LUTHER COLLEGE CHIPS
Arts & Entertainment
March 5, 2011
Rising young musician comes to ArtHaus Charle Parrish
made me the musician I am today. Realizing I had to do something with my life, I started writing songs for a CD that I wanted to record. Once I recorded the CD, I caught the attention of a booking agent who really wanted to help me out. She has been wonderful at getting me gigs and opportunities. C T so intrigued by the blues and what it was, what it meant. I have come to realize that it’s nothing more than music, and music connects with people.
love just blues or just rock; that’s stupid. How can you only like one type of music? I love the connection I have with certain artists and the feelings I feel when I listen to them.,that’s a beautiful thing. I don’t care what you wear or what you look like as long as it’s real. I love angry hip-hop like Odd Future, I love the dirty gritty Jack White stuff, I love the gentle yet hit-you-like-a-hammer songs that Bon Iver creates. If an artist is being sincere, then I respect what they’re doing. C: How does it feel to have had the recent success of your new album? T: Having the success that this album had is the most amazing thing. unknown. I had nothing; I knew that a few family and friends would listen to it and maybe that would be it. To be able to be playing gigs and sharing my music with an audience who's willing to listen is the most rewarding thing ever. C: How does your songwriting process work? T: My songwriting process is basic. I have hundreds of rough recordings of song ideas. Eventually a few of them became more favorable than others. I will work at the song until I feel it heads in the right direction, then I will start lyrics. Lyrics can come naturally just from me singing what comes to mind with the melody. The main thing is keeping my mind in a place where I’m not writing or playing anything I think people want me to play and write, but doing whatever I want to do. That’s an important rule of thumb for creating anything I believe. C: What our your hopes for the future? T: My hopes for the future are that I can tour the world and play music that connects with people. Yeah, that’s the simplest way to put it. I wouldn't mind being able to pay the bills somehow while doing it. I also do want to record and perform with some of my idols. That would be gnar.
Ethnic Arts keeps up tradition If you ventured into Dahl Centennial Union Saturday, March 3, you most likely noticed happening all day. The Ethnic Arts Festival ’80s, and this year was no exception. There are three different parts to the Ethnic Arts Festival: the country fair which takes dinner in Peace Dining Hall and the grand “The country fair is really great,” festival coordinator Rachel Miessler (‘13) said. “Many different countries are represented, showcase different aspects of their country: they always have stories to share.”
of photographs, instruments and sweaters from her home country. “It is important for people to see different asked to participate in the festival I did not
was important that I do this instead of having
Cole Matteson
KWLC Folk Director
Staff Writer That’s what it does, that’s what it should do, forever. I love music, I do not
Charlie: I know you are 19-years-old, and have been fronting a band for about a year, playing a lot of festivals, opening for some major acts and getting some acclaim for your album. How did you get to where you are today as a musician? Trent: I started playing guitar when I was 11. I always really enjoyed music, but never saw it as a serious role in my life like it is today. My parents loved music and going to see music. So there was always music around the house. Year after year of practicing and being obsessed with
Staff Writer
KWLC Review: Punch Brother’s “Who’s Feeling Young Now?”
Trent Romens
Dressed in a black shirt, silver tie, long hair sticking out the bottom of a black beanie, wailing on a Gibson SG and howling the blues. This is Trent Romens. He’s a 19-year-old who has been fronting a band for about a year, played 13 festivals, including two festival headline sets and opened for “Everclear” and Ivan Neville’s “Dumpstaphunk.” His debut album, “Aware,” was on the Grammy entry list for Best Blues Albums of 2011. Romens shows promise and is bringing his talents to the ArtHaus in downtown Decorah, as part of the “Baker London Presents” concert series, on Friday, March 9 at 8 p.m.
Margaret Yapp
5
Many people from the Decorah community especially children. “Everyone who comes to the country fair can pick up a passport,” Miessler said. “Every country has a stamp, so a lot of kids from the community come in for the fair.” At the Ethnic Cuisine Dinner
performance. “A pipa is a Chinese string instrument,
we also have things like pop music from other countries. These are all things that the Each performer seemed excited to most of their classmates might not realize they have.
of the community tried food from all over the world. The room was set up like a market, with food from different countries course dishes, appetizers and desserts. The dinner represented six different continents, and most of the recipes used were
ignorant to the fact that there is so much diversity here.” The theme for this year’s Ethnic Arts Festival was “Inspire, Believe, Transform.”
Perhaps the most exciting part of the
you can do something, you
portion — the performances. For two hours, students showcased a variety of performances, including South African Dance, Haitian song and a pipa
to have inspiration as well,” Miessler said. The fruits of these ideals resulted in community. Margaret Yapp/Chips
Pipa-pan. Yunfei Xie (‘15) on her pipa.
When people hear the term ‘bluegrass,’ many people think of the genre as “old timey” and “hokey.” Chris Thile and his band Punch Brothers are here to change that. The group evolved from the backup band in Thile’s 2006 solo record “How To Grow A Woman From The Ground” into the Punch Brothers, which just put out their third album “Who’s Feeling Young Now?” The album sees Thile and company evolve from a more unrestricted and uncensored endeavor, sounding less like an insane mandolin player with an almost equal backing ensemble and more like a band and almost something like a progressive rock band at that. Thile is best known as the mandolinist and singer for Nickel Creek, a contemporary folk trio that disbanded in 2007. For a group that commits to a traditional bluegrass instrumentation, mandolin, the band comes remarkably close to representing something you would hear out of an indie band. Thile still handles most of the vocals, outstanding contribution on “Hundred Dollars”) he’s just as likely to act as the song’s rhythm section as he is to trade solos with banjo master Noam Pikelny. This isn’t to say that Thile’s playing isn’t brilliant — he is debatably the best mandolin player in the world — but his Get Married Without Me” and “New York City” show that Thile has allowed himself to shift away from the spotlight and showcase the group’s insanely intricate arrangements. The album features two instrumental tracks which both incidentally happen to from Swedish band Vasen, which is easily the album’s most bluegrass sounding track. The second is a wonderful adaptation of Radiohead’s “Kid-A” showcasing the groups musicianship by transforming a song that has no place in bluegrass into Punch Brothers’ new album “Who’s Feeling Young Now” is a fantastic album. Every new album released pushes the boundaries of what bluegrass can become. Featuring very technical and really shines, bringing something new to the table. Keep your eyes on Chris Thile and Punch Brothers. 5 stars out of 5