Tapestry

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September 2009...

• American Idol winner Taylor Hicks returns to Birmingham for the Broadway production of Grease...
• Andy Warhol's connection to the Magic City...
• Meet painter and folk artist Maurice Cook...
• Chloe Collins takes the reins of Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival...
• A conversation with poet, author and activist Maya Angelou...
• Three to See: What's going on around town...
• The haunting melodies of Birmingham musician Jesse Payne...

We like to keep track of the local music scene - and in December of 2005, we featured a Birmingham musician with a soulful sound who had been working the clubs for a few years. Just five months later, that same musician shot to international stardom by winning season five of American Idol. Later this month, Taylor Hicks returns to Birmingham. Not only will he star as Teen Angel in the Broadway touring production of Grease, he'll also give two performances at Workplay. Hicks spoke with WBHM's Michael Krall about his time on American Idol, staying grounded, and what drew him to the musical Grease...

Taylor Hicks interview...

Hear more form Taylor Hicks, including questions from his fans via Twitter, in an extended interview.

Birmingham has been called the Pittsburgh of the South. And the two cities may share more than a history of smokestacks and steel mills. At Pittsburgh's Andy Warhol Museum, archivists have discovered a key to Birmingham that may have been presented to Warhol when he visited in 1979. Cindy Riley takes a look at how Birmingham welcomed contemporary art's most intriguing figures.

Andy Warhol in the Magic City...

We move now from Pop Art to Folk Art. Painter Maurice Cook grew up in the Walker County town of Carbon Hill. His paintings are full of scenes from everyday life in that community. Cook also makes use of vivid colors and images of patchwork quilts. He now lives in Birmingham, but Cook prefers to work outside and that includes events like the Leeds Folk Festival. That's where you'll find him later this month. Cook tells WBHM's Bradley George he's been making art his whole life, but never had any formal training...

Maurice Cook interview...

It's been a busy summer for Chloe Collins, who took over as director of Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival in May. She's been learning about film and about how to market this month's Sidewalk Festival. MovieMaker magazine calls it a "best Kept Secret". Time Magazine says it's one of the top "Film Festivals for the Rest of Us." Still, Collins tells WBHM's Tanya Ott that the biggest sales job isn't convincing film fans outside Alabama to come...it's luring the local audience.

Chloe Collins interview...

Hollywood couldn't script a tale as painful and miraculous as the real life story of author Maya Angelou. In the first installment of her best-selling autobiography, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings she recounts a childhood at once tragic and wonderful from St. Louis to Stamps, Arkansas to California and the wider world. She's been a dancer, a singer, a teacher, an actor, a producer and a political activist. But she's probably best known as the author of 30 books of prose and poetry. Maya Angelou writes about her life with brutal honesty, an honesty that reflects the courage of someone determined to rise above her meager beginnings.

Interview with Maya Angelou...

Poet and author Dr. Maya Angelou is the Reynolds Professor of American Studies at Wake Forest University. She'll be the guest speaker at a gala event for the UAB Minority Health and Health Disparities Research Center on Septemberv 25th.

Rosh Hashana, The Jewish New Year, is mid-September. And leading up to the holiday, observant Jews participate in Selichot, when they pray for forgiveness so they can start the New Year fresh. Birmingham's Temple Emanu-El uses the Selichot to explore themes of redemption through art and this year's offering is the first in our Three to See for September. WBHM's Tanya Ott has details.

What's going on around town...

Turn the lights down and get out your headphones. That's the advice given if you're listening to Jesse Payne's latest album, called Nesting. The CD has haunting melodies and untraditional instrumentation...you'll want to let it sink in...(AUDIO MONTAGE)

Tapestry is produced by Bradley George and Michael Krall, with help this month from Tanya Ott and Cindy Riley. I'm Greg Bass, and we'll you next month.