Tapestry

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November 2009...

• Meet the bass player from the legendary Muscle Shoals studio...
• Graffitit: art or nuisance?
• Who says nobody uses a typewriter anymore?
• Paul Lansky is the Alabama Symphony Orchestra's composer-in-residence...
• City Equity Theatre presents Bully!
• Three to See: What's going on around town...
• An author who made the move from L.A. to Birmingham...
• The indie-folk sound of Birmingham's Alyssa Crisswell aka Sue Scrofa

To take a song to the top, you've got to start at the bottom, down where the subwoofers tremble and the big beat begins. It is the domain of the bass guitar. Sheffield, Alabama native David Hood is one of the virtuosos of this instrument. As a teenager, he played frat parties with a cover band, started playing session work, and wound up playing on gold records as part of the legendary Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. Hood's career traces the arc from soul music, to pop, to country and rock intersecting with the likes of Paul Simon, the Staple Singers, Bob Seger and Aretha Franklin. He and his fellow musicians put Muscle Shoals on the map. But before that could happen, David had to put down his tire tool.

David Hood interview...

Bass player and grandfather David Hood still plays the bass guitar.

If you driven through Downtown Birmingham lately, you've probably seen more and more graffiti popping up on buildings, overpasses, even billboards. Some call it vandalism. But others see the colorful images as artistic expression. As Cindy Riley reports, these elusive artists go to great lengths to create their work.

Birmingham graffiti...

We suspect it would be difficult to enter an office of any kind in Alabama without seeing a computer. If anything in modern life is truly ubiquitous, it is the PC. But before the PC, everyone used another technology. Tim Lennox has our story...

People who still use a typewriter...

This season, the Alabama Symphony Orchestra has named Paul Lansky it's first ever composer-in-residence. Lansky's music will be featured throughout the season, including a concert this weekend and as a world-premier in May. Lansky spoke with WBHM's Michael Krall about what in means to be a composer-in-residence...

Paul Lansky interview...

The Alabama Symphony Orchestra performs Paul Lansky's Concerto with Guitar, featuring soloist David Starobin tonight at the Alys Stephens Center.

And now, a word or two from the 26th President of the United States. That's actor Allen Gardner, playing the role of Teddy Roosevelt in Bully! It's a one-man show that chronicles Roosevelt's life as President, leader of the Rough Riders, New York City Police Commissioner, and a man trying to live up to his father's expectations. WBHM's Bradley George spoke with Gardner and director Alan Litsey.

City Equity Theatre presents Bully!...

Bully! runs through November 14th at the Virginia Samford Theatre.

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

Author Kerry Madden called Los Angeles home for more than 20 years. But a teaching job in UAB's Creative Writing program led Madden to Birmingham. She's no stranger to the South, Madden attended the University of Tennessee and many of her books are set in Western North Carolina. WBHM's Bradley George, a newcomer to Birmingham himself, spoke with Madden about adjusting to life in the Magic City.

Kerry Madden on moving from L.A. to Birmingham...

Birmingham native Alyssa Crisswell started recording under the pseudonym Sue Scrofa in 2007. Her nostalgic indie-folk sound can be heard on her first album, Alabamulance. (AUDIO MONTAGE) She'll have a new album out early next year. In the meantime, you can see her at the Eclipse Coffee House in Montevallo on November 14th.

Tapestry is produced by Bradley George and Michael Krall, with help this month from Joey Gamble, Tim Lennox, Cindy Riley, and Eric Ripple. I'm Greg Bass. We'll see you next month.