What piece of art changed your life? How did it affect you?
I’m not sure! I don’t remember any one thing changing my life. I wish I had a better answer! I recall music, performance, art, and literature always being a part of my life; we didn’t have a TV when I was growing up, so [...]

Yawn. In a previous post, Phish's Trey Anastasio characterized Time Turns Elastic, the piece he recently performed with the BSO, as "sort of a long Phish song." Now, it's exactly that. Actually, it's more than that; it's a very long Phish song, clocking in at more than 13 minutes, and you can check it out [...]

"It's sort of a long Phish song," is how the band's singer/guitarist Trey Anastasio describes his composition Time Turns Elastic, which he's performing tonight with Marin Alsop and the BSO. "It was two years of work, and it was such a great way to come back into playing. There was a lesson in being part [...]

Two of our major arts institutions recently announced cutbacks related to the faltering economy. Center Stage reduced its main stage productions to just four plays, down from the usual six, for 2009-2010. To help offset the loss, the theater will round out its season with staged readings and other shorter pieces that don't require extensive [...]

What piece of art changed your life? How did it affect you?
The King James version of The Bible changed my life and forced me to have a personal relationship with a higher being. It especially helped me deal with the passing of my father and brother, Glenn. Me and Glenn were considered rebels coming up [...]

Baltimore was well represented at last Saturday's Groove City Jazz and Blues Festival in Cambridge. The  Junkyard Saints brought the New Orleans-flavored funk with a high energy set that included a rousing cover of the Meters' "Cabbage Alley." Saxophonist Carl Grubbs (above, with band), who recently won the $25,000 Baker Award, followed with a transcendent [...]

What piece of art changed your life? How did it affect you?
As an artist and mother of three young children, I am affected by any book that I actually have time to read. On my nightstand at the moment is Mother on Fire by Sandra Tsing Loh. It's a fiercely hilarious book about Sandra's life as [...]

This year's Maryland Film Festival opens on Thursday evening with a program of short films hosted by Bobcat Goldthwait at MICA's Brown Center.It should be a hoot. The festival also includes appearances by John Waters and Fugazi's Ian Mackaye. Check the schedule for details.

What piece of art changed your life? How did it affect you?
The Sounds of the South five album set, compiled by Alan Lomax for
Atlantic Records. It was recorded in the 50's, on a mobile two track
tape recorder, in the rural South. I grew up on it; been listening to it since
I was a little kid. [...]

What piece of art changed your life? How did it affect you?
Like many kids in the late ‘60s, I would run home from elementary school to catch soap-opera phenomenon Dark Shadows. A daytime serial that combined horror (Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolf Man) and classic Gothic fiction (Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Taming Of The Shrew), Dark [...]