Playgrounds Magazine / March 2011 issue

PlayGrounds magazine Columbus, GA’s entertainment resource

march 2011

free

NO SHAME THEATER

WEDNESDAYS at SoHo

Fridays at 10:30pm • The Springer

Poker tournament, 8:30 No Buy-In. $100 cash prize to the winner

Tickets are $5 at the door.

Ages 18 and up only.

Performers can sign-up when the doors open at 10pm There are only 3 rules Acts must be: 1. Original 2.

Less than 5 minutes 3. Not break any laws.

FREE Music Showcases immediately following poker

march the seventeenth sleep the eighteenth

< Wednesday, March 9

Relic

The Chattahoochee Valley Southern Gospel Music Association will host the GOSPEL JUBILEE on APRIL 16, 2011 from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. eastern time.

Wednesday, March 16 >

The location has changed from The Phenix City River Walk to Moon Lake at Idle Hour Park, off Summerville Rd. in Phenix City. This annual event includes activities for the whole family and music through out the day featuring soloists and a variety of Southern Gospel groups on the stage. The food court will be provided by local church groups for their fund raising programs. Free Admission.

For more information, please contact Ronny Shirley at 706-326-3437 or Sharon Spivey at 334-408-9410.

< Wednesday, March 16

Your life tomorrow is created by the choices you make today. Today, choose to be your own boss. Live the life you deserve - start over, start fresh, start now.

Wednesday, March 23 >

5751 Milgen Rd, Columbus, 31907 706-568-3316 PlayGrounds Magazine

No Censors, No Discrimination, No Shame!

See Improv, Music, Comedy, Poetry, Dance and other fresh new works of all kinds.

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www.youravon.com/cassonyadouglass 706-566-2954

March 2011

PlayGrounds m a g a z i n e march 2011 • volume 17 • issue 3

pg monthly feature stories To The Magic Store 12 NSAI Columbus News 13 Columbus Jazz Society 14 Music in the Valley 15 Places to go...

16 PG Picks 18 Life Is But a Dream: Tales from the Athens Rock Show 20 Rock Calendar 24 Go Ask Alice 26 ISIS 29 Directory 29

Pasaquan Reopening 5 DoNanny, for Beginner’s 6 Smoke on the Water 8 Camp Kesem 10 Paint the Town Purple 10 Frogtown Hollow Jam 11 Rattlesnake Confusion Government Cheese 14 Suwanee SpringFest 22 PlayGrounds Remembers Tura Satana, Lena Nyman, Maria Schneider 23

PlayGrounds Magazine,

PG contributors

P.O. Box 8154, Columbus, GA 31908,

706-562-0074 www.playgroundsmag.com playgroundsmag@knology.net

Doo-Nanny 2011 is March 25-27. Read Katy Clyde’s Beginner’s Guide on page 6. Go to http://doo-nanny.com/ for Doo-Nanny info.

PlayGrounds Magazine

Vickie Carson, editor Karoleigh Allison Andy Johnson Alice Barkwell Curtis Lynch Blair Burgess Nate Morris David Carson Dylan Nabors Douglas Cox Daniel Peiken Will Dockery Frank Saunders Brian Doohan Doug Smart Tonia Hill Tripp Wrigley PlayGrounds Magazine is an independently published entertainment tabloid.

Views expressed in PlayGrounds Magazine do not necessarily represent those of anyone other than the person who expressed them. PlayGrounds Enterprises, Columbus, Georgia, est. 1994

on the cover

Peace, Love & Mardi Gras

by Cindy Foley Peace, Love, and Mardi Gras by Cindy Foley Mardi Gras is well known all over the world, but especially here in America. In New Orleans, Louisiana, it is probably the biggest party in the world. It is a day for debauchery and fun, as well as music, and entertainment of all sorts. It is the time for partying in excess, eating fatty foods, and acting out at will; when the bizarre becomes acceptable, and nudity is overlooked more often than not. Mardi Gras is still a family-fun event in most areas of New Orleans, aside from upper Bourbon Street where there is the majority of twenty-four hour night life. Along with the partying it is a good opportunity for various cultures to come together and celebrate the things that make them unique.

Since ancient times, it has been the only time when class and social status dissolve. Everyone comers together with the common idea of having a good time.

January 6th started the Carnival season for ten days up until the day before Lent and Ash Wednesday. French royals, feather-covered showgirls, bunnies, painted clowns, masked lions – you can find them all in the streets of New Orleans at Mardi Gras. By dawn on that most famous Fat Tuesday, people have claimed the best spots on the street to watch fabulous floats, outrageous performers, and visiting celebreties go by. Celebreties have been attending Mardi Gras since the late 60’s. Celebrity appearances have included Raymond Burr, Bob Hope, Dom De Luise, Charlton Heston, William Shartner, Kirk Douglas, and Dick Clark. Many travel hundreds of miles to be a part of the excitement and over a million attend each year, so one must book a hotel reservation at least a year in advance, or five years in advance if staying on Bourbon Street. continued on page 4

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Burt’s Place 2932 Warm Springs Rd

706-653-0677

Good Food at Good Prices and Plenty of it!

Peace , Love and Mardi Gras continued from page 3 Marching bands, some of them founded more than a century ago, also take to the streets with music and lavish dress. They open the day by spreading jazz music throughout the city before the more than 350 floats and 15,000 costumed paraders take over the city streets. The floats are based on themes from politics to Hollywood and have come a long way since being dragged by horse and carriage. Crazy costumes and wild make-up are the order of the day for paraders and paradewatchers alike. The most lavish get-ups on stilts can be seen at the cross-dressing beauty pageants in the French Quarter, where bawdy costuming may reach new heights (over seven feet, in heels).

The Mardi Gras events are organized by private clubs known as krewes. Today, thousands of people belong to about 60 krewes that plan the parades and balls of New Orleans’ Mardi Gras. The oldest krewe, the Krewe of Comus, was founded in 1857 by men who feared the outrageous behavior of Mardi Gras would lead to the holiday being outlawed.

They hoped that secret societies could keep the celebratiions alive.

PlayGrounds Magazine

A group of businessmen organized the Krewe of Rex to host a parade for the occasion, and appointed a “king for the day” so that the grand duke could have a royal reception. Naming kings and queens at Mardi Gras balls has been a tradition of the krewes ever since. Another tradition began with that royal visit: the Romanoff house colors– purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power– became the official colors of Mardi Gras. A lot of work goes into the organization of Mardi Gras.

The krewes start as early as April for the following year’s Carnival.

Through all the years of war, depression, and the disaster from Katrina, Mardi Gras is still the biggest celebration in New Orleans and remains as strong as ever.

There was even a time when the competition between Mardi Gras Indians was more violent and competitive. Now it is about sharing culture and tradition. So for an awesome experience at the greatest party of the year and some authentic Creole food everyone should visit this great historic city. For those who can’t make an out-of-town trip, luckily the local Columbus scene will be having celebrations in all the fun hot spots around town including one of my favorite places, SoHo! So “Let the good times roll!” (by the way, a quote that started from Mardi Gras)

Suzanne LaRusch stars in

An Evening With Lucille Ball: Thank You for Asking RiverCenter’s Bill Heard Theatre MARCH 5 An Evening With Lucille Ball: “Thank You for Asking,” is coming to Columbus, Georgia.

Produced by TYFA LLC & Sunshine Productions and directed by Lucie Arnaz, this touching, funny and uplifting one-woman play will be performed at RiverCenter’s Bill Heard Theatre, March 5, 7:30pm.

A celebration of the first lady of television, An Evening with Lucille Ball: “Thank You for Asking” is created and performed by Suzanne LaRusch, and written by LaRusch and Lucie Arnaz. Crafted in the spirit of the amusing lectures Lucy enjoyed giving throughout her career, the evening recreates the comic genius and the magic behind the “Queen of Comedy.”

“Lucy” guides us through the lifetime of personal memories inspiring her timeless sketches on “I Love Lucy,” her 30-year television career and some never-before heard personal recollections about her tempestuous and complicated marriage to Cuban bandleader turned impresario, Desi Arnaz. It’s the Lucy the whole world loved – from “Ricardo” to Mame – but, more importantly, it’s an evening with the REAL Lucy, as you’ve never seen her before.

Tickets range in price from $10 (last row balcony) to $47 (front orchestra).

Visit www.rivercenter.org for more ticket info. Read more about the show and see a preview at http://www.aneveningwithlucilleball.com/

CSU Women’s Leadership Conference to feature Meghan McCain Political columnist and award-winning blogger Meghan McCain headlines a slate of nationally accomplished speakers for Columbus State University’s seventh annual Women’s Leadership Conference. Presented by CSU’s Cunningham Center for Leadership Development, the March 15-16 event will run 9am5:30pm, Tuesday and 8am-1pm Wednesday at the center, 3100 Gentian Blvd.

Presentations will cover such topics as employee engagement, influencing and inspiring, 21st Century leadership, generations in the workplace, working in harmony, leading across international boundaries, how to play the game of life and delivering happiness.

McCain, the daughter of 2008 Republican presidential nominee and Arizona senator John McCain, will give a Tuesday luncheon (11:30 a.m.-1 p.m.) talk titled “Red is the New Black: Putting Women’s Issues into Political Perspective.” A Columbia University graduate who completed internships with Saturday Night Live and Newsweek magazine, McCain, 26, created McCainBlogette.com to report from behind the scenes of her father’s presidential campaign. The blog garnered a pair of distinguished awards in politics: The Golden Dot Award for Best Blog, and two Pollie Awards from the Association of Political and Public Affairs Professionals.

She has authored the New York Times best-selling children’s 4

book My Dad, John McCain (2008) and Dirty Sexy Politics (2010). Copies of both will be available for purchase, and McCain will autograph the books following her presentation.

The overall conference theme, Take the Lead: innovate. orchestrate. perform., will be punctuated by nine additional presentations, including “Working in Harmony,” a special interactive session 3:30-4:20 p.m. Tuesday, led by Paul Hostetter, CSU’s Ethel Foley Distinguished Chair for Orchestral Activities in CSU’s Schwob School of Music. Rounding out the speaker list is: Monica Hill, vice president of human resources, NBC Universal Media Studios; Libby Wagner, president, Libby Wagner & Associates; Faith Johnson, HR consultant (FFJ Consulting) and former HR director for Coca-Cola Africa; Dale Smith Thomas, founder/CEO, Winners by Choice, Inc.; Eva Cooper, assistant director, Cunningham Center for Leadership Development; Marc Olivié, president and CEO, W.C. Bradley Co.; Jenn Lim, chief happiness officer (CEO), Delivering Happiness; Sharon Lovoy, SPHR, president and Owner, Lovoy’s Team Works, Inc. Olivié will speak about the roles of women in leadership positions as part of a Wednesday breakfast sponsored by W.C. Bradley.

Registration, $349 per person, is open online at http://womensleadershipconference.org. For more info, contact Kim Rozycki at 706-569-3055, e-mail rozycki_kim@colstate.edu or go to http:// cunningham.ColumbusState.edu/womensconference/.

March 2011

PASAQUAN REOPENING

APRIL 2nd in BUENA VISTA The grounds and estate of Edward O. Martin… or, as he was known, St. EOM… will be open to the public on Saturday, April 2nd from 10 AM to 4 PM. Martin filled the grounds and buildings of the family farm with exotic, other-worldly murals and sculptures, many depicting the large, alien beings said to have come to him during a fever in New York who told him to go back to Georgia and “do something”. And that is what he did, for the rest of his life (as described in the December, 2010 issue of Playgrounds).

Some of St. EOM’s best works loaned out to museums will be back at Pasaquan… Martin’s term for that time and place at which all things converge… according to Fred Fussell of the Marion County Historical Society. Volunteers will be on hand to explain the history and conduct guided tours. (Most of EOM’s works are outdoors, so dress appropriately.)

In 1958, a year after his return to Georgia, Ledger reporter Lovelace Hair interviewed Martin on the occasion of some of his selected works being exhibited at the Columbus Museum, as below.

BY LOVELACE HAIR Ledger Correspondent BUENA VISTA, Ga – Now on display at the Columbus Museum of Arts and Crafts are a group of primitive paintings by Edward Martin.

Martin was born the son of a tenant farmer in Marion County and who now owns and successfully operates his own farm here, though he lives and works most of the year inb New York City.

If you are passing through this community and happen to see what appears to be a Yogi priest, complete with long hair and beard, turban wrapped head and the ceremonial dress of the far East, you may think it is just the hot Georgia sun, but actually you will be seeing one of the most colorful characters of this locality, known far and wide as Eddie Martin.

The unusual artist has done PlayGrounds Magazine

many of his paintings depicting life in the South and this particular section of the Chattahoochee Valley. Such scenes now on display show groups of bean pickers, sugar cane grinding and a family making lard in a big black pot.

One particularly outstanding oil painting pictures a group cutting pulp wood in the pine woods.

These are all sights he has observed on his 375 acre farm and are an integral part of his own life. He paints in both oil and water colors in rich bright colors he loves.

Off Highway 103 His small farm is located just off Highway 103 on a winding dirt road and must have startled many passers-by when they saw the typical farm house, typical, that is, except for the bright orange front with a figure of Siva– god of the dance–on the door.

Edward Martin lived the life of an average farm boy of this section and learned about planting and growing crops.

He cared for the farm animals and has pleasant memories of riding down the country roads in a wagon with his family. But farm life was not for Eddie, and, at the age of 15 years, he left home to go to Florida.

He worked for several years in the lumber industry and then traveled to New York City where he became interested in the theater. He worked in the chorus of several well known shows, such as “Hit the Deck”, “The Merry Malones”, and “Hallelujah”. After traveling over the country with the road shows he returned to New York and Greenwich Village where he worked a while in night clubs.

Influenced by East During the war years he served as a merchant seaman visiting many of the foreign ports of the world. He was much impressed by India and Burma and you see the influence of the East in his painting. One of the pictures now on display represents a Burmese dancer performing an ancient ritual dance in which she kisses a deadly snake in order to bring

good fortune.

At the age of 28 years he became interested in painting. He has had no formal training and says he has to “support my art by card reading.” He has become a successful fortune teller and tell fortunes in a tea room just off Times Square when in New York.

While in the East he became interested in the religion and culture of that part of the world and had adopted the daily ritual of yoga, which he says “brings into full coordination the spirit and the mind and help to develop the strict discipline and patience that is required to become an artist.”

Makes Jewelry Martin also makes jewelry of silver and bracelets of intricate leather work. He weaves coats of wool, similar to the work of the American Indians. He constructs figures of metal and wood and samples of his work are in every room of his home. During the long summer evenings he composes folk songs and plays his guitar.

His work is exhibited under the name of “St. Eom” and has been displayed at the Washington Square Outdoor Art Show, in Lynn Kottler and Crespt Galleries in New York. He recently submitted work for the annual exhibitions at New Orleans and Atlanta.

Pasaquan is situated, appropriately enough, on Eddie Martin Road. From Columbus, drive south on U.S. 27 to the intersection of Ga. 26. and continue to the Buena Vista town square then make a left turn on Ga. 41 and another on Ga. 137. Eddie Martin Road is on the right, about five miles west on 137. Admission is $5, children under 6 free.

Pasaquan will be open on the first Saturday of the month until November.

MARCH 7-11 - Classes are out of session as CSU’s 2011 spring break for students and faculty runs Monday through Friday, March 7-11.

Parks and Recreation is hosting the annual “Empty Bowl” fund raiser Proceeds go to Feeding the Valley - Kid’s Cafe Sunday, March 6th, 11am to 3pm

Northside Recreation Center (2010 American Way, by Northside High School) This event pairs handmade bowls created by local artists with a lunch of soup, bread, dessert, and drinks. You come in and pick a bowl, eat lunch, and keep your “empty” bowl. Cost is $10 for adults, $5 for children under 12. You can purchase tickets at the door, or at Britt David Studio or Northside Recreation Center.

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enough food to feed many, many hungry Doo-Nanny-ers (if you’d like to purchase it at a reasonable cost). The kitchen will also be open to those who have brought their own food to cook. I understand that foodbringers, if they so choose, are welcome to add their ingredients to the community stash and dine potluck style on what is sure to be a wonderful stone soup of cuisine.

The Doo-Nanny is a weekend-long festival taking place a mere 15 or so miles from Columbus and while certainly that’s a short enough distance for locals to commute just for the days, camping makes the experience complete. (For Doo-Nanny 2010 campers were suggested to spring a $30/per person donation to help offset the costs. I understand this year there will be a mandatory entry fee for a wrist band that will help cover the costs of the festival and hopefully even add some spare jingle to the pockets of the many artists and musicians and staff that have traveled many miles to bring us this marvelous wonder of strangeness.)

While ordinary tents and sleeping bags serve their purpose in a completely functional manner, campers are encouraged to get creative with their accommodations.

(And even their transportation!) Gypsy families who live the festival lifestyle have taken this to heart and have created cozy little portable homes for themselves. The inside of this little vintage trailer is a fluff of pink and fabrics and pillows. Others opt for the most portable accommodations of all — a bed beneath a canopy of trees.

People who do camp will be relieved to know that super-deluxe bathroomy-type facilities have been installed. They refer to this area as The Hillbilly Spa. Several outdoor showers (in curtain-covered stalls, for privacy) will be available for use — with hot water even. (Mind you have to haul it there in buckets from the wood-fire-headed hot water tank.) An old fashioned claw-foot tub is set amongst the trees, again surrounded by curtains for privacy, for those who wish to have a soak. They’ve even set out accessories like candles and bath salts. (Tho there’s no tellin’ how long that jar of bath salts will last if a thousand campers show up. Maybe bring your own.) There are also several nice toilets. (You even get a choice of toilet-style!) I also heard a rumor that the spa might offer massages from professional massagists even!

The festival grounds are a smorgas-

Doo-Nanny For Beginners “Come all ye inventors, movie makers, ballerinas, bikers, morticians, bakers, artists, conspiracy theorists, scientists, foodies, eco-whatevers, moonshiners, comedians, fire-spinners, yodelers, heshes, animal-trainers, pickle-makers, party girls, sock monkeys, stackers, jugglers, musicians, whittlers, spankers, fisherpersons, beggers, wanderers, and map-makers…….” So says the introduction to Doo Nanny on their official home page (http:// www.doo-nanny.com/).

The stage on Butch Anthony’s 80-acre farm out in Seale, Alabama sits empty today just waiting — throbbing in anticipation — for the slew of music about to trounce, bounce, hum, strum, wiggle, jiggle, and boogie across this weekend during the Doo-Nanny folk arts festival. Local musicians as well as a menagerie of artists and performers from all around will be presenting entertainment worthy of anything Vaudeville or the medicine show circuit ever had to offer. Will Dockery, straight from Shadowville, as well as our own Bibb City Ramblers will be taking to the stage with the likes of Jen And The Juice, and Mad Tea Party.

But don’t think that just because the stage sits empty, things around the farm aren’t all a-buzz. All week it’s been a hive of activity out there! Already artists and organizers have arrived, set up their camps, and are working hard on preparing the grounds for what is hoped to be near a thousand wonderful individuals to come make themselves at home. (Carrie, one of the organizers, told me that they expect ‘surely not a thousand — but several hundred at least!’) Nails are being hammered, tents pitched, displays set, garbage and recycling arrangements being made — and all with children running underfoot!

Things are bustling around the Possum Trot Community Kitchen. Spice cabinets are being stocked, pots and pans hung on the rack above, sinks plumbed, seating arrangements placed, work spaces arranged, and all the homey touches you’d expect in a kitchen that produces topnotch, home-cooked, filled-with-love food are being dabbed about here and there.

Next to the kitchen there is a big fire pit and I hear they’re bringing in several whole pigs to roast! The kitchen will produce PlayGrounds Magazine

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bord of eye candy — and we ain’t talkin’ Hershey kisses and cherry lollipops here. This veritable visual buffet of weirdness features the optical equivalent of wasabi gumdrops, chocolate covered ants, and vampire-repelling garlic-flavored breath mints. In the parallel universe that houses Doo-Nanny there is no such thing as a nonrecyclable material. Looking here and there about the place I started to wonder if perhaps it hadn’t been landscaped by the crew from Sanford and Son while they were trippin’ on shrooms. Everywhere you turn, the bizarre dances around before you, teasing your eyeballs.

(Festie-goers might want to keep in mind that while one can’t buy this kind of fun with money, much of the weirdness art is for sale.

Bring some cash!)

A couple of final things to keep in mind when planning for one’s first Doo-Nanny. Carrie reminded me to remind all of my readers to bring sunscreen! She says that every year people forget to pack it and somebody ends up sunburned. Also, she says, this festival is much like a family gathering — and you, even as a newb, will be treated as such. Children of all ages — even the wee monster ones — are welcome. Last year there was a designated play area. Another member of festival staff, Mr. Mike, told me that should we find need of something while out there to ask around. No doubt someone will be able and willing to help out. Last of all, go with an open mind and, more than anything, a willingness to have fun!

A note from Momma: This article was written after a visit to Butch Anthony’s farm in Seale, AL while preparations for Doo-Nanny 2010 were underway. I feel the need to re-share what with Doo-Nanny 2011 fast approaching. I would imagine that the above information is still (for the most part) valid.

No doubt there will still be weirdness aplenty and you’ll more than likely still need sunscreen.

Katy Clyde PlayGrounds Magazine

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March 2011

4th Annual Smoke on the Water BBQ Cook-Off and Bluegrass Festival set for April 1-2 GA State BBQ Championship will host Grammy winner Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives The 4th Annual Smoke on the Water BBQ CookOff and Bluegrass Festival is set for April 1-2 in Thomaston, Georgia. Friends are invited to Bickley’s Lake to enjoy their fill of the Southeast’s best barbecue and live entertainment.

S.O.T.W. is a Florida Barbecue Association (FBA) sanctioned event, as part of the Triple Crown Championship Series, and is also the Georgia State BBQ Championship. For cooking teams with a competitive streak, the S.O.T.W. crew has upped the ante to $11,000 in cash and prizes that will be given away this year. Musical headliners like Sonia Leigh and 2011 Grammy winner Marty Stuart, as well as some of the area’s best local bands, will provide the soundtrack for your experience. Camping is encouraged for the weekend.

Area vendors and the newly expanded Kidz Zone provide fun for the entire family. Proceeds will benefit local volunteer fire departments and the local Harbor House.

The festival’s seeds were planted in 2007, when a group of childhood friends envisioned a way to give back to their community. A few months later they put together the largest BBQ event in the area’s history, and an unprecedented fundraiser.

Smoke on the Water has quickly become an outrageously popular event that has raised nearly $50,000 since its inception. The 2010 event featured 60 cooking teams covering the southeast and raised $21,000. With a national headliner in Grammy winner Marty Stewart and a bona fide BBQ competition in tow, the 2011 event must be expected to expand.

Teams entering the BBQ competition may compete in the categories of chicken, ribs, pork and/ or brisket. Teams in the professional division have the potential to win $3200, and the Patio Pros (amateur) grand champion can win up to $400 and a year’s supply of bragging rights. The Grand Champion of Smoke on the Water will qualify for the Jack Daniel’s and American Royal barbecue qualifiers, massive events held in high esteem among the BBQ community. There will also be a John Boy and Billy’s Grillin’ Sauce BBQ sauce competition and a stew competition. Cooking team applications and contest judge applications are available online at www.sotwfestival.com.

New additions to Smoke on the Water include the People’s Choice Award for pulled pork, which PlayGrounds Magazine

is sure to be a hit. Festival-goers will have the opportunity to taste and judge the entries. The winner of the People’s Choice Award will receive the Green Mountain Jim Bowie Pellet Smoker (a $1200 value), donated by Thomaston Hardware.

Also new is the 1st Annual Hog Jog, a 5k charity run. The $30 registration fee includes your admission to the festival for the entire weekend, and a t-shirt. Applications are available online.

Cooking teams can also sell their product along with a multitude of other unique arts and crafts vendors. Vendor applications are also available online. Cooking team applications are due by March 15.

Smoke on the Water is becoming increasingly respected as a music festival. The 2010 event attracted unanticipated crowds, but 2011 is expected to be even larger. Entertainment begins on Friday with some of the area’s best local bands, like Soul Kitchen at 4:30, Long Hot Summer at 5:30, Mystery Road at 6:30, and Ben Ratliff Band at 7:30. Bluegrass virtuoso Barry Waldrep hits the stage at 8:30, and country music legend Marty Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives (who were rewarded the 2011 Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance) go on at 9:30.

Saturday opens with local bluegrass groups Sage Hill String Band at noon and Due South at 1:00. The mood shifts to country for Hound Brown at 2:00 and Tyler Hammond Band at 3:00, before party band Sol Junky hits the stage

Fall 8

at 4:00. The entertainment will come to a halt at 5:00 for the Smoke on the Water BBQ awards ceremony, but afterwards the music will resume.

Southern Ground recording artists will close out the festival, featuring Levi Lowrey at 6:00, Nic Cowan at 7:30, and Sonia Leigh at 9:00.

The value of the experience far exceeds the price. Tickets are $15 in advance, $20 at the gate, and include admission to both days of the festival. A camping spot can be purchased for only $10 more. Kids under 10 get in free. Tickets are available at Bank of Upson, MRS Homecare, H&R Block, the Upson Beacon, and on the web at www. sotwfestival.com.

Money raised at the event will help the local volunteer fire departments purchase required equipment such as radios and fire-resistant clothing, and help maintain trucks. A share of the money will go to Thomaston’s Harbor House, a facility that is used to temporarily house children removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect.

Bickley’s Lake is located on a 100-acre farm with a 30-acre lake just outside of Thomaston, Georgia, at 189 Rock Hill School Road. The festival is 65 miles south of Atlanta, 45 miles east of Columbus, and 45 miles west of Macon. Sponsors include Walmart, Dender Distributing, The John Boy and Billy Big Show, Piggly Wiggly, Charter Communications, Pack Rat Mini Storage and Days Inn. For information on becoming a sponsor, setting up a vendor booth, or entering the cooking contest, call 706-741-9317. For more information, updates, applications and pictures, visit www.sotwfestival.com.

March 2011

OPEN TO CAMPERS AGES 6-16 Camp Kesem is a free, week-long overnight summer camp for children of cancer patients. The Camp is held at Camp Dream in Warm Springs, GA from July 17-21.

Camp Kesem is organized by Emory University student volunteers under the guidance of its Advisory Committee of local professionals and Camp Kesem National, its parent organization. Emory University students serve as counselors and undergo over thirty hours of extensive training prior to camp.

The Camp Kesem program model was founded in 2000 at Stanford University. It has since gained a national presence, with camps at over twenty college campuses.

Campers participate in a host of fun activities including sports, drama, arts & crafts, team-building, scavenger hunts and talent shows. In addition, each night before bed, the campers have “Cabin Chat,” a time for the campers to talk and open up to their peers and counselors.

PlayGrounds Magazine

Children who have a parent who has or had cancer often lack sufficient external support because they are neither physically ill nor visibly distinct from others.

The complexity of emotions they experience can easily go without attention. It is often challenging for these children to find peers with whom they can relate, resulting in feelings of isolation and fear.

“It gives both my child and myself a week to spread our wings separate from each other. He’s exactly where he wants to be, surrounded by kids in similar situations and the warmth and support of the counselors,” says a parent of a camper, age 12.

Kesem advisor, Dr. Michael Amylon, pediatric oncologist at Stanford Hospital emphasizes the importance of an experience like Kesem. “These kids have their world knocked right out from under them, and often they have no where to turn to get help and support. Camp Kesem provides a magical place of respite and play, and a group of other kids in the same situation who understand what it’s all about and can offer unique and important peer understanding and friendship.”

For camper applications and more information on Camp Kesem at Camp Dream please visit www. campkesem.org/emory or email emory@campkesem. org

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Paint the Town Purple with the American Cancer Society Relay For Life Help spread a message of hope. Join the American Cancer Society Relay For Life of Muscogee County and Harris County for “Paint the Town Purple” on March 24th for Columbus and March 25th for Harris County. Businesses, community organizations and individuals are being asked to show their support for Relay and help raise awareness for the fight against cancer by decking out the town – including homes, restaurants, businesses, meeting halls or other areas- in purple.

“We want everyone to see purple and to think about celebrating, remembering and fighting back,” said Denise Dowdy, staff person and Paint the Town Purple organizer. “Whether you use purple chalk to write an uplifting message, display a different reminder each day about important cancer screenings or dress a mannequin in Relay gear, it’s all about letting people know that there is hope. The sky is the limit on what you can do to decorate and send that message.”

Plans are moving forward to turn Muscogee and Harris Counties’ purple. Efforts include Displaying purple ribbons on store fronts, selling purple cookies and other purple items that will only be available on that day. Approximately 50 or more businesses plan to go purple. Individuals and additional businesses are welcome and encouraged to participate. For more information, contact Laura Bartlett at (706) 610-3938 or Paintthetownpurple@hotmila.com.

Paint the Town Purple supports Relay For Life of Muscogee and Harris Counties both are overnight events that bring the community together in the fight against cancer, which will be held May13th, 2011 at Kinnett Stadium, 7601 Schomburg Rd, in Columbus. Individuals and teams - made up of family, friends, co-workers and community groups - will unite to fundraise, walk the track, socialize, take in the entertainment, and participate in a variety of activities going on throughout the night. The public is welcome and encouraged to attend.

According to the Georgia Division of Public Health, more than 35,600 Georgia residents will be diagnosed with cancer this year and more than 14,400 will die from the disease. Cancer is the second leading cause of death in Georgia.

To learn more about Relay For Life of Muscogee or Harris County, please visit www.Relayforlife.org contact the American Cancer Society at (800) 227-2345. Upcoming fundraisers, information, and teams and survivor sign up is available anytime at www.Relayforlife.org/Muscogee .

March 2011

The History of Frogtown Hollow Jam Frogtown Hollow Bluegrass Jam was founded by local promoter and leader of the band Whisky Bent, Jon Saunders.

Saunders came up with the name after a conversation with friend Heath Williamson. Heath brought up the Muppet Show’s Emmett Otter’s Jugband Christmas special saying that Frogtown Hollow was where Emmett Otter’s band lived. Emmett’s band name was the Frogtown Hollow Jubilee Jug Band. Jon Saunders, “I was trying to decide on a name for the festival and Heath mentioned this so I decided to call it Frogtown Hollow Bluegrass Jam. And at the Lake Pines event the music was essentially bluegrass but the expansion to the river brought a wider variety of music to the festival, thus the metamorphosis to the Frogtown Hollow Jam. Originally a bluegrass festival, Frogtown Hollow Jam began in 2007 at Lake Pines Event Center in Columbus, Georgia. It remained at this location for two years with great success for the size of the venue. Then Jon Saunders, the founder of the festival, had lunch with Brad Turner, one of the festival supporters; he suggested the move behind the WC Bradley building on the river, which is the old Riverfest site. The first Frogtown Hollow on the river was held last year, and it was a huge success. Frogtown Hollow Jam will be held on the river again in the same location, which is now known as Woodruff Park.

Saunders says, “The main reason for this festival is to put Columbus, Georgia on the map as a music festival city again. I am able to do this because I have a tremendous amount of support from some friends like Richard Bishop,

by Johnny Paul Jason Lisa Rowe, from Uptown Columbus, our sponsors, the City of Columbus, Columbus Police Department, and so many others that have helped me facilitate this event.” Saunders continues saying, “I want to give recognition to the pioneers of the Columbus music and festival scene such as Buddy Nelms and David and Vickie Carson of Playgrounds Magazine that fostered the growth of music and the arts in Columbus.” Saunders also wants to give credit to all the musicians of the Chattahoochee Valley Area that have done so much to promote music by playing music anywhere that had a stage. Larry Rose, Peggy Jenkins, Precious Bryant, Neal Lucas and Lee Lucas, Neal’s dad who entertained this city back in the 60’s. Jon also wants to recognize his guitarist in Whisky Bent Kurt Richardson who has been playing guitar professionally in bands in this area for more than 30 years. Kurt was the lead guitarist for the Dallas Club Band as well Jon Saunders’ goal is to look back 20 years from now at this event as an annual event hopefully helping Columbus to be a tourist attraction. Frogtown Hollow Jam will occur at Woodruff Park at 10th Street on April 8th and 9th. Saunders wants people to know, “We have over 50 vendors lined up from all over the country from as far as Ohio and we will have patrons coming to this city from all over the southeast thanks to the support and hard work of our sponsors. I want to thank my wife Tracy Saunders for doing such a great job organizing the vending part of Frogtown. Lastly, it is an honor to be in the position to bring this annual event to Columbus. Y’all come see us at Woodruff Park on the beautiful Chattahoochee April 8th and 9th. Tickets are $10 per person per day.”

Main Street Exiles Saturday March 12 @ The Loft - 8pm/$5 It was Chris Cox’s (The Warm Guns, The Greater Vavoom) desire to pull together a fitting tribute to The Rolling Stones. Cox’s legendary showmanship made pulling off Mick Jagger an obvious choice. From there, the lineup was rounded out with some of Atlanta’s finest studio/live players who have put in serious work around Atlanta/L.A./NYC. Tony Reyes is almost too good to fill Bill Wyman’s shoes. Freddy McNeal embodies Keith Richards. Matt Chenoweth holds down the nuances of the Stones guitar sound. Finally, Yacht Rock Revue veterans Mark Cobb, Mark Bencuya, and Dave Freeman put the finishing touches on this highly authentic product. Enough guys to crowd a stage…and properly recreate the Stones’ music, giving it its proper due. http:// www.pleaserock.com/ PlayGrounds Magazine

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March 2011

To The Magic Store

and out of the lineup at different venues. Collectively we are The Shadowville All-Stars. Artists who share the stage with us in a live performance become Shadowville Allstars forever. It’s kind of like the Baseball Hall-of-Fame, only you can’t kicked out for gambling...” -Dennis Beck Put them together and we indeed have a grand old time... join us?

by Will Dockery

“Battle not with monsters, lest ye become a monster, and if you gaze into the abyss, the abyss gazes also into you...”

-Friedrich Nietzsche

Coming Round Again on the Shadowville Express Great acoustic music shows for all ages at Fountain City Coffeehouse on Broadway: Open Mic with Dr. Pogo Thursdays at 7. March 4- Shaun Crane; 5- Ty Izumi; 11 - Matt Austin; 12- Brittany Avery; 18 - Will Dockery and Friends; 19- Fire Mountain; 25- Hermel Fortin.

And the usual great shows around town this month: Random Band Jam is March 16; Brad Cox on Wednesdays at DelRanch; Henry & Geno’s open mic talent show on Thursdays and Sundays at Del Ranch; Tripp Wrigley’s superb Tuesday open mic at SoHo; live music Wednesdays at The Vault with the likes of Brittany Avery and Zac Young, great shows on Wednesdays at River City Grill, including my friends David Schwimmer & the Conley Brothers on March 16th, who will be on the radio on Bear O’Brien show March 11th. And just in, the legendary folk hero Rick Edwards and his band will be at Max’s on March 25th. The list goes on, as does the beat, as Sonny Bono might say. Don’t forget, Hogbottom is April 30th, more on that next month...

Shadowville All-Stars at Doo-Nanny 2011, Sunday March 27th, 12pm - 9pm Location: Woods of Wonder, 41 Poorhouse Road, Seale, Alabama “Doo-Nanny is... A truly unique experience!.... a casserole of southern folk art, home cookin, homemade movies, camping, foot-stompin music, experimental architecture, guessing, oddities, unusual characters, a movie festival, surprises, cracker ingenuity, experiential transomism, and much more!...

Folks coming in from NY, TX, CA, and beyond beyond...”

While the Shadowville All-Stars are: “...the musical canvas for the word paintings of Will Dockery, the Poet Laureate of Shadowville. The group represents a vision for a multi-faceted arts ensemble. Individually, we are a dozen-or-so merry pranksters who rotate in

Nashville Songwriters Associa on Interna onal

Columbus Regional Workshop “It All Begins With A Song”

she’s no bum.

Her creep crawls the narrow stairway of the Candlelight Motel to watch for her from a window.

But she’s not there on the other side of the greenish wall.

Rethinking his infatuation but clinging to his vision of her as the red lipped stranger.

Next Mee ng: Tuesday, March 8, 7pm Sponsored in part by Every genre of music is welcome A lesson will be provided by NSAI on

Downstairs the desk clerk’s cat slithers through the service entrance.

how to further the knowledge and Patron’s Lounge – 2nd Floor craŌ of songwriƟng. Bring along a CD (Entrance: Broadway between 9th or your guitar and fiŌeen copies of and 10th Streets) your lyric sheet for a song evaluaƟon.

The vampirate on a motorbike passes below to the westbound bridge werewolf on her back.

Songwriters Night Every Wednesday 7-9pm RIVERCITY GRILL OPEN MIC: Tuesday 9pm SoHo • Wednesday 8pm The Lo Live • Thursday 8pm Fountain City Coffee Thursday & Sunday 8:30pm Del Ranch

Jennifer at riverbend watches gunboats smacks her foot on the bright red clay.

Please call or email with quesƟons or for direcƟons.

Kim Sammons, Nona ChrisƟe, & Doug Cox coordinators NSAI Columbus Chapter, 706-565-7362.

NSAI.cols.ga@knology.net myspace.com/nsaicolumbusga hƩp://www.nashvillesongwriters.com hƩp://www.nsaicolumbusga.org PlayGrounds Magazine

Red Lipped Stranger

Jennifer gives good lyric she wrote this poem 12

Through a three-inchwall he hears bedsprings rattle rustle of dry-hump, some guy’s mumbles.

Hears the fat blonde waitress whip it in bondage the sounds lull him to sleep.

The hand of Uncle Sugar still taking notes as a new standard bearer hands out trophies to the winners.

His trillion dollar gash flakes from the bone as gravity tears a pound of dust.

Clings to a picture book the missing part of himself as if perpetually

anchored to his invisible erection.

At Lucky Seven Lounge she tries not to reveal herself but she stubbornly clutches her empty shoes.

Something seems missing in the broad daylight when the details are displayed.

All that remains are her flat black hat her oversized lantern her broken laptop.

No poor boy on the street can speak of her or the island on the river.

Or about her return... her resurrection.

-Will Dockery Music, poetry and video of Will Dockery & Friends: http://www.youtube.com/ user/WDockery March 2011

NSAI Columbus News Are you currently writing a song? Wish to write a song? Not sure how to go about it or how to improve on your work? That’s what the local chapter of NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) is all about. The February monthly meeting was held Tuesday, February15 at its normal meeting place upstairs at the River Center. The chapter meets each month at 7:00 p.m. at this wonderful location. Every month songwriters from around the Valley meet to learn about improving their craft of songwriting, hearing about events that are forthcoming and network with other songwriters. You can also, if you choose, present a song that you are working on and the group will give you some positive and helpful feedback. This month was another great meeting with over 20 folks attending. We want to welcome a number of new faces who visited for the first time to find out more information about the ins and outs of songwriting.

Also quite a few of our seasoned songwriters were in attendance including Mike Matthews, Mike Parrish, John David, Dennis Palottie, Randy and Darlene Dameron, Lee Donaldson and yours truly, just to name a few!

Nona Christie, the NSAI coordinator for our chapter, provided a handout of events coming up. You would be amazed at what is going on with performing and songwriting in our small part of the world. Our chapter works with local radio and television shows to put a spotlight on our own local songwriters. Each Friday on the ‘Home Grown Country’ radio show with Bear O’Brian a local songwriter is featured to do their original songs. River City Grill as well as open mics at SoHo, Fountain City Coffee and Del Ranch all provide a forum for our songwriters to express their heart’s work through music. Catch the Dee Armstrong show at 2:00 p.m. on WLTZ TV for another opportunity to experience local songs. NSAI also supports community events for songwriters to give free concerts such as a recent event at the Covenant Woods Retirement Center. One special announcement was an upcoming seminar March 5th in Montgomery sponsored by the Montgomery chapter of NSAI. Walt Aldridge, a veteran hit songwriter, with more than 30 years of songwriter success will be conducting the one-day seminar. The cost is just $35.00 which includes lunch! For more information contact nsaimontgomery@gmail.com.

Nona continued the meeting with a handout and tips on ‘Thinking Like a Publisher’ by Thom Shepherd. Each month information on improving your songwriting or learning about the business of songwriting is provided. Songwriting is no different then any other craft. To get better, you need to learn good techniques and ways to improve your skills. NSAI can help you learn to master the skills. When I began attending these monthly meetings, I was amazed at the tools and techniques discussed that helped turn a good song…into a great song!

Remember we meet every month on Tuesday nights at the RiverCenter in Uptown Columbus. Our next meeting is March 8. For more information email nsai.cols.ga@knology.net. “It all begins with a song” Jim Patrick

Children’s Open House at Schwob School of Music Columbus State’s Schwob School of Music presents a Children’s Open House for ages 3 and up 2-5pm Saturday, March 26 at RiverCenter for the Performing Arts. Activities will include musical games, concerts and a hands-on musical instrument petting zoo. The program is free for children accompanied by an adult. For more information, call 706-649-7225, e-mail: schwobmusic@colstate.edu or go to http:// music.colstate.edu.

PlayGrounds Magazine

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March 2011

Rattlesnake Confusion

Concert & Jam Session

Mara Rosenbloom Quartet Sunday, March 13, 6-9pm Liberty Theatre and Cultural Arts Center 813 8th Ave, Columbus, GA 31901, 706-660-9205 New York Jazz comes to Georgia– According to New York City’s Jazz Gazette, All About Jazz: The Mara Rosenbloom Quartet “plays music that renders believable a future for jazz.” Through Rosenbloom’s original compositions, which combine lyrical melodies and driving rhythmic themes, the Mara Rosenbloom Quartet revitalizes the spirit of jazz with honesty & soul.

New York based pianist & composer, Mara Rosenbloom will tour throughout the United States with her jazz quartet, performing hits from the group’s premier release School of Fish, as well as showcasing new music for their upcoming album Songs from the Ground.

The Quartet features 2010 Downbeat Rising Star on alto saxophone, Darius Jones, hailed as both “fearless” and “soulful” by the New York Times; Maeve Royce, noted by Jazz Inside Magazine as a “phenomenal bassist in all respects;” and up and coming drummer Nick Anderson.

About Mara Rosenbloom: Growing up in Madison, WI, Mara discovered music at an early age, finding her voice walking alone in the tall grass of Wisconsin’s prairie land, dancing on the piers, and listening with consistently open ears. Inherently drawn to the piano, both Mara’s playing as well as her compositions have been described by many as organic, honest, and lyrical.

Mara’s passion for music as well as human diversity and interaction eventually drew her to New York City, where she studied jazz composition and piano at New York University, graduating magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies in 2008. Throughout her 6 years in New York City, Mara studied closely with Grammy award winning arranger and composer Gil Goldstein (Paul Simon, Michael Brecker, Jill Scott, Jonatha Brooke), Internationally acclaimed arranger & pianist Jim McNeely, jazz heavyweight Kenny Werner, and trumpeter/founder for the School of Improvised Music Ralph Alessi, among others. For more information about the Mara Rosenbloom Quartet, please visit www.mararosenbloom.com.

Concert begins at 6pm. Jam session begins at 8. Tickets are $10. There is no cover charge for musicians who sit in.

The Rutledge Nashville, Tennessee February 26, 2011 www.tommywomack.com From the window of a downtown Nashville club, I watched a parade of four or five eighteen-wheelers tap their brakes and roll slowly forward, waiting to load out after the Brad Paisley mega-tour made its brief stop at the cavernous Bridgestone Arena. I turned around and waded back into a densely packed crowd that was stomping and swaying to the sound of resurrection.

Just why was the stone rolled away? In fact, it was because Government Cheese, a reborn band of post-punk ne’er-do-wells, were touring again. Sort of… this Nashville gig was not only the second gig of the tour, but it was also the last. It was also very fitting that their two-stop journey launched in their hometown of Bowling Green, Kentucky and then splashed down in the current home of one of the group’s members and keeper of the sonic flame, Tommy Womack. It was Tommy’s drive and desire, his love of what he and his band mates did (and maybe a bit of wanting to finally hear some acknowledgement of their place in music history) that inspired him to write the incredibly funny and delightfully insightful Cheese Chronicles: The True Story of a Rock N Roll Band You’ve Never Heard Of and to pursue purchasing the original masters from ex-manager Scott Tutt (other authors have told tales of being screwed by managers or record companies, but Womack’s are a must-read), then re-mastering and re-releasing them as a two-disc compilation titled Government Cheese: 1985-1995.

I never saw the Cheese back in the day, when they were selling out clubs all over the South. I was content with the music that was blossoming in Athens and with the ones that came to play: REM was (in Womack’s words) “still kickin’ then” and when Jason and the Nashville Scorchers showed up to play The 40 Watt, I saw Peter Buck and Michael Stipe jump onstage and roar through Bully Holly’s Rave On. I kind of imagine that was what Government Cheese sounded like back then.

Not that they didn’t sound good now. They came onstage to an embrace from a crowd that was more family reunion than audience.

Womack appeared with a hospital bracelet on his wrist: nothing serious, but serious enough to recruit Warner E Hodges, the Scorchers’ lead guitarist, to go from knowing one song in the set to possibly having to play all of them in case Tommy couldn’t take the stage. As it was, he

NOTICE: Until the CJS has acquired a special event permit from the City and State, there will be no alcoholic beverages at the CJS events held at the Liberty Theatre.

We are actively working to resolve this issue and ask our members and patrons to comply with this restriction until we can resolve it. Thank you for your patience.

UPCOMING CONCERTS: April 10- CSU Jazz Ensemble; May 8- Bill Perry, piano; June 12- SOLAR Quintet; July 10- Elevate the Quest; August 14- Tyrone Jackson, piano; September 11- Dallas Smith, woodwinds; October 9- Rusty Taylor, jazz vocalist; November 13- Annie Sellick, jazz vocalist; December 11- Milkshake Mayfield, trumpet and vocals

Ort Ort introducing the band. Tommy Womack on the left.

PlayGrounds Magazine

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March 2011

stayed there through a bunch of songs, even though Tommy played and sang with fire and fever the whole night. After an introduction from Athens’ very own William Orton Carlton (better known as Ort and more than a story on his own), they plowed through about thirty songs, including fan favorites Camping On Acid, Mammaw Drives the Bus, Fish Stick Day, and Tim Krekel’s (and Scorcher cover) Help There’s a Fire. Skot Willis still had the pipes and the moves of a lead singer that had his share of lingerie launched in his direction, Chris “Viva Las Vegas” Becker sneered and stalked the stage (often making sure Hodges was on the same page during songs), Billy Mack Hill played bass and sang with fervor and drummer Joe “Elvis” King pounded the skins as hard as one would expect from someone wearing a Led Zep t-shirt.

As dozens of roadies labored to load tons of equipment into trailers a few blocks away, the Cheese just played on. Maybe, just maybe, the choice isn’t between whether to fade out or to rust. Maybe you can just rave on.

Curtis Lynch

MUSIC in the Valley

photos by Tonia Hill

Fervor at Chop’s Roadhouse Christian Riedal ar Dailey’s

Government Cheese with Warner E Hodges (Jason & the Scorchers) Snake Eyes will be Tuesday, March 8 at the Civic Center and will feature the Columbus Cottonmouths as dealers!

The traditional Tip-A-Snake dinner and silent auction hosted by the Columbus Cottonmouths and TIC Federal Credit Union was revamped last year and made for a great event!

Casino games will be set up on the ice where participants will play with pretend money for a donation to Children’s Miracle Network. Many of the favorite elements from the former TipA-Snake are still part of the evening, but this fun twist offers more activities and more fun!

When you enter, you will receive play money and “tip chips” to use to tip the Cottonmouth players throughout the evening.

Popular casino games such as Blackjack, Texas Hold ‘Em, Roulette, and Craps will be available for you to enjoy along with an extensive silent auction. If you wish to have more play money during the evening, just make another donation to Children’s Miracle Network at The Medical Center. At the end of the event, you can exchange your play money for tickets to use for a chance to win one of several fabulous prizes.

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. at the Columbus Civic Center.

Guests will enjoy heavy hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. Dress for the evening is warm dressy casual. Cost per person is $35, and you must be 18 years of age to attend. Contact: Jenna Carrick @ 706-660-6559 PlayGrounds Magazine

Sol’s Austin Davis at Dailey’s

Steve Kilgore of Luv Lizards at Dailey’s

D Michaels at Dailey’s

Pandemic at Dailey’s

Ophir Drive’sJohn Matt Austin at Edwards at Chop’s Deception at Chop’s Roadhouse Dailey’s Roadhouse

Pandemic’s George Butler at Dailey’s

Kevin Boswell and Todd Moore of Spent at Dailey’s

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March 2011

places to go... people to see... art THURSDAY, MARCH 24 Art Walk featuring Bo Bartlett: Columbus State University will partner with two Uptown Columbus institutions to present Art Walk, from 5:30 until 8pm, kicking off a major local exhibition of works by internationally known artist Bo Bartlett, a Columbus native. More than 120 Bartlett pieces will be on display at the Illges Gallery in CSU’s Corn Center for the Visual Arts, the W.C. Bradley Co. Museum and the Turner and Jordan Galleries of Columbus Bank and Trust’s Uptown Center. Bartlett plans to attend receptions at each location during the the event, which is free and open to the public.

Following Art Walk, Bartlett will teach a nationally advertised three-day master class at the Corn Center from March 2527. Bartlett will paint alongside a limited number of participants during the weekend and discuss his creative process. For details, go to http://art.colstate.edu/visiting_artist.asp. For more information, call CSU’s Department of Art at 706-507-8300.

concerts THURSDAY, MARCH 3 Winter Jam 2011 Tour Spectacular: Christian music’s largest annual tour, Winter Jam 2011 Tour Spectacular is hosted

by GRAMMY®-nominated NewSong and features Newsboys; David Crowder Band; Kutless; Francesca Battistelli; RED; KJ52, and guest speaker Tony Nolan. In addition, the show includes a Pre-Jam Party with Sidewalk Prophets, Chris August and Chris Sligh. Columbus Civic Center, 7pm. $10 at the door! No tickets required! For more information, visit JamTour. com.

CSU Jazz Ensembles: The program will include a variety of jazz styles performed by the CSU Jazz Band and jazz combos under the direction of professor Alexander Pershounin.

PlayGrounds Magazine

RiverCenter’s Legacy Hall, 7:30pm. Free. For more information, call 706-649-7225, email schwobmusic@colstate. edu or go to http://music.colstate.edu SATURDAY, MARCH 19 Beethoven’s Da Bomb: Greg Sauer, Vioncello. Respighi Ancient Airs & Dances, Suite III; Schumann Cello Concerto, Op. 129 in A minor; Beethoven Symphony No. 8, Op. 93 in F Major.

Always high on the charts, the great master is representin’ with his entertaining Eighth Symphony. Cellist Greg Sauer is bad to the bone. His Schumann is about to go platinum. RiverCenter Heard Theatre, 7:30pm.

Tickets $28-$36.

SUNDAY, MARCH 20 CSU Philharmonic and Choral Union: This concert brings together both ensembles, conducted by Constantina Tsolainou, the Paul S. and Jean R. Amos Distinguished Chair in Music. The program will include Honegger’s Le Roi David. RiverCenter’s Legacy Hall, 4pm.

Free. 706-649-7225, schwobmusic@colstate.edu, http://music.colstate.edu.

MONDAY, MARCH 21 CSU Bass Ensemble: This unique ensemble, led by double bass professor Alexander Pershounin, will perform a variety of styles from classical pieces to the contemporary sounds of jazz. RiverCenter’s Legacy Hall, 7:30pm. Free. 706-649-7225, schwobmusic@colstate.edu, http://music.colstate.edu.

TUESDAY, MARCH 22 CSU Violin Studio Gala Concert: Sergiu Schwartz, the William B. and Sue Marie Turner distinguished faculty chair in Music, is joined by the Schwob school’s prize-winning violin students for a program featuring romantic and virtuoso works from the violin repertoire. RiverCenter’s Legacy Hall, 7:30pm. Free.

706-649-7225, schwobmusic@ colstate.edu, http://music.colstate.edu.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23 CSU Philharmonic: The pro-

gram includes Berlioz’s festive Roman Carnival Overture and Haydn’s Symphony No. 104, London. Conductor Paul Hostetter, the Ethel Foley Distinguished Chair for Orchestral Activities, also will discuss how each performance piece has become a classic in the repertoire.

RiverCenter’s Legacy Hall, 7:30pm. Free. 706-649-7225, schwobmusic@colstate.edu, http://music.colstate.edu.

SATURDAY, MARCH 26 Children’s Open House at Schwob School of Music: For ages 3 and up. Activities will include musical games, concerts and a hands-on musical instrument petting zoo. RiverCenter for the Performing Arts, 2-5pm.

The program is free for children accompanied by an adult. For more information, call 706-6497225, e-mail: schwobmusic@ colstate.edu or go to http://music.colstate.edu.

SUNDAY, MARCH 27 The Del McCoury Band with The Preservation Hall Jazz Band: The Washington Post calls Del McCoury “a national treasure,” and The New York Times says The Preservation Hall Jazz Band has “drive, and funk, and, believe it or not, youth.” Both bands playing on one program creates a seamless blend of soul lifting traditional harmonies, as the high and lonesome sound of the Appalachians meets the hot and lively jazz of New Orleans on the American Legacies tour.

RiverCenter Heard Theatre, 7:30pm. Tickets $10-$49.

MONDAY, MARCH 28 CSU Contemporary Ensemble: The program will include Pierre Boulez’s mystical Derive, Harold Meltzer’s colorful Brion (runner-up for a 2009 Pulitzer Prize), Edgar Varese’s classic Octandre, and Thomas Ades’ Living Toys. The ensemble is conducted by Paul Hostetter, the Ethel Foley Distinguished Chair for Orchestral Activities.

RiverCenter’s Legacy Hall, 7:30pm. Free. 706-649-7225, schwobmusic@colstate.edu, 16

http://music.colstate.edu.

TUESDAY, MARCH 29 Cantus Columbus- Sensational Serenades: A sampling of some twenty “serenades” of disparate vintage, including Glen Miller’s Moonlight Serenade, Friml’s Donkey Serenade, Brahms’ Evening Serenade, Elgar’s Spanish Serenade, and Harry Warren’s Serenade in Blue—culminating with Vaughan Williams’ masterpiece, Serenade to Music. RiverCenter Legacy Hall, 7:30pm. Tickets $29-$33.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30 Faculty Violist Zoran Jakovcic: The program of chamber music for viola, includes Beethoven’s String Trio, Linda Bouchard’s Pourtinade for viola and percussion, and Shostakovich’s Viola Sonata, featuring CSU faculty artists Sergiu Schwartz, violin; Wendy Warner, cello; Alexander Kobrin, piano; and Paul Vaillancourt, percussion. RiverCenter’s Legacy Hall, 7:30. Free. For more information, call 706-649-7225, e-mail schwobmusic@colstate.edu or go to http://music.colstate.edu.

FRIDAY, APRIL 1 New York Woodwind Quintet: The New York Woodwind Quintet is known as the world’s premiere woodwind quintet and is one of the most respected of all American chamber music ensembles. They make their Legacy Hall debut as part of their sixty-third season with a program featuring works that span the woodwind repertoire. RiverCenter Legacy Hall, 7:30pm.

Tickets $20.

SATURDAY, APRIL 2 That Brahms is Bad: Soyeon Lee, Piano - 2010 Naumberg Competition Winner. Piazzolla Oblivion; Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3, Op. 30 in D minor; Brahms Symphony No. 1, Op. 68 in C minor. RiverCenter Heard Theatre, 7:30pm. Tickets $28-$36.

THURSDAY, APRIL 7 2K11 Spring Concert featuring Waka, Twista, 8Ball & MJG: Columbus Civic Center.

7pm. Tickets $37.50-$55.

dance SATURDAY, MARCH 5 Life is a Gift Cabaret Dance: Support life with an evening of live music, dining and dance.

This special evening features the band Mike and Dave and heavy hors d’oeuvres. St. Anne Catholic Church’s Visitation Hall, 2000 Kay Circle, Columbus, 8:30-11pm. Tickets are $20 per person and $35 per couple, with a $5 military discount and can be purchased at the door.

Attire is jackets and dress pants for men and party wear for women. For more information, call 706-561-8678. Funds raised go to Chattahoochee Valley United for Life.

film MONDAY, MARCH 14 International Film Screening: The Wind that Shakes the Barley: This 2006 drama tells the story of two brothers who join the Irish Republican Army to fight for Irish independence from the United Kingdom in the early 20th century. Presented by CSU’s Center for International Education. CSU’s International House at University Avenue and Clearview Circle, 7pm. Free.

For more information, call 706565-4036.

The Screening Room The Screening Room film series at The Ritz 13 (formerly Hollywood Connection), presented by the Film Society of the Columbus Museum and Carmike Cinemas, features a different critically acclaimed film each week. Check the box office for show times. Tickets are $6 ($5 matinee)

games EVERY MONDAY Texas Hold’em: The Sports Page, 9pm Texas Hold’em: The Red Barn, 8pm EVERY TUESDAY Dart Tournament: Del Ranch Bar and Grill, 8pm Trivia: Fountain City Coffee, 7pm Trivia Night: Mellow Mushroom Texas Hold’em: The Red Barn, 8pm March 2011

Texas Hold’em: The Sports Page, 9pm EVERY WEDNESDAY Texas Hold’em: The Shanty Shack Texas Hold’em: SoHo, 8:30 EVERY THURSDAY Texas Hold’em: Lil Kim’s Cove, 7:30 & 10pm EVERY FRIDAY Texas Hold’em: Club After 5, 7pm EVERY SATURDAY Texas Hold’em: SoHo, 5pm Texas Hold’em: Club After 5, 6:30pm EVERY SUNDAY Texas Hold’em: The Sports Page

karaoke EVERY MONDAY Hookahmeup; SoHo EVERY WEDNESDAY Red Maple Sports Bar; The Shanty Shack; Country Karaoke w James McClendon at Del Ranch, 8pm-close

music EVERY MONDAY Ryan Rulon: eighty-five Jim Patrick: Picasso Pizza EVERY TUESDAY Audio Fine Dining: eighty-five Urban Cafe with Poetry and Live Music: Hookahmeup Ryan Hamner: Picasso Pizza Open Mic hosted by Tripp Wrigley: SoHo EVERY WEDNESDAY Zach Young: eighty-five The Bros Johnston: Flip Flops Open Mic: The Loft Gary Parmer: Picasso Pizza Ryan Rulon: Suite 23 Live DJs: Sky Nightclub EVER Y THURSDAY Open Mic: Fountain City Coffee, 8-10pm, all ages Comedy: The Loft, 8pm &10pm New Music Showcase with Nick Johnston: eighty-five Ryan Rulon: Oxygen Lee Holmes: Picasso Pizza, 6-10pm Service Industry Night, Live Bands: Sky Nightclub EVERY FRIDAY Drag Shows: Fat Cat Coyote Ugly Style Dance Contest: Oxygen Jeremiah Hobbs: Picasso PizPlayGrounds Magazine

za EVERY FRIDAY & SATURDAY David McBride & Raisin’ Kane: Del Ranch Bar and Grill Live Music: Fountain City Coffee Lee Holmes: Picasso Pizza, 6-10pm Live Music: Red Maple Sports Bar Live DJs: Sky Nightclub EVERY SATURDAY Blazin’ Hot Bikini Contest: Oxygen Brent Lindley: Picasso Pizza THURSDAY, MARCH 3 Izzy & The Kesstronics: SoHo FRIDAY, MARCH 4 Shaun Crane: Fountain City Coffee Peggy Jenkins & The Bizness: The Loft Sol + Stereomonster: SoHo SATURDAY, MARCH 5 Ty Izumi: Fountain City Coffee Jasper Drive: The Loft Farewell Disaster + Greymarket: SoHo TUESDAY, MARCH 8 Dixie Mafiaa: Shanty Shack, 7pm Open Mic: SoHo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9 Neal Lucas: The Loft (8-11:30, all ages, no smoking, free) Relic: SoHo THURSDAY, MARCH 10 Silent Sleep: SoHo FRIDAY, MARCH 11 Matt Austin: Fountain City Coffee Peggy Jenkins & The Bizness: The Loft Luster + Bear Crossing + Traverser: SoHo SATURDAY, MARCH 12 Brittany Avery: Fountain City Coffee Main Street Exiles: The Loft Almost Legendary + The Issues: SoHo TUESDAY, MARCH 15 Dixie Mafiaa: Shanty Shack Open Mic: SoHo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16 StarCity Meltdown + Super Bob THURSDAY, MARCH 17 All The Kings Men: SoHo FRIDAY, MARCH 18 Will Dockery: Fountain City Coffee Peggy Jenkins & The Bizness: The Loft

Pistol Town: SoHo SATURDAY, MARCH 19 Fire Mountain: Fountain City Coffee Connor Christian: The Loft Neon Samurai: SoHo TUESDAY, MARCH 22 Dixie Mafiaa: Shanty Shack WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23 Saint Bernadette: SoHo THURSDAY, MARCH 24 Bibb City Ramblers: SoHo FRIDAY, MARCH 25 Hermel Fortin: Fountain City Coffee Peggy Jenkins & The Bizness: The Loft Whisky Bent: SoHo SATURDAY, MARCH 26 tba: Fountain City Coffee Jon Saunders: Luke’s Pub SubCam + Haulover Drive: SoHo THURSDAY, MARCH 31 The Bastard Suns: SoHo FRIDAY, APRIL 1 Six Shot Revival + Gravity Burn: SoHo SATURDAY, APRIL 2 The Debutante Massacre: SoHo WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9 Neal Lucas: The Loft

nature SATURDAY, MARCH 5 Astronomy Night at Providence Canyon: Columbus State’s Coca-Cola Space Science Center presents a night of stargazing and planet viewing.

Providence Canyon State Park near Lumpkin, 7pm. Free. For more information, including driving directions, go to http://www. ccssc.org or call 706-649-1477.

SATURDAY, MARCH 12 Guided Nature Walk at Oxbow Meadows: Columbus State staff at the Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center lead a leisurely nature walk starting 8am every second and fourth Saturday along the Oxbow Meadows trails. This free program covers information about the plants, birds and other wildlife along the way. For more information, call 706-687-4090 or go to http://oxbow.ColumbusState.edu/index.php.

Pine Mountain Trail Association Hike: Led by Sam Burke.

Meet at Mollyhugger Hill parking lot at 10am. Hike Pine Mountain 17

Trail to Dowdell Knob. 3.5 moderate miles. Hikes are free and hikers of all ages are welcome.

You do not have be a PMTA member to participate. Just show up a few minutes before the stated start time. Be sure to bring water and a snack. Call Jim Hall 706-569-0497 for more information.

SUNDAY, MARCH 13 Oxbow Meadows Presents ‘Meteorology 101’: A presentation by WRBL television meteorologist Bob Jeswald. Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center, 3535 South Lumpkin Road, 2-5pm. The program is part of the Second Sunday series at Oxbow Meadows. Admission is $3; free for kids 3 and under. For more information, call 706-687-4090 or go to http:// oxbow.columbusstate.edu/ SATURDAY, MARCH 19 Astronomy Night: Columbus State’s Coca-Cola Space Science Center presents a session of stargazing and planet viewing at the center, 701 Front Avenue.

A 7pm planetarium presentation is followed by telescope viewing at 8pm. Free. For more information, go to http://www.ccssc.org or call 706-649-1477.

Pine Mountain Trail Association Night Hike: Led by Jim Hall.

Meet at Dowdell Knob Trailhead Parking Lot at 6:30pm. We’ll start off in daylight then hike to Brown Dog Bluff, eat, then hike on in the dark. Hikers can do all the loop or part. 4.3 moderate miles SATURDAY, MARCH 26 Guided Nature Walk at Oxbow Meadows: Columbus State staff at the Oxbow Meadows Environmental Learning Center lead a leisurely nature walk starting 8am every second and fourth Saturday along the Oxbow Meadows trails. This free program covers information about the plants, birds and other wildlife along the way. For more information, call 706-687-4090 or go to http://oxbow.ColumbusState.edu/index.php.

Pine Mountain Trail Association Overnight Hike: Led by Jim Hall. An overnight Backpacking Trip to Big Knot campsite. Meet at FDR Park Office at 2pm. 3.5 easy miles. Contact

Jim for reservations PineMtTrailAssoc._Jim@msn.com or Call 706-569-0497 in evenings.

SATURDAY, MARCH 26 Pine Mountain Trail Workday: Meet at Fox Den Cove parking lot at 10am. Workdays are free and volunteers of all ages are welcome. Tools are provided, bring gloves, lunch and water.

You do not have be a PMTA member to participate and you do not sign up in advance or call ahead. Just show up a few minutes before the stated start time. Call Carl Carlson at 706628-5336 for more information.

poetry THURSDAY, MARCH 3 Poetry Open Mic: Read your own poems or those by a favorite poet. This event occurs every 1st Thursday of the month.

Columbus State University: Schwob School of Music, Choral Practice Room, 900 Broadway Columbus, Georgia 31901, 7pm. Free. Sponsored by: Brick Road Poets & Georgia Poetry Society. For more information contact Keith Badowski (334) 614-0577. www.brickroadpoetrypress.com WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30 Poetry Reading by Rick Campbell: Hosted by Columbus State University. A Pushcart Prize winner, Campbell will give a 4 p.m. talk at the Smith McCullers House, 1519 Stark Avenue and present a poetry reading at 7:30 p.m. in the Schwob Library on CSU’s main campus. Campbell’s books of poetry include The Traveler’s Companion, A Day’s Work, Setting the World in Order and Dixmont. Director of Anhinga Press and the Anhinga Prize for Poetry, Campbell also teaches English at Florida A&M University. His CSU appearance is sponsored by CSU’s Carson McCullers Center for Writers and Musicians and the Georgia Poetry Circuit. For more information, call 706-565-4021.

sports THURSDAY, MARCH 4 SPHL Hockey- Columbus Cottonmouths vs Favetteville FireAntz: Georgia Lottery Night.

continued on page 25 March 2011

PG Picks

cd/dvd reviews

are everywhere: “Danger Keep Away” Well….this looks like the perfect place”) Grant Peeples sings about these people, because these people are our people.

And our people? They come from the dirt.

Curtis Lynch

I didn’t know then,” he sings wistfully in When It Rains, the melancholy flip side of his nostalgia-minded 2008 hit, All Summer Long. Care, the track with McBride and T.I., is winningly modest in its viewpoint that perhaps it’s not possible to change the world, but it’s always possible to care.

He hasn’t completely abandoned his party-hardy ethic, delivering an instant dive-bar jukebox classic, God Bless Saturday, with its Stones-Aerosmith echoes, and a lively ZZ Top-worthy shuffle in Rock Bottom Blues. If you love Kid Rock, you’ll love this album.

Kid Rock plays Gwinnett Arena March 4th. The wonderful Jamey Johnson is his opening act!

Alice Barkwell

PS: If you want this record, Grant trusts you. Write him and he’ll send you a copy, then he will trust you to pay him.

GRANT PEEPLES Okra and Ecclesiastes Gatorbone Records www.grantpeeples.com Every day, with the sun, millions of Americans rise up and leave their homes, some to jobs and some to sit and watch and wait for one. And each evening, many of those same millions grab a quart of beer and a lottery ticket or two. The former a purchase for short-term gain, the latter the kind of retirement plan that too many of us rely on, the only chance at an American dream that is doled out at too-steep odds.

That’s what Grant Peeples, equal parts troubadour and troublemaker, knows and writes about. And with Okra and Ecclesiastes, produced by Gurf Morlix and recorded in Austin, he has, right here, a pretty damn good record. Grant’s songwriting ability has solidified and as much as I liked his previous one, Pawnshop, the twelve tracks here tell his stories with more economy and confidence.

The title comes from the opening track, My People Come From The Dirt, and from a place where clinging to guns and religion isn’t a derogatory remark. (“White bread and kerosene/Catfish and flatbeds, sweat stains and retreads, okra and Ecclesiastes”) The strength of this record, however, is when Grant’s scathing social commentary blends with a genuine eye for the human condition, like the two married lovers who have no place to go except out underneath the Powerlines, a song that recalls Guy Clark. (“Signs PlayGrounds Magazine

KID ROCK Born Free Few musicians have the stylistic reach Detroit rap-rocker Kid Rock displays in bringing together musical guests as disparate as country music sweetheart Martina McBride and rapper T.I. — and on the same track, no less. But that’s one of the nifty surprises Kid Rock pulls off on his eighth album Born Free, making strange musical bedfellows sound like kindred spirits to boot.

That also may have something to do with the presence of producer Rick Rubin, who once again demonstrates his uncanny gift for chipping away the bluster and artifice from the acts he works with, helping them sculpt their songs and performances down to what really matters.

There’s nary a trace of the rap-metal hybrid that first ushered in what might easily have been his 15 minutes of fame, and little of the country dabbling that’s endeared him in recent years to the Nashville crowd. Instead, Kid Rock appears intent on asserting his place as the classic-rock scion of Detroit rasper Bob Seger, who plays piano on Collide, a folk-rock ballad that exhibits honestto-goodness vulnerability.

“Wish I didn’t know now the things

STEREOMONSTER The Love Palace Stereomonster has something to say and their second CD, The Love Palace, proves it. All thirteen tracks capture the passion, energy and surprises you will find at a live Stereomonster show. I hate to make a love child analogy, however...

If Gram Parsons, REHAB, Blink 182 and Bob Dylan had a love-grandchild it would be Stereomonster.

BEZ starts the disc off with a brief spoken word intro that prepares you for what to expect throughout the disc.

“Welcome to The Love Palace, it is important to know that this is not just the music, although based around the music, this is a way of life, a pledge of dedication to improve the lives of other people.... This is a message of freedom and knowledge that is carried on throughout life, by us. The music is a celebration of this. To make this kind of music you must be free of fear that it will not be accepted: by anybody. The music is the 18

truth and the truth is the light and the darkness cannot stop the light from shining.” Then they launch into Sexy, one of several on the disc that showcases G Star’s (Casey Gryzstar) command of the bass. It also showcases BEZ’s ability to rapid-fire spoken word.

This disc seamlessly flows from BEZ’s spoken word hip-hop-with-amessage, to Zac Young’s sometimes lamenting, sometimes whimsical vocals.

Although BEZ rips off a stream of powerful one-word semi rhymes, Mooons is more instrumental than the other tracks and in my opinion can best be enjoyed at a live performance, where you can watch Zac playing his guitar really fast.

On track 4, Don’t Blame the City, (one of my favorites), the music, the lyrics, the wistfulness... combine to form a surreal audial experience. I can imagine The Flying Burrito Brothers, with Gram Parsons all dressed up in a fancy emroidered jacket, performing this song in a smokey bar room forty some odd years ago. “ Don’t bother wondering how I’m feeling. I clean floors and, you paint ceilings.” Musically, it seems pretty stripped down and simple. Simple good.

On track 5, Speaker Demon, BEZ’s spoken-word-with-a-message is interwined and overlapped with Zac’s haunting vocals and guitar work. Just when I think I might skip ahead to the next track, Stereomonster reels me in... with clever lyrics, unexpected tempo changes, a myriad of things that makes Stereomonster unique.

My favorite track (at this moment) is track 9, Cows. “I’ve been inside ther devil’s house and I’ve looked him in the eye; I’ve praised the names of congressmen; the third line was a lie.”

Buy a CD. Learn the words. Let’s meet up front and sing along together.

It is fun to be excited about an original band from Columbus.

Vickie Carson Stereomonster, Fri, March 4 at SoHo

CD reviews are welcomed. playgroundsmag @knology.net March 2011

coming to

SoHo

Fri, Apr 8 Should it be any surprise that an indie group from Mexico City is causing quite a number of heads in the US to turn on their axis? Not when when you work as hard as Sour Soul! In 2010, after conquering a taxing 110 shows in the US and an equally demanding schedule in Mexico, the band took a break...but only to conjure up their highly anticipated encore album L’appel du Vide (released Feb.26, 2011) and prepare for their next North American tour.

The name of the new album (French in origin) literally means “the call of the void” but is more often used to refer to the instinctive urge to jump from high places. This uncertain exhilaration is represented in everything Sour Soul produces.

Sour Soul creates art expressed through the diversity of musical styles that they have enjoyed and experiences they’ve shared. Their recordings are infused with electricity that could bring storm-clouds to tears. Every Live performance is conspired to quench the audience’s insatiable appetite for energy, movement, love.

On April 8th, Sour Soul is coming to Columbus,GA on their LAUGHS AND SILLY DANCING Tour, which spans from Coast to Coast and includes 70 of America’s greatest cities. When you come to Soho Bar & Grill, be prepared to experience a spectacle of sight and sound!

“This quintessential indie band is a fine blend of class. The four multi-instrumentalists members master the alchemical art of transforming traditional sounds into new, mind blowing music. Their live show is a must see energy explosion.” ~Relix Magazine

Thursday Evening Barbecue Social Barbecue Sandwiches $2 (meat and bun) Dress your own sandwich with your choice of pickles, coleslaw and a variety of locally produced barbecue sauces.

SoHo, 5751 Milgen Rd. 31907 8:30 pm until we run out of barbecue

& photos Life Is But A Dream: Tales From the Athens Rock Show bystory Daniel Peiken CHICKASAW MUDD PUPPIES. I am a child of the sixties, after all I was born in June of 1969. In some ways, just at the right time and in some ways, too late. Being born at the tail end of the 60’s allowed me to enjoy all the cool funky things of the 70’s and neat digital things from the 80’s. I can relate to people of all ages, because I still rock’n’roll and that keeps me young. I feel like I was born in the 80’s, and most folks think I’m in my 30’s. Still I missed out on the birth of rock’n’roll in the late 50’s and early 60’s, but just by a little bit. That puts me graduating from Brookstone High School in 1987 and graduating from the University of Georgia in 1992 (with one extra football season). I got to Athens in the fall of ’87, and I barely discovered it in ’88 and ’89, I missed out on R.E.M. and The B-52’s, but I caught the first few years of Widespread Panic, and I also experienced the Bar-B-Cue Killers, Time Toy and 5-8. However, none of these bands affected me quite like the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies (www.chickasawmuddpuppies.tripod. com) did.

I have written about my connection with the Mudd Puppies before but this is a story with a different tale.

This band is different, they crossed over all sorts of boundaries. Back in the day Athens was much more segregated between the ‘townies and musicians’ and the University students and it’s fraternity boys and sorority girls. This is my opinion and from my perspective but I believe it’s true. The music scene was still very young in Athens, there were only a handful of music venues and bars and even fewer of them were downtown. During my time at UGA the University and the city of Athens (before becoming Athens-Clarke County) tightened their belts concerning alcohol and hazing and lots of other things that were fun before the internet and cell phones. Huge house parties with beer trucks and two

story indoor slides were becoming faint and hazy memories, but I DO have some of those faint memories.

The Flying Buffalo closed down and a few of the bars on the outskirts of downtown burned down, more opened up downtown. The GAP closed, the 40 Watt moved, R.E.M. released GREEN, and Widespread Panic released Space Wrangler. I started to realize that I enjoyed drinking beer at rock shows much better than drinking beer at house parties.

Some time later the Flying Buffalo would burn down and twenty-odd years later the Georgia Theatre would try to do the same. It didn’t, and way before that fire I saw the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies on that huge wooden stage. It was filled with buckets and baskets and antique quilt blankets, flannel shirts were hung out on a laundry line to dry. There was a big rocking chair on what looked like a small wooden porch and a few funky microphones laid around. The crowd at that show was a crazy mixture of all sorts of people. Anyway, enough of that night, this story took place in 2011.

The first Sunday in February my parents drove up from their condo in Midtown Atlanta to visit. It was Brandi’s birthday and they wanted to take us somewhere for brunch. We moseyed around Downtown and took a nice walking tour past the Georgia Theatre construction site, the Georgia Bar, the Caledonia Lounge and the 40 Watt. We took it easy like a Sunday morn-

Chickasaw Mudpuppies at Nucci’s Space PlayGrounds Magazine

Ben 20

ing. We passed by the Flicker Theatre, the Max Canada and finally we found our way home around 2:00 and had no plans and no where to be for the rest of the day. Everyone took a lazy seat but before any naps were fought off, I leisurely checked my Facebook and found a message that was about 30 minutes old. It was from Ben Reynolds, the guitar playing half of the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies (and also one third of the Workhorses of the Entertainment Industry, www. myspace.com/weri). It said, ‘We’re at Nuci’s Space till 6:30...playing songs we haven’t played in 20 years...come by if you’d like...see what we remember...’. I don’t remember the rest ‘cause my brain blew and my jaw dropped...

Holy Moly!! I couldn’t believe my eyes. I could not believe: 1) they were playing music together again. 2) they were playing around the block from my house. 3) they invited me to see them. 4) it was my day off. 5) I just got my new camera and hadn’t used it yet. 6) before I go to 6 thru 10, I’ll just say that my mother could tell from my quiet amazement and anxious patience that something was going on. Without explaining to her how huge this was, she said that my father was ready to go home before we had finished lunch. So they packed up and left. I packed up two cameras and a water and headed to Nuci’s Space (www.Nuci.org) for the unknown and Brandi hit the hay.

On my one mile drive (it’s a shorter walk but I had already missed 40 minutes of something) my mind was filled with thoughts and questions about what was

Brant Slay March 2011

about to happen. Is it a secret show? Who was going to be there? How many people knew about this? I got to Nuci’s Space and it was a full house. No parking spots available so I pulled the Celica up on the stone hill by the R.E.M. Steeple. I threw it in park and ran around the blue brick building. Still not knowing what to expect, I walked past two folks sitting out on the covered deck of the renovated gas station and opened the door. Before I took a step inside a scraggly man with an outrageous beard and a friendly face approached me with a smile.

It was Ben and he invited me to join him in Practice Room #7. Perfect timing but I still had no idea what I was about to walk in on.

Ben opened the door and inside I see a sweaty, sick, Brant Slay, sitting in his Rocking chair on that small wooden porch with a smile on his face. We were introduced and met officially for the very first time, although Brant reached out to me a year ago regarding my article about them in Playgrounds Magazine. We never met face to face before even though he and I both attended Brookstone in Columbus for 10 years or more.

We quickly figured out that we both were friends with two brothers from the same family. He with the oldest son and me the youngest.

That was it, just them and me, and a bullhorn, a washboard, lots of speakers and an empty drum kit.

Brant said he had just about beat a cold and was trying to sweat off the rest, but he sounded fine to me. In fact they sounded exactly like they did the last 1000 times I heard them play on my CD players. I don’t think they realized that although they hadn’t played those songs in twenty years, I (and thousands of others)

2/14/11 Clay Leverett, Scott Baxendale, Brandon Reynolds @ Little Kings

have been playing their CD’s since they were issued.

I played them on my bike on Peachtree Street in Atlanta, I played them on the beach in St. Simon’s Island, I played them at parties in Athens and everywhere that I lived. On this day I had my own private concert. I am amazed and grateful. I took tons of photos for their fans and a few private videos for the band.

They sounded so good it was like thunder and lightning striking at the same time. When Ben strums his guitar it sounds like he’s got an army of strings, and whenever Brant moves he makes some sort of sound.

Only a true, care-free artist could twist and maneuver sounds like he does, he makes it look easy and that’s the secret. He keeps the beat with his knees and feet, he plays a wicked washboard and he blows a harmonica as well as anyone I’ve ever heard. Just two old friends making music and noises, it sounded like a beautiful redneck symphony. They ran through 95% of their songs and I was allowed to stay for them all. I had my earplugs with me but I pulled them out before the first song was over. They sounded so good and clean that I didn’t need them. They were so tight in that small room that I could listen with naked ears and enjoy everything that I heard. I’m sure I overstayed my welcome but left before they told me to. I thanked them and walked out of Nuci’s Space Practice Room #7 on Cloud 9.

I was on that cloud for a few days. Twenty years ago I was a geeky college kid at the Georgia Theatre in a mosh pit of innocent fraternity boys. That night the GATH was packed with all sorts of people, all much cooler, more famous and more important than me, but this day, I was the only one in room #7 with the boys from the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies. I followed my bliss and became an artist sometime between their GATH show and the mid 1990’s. Perhaps CMP was like a shoe horn, sliding me in the direction that I needed to go.

Shortly after graduating I started to collect folk art from all over Georgia. For years I would take a day off and drive to rural towns and buy art. I went from being a collector of outsider art to creating art myself. Art with no boundaries and no rules. I painted on found wood with my fingers and I painted on canvas with knives. I moved back to Athens in 2000 and picked up a camera.

I found my way to make an impact in this rock’n’roll

town. Look where I’ve been and I think it’s just the beginning.

Financially, 2010 was real tough on me, real estate took a dive along with the economy and that messed up everything. I missed tons of shows because I was holed up in my house working every waking hour. 2011 is already going so much better. I’ve got some big real estate deals going, I’ve got five new listings, Analogue Records is speaking with some very noteworthy musicians and the Cicada’s will be waking up soon. I enjoyed a Sunday afternoon filled with live music that vibrated my innards and made my heart skip a few beats.

Long live the Chickasaw Mudd Puppies!!

Rock ‘N’ Roll doesn’t have to hurt but I can’t live without it. All my photos are at www.AthensRockShow.com, videos at www.youtube.com/athensdaniel.

Check out www.AthensHome.com for all of your Real Estate needs. I’d love to hear your comments about my photos and ramblings, email me at dpeiken@hotmail. com. See you at the Rock Show!!

Wood • Custom • Chain Link • Vinyl Aluminum • Farm Fencing • Decks • More

FREE ESTIMATES Kurt Whitfield, owner 1/29/11 Hudgins Band with Thayer Sarrano PlayGrounds Magazine

2/5/11 Hayride, Caldonia Lounge 21

Cell 706-681-4669

Office 706-221-7706

March 2011

continued from page 17 Several great prizes will be given away, including your chance to win $500 in instant win tickets. Post-game party with the Snakes at Momma Goldberg’s Deli on Broadway! Columbus Civic Center, 7:30pm. Tickets $12-$22.

SATURDAY, MARCH 5 NCAA Men’s Tennis- CSU vs Samford: Blackmon Tennis Center on main campus, 10am.

Admission is free. For more information, 706-568-2204, http:// www.csucougars.com.

SPHL Hockey- Columbus Cottonmouths vs Huntsville Havoc: Fight Night with UFC Fighter Josh Koscheck making a special appearance! Koscheck will be available for autographs and a special meet and greet dinner will be held prior to the game. This will also serve as a Q and A session so UFC fans can experience more interaction with Koscheck. Meet and Greet dinner tickets are on sale now for $50. This includes a game ticket, dinner, and admission to the exclusive meet and greet. Columbus Civic Center, 7:30pm. Tickets $12-$22.

SUNDAY, MARCH 6 NCAA Women’s and Men’s Tennis- CSU vs North Georgia: Blackmon Tennis Center on main campus, 1pm. Admission is free.

TUESDAY, MARCH 8 Snake Eyes Casino Night: benefiting the Children’s Miracle Network. Cottonmouths players will serve as dealers and waiters as Snakes fans enjoy a night of casino games, singing, and entertainment. Columbus Civic Center. Doors open at 6:30.

Tickets to the event are $35.

To reserve your spot, contact the Cottonmouths office or visit www.columbusregional.com.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9 NCAA Men’s Tennis- CSU vs Southern Indiana: Blackmon Tennis Center on main campus, 10am. Admission is free.

MARCH 9-12 CSU Hosts 2011 NCAA Rifle Championship: The event will be held jointly at the U.S. Army Marksmanship Unit at Fort Benning and at the Lumpkin Center PlayGrounds Magazine

on Columbus State’s main campus. Activities culminate with the small-bore competition on Friday at USAMU’s Poole Complex, and the air rifle competition on Saturday in the Lumpkin Center arena.Team and individual national champions will be crowned on each day. For more information, call 706-568-2204.

THURSDAY, MARCH 10 Harlem Globetrotters: The Harlem Globetrotters have contributed more innovations to the game of basketball than any other team in history, Columbus Civic Center, 7pm. Tickets $22.50-$64.50. For more information, visit HarlemGlobetrotters.com.

MARCH 10-11 NCAA Baseball- CSU vs Ohio Dominican: Ragsdale Field, 4pm Thursday and 2pm Friday.

Admission is $5 per person; $3 for ages 12 and younger; free for students, faculty and staff with CSU ID. 706-568-2204, http://www.csucougars.com.

FRIDAY, MARCH 11 SPHL Hockey- Columbus Cottonmouths vs Mississippi Surge: Player Card Giveaway # 1. The first 1000 fans will receive the first of two sets of player cards, presented by Carmike Cinemas. Columbus Civic Center, 7:30pm. Tickets $12-$22.

SATURDAY, MARCH 12 NCAA Women’s Tennis- CSU vs UNC Pembroke: Blackmon Tennis Center on main campus, 4pm. Admission is free.

NCAA Women’s Softball- CSU vs Lynn: Lady Cougar Field, 11am and 1pm. Admission is $5 per person or $3 for ages 12 and younger, and free for students, faculty and staff with CSU ID. For more information, call 706568-2204 or go to http://www. csucougars.com.

SPHL Hockey- Columbus Cottonmouths vs Mississippi Surge: Player Card Giveaway #2. The first 1000 fans will receive the first of two sets of player cards, presented by Carmike Cinemas. Post-game party with the Snakes at River City Grill! Columbus Civic Center, 7:30pm. Tickets $12-$22.

MARCH 12-13 NCAA Baseball- CSU vs Montevallo: Ragsdale Field, 2pm

and 5pm Saturday and 1pm Sunday. Admission is $5 per person or $3 for ages 12 and younger, and free for students, faculty and staff with CSU ID. SUNDAY, MARCH 13 NCAA Women’s and Men’s Tennis- CSU vs Francis Marion: Blackmon Tennis Center on main campus, 11am. Admission is free.

GA vs AL Indoor Football Classic: Outstanding seniors from area high school football teams will participate in an indoor football style all–star game. There will be two teams of 20 players from Georgia and Alabama. Jordan High School coach Dave Nurnberg will be coaching the Georgia squad and Russell County coach Tripp Henderson will control the Alabama sidelines. Assisting these men will be the Columbus Lions coaches and players. The game will include all of the excitement of a Lion’s game including team introductions and the participation of select high school bands, cheerleaders and mascots. After the Georgia vs Alabama Indoor Football Classic, there will be an exhibition game between the Columbus Lions and the North Georgia Bulldogs. Columbus Civic Center, 3pm. Tickets Level Price $10-$15.

SIFL Football- Columbus Lions vs North Georgia Bulldogs: Exhibition game. Columbus Civic Center, 7:05pm. All tickets to the exhibition game are $5.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 16 NCAA Women’s Softball- CSU vs Auburn-Montgomery: Faculty Appreciation Day. Lady Cougar Field, 3pm and 5pm.

Admission is $5 per person or $3 for ages 12 and younger, and free for students, faculty and staff with CSU ID. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18 NCAA Women’s Softball- CSU vs UNC Pembroke: Lady Cougar Field, 3pm and 5pm. Admission is $5 per person or $3 for ages 12 and younger, and free for students, faculty and staff with CSU ID. SPHL Hockey- Columbus Cottonmouths vs Louisiana IceGators: Columbus Civic Center,

Suwannee Springfest, March 24-27, 2011 Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park, http://www.suwanneespringfest.com/ Music festival Suwannee Springfest will mark its fifteenth anniversary in 2011. The festival has been continuously produced at North Florida’s Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park near the farming town of Live Oak. Well-known and highly-regarded among discerning fans and media, the event consistently features some of the world’s finest performers in New and Traditional Folk, Roots Rock, Bluegrass and Newgrass, Singer/Songwriter, Acoustic Blues, Cajun/Zydeco, and other forms of American Roots music. Those musical sub-genres are now collectively referred to as Americana music, a style growing rapidly in acceptance and popularity which generally incorporates respect for and recognition of traditional music forms presented through a completely contemporary framework and approach.

The Suwannee Springfest has always helped to develop and promote Americana music. A 2007 documentary film about the festival and its unique sphere of influence called “Music Farmers: Sowing the Seeds of Americana” aired on over 175 PBS network outlets worldwide and was also shown at the Jacksonville Film Festival that same year. Making special appearances or performing in the film were Bela Fleck, Derek Trucks, Guy Clark, the late Vassar Clements, Peter Rowan, The Waybacks, and many other Suwannee Springfest artists. Other past festival performers include legends like Doc Watson, Ralph Stanley, Tony Rice, Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, former Byrds Chris Hillman and Roger McGuinn, and Earl Scruggs. Besides these renowned artists Suwannee Springfest also offers the best of the local and regional Americana acts from Florida and the Southeastern U.S. Suwannee Springfest has grown from an initial attendance of around 1,000 to now hosting more than 7,000 loyal attendees from across the nation. These loyal, colorful followers come early and stay late for the event, helping to create a true sense and spirit of community throughout the festival grounds. Besides the stellar music on the stages, the sounds of singing and playing ring joyfully through the trees round the clock at this friendly, family-based gathering.

The 2010 lineup includes The Avett Brothers, David Grisman Sextet, Emmitt Nershi Band, Donna the Buffalo, Larry Keel & Natural Bridge, Ralph Roddenberry Band, Danny Barnes, The Futurebirds, Trampled By Turtles, Joe Craven, Verlon Thompson, Jim Lauderdale, Tornado Rider, Mosier Brothers, Cornmeal, Dread Clampitt and Acoustic Syndicate.

continued on page 28 22

March 2011

PLAYGROUNDS REMEMBERS…

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Night Moves Where The Sexiest Women In The World Shop

2723 Manchester Expressway Suite 4, Columbus, GA 31904 Miss Barbara 706-576-5302 TURA SATANA, LENA NYMAN, MARIA SCHNEIDER Death, as we know, comes in triplicate. The first week in February saw the passing of three porno pioneers, women whose overt sexuality directly challenged and, ultimately, changed the course of the movie industry. They put the sin back in cinema, three decades after censors responded to Mae West’s Depression-era shenanigans by imposing what came to be known as the Hollywood Code.

Those who measure decades by their cultural watersheds rather than the brute clock claim that the 1960’s… with all that they represented… began with either the election or assassination of John F. Kennedy or the arrival of the Beatles in America. Or, some could point to a moment early in Russ Meyer’s “Faster, Pussycat, Kill! Kill!” (which hit the grindhouses and drive-ins in 1965) as that moment of seminal, violent overthrow of the bland Eisenhower decade, whereafter ensued a global descent into delirium and chaos.

A 50’s stereotype icon… one of those Frankies or Bobbys or Tommies infecting the airwaves and beach movies after Elvis got drafted into the Army - becomes the object of TURA SATANA‘s road rage on an impromptu desert dragstrip. Bad move. She drops the teen idol with karate chops… eight years prior to Bruce Lee’s “Enter the Dragon”… grabs his neck, snaps it like a twig and, with her two stripclub cronies, kidnaps his chirpy, Mickey Mouseclub companion into a maelstrom of Mojave madness. And, like that, the 50’s were just over, man.

Satana was a stripper, not an actress, and her cinematic output was brief… “Faster…”, two endeavors by that other wizard of junk, Ted V. Mikels (“Astro-Zombies” and “Doll Squad” ) and a few guest spots on TV classics like “The Man from Uncle”. She grew up in an internment camp for Japanese-Americans and graduated from Chicago girl gangs to the burlesque stage during the wink-and-nod ‘50’s, romancing a young boy-toy from Memphis who proposed marriage. She turned down the lovestruck Elvis Presley, but did teach him a few burly-girlie bumps and grinds, which he’d employ onstage during those brief, two years before the Army, Colonel Parker and the era neutered his act.

After leaving stage and screen, Tura worked as a police dispatcher, installed engine blocks and… with the millennial revival of trash cinema… hit the convention circuit until taken, February 4th, by heart failure in Reno at 72.

Ameriporn, however, remained more tease than strip until the Scandinavians took it all off – none more notoriously than Sweden’s LENA NYMAN in “I Am Curious – Yellow”, which premiered in 1967. Directed by Vilgot Sjoman, “Yellow” was a pseudo-documentary exploring politics and culture, as well as sex. (Nyman also starred in a sequel, “I Am Curious – Blue”, which focused on Swedish politics… blue and yellow being the colors of the Swedish flag… cut out the sex and was received with a distinct lack of enthusiasm.)

Nyman appeared exclusively in Swedish films and stage productions thereafter, co-starring with Ingrid Bergman and Liv Ullmann in Ingmar Bergman’s “Autumn Sonata”. She died of cancer at 66, also on February 4th.

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It would take a commitment by a big Hollywood star to finally move sexual cinema into the mainstream and, in 1972, they didn’t come any bigger than Marlon Brando. Brando’s co-star in Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Last Tango in Paris” was 20 year old MARIA SCHNEIDER… they copulated enthusiastically, clothed and unclothed, and devised uses for butter not conceived of by Mrs. Butterworth. (After coming out as a radical lesbian, she claimed to have been manipulated and raped by both the star and director.)

Schneider’s next movie, also for a megawatt actor-director combo, was opposite Jack Nicholson in Michelangelo Antonioni’s “The Passenger”, but she was fired off the set of the infamous “Caligula” and declined into mental illness and addiction before cleaning up and coming out. She found parts in numerous French crime and horror movies before her February 3rd death from cancer in Paris, at 58.

Tura, Lena and Maria are survived by friends and family – also by Paris Hilton and her ilk. Charlie Sheen, understandably, has gone berserk. Dirty old men, worldwide, have lowered their standards to half-mast.

ANY band you WANT!!!

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Food Tasting...

Toasting, Tasting, Silent Auction and more!

The Columbus Symphony Orchestra presents Toast of the Town: a symphony of food and wine on Friday, March 11, 2011, 7:00PM, at RiverMill Event Centre. Savor samplings of food from the areaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s finest chefs and restaurants; Experience over 200 wines from vintners around the world; Explore the Silent Auction featuring a variety of fine wines and trips and treasures. Reservations are $75 per person or $300 Patron Package (includes two tickets and name recognition in program). For reservations or more information please call 706.256.3640 or online at www. csoga.org. All proceeds benefit the Columbus Symphony Orchestra.

Wine Tasting...

Featured Wineries: Achaval Ferrer, Adelsheim, Alamos, Alma, Apothic, Archery Summit, Banfi, Bennett Lane, Bodegas Ntra. SeĂąora del Romero, Cana, Castle Rock, Clayhouse, Clos de Gat, Clos Pegase, Darioush, Dr. Loosen, Duckhorn Decoy, Educated Guess, Fess Parker, Forefront, Four Vines, Giarrusso, Grgich Hills, Gruete, Guardian Peak, Guenoc, J.Lohr, Joseph Carr, Joseph Drouhin, Kermit Lynch, Klinker Brick, La Marca, Lamy, Lander Jenkins, Landmark, Luigi Righetti, Mazzoni, Miner, MoĂŤt & Chandon, Niner, Obsidian Ridge, Orin Swift, Perry Creek, PlumpJack, Predator, Ramey, Raza, Riondo, Rodney Strong, Rombauer, Rutherford Ranch, Santa Ema, Santa Marina, Schloss Saarstein, Schug, Seven Daughters, Simona Moenaert, Steele, Te Kairanga, Tenuta di Ghizzano, Terlato, The Federalist, Torres, Torresella, Tupun, Val Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Oca, Val de Salis, Vinicola de Tomelloso, Quickfire and many more.

Featured Winemakers: Jeremy Baker, President and Chief Operations PlayGrounds Magazine

Local and Regional Favorites: Benâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chophouse; Brotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s General Store; Chase Hudson, Chef of Câ&#x20AC;&#x2122;sons and Mare Solin LaGrange, GA; Dhawal Raste, Chef of Apna Bazaar; Faye Simmons, Executive Chef of Meritage; Food Blossom Catering; Fountain City Coffee; Jamie Gruber, Chef of The Market; Jamie Keating, Chef of RiverMill Cafe; Jim Sikes, Chef of Jimmyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in Opelika, AL; John Weatherford, Chef of Country Club of Columbus; Moren Wulff, Chef of Green Island Country Club; Orapid Pharis, Chef of Old Siam; Sonya Duncan, Chef of Lynnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cafe; The Cantina Bar and Grill; Vikas Chilkuri, Chef of Cafe Le Rue will be showcasing and serving their specialities for tasting.

Silent Auction...

Explore the Silent Auction featuring a variety of fine wines, trips and treasures. Wines include a bountiful and varied group of personal selections from our community, private collections and wine purveyors. Choose from wonderful vintages that include fine wines ranging from a 1994 Grgich Hills Cabernet Sauvignon and 2005 Chateau Bellefont Belcier to a 2005 Opus One and St. Emilion Grand Cru Merlot Blend. Wines from small boutique wineries to large producers represent many regions and countries. Exciting trips, experiences and items related to wine include a Ritz-Carlton Lodge stay at Reynolds Plantation, Golf at the Barnsley Gardens Resort, an ultimate Wine Captain Cooler from Daniel Appliance, and much more.

As the annual fundraiser for the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, Toast of the Town supports guest artists, young musicians, and educational programs throughout the year. The event will allow the CSO to continue current educational programming, free and reduced price tickets to students and military, as well as music education for adults through Know the Score and Symphony U. The CSOâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s outreach to the community has included presenting a series of Young Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Concerts for over 4,000 third through fifth grade students from a five county region. Success of this fundraiser will enable the CSO to expand its educational programs, making music accessible to all ages and economic groups.

24

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Residentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Stories Wanted Artists Stefani Byrd and Wes Eastin are seeking stories for their upcoming exhibition, Slow Cadence, at The Columbus Museum. They are looking for people with stories relating to accents or ways of speaking. Participants will be videotaped as they give their testimonials about how certain ways of speaking has affected their life or the lives of others.

Do you have stories about your or your familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s accents as American immigrants?

Do you have a story about people treating you differently because of your accent as a Southern native? Do you have stories about miscommunications because of your accent or the accents of others? All stories are welcome, serious, funny, sad, etc., from all types of people from all over the world.

The artists will be traveling around the Southeast collecting stories and are coming to Columbus to record at the Columbus Museum from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Saturday, April 2, 2011. Selected testimonials will be incorporated into an upcoming video installation at the museum starting in July 2011.

March 2011

presents a songwriters workshop by

Walt Aldridge

Support life with an evening of live music, dining and dance at the

“Life is a Gift” Cabaret Dance.

8:30 to 11:30 p.m. March 5 This special evening features the band Mike and Dave, heavy hors d’oeuvres and a beautiful setting in St. Anne Catholic Church’s Visitation Hall, 2000 Kay Circle in Columbus.

The workshop will be informative with information on copyright questions, demos, publishers, the music business and more.

There will be time for song critiques as well.

Walt Aldridge, a songwriter, singer, musician, engineer and producer has exercised his musical skills in Muscle Shoals and Nashville for more than thirty years.

Billboard magazine named Aldridge one of the Top Ten Country Songwriters of the year twice based on the strength of his chart activity. His song “No Getting Over Me” was named one of ASCAP’s most performed country songs. “Holding Her and Loving You” was named Song of the Year by the Nashville Songwriters’ Association International. His work spans a wide spectrum of music, including artists as diverse as Lou Reed, Peter Cetera and Blessid Union of Souls. Traditional country acts from Conway Twitty to Reba McEntire have also found success with Aldridge’s songs.

Recently he produced and co-wrote “I Loved Her First”, a number one chart topper for Lofton Creek Records act Heartland.

“It All Begins with a Song.”

E-mail to register: nsaimontgomery@gmail.com or call: (334) 221-5662 pay at the door you can show up without registering Hampton Inn—Eastchase 7651 Eastchase Parkway Montgomery, AL MARCH 5 , 2 0 1 1 1 0 : 0 0 A M T O 3 : 0 0 PM COS T : $ 3 5 LUNCH PROVIDED PlayGrounds Magazine

Tickets can be picked up at the door and are $20 per person and $35 per couple, with a $5 military discount. Attire is jackets and dress pants for men and party wear for women.

For more information, call 706-561-8678.

Funds raised go to

Chattahoochee Valley United for Life

Bob Seger

And The Silver Bullet Band Philips Arena – Atlanta, Ga Tuesday, April 19, 7:30pm Fans have waited patiently for the legendary rocker’s imminent return since he last crossed the country for his 2006/2007 Sold Out Face The Promise Tour. And now, in addition to performing timeless classics like “Night Moves” and “Old Time Rock & Roll,” to name just a few, Seger is expected to preview songs from a forthcoming, as yet untitled new release.

Seger holds the distinction in 2010 for the #1 Catalog Album of the Decade for his Greatest Hits, which has sold over nine million copies (U.S.A.) to date, posting an unbroken 16-year streak on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums and Catalog Albums charts. His November 2009 Early Seger Vol. 1 CD, a collection of remastered and previously unreleased tracks, garnered rave reviews and has underscored Seger’s reputation as one of the great American artists and songwriters. Seger & his Silver Bullet Band’s legendary live performances have led to record sales in excess of 50 million including 11 platinum and seven multi-platinum RIAA-certified album sales awards. places continued on page 28 www.bobseger.com

25

MARCH ROCK CALENDAR 3 4 4 4 4 5 5 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 16 18 19 21 21 23 24 25 25 25 25 28 29 29

Good Charlotte Center Stage Emmylou Harris, John Prine BJCC Kid Rock Gwinnett Arena Bright Eyes Tabernacle Bo Bice Peachtree Tavern Ice Cube Center Stage Michael Tolcher Vinyl Harlem Globetrotters Col Civic Ctr The Ready Set Masquerade Colin Hay Variety Playhouse Angie Aparo Eddie’s Attic Marc Broussard /Sonia Leigh Center Stage Young The Giant Vinyl Cradle of Filth Masquerade Lords of Acid Masquerade Brian Adams Symphony Hall Mike Gordon of Pfish Center Stage Linda Perry Vinyl Queens of the Stone Age Center Stage Rodney Crowell Loft Atlanta Stevie Nicks and Rod Stewart Phillips Arena Cowboy Mouth Park Tavern Ryan Bingham Loft Atlanta Mike Watt The Earl Joan Rivers Symphony Hall Sebadoh The Earl Janet Jackson Fox Cold War Kids Masquerade March 2011

Go Ask Alice

Happy Spring everyone! There is still not a whole lot of rock and roll action in March but the calendar is improving, with a few BIG shows like Rod Stewart with Stevie Nicks, Janet Jackson, and Kid Rock. Look out for April though!

April 1st brings a big outdoor show, The Avalanche Tour at Masquerade Music Park with Stone Sour, Halestorm, Skillet, and Theory of a Deadman. Other interesting April shows include Chris Cornell solo at Center Stage, the wonderful Scissor Sisters at the Tabernacle, Lady Gaga at Gwinnett Arena, and two days of the amazing musical Grease at our own RiverCenter.

Time to think about music festivals, like the first one, The Hangout Festival in Gulf Shores Alabama. This helps the Gulf Coast area economy while getting us to the beach! Check out this year’s lineup at hangout festival.com. You will be impressed! And after that it is not long until Bonnaroo, whose lineup was just announced. see bonnaroo.com.

My first show of the month was Miranda Cosgrove (better known as ICarly) at Center Stage. The opener for Miranda was internet sensation Grayson Chance, who Ellen Degenertes has signed to her new record label. He looks about twelve or thirteen and has a SUPER voice and plays beautifully. Such a powerful performer at his young age that people just couldn’t believe it! An enormous talent! Wow! He played lovely cover songs and then some of the ones

Grayson Chance PlayGrounds Magazine

story and photos

by Alice Barkwell

Glasjaw’s Daryl Palumbo of sorts for me as a fan because they are one of my top five favorite bands of all time and they have the ability to take a man or woman of any age and make him or her behave like a 17-year-old rabid rock fan by singing and dancing his ass off. Not many bands are able to combine the technical with the emotional as well as Glassjaw does. My respect for them as players and songwriters was ratcheted up a few notches by the end of the night.

The first three quarters of the set consisted of new material pulled from the Our Color Green EP released in January, as well as several selections from Worship and Tribute, including crowd favorite Tip Your Bartender steamrolling right into Mu Empire, just like on the record. They also unleashed a blistering version of Siberian Kiss, the lone track they played from their debut LP, Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Silence, which almost caused a riot.

A lot has changed in the near decade since the last time I saw them live.

Aside from personnel changes, the musicianship is considerably better and performance-driven. Daryl’s stage presence is drastically different. No longer is he frantic like he’s suffering from Tourettes. He is still captivating as a frontman, but now he’s mellowed and turned up the sass factor. His vocal performance was stellar. He’s one of the very few in the game that, within the same breath, can go from bloodcurdling screams to sounding like Sade. Glassjaw never ceases to amaze me. Center Stage was packed to the rafters with Glassjaw fans who had really missed them as much as I had!

The show started off a bit sluggish with the somber opening of Brooklyn psych rockers Tidal Arms. The band plowed through a thunderous and at

Miranda Cosgrove he has written, which were impressive too. Watch for this young man!

The crowd was full of little girls and their parents and many didn’t want to see him for his few minutes. They were die-hard I-Carly fans, and were antsy to see Miranda. Her show was fairly benign and great for tweens. Her music and outfits and demeanor were cute, but not sexy and never inappropriate. She was bouncy, enthusiastic, and ran all over the stage to get close to all the areas of fans.

The only problem was the show was so loud it was impossible to decipher her lyrics, unless you knew her songs. (Earplugs needed– and few had any.) She was very entertaining!

There was a VIP opportunity before the show with Miranda that many parents had sprung for, and all of them I talked to said it was well worth it. She posed for pictures with each child and personalized each autographed item and each person got goodie bags and cool and beautiful butterfly laniards to wear around their necks. Center Stage was a happy place that night with so many little girls enjoying their very first concert and having so much fun! I felt like I had seen two stars of the future.

My next show was Glassjaw at Center Stage– a band I used to adore but they vanished for a few years. “You don’t know! You don’t know! You don’t know!” The crowd chanted in unison as the drum loop intro to You Think You’re (John Fucking Lennon) set off the show.

Slowly the boys came out one by one and the audience promptly lost all self control. As the first verse started with the huge, biting riff and manic vocals from Daryl Palumbo, it was a homecoming 26

times unimaginative display of poise and precision. For a band that has been together for a very short time the group demanded attention with fantastic performances from drummer Francis Mark (the definite star of this band) and bassist Patrick Southern. Lead singer and guitarist Tom Tierney proved hypnotically frightening as he began the night with such gentle vocals only to crank it up a couple notches on each song to almost dark and brooding levels by the time the band left the stage to a respectable applause. It was too dark to really see them well at all.

Tidal Arms- Tom, Francis Next came the Long Island quintet These People, who left quite an air of mystery over their six song opening set. Untitled numbers and a rough mix of musical styles made the group a fitting opener for Glassjaw but not good enough for a repeat performance in the eyes of the eager crowd waiting for the excitement of Glassjaw.

My next show was at Georgia Tech’s Robert Ferst Center. Margaret Cho and her opener John Roberts (who plays the mom on Bob’s Burgers). I am such a Margaret fan that I never miss her. I was surprised to have a backstage pass for after the show. The venue was completely filled with Margaret fans of all ages.

While waiting for the show to start you can look at a lot of interesting art work in several rooms. John started the show with the stage set up with his vast collection of wigs. He plays all sorts of women of various ages and ethnicities and will crack you up the whole time! Then Margaret did her usual chat session, telling about her tour, her experiences on Dancing with the Stars, living in Fayetteville to film her TV show (where she is the blackest person in town), and what happened to her at the Grammies just a few days before the show. My favorite March 2011

They could hardly walk.

The night started out with a strong set by newly formed band The Damned Things. Made up of members of Anthrax, Fall Out Boy and Every Time I Die, The band cruised through a roughly 35 minute set full of triple-attacking guitars and pounding drums. Of course guitarist Scott Ian of Anthrax was immediately recognizable and charismatic on stage. The band wrapped up its set with its first single, We’ve Got a Situation Here. Hopefully, they’ll be together for a while, because there is plenty to like John Roberts part is always the faces Margaret makes about this group. Everyone looks like when describing her mother and vari- you’ve seen them before–classic rock ous other characters, and when she sings looks. songs from her new album Cho Dependent which are hilarious! At the end John and Margaret do songs together as their moms–too funny! Nothing was off-limits or too dirty for Cho. Margaret’s comedic genius is her commitment to the disgusting nature of her material, including the Chad Gray, Mudvayne/Hellyeah kind of incredible (and incredibly ugly) faces she makes, such as a quadruple chin she donned as her “mother.” These are some moments that are more magical when you see them live. If there’s one person that transforms disgusting into magical, it’s Cho.

time. Their songs are about drinking, doing drugs, having sex and enjoying life.

Why? Because sometimes, that’s really all you want — a brief escape to a catchy tune that can put a smile on your face and let you say, “that was fun.” It’s also impressive that a recovering addict, Todd, can continue to sing about drinking and drugs on a regular basis. He and the whole band was wonderful! Everyone looked healthy and like they were having a blast. The crowd definitely was!

Don’t forget the show about Lucille Ball at River Center March 5--sure to be funny! Enjoy your early Spring and please send us your reviews, photos and ideas. Playgrounds needs your input!

Ian Scott, Anthrax/The Damned Things

Margaret Cho My last February show was Jagermeister Tour at the Tabernacle with this year’s bands The Damned Things, Hellyeah, and Buckcherry. It was an interesting night with most people dressed in the regular black metal look, but a lot wearing very short scant dresses and very high heels– not often seen at metal shows.

PlayGrounds Magazine

Hellyeah was up next. Another “supergroup” formed by members of Mudvayne, Pantera, Nothingface and Damageplan, the band pulls no punches and smacks listeners in the face with aggressive riffs and lyrics. Singer Chad Gray always appears as if he’s struggling to contain his energy, and he yells rather than sings usually. Former Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul was all smiles behind the drum kit and more animated than in previous times I’ve seen him perform.

The band played a handful of songs from each album during its 50-minute set. It was the heaviest music of the night by far! A lot of metal heads left after that and missed Buckcherry’s cool show. Everyone needs to see Josh Todd in action! He is one of a kind!

The headliner for the night was Buck-

Josh Todd, Buckcherry Vinnie Paul, Pantera/Hellyeah cherry who played an hour and fifteen minutes of songs from a variety of its albums. They wrapped up their main set with Crazy Bitch, of course, but included a handful of other songs throughout the night that got the crowd singing along.

Singer Josh Todd is one of the best rock frontmen around these days — getting the crowd energized, dancing around and having a good time.

Some will undoubtedly call it “cock rock” or “frat rock,” but this band is a guilty pleasure. It’s about forgetting the pains of the day and just to having good

27

Buckcherry drummer March 2011

places to go cont from page 25 7:30pm. Tickets $12-$22.

THURSDAY, MARCH 19 SPHL Hockey- Columbus Cottonmouths vs Mississippi Surge: Jersey giveaway! The first 1000 fans will receive a giveaway jersey, compliments of the Columbus Civic Center. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. Post-game party with the Snakes at Dailey’s on Broadway! Columbus Civic Center, 7:30pm. Tickets $12$22.

TUESDAY, MARCH 22 NCAA Women’s Softball- CSU vs Albany State: Lady Cougar Field, 1pm and 3pm. Admission is $5 per person or $3 for ages 12 and younger, and free for students, fac MARCH 22-23 NCAA Baseball- CSU vs West Florida: Ragsdale Field, 6pm Tuesday; 3pm Wednesday. Admission is $5 per person; $3 for ages 12 and younger; free for students, faculty and staff with CSU ID. ulty and staff with CSU ID. SATURDAY, MARCH 26 NCAA Women’s and Men’s Tennis- CSU vs Stillman: Blackmon Tennis Center on main campus, 1pm. Admission is free.

SPHL Hockey- Columbus Cottonmouths vs Louisiana IceGators: Fan Appreciation Night!

Columbus Civic Center, 7:30pm.

Tickets $12-$22.

MARCH 26-27 NCAA Baseball- CSU vs UNC Pembroke: Ragsdale Field, 1pm and 4pm Saturday and 1pm Sunday. Admission is $5 per person or $3 for ages 12 and younger, and free for students, faculty and staff with CSU ID. SUNDAY, MARCH 27 NCAA Women’s and Men’s Tennis- CSU vs Augusta State: Blackmon Tennis Center on main campus, 2pm. Admission is free.

SIFL Football- Columbus Lions vs Richmond Raiders: Columbus Civic Center, 4pm. $13-$50.

theatre EVERY FRIDAY No Shame Theatre: No censors, no discrimination, no shame!

See improv, music, comedy, poPlayGrounds Magazine

etry, dance and other fresh new works of all kinds. Springer Opera House, Foley Hall, 10:30pm. $5.

SATURDAY, MARCH 5 Thank You for Asking An Evening with Lucille Ball: A celebration of the “First Lady of Television,” this touching, funny and uplifting one-woman play is directed by Lucille Ball’s d aughter, Lucie Arnaz, and performed

by Suzanne LaRusch. An incredibly real Lucy shares memories of her timeless I Love Lucy sketches and memories of her 30-year television career and tempestuous marriage to Desi Arnaz. RiverCenter’s Bill Heard Theatre, 7:30pm. Tickets $10$47 www.rivercenter.org FRIDAY, MARCH 11 Click, Clack, Moo: Theatreworks USA presents this musical version of Betsy Lewin’s Caldecott Award-winning book, a hilariously “moo-ving” story of compromise that finds Farmer Brown bothered by the “click, clack, moo; clickety, clackety, moo” of cows typing in protest of their working conditions! Recommended for Pre-K to 3rd grade.

RiverCenter Heard Theatre, 7pm. Tickets $8-$15.

APRIL 15-16, 22-23 Season Opening- Pink and Say: by Patricia Polacco, adapted to the stage by Cheryl Palmour. In Collaboration with Chattahoochee Valley Libraries.

This heart-wrenching historical picture book, based on a true story, presents us with two men from the Union army who meet after a battle of the Civil War. Say, the white younger man, has been wounded. Pink, a black man, carries him home to where his mother is surviving in ruins of a deserted plantation. Pink is determined to rejoin his unit in spite of mother’s protest. Say, who was deserting when wounded, only agrees because of the danger they present to Pink’s mother. Marauders come and kill her while they hide in the cellar.

On the way to the front lines they are captured by confederates and taken to Andersonville prison, Pink is hung. Say survives to become the author’s greatgreat grandfather. Family Theatre, Rose Hill Baptist Church,

7:30pm. Adults $10; Seniors & Military $8; Students - $6; Family Ticket - $35

Strong for Life: A program of moderate stength training for adults meets on Tuesday and Friday mornings at 9:30 at the Old Mountain Hill Schoolhouse, 47 Mountain Hill Rd (near the corner of River Rd and Hwy SATURDAY, MARCH 5 219), Fortson. The program is “A Study of the Impact of made available through particithe Gulf Oil Spill”: Columbus State University presents a Gardening With the Masters pant donations. Call 706-596presentation by Ken Halanych, Series: Learn about pollinators, 0155 for more information. coordinator of the Marine Biol- pesticides, perennials and more BRITT DAVID CULTURAL ogy Program at Auburn Uni- with the help of Valley Master ARTS STUDIO versity. Halanych and his col- Gardeners. Columbus Botanileagues have studied the impact cal Garden; 10-11 a.m. Thurs- 2700 W Britt David Rd, 31909 706-653-4196 of the 2010 Gulf oil spill with a days, March 3-April 28. (March $938,000 grant from the BP- 3 Get the Dirt on Dirt; March 10 Gulf of Research Initiative. Ha- Worms Eat My Garbage; March ADULTS lanych will discuss the response 17 Plant Selection; March 24 Oil Painting: Learn the fundaof organisms to the oil spill, the Veggies 101; March 31 Organ- mentals of oil painting. Instrucfate and degradation of the oil ics 101; April 7 Container Veg- tor Stephen Ellis. Tuesdays and and dispersants, the tracking of gies; April 14 Happening Herbs; Thursdays, Feb 1-10, 6-8pm. how oil and dispersants move April 21 Watchable Wildlife; April $45 + $30 supply fee. through the ecosystem and the 28 Heavenly Hydrangeas) Cost: overall recovery. Stanley Hall $12 per session ($2 discount CHILDREN 209A, 10am. This free program for Garden members or Master Fish Tales Plate: Ages 7-14. is presented by CSU’s Oxbow Gardeners); $80 for all nine ses- One day pottery class w/Kathy Meadows Environmental Learn- sions. Contact: 706-327-8400 or Frost. Tues, Feb 1, 4:30-6pm. ing Center, Columbus Audubon www.columbusbotanicalgarden. $4.50 Society and Lynn Haven Garden org or www.facebook.com/Co- Valentine’s Day Cereal Bowl: Ages 7-14. One day pottery class Club. For more information, call lumbusBotanicalGarden 706-687-4090 or go to http://ox- Beginner’s T’ai Chi for Health, w/ Addie Newcomer. Thurs, Feb 3, 4:30-6pm. $4.50 bow.colstate.edu.

Stress, Balance, and Back Embellished Clothing: Ages SUNDAY, MARCH 6 Pain; Cane Defense for DumPublic Ice Skating: Columbus mies: New eight-week T’ai Chi 14 and up. Quick embroidery Civic Center. All skating session classes for beginners will be and applique on clothing and times are between 2-3:30pm available starting January 18, more w/ Karolee Hughes. Thurs, and between 4:30- 6pm. Admis- 2011. A fun and easy approach Feb 10, 4:30-6:30pm. $20, bring items to embellish. sion $7; skate rental $3. to cane defense will be introSUNDAY, MARCH 20 duced. Select from three conPSALMOND RD POTTERY Public Ice Skating: Columbus venient time slots: Tuesdays 6550 Psalmon Rd Civic Center. All skating session at 5pm, Thursdays at 3:30 and 706-565-6883 times are between 2-3:30pm 5:30pm. Price is $80 for eight and between 4:30- 6pm. Admis- weeks. Bring a roll of 2” wide sion $7; skate rental $3. masking tape and a cane with a NORTHSIDE POTTERY WEDNESDAY, MARCH 30 curved crook to each class. For STUDIO Careers Expo 2011: Employers information and to register for (located near Northside High from private companies, state these and other classes, call Dr. School) (706)576-2061 and federal agencies, school Chan any day after 10am, 706districts, non-profit organizations 563-3539. and others come together to pro- T’ai Chi for Health, Stress, Wheel Throwing: Adults. Tuesvide career connections for CSU and Balance: Cane Defense days, Feb 1-Mar 8, 6-8pm. $45 students and alumni, and com- for Dummies: Learn the Yang + supply list. munity jobseekers. Presented by Style Long Form with all its Clay Bird: Ages 5-6. Pottery Columbus State’s Career Devel- health benefits. Martial applica- class. Sat, Feb 5, 4-5pm. $3 opment Center. CSU’s Lumpkin tions and an elegantly simple Clay Bird: Ages 7-14. Pottery Center, 2-4pm. For more infor- approach to cane defense are class. Sat, Feb 5, 2-3:30pm. mation, call 706-507-8760 or go explored. Every Tuesday, 7:30- $4.50 http://career.columbusstate.edu. 9pm. $10 per class. Bring a cane SHIRLEY WINSTON MARCH 29-APRIL 3 with a round crook, a light heart, POTTERY STUDIO Spring Fling: Featuring a carni- and an open mind. For informa5025 Steam Mill Rd val midway with rides for adults tion and to register for this and 706-653-4196 and children. Special appear- other classes, call Dr. Chan any ances by Keith King, BMX Stunt day after 10am, 706-563-3539. places to go cont on page 31 Show, and Statue Viva. ColumMarch 2011 28

etcetera

bus Civic Center parking lot.

Tuesday-Thursday 5:30pm to 11pm; Friday 5:30pm to 1am; Saturday- 11am to 1am; Sunday 1pm to 10pm. General admission $5. Unlimited ride wristband $20 weeknights; $25 weekends.

classes

ASK ISIS Stealing I would like to thank the young man at CVS for suggesting this column.

My Funk & Wagnalls Standard Desk Dictionary gives the meaning of Stealing as “the taking from another without right, authority, or permission, and usually in a secret manner”. This naturally includes the shoplifting that any store seems to be plagued with but there are any number of other ways that a person can be guilty of stealing.

Stealing of course also includes burglary, both breaking into cars, businesses and houses. This is an especially bad type of stealing as the person has not only lost something of value to them but they have also been violated. But there is more to stealing than stealing money, shoplifting and breaking and entering.

I was speaking to a friend the other day and I asked what he would wish for if he were given three wishes. One of his wishes was to have plenty of money. A wish that I can certainly agree with but I asked him where he thought the money he wished for was going to come from? “Well”, he said, “I guess it would just materialize.” “Have you realized”, I asked, “that money needs to come from somewhere. Money has to be printed by the Federal Government, any other money would be fake and the poor person who was so unlucky as to receive this money might find himself in prison.

For you to get this money, unless you win the lottery, someone has to lose it. Whose money do you suggest they take?” He hadn’t thought of that. Unless there is a mutual exchange, taking someone else’ property would be stealing. “Darn,” he said, “I guess I’m glad that I didn’t get those three wishes.”

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At one time business was done with a handshake.

A person’s word was their bond. More than one person committed suicide when someone stole his or her good name.

Many years ago I worked in an office and we had just gotten in a fancy copy machine. We had fun with that copy machine and probably used up a ream of paper playing with it. As bad luck would have it some valuable item was stolen from that office and we were all sent down to take a lie detector test. The first question asked me after my name, etc., was had I ever stolen anything. That needle almost jumped off the paper and I was as innocent as a newborn baby of stealing that item.

Why did that needle jump? Because I knew that we had stolen not just our employer’s paper but also his toner and his copier. So in essence although I hadn’t thought about it before, that made the entire office thieves. Thankfully the misunderstanding was cleared up but I learned a valuable lesson. If it isn’t mine and I use it for my own benefit then I am a thief. How many of us ever think that using something of the boss’s without express permission can be considered stealing?

Of course no column on stealing would be complete without mentioning “Theft of Services”.

A workman does a job and if it is satisfactory they expect and deserve to be paid. To do otherwise is stealing, pure and simple. But how many people never consider it stealing?

I was going to get off the subject of different types of stealing when a friend reminded me that there is another type of stealing. It had just happened to her and she was so upset you could see the steam coming out of her ears. She had given someone some items to sell and they were sold but when she went to get her money she was given a sob story of how that person needed to use that money for … you fill in the blanks. When she told that person that was stealing they were shocked. “I am

not a thief!” they cried. But they needed the money and they really, really planned to pay her back. Of course they had never asked if they could convert that money for their own use so yes they were stealing as stealing is taking something without permission.

Have you ever been accused of stealing time?

You are a time thief if you come to work late and/ or leave work early without a very good reason.

Some people seem never to be on time. It is double stealing if there is someone waiting to get off shift while the time thief is taking her time coming to work. They are not only stealing from the boss but they are making the person they are supposed to be relieving work for free. They are in essence stealing from two people, but that person would never consider herself a thief. To them, unless they are shoplifting or breaking into cars or buildings, the theft of time and personal property isn’t considered stealing.

There is another type of stealing that most people don’t even think about but it is really one of the worse thefts there is and that is the theft of selfesteem. When you cut someone down verbally or in any way make fun of a person to his or her face you are stealing something important from them, their self-esteem. Sometimes it is an employer or parents who thoughtlessly cut down those in their charge not realizing that they are stealing that which can never be given back.

How many persons reading this column will realize that they have been guilty of stealing but had never before thought of themselves as thieves?

If you find yourself in this position stop and take stock of where you are going. It is never too late to change and make amends. Stealing not only hurts others it also diminishes you. It makes you a lesser person.

If you have ideas about a column please contact Isis at askisis@isistemple.org.

Styles By Cooper 6298 Hamilton Rd 322 7621 M 9:50-5, Tu & Th 9-7, W & F 9-6, Sa 9-3

Sherwood Arms 3909 Baker Plaza Dr 689-1759 Whisperwood 6029 Flat Rock Rd 5630001 Willow Creek Apartments 3700 Buena Vista Rd 687-5672 Windsor Village 3700 Bridgewater Rd 561-5935 Woodlands 6000 River Rd, Green Island

BOOKS Barnes & Noble Booksellers 5555 Whittlesey Blvd. 706-653-7880 M-Th 9a-10p, F-Sa 9a-11p, Su 9-9 Columbus Book Exchange 6440 W Hamilton Rd 324-2559 Judybug’s Books 1033 Broadway 3235588

ART Bri David Studios 2700 W Bri David Rd 571-5877 M-F10-4:30, Tu & Th 7p-9p Rankin Arts Center 1004 Broadway 6414000

BUTCHER SHOPPES Burt’s Butcher Shoppe & Eatery 2932 Warm Springs Rd 653-0677 Tu-Sa 9a-7p (butcher shop hours)

BEAUTY SALONS Hairmasters 5555 Whi lesey Blvd 3245744

Lake Pines Campground 6404 Garre Road, Midland 31820, 706-561-9675, lakepines115@yahoo.com. Office Hours Mon-Sat 9am-7pm, Sunday 1-6pm COFFEE SHOPPES Columbus Coffee Co. 1660 Whi lesey Rd, Suite 100 321-1675 M-Th 6:30a-9p, Fr 6:30a-11p, Sa 7:30a-11p, Su 10a-5p Fountain City Coffee 1007 Broadway, Columbus, GA 31901 M–Th 6:30am– 10:30pm, F 6:30am-2am, Sa 8am-2am, Sunday: 9am-8pm Starbucks Coffee Veterans Pkwy COMPUTER REPAIR Alboe’s Computers and Supplies 6298 Veterans Pkwy 706-327-4900

CAMPING 29

March 2011

CONVENIENCE SHOPS Money Back Amoco Williams Rd DONUTS Golden Donuts 625 Manchester Expwy 706-660-8783 FITNESS CENTERS North Columbus Athle c Club St. Francis Marketplace 32 4-3334 M-Th 5a-11p, F 5a-9p, Sa 7-7, Su 11-7 GROCERY/ RETAIL CVS all Columbus and Phenix City locaƟons K Mart all Columbus and Phenix City locaƟons Winn Dixie all Columbus and Phenix City locaƟons HAMS Honeybaked Hams 1701 Rollins Way 653-1703 10-6 HOTELS Baymont Inn & Suites 2919 Warm Springs Rd 323-4344 Colony Inn 4300 Victory Drive 706-689PlayGrounds Magazine

31904. 706-507-7777 Super 8 2935 Wm Springs Rd 322-6580 Wingate Inn 1711 Rollins Way 225-1100 Wyndham Garden Hotel 4027 Veterans Court, 31909, (706)507-1111 Wyndham Hotel 800 Front Ave 3241800

1590 Comfort Inn 3460 Macon Rd 256-3093 Country Inns & Suites 1720 Fountain Ct 660-1880 Days Inn 3452 Macon Rd 561-4400 Days Inn S 3170 Victory Dr 689-6181 Econo Lodge 4483 Victory Dr 682-3803 Extended Stay America 1721 Rollins Way 653-9938 Hampton Inn North 7390 Bear Ln 2562222 Holiday Inn Airport-North 2800 Manchester Expressway 324-0231 Holiday Inn Express at Northlake 7336 Bear Lane 706-507-7222 Howard Johnson 1011 Veterans Pkwy 322-6641 Microtel 1728 Fountain Ct 31904, 706653-7004 The Residence Inn 2670 Adams Farm Dr 706-494-0050 Rivertown Inn 1325 Veterans Pkwy 3222522 Sheraton Inn 5351 Sidney Simons Blvd 327-6868 Springhill Suites by Marrio 5415 Whittlesey Boulevard 706-576-3773 MarrioƩ.com/CSGSH Staybridge Suites 1694 WhiƩlesy Rd

MOTORCYCLES Cha ahoochee Harley Davidson 7373 Fortson Rd 324-4294 MUSIC- INSTRUMENTS Baker Music 2 Midtown Loop 563-7924 M-F 10-6, Sa 10-5 Everything Musical 2400 W BriƩ David Rd 323-1809 M-F 10-7, Sa 10-6 Gorilla Guitars 6440 West Hamilton Park Drive Suite 1A, Columbus, GA 31909 706-507-0462 M-Sa 10-6 NIGHTCLUBS & PUBS Belloo’s Mar ni and Cigar Bar 900 Front Ave 706-494-1584, M-Sa 5p-3a Flip Flops Broadway Hookahmeup Bar 1234 Broadway 706649-2902 The Lo 1032 Broadway 596-8141 W-Sa 7p-2a 30

Oxygen 1040 Broadway 706-596-8397 W-Sa 9p-3a Shanty Shack 4475 Warm Springs Rd, 31909 706-507-3418 M-Sa 3pm to 2:30 am www.myspace.com/shanty_shack SoHo Bar & Grill 5751 Milgen Rd 5683316 M-F 3p-3a, Sa noon-3a www.sohobarandgrill.com, www.myspace.com/ sohobarandgrill PARTY SUPPPLIES Cagney’s Party Shop 5751 Milgen Rd 568-1889 M-Sa 10a-11:45p Lee’s Package Store 1435 Double Churches Rd 324-6311 M-Th 10-10, F-Sa 10-12 Peachtree Package Store 2928 Warm Springs Rd 327-0311 M-Sa 8a-11:45p RESTAURANTS 13th Street Bar-B-Q 5506 Veterans Pkwy 596-1833 M-W 10a-3p, Th-Sa 10a-7p Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill and Bar 3229 GenƟan Blvd 706-563-6116 Buffalo Wild Wings Grill and Bar 5555 WhiƩlesey Blvd 706-507-2110 Burt’s Butcher Shoppe & Eatery 2932 Warm Springs Rd 653-0677 Tu-Sa 7a-4p (restaurant hours) March 2011

events from page 24 RANKIN ARTS CENTER Private Photography Lessons: We custom design private lessons for individuals or small groups in the following topics: Digital Photography, Adobe Photoshop, Studio Photography, Location Portraiture, Event Photography, Wedding Photography, Digital Printing, Black and White Fine Art and more. Lessons are a great way to get even more out of our offered photography classes.

Lesson times coordinated with instructor upon registration confirmation. Discounts Available! Fee: $75 per hour of private lessons. Special: Buy four 1-hour lessons and get one free! Contact Becky Overby at 706.507.8071 to register and schedule days and times.

Send events to playgroundsmag @knology.net

Deering Banjo Company announces limited edition

Dropkick Murphys 19-fret Tenor Banjos Known for the use of traditional instruments and world renowned, high energy live performances of Irish punk, the Dropkick Murphys have taken the banjo into a new genre. In songs like “I’m Shipping Up To Boston” and at live shows, audiences get to see what can be done on a banjo when one steps out of the box. With the band hailing from Boston, once the home of several top banjo manufacturers in the early 1900s, it seems only natural to bring a limited edition Dropkick Murphys Banjo to musicians and fans worldwide.

The Dropkick Murphys Banjo is a representation of the band, with their shield crest of anchors, shamrocks, and leaves on the traditionally shaped banjo headstock. Beautifully inlayed into the fingerboard in Italian Pearloid are the band’s name in Old English lettering, two classic shamrocks and a banner proudly supporting “Boston” at its base. Only the highest quality curly maple wood is used for the neck and resonator on this model. What is special about the Dropkick Murphys Model is that it is one of the lightest professional banjos made. Its tone ring is made out of grenadillo wood rather than metal. This gives it a bright, warm sound, and most of all makes it easy to dance with on stage! When Jeff DaRosa, the band’s banjo player, played the very first Dropkick Murphys Deering Banjo, he said, “This thing rules! This is the best banjo I’ve ever played!”

With the goal of making this available to all Dropkick Murphys fans, Deering has made a twin model in the Goodtime line with the

Bu erfingers Crazy Chicken 4641 Warm Springs Rd 706-568-1132, fax 706-5681163 Caffe Amici 2301 Airport Thwy 653-6361 M-Sa 11:30a-2p & 4:30p-10p Cannon Brew Pub 1041 Broadway 706653-BEER The Can na 1030 Broadway 706-3204520 Country’s Barbecue 3137 Mercury Dr 563-7604 Su-Th 11a-10p, F-Sa 11a-11p Country’s Barbecue North 6298 Veterans Pkwy 650-1415 Country’s Downtown 1329 Broadway 596-8910 11a-11p daily Deorio’s Cross Country Plaza 563-5887 M-F 11:30-3 & 4:30-9:30, Sa noon-10:30 El Carrizo Mexican Restaurant 3747 Macon Rd 706-561-6000 El Carrizo Mexican Restaurant 6575 WhiƩlesey Blvd 706-561-5714 El Vaquero 2976 North Lake Parkway 317-5900 317-0047 Firehouse Subs 2501 WhiƩlesey Rd 706507-0225 Gus’s Drive-in 3498 Victory Dr 687-5770 11a-2a daily Hooters 2650 Adams Farm Dr 596-4668 Longhorn Steak House 3201 Macon Rd 563-2221 Macon Road Barbecue 2703 Avalon Rd 653-0542 M-Sa 10a-8p Mellow Mushroom 6100 Veterans Pkwy

322-4602 Newman’s Grill 1011 Veterans Pkwy (in Howard Johnson’s) 322-6641 11a-2p & 5p-10p daily Ok Sun Oriental Restaurant 2929 Victory Circle Tu-Sa 11a-6p Peluso’s Italian Restaurant 5600 Milgen Rd 563-9934 M-Th 11a-10p, F-Sa 11a10:30p Peluso’s Italian Restaurant St Francis Shopping Center 324-5888 M-Th 11:30a10p, F-Sa 11:30a-11p Picasso’s Pizza 1020 Broadway, In front of The Tap, 706-576-6991 M-Sat 11a-3a, Su 1p-12a, www.picassopizzauptowncolumbus.com Scruffy Murphy’s 1037 Broadway 3223460 10:30a-2a daily The Speakeasy 3123 Mercury Dr 5610411 M-Th 11a-10:30p, F-Sa 11a-11p The Sports Page 5736 Veterans Pkwy 641-9966 11a-12a daily Steak Out 3709 GenƟan Blvd 706-5681007 Twel h Street Deli 117 12th St 5766939 M-F 7a-3p Willy T’s Chicken Fingers 7325 Fortson Rd 507-2210 M-Th 10:30-9 F & Sa 10:3010 Su 11-8 Willy’s Wings 4405 Armour Rd 322-4020 Tu-Th 11a-12a, F-Sa 11a-2a SHOPS Daniel’s Wood Den 396 Highway 27

same special artwork engraved proudly on the neck. Made with violin grade maple, the Goodtime models are the most affordable banjos one can get while still having a professional level of sound.

This is ideal for both beginners and anyone wanting a banjo they can take anywhere. The Goodtime model is also available in a resonator and an openback style. “My absolute favorite Goodtime is the Goodtime tenor banjo. It’s wicked light, easy to play, and the resonator gives it a sound like a banjo twice the price!” says DaRosa.

Each banjo comes with a certificate of authenticity showing validation from the band and the highest quality of manufacture from the Deering Banjo Company. As a limited edition, each one is numbered in the series and is one of a kind. Customers may also order a green tenor gig bag to protect and transport the banjo.

The banjos and any needed accessories may be ordered factory direct at www.Deeringbanjos.com or through the Dropkick Murphys website, www.dropkickmurphys.com, where fans can get a special band discount.

cataula 31804 706-660-9613 Hot Topic Peachtree Mall 706-320-3910 Northside Pawn Shop 1648 Manchester Expwy 322-0561 SHUTTLE to ATL Groome Transporta on 2800 Harley Ct 706-324-3939 www.groometransportaƟon.com TANNING Bermuda Tan 3507 Macon Rd 563-4044 M-Sa 10a-10p, Su noon-5 New Life Tanning Center 3709 GenƟan Blvd #8 561-1153 M-F 9-8, Sa 9-2 New Life Tanning Center 1701 Rollins Way #400 596-1153 M-F 9-8, Sa 9-2 New Look Tanning Center 5120 Warm Springs Rd Suite 1 569-7075 M-F 8:30a11p, Sa 10-7, Su 1-6 TATTOOS & BODY PIERCING Dedicated Studios 3818 2nd Ave, 31904 706-221-8282, M-Sa noon Ɵll 10 pm, tattoosbyinkmark.com THEATRE The Springer Opera House ETCETERA Columbus Civic Center Columbus State University Col Conven on & Visitors Bureau

Columbus Technical Ins tute CVS Pharmacy Columbus and Phenix City Georgia Welcome Center RiverCenter for the Performing Arts ROCK 103 Winn Dixie Supermarkets Columbus and Phenix City

PHENIX CITY (area code 334) Colonial Inn Phenix City Bypass 2989361 Del Ranch Bar and Grill 4920 Lee Road 334-297-9177 Smoking allowed. M-Sa 3pm Ɵl ?

Holiday Inn of Phenix City 1700 Hwy 280 Bypass S 298-9321 The Red Barn 1223 280 Bypass 298-9246 M-Sa 10am-2am, Su 1pm-10pm 13th Street Bar-B-Q 1310 7th Ave 2911833 M T Th F 9:30a-6p, W Sa 9:30a-3p

MACON Georgia Music Hall of Fame 200 MarƟn Luther King, Jr. Blvd 1-888-GAROCKS www.gamusichall.com M-Sa 9-5, Su 1-5 If your business would like to distribute

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