience, particularly in the college market.

Two successful independent releases have yielded a national label recording contract with Razor & Tie for Barnes. And with that national debut, You + Me + The World, he lays out a saucer of a dozen tunes that show him to be much more than a Christian John Mayer. 

 The initial single, Until You, is a perfect little piece of young adult summer breeze that introduces him as an amiable guy and probably a great catch if he weren't already taken.

But that personality takes us in a number of different directions and addresses global concerns is songs such as Good World Gone Bad as well as personal, committed love in  Since You Said I Do. Barnes is an artist who will frustrate some listeners who believe faith-based musicians should have more explicit, sustained Christian messages in their music. But others will find the mix of faith and temporal topics refreshing, particularly knowing they come from a faith perspective.

Regardless of the message, the music is consistently engaging, maybe drawing the best comparisons to Jonny Lang's 2006 hit Turn Around, as this also makes confident swings through gospel, soul, country and a variety of rhythms and textures, expertly guided by producer and sideman Ed Cash.

Really, the best category for this Dave Barnes album would be good music.

t-mac at the movies: If you're in Central Kentucky and you JUST CAN'T WAIT to see Tobymac play Ichthus on June 13, you can head over to Louisville Monday night and see Tobymac: Alive and Transported at the Showcase Stonybrook. The concert film, a la, a lot of concert films we're seeing lately is showing across the nation Monday night, and the reigning Dove Award winner for artist of the year is the first Christian market act I can recall doing this.

Speaking of Louisville: Southeast Christian Church, the mothership at Exit 17 off I-64, has a release on the new Great Worship Songs label from Brentwood-Benson Publishing, which has the largest Christian music publishing catalog in the world. Holy is the Lord, which drops July 1, will be the third disc on the label, and the first to focus on a specific church. The album features the Louisville church's band and choir presenting songs written in the Southeast Community. Chords and lead sheets of the songs will be available at the Great Worship Songs website.

Where was this?: Yes, we know we have regular visitors to the Christian music update on Tuesday and we were a tad late this week. For the duration of the summer, at least, this post is going to move back to Mondays, because this blog has a few other seasonal staples that make Tuesday a little crowded. And hey, if we preview an album you really like, that gives you time to go home and smash your piggy bank to go get it -- that's if you are still into buying tangible, physical, oh-so-20th Century CDs.

But Saturday, Copious Notes will flip a switch and go all-Ichthus -- with a couple of exceptions -- through the festival. We'll start by chatting with new Gotee artist Stephanie Smith, who will play several times during the fest and also get her hands dirty with some festival goers.

BlondeTV: So much better than expected

Haylie Duff, far right, and assistant choreographer Dennis Jones, to the left of Duff, brief the contestants in Legally Blonde The Musical -- The Search for Elle Woods. Copyrighted photo courtesy of MTV.

We will confess our misgivings up front: It is reality TV, which we have no faith in for substance, and MTV, which completely ceased being relevant to me after the third season of The Real World. Add to that, we saw this before in NBC's dreadful Grease: You're the One That I Want, which tapped the stars of the Grease revival currently running on Broadway.

So, I was not expecting much from Legally Blonde The Musical -- The Search for Elle Woods, which debuted on Monday night on MTV and will run for seven more weeks.

But if the show can stay on the level of its premier, you can shut me up like Professor Callahan.

The object here is to find a successor to Lexington native Laura Bell Bundy as Elle Woods in the Broadway production of Legally Blonde -- The Musical.

One of the best signs this show has a chance to be good comes in the first segment when Legally Blonde director Jerry Mitchell tells the hopefuls, "Casting the next Elle Woods will be my decision."

With those words, we know this will not turn into a popularity contest where the winner will be determined by whoever has the fan base that can text the quickest. It will be a professional Broadway director, plus veteran casting director Bernard Telsey, Legally Blonde book writer Heather Hach and actor Paul Canaan, who tells the hopefuls, "I wanted to be Elle Woods, but there was a height issue . . . "

By then, we also know that the show isn't going to waste our time with preliminaries. No lingering in the hinterlands to see what crazy, delusional people show up at the open calls. We start with the ladies who got to come to New York, and quicklywe are down to a final 15 who have to be whittled to a final 10 in 45 minutes. So we see a lot of dancing and trying to sing the Act I finale, So Much Better, in which the final note is held for 16 bars. We really do get a sense of how tough being in a Broadway show is.

When Emma, a hopeful who claims Broadway is in her blood because her parents met working on the original Grease, asks associate choreographer Dennis Jones if he could demonstrate a move slower, he says, "I am."

Emma provides the most drama of the night, walking in touting her Broadway bloodline  but apparently not bringing her A game to the audition. But she makes it, and the show also starts to develop some characters, like Bailey, a 20-year-old Southern Belle from Anderson, S.C., who seems destined to become the show's bumpkin, and Lauren, already becoming the meanie.

There is a classic moment in Lauren's singing audition, where she brags, "I'm not here for my 15 minutes of fame making friends with the other girls."

Hach responds, "But Elle Woods would take it to the top, but she'd also make friends with the other girls."

Lauren starts backing up immediately, "All the other girls here are really nice . . . "

Yes, judging by the preview, there will be some drama, some tears, some backstabbing, and you want a little of that on reality TV.

But like Project Runway at its best, The Search for Elle seems to be aiming to present the process of the craft. The main whining in the first episode is about exhaustion. Bundy, who looks a couple of decades more mature than any of these girls when she meets them at the end of the premier, says, "If you are tired right now, that is nothing."

That does bring us back to the overall misgiving about this process, this premise. Dismissing the final contestant cut, Telsey says, "We can't cast based on potential."

But at this juncture, isn't that basically what this show is doing? None of these actors appear to have much professional seasoning in the premier. So really, they are looking for someone who's right for the part and has the potential to be able to go from this pressure cooker to centerstage at the Palace Theatre in a few months.

That's asking a lot.

But fortunately, watching MTV's Blonde talent search doesn't appear to be asking for too much.

Christian music update: An 'Austin City Limits' wish list

Phil Keaggy, shown performing at last year's Ichthus Festival, would be a great addition to the Austin City Limits lineup. Copyrighted LexGo photo by Rich Copley.

It's Tuesday, and usually I run a CD review here. But I'm not quite ready to scribble on any new saucers this week, so let's do a little musing.

My absolute favorite televised venue from music is the long-running PBS series Austin City Limits. It's a a show that has seen most everyone who's anyone in contemporary music from country to world music to rock and a lot of genres that fall in between. Though I have a TiVo season pass for it, I often will stay up Saturday to catch the show, even if I am due at church early the next morning.

Every once and a while, I contemplate what Christian artists would be a good fit for this great music showcase. I don't have a detailed list of who all has been on the show, and there have been recent performances of acts that have ties to the faith-based market such as Robert Randolph and Sufjan Stevens. ACL was the first time I encountered Stevens and his band/orchestra in their butterfly wings. That's one of the great things about ACL: because you trust it to deliver great music, you tune in regardless of whose on and make discoveries. So, a few of the acts Austin City Limits could introduce to its audience include:

~ Phil Keaggy: One thing about the ACL audience is they love great musicianship, so they would love Keaggy, arguably the greatest musician in Christian pop. The intimate setting of the show would also suit him well.

~ How about a couple of Texans, like Derek Webb and the David Crowder Band? Webb is one of the most engaging songwriters in the faith market today, and while DCB is labeled a worship artist, that worship comes with a lot of exploration and adventure the ACL crowd would love.

~ ACL is also into showcasing  well-seasoned established artists such as R.E.M. last weekend or Elvis Costello last season. From the Christian market, who could be better for this showcase than Jars of Clay and Switchfoot? The men of Jars have the kind of musical diversity that would play well on the show, and Jon Foreman's thoughtful songwriting for 'foot would have a better showcase in this forum than on some of the massive concert stages we're used to seeing the band on. Foreman the solo artist, by the way, would also be great on ACL.

This is just a short list, but man, it would be great to tune is one Saturday night and see one of these acts performing before the Texas Capitol backdrop.

New 'chick: We don't have any marquee releases today, according to the Gospel Music Association. But peering through the binoculars, we can see a new Superchick release coming up this time next month. Rock What You Got will be the band's first new release in three years, and promises to have some of the same cross cultural appeal of 2005's Beauty from Pain that featured everything from the bittersweet title track to the first pumping, girl-power Anthem. The band is offering a RWYG sampler with three tracks available today at digital outlets such as iTunes and Napster. I'm downloading as I write.

Condolences: As most of you probably already have heard, Stephen Curtis Chapman lost his adopted daughter Maria to a tragic accident last week. A reminder, if you would like to make a gesture of condolence to the family, they are requesting donations be made to Shaohannah's Hope, the Chapman's charity to support and facilitate overseas adoptions.You can leave notes at the Chapman's blog.

In addition to Ichthus: So, we always write extensively about the Ichthus Festival here. That makes sense. It's just a few dozen miles down the road from Lexington in Wilmore, it is the original Christian pop music festival and what else in Central Kentucky, except the UK basketball team, brings 20,000 people together at one time.

But it is not the only big Christian music festival in the Bluegrass State. While fest season starts at Ichthus June 12-14, it winds down with the NewSong Festival in Leitchfield, Aug. 8-10. This year's event features several of the same acts that will hit Ichthus, including Jeremy Camp, Skillet and TobyMac, and some that won't be at Ichthus such as Sanctus Real and Derek Webb.

Country music

Concertgoers arrive at Meadow View Barn in the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill for Saturday afternoon's concert in the Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass. Below: Sibling violinists Todd and Daniel Phillips of the Orion String Quartet perform Saturday afternoon. Copyrighted LexGo photos by Rich Copley.

SHAKERTOWN -- Classical music is something we normally associate with the city. There are those big orchestras in New York, Chicago and just about every other metropolis worth its salt. Even here, in the heart of the Bluegrass, our major concert hall is in the middle of a wide web of asphalt.

Meadow View Barn isn't.

The old tobacco barn at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill lives up to its name, nestled atop a hill that looks out upon vast expanses of green valley or trees from every direction.

For the second Memorial Day weekend in a row, the barn and Shakertown are hosting the Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass, produced by Centre College's Norton Center for the Arts. Featuring the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, direct from the asphalt jungle of NYC, it is one of the most sublime concert experiences you will ever have.

The string musicians' instruments probably haven't been played this close to their natural elements -- i.e. trees and horse hair -- and sounded this at home in a long time. Somehow the cellos sound more woody, the strains of the violins twirl in the air like a lark dancing, and the violas sound like old souls taking it all in.

This year, the chamber music society brought along four musicians of its own: co directors Wu Han, piano,  and David Finckel, cello, and emerging artists Arnaud Sussman, violin, and Beth Guterman, viola, who were new to the festival. Han and Finckel also invited along the Orion String Quartet, which is performing in its own right and splintering off to perform with the Lincoln Center artists as well.

That was an added bonus with Saturday evening's concert in the Meadow View Barn: We got these world-class musicians mixing and matching for more variety than you usually get from a chamber concert.

UK Wind Ensemble update: depature delayed

The University of Wind Ensemble's flight from Cincinnati to Chicago, United Flight 191, was canceled this morning, and the ensemble will spend an extra day in Cincinnati before departing Tuesday morning for Chicago and then Shanghai.

Cindy Stewart-Birdwell, wife of ensemble director John Cody Birdwell, addressed the delay and cancellation of their first concert due to China's three-day mourning period for victims of last Monday's earthquake in a post on her blog:

" . . . not to worry. We must simply stay another day in our rather comfy hotel here in Cincinnati...not a bad deal really, extra rest is now possible, and we have beautiful surroundings in which to idle the day away . . . all we're really missing is an extra day of sightseeing in and around Shanghai, and that's unfortunate, but it could have been worse. We will arrive at 2 p.m. with a free day and evening in front of us. Tired, needing to stretch and anxious to get into our hotel, we'll just take it easy and go with the flow."

The UK Wind Ensemble, bound for China

In this video, UK Wind Ensemble director John Cody Birdwell and a couple of students discuss the group's upcoming trip to China. Video by Amy Jones, courtesy of UK Public Relations.

This morning, 67 students faculty and friends of the University of Kentucky Wind Ensemble are winging their way west -- Or, should we say far east? -- to China. The journey will take the UK band on a six city tour of the country that is eagerly anticipating the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics while simultaneously mourning the devastating earthquake that struck Central China a week ago today.

We've got a story about the trip, how it came about and what's going to happen, in today's paper and at LexGo.com.

We've added a photo album of pictures taken by the Herald-Leader's Whitney Waters at events leading up to the trip.

If you'd like to follow along, Cindy Stewart-Birdwell, wife of Wind Ensemble director John Cody Birdwell, is blogging about the experience.

Click the play button below to hear John Mackey's Turbine from the UK Wind Ensemble's Distilled in Kentucky, the CD that was a key to earning the offer to play in China.

Click here to hear UK President Lee Todd's interview of Birdwell for WUKY's UK Perspectives program.

Interview: David Finckel and Wu Han on the Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass

Wu Han (center) and David Finckel (right) at Shaker Village last year with their daughter Lilian. Photo courtesy of Finckel and Han.

Last year, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center participated in a pioneering effort: The first Chamber Music Festival of the Bluegrass.

Presented by the Norton Center for the Arts and its director, George Foreman, the fest was held at the Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill, off the beaten path for most concert goers, in a renovated tobacco barn, an atypical venue for musicians more accustomed to cozy concert halls.

And it was a smashing success.

The concerts were sold out, and the chamber music society’s press representative says the musicians haven’t stopped talking about Kentucky.

So, with the second edition upon us, we got on the phone with cellist David Finckel and pianist Wu Han, co-directors of the Chamber Music Society, to talk about the second edition of the festival and their return to the Bluegrass.

Herald-Leader: Tell us about your trip here last year and what made it so great.

David Fickel: The most wonderful thing, besides being in Kentucky, and in such a beautiful place and having such beautiful weather and meeting all the new people and playing for a new audience was being present at the birth of a really exciting new project. These days, when classical music takes root in a new location and blossoms, it’s wonderful news for everybody involved. We also look at our involvement at the Shaker Village there as being something that the Chamber Society is good at, something that we should do, being the kind of organization we are, we should go around and help people start new things because we can present great art in great programs and get people excited.

In the end, we all had a marvelous time. We made a lot of new friends, and we’ve really been thinking about it ever since.

Wu Han: In a regular concert, we usually hit a city and play for an audience of 500 to 2,000 and then we probably split the next morning and hit the next town. That’s a performer’s life.

So, to have the opportunity to base in such a gorgeous environment – it’s inspiring to be in such a pure and spiritual place like the Shaker Village – and to have the opportunity to be involved in a festival is incredibly satisfying. Festival is a place you come to meet people to have exploration, to have a community that has the opportunity to mingle, to eat meals together, to talk and to share a space and exchange ideas. At the end of the festival, we know the presenters very, very well, we get to know the audience, we get to know where to eat locally, we get to hike a little bit and the audience bonded with us. We have so much to share and it’s a very different sensation from just traveling from city to city and doing one night stands. The setting of the Shaker Village is fantastic. I don’t have the TV to distract me with CNN and 30 minutes of updating in my hotel room. And everyday I would wake up in the same place and it is very close to nature and I get to meet my audience in the daytime.

That’s unusual for musicians and I think it’s unusal for the audience to be that close to the musicians.

And playing the tobacco barn is so unusual. It’s very close to the earthiness of what we do using the chamber music form and its intimacy. It’s a project I really treasure.

Q: Last year, before you came, you said you were curious as to what the venue was going to look like. How did the tobacco barn turn out as a place to play?

WH: I loved it. To have a little bit of cowbell and the birds flying around the Dvorak Piano Quintet is not a bad thing at all.

Following the UK Winds to China

University of Kentucky Wind Ensemble director John Cody Birdwell is taking his wife and kids along on the group's forthcoming trip to China, and said wife, Cindy Stewart-Birdwell (photo, right), is contributing to the effort by maintaining a blog about the experience.

Thus far, Stewart-Birdwell's HigherView blog has been about the stresses of prepping for the trip around the world that starts Sunday night.

But in view of recent events in China, her Monday post had the chilling note that according to an original schedule for the trip, when Monday's earthquake occurred, the Wind Ensemble would have been in Chengdu, about 60 miles from the epicenter. She writes:

"Life is fragile, this we know, so in the words of Leonard Bernstein, 'This will be our reply to violence: to make music more intensely, more beautifully, more devotedly than ever before.'"

Click here to read Stewart-Birdwell's blog. I'll also set a link to it in the left-hand column here for the duration of the trip, May 19-29.

Over the weekend, we'll have a full report on the trip in the Herald-Leader and at LexGo.

SNL has My Morning Jacket this week, and hopefully more great political humor

Louisville's My Morning Jacket is the musical guest on Saturday Night Live this week, providing guest host Shia LaBeouf and Mr. SNL Digital Short Andy Samberg with a wonderfully cheesy joke in the video, above.

Of course, we've also come to expect great political humor from SNL lately, Amy Poehler's Hillary Clinton impression being the biggest reason why.  For some reason, I keep thinking this week, it would be funny to remake the Thing that Wouldn't Leave sketch -- a faux horror movie trailer in which John Belushi is an annoying dinner guest who won't take a hint that it's time to go, leading to anguished screams from his hosts -- and frame it in the context of the Democratic primaries. Maybe I just want to hear Fred Armisen scream as Obama. Whatever the professional sketch writers come up with, we'll probably be talking about it Monday morning.

(By the way, the Jimmy Carter clip that comes up in the video menu after Andy and Shia is another classic.)

Note: On Wait Wait . . . Don't Tell Me this morning, they played the newsmaker countdown, in which they play a song inspired by someone who was in the news during the week, and then the contestant has to guess who inspired it. The song inspired by Hillary Clinton: that Dreamgirls showstopper, And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going. The show repeats at noon Sunday on WUKY-91.3 FM or you can hear it at Wait Wait's website.