Thomas Comerford, formerly of Iowa City and also the band Kaspar Hauser, lives in Chicago now. Comerford stands out from the crowd of rootsy singer-songwriters by virtue of his outrageously tuneful songwriting and instinct for the perfect arrangement. He sings in a full-throated baritone, his voice touched by a subtle vibrato.
Arts & Entertainment
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Firecracker 500 Fest rolls on with Memphis rockers Ex-Cult
Memphis punk rockers Ex-Cult are set to headline a full lineup at The Mill tonight as part of the Firecracker 500 Festival. Joined by Iowa City’s Good Habits, Detroit’s Mexican Knives and Omaha’s The Lupines, Ex-Cult will be closing out a night filled with the kind of aggressive, post-punk thrashing they have become known for in their short history. If you can make it to only one night of the Firecracker 500 Festival, this is definitely the one to see.
Posted inArts & Entertainment, Hot Tin Roof
Hot Tin Roof: Nonfiction, a love poem
Hot Tin Roof is a program to showcase current literary work produced in Iowa City. The series is organized and juried by representatives of three Iowa City-based cultural advocacy organizations: The Englert Theatre, Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature and Little Village magazine.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Doom metal meets art rock: Prizehog to play Trumpet Blossom this Saturday
Portland’s sludge-doom trio Prizehog will be playing at Trumpet Blossom this Saturday for a night of loud, wonderfully strange music. The show starts…
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Portland’s Finest: Blitzen Trapper to rock Gabe’s this Friday
Blitzen Trapper is the kind of band that brings people together: Hipsters and bros, townies and students all comfortably fit in at a Blitzen Trapper show. It’s a hodgepodge crowd that matches the band’s hodgepodge sound.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Xerox returns for premier record release show
If there ever was a town that sucked in and expelled more musicians than Iowa City, it would have to exist in a spaghetti western or a Cormac McCarthy novel. Musicians ride into town, shoot up the place, become outlaws and ride out right before their infamy can be appreciated. And after they leave they can become a kind of faceless legend existing in the sprawl of the internet and exaggerated bar tales.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Firecracker 500 Festival explodes The Mill this weekend
Get your earplugs ready because the now (consistently) annual Firecracker 500 Festival is happening a month early this year, kicking off what will undoubtedly be a great summer of music listening and day-drinking. Firecracker brings together a bunch of primarily Midwest garage, psychedelic and punk bands.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Brian Johannesen to play free show at Gabe’s this Thursday
Iowa City’s favorite country-lovin’, whiskey-drinkin’ son, Brian Johannesen, now based out of Nashville, will be playing at Gabe’s this Thursday at 8 p.m. He’ll be joined by Chicago’s Ryan Joseph Andersen, of the roots-rock band Go Long Mule.
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Interview with UI Grad Arthur Jongewaard, Set Coordinator for ‘God’s Pocket’
This week, FilmScene is screening God’s Pocket, one of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s last projects before dying tragically in February of this year. God’s Pocket is also …
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Dolls in a Dollhouse: Wes Anderson puts up his most cartoonish characters in Grand Budapest Hotel
Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel was released the first week of March, showed up in Iowa City in late April and is remarkably still showing twice daily at …
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Curiosity ignition: ‘Mock mission to mars’ exhibit melds science and art
Marrying art and science is not a foreign concept: From Henry Fox Talbot and Thomas Eakins to contemporary artist Julian Voss-Andreae, scientists have utilized…
Posted inArts & Entertainment
Screenshot: New modes of distribution have opened the playing field for local developers
It’s an exciting time for video games. In recent years, alongside the rise of so-called “triple-A” games—like the upcoming Destiny (2014) that cost exorbitant amounts…
