Elvis Costello There’s something calming about Elvis Costello’s voice. It’s not exactly a beautiful instrument, but it’s a reliable and powerful one. Whether he’s warbling regretfully through “Alison” or demanding to know “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding,” Costello always seems to be singing with a smirk on his face. His most recent project, 2013’s Wise Up Ghost…
Millie Edwards has a long history in Kansas City as one of the scene’s most talented, though relatively uncelebrated, jazz and blues singers. She has shared her voice with Lori Tucker and Geneva Price as one of the Wild Women of Kansas City (along with local jazz legend Myra Taylor). These days, she can be found co-hosting the Monday-night jams at…
I’m not surprised when Brian Rogers tells me that he has a freshly printed degree in history from the University of Kansas. The 22-year-old radiates a sort of collegiate youthfulness; he grins brightly and answers questions thoroughly and thoughtfully. Even his wavy reddish-blond hair is styled in a way that might be described as professorial. But Rogers, former drummer of…
They say my generation is uninspired, we lack motive, but it’s hard to stay focused when the lens is broken, Barrel Maker raps on “State.” That line, from Barrel Maker’s debut album, Blk Flanl, might as well be his thesis statement. The words in the rapper’s smooth, assured voice fall over light and shimmering beats without anger, but the emotion…
It’s impossible to overestimate any one province’s affinity for its local pizza. What sounds like an indistinctive variation in shape or preparation technique to you and me is someone else’s platonic pie, the pizza Rosebud of that person’s youth. Just last week, one of my co-workers patiently explained to me the magic of a Detroit-style pizza: “Like a square, deep-dish…
The Epsten Gallery’s Women to Watch: 2015 (Women, Nature & Art) gathers a menacing, magical, sometimes mesmerizing bouquet. The exhibition, a collaboration with the Greater Kansas City Area Committee of the National Museum of Women in the Arts, features five local artists, each concerned with how nature mirrors or punishes femininity. Rain Harris’ “Glaciem” is an intricate alien biome, one…
It was a snowy day when I saw Crimes of the Heart, but what I wanted when I left the show was a tall, cold glass of lemonade — tart, with lots of sugar, just the way they take it in the play. And I would have drunk it down with these characters in their kitchen, where their conversations, arguments…
It’s not heaven’s brood but the better angels of our nature that save us. The Kansas City Repertory Theatre, partnering again with director David Cromer (whose Our Town was staged here last fall), presents a long-overdue production of Angels in America Part One: Millennium Approaches and Part Two: Perestroika, in rotating repertory. The millennium has approached and receded since Tony…
In 2013, I drove two and a half hours west from Kansas City, to the Salina, Kansas, headquarters of Quality Record Pressing. Along with Acoustic Sounds (a retailer and distributor of new and used records), Analogue Productions (a record label), and Blue Heaven Studios (a recording studio), QRP is part of a music empire helmed by an eccentric audiophile named Chad…
Chris Hardwick would seem to be stretched pretty thin. He hosts Talking Dead and @midnight, and is the CEO of Nerdist Industries, a multimedia podcast network for which he hosts his own Nerdist podcast. I am tired just from typing that sentence, but Hardwick is built of something else entirely, which allows him to also travel the world doing stand-up comedy. He’ll…
If you’ve got dinner on your mind, we’ve got a hearty recommendation. Tonight at 6 p.m., the Local Pig in Westport is hosting its first beer dinner with Santa Fe Brewing Company. The dinner is five courses with five beer pairings for $50/person – and tax and gratuity are included. “I sat down with the Sante Fe guys and tasted…
It’s been awhile since we’ve checked in with former Missouri state Rep. Cynthia Davis. Last we had heard, the four-time representative from O’Fallon was fighting animal control to keep chickens on her property while mounting a losing race for Missouri lieutenant governor under the Constitution Party ticket because she didn’t think Missouri Republicans were conservative enough. Even by Missouri General…
Local radio station KQRC 98.9 the Rock has announced the lineup for its annual Rockfest, taking place on Saturday, May 30 at Liberty Memorial. Fifteen bands will perform, including Rob Zombie, Halestorm, the Pretty Reckless, Anthrax, Volbeat, Papa Roach and Kansas City’s own Tech N9ne. Get the full lineup here. Ticket pre-sale starts Wednesday, March 4, at 10 a.m. Details here. …
Along with the announcement that My Morning Jacket will release its forthcoming album, The Waterfall, on May 4, comes the welcome news of a correlating tour. On Thursday, August 13, the Kentucky band will perform at Starlight. The Waterfall is the band’s first album in four years, and the first track – “Big Decisions” – sounds promising. Tickets go on…
Beck continues to add dates to his upcoming tour this spring. The Grammy Award-winning singer is doing it in style, too, and has announced a joint show with Willie Nelson at the Starlight Theater in Kansas City on May 15. He’ll now play five dates in total this May, which includes two festival stops at the Hangout Music Festival in…
The Kansas City Royals Took the San Francisco Giants to seven games in last year’s World Series, falling just short in their bid to win the Fall Classic for the first time since 1985. This year, they return much of the same team that wildly ran through the postseason all the way to the final game, but they did lose…
Torn Label Brewing Co. is coming to Kansas. The Crossroads production brewery officially launched in January with Major Brands issuing its kegs on the Missouri side of the state line. Starting as soon as next week, Torn Label’s brews will be sent to the Sunflower State. Torn Label’s Rafi Chaudry tells The Pitch that the brewery has signed an agreement with…
Racing: What’s not to love? The cars go ’round and ’round on the track. For hours! Sometimes people are tragically killed. What a sport. But will the next generation understand exurban America’s enthusiasm for hanging out on aluminum benches and drinking to excess under the harsh glare of a red-hot sun? Who knows? Best to introduce those little tots to…
“Sometime this fall”: That’s the end date for the jackhammers, trucks and trenches — and the accompanying detour signs and one-lane traffic — that those of us who work downtown between the River Market and Union Station have been contending with since last summer. Tom Gerend, executive director of the Kansas City Streetcar Authority, tells The Kansas City Star that the close…
February might have been a short month, but Kansas City artists found plenty of time to put music to film and pump out some new music videos. From jazz (Eddie Moore and the Outer Circle) to rap (Irv Da Phenom) to the latest locals-made-good, Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, we’ve cherry-picked a few vids for this month’s installment of…
Jimmy Buffett has just announced some added dates to his appropriately titled Workin’ ‘n’ Playin’ Tour. Parrotheads, rejoice: Your leader stops at the Sprint Center on Saturday, June 6, with his Coral Reefer Band and opener Huey Lewis and the News. Tickets go on sale Monday, March 9, at 10 a.m. Details here. Categories: Music Tags: concert announcement, incoming,…
After receiving several e-mails and Facebook messages last week from fans concerned that the one-year-old Chicken Macaroni & Cheese restaurant at 7025 Prospect was closed, I tracked down the venue’s co-owner, Dyamund Shields Jr. “We’re very much open,” he says. “We changed our opening hours from 10 a.m. to noon, but we’re open every day from noon to 9 p.m.”…
