Where Old-Time Music Came From … and Where It’s Going

By Ned Hayes In 1991, MC Hammer was huge. I was a published music critic; yet I wouldn’t write about Hammer’s platinum hit “U Can’t Touch This.” Instead, I was obsessed with a young, touring folk musician. In an era when hip hop was going corporate and rap and rock bands were increasingly signing their …

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Capital City Chorus 2018

Capital City Chorus Sings Christmas Cheer

by Ned Hayes Carols often become the background mutter of the holidays – old tunes covered by bored pop stars. Yet the joy of hearing a professional group of singers deliver Christmas standards in the original intended choir format is a surprisingly fresh and enlivening experience. In the skyscape of sound, the sopranos hit the …

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Op-Ed: Art Tells the Truth

By Ned Hayes and Billy Thomas On August 24, OLY ARTS helped organize a day-long reading of Volume I of the Mueller Report at The Washington Center for the Performing Arts. A number of local, theatrical artists and elected officials participated in the successful event. Some in the artistic and reader communities have asked why our organization involved …

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Special Counsel Robert Mueller

The Mueller Report at Washington Center

By CHRISTIAN CARVAJAL On April 18, 2019, after almost four weeks in the hands of Attorney General William Barr, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s findings on the subject of foreign involvement in the election of President Donald J. Trump were released to Congress and the public — albeit heavily redacted — by the Department of Justice. …

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All 100 Fires: Experimental Theater by Theater Maestra Donna Oblongata

by Ned Hayes Olympia has professional theater, amateur theater, family theater and community theater. Yet we are often bereft of truly experimental genre-busting theatrical adventures. In late July, on one night only, writer/performer/puppeteer and underground wandering clown-minstrel Donna Oblongata will grace Olympia with her presence and fill your need for an experimental journey to the …

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Olympia Comics Festival 2019

Annual festival showcases world-class cartoonists, and now includes a wedding! By NED HAYES Olympia’s Comics Festival returns on Saturday, June 15. This free exposition was created in 2001 by Danger Room proprietor Frank Hussey and has grown tremendously over the past 19 years. This year’s day-long festival expo will feature more than 50 tables with …

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New Orca Books Cooperative Welcomes Readers

By Ned Hayes In February, the Washington Post reviewed the state of the American bookstore and discovered two key, distinguishing characteristics that are keeping bookstores afloat. “How do indie bookstores compete with Amazon?” said the Post’s headline. “Personality — and a sense of community.” Orca Books has been a bookstore with personality for 27 years, …

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An Artistic Revue: Procession of the Species 2019

By NED HAYES Photography by Shanna Paxton Photography Procession of the Species is Olympia’s annual celebration of the natural ecosystem. It’s been enlivened in recent years by the massive creations of large-scale puppeteer Jerry Berebitsky, whose creations delight crowds with brilliant color, innovative imagination and awe-inspiring movement. This year, however, instead of a single, oversized …

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New Olympia Poet Laureate Sady Sparks

By NED HAYES Sady Sparks, a current undergraduate at The Evergreen State College, has been named Olympia’s poet laureate for 2019-2020. Sparks is the second writer to serve in this position after inaugural poet laureate Amy Solomon-Minarchi. At 24 years old, Sparks is at the perfect age to rise as a poet. Audre Lorde started …

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Ira Glass and His American Life

By NED HAYES At the age of 19, Ira Glass began his career in public radio. Over the 39 years since, he’s held nearly every production job at National Public Radio including desk assistant, editor, newscast writer, producer, reporter and tape cutter. He’s hosted multiple shows including Talk of the Nation and Weekend All Things …

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