K k SEPTEMBER 2016 K g VOL. 28 #8 H WOWHALL.ORGk “That’s why I am so excited to be heading out west this fall. After a decade of playing songs for a liv- ing, nothing gets my juices flowing COREY SMITH like performing somewhere new. It keeps me young and always WEST BOUND & DOWN TOUR reminds me that every place I have On Friday, September 30, the Tonight’. In a denim-vest-on-den- fans was once somewhere I’d never Community Center for the im ensemble, Smith may have been.” Performing Arts and KRVM looked like the cool guy who never proudly welcome Sugar Hill leaves campus, but his set revealed LUKE COMBS recording artist Corey Smith to the a soul-searching that only comes Luke Combs is taking country WOW Hall along with special from equal parts experience and radio by storm with his song guest Luke Combs. intellect.” “Hurricane”, released as a single Acclaimed singer/songwriter, Nash Country Weekly states, via River House/Thirty Tigers. producer and guitarist Corey Smith “Smith is as a performer and song- The powerful track was written by has launched his inaugural headlin- writer, an artist who may reside on Combs along with Thomas Archer ing West Coast tour (“West Bound the fringes of country music, but and Taylor Phillips and produced and Down” Tour) in support of one who has earned the kind of by Scott Moffatt. The 26-year-old his newest release, While The rural cred that others can only Asheville, North Carolina native Gettin’ Is Good. dream of.” has built an already enviable fol- Smith’s live shows have gar- Smith says, “The eastern half of lowing of avid fans by playing his nered critical praise from outlets the country has been wonderful to heart out on the road, booking such as Rolling Stone Country me over the years. It’s pretty over 200 shows per year. saying, “Shortly into the Jefferson, amazing to think how far we’ve With nearly 150,000 followers Georgia singer-songwriter’s set on come since the early days of play- on social media and 15,000,000 the Riverfront stage, CMA Fest ing little bar gigs around GA. streams of his music thanks to sup- organizers were forced to close the Now we draw great crowds from port from services like Spotify, gates. Such was the demand to see New England to south Florida and Combs’ hard work is paying Smith, an artist wildly popular Chicago to Dallas. It’s mostly a off. Named one of Nash Country among college kids (and those long function of having passionate fans Daily, Sounds Like Nashville, and since out of the dorms) for com- who share the music with others, Wide Open Country’s top artists ing-of-age songs like ‘Twenty- but also a result of never being to watch, Combs is poised for the One’, ‘If I Could Do It Again’ and afraid to go into new places and next level. His full-length album is the winking ‘Ain’t Going Out earn fans the old fashioned way. CONTINUED ON PAGE 7 k have a job,” she says. “It’s so drifty any- way. It’s the kind of place where you can INSIDE THIS ISSUE either skim the surface, go with the tide or be dragged down to the stagnant waters. And you don’t want to fall CARL VERHEYEN P2 through the cracks here, I guess.” Exploring the worlds of mysticism, THE CROOKES P3 yoga and psychedelics, she began to feel the isolation of her city, to notice, “people COMMUNITY PARTNERS/PRACTICUM talking about good vibrations in a con- FAIR RECEPTION P3 crete jungle” and the people on the street who, “just seem to let the light come in a DEL THE FUNKY HOMOSAPIEN P4 bit too much to close it off again. And you can’t look at them without knowing MAD PROFESSOR P5 that you’re capable of doing that too.” The days began to blend together. “Everything, every day seemed really P6 BROKEN CELL banal,” she remembers. “If I was in France we would have called it ‘an exis- WHAT SO NOT P7 tential crisis’ and got on with it. But here they treat negativity like it’s something infectious.” Slowly out of the “chaos” of that time Marling began to find a kind of order. She enrolled in several online courses to LAURA MARLING’S SHORTS study literary criticism, immersed herself On Wednesday, September 28, Monqui myself somewhere?‘ Look back over the in the writing of Rilke, Chris Kraus and PAID Presents proudly welcomes Laura Marling past eight years.” Jodorowsky. U.S. Postage U.S. Permit No. 303 No. Permit to the WOW Hall. Shelving the album she had written “I got really obsessed with getting edu- Eugene, OR 97401 Eugene, Nonprofit Organization Touring in support of her fifth album, and begun, Laura took six months away cated,” she explains. “And then I realized Short Movie, Laura Marling states, “I’ve from anything related to music to explore it’s not actually about being educated -- always been told that I’m an old soul. and learn new skills, and to try other it’s about being wise.” And I’m not. I just have a deep voice and kinds of writing, other ways of thinking. Her intention was to, “take the mysti- a stern face. I am actually young.” “It was definitely good for me,” she cism of songwriting and tame it in a way. In 2015, Marling came off the road says. “But it was also absolutely horrible Or take control of it. I wanted some after touring her hugely successful fourth and I’ll never do that again.” whipping into shape. And I think that by album Once I Was an Eagle and immedi- Uncertain whether she wanted to con- whatever means I have done that. And ately set about recording Short Movie. tinue song writing, she had redirected her that’s why I think this crop of songs is “I literally rolled out of the van and energy into poetry, only to have her appli- different.” into the studio — a decision made by my cation (under a pseudonym) to study at a These songs are different — in mood own stubbornness,” she recalls. “And writing center in upstate New York and sound and temperament. They then I just stopped cold turkey.” turned down. reflect a time of great exploration for Short Movie was the result of an “I think,” she says, “it was the first Marling, and so encompass doubt, magic, extended period of stopping and thinking. time anybody’s ever said no to me.” hope, humanity, salvation, rage, peace, “I realised that I hadn’t been in a place And so Marling returned to Los place and being alone. RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED Community Center for the Arts Performing 291 West 8th 97401 OR. Eugene, for longer than two or three weeks since Angeles, where she has lived for the past Tickets are $16 in advance, $18 at the I was 16,” she explains. “I thought, ‘I few years, and sought new direction. door. Doors open at 7:00 pm and show- wonder what will happen if I try and root “LA is literally the worst place to not time is 8:00. H K k The Community Center for the drummer John Mader has WOW HALL NOTES Performing Arts is located in the Historic Woodmen of the World Hall (W.O.W. Hall), 291 W 8th, Eugene, Or 97401, (541)687-2746, [email protected], www.wowhall.org, performed or recorded with Box office hours Mon-Fri Noon-6:00 PM. Printed monthly by Western Oregon Webpress, Circulation 3,800, General Support made Booker T. Jones, Steve Miller, Pat possible by a grant from Lane Arts Council with support from City of Eugene Cultural Services Division, Copyright 2016 All rights Benatar, Patti Austin, Albert King, reserved Notes Staff: Copy Editor & Advertising Representative - Bob Fennessy, Layout & Design - James Bateman CCPA Staff: Program Coordinator - Calyn Kelly, Membership Coordinator & Publicist - Bob Fennessy, Stage Manager - Selena Frame, Asst Stage Randy Newman, and Bonnie Managers - Chris Evans, Davis Koier, Lighting Director - Sebastian Letelier, Office Manager - Ross Shuber, Bookkeeper - Melissa Raitt. He has also played drums Swan, Volunteer Coordinator - Laura Farrelly, House Manager - Sam Harmon, Concessions Manager - Angela Lees, Shawn Lynch Custodian - Jona Waterstone Volunteer Staff: Zac Townsend, Dan Wathen, Art Gallery Director - Sam Harmon, Poster Distribution for several Tony Award-winning - WOW Hall Poster Crew, CCPA Board of Directors: Chair: Aaron Dietrich, Vice Chair: Mike Janes, Treasurer: Jon Silvermoon, musicals, including Disney’s The Secretary: Jacqueline Hamer, Members: Steve Lasky, Jesieh Love, Mysti Rose Frost, Daylon Sloan Lion King, Rent, Mamma Mia, and the world premiere of Wicked. Verheyen’s 40+ years of solo, band and studio guitar work have progressed to where hardly a day goes by during which anyone with access to music, movies, or television doesn’t hear him. As a first-call studio guitarist, Verheyen is the guitar behind some of the most popular TV shows (Seinfeld, Frazier, Cheers, Happy Days, LA Law, Married with Children, among others) and movies (Star Trek, The Usual Suspects, Ratatouille, The Negotiator, hundreds more) of all time. In addition to his duties as Supertramp’s guitarist, he has performed and recorded with a who’s-who of music giants, ranging from the great BB King, to Joe Bonamassa, Cher, Brad Paisley, Christina Aguilera, The Bee Gees, and hundreds of others. Verheyen provided one-on-one guitar lessons for John Fogerty and was a featured soloist at the CARL VERHEYEN’S Academy Awards, playing live to a TV audience of more than 67 million.