Archives: February 2014

Heartbreakers

We’re crushing hard on these 14 Kansas Citians. Read our feature here and click through for outtakes of photographer Chris Mullins’ shoot.

Houndmouth’s Katie Toupin talks writing new music and sharing a van with a bunch of dudes

Indiana’s Houndmouth sounds like a lot of things, but probably nothing hits closer to home than the Band. The recently college-graduated foursome – keyboardist Katie Toupin, bassist Zak Appleby, guitarist Matt Myers and drummer Shane Cody – might be a little young to make that connection. Nonetheless, the group certainly does a remarkable job of emulating the same spiritual-country vibe…

Neutral Milk Hotel tickets still available (and under face price)

Checking in from a few weeks ago, Neutral Milk Hotel, the indie folk brainchild of Jeff Magnum best known for 1998’s “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” will be taking the stage at the Uptown Theater tomorrow night, February 13th. It will be a part of the group’s reunion tour featuring the same musicians as their groundbreaking album. According to…

The Apothecary Shoppe, the Tulsa pharmacy that supplies Missouri with lethal injection drug, slapped with a lawsuit

Attorneys for condemned Missouri prisoner Michael Taylor filed a lawsuit against a compounding pharmacy in Oklahoma that has produced the lethal-injection drug for the last three Show-Me State executions. Taylor, a Kansas City-area man who was convicted of the 1989 murder of Ann Harrison, faces execution on February 26. If it goes forward, he would be the fourth prisoner to…

Beth Nybeck, artist/sculptor, answers The Pitch‘s questionnaire

Name: Beth Nybeck Occupation: Artist/sculptor Hometown: Dubuque, Iowa Current neighborhood: Downtown metro What I do: I’m living my dream! I make large- and small-scale metal sculpture. Most of my work lives within the public realm: in parks, airports, cities and college campuses. My work is abstract, tactile, interactive, and brings energy to an environment. I design and build all my…

The Cable Guys: Curious why a bill in Topeka might limit cable competition? Just follow the lobbying money

In Topeka, when industry money and cash-hungry politicians come together, you get some curious ideas. And sometimes those ideas become law. Among the battier notions dotting the 2014 agenda so far is Senate Bill 304. It’s a pro-cable-industry measure that would outlaw cities from building out their own broadband services and make it harder for them to cooperate with new…

Sugar Rush returns next week!

What does it take to win the “Kansas City Sweetheart Award”? Not charm. Not good looks. Not even congeniality. Hint: sugar. Actually, sugar is just one component of The Pitch Sugar Rush, where many of Kansas City’s finest restaurants, bakeries and candy makers compete for top honors. The third annual sweets-and-dessert expo is held from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday,…

KC Bier Co. is now open in Waldo

When the clock struck 4 p.m., KC Bier Co.’s doors officially opened at 310 West 79th Street. Take a look at the photo on the right. Those five beers – Helles (pale lager), Dunkel (brown lager), Hefeweizen (pale wheat), Weizenbock (strong wheat) and Double Alt (German IPA) – are on tap at the brewery. You’ll be able to drink them in…

University of Missouri shows love for Michael Sam with message at Memorial Stadium

The University of Missouri is showing a lot of love for Michael Sam. The university posted this awesome photo to its official Twitter account on Monday with the following message: “Support for Sam at Memorial Stadium. #OneMizzou.” This show of support followed the former defensive lineman’s announcement to the world that he is gay.  Barring another player coming out before…

Four Seasons Pizza & Pasta: Real Italians making real pizza

After studying at the University of Missouri-Kansas City for several years in the 1990s, Giulio Covello returned to his hometown in Sicily, Carini – a city of 40,000 residents not far from Palermo – but found that he was homesick for Kansas City. “There were certain things that I had gotten used to here and things I really missed,” says…

Former Grandview Mayor Steve Dennis cuts a deal with the feds

The International House of Prayer twice made five-figure donations to Steve Dennis in 2012. Dennis was Grandview’s mayor at the time, but he told IHOP, the religious group based in Grandview, that the donations would go to a charitable organization that he had set up the year before. All told, Dennis received $35,000 from IHOP while representing that the funds…

Queens of the Stone Age coming to Starlight Theatre this May

In June 2013, after a six-year hiatus, Queens of the Stone Age released what some might consider a comeback album with …Like Clockwork. This spring, QOTSA is heading back on the road for a short tour, mostly on the West Coast and in the Midwest, including festival stops (most notably Coachella), before the group heads over to Europe. Kansas City…

Guitar virtuoso Redd Volkaert on teaching and pleasing the audience

As part of our International Folk Alliance Conference preview series, we’re rounding up a bunch of notable acts that are coming to town and chatting about what’s happening in their world. The International Folk Alliance Conference takes place from February 19-23. Details here. In addition to his work with Merle Haggard, Redd Volkaert won a Grammy award for Best Country…

Free State Brewing Co. brings Burroughser Weisse and eight other beers to Overtime Sports Bar & Grill for a tap takeover tonight

If you haven’t made it to Lawrence yet to try Free State Brewing Co.’s Burroughser Weisse, stop the car. Free State is saving you a trip and taking over the taps at the Overtime Sports Bar & Grill (11300 West 135th Street, Overland Park) tonight for the Sunflower Showdown men’s basketball game.  So while you’re watching the Jayhawks and Wildcats hoop it up,…

Kansas City SmokeShack BBQ has closed

The 10-month-old Kansas City SmokeShack BBQ at 900 Swift in North Kansas City posted the announcement that it had closed on the restaurant’s Facebook page on Friday. The February 7 Facebook post read: Good Folks. We are closed indefinitely as of today. You have been the most awesome customers a barbecue joint could ever wish for. Thank You for patronizing…