PAINTING BY AMY SHEHEEN 5 A MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR CENTERFOLD

6 FANCIES / JAMES BUSBY 8 LISTENS Aarron Graves Local Record Reviews

22 SCREENS Tommy Faircloth

24 SPECIAL Cultural Passport

26 DANCES Career Transitions

28 WATCHES Curtain Up!

30 CENTERFOLD James Busby

38 SPECIAL/DESIGN Tim McClendon 40 LISTENS 26 DANCES 58 READS Ellen Douglas Schlaefer CAREER TRANSITIONS THE WILDS Essay by Kyle Petersen Essay by John Temple Ligon Palmetto Opera Diana Amos JASPER IS

Cynthia Boiter Editor-in-Chief 48 ON THE COVER W. Heyward Sims Art Director . Forrest Clonts Photography Editor Ed Madden Literary Arts Editor . Chris Robinson Visual Arts Editor Vincent Sheheen - The Arts Candidate Kara Gunter Assistant Visual Arts Editor . August Krickel Theatre Editor Kyle Petersen Music Editor . Tom Dempster Assitant Music Editor 52 GAZES Bonnie Boiter-Jolley Dance Editor . Mark Corum New Media Editor Profile: Judy Bolton Jarrett Julia Elliott Contributing Editor . Rachel Haynie Staff Writer Jonathan Butler Staff Writer . Elizabeth Breen Staff Writer 54 READS Jonathan Sharpe Staff Photographer Thomas Hammond Staff Photographer Profile: Al Black Alexis Schwallier Staff Photographer Poem by David Juan Cruz Annie Boiter-Jolley Operations Manager Poem by Elizabeth Breen Dr. Robert B. Jolley, Jr., MD Publisher The Wilds The Whiskey Baron CONTRIBUTORS

Screaming Divas Michael Spawn . Pat Wall . David Stringer . Will South . John Temple Ligon The Sheltering James D. McCallister . Lee Snelgrove . Kalyn Oyer . Juan David Cruz

63 GUEST EDITORIAL JASPER ONLINE jaspercolumbia.com jaspercolumbia.net/blog By Will South facebook.com/jaspercolumbia twitter.com/jasperadvises A MESSAGE FROM JASPER

Dear Friends,

elcome to another issue of Jas- to everyone getting to know Liz better as she (too often the same folks) we have been con- per as we begin our fourth year periodically shares her work with us in Jasper. ditioned to think of art as something unneces- of providing you with the most As a couple, visual artist Kara Gunter and sary or frivolous. Something extra, like the icing in-depth and comprehensive composer Tom Dempster represent the best on the great cake of life. coverage of Columbia’s ever-ex- in arts collaboration. Both have been actively But those of us fortunate enough to have panding, always surprising arts writing for Jasper for a while now and really found open the window to the world of art community. This issue is jam- taking an interest in determining the content know that art is more than the icing—it is life packed with articles on theatre, dance, music and direction of the magazine. It only made itself. (12 Columbia-created record reviews plus a sense to ask Kara to take the role of assistant As we enter this election season, Jasper en- feature on Columbia opera), literature, visual editor of visual arts and Tom that of assistant courages you to keep in mind the role of the editor of music. We’re particularly excited arts in your life and let it weigh heavily on Haynie’s piece on Columbia’s multi-talented about the way that Tom’s area of expertise, the decisions you make when you pull that le- arts, film, and even design, thanks to Rachel Tim McClendon. which is classical and new music, will comple- ver in November. To that end, we approached ment that of Kyle Petersen, Jasper’s founding South Carolina’s sitting governor and Demo- One Columbia’s new Cultural Passport cam- music editor, whose encyclopedic knowledge of cratic challenger and asked that they answer a You’ll also find Lee Snelgrove’s tutorial on paign—a project in which Jasper is happy to contemporary music is sometimes scary. We’re series of questions on arts issues we thought participate. (We have our own wooden stamp also delighted to welcome Columbia writers would be of interest to our readers. Governor and everything!) Elizabeth “Betsy” Breen and Jonathan Butler to Haley did not respond to our request. Senator As the magazine continues to grow, we’ve the staff. Sheheen responded enthusiastically and you made a few changes, (and there are more on Finally, we’re going to do something in Jasper that we haven’t done before – and we don’t take deeply disappointed with Sheheen’s stance on can find his answers on page 48. While we are contributing editor. Many of you may know it lightly. For many of us, in many ways, art is marriage equality and a woman’s right to make the way.) This issue we welcome our first ever Julia “Liz” Elliott from her work in Grey Egg, the core of our existence. Whether we are art- her own reproductive choices, we cannot ar- arguably one of the most eclectic bands to ists in our own right, patrons and lovers of the gue with his profound and determined support come out of Columbia. Liz is also the winner arts, or folks like me who had a mid-life revela- of the arts in South Carolina. For this reason, of a Pushcart Prize and the Rona Jaffe Writer’s tion that the arts (and family) are the primary Jasper endorses Senator Vincent Sheheen for Award. Will Garland writes about her new institutions that allow me to persevere in a governor of South Carolina and encourages our short story collection, The Wilds (Tin House, world that hasn’t evolved intellectually, cultur- readers to give art the priority it deserves in 2014) in Jasper Reads. (Liz didn’t actually ally, or spiritually the way I was sure it would our decision-making process and vote not just work on this issue so, not to worry, there’s no when I was a bright-eyed lass in the upstate for Sheheen when we vote this November, but The putting up posters for SC gubernatorial candi- to vote for the core of who we are. Vote for art. New and Improved Romie Futch will be out in date Pug Ravenel. For us, art is the energy-giv- conflict of interest here.) Her next book, 2015, and she is also working on a novel about ing sun around which we plan our revolutions. Hamadryas baboons which, if you know Liz, The irony is that via the minimization of the shouldn’t surprise you at all. We look forward arts by our government and the unenlightened

Jasper// as in Johns, the abstract expressionist, neo-Dadaist artist Jasper Magazine – www.jaspercolumbia.com – is dedicated to the promotion and as in Sergeant, the Revolutionary War hero support of Columbia, SC artists and arts lovers. Jasper Magazine is copyrighted and as in Mineral, the spotted or speckled stone may not be reproduced in any manner without the publisher’s written consent. Jasper as in Magazine, the Word on Columbia Arts Magazine is a division of Muddy Ford Press, 1009 Muddy Ford Road, Chapin, SC 29036.

SEPT/ OCT 2014 / VOLUME 004 / ISSUE 001 PHOTO COURTES Y OF THE CHAPIN THEA TRE COMP ANY - (L-R) TIFFANY DINSMORE, GLENN FARR, SCOTT MEANS, DINSMORE, GLENN FARR,TODD KEMMERLING, LOU SCOTT CL

THE JAM ROOM MUSIC FESTIVAL the Skids, the dance-oriented pop-rockers atre including Crimes of the Heart and The Leagues, and the widescreen indie pop of The Color Purple), the play’s cast features fa- On Saturday, October 11th, the third annual Love Language on the top of the bill while miliar favorites as well as newcomers, in- Jam Room Music Festival will take place on undergirded by local favorites like Hopkins, cluding Merritt Vann, Cathy Carter Scott,

Main Street, Columbia, a move that indicates South Carolina’s excellent gospel group Rev. George Dinsmore, Tyler Kemmerling, Jared YDE that the organizers are serious about estab- Mickens & the New Highway Travelers and Kemmerling, Eliza Schneider, Logan Bald- lishing themselves as a new tradition for the E.T. Anderson, the newly-formed rock project win, Travis Wood, Jim DeFelice, and Shelby city’s burgeoning arts scene from former Calculator and Octopus Jones Beasley. Author Kemmerling was inspired Since launching in 2012, JRMF has made guitarist Tyler Morris. Other notables on the by the rumble of freight trains and the the most of its modest budget by bringing a bill include Brooklyn’s raucous, occasionally plaintive sound of the horns as they roared high-quality collection of local, regional, and through downtown Chapin, a familiar national indie rock and alt-country talent to and the gritty country-noir of former South sound to anyone who has ever attended or our city center for a free, all-day music festi- Carsardonicolinian alt-country Adia Victoria, act who The Defibulatorsis currently worked on a show in the theatre group’s for- val which has won rave reviews for its well- based in Nashville. mer home on Columbia Avenue. While his curated lineup and community-centered fo- The festival kicks off at noon at the corner younger son was in rehearsals for Cheaper cus that feels like a smart, hipper alternative of Main and Hampton on October 11. For by the Dozen, Kemmerling began to visual- to similar-minded events like the Rosewood more information go to jamroommusicfesti- ize the people who might populate a story val.com. — KP of hopes, dreams and family secrets, as a Building on the success of past headlin- - Crersawfish like The Festival Hold or St St.ead Pat’sy and in 5Son Points. Volt, this WORLD PREMIERES IN CHAPIN ties of family expectations, a potential career year the festival organizers tapped the en- inyoung music, man and wrestles a future with with conflicting the girl he priori loves. dearing adrenaline and punk-fueled indie Along with local premieres of hit shows By the summer of 2012, he had a basic struc- rockers Superchunk, a band that not only direct from New York, and revivals of clas- ture; a staged reading was held in the spring boasts some serious longevity, but also a sic from years past, local theatres are in- sustained output of critically acclaimed re- creasingly committing to presenting new premiere on September 5. cordings. Since releasing their self-titled works by local authors. Trustus, Columbia of One2013, new and idea the oftenshow leadshad its to officialanother, world and debut in 1990, the band has put out ten full- Children’s Theatre, High Voltage Theatre, On an informal brainstorming session last year, lengths albums, each of which was critically Stage Productions, WOW Productions, New according to longtime Chapin actor, director, well-received and absorbed by their cultish Life Productions, La Tropa, and the NiA Com- and board member Glenn Farr, “evolved or- following. They’ve also been integral to the pany are among the many groups which have ganically” into ‘Tis the Season, a collection of success of Merge Records, one of the most sponsored original productions in recent holiday-themed vignettes. Initially Farr, Kem- storied and successful indie labels in the years, and this fall, the Chapin Theatre Com- merling, Lou Clyde, and Tiffany Dinsmore country. And lest you think the band’s best pany hosts not one but two world premieres were on board as writers, with “each will- days are behind them, it should be noted of original plays. ing to develop unique stories that cover the that, since returning for a six year hiatus Running for one more weekend, through holidays, from Halloween through Thanks- in 2010, they’ve released two LPs that have Saturday September 20, at the Harbison giving and Christmas to New Year’s Eve and been counted among the band’s best. Theatre at Midlands Technical College (7300 Day,” explains Farr. “Later, Scott Means joined The rest of the lineup, while leaning a bit College Street in Irmo) is Last Stop Chapin, the group with a clever segment of his own. more heavily on regional over local talent for written by area playwright Todd Kem- Jasper’s pro-Columbia leanings, is quite stel- merling. Directed by Jocelyn Sanders (who performed at the Firehouse Theatre at the lar, boasting the legendary surf-rockabilly- helmed last summer’s hit Mama Won’t Fly, TheAmerican play Legion was developed Post in Chapin, specifically where it to will be country performers Southern Culture on as well as productions at Workshop The- premiere in November.”

6 . JASPER FANCIES Audiences will quickly identify with in a cul-de-sac in Anywhere, USA, as residentshectic happenings young and in “five old householdsshare joys and tribulations, both comic and poi- gnant, that are part of the holidays for almost everyone,” Farr says. Familiar topics include the plight of a teen- ager relegated to the children’s table, a young couple’s ambitious plans to prepare Christmas dinner for both sides of the family, and what neglected wives may do to their husbands’ food staid folk of Columbia. Aptly named, while the men are ignoring them in fa- Shamelessly Hot (a play on Columbia’s vor of the big game on TV. “Tying all Famously Hot slogan), Plessinger says the series of variety shows will run these stories together is the neighbor- into the spring, and bring in “…the hood letter carrier, a kindly man with best burlesque, sideshow, vaudeville, a certain magical quality who knows and Americana from around the US— a little bit about everyone. By play’s and the world—to Columbia.” end, you’ll realize you’ve known a Inspiration for Shamelessly Hot little something about him all along,” came out of Plessinger’s involvement says Farr. with Natalie Brown’s Alternacirque, “I will be directed by ‘Tis the Season was exposed to a lot of different forms Jamie Carr Harrington, who directed of alternative performance… I loved Neil Simon’s Rumors for Chapin two being a part of the performance scene years ago, as well as well-received in Columbia, and had some ideas of productions of Grease, Shrek The Musi- my own that I wanted to add to the cal and Miss Saigon at Town Theatre..”I local scene.” His goal is to enhance have always enjoyed working with the local performance scene without Chapin,” Harrington says, “but what stealing any of its thunder. makes this show different, is that it is not only a new piece, but it is written a success, selling well over the mod- by local artists from the Chapin com- estThe goal first Plessinger performance set of 100 in July tickets, was munity and surrounding areas.” She and featured Freaksheaux to Geaux, feels that “it has a lot of heart, humor, and Ford Theatre Reunion. The sec- and several very poignant scenes that ond show, Shamelessly Hot, Vol. 2: make this show relatable to everyone. Things that go bump in the night, is I look forward to working with these scheduled for October 11th and 12th talented people and bringing this sto- at the Columbia Music Festival Asso- ry to life.” ‘Tis the Season opens Fri- ciation. Performers include dancers, day, October 31 at the Firehouse The- contortionists, jugglers and musi- atre at the American Legion Post (102 cians. Quickly becoming a Columbia Lexington Avenue in Chapin) and runs regular, Seattle carnival barker, Ar- through November 9. For more infor- mitage Shanks, will be performing mation, visit www.chapintheatre.org, along with Portland’s Russell Bruner; — AK New Orleans’ Mistress Kali and Sam Aquatic; Raleigh’s Pearl Van Dammit, SHAMELESSLYor call (803) 240-8544. HOT Meka La Crème, and Porcelain; and Forty Fingers and a Missing Tooth out We know Mark Plessinger as the of Asheville. owner of Frame of Mind, the upscale The October show should be a great eyeglasses boutique on Main Street, way to usher in your Halloween. We’ll 2001 D Greene Street and as one of the founders of First have to stay tuned for the sideshow 803-343-3303 Thursdays on Main, a monthly gal- shenanigans Plessinger and his team lery crawl that has helped spur Main has in store for us in the future. This Wine Shop: Mon-Thurs 11-5, Sat 12-5 Street out of its slumber, injecting ex- is just the “tip of the iceberg,” he says, citement and enthusiasm back into and promises there will be more per- Wine Bar: Mon-Thurs 5-10 pm, the Columbia arts scene. formers and more variety to come. Fri-Sat 5-10:30 pm Plessinger’s new endeavor aims to For more information about the bring a bit of carnival grit, burlesque series, search for the Shamelessly Please visit us for our nightly naughtiness and bawdy humor to the Hot fan page on Facebook. — KG three-course dinner starting at $22 per person! cellarongreene.com Pat Wall on Aaron Graves and His Two Benefit Compilations

Carolina-based musicians; the biggest name is Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull. Mostly, the compilation comprises cover versions of

their performers taking great latitudes with the sourceThose Lavendermaterial. Sometimes, Whales songs, the liberties and most work: find The Post-Timey String Band’s swampy version of “Treetreetree”; The Good Witch’s stark, pia- no-led rendition of “Fight Song”; Pizza Burden’s gloriously sloppy take on “My Hand Hurts.” Some don’t: Vaseline Dion and Barnwell slow down “A Loose Interpretation of What Augustine of Hippo May Have Once Said” and “Shake Your Palm-Palm Branches” to molasses-slow crawls that strip both songs of their kineticism; PAZZL’s extended outro on “The Night Before Kite Day” is too drawn out. But even when the covers aren’t at their best — or, in the case of avant- metal trio Sein Zum Tode’s take on “A Bril- liant Cover,” when they are at their weirdest — Graves’ songwriting stands tall, allowing the re-imagined versions to still overshadow the original cuts. (In the interest of full disclosure, it should be

PHOTO BY THOMAS HAMMOND PHOTO BY noted that I appear on both compilations, play- ing guitar on Those Lavender Whales’ “I’m So Bom- for a handful of friends, display the themes Proud (of My Friends),” and covering Whales’ badil makes about Aaron Graves on “Pretty prevalent in his music today: love, kindness, “Stop Throwing Things at Me, You Big Jerk!” FineI can’t Fellow,” validate the track some that of closes the claims Tidings from the confusion of growing up while trying to be as let’s go, coyote!. I played my version of that Our Light Purple Gam, the compilation Fork & a good person. And friendship. Always friend- song pretty straight. My guiding motto: What ship. would Aaron do?) - “I’m so proud of my friends,” sings Graves, - mor.Spoon For Records instance, released I’ve never to benefit seen himGraves cut and his and sounding like it, on “I’m So Proud (of My pilations for, not to mention your own per- grasshis family for his during elderly his neighbor. fight against Nor ado brain I know tu Light Purple Gam. sonalIt’s history tough to with, write a aboutdude twoso connected, benefit com so that he’s really conceded a game of checkers to “I want to support them / I hope they support seemingly endlessly beloved by his local his baby niece. And I’m pretty sure he doesn’t Friends),”me, too.” If the the first personnel track on on Light Purple Gam music scene — and beyond — without get- have a lightsaber, though he might just be keep- is any indication, Graves certainly has some ting the feeling you’re delivering a eulogy. ing that one a secret from me. friends in — in indie-rock circles, anyway (Graves, it should be noted, is very much I can, though, attest to the song’s main the- — some esteemed places. Of Montreal shows alive, and in August returned home from up, putting a weird spin on The Kinks’ “Did You a six-week radiation treatment at Duke Uni- I’ve been playing music with Aaron Graves, in See His Name?.” Speedy Ortiz’s Sadie Dupuis versity.) But both, certainly, are celebrations as sis:some Aaron capacity, Graves for is the a prettybetter finepart fellow. of about a de- contributes a solo demo, “Zone,” marked by her much as they are fundraisers, commemorating cade, mostly in Jordan Blackmon’s on-again-off- trademark snaking riffs and whip-smart lyr- a friend in a severe time of need. As compila- again band Pussy Wizard (nee Brave Horatius). ics. But the Fork & Spoon bands featured here A few years back, I kind of strong-armed my way turn in efforts that match those of their more (and Grow - into his band, Those Lavender Whales, around notable counterparts. Mike Collins Jr.’s “Come ingtions, songwriter), both stand but firmly their onmessages their own are louder: merits the time it released Tomahawk of Praise. In re- On Out” is a wonderfully warbling love tune set As much as reaffirms he wants Graves to support as a them,clever, Graves’ affect turn, he sort of strong-armed his way into one to stomping roots-country, and songs by Kid friends, clearly, want to hold him up, too, and of mine, let’s go, coyote! Trails, Say Brother and Toro Y Moi are equally that encouragement spreads far and wide. And I’ve known Graves for much longer than that. strong. Only Bombadil’s “Pretty Fine Fellow,” the incredible outpouring of love and friend- We grew up on the same side of town, played - ship — on both compilations — reinforces, to music with some of the same people in a very dresses Graves directly, but its earnestness and me, that I’m pretty lucky to know and play mu- small circle of teenaged musicians interested in genuinewritten affection specifically are forwinning, the compilation, delivered by the ad sic with Aaron Graves. playing music that wasn’t made by Dave Mat- trio’s shining three-part harmonies and quirky There’s little else to say, I guess. He’s a pretty ornamentations. great one, for No Way Jose, an aerobic and en- ergeticthews. Iinstrumental knew him first band. as A a few drummer, years later, and in a out there, too; Mostly I Just Want to See My fine fellow. his parent’s house in Northeast Columbia, he’d FriendsThere’s Grow another compilation floating- Patrick Wall is emeritus music editor of Free lations to be released after Graves was di- Times. He now lives in Charlotte, where some- in his casual, self-effacing, hey-check-out-this- agnosed withis an the astrocytoma first of the twoin compiMarch. times people pay him to write things. thing-that-I’ve-been-working-onplay me the first Those Lavender Whaleskind of songs, way. It’s less polished, and less star-studded: Most of the cuts were home-recorded by South

Even his first songs, featuring and only burned 8 . JASPER LISTENS 2014-2015 SeasonS Enjoy Fine Dining and Great Shopping in Downtown Newberry, SC Box Office 803-276-6264 www.newberryoperahouse.com Tickets On-Sale Now!

Mary Chapin Carpenter Don Williams Art Garfunkel Justin Hayward e Time Jumpers Johnny Rivers

Arlo Guthrie Wynonna Travis Tritt Peabo Bryson Clint Black August December March 8/23 NOH Guild Auction 12/2 Jingle all the Way 3/6 e Gibson Brothers 12/4 Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver 3/7 e Hit Men September 12/5 Palmetto Mastersingers 3/9 Giselle, Russian Nat.Ballet 9/7 John Wagner & Friends 12/6 Clint Black 3/10 Swan Lake, Moscow City Ballet 9/11-14 SC Elvis Festival 12/7 Christmas With e King 3/13 Irish Fling – Downtown Nby 9/18 An Intimate Evening w/ Art Garfunkel 12/9 Home for the Holidays 3/14 Cowboy Movies w/ the Saddle Pals 9/20 e Dixie Cups 12/10 Viennese Christmas 3/15 7 Brides for 7 Brothers 9/21 Jerry Sims & Kristi Hood 12/11-12 e Nutcracker CBT 3/16 Rhythm of the Dance 9/28 e Impressions 12/13 B. J. omas 3/20 Joe Diffie 12/14 Crystal Gayle - Christmas Show 3/21 Karen Mills, Comedy October 12/15 e Messiah – 3/22 Elisabeth von Trapp 10/2 Branson on the Road Trinity Ep. Cathedral 3/23 Church Basement Ladies, 10/4 Oktoberfest, Downtown Nby 12/19 Emile Pandolfi, Pianist e Last (Potluck) Supper 10/9 e Hoppers, Gospel 12/20 208th Army Band 3/24 Shanghai Acrobats 10/10 An Evening with John Oates 12/21 Wynonna and e Big Noise- 3/27 e Oak Ridge Boys 10/11 Johnny Rivers A Simpler Christmas 3/28 e Heart Behind the Music- 10/14 Don Williams 12/31 New Years Celebratioin - Kim Carnes, John Ford Coley 10/18 Justin Hayward A Roaring 20s Soirée 10/19 MarchFourth Marching Band January April 10/22 Habana Sax 1/ 4 Dailey and Vincent 4/9-11 “Shakespeare Festival”, 10/23 e Four Freshmen 1/11 Travis Tritt 4/15 e Official Blues Brothers 10/28 Congressman James Clyburn 1/16 Bill Haley’s Comets Revue 10/30 Ann Landers: 1/23 60s Soul w/ Clay Brown 4/16 e Lennon Sisters Lady with all the Answers 1/25 Artie Shaw Orchestra 4/18 Pork in the Park 10/31 Randy Elmore 1/28 Richard Smith 4/18 Lorrie Morgan 1/30 BUDDY – 4/19 om Bresh November e Buddy Holly Story 4/20 Opera Scenes Nby Col. 11/2 NOH Guild Oyster Roast 4/23 e Hot Sardines - Jazz 11/5 Creedence Clearwater Revival, February 4/24 Jimmy Webb and Karla Bonoff Tribute 2/2 Arlo Guthrie 4/25 Tommy Mara and e Crests 11/7 Peabo Bryson 2/6 e Stylistics 4/26 Abbey Simon, Pianist 11/8 Gene Watson 2/7 Carmen - Opera 11/9 e SteelDrivers 2/9 Hamlisch May 11/10 Mary Chapin Carpenter “One Singular Sensation” 5/7 Atlanta Rhythm Section 11/12 Edwin McCain 2/12 Wanda Neese, Pianist 5/8 SC Storytelling Network 11/13 Swingin' Medallions 2/14 Ronan Tynan, Irish Tenor 5/17 Doug and Bunny Williams 11/14 Survivor 2/15 Atlanta Pops 5/23 Rick Alviti 11/16 Ricky Skaggs & Kentucky under 2/20 e Time Jumpers 11/19 Jekyll and Hyde 2/21 e Bellamy Brothers June 11/21 Main Street Lights 2/22 e Lettermen 6/19-20 9 To 5 - NCP 11/22 Cowboy Movies w/ the Saddle Pals 2/24 Women of Ireland 6/20 A Taste of Newberry, 11/23 Glenn Miller Orchestra 2/28 James Gregory, Comedy Downtown Nby JULY / AUGUST 2013 Master CORALEE HARRIS . CINDY PATTERSON . FORBES PATTERSON HOWARD HUNT . WILLIAM SCHMIDT . SARA JUNE GOLDSTEIN

Journeyman TONI ELKINS . LEE SIPE . KATIE FOX . DIANE HARE . WILLIAM FICK . LOCALHAPPINESS.NET CEILLE BAIRD WELCH . PHILIP MULLEN . KAY AND JIM THIGPEN . KIRKLAND SMITH AMY OVERSTREET . ALEX SMITH . SUSAN CARTER . BILLY GUESS . EASTER ANTIQUES ATTICUS FINCH . CRAIG BUTTERFIELD . SHANI GILCHRIST . RANDY HANNA

Apprentice ALVIN NEAL . CHARLES LESSER . RUSS & JEANNIE EIDSON . LAURIE & DUNCAN MCINTOSH . JOSEPH COUNTS TRACIE BROOM . WILLIAM STARRETT . JANNA MCMAHAN . DICK MOONS . MARGEY BOLEN MELINDA COTTON ROBERT COFFEE . C. HOPE CLARK . WENTWORTH TRADD . WATERMARK HYPNOSIS . HEATHER GREEN BOB WAITES . CATHERINE J. PETERSEN . TODD MATHIS & CULLY SALEHI . HARRIET MCMASTER THEODORE M. TSOLOVOS . DOREEN TUOHY & LEE SNELGROVE . EILEEN BLYTH SHIRLEY SMITH . JEANNE FAITH D’ORLEANS

Artist Peer ERIN BOLSHAKOV . NANCY KAUFFMAN . GIGI WOODS ADDAHOUMI . WILD BLUE SKY . ROBIN GOTTLIEB LIZZIE GILLIAM WRENN . NANCY MARINE . LADYBUG ART STUDIOS . RON HAGELL . HARRIET SHOWMAN ANTHONY S. IMPERIAL, M.D. . TRINESSA DUBAS . GLENDA KEYES . TRACE BALLOU . JONATHAN SHARPE DEBRA A. DANIEL . ALEXIS STRATTON . ANN HAGAN . ROBBIE PRUITT ISN’T IT TIME THAT YOU JOIN THE

e Jasper Guild is a group of supporting artists and arts lov- ers who appreciate not only the vital Columbia, SC arts scene, but the magazine devoted to promoting it. Members of the Jasper Guild recognize the la- bor-of-love that is Jasper and work to do their parts to ensure APPRENTICE that Jasper continues to publish 1 year delivery of Jasper Magazine to your home & your name a 100% LOCAL & artist-pro- listed in Jasper Magazine for 1 year - $50 duced magazine. You’re invited to join us in our mission to JOURNEYMAN make Columbia, SC the South- east arts capitol by becoming All the above + your name in print in LARGE LETTERS - $100 a member of the Jasper Guild. And the next time you open a MASTER copy of Jasper you’ll be able to say, All the above + a non-transferable Econobar PASS for 1 year - $250 CENTERFOLD SPONSORSHIP “I helped All the above + your name/dedication printed on the centerfold - $500 make this PUBLISHER All the above + your choice of 3 books from the Muddy Ford Press happen catalogue - $1000 and here’s “But I’m just a starving artist myself,” you say? my name ARTIST PEER to prove it!” Practicing artists in dance, theatre, music, visual arts, ‰lm, & literary arts are invited to join e Jasper Guild at a reduced rate & see your name in Jasper Magazine for 1 year - $25 The net effect is like a slowly unwinding tumultuous relationship largely full of pain and heartache, but also sprinkled with pangs of love and joy. The title track was inspired by a C.S. Lewis classic, The Great Divorce, and written from the viewpoint of a spirit stuck between heaven and hell. In sound, it shifts, like much of the album, from ho-hum folk into an expanse of fuzzy guitar work, echo- ing the ephemeral imbalance of the subject matter. The disc then escalates from a vague desire for faith to an intense prayer begging for conviction and trust. Each song leaves you raw and wrapped in this battle against the self.

tunes in the form of drummer Seth Ely and BARNWELL multi-instrumentalistGordon got some help Ben toCantrell. flesh out Cantrell, these TIGER HUDSON THE FIRST GHOST framework of several songs, contributing BURN EP thein particular,evocative haspost-punk a big influenceguitar line over on the Tyler Gordon’s arrangements are nothing angsty “Cap Too” among other key moments. like your typical church hymns or contem- On the follow-up track “The Passenger,” all feelings is ignited by indie electronic/ porary worship pieces, but their inspiration three players are featured as the song transi- R&BA painfulduo Tiger flicker Hudson, of bad a group memories that pairs and stems from the same spiritual root. Gordon’s tions from soothing guitar strums that caress autobiographical tales of woe with numbing debut disc The First Ghost arrives as a hol- and entice before dilating into a convulsive trance music. While vocalist Thi Q. Lam heats lowed out folk-rock with an alt-rock under- climax of angry percussion and fraught gui- things up with his passionate lyrics and ach- current. The collection was released under tars. “Clarity,” however, stays fairly stable in ing vocals, synth whizz Mason Youngblood the stage name Barnwell (named after the volume and intensity with steadily melan- cools it all down with his icily layered pro- downtown street) and features constant choly, yet hopeful, strums. The result sounds duction style. shifts between resolved and unresolved something like a love song turned unwilling The duo arrived in the scene back musical moments, creating a subtly breakup ballad. “Weaker” closes with a wind- in spring with the debut of Columbia- unsettling resonance throughout the record. ing, fractured return to faith. — Kalyn Oyer based Scenario Records, which Hudson

12 . JASPER LISTENS co-founded with One Two Skidoo rap- an occasionally-winsome tentativeness to per Rupert Hudson. The project of Tiger Hudson stems from further back than the arrangements hinging on vaguely post-punk label, however, and the tales on Burn mine guitarsthe lo-fi, and home-recorded airy synths that songcraft matched here, with with el- a host of earlier experiences. “Corrupted,” liptical lyrics that are far more allusive than the opening song, leaves Youngblood revelatory. Thankfully, when Joseph slides delivering a series of synthesizer wails that into his wordless falsetto and lets the band escalate in intensity as Lam works through play, his natural gift for evocative melodies his emotional response to losing his dream takes over and the band’s truth strengths be- internship in Seattle. The track suffers and come apparent. — KP rages alongside the follow-up track “Burning Bridges,” a song which works the intimate metaphor of its title and gains courage as it builds from a soft remembrance delivered by Lam to a fiery condemnation by guest rapper H3RO, with Lam’s eerie falsetto echoes over the intoxicating melody throughout. The EP’s third tune “Indiana” is a sweet ode to Lam’s niece, whom he won’t SHALLOW PALACE get to see grow up as he embarks to Nashville THE GHOST THAT WAS before her birth, and it’s easily the most effecting of the bunch. — Kalyn Oyer The long-awaited sophomore LP from these sprawling, eclectic alt-rockers, The Ghost That Was sees the group continuing to em- brace their love for a broad swath of rock and roll, peppering these song with Brit-rock grandeur, squalling blues-grunge spillage, GRITZ length of the album, it’s hard not to admire theand skill prog-rock required flights to create of fancy. such Acrosswide-rang the- BURN BLUE ing and restless arrangements, particularly given how tight and concise the end results The progressive hip-hop/R&B act con- often end up being. While the mishmash of sisting of Reggie Saxton and Miles Franco, styles can occasionally be unsettling, there’s Gritz has never been particularly interested a lovely sense of passion and perspiration in drawing in the lines of conventional rap that comes from songs that try this hard and music, as Burn Blue makes clear. This quick are this exacting. Of course some tunes and elements stand as rapping even as the sinewy staccato beats out more than others—the forceful lyricism producedfive-song EPby featuresFranco seemalmost to as insist much that singing this of “Dynamite Blues Revisited,” the jocular material belongs to MCs, although Franco and jangly “Not Me,” the peppy piano-led DADDY LION isn’t afraid to add some swirling synths and groove of “One of Us,” and the gritty blues PERPETUAL CALENDAR EDM edge into his outré style. When they are romp “No Lip,” the last of which is deliv- - ered by drummer Michael Spawn (who, full Once the solo project of local singer/song- ners prove to be adept rhyme spitters, par- disclosure, contributes to Jasper), are all writer Jeremy Joseph, Daddy Lion has blos- ticularlyshowing on off “Make their flows,Em Understand” though, both and part “Re- eminently engaging and provide some relief somed into a full-throttled rock band with the tigo,” where spacious beats allow for some from the group’s tendency to toe the line be- addition of bassist Randal Franklin, drum- room to showcase their dexterity. For all of tween emotive and overwrought. All in all, a mer Bart Ballington, and Chris Johnson on the technical skill on display, though, the - synthesizers. While the new players provide songs themselves tend to feel a bit perfunc- native rock that belies easy comparisons or a welcoming sense of urgency and tension to tory. That being said, there’s an immediate fine effort of powerful,— KP highly engaging alter - appeal to the soulful electro-R&B of the title pects still come from Joseph himself. Balanc- cut and the memorable hook of “Retigo” that classifications. thising precariously three-song EP, between much ofthe its jangle defining pop asof just can’t be denied, and it’s hard to beat the consistency of this immensely talented duo. tuneful latter-day punk of Hüsker Dü, there’s — KP 80s college rock acts like R.E.M. and the more

JASPER LISTENS . 13 CASIO MIO SALVO ADAM CORBETT DYING IN JAPAN no more funerals A & B ARE SO FAR APART

If you’ve ever seen him play live, it likely In an exciting cross-pollination of experi- As the bassist and occasional vocalist for became clear the instant he hit the stage that mental noise and emo-rap comes the new local favorites the Restoration, Adam Corbett Pedro Lopezdevictoria (LDV) is one hell of project of Cecil Decker, a multimedia art- has provided frontman Daniel Machado with a frontman. He’s a dashing, exuberant per- ist who can also be seen running sound for a necessary foil on both stage and record, former who borrows the ostentatious juke venues around town. Decker clearly falls in sort of the John Cale to Machado’s Lou Reed, and jive of classic soul and jazz singers even the lineage of adventurous dual producer/ often sidelined but clearly indispensable and as he injects the frenetic energy of modern- MCs like El-P, although his relentlessly self- brimming with talent. But just in case there day indie folk-rockers into his own, singular were any doubts, we’ve got A & B Are So Far sound. At times his vocals reach for an almost production choices make him distinct from Apart, - Louis Armstrong-level of playfulness, while evenaware those and typesself-reflective of musicians. songs There and unusual are, for ist and a testament to his abilities as a song- other times he pulls from the garage-rock writer Corbett’sand multi-instrumentalist. five-song debut as a solo art spunk of King Khan & the Shrines. Either way, of traditional hip-hop, but Decker doesn’t The EP opens with “I Do,” a relentlessly it’s hard to fault his uncanny ability to keep a punchsure, definitive them up beats in the here mix and in thean awarenessnorm, but upbeat declaration of affection and commit- listener’s attention. instead allows him to simmer along with the ment bolstered by an organ line that conjures For this EP, LDV leads his loose-limbered other elements of his rough, but not overly the youthful purity of the ice cream man’s si- and more-than-willing rhythm section of aggressive, sonic collages. ren. Things mellow out a bit with “Strange drummer Lee Garrett (Dead Surf) and bass- While Chris Johnson and Moses Andrews Things,” a lackadaisical slice of dream-pop ist Moses Andrews III through four rollick- III both receive extensive music credits as bordering on the psychedelic. Featuring vo- ing and rambling original tunes that riff on cal effects alternating between cartoonish calypso and surf-rock, slowing only for his for-headphones approach and Decker’s lyri- auto-tune and almost unintelligible fuzz, calfull-flung emphasis members on internal of salvo, monologue the designed- makes “Outside” is the EP’s oddball centerpiece; of plaintiveness entitled “Sickening Sprawl.” it’s A & B’s robotic pulse. “Glow Worm” is an Whilefifth and it’s finaltough number, to fault a collection dirge-like of moment rough- than a painfully honest, yet smart, take on urgent, jagged little pill of a song that exudes hewn songs that have this kind of energy and self-awarenessit difficult but tothat imagine inverses as the anything typical morerela- the low-key paranoia of early Modest Mouse tionship of the MC with their audience. — KP both in its tense tonal structure and its lyr- tunes—“O’ Hungry Ghost” and “Lousy”— ics (“The cage is for your protection/ And slightlyappeal, itoverstay does seem their that welcome, the first something couple of that becomes clear by the increasing imme- Corbett returns to his earlier winsomeness diacy of the EP’s latter half. withall your the closer fingers “Anywhere.” look like wormsNot unlike to “I him.”) Do,” And while LDV might still have some room “Anywhere” is unambiguous in its message of to grow as a songwriter, he and his band are love for Corbett’s special lady (he concedes, “I’m in heaven with her anywhere/ And I just off of. — KP could not care who knows.”) The song’s in- clearly going to be difficult to take your eyes strumentation is equally humble in its lack of unnecessary bells and whistles, built around - ger’s pinch of ivory keys. vague hints of acoustic blues and just a finA & B is long enough to adequately herald AdamClocking Corbett’s in at aroundarrival fifteenas a solo minutes, artist

14 . JASPER LISTENS FREE! October 11, 2014 SUPERCHUNK LEAGUES SOUTHERN

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Noon-10 p.m.  Main and Hampton Streets, Columbia, SC worth a damn and short enough to whet a listener’s appetite; it leaves one wanting just a few more minutes of the pillowy pop cubby holes he digs with apparent ease and obvious care. Anyone familiar with the Restoration knows that he proved himself as a songwriter long before this EP came along, but he drills home his credentials without belaboring the point. Corbett is an adroit songsmith, and while he may not be a room- silencing singer, he knows his strengths and sticks to them. His vocal gifts don›t lie in range or intensity; instead, they play to a song’s mood like a couple of well-chosen chords or a keyboard run that crouches patiently beneath the melodic surface. His voice isn›t the dominant instrument, but it’s an instrument nonetheless and he utilizes it with temperance and grace. Even in A & B’s seemingly careless moments, like when “Outside” gets so pinched and static you feel Springsteenesque title track we can’t help but - you’ve lost your place, there’s still the sense think of the guttural growl of Future Islands ognition he deserves. — David Stringer that the madness has meaning that the skin frontman Sam Herring, especially his now- William Starr Busbee will finally get the rec might crawl but it won’t ever crawl away. I’m famous Letterman performance that brought in thousands of new fans and simultaneously barely a sample of Corbett’s solo material, scared some people away. But isn’t that what willing to bet that these five songs represent taking chances in music often does? At oth- the alphabetical gaps only hinted at herein. er times Busbee’s glam-pop shares the best —and Michael it’s just Spawn a matter of time before he fills in qualities of New Pornographers contributor Dan Bejar and his band Destroyer with witty lyrics, a mix of programmed and live drums,

the cracks. andIt overdrivenseems important lead guitar here to lines emphasis that fill the in profound impact that Simmons, who Busbee refers to as the “dean of college rock,” made on these sessions. In 2012 a nine song live al- bum titled Next to the Boat made its way to Bandcamp, featuring many of the songs on College Rock II, although with a raw, stripped down performance. The progression those songs made from those earlier takes to now DEAR BLANCA makes them hardly recognizable, save for the straight-forward rendition of “Clio” here. POBRECITO Simmons – who also plays in local acts Mag- netic Flowers, People Person, and Happi- “Everyone wants a voice in this town/I ness Bomb – molds these acoustic songs in want you to know that I hear you” offers WILLIAM STARR BUSBEE every which way, forging everything from Dear Blanca frontman Dylan Dickerson with hyper electro rockers to the slow-grooving his signature grizzled vibrato in the opening COLLEGE ROCK II track of the band’s new album Pobrecito. The Not every song is groundbreaking, but when track titled “Boulders” is an offering to a lo- College Rock II is a journey into the warped theromance songs of are the great album’s they’re first singlereally “Forever.”on point. cal musician, one that seems to have wasted minds and dreams of William Starr Busbee College Rock II their talent, turning into a ghost in their own and Evan Simmons and it couldn’t be more brilliance masked between campy tones and hometown. Dickerson’s taken a different of a mesmerizing adventure. Formerly part styles. It’s these constantly artful tongue-in-cheek reveals flashes mo of- path since moving to Columbia, SC to attend of the anti-folk band The Choir Quit, Busbee ments throughout the album that make it explores new territory on his debut album such an enjoyable listen. ago. Initially performing as a one man band, Even though shows have been sparse, playingthe University drums, ofharmonica, South Carolina guitar fiveand yearssing- voice be heard. Busbee’s distinctive vocals there is hype for the William Starr Busbee ing at shows, he recruited long-time friend showunder athis power title, previouslylifting the lo-fihidden, veil tocartoon let his- album as he’s garnered somewhat of a cult and drummer Marc Coty for the band’s debut following over the years. With support from record Talker. That album put Dear Blanca on apparently saved for his most creative mate- Brooklyn based tape label Orchid Tapes and rialish to at date. times, As he Busbee displays yells a “Come new confidenceon!” in the Columbia’s own Fork and Spoon it seems like bands, but one without a steady live lineup. the map as one of the state’s finest indie rock

16 . JASPER LISTENS

The additions of percussionist and vocalist turn on the album is “Wonderful You Are” – Dayne Lee and bassist Cameron Powell so- though on deeper inspection demonstrates in Dickerson’s songs on Pobrecito. aat wonderful first blush, synthesis a highly-polished Peeples R&Bgets really track, lidifiedThe worda lineup “pobrecito” that would is bring a Spanish out the slang best right: shifting time signatures, a Latin pulse, term meaning “poor little thing,” an expres- a neo-soul feel, and some grooving percus- sion Dickerson heard many times growing sion all complement and blend with each up from his grandmother Blanca, the name- other quite nicely. sake of the band. This album picks up where Likely the best cut on the album is the last – “Late for My Gig” – which will make more and reigning in some of the expansiveness seasoned listeners happy. The most rhythmi- withthe first sure-eyed album maturation.left off, tightening Written the with songs the cally engaging tune on the record – and the - netic bass lines that wind themselves around down and engages with some dissonance full band, the album flows naturally, with ki andmost his Scofield-ish wah-wah pedal – Peeples to great lets effect. his guard The splashing cymbals. Most songs stay in the beat is clever, the sense of dialogue and in- mid-tempoguitar parts range, and changing through pace drum within fills andthe terplay joyful and playful, and the textures songs often to make for an active listen. “On the most transparent. Unfortunately, the the Dime” is one of the albums quick burn- JMICHAEL PEEPLES tune simply doesn’t last long enough, fading ers, paying homage to classic country with ENIGMA out just after the three minute mark. Peeples lyrics like “darlin’ you were always on my puts some points of excitement into an al- mind” followed by the twang of a steel guitar Smooth jazz just got a little bumpier. Jmi- bum that ostensibly begins as a lower-key played by Those Lavender Whales guitarist chael Peeples’s most recent offering, Enigma, and lighter, down-tempo affair, though the Patrick Wall. Female vocals follow as Dayne is a ten-track, 46-minute tapestry featuring biggest enigma may be why Peeples didn’t Lee sings her response to Dickerson’s call. want to get too funky or too aggressive—the It’s a dynamic that works, and one that plays easily. Peeples easily moves through his orig- bigger, bolder funk and soul is where Peeples so well live that Dickerson kept the scratch inalPeeples compositions, wielding the songs guitar which confidently quietly touch and shines and are the moments where this enig- vocal take where he hollers “come on Dayne, on various styles without being either rest- matic album are the least mysterious. — TD sing it for me!” leading her into the chorus. less or complacent. With threads of Ramsey With Talker Dear Blanca went to Char- Lewis, MMW, and Herbie Hancock prolif- lotte to record with well-respected music erating this album, and even a tiny hint of scene veteran Bo White who transformed some Soul Rebels Brass Band on “Dear Rob- the songs by adding horn arrangements and playing bass on the album. This time around, though this doesn’t prevent him from mix- White came to Columbia to record the al- ingert things Newton,” up and Peeples’s perhaps influences engaging are in some clear, bum in bass player Cameron Powell’s living (safe) musical experimentation. room. His contributions to this album are The songs “Dear Robert Newton” and “Soul fewer, but equally as important as he added Baptism,” back to back on the album, offer up keyboard parts that warble comfortably in some straight-up funk licks with a peppering the white spaces of four tracks on the album. of sax and trombone spiciness. Peeples plays Bo White’s done a masterful job producing with a gentle, almost-muted distortion, remi- niscent of Al Dimeola with a little bit Wes sound on each album as the young band lets Montgomery’s soul, and, while I found myself theDear gears Blanca, fall in gently place. helping After releasing them find a theirsolid thirsting for a little more tonal variety in his debut, the group has proven their ability with sound, Peeples carries it well throughout the this stronger and more-cohesive sophomore album, making it work on the Latin-inspired release. — David Stringer “Melodia Suave,” a tune rooted as much in Cuba as it is in Main Street Columbia. The TIMSHEL eponymous cut “Enigma” is a more ambient SHOULDERING THE RUBBLE affair, winking at Return to Forever or Spyro WANT TO SNAG A REVIEW? Gyra as it unfolds. Timshel waited four years before releas- SEND US YOUR RECORD. The album is a bit inscrutable consider- ing its full-length debut Shouldering the ing its pacing – after some strong contrast- Rubble last April, and while that may have ing materials in the front half of the album, frustrated the band›s local fan base, it was [email protected] ultimately a smart decision. Too many inde- Each individual piece has its merit, but in pendent debuts are produced hastily, often combination,it tends to lag timeas it drawstends topast stretch the fifth out track.a bit. A succession of a lot of similar textures, pro- as a result, serve only as inadvertent docu- gressions, and timbres take away from each mentssimply ofto thefill spaceperiod on in thewhich merch a young table band and, tune’s individuality. There is also the usage of voices in ways that may seem to some listen- weaknesses, mistaking itself for its heroes, ers as out of place, particularly on the track is finding itself, discovering its strengths and- “Cup of Coffee.” Other times, the voices are ists between how the band views itself and welcome. Perhaps the most surprising vocal howfloundering its audience amid theis actually hazy purgatory consuming that theex 18 . JASPER LISTENS CMA Chamber MusicFeaturing Artistic onDirector MainEdward Arron

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1515 Main Street in the heart of downtown Columbia | 803-799-2810 | columbiamuseum.org work. By allowing itself a long and prudent emotional reservoir of Robert Plant with the the most. Their mutual respect is evident gestation, Timshel avoided this pitfall alto- warble and chameleon-ish adaptability of throughout the record, because for every gether. Shouldering the Rubble Axl Rose, bringing the same commitment, one of Wilson’s expert beats or showy rolls, - authenticity, and power to every track, be it Schaming is waiting in the wings to unleash a ing exactly what their album’s titlereveals suggests five – a sugar-coated rocker (“On My Own”), a full- solo or riff upon strings that might well have theyconfident have musicianssifted through with four a shared years’ focus, worth do of tilt blues number (“Favor”), or a plaintive been soaked in Carolina honey and Kentucky writing, thrown out the trash, scrapped the lament (“Beneath the Willow”), each one a bourbon, whose hedonism can not only be - testament to the fact that, when guided by a heard but felt in the purest, basest, and best sents only their best. And at its best, Timshel formidable voice, a good song is just that, re- way possible. ismisfires, a powerhouse and constructed band that andoesn’t LP that take repre itself gardless of genre. Without fear of hyperbole, it’s fair to say lightly and expects the same of you. But as effective as Douglas’s throat might that Timshel is sitting on the closest equiva- Thanks to classic rock radio, it’s easy to be, it isn’t the band’s only asset. Drummer lent to a Led Zeppelin record Columbia has forget how much of Led Zeppelin’s catalog Daniel Wilson, while no John Bonham (but ever produced. consists of emotive, sparsely-instrumented who is, really?), understands a fundamental Shoul- folk tunes--not ballads exactly, but quiet little principle that seems to be lost on more than dering the Rubble’s biggest and most obvi- breathers tucked away among the monstrous a handful of modern rock drummers: It isn’t ousBut problem flawlessness is its isn’tlength. any Even fun, forand quality blues-rock for which the band is best known. enough to be good, to intuit the most effec- records, it’s easy to overstay one’s welcome Timshel, likewise, is a rock band from A to tive moment in which to place your hottest and a one-hour running time is a lot to ask Z, but its gift for songcraft is never more ap- of a listener, especially for a debut. But this parent than on the album’s lighter, more so- humility to know when not to play; and Wil- is a minor quibble. Timshel has made a re- ber moments (“Honey Man,” “Lonely Light,” fill.son, Greattechnically drummers gifted haveas he themay wisdombe, has both and ally good record, something it can be proud “How Wrong.”) And it isn’t that these songs in spades. Like any responsible member of of. While the album may not justify its pack less of a punch than their sturdier, an ensemble, he allows his absence to illu- own length, it more than makes up for the harder-rocking counterparts. Much the op- minate the skills of his fellows. It’s no coinci- amount of time Timshel fans spent waiting posite, really. With Timshel, the power is in dence that lead guitarist Michael Schaming’s for it, and if it takes another four years for the vocals, and singer/guitarist Alderman best moments occur in those vacant aural album no. 2 to appear, so be it. No one said it Douglas has a voice that melds the range and alleyways where Wilson is holding back would be short work to shoulder the rubble. — Micahel Spawn /scphilharmonic @scphil

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803.254.PHIL (7445) Morihiko Nakahara | Music Director In February of 2013 Columbia, SC cloth continued to promote Crinoline Head. mentaries Faircloth decided that he could - Frustration grew as he struggled to work produce better work of the parks and their cloth received a call from a friend in with the distributor. “He just didn’t do any- rides himself. He began contacting different Baltimore.independent The filmmaker friend was Tommy calling Fair to thing with it. He was new, I was stupid,” theme parks. Many agreed to let him video- ask if he could send a VHS copy of Faircloth recalls. Once he began production tape and produced a video that featured mul- Generation Ax on Generation Ax Faircloth’s contract with tiple parks and their attractions. The project for Faircloth to autograph. It was a strange his distributor had expired and he decided took off. “They (the fans) went psycho about Faircloth’s 1998 horror film to promote Crinoline Head it. I began making more money selling roll- It had also been 14 years since Faircloth step was to place ads in the national horror request 14 years after the release of the film. fanzine Fangoria. It was a down himself. and dirtyHis first do- Faircloth states. He began making and selling friend where he found the VHS copy of the it-yourself promotional campaign, with Fair- oneer coaster to two videosof these than compilations I did from a year.my films,” After had made a feature film. Faircloth asked the cloth absorbing all the costs. producing eight roller coaster compilations much did you pay?” Faircloth asked. “125 His poor experience with a distributor he shifted his attention to another interest. dollars”film. “On his EBay” friend the answered.friend responded. Faircloth “How was was a helpful lesson. As Generation Ax was “I’m a huge freak about abandoned places. I shocked. Faircloth searched online for VHS nearing completion, the growing popular- absolutely love Heritage USA. I would sneak - ity of Crinoline Head caused Faircloth to be into that place at all hours and document the contacted by more reputable distributors. abandoned area,” Faircloth says. He edited ofcopies the ofloop his with film theand wholesaw they VHS were collectors fetch These European distributors paid Faircloth that footage together with footage of Heri- thing.”ing between Faircloth 85 andsays, 200 “I thought,dollars. “I‘this was can’t out advances for the rights to distribute Genera- tage USA at the height of its popularity and be right.’” tion Ax overseas. These monetary advances - mentary. “I actually got to meet Tammy Faye high school and continued with his inter- the cost of producing Ax Faircloth decided Bakercompleted before his she first died. abandoned She signed places a copy docu of Faircloth began making short films in offset the cost of the film. Having recouped Carolina’s Media Arts program as well as try- United States himself. The promotion of the producing more abandoned theme park ingest hisin filmmaking hand at acting at the and University modeling. ofIn South1995, to handle the distribution of the film in the workthat filmon places for me,” such he as recalls. Joy Land He in continued Wichita, during summer break, he signed up for an B-Movie reviewer Joe Bob Briggs gave the Kansas and Ghost Town U.S.A. independent study and decided to produce a film gained a huge boost when prominent As years passed, Faircloth’s friend, and SCREAM meets THE TEXAS CHEERLEADER eventual producing partner Robert Zobel, MOMfilm four meets stars, BONNIE calling AND it “HEATHERS CLYDE.” Faircloth meets kept encouraging him to start making mov- feature film. “I had access to all of the school’s- planned on moving forward with production ies again. “I would tell him that he had no sult(film) was equipment. Crinoline HeadAll I had, a John to pay Waters for was meets the idea how much work went into making a Fridayfilm and the processing.” 13th Faircloth says. The re parody that follows a group of college kids Iton was his a third ton featureof money. film. It takes “I was years,” exhausted. Fair- to bite the bullet and purchase a DSLR cam- as they travel to horrora lake house film/dark for a comedy/week of clothYou have says. to Ultimately, be a filmmaker he stopped and a distributor.production film,” Faircloth says. But in 2012, he decided about DSLR’s. When we were in school, we and students from the University of South At the time, Faircloth was a member of The wereera and very produce anti-video,” a short he film. says. “I hadHe nobought idea partying. The indie film starred local actors Americanand decided Coaster to take Enthusiasts, a break from a filmmaking.national or- the camera and editing software and began ganization comprised of roller coaster and teaching himself how to use it, then wrote suchCarolina’s as Waters, Theater and his Department. own unique The sense film of theme park fans. At times, members of the The humor.was heavy After with Crinoline Faircloth’s Head early was completed,influences, Cabin, solely to test the new technology. Faircloth signed a distribution deal for the would be shooting at a theme park near them andNext produced up, Actor a short Jason horror Vail reached film titled out to - andgroup if members would be would notified be interested that a video in being crew Faircloth to say he would be interested in Generation Ax. part of the production. After participating working with him. “I knew his work. I of- filmAs andhe was moved producing forward Generation with plans Ax to, Fair pro- and viewing a few of these theme park docu- fered him the role without auditioning him,” duce his second feature film

22 . JASPER SCREENS PHOTO BY FORREST CLONTS PHOTO BY

Faircloth says. He also brought friend Robert But it is Faircloth’s campy, over the top recting and camera duties fell on Faircloth Zobel into the production mix. “[For The Cab- gross-out, and death scenes that have drawn and Zobel recorded production audio. Both in] it was me and Robert and the two actors. Dorchester’s stand out Faircloth knew he had to have a Revenge: The Return of Crinoline Head pre- at Faircloth and Zobel’s cabin in Gatlinburg. recognizablehis films the mostface in attention. the cast. For For the this, film Fair to- mieredmen produced in Charleston the film in together. August of 2014. OnceThat wascompleted, it.” The filmThe was Cabin produced received in 2013high cloth contacted B-movie scream queen Deb- Faircloth has no intention of stopping. Ma- praise at horror festivals around the country, bie Rochan. Rochan has starred in hundreds jor advancements in technology have made most notably winning Best Short at the San of B-movies over the past twenty years and production and promotion an easier task is a B-movie icon. “I met Debbie on my friend Faircloth’s next plan was to produce the Head Cheerleader, Dead screen it online. It’s available to the world in- Antonio Horrific Film Festival. Cheerleader years ago. We kept in touch,” for him. “Now you can finish your film and “Richard Abbot, who starred in the original JeffFaircloth Miller’s says. film Faircloth worried that it was slated to be the supernatural feature that he Crinolinefilm he had Head delayed suggested thirteen I make years Crinoline before. the kind of role that Rochan didn’t play. Af- plannedstantly,” he14 says.years At ago. long For last, someone his next who film has is Head 2. There are some hardcore fans for ter reading the script Rochan responded that a history of production that stretches to the it was exactly he set out to make a more traditional horror shot over nine days in the spring of 2014 many scars from lessons learned along the that film so it made more sense.” This time, primarily in Columbia her kind andof role. Charleston. The film Fair was- way—Faircloth16mm film days has of usedthe mid these 1990s—gaining road scars to “It’s hard for me to be completely serious. I cloth and Zobel even decided to expand the - film, but still keep his sense of humor intact.- crew for this production, adding one person tion of the modern do-it-yourself indepen- pon scene might be too much.’” as a set production assistant. All other di- his advantage to— become Wade Sellers the perfect defini remember thinking during filming ‘The tam dent filmmaker.

JASPER SCREENS . 23 ONE COLUMBIA LAUNCHES CULTURAL PASSPORT

How many stamps do you have in your passport? I’m guessing if you’re like me, it’s not as many as you’d like. But, starting now, you won’t need to go as far to get the same thrill that comes with earning a stamp that represents new experiences. One Columbia for Arts and History is launching its Cultural Passport program starting now. This Passport is intended to generate new audiences for artistic and cultural activities in Columbia, SC and to encourage residents to attend events in many different artistic genres. Based on the principle that passports provide access to new experiences, One Co- lumbia has developed cultural passports for Columbians to utilize when attending events and venues in our city. Both as tangible books and a corresponding mobile app available for iPhone, passport holders collect stamps by attending events and visiting venues (galler- ies, museums, etc.). - tions throughout Columbia that will have uniqueThere stamps are over to 80 provide venues andto organizapassport holders. — Lee Snelgrove

24 . JASPER SPECIAL SURELY YOUR FIRST QUESTION MUST BE, “HOW DO I GET MY HANDS ON ONE OF THOSE SWEET PASSPORTS?” HERE’S HOW:

Get a book or download the iPhone application. - 1 3 tion table. They’ll stamp your passport with the stamp for Where do I get this book, you ask? We’ll be passing them Then, go to the event and visit the box office or informa out at a few events including Soda City Market through the poster with the Cultural Passport icon on it and use the month of September and the Rosewood Arts Festival on handythe host app organization to check in inall the by appropriateyourself. genre. Or, find the September 20. You can also stop by the One Columbia of- Be sure to enjoy the event and have a good time. you can download the app by visiting onecolumbiasc.com/ page/app.fice at 1219 Taylor Street weekdays between 2 -5 pm. And

Collect stamps in multiple categories to earn rewards for 4 onecolum- least two categories and go up incrementally from there. 2 biasc.com or using the handy list of events in the Cultural Topyour level“travels.” rewards Reward include levels t-shirts start at and five passes stamps to across artistic at PassportNext, find app. an event you want to go to by visiting events. And, there will be a VIP event for those go-getters who collect the most.

JASPER SPECIAL . 25 TRANSITIONS

On the night of March 22nd as the

of the Columbia City Ballet’s season closercurtain Alice went in down Wonderland on the final, the showcom- pany came together, showering prin- ciple dancer Katie Smoak with admi- ration and support. Tears and smiles were in equal abundance as Smoak, who grew up in the studio and on the stage with CCB, left the KYRA STRASBERG AT YOGA MASALA - PHOTO BY FORREST CLONTS Koger Center for the last time. Now comes the hard part for Smoak: answering the ques- Columbia City Ballet for the entirety of her Winthrop University where she graduated tion, “what happens next?” At age 32, Smoak career, knew exactly what she would do. This with a degree in Interior Design. Currently joins a long line of ballet dancers who face a assurance allowed Columbia’s star to enjoy a senior designer with CJMW Architecture, her career and focus on her passion, rather Richardson branched out two years ago to after dance. Though she acknowledges that than worry about what came next, and she start The Southern Gourmet, a baking com- shesignificant would andprobably often havedifficult been transition able to danceto life says she’s grateful for that. pany offering custom sweets and treats. Be- for years longer, she chose to stop while she Having forged her career from iron will tween these two endeavors she feels her ar- was ahead and still had the time and energy and determination, Miranda has plenty of tistic soul is being fed. to embark on a new adventure. Smoak, who insight to share with the students in the Richardson credits the drive, perseverance says her successful career here “was almost school, and now has even more time to focus and discipline she developed as a dancer, as a shock,” intends to lend the perseverance on delivering those messages. Nothing came - that became a signature for the dancer dur- easy for Miranda, but she says the challenges - ing her career, to the next chapter. Unsure of she faced as a dancer have strengthened her cesseswell as she the has extraordinary had in her amountdesign career. of confi So her future, but excited to explore her options, character in other areas of her life. Though dence demanded in that field with the suc Smoak is one of a growing number of profes- she has no regrets, she says she has learned factor into the path she chose, Richardson sional dancers who have been able to both through teaching and wishes she had known feelswhile the her two so-called are irrefutably first life didn’t intertwined. directly sustain a career in professional dance and a “then” what she does now. Having trained Richardson is now the mother of two and ac- college education, a feat that at one time was and inspired many of the young dancers in knowledges that her interest in having a fam- not considered a practicality or even a pos- the city today, her favorite and most stressful ily was a major factor in her decision to move sibility. time is now sitting on the side of the stage on from ballet. Like many dancers, Richard- during her students’ recitals. Clapping and son viewed the two to be mutually exclusive. ballerina Mariclare Miranda didn’t go to col- Kyra Strasberg found herself in a simi- lege,Like but many she inhad her it cohort,all planned Columbia’s out. When first getting to be a “spectator.” Miranda says, “I lar situation. Strasburg retired from a long Miranda left Ann Brodie’s ballet company wantcheering people from to a feel distance, like they she can loves grow finally up career with the Boston Ballet at age 35, as and founded the Columbia Conservatory of here and have a career.” Many would say she long as ten years before her Russian coaches has demonstrated that a thousand times over. thought she should. Retiring at peak health was laying the groundwork for the rest of A former student of Miranda’s, Christie and at the top of her game, however, Stras- herDance working with Williamlife. Miranda Starrett began in dancing 1988, she at Richardson retired from her professional berg was able to plan for what came next. A a professional level while still in high school ballet career at the young age of 23 and re- Principle Dancer in the prestigious company, and knew she wouldn’t have a college degree fers to it as “another lifetime.” Unlike some, to assist in her eventual career transition, so Richardson knew right away in which direc- aspirations in her dance career and decided she made her own safety net. After making tion she wanted to take her next step. She itthe was Columbia time to seenative what felt “life she between had fulfilled four andher the agonizing decision to retire from her po- funneled the skills she had learned through eleven” looked like. Now the mother of two sition as the Prima Ballerina of the Columbia dance into her love for interior design and girls, she saw family in her future and wanted City Ballet at the age of 42, Miranda, who had made a place for herself with a local design to be “present” in a way her time-consuming balanced being co-owner and general man- devotion to dance would never have allowed. ager of the ballet school and the face of the After two years, Richardson transferred to Strasburg had the foresight to make plans for firm while working on her college education.

26 . JASPER DANCES - her nanny who got to spend time with her demic based by staging Balanchine choreog- tion in Pilates led to managing and ultimately daughter while she was working. It was im- raphy, taking a hands-on approach to dance revampingher transition the to Pilateslife after program dance. Aat certifica Sports possible to devote the amount of energy and education, and constantly evolving concepts Club LA Boston. time she needed to her dancing and to her and teaching techniques. Calvert herself is continually evolving and doesn’t see an end 2004, Strasberg began teaching from home. and for a while she was happy. Without a for- point in the near future. ThoughAfter her the high birth intensity of her career first daughter left no time in daughter,mal education so at and 38 no she idea chose what her to daughterdo next, Professional dancers wear the battle for a college degree, Strasburg learned in- Calvert had a hard time getting excited about wounds of their work on more than their valuable lessons about the human body and anything the way she was excited about feet. Once a dancer, always a dancer, and the synchronicity of physical and psychologi- dance. “Dancing is easy,” she says. Despite like an addiction you can’t shake it. For a cal health that would assist her path in life. the physical and emotional hardships, you career that is often necessarily short, being Now the owner and operator of Columbia always know what you’re doing and what a ballet dancer doesn’t clearly lend a hand Yoga studio, Yoga Masala, Strasberg recalls should happen next. There is a natural pro- in the transition to life after. The skills and that practicing yoga during her dance career gression to a class and to a piece of choreog- character traits gained in the process bal- gave her a sense of safety in being herself. For ance themselves against the monopoly of a dancer who is used to playing a role, it can - time and energy that challenges traditional bia,raphy South that Carolina,can be hard Calvert to find accepted in life. an invi- understandings of family life, motherhood, she realized the “value of yoga” for every day tationEventually from Susan finding Anderson herself backto teach in Colum at the and education. As dancers gain a better un- inbe thehard way to findit can that “remove comfort. labels” Strasberg and saysgive University of South Carolina Summer Dance derstanding of their bodies and how to care practitioners and students “permission to be Conservatory. She felt like herself again and for them, careers are lasting longer and op- themselves.” She says her career as a dancer she was happy. The new mom never thought portunities for education are becoming more informs her yoga practice by reminding her she would teach but says now on the topic, abundant. While the art form evolves, and that a physical journey can lead to mental “It hunted me down.” Life began to progress the world of dance changes with it, today’s and emotional discoveries. naturally and Calvert became a staple in the Former soloist with the New York City university’s dance program. She was instru- - Ballet, Stacey Calvert also felt torn between mental in creating a unique curriculum that cult,dancer is becomingcan rest assured easier allthat the finding time. her way dancing and being a mom. She felt jealous of is simultaneously performance and aca- —in Bonniethe natural Boiter-Jolley progression, though still diffi Christopher Durang’s quirky comedies ography by Christy Shealy Mills and musical Trustus direction by Daniel Gainey. Bryan Meyers Theatre; his latest work, Vanya and Sonia is featured as Curly - soitanly! No, wrong andhave Masha always and proven Spike ,a won good the fit Tony for for Best Curly - this is the role which landed Hugh Play in 2013, and falls somewhere between Jackman an Olivier Award nomination, and spoof of and homage to the works of Chek- the one who gets to open the show with “Oh hov, retold with a baby boomer twist. Jim What a Beautiful Mornin’.” Haley Sprankle, O’Connor directs Dewey-Scott Wiley, El- appealing as teenagers in Grease, The Little len Rodillo-Fowler, Vicky Saye Hender- Mermaid Jr., and Biloxi Blues, graduates to son, Glenn Rawls, and Stephanie Walden in full leading lady status as the innocent Lau- rey, with Sirena Dib as Ado Annie, the girl life malaise, running September 12 - 27 on who just “cain’t say no” to suitors Will (Park- thethis Thigpencomic tale Main of Stage.sibling O’Connorconflict and then mid- di- er Byun) and Ali Hakim (Rob Sprankle.) rects Sharr White’s The Other Place in the The show runs September 19 - October 11. Richard and Debbie Cohn Side Door Theatre Then Shannon Willis Scruggs directs and at Trustus. Erica Tobolski, Brian Bender, and choreographs Irving Berlin’s White Christ- Jennifer Moody Sanchez take us on a dizzy- mas ing journey inside the mind of a brilliant sci- Run dates are November 14 – December 7; entist who may or may not have developed , based on the popular Bing Crosby film. a new drug for treating dementia, or may be www.towntheatre.com. in its early stages herself. Run dates are Oc- for information, call 803-799-2510, or visit tober 17 - November 1; for information, call www.trustus.org. Columbia Children’s Theatre opens their 10th season with How I Became a Pirate, 803-254-9732, or visit a musical adaptation of the popular chil- Workshop Theatre is alive and well, dren’s book by Melinda Long and David - Shannon. Join young Jeremy Jacob for a ey Market Place (i.e. the one-story struc- treasure-seeking adventure with Captain tureflourishing adjacent and to performing the main event at the hall, 701 Whalfacing Braid Beard and his scurvy crew; Jerry Ste- venson directs Lee O. Smith, Julian DeLeon, - Anthony Harvey, Ashlyn Combs, Brandi entialWhaley jazz/swing Street.) Their artist 48th and seasoncomposer kicks Louis off Smith, Andy Nyland, and Paul Lindley II Jordan.with a musical Lou Warth tribute Boeschen to the directssongs of Charlie influ (who doubles as musical director.) The Jolly Goodrich as a listless slacker inspired by the voices from his radio who emerge as Five Guys Named Moe, and embodied by Chad- visitRoger www.columbiachildrenstheatre.com. flies for two weekends, September 19 wick Pressley, Byron Dixon, Bobby Rogers, - 28; for information, call 803-691-4548, or W/ AUGUST KRICKEL Shaquile Hester, and Joseph Ali-Cassim. Joy Alexander choreographs, with music direc- On Stage Productions presents Legends tion by Roland Haynes, Jr., but there are only of Country Music, incorporating everything After several years of almost every six performances, over the extended week- from Broadway to the Grand Ole Opry. The ensemble cast includes Robert Bullock, Lin- show in town seeming to run then directs a modern classic, A. R. Gurney’s da Brochin, Gary Pozsik, Tanya Douglas, and Theend Dining of September Room, running 18 - 21. November Daniel Gainey 6 - 9. Rachel Rizzuti. Robert Harrelson directs simultaneously, local theatres have Six actors play multiple roles in different and choreographs, with musical direction time periods as Gurney explores the foibles by John Norris, and the show runs Septem- managed to stagger their opening and social mores of upper-middle class dates this fall. There’s some cutting- WASPs in a comedy of 20th century man- ners and societal change. For information, Lane,ber 19- near 28 I-26 at and the only On Stagea few minutes Performance from edge comedy and drama straight www.workshop- downtownCenter in WestColumbia.) Columbia For information, (680 Cherokee call theatre.com. www.onstagesc. from New York, as well as some call 803-799-4876, or visit com. classic Broadway favorites. There’s 803-351-6751, or visit Town Theatre revives one of the greats, even a little bit of country and a Oklahoma!, the Rodgers and Hammerstein Grease is the word, the time, the place and smash which revolutionized conventional the motion, and the immensely popular little bit of rock-and-roll. Broadway musical story-telling with its lyr- musical ode to teen love in the 50’s was a ics (which are fully integrated into the plot) hit for eight years in New York. Running Curtain Up! recurring motifs (which connect individual September 26 - October 12 at the Village songs) and incorporation of a 15-minute Square Theatre, this Lexington Arts As- “dream ballet” sequence into the story of sociation production is directed by Becky love among small-town cowboys and farm Croft, with musical direction by Stephanie girls. Frank Thompson directs, with chore- Nelson and choreography by Melissa Han-

28 . JASPER WATCHES na. Maddie Hammond plays good girl Sandy, to life under the stars in Finlay Park, run- www.scdinnertheatre.com. who longs to tame bad boy Danny (Tyler ning October 1 - 11. For information, call Inabinette.) The stage version spotlights www.shake- their friends too, with Lydia Kemmerlin spearesc.org. USC’s Theatre South Carolina takes a seri- (Marty) and Chance Morgan (Doody) get- 803-787-BARD (2273), or visit ous turn with Ajax in Iraq, an exploration by ting to sing hits like “Freddy My Love” and playwright Ellen McLaughlin of the plight “Those Magic Changes.” Also in the cast are Theatre Rowe’s Southeastern Theatrical of women soldiers in the modern military, Ashley Manley as Rizzo, Stephen Fisher as Arts Bandits (S.T.A.B.) present Going Once, contrasted with the mythological tale of Kenickie, and Lydia Carter as beauty school Going Twice...Murder! by local author Allen Ajax, the protagonist of an ancient tragedy dropout Frenchy. Then Debi Young directs Johnson, an audience-participation who- by Sophocles. Peter Duffy directs this pro- Cheaper by the Dozen, running November 7 dunit about murder at an auction “where duction featuring all undergrads, which - 16. This beloved classic follows the twelve the price of life is always up for bid.” The runs October 3 - 11 in Longstreet Theatre. Gilbreth children as their engineer father show runs through September 21 in at the David Britt, who has given us superbly re- and psychologist mother practice theories Old Mill in Lexington (711 East Main St., alized revivals of plays from Neil Simon’s Lower Level, Suite O), then moves to 7120 Eugene trilogy at Workshop, then directs the chagrin and embarrassment of the el- Firelane Road (off Two Notch Road in Rich- Good Boys and True. Roberto Aguirre-Saca- destof labor teenage efficiency daughter. on their For information, family, much call to land County, behind Jasmine Buffet) for four sa’s script delves into scandal, sex, privi- www.villagesquare- more nights: September 25 - 26, and Octo- lege and entitlement at a posh prep school, theatre.com. ber 2 - 3. Then get ready for a Haunting at and runs October 9-12 in the Lab Theatre 803-359-1436, or visit the Old Mill, Johnson’s non-murder, family- at 1400 Wheat Street. Then Steven Pear- friendly mystery/comedy, running October son directs Thornton Wilder’s acclaimed, King Lear is both a challenging role and 10 - November 1, followed by the return Pulitzer-winning Our Town, a panoramic play, recounting parallel stories of fathers of George Kaupp as Lenny in John Stein- exploration of the circle of life in small town who wrongly turn on their children. Shake- beck’s Of Mice and Men. Running November New Hampshire, which pioneered the use speare’s tragedy touches on madness, lust, of pantomimed props and minimalist sets pride, greed, and family dysfunction in an- on-their-luck migrant farm workers in De- within realistic drama. The production runs cient Britain, centuries before the Kardashi- pression-era8 - 23, this stark California, drama andfollows was two a surpris down-- November 14 - 22 in Longstreet; for infor- ans came along. Linda Khoury directs Chris ingly touching change of pace for Theatre www. Cook in the title role, and The South Caro- artsandsciences.sc.edu/thea/mainstag- lina Shakespeare Company will bring it all eseason.mation, call 803-777-2551, or visit Rowe last year when it was first produced. For information, call 803-200-2012, or visit

Pops Series: National Geographic Beloved Broadway The Texas Tenors The Mountaintop LIVE!: Jodi Cobb October 4, 2014 // 7:30 October 26, 2014 // 3:30 November 8, 2014 // 7:30 November 18, 2014 // 7:30

20142015 SEASON    ˆ        ‰ HarbisonTheatre.org | @HarbisonTheatre | Box O ce: 803-407-501 1 JAMES BUSBY FIGURE

BY CHRIS ROBINSON

PHOTOS BY FORREST CLONTS

30 . JASPER CENTERFOLD JASPER CENTERFOLD . 31

veryone should take the opportunity to see the work of James Busby, 2012 winner of the South Carolina Young Artist of the Year at the 701 Center for Contemporary Art. His new work, Figure 8, will be on exhibit there through October 12th, and he will be the artist in residence through September 27th. The artist in residence program at 701 CCA is ambitious in that it provides time, space, accommodation, and general sup- port for an artist to concentrate on a devel- oping body of work. It should be noted that Busby, who lives and works in Chapin, typi- cally shows much of his work outside of South Carolina. That said, it is always good to see a local artist develop a New York gallery and national art market reputation, and the recog- nition and sales that accompany it. There are few who can say they make their living creat- ing art, but Busby is accomplishing this and more Busby, who received his MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2003, creates simple surfaces, but which actually require ex- tensivelarge fields time of and what skill at in first building may appear up repeated to be layers of polished and cut graphite and oil, providing an illusion of uniform consistency, depth, and inconsistent exceptions played new work seems to pay more attention to composition,against the flat color surface variation, of the visual and field.physical His shape. These subtle, complex, painted surfaces are time consuming to create and Busby works diligently to construct a sleek, intellectually compelling, minimalist surface and theme, all the while requiring his viewers’ willingness to enter into the depth and passion of his artist’s vision. Vision like Busby’s has broad precedent including such luminaries as the abstract ex- pressionist Hans Hofmann, minimalist paint- ers Mark Rothko and Frank Stella, the sensual surfaces of Morris Louis and Paul Jenkins, the visually simple-yet-complex paintings of Ad Reinhardt, and the subtle white surfaces of Robert Ryman, and many more. The late Mar- cia Tucker, who was chief curator of the Whit- ney Museum of American Art (1969 – 1977) and founding director of the New Museum of Contemporary Art (1977 – 1999), promoted the minimalist Brice Marden, to whom Bus- by pays homage, as he does to the geometric string and wire sculptures of Fred Sandback.

34 . JASPER CENTERFOLD Minimalism, which, in many ways, found its It might be suggested that Busby’s work re- home in three-dimensional and installation art, on one hand requires classic artistic skill, labor, sensitivity, and insight, but at the same theflects process something of creation of the Process rather Artthan movement the end time it also reveres the sleek, mechanical, product.in which Inthe Process importance Art artists of art mayis reflected explicitly in exhibit the investment of time, for example, by seeing how many nails they can pound into a andhighly technological refined aspects clarity of the of mechanicsthe information of the piece of wood, or by binding together a form age.industrial It is often age and seen the and intellectual described refinementin painting of logs using only heavily wrapped twine, as post-painterly abstraction. along with other more sophisticated and Busby is dedicated to his work and isn’t in- time-oriented processes. But this dichotomy is hard to rectify in Busby’s work, (and may or even likes his paintings. He is driven by a contribute to the popular notion of the Artist strongfluenced artistic by whether passion. the The viewer foundation understands of this as incomprehensible individual.) Why would body of work developed from his early alien- one invest so much skill and time layering and ation in graduate school and was powered by sanding graphite, for example, only to gener- death. his mother’s fight with cancer and ultimate ate a refinement of surface readily apparent in nature, COR-TEN steel, or carbon fiber? Some

JASPER CENTERFOLD . 35 would say for a visual subtlety that can only be achieved this way. Others might say why bother with what may be visually lost on the vast majority of the viewing public? Painters have reproduced the landscape and natural world for millennia. Even mechanical struc- tures bear beautiful aspects of inconsistency. It might also be suggested that Busby would be better off in California where minimalist artists such as Robert Irwin, Larry Bell, Ron- ald Davis, and others translate California light, - visualsurfboard codes design, – reducing and reverenceart to its apparent for custom es- sence,ized hot subtle rod paint ephemerality jobs into aand finish light; fetish another with informed and cool version of the phenomenol- ogy of nature. California has had the advantage of being removed from New York, with little formal history and little obligation—no histo- ry, no burden—giving artists license to explore unconventional realms. Artistic passion is a powerful and sometimes confusing driver. So where does that leave James Busby? Should he settle for the potential last ves- tiges of the dichotomy of careful craft played against the impersonal look of a minimal ar- gument? The broader art world continues to struggle with who and what it is and how to succeed with some meaning in such a plural- istic environment. This leaves Busby in both an interesting and tough position - though one that may be part of an honorable back- lash and change. How does one seek to make carefully constructed, hard fought, spare but potentially beautiful and/or compelling sur- faces, and have them survive in such a tough and frenetic market? He is certainly succeed- ing and his art presents us with tough ques- tions. If he is courageous and resilient enough to stick with it he may discover new and in- teresting possibilities. That is the chore and the risk of the visual artist—one could aspire to little more. But for those of us in Columbia, it is a great opportunity to see a local artist who is trying to make heartfelt and meaningful art right here that even those big city power brokers to the north feel may have va spark of high promise. Take the time to look closely at these paint- ings. It will be well worth your effort.

36 . JASPER CENTERFOLD JASPER CENTERFOLD . 37 MEASURING UP THE DESIGN OF TIM MCLENDON

Measure for measure, Tim McLendon is a brain and left brain honoring non-compete clausescreative withbuzz eachsaw. other, Rarely but do foryou this find multi- right talented Columbian, the highly-creative side of his mind is well served by the side that reminds him to measure twice, cut once. The balance had led to one word-of- mouth recommendation after the other, so demand for his involvement has escalated in recent years. His undertakings have been projects as simple as updating, freshening a tired space and as comprehensive as ground-up proj- ects. His now-distinctive imprint is discern- able on an eclectic array of completed tasks Incorporating nature may be the single re- ing it feel more spacious, in part by develop- throughout the city although, to date, heavily peat. He abhors the idea of being tagged as weighted in The Vista and along Main Street. having a “signature look,” as much as nature clients were individuals anxious to make To say he has an eye for design would ac- abhors a vacuum, so no two design projects ing its outdoor spaces. Among his first design- knowledge only half the equation; he also are alike– whether commercial or residen- cient, as does his. In quick succession he was has an ear for design–and that comes from tial. “Getting to know who I’m working with askedtheir own to consult, residences and “read”then take larger, on largermore effi de- his music side, the form in which creativity and discovering what their goals are is pri- sign projects, including commercial projects. mary,” McLendon says. He’s found, over years and math often are thought to complement, of being entrusted with corporate identity include the expansion of Cola’s private dining evenfirst surfacedstrengthen in aeach young other, Pee Deeand boy.design Music re- and individual or family spaces, that people room.Repeat business now fills his plate; projects lies heavily on math. Measuring space, archi- want change, but not in large doses. “I like to In true Scottish fashion, he has wasted not take an element from their life, their personal a single experience from any job, and draws are essential to placements and economical culture, and be inspired by that, develop de- judiciously upon previous encounters and cuts,tectural and elements, this Scottish fabric lad andis prudent, floor covering in such sign around that.” events—including his extensive travels— That his ear for music has segued into an to inform the one on which he is giving his has known for ions that mathematics is “the astute eye for design has this Bishopville na- full focus at that time. The ability to stay basispractices. of sound” He didn’t and sound call it itself, first; in civilization its musi- tive projecting now in four-part harmony: so focused within the fast-paced business cal aspects, exhibits a remarkable array of commercial and interior design along with of design is one of the gentle strengths he numerical properties, simply because nature performance and composition, although wields. Having so many inspiration sources, itself is so amazingly mathematical. music is now more often for winding down logged away in his sensory memory bank, is Choosing stone, wood, metal, glass, and at the end of a busy day of design work - his another. His ability and willingness to hear other natural materials add texture and mainstay. all of what a client is conveying, envision- warmth to McLendon’s projects and plays Winding down often takes place at his El- ing, and then his careful articulation of the to his incisive senses. Bamboo at M. Vista mwood Park home, which also happens to client’s vision to those working with him on and other M cafes, exposed brick at Cola’s, be his living, organic calling card. Since fur- the execution of designs, explains in large brass and leather in The Reserve, soon ther reclaiming an already- restored former measure why TimMcLendonDesigns. com to open on Main Street, all characterize neighborhood grocery store in 1999, he has is being asked to help beautify Columbia. McLendon’s bent for inviting nature into consistently improved the livability of the In projects small and large. his design concepts. historic turn-of-the-century structure, mak-

— Rachel Haynie

38 . JASPER SPECIAL/DESIGN PHOTO BY FORREST CLONTS PHOTO BY

“I love this city. There are places remaining that I would love to beautify, to breathe new life into. I want our town to get its just due!”

Like a barn raising – only without the n. Chernoff could see immediately the potential of In addition to its primary functions, Marv’s For its lively new bar and cabaret space, Trustus having such a space. “What a treat it will be to can be used as a performance space for small- Theater raises a perpetual toast to arts leader have a place for people who enjoy the perform- cast theatrical productions (one and two per- and patron Marvin Chernoff. ing arts to be able to mingle and to hear the per- son shows, for instance.) The space also will be Inspiration for Marv’s Bar struck as Trustee formances of the many we have in the Columbia available to rent for small parties and meetings. area with true talent. I envision arts supporters project to repurpose the existing bar and con- and people who just appreciate live performance Marv’s (no, not at the bar!) Sponsorships of nu- cessionsTheater area. minds Executive were contemplatingDirector Larry Hembree an upfit being together in this space - enjoying the enter- merousAnd there’s elements still time within to be the a permanent space are available.fixture at said, “We have been feeling the need for a “later” tainment as well as each other’s company.” Check with Hembree to learn more. night space, somewhere theater patrons could - How Chernoff inspired the concept develop- stick around after a play, even be joined by oth- tion, Marv’s will be a stage for performances ment of the piano and cabaret bar is easy to dis- ers out for the evening, people who enjoy the arts byWhen local thesingers, space musicians, reopens in and its actors,new configura many of cern. and appreciate live music by soloists or combos, whom will come from local theatres, universities, A tenacious man behind many of the area’s arts or even small theatre performances by local and and churches. Every night Marv’s is open, there regional talent. We thought how much the city’s will be a keyboardist. permanent place in Trustus Theater. “When you venerable theatre and arts patron Marvin Cher- Hembree foresees that Marv’s will be The Place walkand nonprofit into the initiatives,theater, there’s Chernoff a plaque already on has the a noff would enjoy the kind of atmosphere we were for audience members to come after taking in wall that designates the volunteer of the year. It’s envisioning. This concept became Marv’s Bar cultural offerings throughout the city. “Marv’s called the Marvin Chernoff Award, and there’s a without a second thought.” will advance The Vista’s goal of being the city’s good reason for that,” Hembree said. “Over the Go To arts and culture district. It also will attract years, he has co-signed leases and credit lines, inspired an intimate art space. “I was called into guests from Vista hotels as well as Vista restau- done pro-bono work and given much of his time, a ChernoffWednesday was afternoon floored when meeting he learnedat which he Larry had rant patrons. “ money and anything else he may have had, en- described the concept of redesigning the lounge Already at work on the transformation are Tim abling Trustus to grow and succeed.” area into a piano bar. He then surprised me by McLendon, design; Jim McGrew, bar fabricator; - telling me the decision was made to name the Cohn Construction, contractors; and Studio 2LR, tion, and delighted I leave a legacy that includes architects. thisChernoff testament said: to “I’mthe arts flattered community.” beyond — imagina RH blown away!” bar after me. That’s the first I’d heard of it. I was

JASPER SPECIAL/DESIGN . 39 B EHINDTHE C URTAIN ELLEN DOUGLAS SCHLAEFER AND USC OPERA BY TOM DEMPSTER / PHOTO BY JONATHAN SHARPE

Ellen Douglas Schlaefer plays the Candide to Mozart’s The Magic Flute to one- eight. She has directed masterworks of opera most important role in the Opera Studies act works, children’s opera, and musical – La Bohème, La Traviata, Norma, Salome, program at the University of South Carolina theater pieces. Schlaefer, an ardent supporter Tosca – and has directed familiar musical without even opening her mouth. of opera in schools, has brought USC Opera to theater and dramatic theater across the A Columbia native and director of the USC unlikely corners in elementary, middle, and country, with venues ranging from Trustus Opera Studies program, Schlaefer he has high schools across the state. Theater to the Houston Grand Opera, and helped push the program into the national With nearly thirty years of experiences dozens of posts in between. spotlight, winning the National Opera before arriving at USC eleven years ago, With a no-nonsense demeanor that gives Association Production Competition for USC Schlaefer has practically seen it all as way to an easy and husky laugh, a whimsical Opera’s staging of Postcard from Morocco and a longtime mise-en-scène lyric theater producing new and modern operatic works– professional. Before returning home to her conviction of how to best serve both her like Ned Rorem’s adaptation of Thornton native South Carolina, Schlaefer worked as studentsyet self-deprecating and the art, humor,Schlaefer and minces a firm no Wilder’s Our Town–alongside operatic stage manager, artistic director, and director words in a conversation I recently had with warhorses. With primarily undergraduate for numerous opera and theater companies, her. Neither does she have any reservations students, Schlaefer has overseen the staging serving at the vaunted Santa Fe Opera for about USC Opera or her pride in the program. of dozens of works, ranging from Bernstein’s thirteen years and the Washington opera for

40 . JASPER LISTENS What would be your most put on Amahl and the Night Visitors, how do those people’s teachers had no longer memorable productions so far I do that?” So, I talked her through it. I like to exists. You can’t get a degree, hightail to at USC? think that we are not just a bunch of singers. Europe, and get a festival gig. I mean, you We’re theater people. We have to be skilled can, but the chances of that are miniscule. When I started at USC, I had a game plan at lots of things. We do try to talk about the business of opera so that every student – music students and how expensive it is to try to pursue this or students from the general population There has been an emergence in – would have a chance to see something the performing arts in general that they learn to budget – not only their over their four years – a standard operatic over the past decade about better time,rarified obviously, art form. but But, their it’s notmoney dead. – andI hope to piece, musical theater, an operetta, and self-care and wellness. But then, think of things that they aren’t normally so on, and for the most part, I think all of you have very young people – going to think about – like dry cleaning bills those have been very successful. There are college students – at your charge. for recital gowns and haircuts. You’ve got to certain pieces that are dear to my heart How do you balance this? factor that in. Printed music, lessons, and just because of the nature of the piece, and accompanists – it’s inordinately expensive. sometimes dear to my heart because I know Well, we try to make them take care of But then there’s that moment when they get where we started and where we ended up. themselves. A music student has the most out there and connect with just one or two The Marriage of Figaro that we did in the unforgiving schedule of almost anybody. people and that magic happens. marching band hall was a success in many They’re expected to practice a certain ways. We had great singers; we converted a number of hours each day. They’re expected We have cases with other space that the marching band rehearses in to perform in all of their ensembles and go ensembles – the Minnesota into a theater. I’m fond of the Postcard from to tons of classes. We stress care. And kids Orchestra, the Atlanta Symphony, Morocco we did because the music was so these days are so much more in tune to for example – that had a top-down challenging. I love the Candide we did last that. We have a great Alexander Technique structure run by dyed-in-the- year. I loved everything we did last year. wool businesspeople who felt relax, having a good yoga instructor, just efficiency could be improved by What productions stand out the takingteacher the here, time. but You it’s know, also findingthese singers ways to– rehearsing less and performing most to you from your pre-USC all they’ve got are those two little muscles more and still somehow turn out life? in their throat, and, you know, they’re in a great product. How important is college after all. They come in on Monday it to have somebody with a music One of them was a production of La Bohème and they can’t sing, and I ask them: did you background at the top of these I directed at the now-defunct Connecticut go to the game? Yeah … You know, students institutions and in these oversight boards? professional gigs. I really liked the Carmen their college experience. Eventually, they weOpera. did Ita wasfew oneyears of myago firstin Vermont “on-my-own” with gethave it. got to find a way to sometimes temper It’s somewhere in the middle. Part of the Canadian mezzo-soprano Julie Nesrallah. issue that I’ve been reading about at the I really enjoyed a production I did with There have been issues beyond Met right now is that the management is the Santa Fe Opera tour back in the 1990s, the Met – the New York City Opera accusing the stagehands of earning too Mollicone’s The Face on the Barroom Floor. folding, the San Diego Opera having much money – and the stagehands are I’ve been doing this a long time. When you severe difficulties, the closure of saying, ‘well, management scheduled all this do what I do, there’s always something Opera Boston, and issues of labor overtime.’ And then there are other opera magical attached to every production. with the Hartford Wagner Festival professionals who think and state that the which has endured criticism due emphasis has gone from the voice and the You’ve helped transform the USC to their use of “canned” music. music and has shifted to the visual. So, we’re opera program into one that tries But in the past decade, we’ve had to produce well-rounded students a resurgence of opera – young generations ago there was ample patronage and adaptable entrepreneurs composer workshops for operas, thatin an would interesting cover shortfalls, state of flux and where you could two and professionals, not just strong new companies springing up, and really focus on the music. Not anymore. singers. How has your background a Pulitzer-winning opera in Kevin played into this? Puts’s 2012 work Silent Night (the So it’s become sort of a culture of first opera to win a Pulitzer since appeasement and business-first Everybody understands that we have 1962). How do you help students attitudes. limited resources and limited personnel. I navigate this world of apparent remind the students that at some point they contradiction and risk? I keep going back to my boss at the Santa Fe will have to put on a Christmas pageant. Opera, John Crosby. He was a musician, an If you go into elementary education or a To me, it’s not a risk or contradiction. To me, entrepreneur, and a visionary. He was also church job or you have a college teaching it’s an incredibly exciting time because the terrifying. He was Mister Crosby. I worked job, you’re going to have to learn something model has changed. It’s up to the students for him for fourteen years and he was always about production to put on those shows. The second year I was here, a young woman had point to a company in Boston called Guerilla called me – she had gotten her doctorate in Operato figure that out ishow really to reinvent setting thisthings business. on its I stageMister manager Crosby. I orgot assistant called into director his office simply one ear. There are lots of new things and other didday tonot talk finances, which was terrifying – a her – she called me up in tears. “I’ve got to companies trying new things – the model He was sitting at his desk, and balancing voice my first year, so I didn’t really know get called into Mr. Crosby’s office.

JASPER LISTENS . 41 Daddy Lion presents

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42 . JASPER LISTENS his checkbook, his own personal checkbook with a pencil, at the same time he was conducting a multimillion-dollar fundraiser for a new space. He always knew where every penny went. It was a multimillion- dollar venture even back then, so I don’t think one has to have one or the other – business or music background – it’s just… I wonder whether we’ve discouraged or wayssacrificed for themthe artistic to complement side of things each for other. the There’sbusiness so when much we emphasis should have on gettingbeen finding butts in seats. But are those butts coming back? A good business and good shows bring those people back. I tell my students – it’s show business. Show. Business. [Emphasis hers] A student and a professional both have to be responsible. There’s the danger that the art gets lost in all of this. That’s what I worry about: in the world of opera, we’ve become artistry in the voice. I don’t think it has to be oneso fixated or the other. on the visual that we lose the

Here at USC, we have primarily undergrads, some master’s students, but most of these students want to go on, and tend to go on, to teaching careers. I just want them to keep their eyes open for what’s going to happen ten years from now: things are going to change. Their voice, their path, their possibilities. If someone comes in and they want to study classical music, great! But if a student is a music theater person, they still must have good technique. Your foundation has to be correct. That’s part of my teaching. It takes time. There are a lot K-12 schools and That’s the culture we live in. Students come Is there any particular experience colleges out there where students to us wanting that. I tell them I can’t make or role a young student of lyric don’t get those opportunities and you a star but I can sure as hell set you on theater should have? there may be people out there a strong path and give you some things to who really love the stage and the get you a toehold. I’m proud of what we do. I think the idea of having an experience is theater and the experience but I know where we start, and where we end more important than having a role. Any may not have the background in up is magical. stage experience is better than none. Every music. What do you say to them? voice is different; every student wants that leading role – whether the student is ready I’m not a musician. I’m truly a theater for it, that’s another question. The more person. I’m the only faculty member at the The USC Opera program will present Engelbert time they have on the stage and in the USC School of Music who’s not a musician, Humperdinck’s Hansel und Gretel on November 7 rehearsal room leading to the stage is the and I’m one of a handful of the staff there and 8, 2014, at 7:30 PM and November 9 at 3:00 best thing we can wish for them. Everything who’s not a musician. But I’m a tenured PM in Drayton Hall at USC. Hansel und Gretel will contributes to their abilities to tell stories professor, so they must have seen something be sung in German. On February 20, 21, and 22, with music. Everything. I was born here and in me. [Laughter] But, my path has been very 2015, USC Opera will present Mozart’s masterwork back then there was only the Columbia Lyric different. It has been one where I would Così fan tutte, and a pair of one-act operas on April Theater. They did wonderful productions do anything just to be around the stage – 11 and 12, 2015. For more details and information with the faculty from Columbia College anything, because I learn from every single on USC Opera’s season, contact the USC School of and some from USC. They were memorable experience. Listen, I’ve driven trucks across Music at 803-777-4280, or find the School of Music – they performed at the old Dreher High this country, I’ve stayed up and made props on the Internet at www.sc.edu. School with an organ and a piano, and they all night long or instead of coming home for were some of the most musical and magical Thanksgiving and Christmas, just anything experiences I’ve ever had in my long, long to be close to it. That’s what they have to life working in opera. do. You know, everybody wants to be a star.

JASPER LISTENS . 43 been with the caveat that most of us aren’t performances and giving the piano player a GETTING OVER supposed to “get it.” I’m thinking of the mes- solo piece before closing with a duet. While merizing scene in Philadelphia where Tom Puccini compositions dominated both sets, Hanks paraphrases “La Mamma Morta” to works by Verdi, Wagner, and Mozart were OUR PRECONCEPTIONS the befuddled Denzel Washington, or when also included. Richard Gere takes the coarse Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman to La Traviata as some sort Now here’s the part where I try to trans- ABOUT OPERA And it was magnificent. late it for you. And I can’t, not really. Part seem to suggest that opera patrons thrive of the power came from the physical pres- of litmus test of refined sensitivity. Both ence, and assuredness, of the performers. There was something primal, and cosmi- accesson an ill-definedto the nuances cloud but of leavinginscrutability the rest that of cally deep, about the way they sang, with ussurrounds guessing. the They art are form, just “hard.” giving Don’t aficionados worry their whole bodies. We like to think of our if you don’t understand. big rock singers like Robert Plant or Aretha That being said, I’ve always liked the idea Franklin singing that way, but these singers of opera, the intensity of feeling and emotion were capturing all of the might of the entirety that seems to come from that kind of singing. of Led Zeppelin with the sonic heft of their And I’m not alone in such thoughts. While voices. At the same time, there’s a singularity operas themselves aren’t well-celebrated, the to an opera singer, the sense of being just one quality of “operatic” singing is handed down person, yet containing (to paraphrase a poet) as praise to our best vocalists time and time multitudes. again. This paradox has always troubled me a What’s more, these singers were storytell- bit, at least enough to not give up completely ers. The language barrier wasn’t really a bar- on the idea of one day actively “liking” opera. rier at all, not to these singers. They knew As it turns out, just a few months ago I that the real unfolding, the real twists and had the ideal chance to break my passivity. turns of the story were caught up in the mu- My partner and I had plotted out a tour of sicality of the performance itself, not just the Here’s the thing about opera—I don’t the northern half of Italy that included the notes but the timbre and tone of their voice, think I’m supposed to like it. quaint town of Lucca which, as it turns out, is their intensity and wordless communication. Or rather, I feel like I’ve been told, some- the birthplace of Giacomo Puccini, the com- Sure, they were kind of actors too, and made what subliminally, that I wasn’t supposed to poser of some of the most-performed and a gesture here or a grimaced expression like it. Even among the older art forms with a celebrated operas in history. Lucca, in an ef- there, but these were second to the immense - fort to pay homage to their place in history power of the vocal performance itself. era stands out as a style of performance that (despite Puccini’s bad-boy reputation among I left the performance feeling many things, seemsreputation preposterously for stuffiness loaded and pretension, down with opsil- the town’s gentry when he was alive), have but the thing I was struck most by was that, organized the world’s only permanent, year- for all its ornamentation and affectations, Marx Brothers were having their yucks about round music festival. That means that every perhaps what has allowed opera to endure itliness, in 1935, stuffiness, you know? and pretension. I mean, the night of the year, somewhere in Lucca, is a and survive above all was something quite Even if you’re a fan of musical theater performance dedicated to the composer. simple, almost primal. I left thinking, or per- (I’m a bit ambivalent), opera can be tough - haps believing is a better word, that the art to swallow. There’s little-to-no dialogue, the cert and, although not a full performance of a from deeply assumes an absolute faith in lyrics (whether translated or not) are kind particularSo we went. opera, It wasit pretty my first much full hooked. opera conThe the human voice as the grandest and most of ridiculous, and every song seems impos- concert took place in the relatively austere capable instrument of communication, sibly overwrought and dramatic. Add to Church of San Giovanni, where the composer a faith in the possibilities of that instrument that a repertoire that feels rooted deeply in was actually baptized, and not the swankier to reach for something close to a universal the past, and you have a recipe for easy dis- power of song, transcending languages and missal, even by the fairly adventurous patron just two singers, a tenor, Nicola Mugnaini, cultures, time and space. I aspire to be. andconfines a baritone, of the Romano city’s duomo, Martinuzzi, and with featured just Song.

Even when opera has been presented in a a pianist, Diego Fiorini) accompanying them. — Kyle Petersen positive light by popular culture, it’s always They played two sets, each time alternating

44 . JASPER LISTENS PHOTO COURTESY OF HISTORIC COLUMBIA Opera in Our Past and Opera in our Future

Columbia began in 1786 when the South most impressive of them all, was designed the Baskervilles, and other blockbusters in Carolina legislature voted on both the name by Charlotte architect Frank P. Milburn, who the same year. Still, with absence of adequate and the location of their new capital city. also designed the dome for the state house. air-conditioning, the movie house and city Columbia’s city hall as a separate build- His design for Columbia’s city hall called for hall sweltered and suffered to the point the city saw the wisdom and the wealth in giv- at the northwest corner of Richardson Union Station down the street. ing up its city hall site for the Wade Hampton (Main)ing, however, and Washington didn’t come Streets. along untilIt was 1818 the the same flecked brick as he specified for his Hotel, a $1 million project that held together - hall, while the rest of the building was dedi- until the hotel had to make way in the late ing as a replacement function for the former catedCity to offices the opera took thehouse. ground With floor seating at cityfor federalfirst of fourcourthouse city halls, on the the last southwest one still cornerstand about 2,000, the opera house was later called - of Laurel and Main. the Columbia Theatre and then the Carolina came1980s Capitol for the Place, AT&T and building, is now which called becameBB&T. And kudos to Mayor Benjamin and his Theatre as it came to be used as a movie Affinity,With twinwhich towers became facing SouthTrust, Main Street which at thebe council for our city hall’s glorious interior re- house. It began, though, as strictly live stage corner with Gervais, city hall had its clock furbishment, returning the building to some performances with far more minstrel shows tower, too, with four clock faces at the same of the showy stuff of its origins. and vaudeville gigs than grand operas. And as diameter of six feet. - movies came around—especially after 1927 Remember: Columbia had an opera house, The towerThe hoveringfirst city hall,over which the Main burned Street with side ev- Jazz Singer—Columbia’s opera house was for the last third of the 19th Century and walk,erything where else the in Februarytown crier 1865, would had yell a clock“All’s alsowhen Columbia’s the first talkie largest hit movie town, house.Al Jolson’s firstthen atat thethe cornercorner ofof WashingtonGervais and andMain Main for well” on the half-hour, or he might call out, Showing movies up to demolition in 1939, th Century. With no “Fire at the corner of Park and Gervais!” the Carolina Theatre probably did pretty well funds for such things, still, it would be nice to The second city hall on the same site in- that last year as a participating part of Hol- theimagine first an third opera of thehouse, 20 a real opera house cluded an opera house, and the whole com- – not another one of those multipurpose Stagecoach, Gone With the Wind, Wizard of performing arts halls - in Columbia for most Columbia’s third city hall, probably the Oz,lywood’s Good-bye Golden Mr. Chips,Era, showing Gunga Din,such Hound films asof of the 21stCentury. pound burned to the ground in 1899. — John Temple Ligon

JASPER LISTENS . 45 TO COLUMBIA AUDIENCES

season both proud of its past and Palmetto Opera is looking forward to an eagerhe Palmetto to continue Opera expanding enters its fifththe evensignificant more highlightspromising offuture—a their past, future but opera scene in Columbia. Kathy which features more opera in Columbia. Newman, chair, says, “The Palmetto Op- - era’s main goals are to establish an audi- ture a reality and continue establishing ence for opera and to bring grand opera theirIn orderaudience, to make Palmetto this opera-filledOpera puts fuon to the capital of South Carolina for the small, accessible performances once a month. These intimate performances, the past four seasons, Palmetto Opera known as Opera Thursdays, take place hasfirst partnered time in over with twenty international years.” com Over- pany Teatro Lirico d’Europa to present guests. The performances last about Madama Butterfly, La Traviata, Tosca, anat hour Villa and Tronco a half for and just consist fifty of to a com sixty- Carmen, and one concert, A Tribute to bination of popular classics and famous Pavarotti. arias. The goal is to educate and enter- After Madama Butterfly sold out Uni- tain novices who may have never heard versity of South Carolina’s Drayton Hall, any opera before while still entertaining they decided to move to the Koger Cen- seasoned opera supporters at the same ter the following year. Newman was ap- time. Opera Thursdays have proven to be wildly successful, selling out each the larger venue took place on a cold, month. Newman says, “The people in- rainyprehensive night in as March, the first but performance the move was at volved in Palmetto Opera believe in op- a success and allowed their audience to era and want it to be one of the cultural more than double in size. The success of options in South Carolina.” While they the move was very encouraging as they are still building, it’s clear that they are realized that there truly is an audience already achieving this goal. for opera in Columbia. Newman sus- Palmetto Opera is again offering two pects that this audience is comprised of performances this season, both a con- both Columbia natives who have been cert and a full opera. The concert, Great longing for opera and newcomers who Moments in Italian Opera, is scheduled have lived other places and expect opera for Saturday, January 24th at Harbison to be a part of their cultural lives. This Theatre. Then, Puccini’s La Boheme will past season they graduated to two per- th at formances, offering both Carmen and a the Koger Center. In addition to their concert, A Tribute to Pavarotti. taketwo mainplace onperformances, Saturday, February Opera Thurs28 - The strategy over the past few seasons days will occur monthly at Villa Tronco. has been to go slow, learn from profes- Reservations are required for Opera sionals, and establish an audience. The Thursdays and can be made at move to the Koger Center and the intro- 7677. duction of a second performance are 803-256- PHOTO BY DAVID WEST — Abby Davis

46 . JASPER LISTENS DIANA AMOS OUR SOURCE FOR EUROPEAN OPERA

“… we should never be ashamed that we are not at the level of places in Europe, because that will never happen. But we have something entirely unique here—a mixture of local bands, artists and classical singers all in one place.” – Diana Amos

Diana Amos knew early on in her life that to Columbia, SC, to be closer to her family. opera scene in Columbia, what groups like singing was her calling. “I knew voice was my “As much as I adored my time in Germany, I the Palmetto Opera and Opera at USC need thing,” said the Assistant Professor of Voice wanted to come back to the states to teach,” most is support. “Opera is a wonderful art and Musical Theater at Columbia College. she says. form—it combines drama with music and As a soprano opera singer, Amos has expe- In 2012, Amos landed a full-time teach- makes something incredibly powerful,” she rienced much more than spreading her pas- ing position at Columbia College. She has says. “We just need as much appreciation and sion of performing around campus. been using her time at the college to not only support as we can get to keep it alive here. Hailing from a family full of musical in- spread her knowledge and appreciation of Go to local productions, get involved, just be music, but also promote the arts, especial- a part of it—that’s all it takes.” father, a classical guitarist, and an aunt well- ly opera, around her campus and her city. With as much experience as she’s had over knownfluence, for including opera in her Europe, mother, Amos a pianist, decided her to the last few decades, Amos shows no signs of receive her Bachelors of Music degree from here, in Columbia, where I wanted to settle,” stopping now. Her commitment to her job, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music in Ohio, she“I’m says. just over“I just the couldn’t moon tobe findhappier a position to be staff, and students at Columbia College and but then take the leap overseas to a place here and just want more people to know her support of all opera outlets in the city has known for its talents and appreciation of op- about the Bachelor of Arts program here. driven her to keep going and help others suc- era- Germany. It’s just perfect.” ceed as much as she has. “People should be After only a few months of learning the She admits that Columbia does not present envious of what we have here in Columbia,” language and testing her skills, Amos landed all the opportunities for opera that Germany she says. “We have some incredible singers, does, but she still regularly sings around the right here at USC and Columbia College, and that I decided to stay there for 17 years,” city in staff recitals, with the USC opera de- we should never be ashamed that we are not sheher firstsays. job. Amos spent “It her was time such there a good singing job partment, and with the Palmetto Opera. She at the level of places in Europe, because that in opera houses around in Germany includ- says she believes the art and music scene in will never happen. But we have something ing esteemed venues in Cologne, Hannover, Columbia is surely something unique and is entirely unique here—a mixture of local Luxembourg, Dresden, and most memorably not surprised at the recognition the capital bands, artists and classical singers all in one to the singer, the Berlin State Opera House has gotten over the past few years. “[Opera] place.” where she played the Queen of the Night in will never be here what it is in Europe, but The Magic Flute. I have to admit, it’s grown,” Amos said. “I’ve her doctorate in music at USC, but isn’t look- Her time in Germany brought her clear had the pleasure of performing all over Ger- ingAmos too far is into currently the future working at the on moment. finishing “I amounts of success and gave her a portfolio many and working with some amazing peo- already have my dream job here,” she says. of leading roles along with a performance ple, but I’m really proud of the opera scene “I’ve been so many places but I’m happy right diploma from Hochschule fuer Musik in Co- in Columbia.” where I am.” logne, in just a short time. In 2010, she knew Amos thinks that aside from a constant — Caitlyn McGuire the time was right to make the move back

need for financial assistance in the arts and PHOTO COURTESY OF PALMETTO OPERA JASPER LISTENS . 47 t’s no secret that the arts and state government have had a and South Carolina, in general. less than healthy relation- Questionscifically to for the the arts candidates in Columbia were ship in South Carolina. With solicited from and submitted by a election season upon us Jas- number of leaders in the local arts per suggests that along with community including Wim Roefs, our consideration of what the gu- Andy Smith, Lee Snelgrove, and bernatorial candidates claim they Larry Hembree, as well as mem- will or will not do about issues bers of the Jasper editorial staff. such as education, the economy, While the invitation to par- and health care, we also place a ticipate in this exercise was ex- similar priority on the issue that tended to both Senator Sheheen is the life blood of the subjects of and Governor Haley, only Senator this magazine—the arts. Sheheen agreed to take our ques- To that end Jasper invited the tions. His answers and comments gubernatorial candidates to an- are presented on the right. swer questions pertaining spe-

48 . JASPER ON THE COVER PHOTOS BY FORREST CLONTS Q: Film production has a long, rich, history in South Carolina with classics such as Forrest Gump and The Big Chill being shot here. Film incentives are being cut in North Carolina, threatening hun- dreds of jobs, while Georgia is relishing its recent boom in production. Is there an opportunity to create more jobs in this creative and technical - field in our state? What are your plans for increas productioning the potential mean for to moreour state’s films economic,to be produced artistic in andSouth tourism Carolina? base? What would an increase in film

A: neglected and shuttled around from agency to agency The andfilm the industry outcome in Southhas been Carolina that South has been Car- olina has been out-competed by other states and - weCanada. have Weto ask have ourselves to see film how production do we create as jobsentre in preneurial; filmmakers as small businesses. And canfilm, generate tourism, high culinary income. arts, We and have other to changesupporting our economicareas. The developmentfilm industry policiescan be veryto invest profitable. in a ro It-

Q:bust There’s film industry. much debate about the role of gov- ernment in funding the arts, although ironically many artists and groups might be happy to be supported solely by their audiences and patrons. Do you feel that government has a role in encour- aging support for the arts from the private sector, in facilitating that support, and/or in fostering the type of environment where that happens more of- ten and more easily?

A: Governor Haley has vetoed funding the arts commission for the past three years and it wasn’t until this election year that started to sing a dif- ferent tune. People who support the arts should be appalled that the governor tried to make South Carolina the only state in the country to not have

To me, that’s just wrong. For over 2000 years civilizedan arts commission societies have or a supported similar office the orarts—the agency. ancient Greeks and Romans and Egyptians. If we don’t support the arts we breed ignorance. We have to celebrate successes in South Carolina’s arts and arts heritage—for economic purposes as well as for our image. One way to create a strong image is to have an incredible arts commission and a state government that supports and cel- ebrates it.

Q: Generally, both locally and statewide, the arts provide a big bang for the buck, meaning that a lit- tle money creates a lot of important activity both culturally and economically. Despite that, what little state support the arts have received tradi- tionally has been cut severely in the past decade or so. What are your plans to increase funding for the arts in South Carolina?

JASPER ON THE COVER . 49 what would you do to insure student access to the arts in South Carolina?

A: The problem in South Carolina now is that everything is taught to a standardized testing protocol. I love the idea of STEAM—it allows us to broaden the role of creativity both for our students and our teachers. We talk about building wealth a lot, but we have to remem- ber that people who are successful almost always have creative abilities.

Q: A book of essays about lesbian and gay South Carolinians was labelled “pornogra- phy” by many members of the South Carolina legislator. How would you encourage empa- thy and understanding when your colleagues in state leadership fail to exhibit these traits?

A: I was very proud to see votes for tolerance arise out of this issue. The legislature should not be censoring college material. It makes us look ignorant and it creates divisiveness. Everyone is not going to agree on every issue, but these are adults in college and we should treat them like it.

Q: Other than your wife Amy who is a visual artist, who are some of your favorite visual artists—both local and not?

A: Of course, Amy is my favorite visual artist, but I also like (American realist) George Ca- leb Bingham and one of my favorite paintings of his is called The County Election. I guess I’m more traditional in my art preferences but Amy is different; she’s more passionate. I also have a wonderful print of the Wateree River that Blue Sky painted that I love. It just says South Carolina to me.

Q: What is the most recent book you’ve read?

A: I’m usually reading several at the same time. I’m reading a collection of Leo Tolstoy’s

A: This goes back to the arts commission in A: Every person in South Carolina, regard- book about Hiroshima. My all-time favorite many ways. Funding was cut for the arts in less of their sexual orientation, should be bookshort isstories All the right King’s now, Men and byI just Robert finished Penn a South Carolina under the two previous gov- treated with respect and dignity, and protect- Warren, and my favorite book growing up ernors and the arts have been on the defense ed, especially in their places of employment. was Where the Red Fern Grows. for too long. I want to increase support for Right now, in South Carolina, there are no the commission and I want it it to be central institutionalized workplace protections, but Q: Favorite Film? to our economic development and used it as I will work to correct that. a way of branding the state. A: The Shawshank Redemption. (But I’ve Q: With so much focus on STEM education, probably seen Raiders of the Lost Ark a dozen The arts commission should also have a public art education programs are too often times.) strong presence in the public schools. relegated to a second tiered status. Many educators have expanded STEM to STEAM Q: It’s desert island classics time–what al- Q: Given the number of many talented and to insure that we’re including arts training bums or CDs would you want with you if you hardworking members of the LGBTQ com- in the development of our future workforce. were stranded on a deserted island? munity who are also involved in the arts, how Why do you think it’s essential for our stu- will a Sheheen governorship improve toler- dents to receive a quality art education and A: I grew up as a metal head, but I also grew ance for all of us?

50 . JASPER ON THE COVER PAINTING BY AMY SHEHEEN AMY BY PAINTING

up listening to the blues. But I’ve Q: Is there anything I didn’t ask or thought about this and I guess I’d anything you’d like to add? have to go with Ozzie Osborne and The Blizzard of Oz, Lynyrd Skynyrd’s A: Well, yes. I grew up in the arts and Gimme Back My Bullets, Eric Clapton I think that’s why they’re still so im- has a compilation album that I re- portant to me. My dad played the pi- ally like … I think it’s called Layla and ano and my sister and I would gather Other Love Songs, and then I love Pink around the piano and sing along with Floyd. A lot of people would say that my dad. My mom and dad helped The Wall is their best album, but I’d go with Dark Side of the Moon. And and, growing up, we would hang out there.start the I was fine an arts actor center in high in Camden school something to make me think, like and middle school. I even played Jem Beethoven’sfinally, I‘d want Fifth. something That said, classical, I love in To Kill a Mockingbird! My point is Willie Nelson, too. that the arts have always been a part of my life, and they are a part of the Q: Is there an artist trapped inside life that Amy and I have built for our the politician? What are your hidden family. Art is important to us. A lot talents? of the successes I’ve enjoyed in my life I can trace directly back to the A: I like to write. I’ve written a novel and it’s just sitting in my desk drawer. It comes from having a family that And I like to write poetry. I can also valuedinfluence and of oneencouraged art form theor another.arts in play the guitar very badly. us and that provided us with expe- riences in art. I want this for all the families in South Carolina and, as governor, I would work toward mak- ing this a reality.

PAGE LEFT - THE CANDIDATE WITH WIFE AND ARTIST AMY SHEHEEN Profile JUDY BOLTON JARRETT AND “PASSAGES”

A 1963 graduate of Presbyterian College, Judy Bolton Jarrett considers herself a “lifelong student of art” though her formal training as a visual artist

class from Erica Hoyt in 1973. Jarrett went on to studydid not with being the until late Robertshe took Mills, her Virginiafirst watercolor Fouche Bolton, Jeanne Dobie, Christopher Schink, and Frank Webb, among others. Jarrett began show- ing her work in the 1970s but became more se-

a new gallery show opening in Columbia’s historic rious about the business of art in 1980. With passage of time as well as the changes and consis- tenciesVista this in fall, her Jarrett art, but is reflectivestill recognizes these daysthe impor on the- tance of being a continual student. “In my profes- sional development, I have learned from so many along the way,” she says, “not only about painting but also about marketing and exhibiting and what to do and what not to do. It’s an ongoing tutorial.” About her work over the years, Jarrett says, - tercolor, and I certainly remain a staunch lover of“My that first medium; and only it’s love challenging for many and years unpredict was wa-

and execution. A few years ago I had the chal- lengeable in of some painting ways with and acrylicsa fine workout using the in texturedesign of heavy oils. A New York gallery owner show- ing my work asked if I could do that, and I said, “Sure!” So I set about learning all I could about acrylics and adding mediums to give the impasto sense of oils. Painting on canvases and other sur- faces was challenging and fun, so I continued to develop my style, changing from heavier acrylics - diums, depending on the desired result.” to Jarrett’sfluid, to whichupcoming I added exhibit, different “Passages,” weights atof Cityme Art on Lincoln Street opens October 23rd. “Wen- dyth Wells recently saw some of my mixed media pieces, especially those involving discarded parts of clocks and other time pieces, and asked me to do this exhibit,” Jarrett says. The title encom- passes a use of the passages of time, which also focus on themes of positive change. Each paint- ing has its own message for the viewer and is a reminder of some of the daily paths PHOTO BY ROB SPRANKLE we walk.” —CB

52 . JASPER GAZES

PHOTO BY FORREST CLONTS

When Al Black shakes some- in one day. Except, his whole one’s hand, he grips it like a life, he’d never shared them stern football coach. But then, a with anyone, not even with his few moments later, he might be wife. They were private por- talking in a soft voice about the tals, a place to channel the ob- genius of Leonard Cohen and servations and emotions he felt the sweet sadness of “Bird on a he needed to shield from the Wire.” It’s this combination of world. In Columbia, though, he ferocity and vulnerability that begins to hint at Black’s many seek out poets and creative spir- past lives, which include coach, itsstarted—for to nurture the and first in turn, time—to they musician, chess player, poetry helped nurture him. From this, reading organizer and now, au- the Mind Gravy community was thor. His book of poetry I Only born. Left for Tea (Muddy Ford Press, Mind Gravy, in its current it- 2014) came out at the end of the eration, meets every Wednesday August. Summing up his history, Black says with a wry chuckle: Points. A blend of music and po- “I’m just an old hippie.” etry,from it 8-10 provides pm ina space Drip for in new Five But “old hippie” does little to and experienced poets to share reveal just how busy Black stays. of a stereotypical poetry read- Columbia from Indiana, Black ing.work without the usual confines hasSince played 2008, a major when role he moved in fusing to “[Al] welcomes everyone— different elements of Columbia’s gay, straight, bi, trans, black, art, music, and poetry scenes to- white, young, old, professional, gether. newbies—to Mind Gravy, and and invocation that are typically When his wife, Carol, took I think it’s this ‘outside of the months of Mind Gravy listen- found in performance poetry.” a job at Newberry College six lines’ coloring that makes con- ingBlack to others spent read, the when—with first few In addition to Mind Gravy, years ago, Black found himself temporary poetry so dynamic the encouragement of the other Black organizes two other in a new state, unanchored from and fresh” says poet Cassie Pre- events, Bones of the Spirit and all the expectations he’d carried mo-Steele. time to read his own work. The Songversation (both held at Sun in the Midwest—a natural op- Black’s experience as a soccer poets--he decided it was finally- Spirit Yoga in West Columbia). portunity to trade his old story coach is evident in the way he dience, “Wild Raspberry Stains,” When I asked Madden to sum in for a new one. “We all live talks about the poets who arrive isfirst included poem he in everI Only read Left to for an Tea au. up Black in one word, he didn’t myths. When I was in Indiana, I at Mind Gravy. “A good coach is Ed Madden, who edited Tea, hesitate: “tireless.” He explains: was an athlete. A coach. I wasn’t all about empowering. He tries describes Black’s voice as one “after the book was done, he [known as] the guy who wrote to push his players but never of incredible conversational in- sent me a whole new batch of poetry,” Black says. break them. At Mind Gravy, I’m timacy. poems.” In fact, the day after But Black does write poetry. always trying to empower the “Al engages with his audience his interview for Jasper he sent He has since he was 9. And not poet and that bleeds down into in a way that is characteristic a follow-up email: he’d already just a poem every now and then: the crowd. It’s a very support- of spoken word,” Madden says. written another poem to share. ive atmosphere,” Black says with But, he adds, “[h]e doesn’t de- He called it “The Interview.” sometimes writing seven poems pride. pend on the kinds of repetition he fills notebook after notebook, — Elizabeth Breen

54 . JASPER READS October 23, 2014 Sheraton Conference Center 6-9 pm Tickets $80/person 2014 Award Winners: Collaboration—Trustus eatre Inspiration—Darien Cavanaugh “ e Broadside Project” Education—Columbia Baroque Innovation— e SAVVY Musician Callall the Cultural Council at 803.799.3115 to get your tickets today!

ADVERTISE WITH LEAVING BOGOTÁ TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART Poem by Juan David Cruz Poem by Elizabeth Breen

Leaving Bogotá When I leave Bogotá has never been easy. I always leave myself behind. A piece of paper I leave my friends and my brother that has been stolen and the joy of my childhood, by the summer wind my sister and my grandparents, my love and away and my grey bride. and flies upwards with no purpose whatsoever Bogotá has always been would surely know how it feels like my cold silver bride. to leave Bogotá. Leaving Bogotá is never easy, The voice of my mother, because every time I go away the voice of my father I leave myself behind. dissolving in ethereal shadows And so, within the night tonight I am someone else. of my memories. To live is to remember, Leaving Bogotá but forgetting is also living. will never be easy. It has never I am nothing, been outside Bogotá I am no one. easy. Like the sound of a string that vibrates effortlessly on an empty guitar, in the old hands of a deaf man.

Leaving Bogotá is never easy, leaving her is a painful and heavy routine. I know my lines already, I go through the motions, I am used to it, but it still is never easy.

Juan David Cruz was born in Bogotá, Colombia. He immigrated to the USA in 2010, in order to Elizabeth Breen is a recent graduate of the MFA program at the University of South Carolina. complete a PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of South Carolina. Cruz’s work has been published in Her poetry has appeared most recently in Redivider, Jabberwock Review, Revolution House, and Raleigh Review. Escarabeo: Revista literaria, an independent Colombian literary magazine. In 2011 he published a collection of short stories, Dream a Little Dream of Me: cuentos siniestros, and in 2012 he published the short novel La noche del fin del mundo.

56 . JASPER READS LEAVING BOGOTÁ TOTAL ECLIPSE OF THE HEART Poem by Juan David Cruz Poem by Elizabeth Breen

Itthat is notyou long take after the stage you find at a outkaraoke your barmother downtown. is sick

You sing the words off the monitor—determined not to miss a note. And there, in the rum-dark bar, you begin to imagine

your voice a piercing siren of beauty. You are a conquistador of song, ambassador to life and all music everywhere; you are

the Christopher Columbus of acoustic eighties power ballads, which makes sense only to you. You are drunk.

Not long before this you were someone who flossed regularly, filed your nails. Someone said you have a kind smile. But the seasons have uncorked their own strange ideas, the world as indifferent to you as this room of moon-gray faces—

disease now being kept at bay by a blue screen , the words, as always, dissolving right after they appear.

Juan David Cruz was born in Bogotá, Colombia. He immigrated to the USA in 2010, in order to Elizabeth Breen is a recent graduate of the MFA program at the University of South Carolina. complete a PhD in Comparative Literature at the University of South Carolina. Cruz’s work has been published in Her poetry has appeared most recently in Redivider, Jabberwock Review, Revolution House, and Raleigh Review. Escarabeo: Revista literaria, an independent Colombian literary magazine. In 2011 he published a collection of short stories, Dream a Little Dream of Me: cuentos siniestros, and in 2012 he published the short novel La noche del fin del mundo.

JASPER READS . 57 A Dystopian World that We Kind of Recognize Julia Elliott’s The Wilds

EXCERPT FROM THE SHORT STORY, “CAVEMAN DIET”

Clad in a deerskin loincloth, his ripped body gleaming with boar lard, Zugnord looms above us on a stone dais. We are flabby newbies, he tactfully suggests, snatched from the industrial teat of civilization, where we’ve grown battery-fed and soft, our blood percolating with poisons. We are half-dead, our brains zombified by office work and Internet surfing. We are discontent. But so was Zugnord, once. Projected behind him on a vast screen is his former self, Wilbur Sims, a paunchy, befuddled dumpling of a man in rumpled khakis. He squints at the camera like some subterranean rodent. We gasp. For how could this clammy, balding creature have transformed into Zugnord? Zugnord with his glistening pecs and flowing Tarzan hair? Zugnord with his bold eagle eyes? Zugnord, who looks as though he could leap over a boulder and tackle a mastodon, gut it with a piece of expertly chiseled flint?

The Wilds by Julia Elliott / Printed with permission from Tin House Books, 2014

- a wolf man mask, each of Elliott’s stories has Elliott’s stories sits right beside the other act reason why, but for the past the precision and control to give her readers ones and work to tell a larger narrative. As twot is or difficult three years to pinpoint I have had the this ex both the joy of surprise and the comfort of an a collection the stories come together better insatiable desire to read every inevitability that can only be recognized in than almost any other collection I’ve seen. short story collection that I could hindsight. And maybe that is part of the driv- There is not a weak story in this book. But get my hands on. I have read and ing force behind this collection. as with all great collections, there are stand- enjoyed dozens of short story In each story, we enter a world that we, outs. “LIMBS” is a short story that I could collections; some from Nobel Prize win- at least in part, recognize. In stories like “Fe- re-read year-after-year with the continual ning authors and some from the latest indie ral,” we read on as a young teacher tries to hope that Elise and Bob might teach me just darlings, but none of these collections have control her seventh-graders while they slug a little more about life than I knew before I caused me to annoy my wife as much as their way through Dickenson in a classroom sat down. (And I doubt that they would ever Julia Elliott’s debut collection, The Wilds. portable. We think back on all of the as- disappoint me.) “Jaws” is every bit as strong, Each night, while I wandered into Elliott’s sorted levels of hell that we’ve experienced, but I doubt if I would want to sit through it harrowing world of somewhat recognizable and we then determine that we have a pretty dystopias, I would lean over to my wife and strong grasp of the scene unfolding in front drags you into a second person narrative that poke her while I read passages aloud and of us. We might even decide that we have youtime-and-time often wish again. wasn’t It something is unflinching that asyou it tried to discuss the various intricacies that been in that exact same portable. And that’s could identify with. But that’s the thing about made each of the stories come to life. Wheth- - Elliott’s collection. Her stories give us those er it’s through the sweat-soaked terror that dence and upends it with her own brand moments of discomfort, but they also leave two middle school girls relished in as their ofwhen the ElliottSouthern takes Gothic, our newly creating found varying confi friend’s Meemaw sucked down Tootsie Rolls degrees of dystopian landscapes that pull each of them. These are the types of stories while letting the Holy Spirit overtake her in us into the unfamiliar just long enough to al- thatus holding leave us the sitting book in after our webeds finish in that reading brief the opening story, “The Rapture,” or a dis- low for the surprise that comes when we set- moment of silence, as we try to hold onto quieting tone of laughter that accompanies tle in and then realize that it is not the alien that unnamed feeling that we felt when we us as we read the title story and witness the place that we had hoped it would be. awkwardness of obsessive young love in a Not every story in this collection is dis- our loved ones and stumbling over our own girl’s coming-of-age tale that is accented wordsread the as story’swe try to final verbalize lines, beforethings nudgingthat we with ancient potions, bird skull crowns, and under an umbrella of dystopia, but each of have only begun to process. tinctly southern, and they don’t all fit neatly — Will Garland

58 . JASPER READS Jon Sealy’s The Whiskey Baron No Country for Drunk Millhands

Striking and lean, debut novelist Jon long life in the mills while watching his sib- Sealy’s The Whiskey Baron (Hub City Press, ling strike out in the liquor trade; Aunt Lou, 2014) presents a tale of black-market moon- a matronly Southern belle of a contraband- shine in an upstate South Carolina mill town, distributing Charlotte crime boss; and Lar- Bell, SC, not far outside of Spartanburg. It’s than Tull, increasingly driven to violence by a place where poor folks scratch out a living the ruthlessness of the trade he plies. That best they can, where a little corn liquor’s just he’ll kill to maintain. the ticket for winding down after a ten-hour These narrative threads converge in ways shift at the looms. Too bad it’s 1932 and alco- that aren’t particularly surprising, but then, hol is illegal in the United States. Sealy isn’t interested in reinventing this sort Whether residents are working in the lint- of crime narrative, merely singing his version choked mills or for the rum-running Larthan of the tune. Point of view shifts from charac- Tull, the county’s chief bootlegger, danger ter to character are clear and effective with- lurks in the most mundane locations: the out ever straying too far from Sealy’s assured workplace, its clattering machinery poised to narrative voice. If some of these people feel a lop off a digit at the slightest mistake; clap- little less ‘real,’ that’s okay—the setting itself board houses, in the muddy streets of the lives and breathes on its own. But forget the company-owned mill village; or the town tav- plot: this novel features a vital message about ern, which owing to the law of the land has prohibition. Like the best literary novels, this been turned into a house of crime and vice. one gives us a window through which we A weary Sheriff Chambers, pushing sev- may view our current culture. Might ‘Mary enty, is called to the scene of a double mur- Jane’ as a character name suggest a modern der outside the tavern. The story he’s told by version of our ongoing war on illicit sub- Tull’s barkeep—an argument among drunks stances? Surely the novel’s question—“Is the over a shady business deal—adds up. Mostly. collateral damage worth the purported ben-

over the corruption surrounding the illegal Overall The Whiskey Baron represents a liquorClose totrade, retirement Chambers and feels already that there conflicted could sturdy,efit of the Cormac regulation?”—suggests McCarthyesque debut so. from . . . a very highly be more to the account of the alleged perp, Sealy, a Virginia-based, South Carolina-born a wounded fugitive nicknamed ‘Mary Jane’ author with an assured new voice. If this recommended Hopewell, himself a rival to Larthan. Cham- book doesn’t read particularly Southern— release from the bers, the nominal protagonist, is faced here these could be any ruthless gangsters and with his principal quandary: Is it worth get- weary cops—Sealy’s descriptions of the sur- always-reliable ting mixed up in a deadly turf war among roundings and travails of his characters nev- independent press organized criminals—criminals he and the er fails to make a satisfying, full impression corrupt federal agents in Columbia have al- in the mind. Hub City. lowed to thrive? He’s not sure. He’s tired of Long story short: The Whiskey Baron ar- this crap. Who can blame him? rives as a very highly recommended re- From this compelling opening we delve lease from the always-reliable indepen- into the lives of those affected by the liquor dent press Hub City. I can offer no higher trade: Mary Jane himself, wounded and on compliment than my sincere anticipation the run; his younger brother, the suitor of of future impressive work from Mr. Sealy. the bootlegger’s daughter, about to begin his

— James D. McCallister

JASPER READS . 59 The Sisterhood of a Columbia Rock Band Screaming Divas by Suzanne Kamata

snuggles her story cozily in to. narrative arcs with what could feel like a The band and the four protagonists con- laundry-list collection of after-school spe- sists of the scarred beauty queen Cassie, the cial chapters on sex and drugs had she not shy, unrequited Cassie-crushing Esther, the handled them with sensitivity and care. Part former violin prodigy Harumi, and the ring- of this comes from a balanced prose voice leader, the irascible and law-troubled Trudy. which rarely veers into the melodramatic drivel that such material could easily em- by a different member, giving the reader full brace, but it also seems to stem from a desire accessEach chapter to the emotionsis narrated and in motivationsthe first-person that to win her audience over with the right bal- inspire each to take up rock music and what ance of innocence and grit required to win continues to inspire them. the “realism” tag. But while making music is the central The lone exception here comes when Ka- thrust of the narrative, Kamata intuitively mata must contrive an ending, and it is there understands that moments of creation and where the story spills over into melodrama performance only become important when and briefly seems to drop its aversion to placed in context with the variety of real-life after-school special sensationalism. While concerns which plague these girls as they it is doubtful most readers will be terribly unsteadily embrace adulthood. She presents put off by what feels like a rather predict- the formation of the band as a group of up- able ending, the turn towards familiar tropes starts who derive as much pleasure in their strikes a disappointing note for a novel identity as rockers—and the sisterhood be- which seemed intent on striking a more ing in a band provides—as they do in the act nuanced course. of creation. And, instead of rocketing to star- Despite this small quibble, the novel is Rock and roll has always been mostly dom, the Screaming Divas as a band have a still a valuable and worthwhile effort. By about fantasy. That’s not to discount how more typical musical career—they have mild making a story ostensibly about rock and exciting and fascinating the music itself can local acclaim for their frenetic Supremes cov- roll and turning it into a story about friend- be, but it’s always been more about cultural ers and scattered originals, play a few out- ship and growing up, Kamata makes a move meaning, about expressing anger and rebel- of-town gigs, and record just one demo tape similar to that of the Girls Rock camp, which lion, love and lust, and all those other inef- before the novel ends. uses the auspices of making music to em- fable feelings that come from simply being In fact, more of the story is given over to power young girls in all facets of their lives. young and alive at the same time, than about - In fact, the novel’s frank and judgment-free banging out three chords and a chorus. fortable community for herself as a closeted treatment of so many touchy subjects would Unfortunately, it’s also a fantasy which lesbian,examining the Esther’s conservative struggles family to find pressures a com likely make great fodder for future iterations has belonged almost exclusively to boys. Harumi receives as a second-generation of the camp here and across the country. It That’s why things like Girls Rock Columbia, Japanese-American, and the dark familial is, at its heart, an artistic expression of the a local music and self-empowerment sum- dysfunction undergirding Cassie’s beauty argument underlying Girls Rock and the riot mer camp, are so important. It’s also, it queen perfection. Along, of course, with grrrl movement itself—not only do we need seems, the central impetus behind Suzanne the kinds of fraught friendships and romanc- Kamata’s new book Screaming Divas. es that go with the territory. but we also need to recognize how the cur- A young adult novel, Screaming Divas fol- And, perhaps most importantly for a rentto fight inequality for gender on equalitystage is linkedin rock to and a hostroll, lows the story of an unlikely punk rock quar- book aimed at 13-17 year olds, Screaming of issues in so many facets of women’s tet of young high school-age girls as they Divas neither avoids provocative territory daily lives. form an R&B-inspired punk band in Colum- nor provides easy assurances. Kamata does — Kyle Petersen bia, South Carolina, a town which Kamata an excellent job of wedding these dramatic

60 . JASPER READS The Consequences of Choices in Mark Powell’s The Sheltering

of authority—the military, police—provide to some extent a confession, even an absolu- tion. Powell spares no details in putting these the ground beneath his family seems to have post-2007 Americans under the microscope givena sense way of to something a chasm. firm and fixed when to expose their greed and pettiness, but he Bobby Rosen is a former soldier, tethered also has great sympathy for them, unfolding to his recently-released-from-prison brother - by a sense of guilt and a shared history of logues in prose that adopts the perspectives violence: his victim a child in Sadr City, his oftheir the conflictedcharacters motives it follows: and now internal plunging dia brother’s a teenage boy killed in the box- into the rum soaked regrets of Luther Red- ing ring. Only Bobby seems troubled by the ding, now the tortured conscience of Bobby bloodshed. His brother Donny is sharp and Rosen, or Lucy Redding’s evangelical ratio- sociopathic, dragging Bobby and others nalizations. along in a net of guilt, obligation, and wishful One of the novel’s overarching concerns thinking. Bobby is outraged when he discov- is with consequences, the way that things ers that Donny has led his ex and her ill child done on a whim or in service of a passing to live with him in a crack house, but Bobby desire have effects that ripple through years, is caught as well, unable to escape the role of families, and communities. But the novel also unwitting, if unsurprised, accomplice. portrays how alone each individual is in fac- Disappointed in the outcomes of their ing these consequences, and how inadequate choices and unsure of themselves, these the lines of communication are between characters go through the motions of their brothers and sisters, parents and children. lives as if paralyzed, and so Bobby, drown- If the novel is in part an exploration of the In his introduction to Mark Powell’s The ing in regret, has no answer to his brother’s dangers of lacking a convincing narrative Sheltering (University of South Carolina predatory single-mindedness, and Luther or world view on which one could found an Press, 2014), Pat Conroy writes that this is plunges into the comforts of booze and fast identity and chart a course of action, it is also “a philosophical novel with a belief system food with an appetite tinged with self-loath- a reminder of how harmful such conviction that collapses in on itself because the mem- ing. In addition to Luther and Bobby, we can be, and how much harm can be done in branes of our storm-tossed faith always seem also get to know Pamela, Luther’s wife, busy so gossamer and imperiled.” Powell’s charac- pursuing the highest form of enlightenment While the novel changes characters and per- - to be found at the gym and expensive yoga spectivesthe confidence along ofthe one’s way, ownits adult righteousness. characters lapse, shipwrecked on the shores of middle retreats, and the Reddings’ two daughters: share this melancholy backwards-looking, age,ters findthe successesthemselves of in their the earlymidst adulthoodsof this col the beautiful and rebellious Katie, convinced asking themselves how they arrived at their having sunk, or trapped under the weight that her father will spend his last days im- places and how they are to proceed. These of their histories. When we meet the novel’s prisoned for war crimes in the Hague, and are heavy questions, but Powell has rendered - the dumpy and resentful Lucy, clinging to them compelling because his characters are ing a drone over Afghanistan, waiting for the a fundamentalist faith that assures her of recognizable: our neighbors and ourselves in signalfirst protagonist, to launch the Luther missile Redding, that will he’s reduce pilot moral superiority to her sister. With their the strange, uncertain landscape of America out truck. He takes the job not out of passion of their bank accounts, both Redding girls as- wars of the 2000s. For all of their faults and orthe patriotic man’s life fervor, to a bright but out flash of andneed: a burned-a job to sertparents their focused identities exclusively as an indictment on the of figures their failings,after the these financial characters collapse are andrendered prolonged sym- - parents’ choices. pathetic and familiar in the light of Powell’s The Sheltering reads like an indictment of a prose, and this alone makes The Sheltering keep his family afloat after the end of his ca- generation, a confession that, as Luther Red- well worth reading. reer as an airline pilot and the conflagration nancial turmoil of the late 2000s. He is grasp- ding thinks, there are no competent adults — Jonathan Butler ingof his for and a rope his wifein a stormy Pamela’s sea, fortune and structures in the fi under 65. But if it is an indictment, it is also

JASPER READS . 61 PINEAPPLE FLEX EL NUEVO ALBUM PARA EL 2014 23 SEPT 2014

WWW.POST-ECHO.COM The Columbia Museum of Art: Still Collecting after All These Years BY WILL SOUTH

a translation and a substitute. Every image Spend a few hours in a museum and silent, on a screen is planographic (physically exist- unmoving things may speak with more force ing on one plane only, that of its screen) and than a phone. therefore lacks textural depth and tactile com- A whisper, an artist once told me, is louder plexity. That image is not, then, and never will than a shout. be, the real thing. If people were always and Happily (again), people need not give up their phones or pads or future google glasses substitutions, then paintings would, indeed, in order to enjoy and learn from objects. We everywhere satisfied with translations and be in trouble. Happily (for museums in general and this: the quality experiences derived from en- can have both. The practical benefit is simply my job security personally), people hunger gaging with art give us additional inspiration, for deeper experiences. The best evidence knowledge, pleasure and hope: art shows us paintings (ok, and sculpture) are around the best that we can be. Art always adds to to stay is the look on the faces of those who our life, it never subtracts. As the world gets come to the museum and stare at a Botticelli increasingly complex, art confers a survival or Monet or Moran. They engage in a way advantage. Even mathematically, then, art is they do not with the tiny screen they con- relevant (an interesting way to think of it). stantly carry. What they see before them is And, when looking at art, a viewer is never “just looking.” We are participating. We are ost of us carry the world around in of the human hand and heart that worked thinking and feeling about a world full of ideas infinitely subtle and sensuous: the presence the palm of our hand. In an instant, on the object, an object fully present in its and options. What we take from art helps us we can access spoken words and non-digital materiality. They see, in short, navigate this world. It is thus both treasure moving images from the sublime the real thing. They need for the image to and tool, it is a warehouse of things and yet it to the unspeakably ridiculous, al- be silent so that they can concentrate on is no one thing. Through going to see art, we ternating between the useful and the useless it; it must be unmoving for them to take in almost always come back to ourselves and our with equal facility. We can join global conver- its detail. That moment in front of a great own desire to know both what is “out there” as sations, and post the minutiae of our own lives work of art is an irreplaceable experience well as what is in us. (careful, would-be job hunters). Privacy itself in which people are moved emotionally So the Columbia Museum of Art will keep on is now a debatable concept. In this (relative- and spiritually. collecting and caring for art, all the while using ly) new era of instant everything, can some- Once in the habit of looking at art in the more and more technology to interpret and thing like a painting hanging off in a museum share it, believing that a great museum—one somewhere—an object that makes no sound always the possibility of pleasure and stimu- relevant, useful and beautiful—is at the center flesh numerous possibilities arise. First is and does not move—still be relevant to lation, worthy ends in and of themselves. of a great community. new and ever younger audiences? But, there is more. One discovers what oth- You need not skip ahead to see that the ers value and what entire societies have val- (wholly biased) answer here will be “of ued for centuries. A two-hundred-year-old course.” Real art objects not only remain rel- portrait of George Washington reminds us evant, they may be more important to us than that Americans have always recognized and Will South is the Chief Curator of the ever. There are reasons both philosophical honored leadership, courage and accom- Columbia Museum of Art and practical for this, and, in no particular or- plishment; a two-thousand-year-old statue of der, here are some of those reasons a Boddhisatva is an elegant expression The image on your hand-held device is both that reality extends beyond what we see.

GUEST EDITORIAL . 63 ... for a day of art, music and culture ON THE JOIN US, SATURDAY GROUNDS OF ROCKAWAYS. Our family-friendly ROSEWOOD th festival features art from over 100 artists and SEPTEMBER 20 will keep you entertained all day with activities and face painting for children as well as live 10:00 AM to 6:00PM music by TOM HALL AND THE PLOWBOYS, TOWN THEATRE and the SC PHILHARMONIC FREE ADMISSION ORCHESTRA MUSICIANS. ARTS CHASE ASMER • DREHER HIGH SCHOOL CHORALE • COLUMBIA COLLEGE FESTIVAL COLUMBIA MARIONETTE THEATRE • TOM HALL & THE PLOWBOYS • TOWN THEATRE THANKS TO SC PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA MUSICIANS • TONYA TYNER TRIO VISIT US ON OUR SPONSORS

Budweiser Sponsored by Trenholm Artists Guild OF COLUMBIA