posts that contain mini-bios of our writers
By Alec Clayton The storytellers at StoryOly are at it again. The fourth-annual StoryOly Grand Slam competition will be held at Rhythm & Rye Saturday, September 7. StoryOly is Olympia’s premiere story-slam event. Community members come together every month to share, compete and tell true stories based on a monthly theme. Past themes have included …
By Molly Walsh Inspired by Los Lobos, Santana and WAR, Flor De Luna is classic Latin rock with hints of blues, jazz and Afro Cuban influences over a wide range of classic-rock hits. Band members range from their 20s to their 60s. Thus, the band’s classic playlist dons a modern edge. A Flor De Luna …
by Tom Simpson William Shakespeare will return to the South Sound this summer with an exceptional production of his classic, magical romance The Tempest at Olympia’s Port Plaza. The production will feature professional stage actors from the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and is co-sponsored by Olympia Harbor Days, which will bring tall ships as stage scenery …
By Jonah Barrett When one hears about electronic music, pianos don’t necessarily come to mind. This August, one-man musical project Beetle Box will perform in Olympia for two consecutive days. He’s brought his piano. Beetle Box is the brainchild of John Pennington of Little Rock, Arkansas. A series of piano lessons having ick-started his love …
By Molly Walsh The mission of Tacoma Concert Band is to deliver professional, symphonic sound to audiences in Puget Sound and beyond. It’s well-traveled, with stops in Budapest, the French Riviera, Prague and Vienna. It played the 39th-annual South of Ireland Band Competition last summer and took best band, best brass section and best performance …
By Molly Walsh Traveling throughout the United States, tribute group Randy Linder Band’s set spans Creedence Clearwater Revival’s iconic 1960s-to-1970s playlist. Beginning in 2000, the tribute band has performed multiple shows in Las Vegas and a Creedence Clearwater Revival festival in Mexico. With vintage mop-top haircuts and flannel shirts to accompany John Fogerty’s distinctive, rasping …
By Molly Walsh With a tagline of “full throttle rockabilly,” the Roostertails reimagine classic-rock hits with a 1950s, country-rock twang. Upright bass adds just the right amount of old-school-Americana flair to Presley-style, low-octave vocals. Heavily influenced by Johnny Cash, the Roostertails can help any concert-goer find a rhythm. WHAT The Roostertails WHERE Sylvester Park, 615 …
ART REVIEW by Alec Clayton for OLY ARTS Harold Nelson’s paper collages at the Department of Ecology in Lacey are phenomenal. Some may say they could be seen as gimmicky in a Where’s Waldo kind of way, but solid design and color harmonies elevate them above the merely tricky, not to mention that they are …
By Molly Walsh Between hidden gems and retro hits, Platinum Soul transports listeners to a 1970s funk and rhythm-and-blues dream. It plays throughout the Pacific Northwest, blending Earth, Wind & Fire; Hall and Oates and Rick James into its set. Band leader LaRoi Carter Jr. grew up in Lacey and has always wanted to return …
By Molly Walsh “I remember one time,” Walchak-Sloan says, “me and my friend were maybe eight years old, and her babysitter took us to Lakefair. At the fair, it was a big thing to go on the Ferris wheel and look down and see all of Lakefair. It was really big and there’s a lot …