Tapestry

Local Music

Cast & Crew

WBHM Interviews

May 2010...

• Shakespeare comes to cell phones and Facebook..
• Birmingham Biennial 3...
• A poignant look at life, love and grief....
• Birmingham band Through the Sparks
• Three to See: What's going on around town...
• A visit to a nerd ranch...
• Molecules to the Max: Boldly go where only atoms have gone before!
• Violinist Joshua Bell performs Mendelssohn with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra...

Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet is the most famous teenage romance of all time. This month, Muse of Fire: Shakespeare at Sloss offers a unique take on the play. As WBHM's Bradley George reports, it makes use of the modern platforms for teenage drama: cellphones and Facebook.

Shakespeare on Facebook...

Take works from nearly 50 Alabama artists. Add in a nationally recognized curator to judge. Let him whittle it down to 12 top pieces and the result is Birmingham Biennial 3. Bare Hands Gallery hosts the exhibit. While it's the third iteration of the art contest, this is the first time organizers have incorporated a theme into the show. As WBHM's Andrew Yeager reports, it's a familiar one for Birmingham - race.

Birmingham Biennial 3...

Birmingham Biennial 3 is at Bare Hands Gallery through May 22.

When syndicated columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson began writing her memoir, she had planned a light-hearted look at Christmases from years past. But just a few chapters into the project, her husband Don died suddenly after heart surgery. After his death, the writing process became a kind of therapy, a way for Johnson to deal with her loss. Johnson's book, Enchanted Evening Barbie and the Second Coming, is a poignant look at life, love and grief from a woman who spent the last 30 years writing about the South and its people.

Rheta Grimsley Johnson interview...

It's not uncommon for a rock band to form, put out a CD or two, then break up. But several members of Birmingham band Through the Sparks have been playing together for nearly two decades. And the result of a sound that's at once complex, yet effortless. Their music has been described as "Psychedelic folk" - or even "mid-fi garage baroque pop"... whatever that means!?!

You be the judge. Bassist Greg Slamen and keyboardist and guitarist James Brangle stopped by our studio to talk to Tanya Ott about their music. They've got a new CD coming out ... and they're releasing one new song a month on their website. This song is Waltz in B by Through the Sparks. Their new CD is called Worm Moon Waning. (AUDIO MONTAGE)

Two women, lots of cats, starched petticoats and beer... they're all part of this month's Three to See. Tanya Ott has our round-up of don't miss events for the month of May.

Three events going on around town you shouldn't miss...

Are you making plans for your summer vacation? Some computer programmers - they call themselves nerds - travel about an hour south of Atlanta to spend a week at a dude ranch. But as Philip Graitcer reports, it's not the kind of place where guests ride horses or lounge in hot tubs.

A visit to a nerd ranch...

Molecules to the Max, the title of the IMAX movie currently playing at Birmingham's McWane Science Center is a cute play on words. And executive producer Dick Seigel hopes you have a fun time watching the film. But he's also very serious about the science. In addition to making films, Seigel is the director of the nanotechnology center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York. He tells WBHM's Tanya Ott it's a tragedy that 8 out of 10 American adults can't pass a test of basic scientific knowledge.

Interview with Dick Seigel...

Molecules to the Max is on the screen at the McWane Center through May 23rd. Keep your eyes peeled -- Seigel hopes to expand soon to TV and video games.

He made is debut at age 14 with the Philadelphia Orchestra. More than 20 years and 30 recordings later, Joshua Bell is known as one of the world's top violinists. Equally at home as a soloist, chamber musician, and orchestra leader, Bell comes to Birmingham later this month to perform the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra. WBHM's Michael Krall spoke with Bell and he began by asking what advice would he give that 14 year boy if he could go back in time...

Interview with Joshua Bell...

Joshua Bell performs the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with the Alabama Symphony Orchestra, on Saturday, May 15th. His latest recording, At Home With Friends features duets with Sting, Regina Spektor and Chris Thile among others. From that CD, you're hearing Variant Moods: Duet for Sitar and Violin with Anoushka Shankar.

Tapestry is produced by Bradley George and Michael Krall, with help this month from Philip Graitcer, Tanya Ott, and Andrew Yeager. If you have questions, comments, or story ideas, send them to tapestry@wbhm.org . You can also reach us through Facebook and Twitter. I'm Greg Bass, enjoy May, and we'll see you next month.