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Glen Trosch in his gallery
Writing on the Wall

A Hampden gallery proves hippie posters are works of art.

Play It
Larry Hoffman, Shearwater, and The Polkats
Published: March, 2012
Alakazam, Dustin Wong, and Anne
Published: February, 2012
Johnny Cash and Old Calf
Published: January, 2012
Read It
Jehanne Wake and Hanne Blank
Published: March, 2012
Bob Ehrlich, Laurel Snyder, and Lauren R. Silberman
Published: February, 2012
James Egan, Tricia Tunstall, and Esopus
Published: January, 2012
Grey Areas

A new erotic novel is sweeping up Baltimore Women

Ah, the beauty of e-readers: The person sitting next to you could be scrolling through anything: a crime novel, a recipe book, or the latest in erotica fiction.

The latter is certainly the case with the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, a controversial love story about a couple who engages in sadomasochism. Written by British author
E. L. James, the series’ first installment soared to the top of The New York Times e-book fiction bestseller list.

Dancing About Architecture

After shaking up the dance world, choreographer Liz Lerman comes to Baltimore with a lot on her mind. 

There’s an oft-repeated quote that’s been attributed to Frank Zappa that “writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” Upon hearing it, Liz Lerman smiles. “Of course it is,” she says. “Your point?”

Face the Music
A local drummer starts a virtual music lesson website

It’s a tale as old as time: An experienced guitarist sits down with a young kid who just wants to learn the basics. They have an hour-long lesson in which they discuss tuning, chord progression, and they strum a few easy songs. The 21st-century catch? The guitarist is halfway across the world.

No matter where the student or teacher is, music instruction is now possible through a website called Bandhappy (bandhappy.com), which uses video chat to connect nearly 400 teachers with more than 8,000 students around the globe.

Tuned In
Whether on the podium or on the air, Tom Hall knows the score.

Tom Hall claps his hands, and the 130 singers in front of him immediately hush. Hall frequently halts the proceedings during Baltimore Choral Arts Society’s rehearsals at Grace United Methodist Church to interject observations, suggestions, and bits of arcane history about the piece—in this case, Mendelssohn’s Elijah. He notes that Mendelssohn “had Bach on the brain while writing this stuff,” compares a rollicking piano part to Jerry Lee Lewis, and advises, “It’s too scream-y, so let’s make it more operatic.”

Diner: An Oral History
Thirty years after its release, Baltimore gives its most famous film the respect it deserves

Earlier this year, when Vanity Fair marked the 30th anniversary of Diner by proclaiming the Baltimore-set movie, written and directed by native son Barry Levinson, “the most influential movie of the last 30 years,” it led to lots of head-scratching: “Not E.T., not Reservoir Dogs, not Titanic, but… Diner?”

Outside The Box
A gallery defies the conventions of a typical art space.

Though Plywood, the new art gallery/event space in Belvedere Square, is right in our collective backyard, the idea for it was actually hatched overseas.

The gallery is the brainchild of Chris Attenborough and Sean Naftel, American artists who met in 2008 while in graduate school in Ireland. Though they came from different backgrounds, they quickly discovered a shared passion for examining the nature of space.

“We wanted to create spaces for spon-taneous events to take place,” says Naftel.

The Beginner's Goodbye
An excerpt from Anne Tyler's upcoming novel

Editor's Note: Anne Tyler’s 19th novel is, not surprisingly, set in Baltimore, so its geography and overall feel will be familiar. But the book contains some surprises, including a quasi-supernatural element, that will raise a few eyebrows as she explores notions of love, loss, and recovery. Tyler selected this excerpt and personally edited it for Baltimore readers, who have gotten sneak previews of her last four books.

Little Black Boxes
All the world’s a stage at Towson University’s suddenly vibrant arts program.

His septet had only two days before a big concert, so Ellery Eskelin was conducting this rehearsal with a certain urgency. The highly acclaimed jazz saxophonist, long and lanky beneath a brown-felt porkpie hat and a thin goatee, faced the semi-circle of his six bandmates, talking to them like a stage director: This section needs more energy; that section needs to be lighter; here you have to play the music as written; there you should use the notation just as a guide for improvisation.

Kickstarting the Arts Scene

Local artists are using a high-tech form of patronage to fund a wide variety of projects.

For five years, Erin Gleeson and Benjamin O'Brien have been producing a surreal children's show, Showbeast, and posting episodes online. Billed as "a show to feel weird about," their Web series makes Pee-Wee's Playhouse seem straight-laced thanks to its peculiar puppets, plotlines involving mustache removal or Magic 8 Ball fortune-telling, dreamlike digital animation, and wacky cameos by the likes of Dan Deacon. It isn't the sort of project a network gets behind or a foundation funds.

The Next Big: R&B Star
A Baltimore native sings her way to the top.

Monica Floyd, aka Doll Phace, grew up in West Baltimore singing in church choirs and performing in Poly Follies, the annual show put on by her high school, Baltimore Polytechnic Institute. "I always participated in theater groups and on dance teams," she says. "That was a very special part of my life." Then, while at Morgan State University, Doll Phace (a nickname coined by a fellow Poly student) saw an ad in the paper for someone trying to put together an all-girl group. "I got picked and we moved to California," she says.