Tickets to Whartscape—the sprawling, freewheeling indie music festival—go on sale at noon today. Venues include the BMA, Load of Fun, and the MICA Art Studio Center parking lot. Considering all the bands slated to perform, the mega-pass would seem to live up to its name.

The Knot, the excellent new disc from our very own Wye Oak, is streaming in its entirety at the Merge Records site. Check it out and look for a glowing review in our next issue.
Wye Oak plays the Ottobar on July 21st.

Baltimore's Peter Culman has been cited with a lifetime achievement award from Theatre Communications Group. Here are the details from the folks at Centerstage...
As Baltimore-area theaters proudly hosted about 700 colleagues at the annual conference of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service organization for the American not-for-profit theater, CENTERSTAGE received a surprise amid all [...]

Dionne Warwick, Cake, Robin Thicke, and Robert Randolph will play the Main Stage at this year's Artscape, which runs July 17-19. Local artists—including Felicia Carter, Todd Marcus, and Matt Wigler—will appear on two side stages. Noticeably absent is the Saturn Stage—which, in years past, featured national artists such as Joan Jett and Los Lobos—which fell [...]

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 [...]

You can add today's Sun story about cuts at the Walters to the litany of bad news for local arts organizations. There will be more to come...

Walters cuts staff, spending

Baltimore Theatre Project might be in danger of closing

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra lays off administrative employees

Baltimore Opera bankruptcy filing shows $1.2 million debt

Baltimore Opera seeks Chapter 11 [...]

Sometimes a guitar is just a guitar.

Sometimes, it isn't.
I haven't seen much commentary on Bruce's allusion to Prince's halftime performance.

Last night's Great Poe Debate at the Free Library of Philadelphia was great fun—a lively, entertaining, and educational spectacle that will be talked about for years. I'll post more about it tomorrow.

Local artist Kini Collins is taking her work directly to the public. And in this economy, you can't argue with her rationale, or beat her prices. Here's what she's doing...
I decided to take control of my sales and sell my work from my studio. And I decided that I would sell the [...]

Over the past few days, emails have been bouncing around regarding proposed legislation for licensing live entertainment in Baltimore City. And after reading over the legislation, I understand why folks are concerned. According to what's being proposed, the proprietors of restaurants, taverns, and dance clubs that book live entertainment would have to re-apply for licenses [...]