Greg Garing is an old-school real-deal country guy that most folks, country music fans included, have never heard of. He has the quiet bearing of a Zen monk with a personal intensity that brings to mind Townes Van Zandt. He has played with many country and bluegrass superstars including Bill Monroe, John Hartford and Jimmy […]
Arts & Entertainment
Posted inArts & Entertainment
‘There are too many cover bands these days,’ says Brian Haas. The New Orleans pianist has something wholly original prepared for Fairfield
The music scene in Fairfield, Iowa has been making moves recently, especially with the opening of the new venue the Blue Rose Ballroom, which boasts a state-of-the-art sound system for visiting music acts. One of the acts that Blue Rose welcomed in its opening celebration last month was the acclaimed New Orleans-based ensemble Nolatet. Scott […]
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Worth a Rewatch: ‘Pan’s Labyrinth,’ Guillermo del Toro’s dark fairy tale masterpiece, is back in theaters for its 20th anniversary
Guillermo del Toro’s dark fable Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) is celebrating its 20th anniversary this October in cinemas across the United States and Canada. Del Toro’s films are inhabited with monsters — supernatural creatures brought to life with award-winning prosthetics and practical effects, and the scarier kind that look like you and me. “Pan’s Labyrinth is […]
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Review: Des Moines Symphony highlights a local composer, a veteran journalist, a Jordan Peele collaborator and ‘West Side Story’ in America-centric season debut
The last weekend in September saw the Des Moines Symphony kick off their 89th season at the Des Moines Civic Center with a celebration of American composers: Unity – American Mosaic & West Side Story. The concert began, appropriately enough, with a rendition of our national anthem where Conductor Joseph Giunta welcomed the audience to […]
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John Waters returns to the land of pig filth with new books, an old grudge and a call to take over the world
The day John Waters calls me, he has just finished writing the first draft of his next show, Let’s Take Over the World, which he will present at the Englert Theatre on Oct. 9. The writer and director of films including Pink Flamingos, Hairspray and Cry-Baby and books such as Shock Value and Role Models […]
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How reclusive musician Jandek wound up recording a live album on the Grinnell College campus in 2007
The artist known as Jandek emerged with a divisive singer-songwriter sound in 1978. Dropping the needle on his debut album Ready for the House — which came with no liner notes, nor any accompanying concerts or interviews — you hear the unsettling moans of an acoustic guitar playing atonal, dissonant chords, the plucking of steel […]
Posted inBook Reviews
Book Review: ‘She Was Wild Grass’ by Katie Bennett
Part personal essay, part biography, I found myself luxuriating in the prose of Katie Bennett’s She Was Wild Grass (Brink Literary), slowing down my own reading to sit in the sentences when the narrative moved faster than my ability to appreciate the language. This first full-length publication from Iowa City’s Brink Books meets the bar […]
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Iowa Stage Theatre Company brings ‘Reefer Madness’ to — where else — the Stoner Theater
In two years, the top-notch talent at Iowa Stage Theatre Company have managed to craft a distinct programming style. From classics (such as the Shakespeare on the Lawn franchise and The Glass Menagerie) to the cutting-edge (2024’s Witch), to their current take on a campy classic, ISTC has gained a reputation for dark, daring, actor-centric […]
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Bruce Hornsby reflects on the way it was, “The Way It Is,” touring with the Dead, and entering the best stage of his career
I first heard Bruce Hornsby when I was 10 years old, back when I would spend hours on end hanging around my father’s doomed retail store because he couldn’t afford a babysitter. His small leather goods business boomed in the early half of the 1970s, but by the turn of the new decade, the belts and purses he […]
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Matt Walsh (the good one) talks ‘Veep,’ Upright Citizens Brigade and Chicago-style improv ahead of two Iowa shows
Comedian Matt Walsh is a natural calming agent; he has a voice of chamomile and the eyes of a tired hound. These are the features of a man who has made a career out of playing fuddy-duddies, cops and deadpan dads. He’s that guy. You’ve seen him do it on Veep, or a random episode […]
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Review: A world premiere, ‘I, Will’ from Riverside Theatre gives Shakespeare a taste of his own medicine
1608. It’s miserable. The plague has rocked London to its core, and if it’s not that, the city is ruled by a bizarre and unpredictable regime that seems more interested in its own self-image than the well-being of its population. To make things worse, Shakespeare has lost both his audience and his touch. In short, everything sucks. This is where I, Will: A Late Romance, the kick-off production of Riverside Theatre’s 2026/27 season opens, and our story begins.
Posted inAlbum Reviews
Album Review: Pieta Brown — ‘Dreamin’ Of’
Dreamin' Of by Pieta Brown Twelve years ago on Pieta Brown’s seminal album Paradise Outlaw, the folk songstress sang a tender duet with Amos Lee about desperately trying to get to the morning “after the longest night,” when the world awakens with birds and church bells and school buses. Four albums later, Brown and Lee […]
