Vox Magazine 09.28.17

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WATCH IT FOR THE ‘GRAM

Go basic, or glam it up to create your photo-worthy watch party PAGE 4

GRIT AND GRIME

The British genre is making its foray into the American music scene PAGE 21

g the n i y o j n to e comfort e d i u g Your sounds and annual soulful ’ of the 11th Festival. cookin Blues N BBQ Roots N E7 G A P

IN THIS ISSUE

ONLINE

September 28, 2017 VOLUME 19 ISSUE 24 | PUBLISHED BY THE COLUMBIA MISSOURIAN

FEATURE The Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival highlights artistic locals, culinary experts and renowned musicians. Discover the true roots of blues music, and let Vox guide you through the festival’s beer and BBQ tastes. PAGE 7

Q&A WITH DJ DONNY T Take a look into the life of Don Thalhuber, aka DJ Donny T, who hosts Same As It Ever Was, the longest-running program on KCOU.

THE SCENE Throw a party, and follow these tips to make your next TV series celebration so picture-perfect, your Instagram followers can’t help but double tap. PAGE 4

CONCERTS FOR A CAUSE Local musicians have joined forces to raise funds for hurricane victims. These upcoming relief concerts are important to musicians such as Debbie D’Angostino, who has friends who lost everything in Hurricane Harvey.

NEWS & INSIGHT ’Tis the season for pumpkins and fresh produce. Pluck your own tasty favorites at these U-pick farms. PAGE 5 MUSIC It’s out with the old music playlist and in with the new. Members of Columbia’s music scene bring you the hottest hits this fall. PAGE 20

KATFISH KATY’S CORN MAZE Follow the twists and turns of the creation process of the newest corn maze in CoMo. This year’s design features The Station House with a focus on live music.

EDITOR’S LETTER

Grime music has finally made its way to the U.S. Vox introduces you to the London-born genre. PAGE 21 ARTS & BOOKS Two groups in Columbia have turned their knitting hobby into philanthropies for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. PAGE 22 COVER DESIGN: KEEGAN POPE COVER PHOTO: COURTESY OF ROOTS N BLUES CORRECTION: An article in the Sept. 21 issue incorrectly stated the length of FMLA leave, which is 12 weeks.

MADISON FLECK EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

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You can pretty much expect to see me at any event involving local beer and tasty food. Add in live music by nationally recognized artists, and I’m there.

This weekend marks the 11th annual Root N Blues N BBQ Festival, which has a plethora of all three.

In 11 years, the festival has grown into quite the event for mid-Missouri.

This week’s feature dedicates 12 pages to everything Roots N Blues. You’ll find profiles of artists and bands such as the Untamed Youth, which is no stranger to Columbia’s music scene, and Lee Fields, who is still finding soul in his music after a 49-year career. We also pair the festival’s best beers, BBQ and music. Plus, we give a rating on exactly how bluesy some of the artists really are.

On Page 7, you’ll find a story that reminds us of the roots of what we consider blues music today. It’s traced to African culture and a life that Africans were forced to leave behind when Americans enslaved them.

It’s a deeply troubled and deeply political music genre, and some of that is still present in the music today. So as you’re standing in a sweaty crowd this weekend and listening to these stellar artists, take a moment to appreciate the journey the music has taken to arrive on a stage in Columbia, Missouri.

VOX STAFF Editor: Madison Fleck Deputy Editor: Sten Spinella Managing Editor: Kelsie Schrader Digital Managing Editor: Lea Konczal Multimedia Editor: Meg Vatterott Online Editor: Brooke Vaughan Art Directors: Keegan Pope, Alexandra Wozniczka Photo Editor: Erin Bormett News & Insight Editors: Lauren Puckett, Rachel Treece The Scene Editors: Brea Cubit, Brooke Kottmann, Lily Zhao Music Editors: Lis Joyce, Amanda Lundgren Arts & Books Editors: Karlee Renkoski, Mary Salatino, Micki Wagner Contributing Writers: Taylor Banks, Emma Beyer, Kristin Blake, Alex Edwards, Jasmine-Kay Johnson, Kaylin Jones, Caroline Kealy, Meghan Lally, Rick Morgan, Rachel Phillips, Bianca Rodriguez, John Sadler, Samantha Stokes, Caroline Watkins, Meghan Weinewuth, Catherine Wendlandt, Chloe Wilt Editorial Director: Heather Lamb Executive Editor: Jennifer Rowe Digital Director: Sara Shipley Hiles Office Manager: Kim Townlain

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF ROOTS N BLUES AND DON THALHUBER

RADAR

Vox’s take on the talk of the week

PUERTO RICO’S CRISIS About 97 percent of Puerto Rico’s residents are without electricity, and close to 50 percent don’t have running water due to Hurricane Maria’s destruction. Without easy access to gas, bank accounts, lifesaving machinery in hospitals and more, those who were affected need help.

Support victims by donating to causes such as UNICEF and the Hispanic Federation’s “Unidos” hurricane relief fund.

VOX’S CRYSTAL BALL

KNEELING TO TAKE A STAND Professional athletes are protesting amid social and political tensions by kneeling during the national anthem.

President Trump expressed disapproval of this, which ignited even more acts of dissent among teams.

200+ NFL players took a knee this past weekend while the anthem played.

Three teams — the Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans — stayed in the locker room during the song.

Two WNBA teams protested before Game 1 of the finals: the Los Angeles Sparks opted to remain in the locker room during the anthem, and the Minnesota Lynx players stood by their bench while locking arms.

Saturday Night Live returns this weekend with host Ryan Gosling and a performance from Jay-Z. Let’s take a look inside our magic crystal ball and predict what some of the sketches will entail.

Hopefully Alec Baldwin’s classic impression will address President Trump’s recent tiffs with North Korea and NFL players.

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Republican impersonators could be losing their minds over Sens. John McCain, Susan Collins and Rand Paul not supporting the most recent health care bill.

Because Jay-Z is scheduled to perform, we might get to see a Beyoncé look-a-like shimmy and shake on the SNL stage during a skit.

Rejoice, caffeine-lovers because tomorrow is National Coffee Day. In celebration, find a spot that fits your Instagram aesthetic to take a photo of your beloved java.

EARTHY: Cop a squat at Peace Park, nestle your cappuccino into a pile of leaves, and take a photo from the perfect side angle.

ESPRESSO YOURSELF

HIPSTER: Before the heart-shaped milk

foam disappears, find a cozy spot at a hardwood table inside a cafe, and snap an aerial shot of your latte.

ARTSY: Hold your cold-brewed iced coffee in front of a colorful mural downtown to add an artistic element to your Instagram page.

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Written by: Brea Cubit, Brooke Kottmann, Karlee Renkoski and Micki Wagner PHOTOS COURTESY OF PIXABAY, AP IMAGES, ALEXANDRA WOZNICZKA AND IEMOJI

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THE SCENE

Fill your feed with these Insta-worthy ideas Celebrate the return of your favorite shows with these tips for throwing an Instagrammable shindig

BY GABRIELA VELASQUEZ

With the fall season comes the return of our favorite TV shows to the small screen. Watching TV alone with a pint of vanilla ice cream can be fun, but why not up the ante for your favorite show’s season premiere? Throw a party worthy enough to photograph and grace your Instagram timeline. Check out Vox’s tips for throwing a watch party that’s Insta-approved.

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voxmagazine Light up your party using mason jars and pumpkins to make lanterns. voxmagazine At One to One Print Shop, owner Johnathon McDowell says employees are willing to help anyone through the process of designing a shirt. “We usually suggest that people just come in here,” he says.

PLAY THE PART Basic: Costume pieces and themed merchandise of popular shows like Stranger Things can be found at Hot Topic or FYE. Next Level: If you really want to garner some extra likes on the ’Gram, post a picture with you and your friends in custom-made T-shirts inspired by the show you’re watching. T-shirt design shops are aplenty in Columbia, so you have some top-tier options.

Chris Marks, owner of Sonshine Graphics, has made T-shirts for fans of Seinfeld and Star Trek.

Groups of around 10 can get designs printed onto shirts for $15–20, depending on shirt type and group size. As for the designs, Marks suggests groups come up with a tagline to keep copyright issues out of the picture.

Diggit Graphics is another option patrons can explore. Colleen Cutps, an administrative assistant at the store, says employees are usually able to create T-shirts in accordance with the vision of their customers. “Don’t feel bad if you come to us with a lot of ideas,” Cutps says. “We love to help people.”

Pricing for designs and prints often depends on the amount of colors and intricacy of the design, which is why the business does not set fixed prices for its products.

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SET THE MOOD Basic: The easiest way to decorate for any watch party, says Brittany Bailey, owner and designer at the Craft & Canvas Studio, is to decorate for the season.

“Grab a couple mason jars, put them in the center of your table with some fake flowers you can get from Dollar Tree,” she says. These mason jars can be used as they are or painted to match the TV show you’re watching, such as Orange is the New Black.

Next Level: Another way to get those likes online is to set up a photo booth with props. All you’ll need is wooden rods, cardboard and glue. Google the images you want to use for your props, print them out on normal paper, and tape them to the cardboard. For cameras, Bailey suggests just using your phone and not splurging on a Polaroid. “There’s apps, and there’s no reason to have a little Polaroid,” she says. The booth itself can be made by buying black fabric from a craft store and tacking it up on the wall or using a curtain rod to hang it up.

Comfort, Bailey adds, is also important to keep guests happy. Stockpile blankets and pillows so everyone can recline comfortably. She also suggests using twinkly lights.

Projects like this can take hours to complete depending on the intricacy, so be sure to budget your time accordingly. For crafts like these, stock up on hot glue, thumb tacks, paper and glitter — that is, if you don’t mind having remnants of your party linger for as long as NCIS has been on air.

voxmagazine A watch party isn’t complete without snacks to munch on.

FILL THE PLATE Basic: The easiest option for food and snacks is purchasing food platters from the supermarket.

Cheese and cracker or fresh veggie plates are easy to find and take no time to prepare.

Next Level: If you’re feeling extra bougie, there is a surprising amount of freedom to be found in catering.

Amanda Willmeth, catering manager at The Upper Crust Bakery, suggests ordering finger foods and small snacks for everyone to munch on. The appetizer packages at The Upper Crust range from $12.95–24.95 per person. The bakery also creates customized menus where you can get creative.

Willmeth suggests forming cookies into the shape of stethoscopes for a show like Grey’s Anatomy.

Peachtree Catering offers customers the opportunity to have an interactive experience. “One of the most popular things we do for events like this are in-home cooking demonstrations and classes,” says Benjamin Hamrah, Peachtree’s executive chef and general manager. The company once catered a Game of Thrones party in this fashion and prepared a full medieval meal including roasted pig, vegetables and smoked potatoes.

PHOTOS AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY OR COURTESY OF PIXABAY, THE UPPER CRUST BAKERY, YOUNGRAE KIM AND ALEXANDRA WOZNICZKA

NEWS & INSIGHT

Pick a peck from Missouri’s U-pick farms this fall Be a farmhand for a day, and take a trip through the fields with these U-pick farms BY ASHLI ELLERMAN Pumpkin season is in full force now that fall has arrived, and what better way to celebrate than hitting a nearby U-pick farm and harvesting a few festive treats? The U-pick, or pick-your-own, business model allows customers to drive in from miles away and bag their own produce directly from the fields.

The U-pick farming concept formally originated in the 1930s and ’40s when some fruit and vegetable prices hit such a low floor that farmers couldn’t cover the cost of packaging and transportation, according to an Extension publication from the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture.

With the proliferation of agritourism and the farm-to-table trend in recent years, the U-pick industry has enjoyed a healthy customer base.

Although Missouri’s U-pick owners appreciate the lower equipment and labor costs associated with pick-your-own farming, there are other struggles to contend with: untrained hands, potential crop damage, children running amok and the fact that U-pick farms are generally a farther drive for customers than the neighborhood grocery store.

Still, thousands of Missourians flock to these farms every year. Vox spoke with farmers from three of Missouri’s U-pick operations to learn more about what makes this type of farming such a special way to celebrate autumn in the heartland.

CENTENNIAL FARMS

Ellen Knoernschild and her husband, Bob, have operated Centennial Farms since 1968. The couple marks their orchards with signs telling customers which apple varieties are ripe for picking this time of year. The U-pick model works for the Knoernschilds due to its inherent entertainment value. “You know there’s more people that want to come and pick apples than just buy them,” Ellen says.

Where: 199 Jackson St., Augusta Produce available: Apples and pumpkins Pricing: $1.75 per pound of apples; 60 cents per pound of pumpkins Entry fee: Free Hours: Every day, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Call: 636-228-4338

JOHN AND LINDA’S U-PICK FRUIT AND BERRY FARM

“We’re retired but work 12 hours a day, seven days a week,” says John White, who owns John and Linda’s U-Pick Fruit and Berry Farm with his wife, Linda. Despite the difficult, time-consuming process of running a U-pick farm, John White says the model is much more

feasible for the couple, as it doesn’t require trekking produce to the market every week.

Where: 2428 Texas Prairie Road, Bates City Produce available: Apples Pricing: $1–1.50 per pound Entry fee: Free Hours: Every day, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Call: 816-690-6293

JOHNSON FARMS

Jeanne Johnson, a co-owner of Johnson Farms, says that to run a U-pick farm, you have to think like a kid. Children often do the picking, so Johnson likes to test a new farm feature for safety before opening it to the public. But that potential liability is counteracted by the joy of seeing children in the fields. “Watching families grow up here is the best part,” Johnson says.

Where: 17701 South State Route D, Belton Produce available: Pumpkins, garden mums, sunflowers, zinnias, tomatoes, green beans and more Pricing: 30 cents to $1 per pound, product-depending Entry fee: $7–13 Hours: Mon.–Fri. 12–6 p.m.; Sat.–Sun. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. through Halloween Call: 816-331-1067

17 N. 10th St. Downtown Columbia

874-8600

Mon-Sat: 10am - 8pm Sun: Noon - 5pm

Since 1968

Stop in at Aardvarx where you are free to be.. fun, loud, crazy, or hip..whatever defines YOU. We have everything you need to express yourself.

T-ShirTS, CloThing, CandleS, inCenSe, PoSTerS, TaPeSTrieS, TobaCCo, Smoking aCCeSSorieS, Jewelry, body Jewelry, TaroT CardS CrySTalS & muCh more!

PHOTOS COURTESY OF PIXABAY

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Rhythm and bbq For the past decade, the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival has brought together thousands of people to celebrate great food, soulful sounds and the history of blues music. Festivalgoers from across the country descend on Columbia for three days and nights and bring millions of dollars in business to the area. Inside this issue, you’ll learn about the artists, foods, drinks and soul that make this festival such a timeless feast for the senses.

Vox will have live coverage of Roots N Blues N BBQ all weekend at voxmagazine.com.

Follow us on Instagram and Twitter for photos and more throughout the festivities.

The Roots of Blues Blues music might be a highlight of black culture, but it has a painful past BY ANNABEL AMES

W

hen iconic blues singers such as Muddy Waters would step onstage brandishing his guitar or Howlin’ Wolf slid down the notes on a harmonica, they had the kind of raw, organic energy that transfixed listeners.

Artists including Booker T. Stax Revue, Leon Bridges and Lee Fields will draw similar crowds at Columbia’s Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival this weekend.

Audiences of all backgrounds are mesmerized by the magic of blues’ vibrant performers. But its widespread popularity, including its own category for best contemporary and traditional blues albums at the Grammys, comes with a pain that traces all the way back to a dark part of our country’s history: slavery.

In 1619, Africans were taken from their continent and respective countries, mainly regions of present-day Senegal, Gambia, Angola, the Congo and Mali, and loaded onto cargo ships bound for the New World, where they would be enslaved for life on Southern plantations. When these groups arrived in the United States, they were forbidden from bringing anything that preserved their history.

“All they could bring with them was their identity, their culture, and more specifically, their approach to music-making,” says Stephanie Shonekan, associate professor of ethnomusicology ILLUSTRATION COURTESY OF PIXABAY

and the chair of black studies at MU. “Wherever they landed, they adapted that approach to their new situation and their new environment.”

Caller: Master he be a hard hard man.

Chorus: Hoe Emma Hoe, Hoe Emma Hoe. Caller: Sell my people away from me.

Chorus: Hoe Emma Hoe, Hoe Emma Hoe. —Work Song, “Hoe Emma Hoe” While slaves toiled away on Florida’s cotton fields or Virginia’s tobacco plantations under the watchful eyes of their masters, they used music as a way to communicate with one another. They would often secretly discuss their masters by referring to them as different animals, like pesky opossums. Their songs included pieces of advice — often about finding freedom via the Underground Railroad — messages of hope to persevere through the grueling work and methods of charting history. According to History.org, a common work song that spread across colonial Williamsburg plantations was called “Hoe, Emma, Hoe,” in which the

caller would sing one line and the rest of the slaves would respond with the chorus to make the work more bearable. “When a song was sung, whether it was in the sacred tradition of a spiritual or the secular work songs, they would always have messages embedded in the lyrics to communicate to their communities,” Shonekan says.

Even if modern blues artists have strayed away from in-your-face messages about social justice, Shonekan says, the tone of music reflects qualities of Africa that slaves were forced to leave behind when their lives were uprooted: a raw, earthy sound quality considered rough by many Western-trained artists, improvisational lyrics so their soulful music evolved constantly and a call-and-response or chanting style that incorporated others, such as Ray Charles in “What’d I Say” or B.B. King in “Lucille” in their songs.

“It is a way to reflect the communal nature of black music,” Shonekan says. “It’s music created by the folk for the folk and is not very divorced from that core.”

After slavery was outlawed in 1865 and southern African-Americans moved north, they carried the rich history of the blues and their distinct music style with them. Audiences were enthralled by the gritty, Southern music and lively songs where the lead singer strived to involve the band and audience as much as possible.

The dynamism of blues music had an

international appeal by inspiring artists such as Elvis Presley, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones and creating a lasting influence on modern-day rock ’n’ roll.

Even modern artists Kendrick Lamar, Chance the Rapper and Erykah Badu have clear blues influences in their work with messages of social change in the lyrics and the rough, raw sound of the music.

Shonekan says that understanding the history of blues music will allow Roots N Blues fans to love blues music from the inside-out rather than from a surface level.

“As much as people don’t want to deal with real social justice issues going on in the U.S., the blues should encourage and challenge them to see the blues as a way into those issues,” Shonekan says.

She acknowledges that some might be uncomfortable with this. “You don’t have to necessarily take a black studies class or attend a program that we might collaborate on, (but) a first step would be to take blues music seriously and find out where it comes from.”

Although the festival is known for its upbeat vibe and delicious cuisine, it’s important to remember that blues music is more than background music for our pulled-pork sandwiches and Logboat beer: It’s about the painful history of AfricanAmericans and how much work as a society we still have to do.

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Bridging

the gap

Leon Bridges was in a rut at a time when he was working multiple jobs to support himself and his mother. He felt depressed and stuck, he wrote in a Facebook post. He sat in the garage and began to write a song that reflected his personal struggle. Bridges knew he needed to lean on his faith in God and that the “only path towards baptism was by way of the river.” Little did the soulful young man from Fort Worth, Texas, know, that very song, “River,” would amass over 40 million plays on Spotify and become a hit from his debut album, Coming Home, released in June 2015. This weekend, Bridges will bring his smooth, soulful voice to Columbia’s Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival.

Leon Bridges Saturday, 9:30 p.m.

Missouri Lottery Stage

Bridges’ sound is reminiscent of soul music from the 1950s and ’60s, but the audiences he is reaching go far beyond those who appreciate doo-wop. The 28-year-old, often compared to the iconic rhythm and blues singer Sam Cooke, has a style that combines classic and fresh sounds. The singer successfully bridges the gap between soul and mainstream genres thanks to his collaborations with a variety of artists and projects. “River” appears on the soundtrack of Big Little

Leon Bridges brings old soul to the new generation BY MAYA MCDOWELL

Lies, a popular HBO drama. Bridges lends his soulful sound in “Across The Room,” a song on electronic duo ODESZA’s new album, A Moment Apart. In 2018, Bridges will open for former One Direction member Harry Styles in South America and Mexico.

Bridges’ look fits the part, too. Typically appearing as though he just stepped out of the ’60s in silky shirts and high-waisted pants, Bridges told GQ that he normally wears vintage clothing.

Between his look and sound, Bridges ultimately wants to carry on a music tradition he feels passionate about. “I grew up with music that was super big production and modern singing styles, so it was an eye-opener to see the R&B music that started around the ’50s where everything was stripped down,” Bridges told Essence magazine in February 2016. “I loved how in the midst of racism and struggle, these guys were able to make great love songs.”

Coming Home, nominated for Best R&B Album of the Year at the 2015 Grammys, includes both lighthearted tracks and those that portray his own hardships. When writing “River,” Bridges considered that a river “has historically been used in Gospel music as symbolism for change and redemption,” he wrote on Facebook. Visually, “River” became a powerful 6-minute-and-55-second video of Bridges singing in a motel room as images from the April 2015 Baltimore uprising play on a nearby TV. The Grammy-nominated video depicts the fight against racism that black families and individuals face today. “I wanted to highlight and show pictures of just black struggle and that there is hope at the end of that,” Bridges told Essence.

“The hope that out of all of the struggle and all of the pain that God is at the end of the day the rock and somebody to have hope in.”

Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival headliner Leon Bridges takes his listeners back to the 1950s and ‘60s with his old-school soul music and vintage style.

In 2015, Bridges told Vanity Fair that his dream duet would be with Gary Clark Jr., who he hopes to collaborate with on his next record. Since then, Bridges and Clark Jr. have indeed collaborated, and now the artists will both headline Roots N Blues. If the audience is lucky, they might just get to see the two come together live on stage and fill Stephens Lake Park with the sounds of soul.

Roots N Blues N Data: Who’s Who on Stage

BY MIRANDA MOORE

Since its inception in 2007, Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival has brought in artists from all over the country to play at the fest, but only a few have had the chance to come back year after year. Music Maker Blues Revue holds the honor of most dedicated musicians — the ensemble is the only group that has appeared on the billing for every single Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival. See how others measure up.

Each instrument marks one year that the performer(s) have been at Roots N Blues.

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Music Maker Blues Revue

2:15 p.m., Sunday Missouri Lottery Stage

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Chump Change

12:45 p.m., Sunday Missouri Lottery Stage

The Bel Airs * 7

12:45 p.m., Sunday Missouri Lottery Stage

*Tj Miller has also played seven times.

PHOTO AND INFOGRAPHIC BY OR COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS AND KEEGAN POPE

The

migration of art

A 45-foot dragon flies down Walnut Street to Stephens Lake Park the week before the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival. It sits compressed in a landscaping trailer as it’s lugged to the show. This interactive piece of art, which acts as a tunnel to climb through, is one of many pieces that make the annual trek to the festival.

Some people buy Roots N Blues tickets for the headliners and take the artwork for granted. But the exhibits don’t just appear; the show’s overlooked stars ensure they show up.

“It’s a spectacle to see things going down the road. It’s quite a feat.”

—Lisa Bartlett

Lisa Bartlett, owner of Artlandish Gallery, has directed the artwork for the festival for the past four years. The art consists of pieces such as 10-foot frog puppets and spinning blocks stacked on a 5-foot pole.

The size and delicacy of these pieces means Bartlett must transport them with extreme care.

“It’s a spectacle to see things going down the road,” Bartlett says. “It’s quite a feat.”

Bartlett’s calm voice conveys the patience necessary to take on this project. Her studio is located near the corner of Walnut and Orr streets. Stephens Lake Park is a few blocks away. Despite the proximity, Bartlett needs help delivering the artwork. River Hills Landscaping Co. provides trucks and trailers and helps set up.

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Art at Roots N Blues doesn’t magically appear. Lisa Bartlett and friends make sure it arrives, leaves and hibernates safely BY RICK MORGAN

The pieces’ delicacy means they need constant supervision. Starting on Tuesday, when the art is moved to the park, 40 shifts of volunteers ensure the art stays safe until Roots N Blues ends. This includes overnight shifts.

The art requires safe storage after the festival.

Bartlett’s studio looks like an industrial garage filled with life-sized art instead of cars. Six owl sculptures perch on a wooden bench. Cardboard boxes hold 5-foot flames made of orange, red and yellow cloth, and the dragon hibernates near a wall in the front.

Not all the art fits in her studio. Roots N Blues has storage, but it isn’t safe for the fragile pieces. A hero emerged last year in Palen Music Center. The store housed the frog puppets in its front window. One of the frogs sings, and the other plays a guitar, so a music store was a natural home.

“It was huge for us,” Bartlett says. “They’re just in such a safe place, but they’re still on display.”

Nate White, Palen’s store manager, met Bartlett while preparing for the festival last year. The music store has enjoyed the frogs’ company because they highlight Columbia’s growing music scene.

“It’s a pretty great conversational icebreaker,” White says. “When I tell (customers) what it’s about, then all of a sudden, the festival comes to light.”

The festival reuses installations from past years, so Bartlett’s crew of art makers has slimmed from eight to four. New this year is a 12-foot tent chandelier that is made of insulating foam designed to look like gears.

Like most chandeliers, Bartlett’s brainchild will receive extreme care during transportation. And after the music this weekend, the exhibit will find a safe home along with its dragon and frog friends.

Most of the art at Roots N Blues is reused each year. It takes teams of people to prepare the art for guests to enjoy.

Some of the art is interactive. This tunnel, which is also a dragon, gives festivalgoers the ultimate artistic experience.

names to know

Before heading to Roots N Blues, read up on some of the biggest artists performing at the festival BY BIANCA RODRIGUEZ

Band of Horses Seattle-based group Band of Horses has been in the indie rock scene for over a decade and has brought us hits including the “The Funeral” and “No One’s Gonna Love You.” It has toured with legends such as Neil Diamond and Pearl Jam. Attendees can expect a show with a heavy emphasis on guitar solos that will have you wondering if this was your dad’s music or your own.

Rock out to Band of Horses at 8:30 p.m Saturday on the Great Southern Bank Stage.

Booker T’s Stax Revue In a world full of auto-tune, Booker T. Jones has a sound that is uncommon; it has some serious soul. Jones’ career began as a teenager, when he played baritone saxophone on Carla and Rufus Thomas’ hit, “Cause I Love You” in 1960. He and his former band, Booker T. & the MG’s, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1992.

Rhythm and blues enthusiasts can see this Memphis man get down as he plays at 8:15 p.m.

Friday on the Great Southern Bank Stage.

PHOTOS BY OR COURTESY OF ALLISON COLLINS AND WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Emmylou Harris With a career spanning more than 40 years, North Carolina native Emmylou Harris is a force to reckon with. Known for her forthright songwriting that changed country music in the ’70s, the words of Harris have inspired fans all over the country. She won her first Grammy in 1977 and was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2008.

Catch Harris at 4:30 p.m.

Sunday on the Great Southern Bank Stage.

John Prine Raised in the Chicago suburbs alongside his four brothers, country artist John Prine has been active with music ever since he learned to play the guitar at age 14. The two-time Grammy Award winner has been a present figure for over 40 years. He continues to receive national praise.

Ryan Adams To some, Ryan Adams is known as the guy who covered Taylor Swift’s 2015 album, 1989. To Twitter folks, he’s the guy who just called Father John Misty the “most self-important asshole on Earth.” His new album, Prisoner, which came out in February, is the latest addition to his own record label, Pax Americana Recording Co.

Fans of guitar-centered country can tune in at 6 p.m Sunday when Prine graces the Great Southern Bank Stage.

Sing along to the soothing voice of Adams at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday on the Missouri Lottery Stage.

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Beer N Blues N BBQ

Discover the best combinations of beer and BBQ with recommendations from local vendors BY TARYN PARKER

LOGBOAT’S BOBBER HAS HINTS OF CITRUS

BUR OAK BREWERY

LOGBOAT BREWING COMPANY BEAT THE HEAT WITH CHIPOTLE NOTES IN THE TRACTOR FIRE

TRY THE SNAPPER FOR NOTES OF PEAR

BOBBER:

BUR OAK’S CARAMEL CREAM ALE IS LIKE DRINKING CREAM SODA

PAIRS WELL WITH: ALL BBQ

PAIRS WELL WITH: ALL BBQ

Tyson Hunt, co-founder of Logboat Brewing Company, says the Bobber lager is an all-around beer. It’s not a niche beer, so a wide variety of people can enjoy it.

FLYBYE: Because Flybye is a farmhouse ale with citrus fruit flavors and a crisp, dry finish, Hunt says it will pair nicely with just about any food that will be offered at Roots N Blues.

PAIRS WELL WITH: SPICY SAUCES SNAPPER: Josh Bowles, a bartender at Logboat, suggests this IPA as a great complement to spicy BBQ. It has pear and peach notes, and the hops help take away the heat.

AMARILLO BY MORNING: Logboat is teaming up with Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival to make this specialty beer. Hunt says the single-hopped American pale ale will pair well with sweet and spicy BBQ sauce.

OLD 63 AMERICAN PILSNER: Craig Stichter, president of Bur Oak, suggests this lighthearted beer as your go-to brew. It’s got a crisp, clean and refreshing taste that will take you back to the good ol’ days.

PAIRS WELL WITH: MILD SAUCES CLYDE’S CARAMEL CREAM ALE: Stichter recommends this beer with a smoked BBQ flavor, as neither are competing for your attention. Clyde’s is a smooth beer with a hint of caramel and vanilla, similar to the flavor of cream soda.

PAIRS WELL WITH: SPICY SAUCES BOONE COUNTY BROWN TRACTOR FIRE: Bur Oak’s new addition to its brown ales is a complement to any BBQ, Stichter says. The chipotle peppers give this beer a smoky spiciness and zesty flavor.

Roots N Blues N Data: A Decade of Fans

BY MIRANDA MOORE Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival has brought in more than half a million attendees over the past decade.

The biggest year was 2008 ­— the last year no tickets were required — when the festival attracted more than 100,000 attendees. Venue changes and rising ticket prices could be the reason for decreased attendance, but things might be looking up. In 2016, ticket sales increased by 7,500, and food and music fans came from 46 states, three Canadian provinces and even as far as Norway, Belgium and Japan. Here’s how attendance has stacked up over the years.

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0

12

70

65 50

2007

2008

2009

2010

52

2011

50

2012

25

27

.

24

2013

2014

2015

5

32

2016

ATTENDANCE AT RNB PER YEAR (BY THOUSANDS)

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ALEXANDRA WOZNICZKA

READY

TO SHINE

At age 13, Aina Cook couldn’t predict that auditioning for a singing competition would lead to a successful music career. “I didn’t really have any formal training of any kind; I just sang with all my heart,” Cook says about competing in Pazzapa, the most popular singing competition in her home country of Madagascar. “Next thing I knew, I had won, and I was on my way to record my first album.”

Years later, after multiple pop albums and success in Madagascar and Europe, Cook is breaking into the Midwest music scene and into new genres: blues and jazz.

Earlier this year, Cook’s band won King of the Roots, a contest at The Blue Note where the band competed against four other talented local groups. The prize?

A coveted spot on this year’s Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival stage. For Cook, who went to Roots N Blues for the first time while studying at MU, the chance to perform has been on her mind. “The first time I went to Roots N Blues, I just thought, ‘Man, wouldn’t it be cool to be up on that stage?’” she says. “Next thing you know, here we are.” She’ll perform with her new group, The Aina Cook Band, at the festival this weekend.

Growing up, Cook’s childhood home in Madagascar brimmed with music; her father, a St. Louis native and guitarist, exposed her to American musicians such as Stevie Wonder, as well as French and Malagasy artists.

Her mother, a native Malagasy, sings. It wasn’t until Pazzapa, though, that Cook decided to pursue music, too. After winning in 2003, she recorded two albums and toured Madagascar and France while balancing high school obligations.

In 2009, Cook moved to her dad’s home state of Missouri to attend MU and experiment with her music.

She says the transition from Malagasy life to the U.S. was a culture shock, especially when it came to music.

“There’s so many different kinds of music, and all of the different kinds of people are so amazing,” Cook says.

Moving pushed her to try new sounds and stray from the happy pop music she performed in Madagascar. “People here in the U.S. are very open-minded; they’re a lot more accepting,” she says. “Coming here, I realized I could be myself, and I could sing about things I really cared about.”

In 2016, Cook moved to St. Louis to focus on music.

She quickly found a home in the city’s jazz and blues scene and started tackling heavier subjects with her

GENRE

After winning this year’s King of the Roots competition, the Madagascar-born pop star takes the Roots N Blues stage BY SAMANTHA STOKES

Aina Cook, born in Madagascar, now lives in St. Louis. She uses her music not only as an artistic vessel but also as a megaphone for tackling social issues such as sexism. This will be her first time performing at Roots N Blues.

lyrics. Comparing her teenage music with her style today, “There’s a drastic difference between the two sounds,” she says. “It’s two different people. Love is awesome, and I want to talk about love all day long, but there are other things in this world that need to be addressed.”

Cook describes herself as a feminist, and girl power is central to her music. The title track of her new EP, “Brand New Knife,” is about a woman’s reaction to her uncommitted partner. Even though she describes her lyrics as “kind of joking,” — the chorus reads, “I got a brand new knife / and I’m waiting here for you” — many of her songs explore the unbalanced power dynamic between men and women.

Concertgoers can expect lots of vocal intensity.

“I’m a very powerful singer, very loud,” Cook says.

“My concerts are very loaded in emotion.” The group will play mostly original songs though Cook says the set will feature something new: “We’re adding a horn

section just for Roots N Blues, so that’s going to be super fun.”

Her decision to change things up with new instruments is just another example of Cook’s versatility and constantly developing style. “I’m still growing, so my sound is still changing,” she says. “I don’t want to be put in a box.”

Aina Cook Saturday, 11:15 a.m.

Great Southern Bank Stage

year’s artists toe the line between genres. With a five-star rating signifying the purest form, here’s how BENDERS This well they adhere to each style, according to their sound and how they are described in reviews. BY JANIE BOOTH

Blues Gary Clark Jr. Lee Fields and the Expressions Leon Bridges Music Maker Blues Revue PHOTO COURTESY OF ROOTS N BLUES

Country and Bluegrass Margo Price Marty Stuart and His Fabulous Superlatives The Mavericks The Steeldrivers

Folk John Prine Marshall Crenshaw and the Bottle Rockets Old 97’s Paul Weber and the Scrappers

Hybrid Indie/Folk/Rock/Blues: The Hooten Hallers Pop/Rock/Beach: The Untamed Youth Rock/Blues: Ana Popovic; Kent Burnside and the Flood Brothers 09.28.17

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Still

untamed

Before a show at The Blue Note in the late 1980s, Deke Dickerson, lead guitarist and vocalist for the Untamed Youth, approached club owner Richard King with a request: Let the band set up a Jell-O wrestling pit so bass player Steve Mace could spar with audience members during the show.

“The club was not exactly a Taj-Mahal-type venue, so I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do it,’” King says.

After getting the green light from King, Dickerson spent a week preparing gallons of cherry-flavored Jell-O at the house the band shared in Columbia. The concert went off without a hitch, and King instructed the band members to discard the Jell-O on the ground by the dumpster behind the club. His thinking: The Jell-O would just melt away over time, especially if it rained.

A day or two later, King received a call from the Boone County Sheriff’s Department. Someone told the club owner to meet officers at The Blue Note.

The dried Jell-O on the asphalt resembled blood, and the authorities thought it was connected to a string of gruesome animal sacrifices that were taking place throughout Boone County at the time. In the moment, King was reminded of the famous Baby Ruth scene in Caddyshack.

“I go: ‘Hey, it’s cherry Jell-O. Stick your finger in, and give it a taste,’” he says.

No animal sacrifices here, just the aftermath of the Untamed Youth live.

Expect the same sort of energy and outlandish debauchery when the band plays its 30th anniversary show at the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival. Despite the larger festival stage providing a less-intimate setting, Mace and organ player Steve “Sammy” Rager promise to throw beer on the hometown audience one way or another.

“Oh, we’ll figure out a way,” Mace says. “I’m not worried about that.”

The Untamed Youth’s 30th anniversary set will bring unparalleled energy and onstage shenanigans to Roots N Blues BY BROOKS HOLTON

INSPIRATION Despite the retro surf vibe that permeates the band’s discography and its “Supercharged Steamroller” music video, the Untamed Youth’s true influences were the furthest thing from the Beach Boys. Rather, the band aspired to bring the same intensity as its regular competition for airtime on the late ’80s college radio circuit and bar gigs.

“So you couldn’t go out there and be like, ‘Everybody’s going surfin’,’” Mace says, doing his best Brian Wilson impersonation. “You couldn’t do that shit. A lot of our friends were in punk bands,” he adds, “so we were playing like them.”

The band also gravitated toward the self-starting aesthetic of punk bands. Dickerson used his headstrong persistence and the connections he made through starting his own radio show on KOPN at age 13 to help the band book shows in major cities along the coasts, where its core fans resided. After the band played in New York City, its 1968 Oldsmobile hearse would then travel to outpost cities in the surrounding area to play.

THE COMEBACK Although the band’s sound caught on in bigger cities with lusher alternative rock scenes, and reunion tours following the group’s mid-1990s breakup included weeks of playing raucous festivals in Europe, the Untamed Youth remains a novelty act in its hometown.

Hence the novelty acts — “scams,” as the band would call them — during gigs at The Blue Note. They were not about making some avant-garde commentary on what is art, but rather the band’s way of keeping shows interesting and fresh. “Columbia’s really where we had to work harder than any other town,” Mace says. “I

think we were appreciated (in Columbia), but this was more like, ‘Well, we live here, the rent’s cheap and we can play here and draw a few hundred people every time we play.”

The Untamed Youth Saturday, 2:15 p.m.

Missouri Lottery Stage

Mace and Rager continue to live and work in Columbia while Dickerson is on the road touring as a solo rockabilly act. The Untamed Youth’s frontman, who has played Roots N Blues solo on four different occasions, has also recently performed in Quebec City, Montreal and Calafell, Spain, before flying back to the U.S. for the band’s 30th anniversary gig. Mace and Rager made cameos during Dickerson’s 2016 solo Roots N Blues set, but with the band reuniting Saturday for a full show to honor its first appearance on The Blue Note’s stage in 1987, prepare yourself for one hell-raiser of a homecoming for some of Columbia’s most untamed celebrities.

And, if the energy level isn’t up to the Untamed Youth’s standards, expect drastic measures to be taken.

“I go: ‘Hey, it’s cherry Jell-O. Stick your finger in, and give it a taste.’”

—Richard King

HISTORY The Untamed Youth formed in Columbia during the mid-1980s when Dickerson founded the band with Mace, who had become his best friend at Rock Bridge High School. The two shared a love for 1950s and ’60s rockabilly music, so they decided to form their own garage band of pliable adolescents in the spirit of the retro surfrock, 45-inch records Dickerson hoarded in his eclectic music library. Rager didn’t join the band completely until he moved from Peoria, Illinois, to Columbia after the Untamed Youth finished its 1988 debut album. His parents weren’t happy to see him give up his job at a Peoria TV station to play the keyboard in a garage band that wrote love ballads to Elly May Clampett of The Beverly Hillbillies.

“They were like: ‘What are you doing that for? Are you going to be playing rock ’n’ roll when you’re 60?’”

Rager says.

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The Untamed Youth, which formed in Columbia during the mid-1980s, has performed along the coasts and internationally. The band featured a variety of novelty acts, including Jell-O wrestling matches, fashion shows and more.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ROOTS N BLUES

Songs

Musicians pour their pain into their songs and turn melancholy into masterpieces BY DAN SCHWARTZ

of struggle

The instruments in Amanda Shires’ latest album, My Piece of Land, could be stripped away, and much of the music would remain. Her power is in her words and how she sings them.

Her loneliness in “When You’re Gone,” a song from the new album, might as well be your own. To hear her sing the lyrics moves you more as the song’s dominant guitars, upbeat and optimistic, twang along like a tender country tune while Shires’ voice lilts with longing.

Struggle makes good music, of which you’re guaranteed plenty at the 11th annual Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival. Struggle is a conflict that’s universal, an umbrella under which we all huddle. It is the source of somber times and the heart of the blues. It’s personal, yet listeners often find it familiar.

We can relate to most stories of struggle. For instance, the struggle for home, which Band of Horses’ Ben Bridwell knows from his nights on Seattle’s streets. Or the struggle against hate, which Booker T. Jones knows as a black man who made music with white people in the 1960s South. Or the struggle for life, which John Prine knows from his clash with neck and lung cancers — a battle that has left his head drawn permanently down and his voice altered.

“I’ve learned exactly which of the floorboards groan / And how the AC exhales when it kicks on / So? I’ve been losing sleep / I swear I heard the lilies bend, then bloom, then weep.”

—Amanda Shires, “When You’re Gone” Although these artists and others playing at the festival practice the art of openness, oftentimes they keep some details of their lives closed. As much as

their music is about the hard times in this world, rarely do they sing about how they made it through them.

The story of Shires and her husband, Jason Isbell, does just that.

In 2013, Isbell told The New York Times Magazine that addiction tore him down six years ago when he left Drive-By Truckers. A band member described his departure as “extremely amicable.” Isbell summed it up by saying, “Go figure.”

“Some people get drunk and become kind of sweet,” Patterson Hood, a member of the band, told The New York Times Magazine in the interview. “Jason wasn’t one of those people.”

Isbell had joined the hard-driving Alabama band in 2001 at 22. A number of media reports, which say he often drank on stage, describe a destructive life when he traveled with the band and a tortured nosedive when he was kicked out.

The young celebrity divorced his first wife, Shonna Tucker. He made a few records that critics said weren’t quite there. He continued to drink, and his talents seemed to fade away, entertainment writers said.

But in February 2012, Shires, then Isbell’s girlfriend; Traci Thomas, his manager at the time; and Ryan Adams, a musician and friend, convinced Isbell to go to rehab, according to the The New York Times Magazine story.

He quit drinking that summer and began writing the album Southeastern, pegged by music critics as a grand-slam success.

Now, he’s married to Shires, with whom he has a two-year-old daughter. In her final weeks of pregnancy, Shires wrote most of My Piece of Land.

In the song “Mineral Wells,” their daughter, not yet born, can be heard kicking Shires’ stomach faintly in the background. With Isbell co-writing two songs and playing guitar throughout, the album is truly a family affair.

Shires and Isbell’s journey has been one filled with hardships, but their happy ending shows that even the most difficult of struggles can be overcome.

Amanda Shires, one of this year’s featured Roots N Blues artists, is no stranger to struggle. Her lyrics are filled with longing and loneliness.

Amanda Shires Sunday, 2:45 p.m.

Great Southern Bank Stage

Roots N Blues N Data: Wallets Singing the Blues

BY MIRANDA MOORE

Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival started as the 150th anniversary party for Boone County National Bank, now called Central Bank of Boone County.

The bank footed the bill, and the festival was free for everyone. But the following year, the festival operated at a loss, even with over $100,000 in assistance from the city’s Convention

and Visitors Bureau. In the third year of the festival, Thumper Entertainment, the company behind the festival, started charging admission. Tickets range from single-day general admission passes to full-weekend VIP passes. Here’s how weekend pass prices have changed over the years.

$135 $125

$75

$60 $25 $0 2007

2009

2011

PHOTO AND INFOGRAPHIC BY OR COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS AND KEEGAN POPE

2013

2015

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LET’S GET GRUBBING

Let your stomach (and your wallet) be the guide to choose your Roots N Blues’ BBQ BY ALEX EDWARDS With only two and a half days and 27 vendors from which to choose, the food and drink scene at Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival can be a bit overwhelming. Whether you’re craving a plate piled high with meat, or you want to step outside of your taste bud comfort zone, Vox’s food vendor matrix has your destination covered no matter your price range.

COUNTRY CLASSICS Lyla’s Catering Co. Pulled Pork Wrap, $8 All tacos and sauces are gluten-free and cooked for dietary specifications.

This tortilla wrap features pulled pork, cheddar cheese, onions, a house BBQ sauce, coleslaw and fresh lettuce.

Dickey’s Barbecue Pit Pulled Pork Nachos, $7 for a regular Layers of BBQ beans, nacho cheese, pulled pork and jalapeños topped with sour cream sit atop a bed of tortilla chips.

Big Daddy’s BBQ Rib Dinner, $12 with two sides Cooked for hours on a smoker, the Southern-style seasoned ribs come tender, juicy and meaty. All of the food is prepared with a specialty sauce that starts sweet and finishes with a spicy kick.

The Big Cheeze Pig Mac, $8 This modern twist on the grilled cheese sandwich features pulled pork, caramelized onions and mac ’n’ cheese.

Smokin’ Chick’s BBQ Texas, $8.50 for a regular It’s a BBQ sandwich that comes layered with brisket and slaw. With five kinds of sauce available, there are plenty of ways to mix and match your own specialty flavor.

Fried PB&J Bites, $5 for three Grill-A-Brothers country “beignet” bites are classic PB&J sandwiches dipped in home-made pancake batter, fried golden brown and topped with powdered sugar.

Not’cho Ordinary Taco Neverfake Cheese Steak, $6 Don’t expect a clean eat.

This thinly sliced Philly-style steak features sautéed onions and peppers, lettuce, tomato, cilantro and chipotle aioli and it’s smothered in jalapeño cream cheese.

Manzo’s Wood-Fired Pizza By the slice, $5 Snag about a quarter of a pizza pie with Manzo’s cheese, pepperoni, sausage and signature margherita slices. Each pizza is made with Manzo’s specialty red sauce.

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Ozark Mountain Biscuit Co. The Boss Hog, $12 You’ll need napkins for this one.

It’s loaded with simmered collard greens, slow-braised pulled pork and an over-easy egg and lathered with gravy and house-made BBQ Arkan-sauce.

WORTH THE SPLURGE

POCKET CHANGE

Grill-A-Brothers

Missouri Legacy Beef Rib-eye Steak Sandwich, $14 You can fix it your way with an assortment of toppings and a standard BBQ sauce. To wash it all down, order a fresh-squeezed lemonade.

Jamaican Jerk Hut Jerk Chicken, $10 With a rasta lemonade, this meal will take you straight down to Jamaica with succulent grilled chicken marinated in original, authentic Jamaican Jerk spices and served with coconut rice on the side.

Grill-A-Brothers General Tso and Tso’s, $10 Fit for the general himself, this sandwich combines smoked pulled chicken and a General Tso’s sweet and spicy sauce with steamed broccoli and carrots before stuffing it all in a house-made bun.

BRANCH OUT A LITTLE PHOTOS COURTESY OF LYLA’S CATERING CO., OZARK MOUNTAIN BISCUIT CO., NOT’CHO ORDINARY TACO AND JAMAICAN JERK HUT. INFOGRPAPHIC BY ALEXANDRA WOZNICZKA

RHYTHM

AND BLUES

Gary Clark Jr.’s 2013 performance at The Blue Note was one to remember. An eager, sold-out crowd swayed atop the sticky floors of the concert hall as Clark Jr. ignited the room with his modern take on the blues. “What I like about (him) is he definitely has that old-school kind of vibe to him but puts this whole modern twist on it,” says Michael Howard, a fan of Clark Jr. since 2012.

The blues, like other genres such as rock ’n’ roll, has gone through many transitions throughout its history. Chuck Renn, a board member for the MO Blues Association, says a group of young people has developed a new branch in the modern evolution of blues that blends elements from different genres together. Staying true to the blues, Gary Clark Jr., a 33-year-old from Austin, Texas, is one of those trendsetters, Renn says.

For Christmas, Clark Jr.’s parents gave him

Gary Clark Jr. Friday, 9:15 p.m.

Missouri Lottery Stage

his first guitar when he was only 12 years old: an Ibanez RX20. By the time he was 15, he was already performing his own version of blues music at Antone’s, an Austin nightclub famous for being a stepping stone in the music career of the legendary guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan.

His career skyrocketed in 2010 after he was invited

to perform at Eric Clapton’s Crossroads Guitar Festival, which is notable for being an arena for some of the greatest guitarists in the music industry. At 29, Clark Jr. was the only performer under the age of 30 to perform a set with a full band. Mike Nolan, the general manager of The Blue Note, first saw Clark Jr. perform in 2013. Nolan says he was impressed by how Clark Jr. pushes the limits of his style. “He shreds the guitar,” Nolan says of Clark Jr. “He’s thinking about every note he plays and every word he sings.” Nolan said the performance broadened his music horizons.

Clark Jr.’s fanbase grew when he grabbed the attention of former President Barack Obama. He was invited to the White House in February 2012 to perform as part of the PBS special Red, White and Blues during Black History Month. In addition to the former president, Clark Jr. also has a strong fanbase in Columbia that might grow after his Friday night performance at Roots N Blues. Tricia Beasley, a local Clark Jr. fan for several years, has seen him perform twice, once at The Blue Note in 2013 and a few years later in Kansas City. “That’s the only reason I want to go to (Roots N Blues), is to check him out for the third time,” Beasley says.

Fans cite Clark Jr.’s vibrant live performances as one of the factors that make him a musical force with which to be reckoned. Not only does he smoothly weave elements of soul, R&B, hip-hop and rock ’n’ roll into the patchwork of his music, but he also has an uncanny ability to bring together people of various ages, races and classes to his shows. “Regardless of any social climate, it’s always cool to see that stuff, just to see everybody there for sort of one greater good or one common interest,” Nolan says.

On Clark Jr.’s 2011 song “Bright Lights,” off of its namesake EP, a wailing guitar reminiscent of rock ’n’ roll and a central beat that echoes the steady background of a hip-hop track cement Clark Jr.’s status

DEDICATED TO BETSY Before Betsy Farris died from cancer in October 2016, she said something that Richard King, president of Thumper Entertainment, will never forget: “I love my job — I just have so much I want to do.”

King knows she meant this because she would often be up at 4:30 a.m. flooding his inbox with ideas and messages. Her attitude and drive motivated King.

She was just as dedicated to her work as she was when they met in 2009, when he still owned The Blue Note.

When Farris was the general manager of KRCG, the local CBS affiliate in Jefferson City, she approached King for media coverage of 9th Street Summerfest. She spoke his language, King recalls, who hired her on as the festival’s first director.

King says her grace and professionalism propelled the festival when it came time to pitch to sponsors.

“She had a great ability to get in the doorway and talk to people.” He believes he or the festival wouldn’t be where they are today without her passion.

“That’s just the kind of person she was,” King says.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS AND ROOTS N BLUES

Gary Clark Jr. brings blues and hip-hop from Austin to Columbia BY LINDSEY JENKINS

Gary Clark Jr. is a 33-year-old modern blues musician from Austin, Texas, who has shared the stage with legends such as the Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton.

as a pioneer of a new blues movement. “Regardless of what you’re looking for, regardless of what you’re into, I think if you give it a chance you’re probably going to find what you’re looking for,” Howard says.

With boundless energy, Betsy Farris left a lasting impact on Roots N Blues N BBQ BY LORETTA LEE

“She can knock doors down.”

Jamie Varvaro, the fest’s director of marketing and development, had a 30-year friendship with Farris that began when she worked at an advertising agency he owned. Farris’ enthusiasm, he says, sucked him right into the festival. “You can’t be involved in a music festival without having a love in music, which Betsy and I both did.” Varvaro and Farris recommended King to book bands such as Fitz and the Tantrums and Gary Clark Jr., who’s playing again this year.

After Farris’ passing, Varvaro took over many of Farris’ responsibilities per King’s request. Varvaro makes it clear, “There’s no way I can fill (Farris’) shoes, but I am honored to carry on the vision that she had for the festival.”

Farris’ zest for life outside of work was evident through her lifestyle. She encouraged King and Varvaro to embody fitness, and constantly asked if they made time to include running in their routines; she cheered them on when they did. Saturday, King says

Betsy Farris was the president of Thumper Entertainment, which puts on the festival, for nearly a decade. Her friend and working partner Richard King is running a 10K in her memory.

he is running a 10K in Farris’ memory. “I’ll run with really, really positive thoughts about a person who was one of the life changers in my life.”

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Craving

to connect

Nikki Hill provides insight into her career and the relationships that started it all BY SAVANNAH WALSH

Nikki Hill’s first memory of music fits into what she calls a typical Southern story. She sang at church thanks to the urging of her parents, and she soaked up all of the music her two older sisters played at home. But music as a profession hadn’t seemed like a reality for the now-famous vocalist. “I was a huge music fan, but I think for me, it didn’t seem accessible,” she says. “It didn’t seem possible.”

Nevertheless, Nikki, who is originally from North Carolina, threw herself into the music scene as a teenager by sneaking into clubs and meeting musicians after they performed. It was love at first listen. “I was really attracted to the energy and release of it,” Nikki says.

Harry Turner, Nikki’s manager, has witnessed her meteoric rise from music-obsessed fan to festival-favorite frontwoman. “Five years later, we’ve been around the globe three times,” he says.

It’s a journey that led Nikki to the release of her albums Here’s Nikki Hill and Heavy Hearts, Hard Fists, as well as the opportunity to perform at festivals such as the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival. This year’s performance marks her second at the festival since 2013.

HEART STRINGS More than a decade ago, Nikki met fellow musician and now-husband Matt Hill. It was the beginning of what was arguably the single-most important relationship of her professional and personal life.

Matt says, “Just meeting someone your own age that was really into all the same things that I was into, and truthfully with a better knowledge (than I), who’s also a beautiful, gorgeous woman on top of that — I was just instantly really drawn to her.”

“Before (Matt), I had huge no-dating-musician policies,” Nikki says. “I always got myself in trouble.”

But with a leap of faith and discussions of Jerry Lee Lewis’ music, the two began dating. Nikki started playing bass for Matt, which was her first major foray into performing.

A week after getting married in 2011, the couple moved to St. Louis, and it was then that Matt encouraged her to start writing and exploring her own style musically. “She just knows music without her even realizing it,” Matt says.

Once Nikki started singing lead vocals for a song or two, both her husband and her manager knew something special had been ignited. “(Her singing) just stopped me in my tracks,” Turner says.

NATURAL TALENT Nikki’s stage presence came as naturally as her understanding of music. At first, Nikki says she wasn’t sure how to navigate a small, niche music scene where all of the artists seem to know one another. She realized that in order for audiences to connect with her music, she had to express herself fully onstage.

“It didn’t take long for me to get up onstage, and in the most selfish way possible, to realize ‘I’m up here, you’re not,’” she says. “This is my 60 to 90 minutes of release for me. This is my time. I’ve got the mic. The band’s behind me.”

Style and independence as an artist are two areas in which Nikki balances instinct with inspiration.

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With the urging of husband Matt Hill, left, Nikki Hill took on the role of lead vocalist to become the edgy artist she is today. She’s produced two albums and is in the midst of a world tour.

On the heels of an alternative punk rock passion as a teenager, when she admired artists such as The Clash and Charlie Patton, Nikki says she resists zippy, easily packaged definitions to describe her music.

“To a certain ear (my music) sounds like soul, and I’m totally OK with that,” Nikki says. “I don’t know how people can subscribe to one thing. I never have.

Style is a living breathing entity that’s allowed to change, develop.”

“I was a huge music fan, but I think for me it didn’t seem accessible. [A music career] didn’t seem possible.”

—Nikki Hill BUSINESS AFFAIRS As fluid as she might be with her sound, Nikki takes a more concrete approach with how she runs the business side of her career. Nikki opts for booking smaller venues, and she is hands-on with planning.

She designs merchandise, bought her own touring van and even runs her own label, Deep Fryed Records.

Nikki has also turned down multiple record deals.

She notes her keen awareness of how women have had their identities and music taken advantage of by outside entities. “To me, I found it bizarre that they just (heard) me sing one song and are talking about how they can turn me into the new Erykah Badu,” Nikki says. “It’s the fact that you’re trying to

mold (me) when neither of us knows what I’m doing.

In their minds, this is already (just about) money.”

LOOKING AHEAD Nikki is focusing on her new music moving forward and is working on a record for 2018. She is also performing shows nationally and internationally.

As for what fans can expect at a Nikki Hill show, Turner notes that there is always a broad range of audience members. “You’ll have a grandma and her granddaughter dancing in front of the stage,” he says.

“It puts a smile on your face.”

Nikki has also been able to channel her feelings about the current political climate into her work as a way to connect with audiences. “I have this platform to really release all this anger, happiness — anything I’m feeling,” she says. “So much of my encouragement onstage is giving that back to people. You feel really weird getting up there singing and dancing and playing, but people need that at the same time.”

Nikki Hill Saturday, 1:30 p.m.

Great Southern Bank Stage

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Ambassador Elmer Lee Fields is a complicated man. His voice and his career, though, are singular.

Fields is the epitome of the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival. He’s a performer with a keen ear for passion, funk, blues and soul, at times sounding like a mix between Otis Redding and B.B. King. He’s also prolific. Some artists might be content to live off their earlier work, but Fields, who was born in 1951, and his band The Expressions haven’t grown too comfortable. The team has released six albums in the past eight years and is currently working on a new one, rounding out its most creatively profuse period in decades. Let’s Talk it Over (1979) was the band’s debut album.

In The Expressions’ versatility and the way his powerful voice can cut through any record, listeners can see a more eclectic group of influences on Fields, including Bruno Mars and Beethoven, Fields says. As proof of Fields’ influence on today’s music, one only need listen to famed rapper J. Cole’s songs “Ladies” and “World is Empty,” both of which lean heavily on Fields’ voice and the music of The Expressions.

“I’m inspired by many artists today, even Justin Bieber,” Fields says. “I keep an ear to what’s going on.”

Fields’ style is a bit more deliberate and dramatic: Think Sam Cooke, Charles Bradley, even Howlin’ Wolf.

Fields’ roots weren’t always planted in music. Growing up, the North Carolina native wanted to be a businessman.

He was inspired by the dress of working professionals.

He cites James Brown, the “godfather of soul,” as an entertainer he wanted to embody.

Then, after he was dared, 14-year-old Fields took the stage at a talent show to perform for the first time. He sang “Outta Sight,” Brown’s 1964 rhythm and blues song.

He won.

Three years later, when he was 17, Fields packed up his life and moved to New York in 1967. He hoped to chase a singing career, according to Indy Week, a weekly newspaper based in Durham, North Carolina. He had $20 to his name. After moving to Brooklyn, Fields sang back-up.

During a show, his then-manager Ray Patterson elevated Fields’ career when he asked him to record his first album.

“He wanted to build a star,” Fields says.

of soul

Soul singer and rhythm and blues artist Lee Fields reflects on his long career BY EMMA BEYER

“Wish You Were Here” singer Lee Fields has spent over 40 years honing his edgy, soulful vocals.

Now, after over four decades in recording his own music, a half-dozen records and numerous tours with music legends such as Kool & the Gang, Fields reflects on his hard work and balance between family and fame.

Fields married when he was 19. “I wanted it all,” Fields says. “I wanted a family. I wanted to be a star.” Early in his career, Fields put music on the back burner to be present at home. He was family-oriented. He raised four kids: three biological children and his nephew, whose parents died when the boy was seven years old. “My ultimate respect and love goes out to you,” Fields says to anyone who’s gone through a similar tragedy.

While making music, Fields poured the same love for his family into his lyrics. When asked, Fields says he loves every song the same. “All my songs are like my children, so it’s like you’re asking me about my favorite child.”

We live in a changing world, Fields says. “I want to make whatever one does relevant. Something has to be incorporated into what’s going on now.”

When it comes to soul music in the 21st century, there’s a lot going on. Fields has been around a long

time, long enough to see the revival of his genre in the likes of Leon Bridges, a headliner of this year’s festival, BJ the Chicago Kid, Aloe Blacc and Son Little.

With a brilliant backing of percussion, bass, strings, keys and brass, Fields is able to bring his lovelorn tales to fruition. The intricacies of romantic relationships populate Fields’ discography, whether the sound is soul, funk or rhythm and blues.

“Artists must be responsible for what they write,” Fields says. “What people hear affects their mind. They’re influenced.”

When Fields isn’t performing, he’s spending time with his family in Plainfield, New Jersey. As is portrayed through much of his music, Fields is a man grounded in family. When he departs from that love, he often admits to it in song, and his guilt is palpable. After speaking with him, though, the inner turmoil expressed in his work seems to be distant.

Fields spends a lot of time traveling. There’s nothing like coming back to the family home where he’s lived since 1980, where his parents used to come and visit him. The home is full of beautiful family memories, he says. “I can’t get those memories anywhere but here.”

Lee Fields and The Expressions bring the nostalgia and raw talent of ’60s and ’70s soul to 2017. If you’re not listening to the band, start today with “Honey Dove” and “Ladies.” These two songs, along with many others, display a legacy of skill, professionalism and brashness that continue to characterize Fields, the ambassador of soul, and his career.

Lee Fields and the Expressions Friday, 6:30 p.m.

Great Southern Bank Stage

Roots N Blues Artists for Every Taste

BY JANIE BOOTH

The Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival is a feast for eclectic tastes, and that means any music fan can find something to love. Choose your favorite famous musician to learn which acts best fit your brand of blues.

... If you like Amy Winehouse ...

Sample a song from Nikki Hill. Hill dived into the scene after independently releasing her self-titled EP in 2012. She combines soul and rock ‘n’ roll in her songs to create a balance that shows her vocal reach and her roots in blues music. Hill will perform at 1:30 p.m. Saturday on the Great Southern Bank Stage.

PHOTO COURTESY OF PARADIGM TALENT AGENCY

... If you’re into Chris Stapleton ...

Then The SteelDrivers are the group for you.

Stapleton fronted the bluegrass band from 2007 to 2010. The SteelDrivers capture the heart and soul of folk music in Nashville. Although the group is often classified as a bluegrass band, you can undoubtedly hear the blues in lead singer Gary Nichols’ voice. The SteelDrivers perform at 5 p.m.

Saturday on the Great Southern Bank Stage.

... If you listen to The Avett Brothers ...

Pop over to see the Old 97’s, a folk country band that is a touch more alternative with a little less banjo strumming. The band has been together for

over 20 years, and in that time, it has released 11 studio albums and a few EPs. The Old 97’s perform at 7:30 p.m. Friday on the Missouri Lottery Stage.

... If you dig B.B. King ...

Stop by, and watch Chump Change. The band’s shows capture the fun, upbeat blues style that King mastered nearly 70 years ago. Chump Change is a local band from Columbia, and according to the Roots N Blues website, the group has performed with several acclaimed blues musicians such as Chuck Berry, Albert King and Buddy Guy. Chump Change performs at the Missouri Lottery Stage on Sunday at 12:45 p.m.

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Q&A

Although he’s been in the music and production biz for decades, Richard King is always learning a thing or two through Roots N Blues BY TAYLOR YSTEBOE

Richard King, president of Thumper Entertainment and head honcho of the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival, knows this weekend is all about the music. It always has been. When he was asked 11 years ago to help organize a festival in celebration of the 150th anniversary of Boone County National Bank, now Central Bank of Boone County, he was immediately struck by the choice of artists; it was a no-brainer to jump on board. Over the past decade, the former owner of The Blue Note has strived to stay true to the roots of the festival. Roots N Blues director Julie King, who has been involved with the event since 2012, says that when troubles arise, her boss can handle them. “When he needs to swoop in, he’s there,” she says. “He’s almost an icon in Columbia.”

Vox spoke to King to learn more about his own roots and how he gets down to the music.

How did you set up your roots in Columbia?

It was October 1975, just after the album release of Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run. It was time for me to move on from where I grew up (in northeastern Pennsylvania). It was almost like an alarm went off. Get out of here before you get yourself in trouble. It was hard for about a year. You come to a place, you don’t know anybody, you’re trying to fit in. But after about a year, I really felt comfortable. I got good friends.

I think Columbia is a great town no matter what.

What type of music did you grow up with?

The music my parents played were musicals like Oklahoma and The Student Prince. For some reason, I really loved music growing up. Back in those days, I was first just listening to the AM radio.

I never played an instrument. My mom and dad had me go to piano lessons, and I never went. I was bad. I think the first time I heard the Beach Boys really early on, I was like, “Wow, I like this.”

And then the Beatles came on, and that was the end of it. I was like, “Whoa, this is way cool.”

How did you first get involved in the music scene in Columbia?

My friend Phil Costello and I were just desperate to get in the business.

We didn’t care about a lot of things.

We had no business plan. No banks would lend us money. But we took over The Brief Encounter (a live music club we bought and turned into The Blue Note). We knew we were going to have to work. We were going to have to work hard. And we were fine with that.

We negotiated a deal and took it over, and Aug. 1, 1980 was the day The Blue Note opened.

Who is your favorite artist you’ve been able to bring to Roots N Blues?

Every year, we bring in different artists, new artists. I would never pick one favorite, but one of my personal favorites is John Prine. The first year he played with us for the festival was three years ago, and to me it was just a stunning performance. There was some

Passing It On The festival works to remain accessible, regardless of rising prices

BY LINDSEY JENKINS To many, one of the great things about blues music is its resonance. Most people can relate to its stories of unrequited love, overwhelming joy or desperate loneliness. Music in general is one of the great equalizers of our society.

No matter your socio-economic background, gender or race, music should be accessible to all.

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Richard King says he was on his way to California, but he stopped in Columbia to visit a friend and never left. His love of music began in his childhood, and now, the president of Thumper Entertainment is an integral part of the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival.

real magic going on there. The year that John Prine played, I had a rough day. I remember Rosanne Cash came on, and she was awesome. And then Prine came on, and I was like, “This is why I do this; this just made my weekend.”

Are there artists you were surprised agreed to play at the festival?

I was surprised Ryan Adams said yes.

It took me three years to get John Prine to say yes, and that’s part of the process. You try and develop this. We

accessibility by giving away free weekend passes to Columbia residents with an income level less than 185 percent of the federal poverty level. “I, myself, was in a position 30 years ago when I didn’t have a whole lot of money, and there were shows I wanted to see, and I couldn’t afford them,” says Richard King, president of Thumper Entertainment, the organization that puts on Roots N Blues every year.

This year, a general admission weekend pass to the festival would cost anywhere from $99 to $135.

This is the ninth year the festival has provided around 300 passes to people who qualify and apply.

The fest takes free tickets even further by also giving

want this to be artist-friendly. One of the greatest compliments that I’ve ever received is when I’ll be backstage with certain artists, and they’ll be just like: “Hey, how are you doing? Thank you,” and “Hey, I got to go over and see someone on that stage, I love this band, I’ve never seen them before.” That’s happened on several occasions, and I think that’s pretty much the ultimate compliment to what you’re doing when other artists are wanting to get over and see somebody else.

weekend passes to its volunteers. Volunteers who work at least two four- to five-hour shifts receive a pass. “We understand circumstances today,” King says. “Some people have it rough.” The accessibility of Roots N Blues to people of varying monetary backgrounds makes it unique in comparison to other music festivals, such as Coachella and SXSW. Although Roots N Blues isn’t as open to the community as it was when it was a free festival, Thumper Entertainment seeks to combat steep prices by providing opportunities for residents to attend the festival at no cost.

PHOTO BY NATE COMPTON

October 7, 2017 Columbia, MO

Register or Donate TODAY KomenMissouri.org/MidMoRace Act. Donate. Get Involved.

MUSIC

Fall into new music

Four members of Columbia’s music scene tell us what fresh tunes they recommend as the leaves turn and air gets crisp BY MICHAEL CONNOLLY Fall is here, so it’s time to throw away your dated summer playlist and turn up some new tunes. With so many albums to choose from, it’s hard to know if your ears are being filled with the sweetest sounds possible or if your new favorite album is waiting for you to find it and press play. Lucky for you, local musicians know exactly what albums you should listen to as you reluctantly leave summer behind. Get your aux cord ready and headphones on to hear what albums Columbia’s music experts are anticipating this fall.

BRIAN CRAIG

Lead vocalist for Don’t Mind Dying Album recommendation: Wizard Bloody Wizard by Electric Wizard Release: Nov. 10 Vox song pick: “See You in Hell”

Brian Craig, 47, and his band Don’t Mind Dying have graced numerous stages in Columbia with what Craig describes as “soul metal.” After playing in bands in Los Angeles, Craig came to Columbia almost 25 years ago and has been part of several groups. One genre of music has always caught Craig’s ear: “I’m a total metal head, man,” Craig says. “I like really crusty, aggressive music.”

For this fall, Craig recommends English metal band Electric Wizard’s new LP, Wizard Bloody Wizard, set to release Nov. 10. The band uses standard metal instrumentation of guitars, bass and drums, mixed with occasional samples. So what makes the band special?

“With Electric Wizard, you’re always guaranteed to have awesome sludge,” Craig says. “Slow, grinding metal that feels like your head is slowly being pummeled into the concrete by a steamroller, but it feels good.”

AUDRA SERGEL

Musician and educator Album recommendation: Live in Boston by Gabe Dixon Released: Sept. 8 Vox song pick: “Holding Her Freedom (Live)”

Audra Sergel, 41, has music coursing through her veins. Her dad was a band director, and her brother is a professional musician, so she knew from a young age that she would be heavily involved with music. She’s a classically trained musician who has taught voice and piano lessons at her studio in Columbia for almost 17 years, has been performing jazz for nearly 15 years and has directed several musicals.

Her choice for fall is Live in Boston by Gabe Dixon, an album that came out Sept. 8. The album features a “blue-jazz element mixed solely into rock,” Sergel 20

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Brian Craig, lead vocalist for Don’t Mind Dying, performs Sept. 9 at Rose Music Hall. For Craig’s album pick, he opted for heavy, agressive music such as metal and punk. Don’t Mind Dying’s music infuses metal and deep blues.

says, and for the most part, the album is just Dixon’s vocals and the keys from his piano. “I love the way he combines piano and voice so seamlessly,” Sergel says.

“He just has a true artist’s sound.”

ROBIN ANDERSON

Musician Album recommendation: Native Invader by Tori Amos Released: Sept. 8 Vox song pick: “Cloud Riders”

Robin Anderson, 31, is an alumna of MU’s School of Music and has lived in Columbia ever since she graduated. Anderson started out in classical music but crossed over into singing, songwriting and experimenting with pop. She teaches piano and voice at her own studio in Columbia and released her debut album, In All Degrees, this summer.

Native Invader by Tori Amos, which dropped Sept.

8, is the album Anderson will be spinning endlessly for the rest of this year. Amos’ music features classical instrumentation, strings and the common thread of a piano. “Her technique at the piano is so dense,” Anderson says, “and, for lack of a better word, it’s nontraditional.” Anderson enjoys Amos’ “depth of

storytelling,” poetic lyrics and unconventional sound.

“Harmonically, her music is really unexpected,” Anderson says. “It doesn’t follow a traditional format.”

SHEA SPENCE

Drummer for The Many Colored Death Album recommendation: Masseduction by St. Vincent Release: Oct. 13 Vox song pick: “Los Ageless” Shea Spence, 26, started playing the drums as a toddler, banging on her art tables with colored pencils. From there, she started taking drum lessons at 10 and has been playing ever since. Her band, The Many Colored Death, formed through Craigslist and has what she describes as a “’90s grunge style,” similar to Soundgarden or the Foo Fighters.

St. Vincent’s upcoming album, Masseduction, set to release Oct. 13, has Spence waiting with bated breath.

“I like her songwriting capabilities,” Spence says. “She really is diverse in the way she writes music.” Spence also praised the indie artist’s skill at guitar — St. Vincent, aka Annie Clark, is famous for her shredding skills — and her command of the stage and audience.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF BRIAN CRAIG AND AMAZON

MUSIC

Grime artists such as Stormzy have topped the British charts since the early 2000s.

Coming to America: London grime goes mainstream The rap-like genre is popular in the UK, but will it achieve the same success in America? BY JASMINE-KAY JOHNSON Grime is about to receive a new definition in the U.S. The genre is a London-born “derivative of rap,” says Jacob Somerscales, a DJ at KCOU, and it could be taking over U.S. airwaves soon.

Richard Maguire, a senior lecturer at Arcadia University in London, England, to whom grime is no stranger, wrote in an email that grime is a combination of “dubstep, rave, garage and jungle.” It is fast-paced and aggressive in its style and delivery.

Grime entered the British music scene in the early 2000s. Maguire says grime came as a reaction to the pricey, anti-sportswear clubs that dedicated themselves to garage music. To better portray their realities, artists created grime by pulling from experiences of living in poor, inner-city London neighborhoods. The music was loud, gritty and real.

The significance of grime in the states suggests it could go mainstream.

Maguire, along with many others, feels that grime is something of interest due to the recent attention North American artists have given it. Drake featured prominent grime artists Skepta and Giggs on his most recent album, More Life, and Kanye West paid tribute to the genre by bringing out several grime artists during his Brit Awards performance in 2015.

PHOTO COURTESY OF RACHEL CAMPBELL AT WIRED PR

Hitt Records employee Ashwini Mantrala sees grime’s potential. He says the record store isn’t a large market for grime vinyl, which could be a result of music not being released in that medium and the cost of getting records shipped from England. In spite of this, Mantrala feels grime will make its way into the local music scene. “As emcees like Skepta, Stormzy, Novelist and more continue to make more crossover, American-styled records, I’m sure the presence will be felt in college-town clubs,” he says. Mantrala is even more optimistic about grime’s future in America. “Grime’s here to stay now in mainstream American music,” he says. “One thing that music listeners, especially hip-hop fans, really appreciate is authenticity and the rise from the bottom.” These rags-to-riches stories and support from North American artists “will reinforce grime as the next frontier of hip-hop,” he says.

Somerscales doesn’t find himself quite as optimistic. He doesn’t think grime will be played alongside the likes of Alessia Cara or Selena Gomez, but he did credit the internet for spreading grime’s popularity. Somerscales also incorporates grime into his own local DJ sets with songs from Skepta and Stormzy.

Time will reveal if grime catches on here in the states. Recognition from U.S. rappers has brought awareness to American listeners, but grime is still an underground art. With the right kind of approach, though, grime artists could find themselves sitting on the U.S. music charts alongside Drake and Kanye.

OCTOBER 14, 2017 Find out more info at SOMO.ORG/EDGE!

MissouriOTE SOMissouri

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ARTS & BOOKS

Knitting a tight community Mid-Missourians craft for a cause by creating twiddle muffs for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients

BY ROSEMARY SIEFERT Two groups in mid-Missouri are knitting to provide twiddle muffs to individuals with Alzheimer’s, dementia and special needs, among others.

Twiddle muffs are brightly colored cloth tubes made with yarn and adorned with decorative novelties meant to warm your hands. For people with Alzheimer’s and dementia, the muffs can also provide sensory stimuli.

“People with Alzheimer’s often pick at their clothes or their skin or twist jewelry,” says Anita Houston, the coordinator of Boone County knitters for SERVE, Inc., a central Missouri nonprofit social service agency that provides creative outlets and other services for senior citizens. A few of the sensory items sewn onto the muffs, including beads, ribbon, lace and buttons, are attached to the muff to provide an alternative to those behaviors.

Originally created by Margaret Light in 1997, the twiddle muff provided activity and comfort to Light’s grandmother as her eyesight worsened and her busy hands became inactive.

The group “Knit, Crochet, Give” started meeting a year ago at Unity of Columbia where Rev. Lauri Boyd is the minister. Boyd’s father dealt with a condition similar to dementia in the last years of his life, and she says it became a passion to provide help for people dealing with similar afflictions. Over the past year, the group has attracted people who enjoy knitting and want to add purpose to their hobby.

“It really allows us to enjoy what we do on a deeper level,” Boyd says. “So many of us at various times in our lives have been supported in one way or another. We’re paying it forward.”

Although the muffs encourage activity in people with autism or other sensory disorders, they have especially benefited those with Alzheimer’s and dementia. Patients can slide their hands through the muff or fiddle with its attachments to subdue behaviors like repetition and agitation.

Houston describes the muffs as a one-of-a-kind art and says they provide other avenues for satisfaction, too. One woman even asked Houston if she liked her new hat, referring to her muff. “If she wants to wear it as a hat, we’re just delighted that it makes her smile,” Houston says. “It doesn’t matter that it’s not used the way we expected it to.”

The groups are also mindful of the expenses behind caring for patients with Alzheimer’s. “We don’t want (caregivers) to have to choose between medication, food — you know, the essentials — and having (twiddle muffs) for comfort,” Houston says. “We’ve never charged a penny for them.”

For knitters, Boyd says part of the joy of making twiddle muffs is knowing that their craft is touching so many lives.

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Knitters create aesthetically pleasing, colorful muffs for Alzheimer’s and dementia patients (top and center).

“Knit, Crochet, Give” and SERVE, Inc. are two groups in mid-Missouri that have knitters make twiddle muffs for these patients. Anita Houston says the goal is to make muffs for people who could use them. Muffs with attachments allow for sensory exploration (left).

PHOTOS BY JEREMY JOHNSON

THE TO-DO LIST

this week in Columbia

ARTS & CULTURE Craftin’ for a Cause

Confetti Craft Co. invites all crafters to raise funds by doing what they love. Signature cocktails will be served at the bar, and 25 percent of all project sales will be donated to Healthy Bottom Diapers Bank. Today, 6 p.m., Confetti Craft Co., $32 per project, 424-3624

Pumpkin Art Contest

Take your pumpkin carving to a new level this season. Create a pumpkin that’s inspired by reading, the library or a book character to enter the contest. Sunday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Columbia Public Library, Free, 443-3161

auction. All are welcome, and attendees will enjoy a photo booth, games and prizes.

The event is free, but Woodhaven asks for RSVPs as early as possible. Tuesday, 6–9 p.m., Free; $30, suggested donation, 876-7326

FOOD & DRINK 4 Hands Tap Takeover

Start beer month off on the right hand with the largest 4 Hands Columbia takeover ever. Come for over 20 handles, including limited releases, and stay for live music, scratchers and prizes. Saturday, 3–11 p.m., International Tap House, Free, 443-1401

MUSIC

the most basic of soccer skills — the penalty kick. All kids ages 9 through 14 are eligible to compete. Each player will be allowed 15 shots at the goal from the penalty line. Council champions will then compete for the district championship, held the same day. District champions will receive a medal and have the opportunity to compete in the regional championship in late October as well as state championships in November. Sunday, 1–3 p.m., Knights of Columbus Hall, Free, 228-2582

SCREEN Friend Request (R)

Haunted or Witch House Workshop

Jenny Teator

A spooky and artsy afternoon awaits you at this craft shop. It’s never too early to start making your Halloween decorations, so grab your glue gun and candy corn, and get to crafting. Sunday, noon to 4 p.m., Karma Care LLC, $35, 777-1615

Nashville singer/songwriter Jenny Teator is bringing her rock, soul and blues to The Industry at The Tiger Hotel with a stacked list of other local musicians. She’ll be joined by the Burney Sisters, Lou Nevins and more. The best part? It’s free! Today, 7–9 p.m., The Tiger Hotel, Free, 875-8888

This thriller and horror film from Germany that just arrived in the U.S. might make you think twice about accepting a Facebook friend request. Laura is a college student who friends social outcast Marina but unfriends her later. Marina takes her life, which begins a demonic curse that kills off her own friends.

F, R RUNTIME = 1:32

Flip Fabrique’s Catch Me!

El Ten Eleven with Sego

American Made (R)

This performance is filled with flying action and acrobats bound to make your jaw drop.

Created in 2011 by Quebec City Circus School graduate students, the troupe has performed with Cirque du Soleil and Cirque Éloize. Don’t miss out on an exciting, heart-leaping show. Tuesday, 7 p.m., Jesse Auditorium, $23–43, 882-3781

Los Angeles post-rock duo El Ten Eleven will light up Rose Music Hall with its thumping bass and experimental sound. The band is joined by fellow LA duo Sego, which is known for its grungy guitar sound. Today, 8 p.m., Rose Music Hall, $15, 874-1944

Clothesline Project

Folk-pop band Judah & the Lion team up with Irish indie band The Academic and folk singer Tyson Motsenbocker for an evening of alternative fun. Sing along with the people of CoMo and the good ol’ banjo.

Today, 8 p.m., The Blue Note, $25; $47, VIP First Entry, 874-1944

Survivors and supporters created art that demonstrates the impact of intimate partner violence. The exhibit teaches viewers about the issues of domestic violence. Wednesday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Kuhlman Court, Free, 882-6638

CIVIC Women Business Owners Mastermind Exchange

Got an entrepreneurial spirit? How about business ideas? Trade tips, and share stories, ideas and challenges with Columbia’s female business owners.

Today, 8–9 a.m. and noon to 1 p.m., Missouri Women’s Business Center, Free, 777-5236

Hallsville Fun Fest

It’s a weekend filled with food, contests and more. Whatever you’re looking for, this fest has it. Families can enjoy a tractor pull, watch the Little Mr. and Miss/Queen Contests or see a Derby Dames/Games exhibition. Today, 6 p.m., Free; Friday, 3 p.m., $5; Saturday, 7 a.m., $5, Hallsville Fairgrounds, 696-2669

Woodhaven Fundraising Dinner Help a local nonprofit organization empower people with intellectual and developmental disabilities during an upcoming fundraising dinner and silent

Judah & The Lion

Future Punx w/ Drag & Enemy Airship

If you’re looking for a dance party, this is the show for you. Brooklyn-based, post-punk/ post-wave band Future Punx is joined by local post-punk groups Drag and Enemy Airship. There will be a little kickin’ and a lot of dancin’. Monday, 8 p.m., Cafe Berlin, $5, 441-0400

Based on a true story, this action-comedy film follows Barry Seal (Tom Cruise), a pilot recruited by the CIA to work as a drug smuggler in the 1980s. The operation was one of the biggest secret missions in CIA history — it spawned the birth of the

Medellin Cartel and almost brought down the White House.

R RUNTIME = 1:55

Still playing American Assassin (R) F, R American Made (R) R Annabelle: Creation (R) R Columbus (NR) RT Dunkirk (PG-13) R Flatliners (PG-13) R Friend Request (R) F, R Gook (NR) RT The Hitman’s Bodyguard (R) R Home Again (PG-13) F, R Ingrid Goes West (R) RT It (R) F, R Kingsman: The Golden Circle (R) F, R Leap! (PG) R The Lego Ninjago Movie (PG) F, R Logan Lucky (PG-13) R Menashe (PG) RT Mother! (R) F, R Patti Cake$ (R) RT Steve McQueen: American Icon (NR) F Whose Streets? (R) RT What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (NR), RT

Theaters F = Forum R = Regal

RT = Ragtag = available in 3D

KOPN 89.5fm...Where Else?

It’s not just radio, it’s community radio.

SPORTS Show-Me State Games Pumpkin Run This run is for kindergarteners through fifth-graders, and the route is a 1.4-mile run around Perry Phillips Lake. Parents, don’t worry about the kids. You are allowed to run with your child for free if you choose.

Saturday, 7–11 a.m., A. Perry Philips Park, Free, parents and teachers; $10, students, 884-2946

On your radio dial at 89.5 fm or live streaming at kopn.org

Knights of Columbus Soccer Challenge

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Get tickets at rootsnbluesnbbq.com or at Vinyl Renaissance of Columbia (111 S. 9th Street)