Warner Bros. Records/Warner Music Nashville country artist Chris Janson was born to entertain crowds. In 2015, his breakthrough #1 Platinum single “Buy Me A Boat” was the 7th bestselling country song of the year, although his professional music career began more than 10 years ago.

The “Fix A Drink” singer is known as much for his hit songwriting as his “infectious” (Billboard) performances, with Rolling Stone describing him as having “a mesmerizing stage presence that most arena-headlining artists would kill for.” Janson has also penned multiple top-charting hits including “Truck Yeah” (Tim McGraw), “That’s How I’ll Always Be” (Tim McGraw), “I Love This Life” (LoCash), and over 25 additional hit songs recorded by a long list of established artists. The breakout star has been nominated for multiple awards and won several, including two 2016 BMI songwriter awards (“Buy Me A Boat” and “I Love This Life”) as well as Country Song of the Year (“Buy Me a Boat”) at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.

He plays every instrument on stage, and is best known for his signature harmonica playing. Additionally, Janson has played the Grand Ole Opry more than 150 times to date, and made numerous television appearances including: The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, Late Night with Seth Meyers, CONAN, The Today Show, ACM Awards and ACCA Awards. He recently released his Fix A Drink EP and is currently working on new music, with an album due later this year.

Tickets:
$35 – first 10 rows
$25 – remainder

Concert Connection Pre-Sale: September 13 at noon (tickets for concert connection members must be purchased directly through the Memorial Auditorium ticket office either by phone or in person).  Click here for more information about Concert Connections

Public On-Sale:  September 14 at noon (online, in person, or by phone). Please Note: We expect a high volume of calls the first day of sales.  This will make it difficult to purchase tickets over the phone.

Purchase Tickets Online – Click Here

More Information: www.ohio.edu/performingarts

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Over 58,000 Americans in uniform perished over the duration of the Vietnam War. The years of America’s involvement as a chief combatant in the conflict were some of the most divisive in the country’s history – drawing a variety of political and generational lines within the American public.

September 17 will mark the premiere of lauded documentarians Ken Burns and Lynn Novick’s The Vietnam War, a sprawling 10-part contemplation on the decade that defined modern America, on WOUB-HD. During that very same week – starting on Thursday, September 14, “The Wall That Heals,” the half-scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial unveiled by the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund in 1996, will be anchored at Ohio University’s Bicentennial Park through Sunday, September 17.

Jerry Sullivan of Buchtel is one of many local Vietnam War veterans.

“I beat the draft and I enlisted in the airborne infantry – it’s something that the Scotch-Irish have a long history of doing here in Appalachia,” said Sullivan on a windy afternoon outside of Fluff Bakery in Athens. “Scotch-Irish people are militaristic – they come from such a place where men with large swords went forth and slew the dragon. My predecessors in other generations had fought in previous wars, and I wanted to see what that was about – I wanted to be a witness to history.”

Sullivan would go on to be a purple heart recipient, wounded in the spring of 1969 and subsequently honorably discharged.

“There was a very high degree of involvement in the war out of most of Appalachian Ohio – the war affected everybody, and the draft affected just about everybody,” said Sullivan. “A lot of people got a medical deferment or went to college to avoid the draft – I quit college after about a year. It was after my brother-in-law had been killed over there, and I enlisted with the curiosity of a youthful, innocent young man.”

The Vietnam War left a series of impressions on Southeastern Ohio, and especially on Athens.

“(Athens) was a very excited place during the War. The streets were animated and sometimes violent. A lot of social duress was being expressed in different ways,” said Sullivan. “It was not like an innocent small town – Athens brought people in from all over the country, and many of them were involved with the war, having either been a part of it, like myself, or protesting it.”

Ohio University ended their spring quarter early in 1970 when riots broke out on campus after four students only three hours’ drive north at Kent State University were killed by the Ohio National Guard. Unrest reached a peak at this time, not that students and residents of Athens were not impacted by the conflict leading up to that period and after it.

“There was a very high degree of involvement in the war out of most of Appalachian Ohio – the war affected everybody, and the draft affected just about everybody. A lot of people got a medical deferment or went to college to avoid the draft – I quit college after about a year. It was after my brother-in-law had been killed over there, and I enlisted with the curiosity of a youthful, innocent young man.” – Jerry Sullivan, local Vietnam War veteran

Maya Ying Lin, the daughter of Henry Hau Lin, the former dean of Ohio University’s College of Fine Arts, is the architect whose design was ultimately chosen as the winner of a public design competition for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in 1981. Her vision – a black cut-stone masonry wall with the names of 57,661 fallen American troops engraved on it, was chosen out of 1,441 other submissions and completed in October 1982.

“It took a while to get political support for Maya Lin’s concept. it got a lot of pushback because there was this sense that it was kind of an embodiment of American guilt, it was not uplifting,” said Ingo Trauschweizer, an associate professor of history at Ohio University who specializes in strategy and policy in war, as well as the cultural impact of war. “It was something that created a split in the veteran community. Maya Lin must have considered the power of using black granite in the monument, and some people couldn’t see past that. And there was certainly a degree of racism going on because she is a Chinese American, and it had only been a little less than a decade since the war when the monument was created – there were a lot of sentiments and emotions that were still pretty raw.”

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial does stand out on the National Mall amid more traditional monuments that convey heroism and valor with more conventional architectural and artistic decisions.

“(The memorial) doesn’t have any depictions of any figures, composite, representative, anything – just the names of the people who served,” said Chester Pach, an associate professor of history at Ohio University. Pach instructs a number of classes on foreign policy, and has written extensively on the Vietnam War for the New York Times and in a number of academic journals. “I suppose having each name on the monument was a controversial way to include everyone who served and those who died in the course of their service. The last time I was at the wall was 10 weeks ago, in June, and I found a name of a person I knew who had died in the war; and anyone can do that, and its highly moving experience and has been for many people.”

There is a large veteran community in Athens; made up of those who served in a variety of conflicts in which America was involved. September 14-17 will mark the very first time that the replica wall has been in the area.

“We had a smaller version of the (Vietnam Veterans Memorial) Wall in the Baker Ballroom in 2011, so we were looking to bring it back to Athens because of the great turn out we had then. We submitted an application to bring it and it was accepted,” said Brian Heilmeier, the senior assistant director of student activities at Ohio University, who helped bring the Wall that Heals to Athens. “I hope that students can stop by to see the wall and feel what it represents. There are 76 names on the wall from the local area and I know that many of our students have loved ones on the wall.”

Pach said that he feels that, as with all things, people will experience the Wall that Heals in very nuanced, different ways.

“For some people, Vietnam connects directly with their experience – it is a highly personal matter. For some, it will take them back to times that were difficult and traumatic – back to the specific emotions of the things they endured, of their memories,” said Pach. “It will be different for someone younger, who was born years after American involvement in the war. It will be their chance to learn about the war; why it occurred, why it lasted so long, and why it was so hard to end. Like anything, the Vietnam War had critics and supporters who all felt the way they did for highly variable reasons – to just say that some people were for and against the war is highly reductionist.”

Sullivan expressed that he will be one of the regional veterans to visit the travelling monument on campus.

“I’m happy to still be here for this one. We’ve certainly lost some folks along the way. There is still a substantial Vietnam veteran community in the area, and I hope that we will all be able to take some good feeling from it,” he said. “Hopefully it will be healing. There are a lot of guys who are still deeply affected by what they experienced – and others have gone on with their lives.”

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Take a look at these photos, taken by WOUB’s Robert Green, of brothers T.J. and John Osborne (known collectively as country western act Brothers Osborne) at Ohio University’s Templeton-Blackburn Alumni Memorial Auditorium Friday, September 8.

 

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The Covered Bridge Music Series is pleased to present a live music performance by Paul Thorn starting at 8 p.m., Saturday September 30, 2017 at Ohio University Lancaster. This will be an outdoor show on the Covered Bridge stage.  All seating is General Admission. There will be a cash bar. Non-alcoholic beverages and food provided by the Burrito Buggy and Bobcat Bistro will also be available for purchase. Gates open at 6 p.m. with opening act, Apple and the Moon at 7 p.m.

Tickets are available for $25 at coveredbridge.tix.com. Tickets for children 17 & Under are $10. Admission for Ohio University students is free with a valid, current OHIO (student) ID. All seating is General Admission.

Paul Thorn’s new album Too Blessed To Be Stressed stakes out new territory for the popular roots-rock songwriter and performer.

“In the past, I’ve told stories that were mostly inspired by my own life,” the former prizefighter (and literal son of a preacher man) offers. “This time, I’ve written 10 songs that express more universal truths, and I’ve done it with a purpose: to make people feel good.”

Which explains numbers like the acoustic-electric charmer “Don’t Let Nobody Rob You Of Your Joy,” where Thorn’s warm peaches-and-molasses singing dispenses advice on avoiding the pitfalls of life. The title track borrows its tag from a familiar saying among the members of the African-American Baptist churches Thorn frequented in his childhood. “I’d ask, ‘How you doin’, sister?’ And what I’d often hear back was, ‘I’m too blessed to be stressed.'” In the hands of Thorn and his faithful band, who’ve been together 20 years, the tune applies its own funky balm, interlacing a percolating drum and keyboard rhythm with the slinky guitar lines beneath his playful banter.

Thorn’s trademark humor is abundant throughout the album. “I Backslide On Friday” is a warm-spirited poke at personal foibles. “I promised myself not to write about me, but I did on ‘Backslide,’ ” Thorn relates. The chipper pop tune is a confession about procrastination, sweetened by Bill Hinds’ slide guitar and Thorn’s gently arching melody. “But,” Thorn protests, “I know I’m not the only one who says he’s gonna diet and just eat Blue Bell vanilla ice cream on Sundays, and then ends up eating it every day!”

“Mediocrity Is King” takes a wider swipe, aiming at our culture’s hyper-drive addiction to celebrity artifice and rampant consumerism. But like Everything Is Gonna Be All Right, a rocking celebration of the simple joys of life, it’s done with Thorn’s unflagging belief in the inherent goodness of the human heart.

“I don’t think I could have written anthemic songs like this if I hadn’t made my last album,” Thorn says of 2012’s What the Hell is Goin’ On?. Like 2010’s autobiographical Pimps & Preachers, it was among its year’s most played CDs on Americana radio and contributed to Thorn’s rapidly growing fan base. And Thorn followed that airplay success with his current AAA-radio hit version of “Doctor My Eyes” from April 2014’s Looking Into You: A Tribute To Jackson Browne. The latter also features Grammy winners Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, Lyle Lovett, the Indigo Girls, Lucinda Williams, Keb’ Mo’, Ben Harper and Don Henley.

What the Hell is Goin’ On? was also Thorn’s first set of songs written by other artists, borrowed from the catalogs of Allen Toussaint, Buddy and Julie Miller, and Rick Danko, among others.

“I lived with those songs and studied them before I recorded that album, and that changed me and made me grow as a songwriter,” Thorn relates. “Lindsey Buckingham’s “Don’t Let Me Down Again” especially got me thinking. It was a rock anthem with a sing-along hook, and I fell in love with it and the idea of big vocal hooks. So every song on Too Blessed To Be Stressed has a big vocal hook in it. And it works! We’ve been playing these songs in concert, and by the time the chorus comes along for the second time people are singing along. I’ve never seen that happen with my unreleased songs before, and I love it.”

It helps that those big vocal hooks on Too Blessed To Be Stressed are being reinforced by the sound of Thorn’s flexible and dynamic band, as they have been doing for years in concert. During their two decades in the club, theater and festival trenches, the four-piece and their frontman have garnered a reputation for shows that ricochet from humor to poignancy to knock-out rock ‘n’ roll. Guitarist Bill Hinds is the perfect, edgy foil for Thorn’s warm, laconic salt o’ the earth delivery – a veritable living library of glowing tones, sultry slide and sonic invention. Keyboardist Michael “Dr. Love” Graham displays a gift for melody that reinforces Thorn’s hooks while creating his own impact, and helps expand the group’s rhythmic force. Meanwhile drummer Jeffrey Perkins and bassist Ralph Friedrichsen are a force, propelling every tune with just the right amount of up-tempo power or deep-in-the-groove restraint.

“These guys really bring my songs to life,” says Thorn. “A lot of albums sound like they’re made by a singer with bored studio musicians. My albums sound they’re played by a real blood-and-guts band because that’s what we are. And when we get up on stage, people hear and see that.”

Thorn’s earlier catalog is cherished by his many fans thanks to his down-home perspective, vivid-yet-plainspoken language and colorful characters. It helps that Thorn is a colorful and distinctly Southern personality himself. He was raised in Tupelo, Mississippi, in the land of cotton and catfish. And churches.

“My father was a preacher, so I went with him to churches that white people attended and churches that black people attended,” Thorn says. “The white people sang gospel like it was country music, and the black people sang it like it was rhythm and blues. But both black and white people attended my father’s church, and that’s how I learned to sing mixing those styles.”

His performances were generally limited to the pews until sixth grade. “I’m dyslexic and got held back in sixth grade,” Thorn relates. “I didn’t have to face the embarrassment, because my family moved and I ended up in a new school. There was a talent show, and I sang Three Times a Lady by Lionel Ritchie with my acoustic guitar, and suddenly I went from being a social outcast to the most desired boy on the playground. The feeling I got from that adulation stuck with me and propelled me to where I am today.”

At age 17 Thorn met songwriter Billy Maddox, who became his friend and mentor. It would take several detours – working in a furniture factory, boxing, jumping out of airplanes – until Thorn committed to the singer-songwriter’s life. But through it all he and Maddox remained friends, and Maddox became Thorn’s songwriting partner and co-producer.

Nonetheless, Thorn possessed the ability to charm audiences right from the start. Not only with his music, but also with the stories he tells from the stage. “Showmanship is a dying art that I learned from watching Dean Martin on TV when I was a kid,” Thorn explains. “He could tell little jokes and then deliver a serious song, then make you laugh again. And he would look into the camera like he was looking right at you through the TV. That’s what I want to do – make people feel like I’m talking directly to them.”

That’s really Thorn’s mission for Too Blessed To Be Stressed, which can be heard as a running conversation about life between Thorn and listeners – a conversation leavened with gentles insights, small inspirations, and plenty of cheer. “I wrote these songs hoping they might put people in a positive mindset and encourage them to count their own blessings, like I count mine,” Thorn observes. “There’s no higher goal I could set for myself than to help other people find some happiness and gratitude in their lives.”

The Covered Bridge Music Series is a joint venture between Ohio University Lancaster Campus and The Lancaster Festival.  The purpose of the partnership is to showcase fresh and relevant musical talent providing discovery and enjoyment for the campus and Fairfield County communities and the region. The concerts generally take place twice a year (spring and fall) on the Lancaster Campus of Ohio University.

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On Sunday, December 4, 2016, Haden DeRoberts passed away at the age of 24 after fighting acute myeloid leukemia for five years. Beloved by all that knew him, DeRoberts was kinetic in his actions, enthusiastic in his attitude towards life, and devoted to the people and music that he loved.

DeRoberts was one of Josh Antonuccio’s advisees in Ohio University’s School of Media Arts and Studies when DeRoberts first came to Athens in 2011 — the same year he would receive his cancer diagnosis.

Over the course of the five years that DeRoberts would study under Antonuccio in various music industry classes, the two would get to know each other better; Antonuccio appreciating DeRoberts’ tireless commitment to receive his Specialized Studies degree in event planning and nonprofit management regardless of his mounting health concerns. DeRoberts received his degree in hospice only two days before he passed away.

“Haden had so much enthusiasm about everything he became involved in – he loved working with people and he loved music, and he always found ways to combine those two things,” said Antonuccio, who pointed out that DeRoberts was the progenitor of Folk Fest, a music festival that originated on DeRoberts’ back porch in his home in Columbus and grew to eventually attract Dave Simonett of Trampled By Turtles for its’ last year. The festival also served as a way for people to get registered as bone marrow donors – bone marrow transplants are a huge part of how leukemia and lymphoma are treated. In 2015, proceeds of the event went to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, as well as local non-profit Adyn’s Dream.

DeRoberts was also instrumental in Hillel at Ohio University’s Got Swabbed? campaign, which resulted in over 9,000 people getting swabbed for potential bone marrow transplants; 30 life-saving matches were identified because of the campaign.

“He was just so passionate about everything that he would do, and I think that resonated with a lot of people. He had such exuberance for life – even when I visited him in hospice he did not lose that sense of exuberance – and that really stuck with me,” said Antonuccio. “It was really inspiring, the way that he shaped the narrative of his disease as to benefit others. Instead of just thinking of his personal bone marrow transplant as something that saved his life, he became an advocate for people who needed bone marrow transplants. He was always trying to fight for what was good – which was what I admired about him.”

Last year, Antonuccio and six of his family members decided to form the Old Tonuccis, (the name a riff on the fact that the those taking part in the event have either the last name “Antonuccio” or “Old,”) a fundraising group which will run in the New York City Marathon on November 5, hoping to raise $25,000 in the name of Sloan-Kettering Memorial Hospital’s for cancer treatment research. Each member of the team has experienced cancer in some personal way. Antonuccio said that it is “in the spirit of Haden” that he decided to run, aiming to raise $7,500 for leukemia research in his name.

DeRobert’s favorite band were indie rock greats My Morning Jacket – an outfit that Antonuccio has had personal familiarity with for some time. After DeRoberts’ passing, Antonuccio reached out to the band, who signed vinyl copies of their albums Evil Urges, Z, and The Waterfall for the project. Those who donate at least $75 will be entered to win packages of all three of those signed albums.

“One of the things that really always impressed me about Haden is the fact that he did not give up working on his degree even as he was dying. Everyone would have understood if he had decided to take that last year off – but he didn’t. He worked all the way to the end,” said Antonuccio. “I really want to carry on in that same spirit – to persevere and do what is right for others.”

You can donate to the campaign through this link.

 

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Turna Mete has a special place in her heart for Into the West, and not just because she’ll be performing as Ally, one of the theatrical version’s main characters, in Tantrum Theater’s production of the play through August 19.

“My mom loved the movie Into the West, and I watched it a lot growing up,” the Brooklyn-based actor said on an August afternoon in an interview with WOUB; less than a week after Tantrum Theater opened their production of the work in Dublin. “One day I was looking over a website that lists various auditions, and I saw that the play Into the West was being done – and it made me sit up straight! I didn’t know there was a play based on the movie, and I immediately reached out to the casting director to see if I could be seen for it. Cut to many months later, and I’ve gotten to know the people of Tantrum Theater and the great work they’re doing.”

Tantrum’s Into the West is a dazzling 60-minute tale of two children and their father, dazed and confused in Dublin after the death of their mother. Their father (artfully played oily and alcoholic by Greg Jackson) has been trying to soak himself in enough drink to clear his mind of the misery of his wife’s passing, while his children, Finn (playfully represented by Blake Segal) and Ally are dodging school and wasting the days away in their flat in front of the telly.

Everything changes when a mythical horse comes into the picture, taking the family on an extraordinary journey complete with hostile policemen, bewildered elderly people, and a masterfully rendered humanoid berry bush.

The expeditiously undulating plot demands that three actors manage to portray 60 roles – which seems insane, until you see the work in action.

Mete said that she was prepared, in part, for this demanding aspect of Into the West because of her work on a production of Patrick Barlow’s pun-tastic theatrical adaptation of Alfred Hitchcock’s 1935 film 39 Steps, based on John Buchan’s 1915 novel of the same name. The play revolves around four actors playing the hero, Richard Hannay; his three romantic entanglements; and everyone else in the production, including some inanimate objects.

“The director of this show, Jen Wineman, is so amazing. She creates a safe space for us to create and play – there is no need for fear of being wrong in the rehearsal room,” said Mete. “I will say that because of the minimalist nature of this production and how we staged it, I really expanded my abilities; it’s been a little more of a challenge than I anticipated going in. It’s a wonderfully physical play – and even though it might not look like we’re doing that much, by the end we’re all dosed in sweat.”

One particularly respectable feat that the production manages to accomplish is the creation and maintanence of an imaginary horse – some 1,000 pounds of muscle and bone summoned onto the stage, completely conjured by the tight-knit cast.

“While in rehearsal, we would talk about the horse, how to come up with different ways to portray it. When we were first blocking the play Jen (Wineman) had us use something different each time to represent the horse – it was fun to imagine different ways to create the horse,” said Mete. “I think that just about every night I would get the note that the horse ‘had to be real,’ and especially for my character, that was important. Once we were in the theater, I think that the horse became a more real and beautiful thing. The horse itself was definitely a character, and it was important to think about how we relate to the horse, physically and emotionally.”

“This production is demanding and wonderful, and it feels like a gift to share it with the people I do,” said Mete. “It’s a really great band of kooky people putting on a great show that I find funny and endearing and sweet.”

“Into the West” will be staged at the Dublin Community Recreation Center, 5600 Post Road in Dublin through August 19.

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Singer-songwriter Aaron Lee Tasjan of New Albany, OH, plucked his first acoustic guitar at a young age. Since then, Tasjan has played with many different bands, including with the one and only New York Dolls; alt-country act Everest; and with Tony Visconti of David Bowie and T. Rex fame. Tasjan recently set out to sunny Los Angeles, CA, to work with Father John Misty to create his most recent album, Silver Tears (New West Records).

On the second day of the Nelsonville Music Festival, Tasjan rocked out solo for the Gladden House audience. He started of his set with the country twang of “Success,” from his most recent effort, and then swung into “Lucinda’s Room” from 2015’s In the Blazes (First of 3 Records) and finished off the performance with a cover of Todd Snider’s “Hey Pretty Boy” from Snider’s 2016 album Eastside Bulldog. 

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Hailing from Vancouver, Canada, singer-songwriter Frazey Ford traveled a long way to perform at the Gladden House on the second day of the 2017 Nelsonville Music Festival. She brought along with her longtime pal and backup singer Caroline Ballhorn. Ford said that she will be releasing her first EP since 2014 this summer.

The duo first performed “You Got Religion,” an Aretha Franklin-inspired gospel tune from Ford’s 2014 effort Indian Ocean (Nettwerk). They then dipped into “September Fields,” the opening track off of the aforementioned album. The duo then treated the audience to a performance of Cat Steven’s heavenly “How Can I Tell You?” from his 1971 album Teaser and the Firecat.

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LA’s Valley Queen has been steadily building a guitar-fueled sound rooted in the tapestries of the classic southern California sound, as well as the more modern expanse found in bands like My Morning Jacket. The band is led by vocalist Natalie Carol, whose crooning voice careens between both soaring and subtle. The band has relied primarily on self-distributed material through Bandcamp, but has managed to garner considerable attention, with notable performances at SXSW, a NPR Tiny Desk Concert last year, and a tour supporting Laura Marling.

The band delivered a stellar main stage set on the first day of the Nelsonville Music Festival. Shortly after, Carol came to the Gladden House for a solo acoustic set. She also shared with host Josh Antonuccio about their most recent album, Destroyer, which was released this past March. Carol opened her set with the emotional tug of war of “Stars Align,” followed by the aching “My Man” and “Pulled By The Weather.”

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A native of Lawrence County, KY, Tyler Childers has been churning up buzz amongst peers and critics alike for nearly a decade. His world-weary combination of country, folk, and bluegrass have culminated now with his highly anticipated album Purgatory, due out on August 4 on Hickman Holler Records/Thirty Tigers. Childers’ newest release is the result of six years of writing, as well as help from one of country’s hottest artists; Grammy Award winning Sturgill Simpson. Engineering on the album came by way of Nashville’s David Ferguson; whose credits include the likes of Johnny Cash.

Tyler Childers came to the Gladden House Stage on day three of the 2017 Nelsonville Music Festival for a solo acoustic set. He discussed his forthcoming album with host Josh Antonuccio, however, because the news of Simpson’s involvement in the album hadn’t yet been announced, the two weren’t able to talk about it publicly. Childers’ set was stocked with tracks off the forthcoming album, including “Banded Clovis,” the title track, and “Born Again,” a track that Childers describes as “a redneck interpretation of reincarnation.”

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Columbus, OH-based Swarming Branch have been described as “the band you should to start listening to… right now.”

Andrew Graham, vocalist/guitarist/songwriter,  has been expanding his musical palette since the early 2000s and as such, has been steadily gathering a devoted fanbase across Ohio and beyond with Swarming Branch.

For their latest LP, Surreal Number (Sofa Burn Records), the band made the trek to L.A. to work with producer Rob Barbato (Kevin Morby/Peaking Lights) and emerged with a wildly inventive and eclectic pop record. With the lyrical acuity of a ’60s folk hero and instrumentation that traverses comfortably across multiple genres, Swarming Branch has crafted a niche of their own.

The current lineup is evolving, but for their stop at the Nelsonville Music Festival it included Ben Ahlteen on bass, Lon Leary on drums, Kyle Kerley on trumpet, and Sharon Udoh of Counterfeit Madison on keyboards. Andrew and co. joined the Gladden House on day three of the Nelsonville Music Festival for a four song set and a chat with Josh Antonuccio about their newest album.  The set started with a song from the most recent LP, “All I Want To Do Pt. 22,” leading into the song “Rock and Roll No. 61” which corresponded well with the #61 sports jersey that Graham wore to the performance. They continued with “Laid Back and Practical” and ended the show with the song “Like a Dan Shearer/Over Troubled Waters”  from Graham’s former project RTFO Bandwagon.

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2017 has been a pivotal year for Big Thief. Coming off the critical and fan acclaim of 2016’s Masterpiece (Saddle Creek) the Brooklyn-based band recently delivered another stunning album Capacity, (also on Saddle Creek) albeit it one that delved into more deeply into a nuanced and shadowy sound for the band.

Just a week before the release of Capacity, Big Thief performed as one of the main stage headliners on the first day of the Nelsonville Music Festival.

To open the fourth season of the Gladden House Sessions, Big Thief’s lead singer and songwriter Adrianne Lenker stopped by to perform an intimate and haunting solo set in the early evening of that Thursday. The intense and soft-spoken Lenker, armed only with an acoustic guitar, captivated the festival goers in attendance with a curated selection of songs.

Lenker opened with a gorgeous rendition of the title track from Capacity. Her second song was an unexpected treat; an unreleased, and hereto yet to be recorded, song that she has rarely performed. This new track was a delight to the many fans of Lenker’s enthralling approach to performance. Lenker closed the set with another track off of Capacity, the album opener “Pretty Things.”

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Since the late ’90s, Brooklyn-based Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlynhas has been crafting an impressive discography of free and individualistic pop music.

With nearly a dozen albums to date, Mirah is known for her introspective and insightful songwriting, as well as a willingness to build collaborations across genres, which includes an array of different songwriters, orchestral composers, and DJs. Long an indie favorite and critically acclaimed writer, Mirah has been gaining continued recognition for her craft (one song “Country of the Future” was recently featured on the Jill Soloway’s comedy, I Love Dick) and she is in the midst of completing new material, with a release set for early autumn of this year.

Mirah delivered a stripped down and poetic set at the Gladden House Stage with her bandmate Maia Macdonald on last day of the Nelsonville Music Festival. Long-time fans stopped by for a luminous set from across her career. Mirah started out with two songs from 2014’s Changing Light (K Records), including a stirring rendition of “Fleetfoot Ghost” and the rock swagger of “Radiomind.” The two finished off the set with the captivating “Hallelujah,” a track from Mirah’s collaborative album with Thao Nguyen of Thao & The Get Down Stay Down, appropriately titled Thao + Mirah (Kill Rock Stars).

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California native Sara Watkins has been working in the music industry since the ’80s; best known for her role as a founding member of the band Nickel Creek.

While she has also has claimed collaborations with the likes of The Decemberists and Watkins Family Hour, Watkins has continued to release remarkable solo albums since 2009, culminating in her newest outing with Young in All the Wrong Ways (New West Records). The album is a stunning reminder of Watkins’ prodigal abilities, with the album itself being completed in less than two weeks in Los Angeles at United Studios.

Sara Watkins’ afternoon performance at the Gladden House drew a large crowd of devoted fans. Watkins spent time discussing both her new album, as well as her future career plans with Gladden House host Josh Antonuccio. Her set pulled entirely from Young In All the Wrong Ways, with the delectable opener “Say So.” Watkins followed up with an impassioned performance of the title track, which was also the first song written for the new record. The set closer was “Move Me,” a track which ruminates on frustration with the pressure for constant perfection, finding Watkins encouraging explorations of the transcendent.

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Columbus-based Doc Robinson spent the better part of a year writing and recording songs forged from their love of classic soul and R&B records for their forthcoming full-length release. Core members John Elliott and Nick D’Andrea have already left an indelible mark on the Columbus music scene from their own successful bands (The Floorwalkers and Nick D & The Believers), but felt compelled to move forward together from the success of a songwriting partnership last year.

That fateful day produced an EP from the two, who are now preparing for the July release of their first full-length album. The two stopped by the Gladden House on day two of the Nelsonville Music Festival and delivered a soulful and stripped-down set. The two started off with the melodic track  “Deep End” from their forthcoming album. Elliot and D’Andrea went on to share their much-loved track “Heavy Like” and ended with the song “Summer Moon,” a soul-searching pop number that was written nearly eight years ago.

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Tuesday, July 18 will mark the first ever WOUB Public Media Golf Tournament, taking place at the Athens County Country Club. The event is two-pronged, working to not only expand WOUB’s outreach into the region it serves, but to also raise funds for the region’s public media source.

“Right now, it’s more important than ever to be raising funds for WOUB, with the threat of the termination of funding from a national source,” said Loring Lovett, a corporate support representative at WOUB, referencing President Trump’s proposed national budget, which suggests the elimination of funding for national public media. According to Save My PBS, an organization

Kathy Malesick, WOUB’s director of corporate support, said that the golf tournament is geared towards people in the Athens County region who may not be easily reached by the station’s pledge drives.

“We’re really trying to do more outreach into the community in general,” she said. “We’re hoping to move in a direction that would provide us with more visibility in terms of promotions and events.”

Since it’s foundation in 1967, public media has continually provided a wide-array of inspiring, free content that both serves and informs — from PBS’ roster of award-winning educational children’s programming to each of the 1,000-plus local radio stations and 365-plus local television stations affiliated with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that provide life-saving emergency alert information for their communities. NPR and PBS only costs each American taxpayer about $1.35 a year, with all of their other funding coming from donors.

The event will be a part of Athens’ annual Ohio Brew Week, which attracts thousands of people from around the country into Athens County for a week of experiencing the world of craft brews. Throughout the course of the event there will be beer tasting stations for participants.

Registration, which is $300 per team (which is up to four people), covers a continental breakfast at the country club at 8 a.m., a lunch following the morning’s play, and the aforementioned beer tasting stations. The event is a four-person scramble, with optional skins game and closest to the pin.

“NPR, PBS and local news are such valuable services to this area. When our audience gets involved it just makes WOUB better,” said Jeannie Jeffers, director of development at WOUB. “This will be a fun event to get the community involved and raise money for WOUB.”

All proceeds of the event go towards supporting programming and operations at WOUB Public Media. The event sponsor is the Eclipse Company Town, but other sponsors include, Cetide, Zonez, Jackie O’s, White’s Mill, Grass Valley, West End Cider House, Athens Sun & Fun Pools, Porter Financial Services, Shawna Stump Insurance, O’Nail Hartman Insurance, and the Great Lakes Brewing Company.

Registration for the event is open online at woub.org, or through contact with Jeannie Jeffers at jeffersd@ohio.edu or 740-593-4786. The deadline for registration is July 7.

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Caroline, Or Change is the lauded sung-through musical by acclaimed playwright Tony Kushner (Angels in America). Kicking off on July 7, Ohio University’s professional theater company, Tantrum Theater, will host a production of the work at Dublin’s Abbey Theater, directed by Robert Barry Fleming.

On this installment of Conversations from Studio B, WOUB’s Emily Votaw speaks with Christina Acosta-Robinson, Joshua Turchin, Amy Blackman, and Stanley Bahorek; all cast members from the upcoming production. The group dissects the importance of Jeanine Tesori’s eclectic score for Caroline, Or Change; the cultural relevance of Kushner’s body of work, and the many shapes and speeds by which change clamors into our laps and up our spinal chords into our understanding of ourselves and our world.

FULL PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Wednesday, July 5, 7:30 p.m. Pay what you will preview
Thursday, July 6, 7:30 p.m. Pay what you will preview
Friday, July 7, 8 p.m. Opening Night—Reception to follow performance
Saturday, July 8, 8 p.m.
Sunday, July 9, 2 p.m.
Wednesday, July 12, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, July 13, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, July 14, 8 p.m.
Saturday, July 15, 2 p.m.
Saturday, July 15, 8 p.m.
Sunday, July 16, 2 p.m.
Tuesday, July 18, 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, July 19, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, July 20, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, July 21, 8 p.m.
Saturday, July 22, 2 p.m.
Saturday, July 22, 8 p.m. Closing

Ticket Information
For tickets and a full season calendar, visit tantrumtheater.org or call the Tantrum box office at 614-793-5700.
All shows will be performed at the Abbey Theater, Dublin Rec Center, 5600 Post Road, Dublin, OH 43017.

Three-ticket flex passes and single tickets are on sale at tantrumtheater.org. All preview performances are pay-what-you-will.

Adults $28.00
Seniors $26.00

 

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The Cactus Blossoms hail from St. Paul, MN, and since 2013 they have been building a thoroughly infectious sound with a hybrid of aching songwriting and Everly Brothers inspired vocals.

Recently “discovered” by rockabilly revivalist JD McPherson, brothers and guitarist/vocalists Jack Torrey and Page Burkum joined McPherson in the studio to deliver the widely heralded debut You’re Dreaming (Red House Records) last year. Most recently the band was featured in the return of Twin Peaks on Showtime, shown closing episode three with a gorgeous rendition of their track “Mississippi.”

The Cactus Blossoms had a short window to join us at the Gladden House on the third day of the Nelsonville Music Festival, having two other performances on site that day. Torrey and Burkum were joined by Chris Heipola on drums and Andy Carroll on bass. The session was focused on performances only, and those in attendance were treated to a delightful set of well-honed originals and a cover.  The band opened with the aforementioned “Mississippi” followed by their melodically-inticing “Stoplight Kisses.” The band closed with a fiery cover of the Kinks’ “Who’ll Be The Next In Line,” from their 1965 album Kinkdom.

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The atmospheric and sprawling guitar stylings of Marisa Anderson have endeared her to a rising fan base, culminating in recent shows with the likes of Daniel Lanois and Thurston Moore. The Portland, OR native has crafted a timely space of her own through her enthralling instrumental guitarwork. Anderson has drawn inspiration from guitarists across the musical spectrum, both modern and classic, including Doc Watson, Dave Rawlings and Antonio Berbiesca.

Anderson opened up the final day of the Nelsonville Music Festival Gladden House Stage on a gorgeous Sunday morning. Her set was intimate, poetic, and stunningly flawless, captivating festival attendees with a mesmerizing set of songs from across her discography. Anderson talked with host Josh Antonuccio about her recent performances, as well as the inspiration behind her writing and new music set to be released this coming fall. Anderson opened up her set with “Bred in Roses,” followed by the haunting “Galax,” from 2013’s Mercury (Chaos Kitchen Music) closing with the electric, layered single “San Feliu.”

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David Dorfman is one of the most recognized post-modern choreographers, and he’ll be spending the duration of the month on the Ohio University campus as a part of the Division of Dance’s 2017 Summer Dance Institute.

On Saturday, June 24, David Dorfman Dance Company will present a special performance of Aroundtown in the Shirley Wimmer Dance Theater in Putnam Hall. The performance is free to participants in the 2017 Summer Dance Institute and open to the public with a $10 per person suggested donation.

Aroundtown was just worked extensively at a creative development residency at Jacob’s Pillow Dance/The Lumberyard and will soon premiere at the Bates Dance Festival. A question and answer session and a reception with the artists will follow the performance.

WOUB’s Emily Votaw spoke to David about his long and winding career, as well as what it means to be a dancer in what could, perhaps, be considered the post-post modern age.

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When Athens, OH attorney Frank Lavelle was about 10 years old, his parents bought him a play-by-number electric organ. Ever since, Lavelle has been interested in making music, even if it hasn’t been his main career focus.

Over the course of the past two years, Lavelle has released three cohesive albums under the general moniker The Fearless Starlight Band. Lavelle serves as the principal songwriter, keyboardist, and occasional guitarist, while various collections of producers and musicians, (the overwhelming majority of which are associated in some way, shape, or form to the Ohio University School of Media Arts and Studies,) provide the accompaniment and the finishing touches. Most of those students are involved in the Music Production – Recording Industry Program within the Media School. Everyone who contributed to the project’s ongoing output is named in the liner notes of each CD, as well as on the band’s website.

A post on the outfit’s website jokes that when a young child informs his parents that he wants to be a musician when he grows up, they respond, “Okay, but you can’t be both!” It’s this same youthful, energized spirit that Lavelle brings to his off-work passion project.

“When I finally got to the point (in my career) where I could slow down enough to record some music, I did,” said Lavelle in an interview with WOUB last month, sitting outside his historic home on the banks of the glistening Ohio River. “One thing led to another, and before long I was jamming with some talented young guys who are guitarists and producers. This project turned out to be the most fun I’ve been able to have in my off hours for a long time.”

May 22, The Fearless Starlight band released When the Stars Align, a set of songs that explore everything from low-fi psychedelia to lyrics about praying to the universe and exploring the dichotomy between agony and ecstasy. The cover of the work features a photo of the Gaza pyramids awash in the dark of night, complete with a sparkling collection of stars above them. The outfit’s other releases very much follow the general gist of the most recent, playing frequently with interdimensional or celestial themes.

“There is a lot of emotion involved in some of the tunes, and the idea is that the music is kind of ethereal – I just tap into it and go with it,” said Lavelle. “I don’t know where it comes from – but I don’t think that any artist knows exactly where their work comes from. More than anything, it has to do with a particular state of mind – I have done a little bit of reading on it, and it’s called the ‘alpha state of mind,’ where your mind is racing a bit and you’re working to get things done and everything jives together.”

So far as the musical themes, Lavelle said that he isn’t exactly being entirely serious in his work with them.

“We only tackle the big themes, like eternity and infinity – and quite frankly, a lot of it is tongue in cheek,” he said.

Lavelle described the band’s sound as “music within music,” noting that he works to build the songs up, adding pieces of harmony and melody throughout the recording process.

“The main thing that has changed (about recording music), since I was younger, is the technology,” he said. “The equipment that Schoonover has is much better than anything that I have in my home recording studio, and as we go along, we learn more and more about the technical aspects of the music we are making.”

With that equipment, Lavelle has enjoyed discovering new ways to utilize sound, from eschewing the timbre of a particular note to making a Steinway piano sound on the same piece of equipment that can produce a solid Moog synthesizer sound.

The Fearless Starlight Band, by name, does seem like the kind of outfit who would toy around with organic and synthetic sounds. However, Lavelle said that his musical project wasn’t always going to be named as such.

“When I decided to do this, I got to Googling around, and I saw that many of the band names that I was interested in using were already in use,” said Lavelle. “So, I settled on ‘The Fearless Starlight Band’ because the idea is that only the fearless starlight reaches Earth.”

The first songs The Fearless Starlight Band worked with were based off of scraps of songs that Lavelle had crafted over the years, what he calls “beginnings of songs,” consisting mainly of chief melodies and a hooks.

“I couldn’t really tell you any of the big names in music right now, but growing up, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, were all influences,” said Lavelle, who also cited Elvis Costello and even The Velvet Underground as being partially responsible for The Fearless Starlight Band sound. “There are apps that you can use to find out if a song has been recorded before, and we’ve tested all of our songs, and they are original. But, honestly, everything goes back to Beethoven and the masters. There are only so many musical sounds in the western hemisphere – 12 basic tones, I believe. And there are 16 basic tones in the Eastern hemisphere. All you can do is a variation on something. Sometimes you just hear a silly radio jingle and a part of it stays with you.”

The Fearless Starlight Band is planning on taking a bit of a break this summer, with the action picking up again this fall when Ohio University commences with fall semester 2017.

“It’s so interesting. People will sometimes ask me what I ultimately want to do with this project, but honestly, as I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that it’s just important to be able to do what you want to do,” said Lavelle. “I have always wanted to make music, and I think that I have learned what actually doing it is, and I love it.”

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Portland, OR native Sallie Ford has found roots and inspiration from a host of vintage sounds; incorporating a freewheeling combination of rock swagger, jazz stylings, and forthright storytelling into her songs. Ford’s newest album, Soul Sick (released February on Vanguard Records) included 11 personal songs that delve into dark and treacherous territory, with Ford openly wrestling with depression and anxiety throughout.

Ford’s Gladden House set took place on Saturday, June 3, the third day of the 2017 Nelsonville Music Festival. Harnessing just the sound of a singular, blistering electric guitar, she shared songs from the newest album, as well as a selection from 2013’s Partisan Records release, Untamed Beast. Ford was interviewed by Ohio University’s Josh Antonuccio before her performance, discussing the inspirations behind her music and the development of the songs on Soul Sick. Under clear blue skies, the set began with “Roll Around” (Untamed Beast), “Unraveling” (Soul Sick) and concluded with “Middle Child” (Soul Sick).

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The Covered Bridge Music Series is pleased to present a live music performance by Paul Thorn starting at 8 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 30 at Ohio University Lancaster. This will be an outdoor show on the Covered Bridge stage. All seating is general admission. There will be a cash bar. Non-alcoholic beverages and food provided by the Burrito Buggy and Bobcat Bistro will also be available for purchase. Gates open at 6 p.m. with opening act, Apple and the Moon at 7 p.m.

Tickets are available for $25 at www.coveredbridge.tix.com. Tickets for Children 17 & Under are $10. Admission for Ohio University students is free with a valid, current OHIO (student) ID. All seating is General Admission.

Paul Thorn’s new album Too Blessed To Be Stressed stakes out new territory for the popular roots-rock songwriter and performer.

“In the past, I’ve told stories that were mostly inspired by my own life,” the former prizefighter and literal son of a preacher man offers. “This time, I’ve written 10 songs that express more universal truths, and I’ve done it with a purpose: to make people feel good.”

Which explains numbers like the acoustic-electric charmer “Don’t Let Nobody Rob You Of Your Joy,” where Thorn’s warm peaches-and-molasses singing dispenses advice on avoiding the pitfalls of life. The title track borrows its tag from a familiar saying among the members of the African-American Baptist churches Thorn frequented in his childhood. “I’d ask, ‘How you doin’, sister?’ And what I’d often hear back was, ‘I’m too blessed to be stressed.'” In the hands of Thorn and his faithful band, who’ve been together 20 years, the tune applies its own funky balm, interlacing a percolating drum and keyboard rhythm with the slinky guitar lines beneath his playful banter.

The Covered Bridge Music Series is a joint venture between Ohio University Lancaster Campus and The Lancaster Festival. The purpose of the partnership is to showcase fresh and relevant musical talent providing discovery and enjoyment for the campus and Fairfield County communities and the region. The concerts generally take place twice a year (spring and fall) on the Lancaster Campus of Ohio University.

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June 15-18 marks the Firefly Music Festival in Dover, DE. Started in 2012, this year the festival showcases some impressive headliners – from America’s troubadour, Bob Dylan, to Chance the Rapper, fresh off the 2016 release of the Grammy award winning album Coloring Book.

Among the acts slated to perform is Athens’ own CLUBHOUSE, an eclectic outfit made up entirely of undergraduate students at Ohio University and the Ohio State University. The group found their way into the lineup by way of the festival’s Big Break Global Contest, which allowed fans to vote for various, smaller regional acts to perform at the big-name festival.

CLUBHOUSE’s roots can be traced back to the lobby pianos in Washington Hall on East Green, where drummer Zak Blumer was fiddling away at some tunes he’d taught himself to play via YouTube tutorials in 2015. Michael Berthold, the group’s keyboardist and an OSU student, was in Athens visiting some pals when he joined Zak at the piano.

It was shortly thereafter that bassist Ben Saulnier moved onto the same dormitory floor as lead vocalist Max Reichert.

“I remember that he (Saulnier) lived in Crawford his first semester, and then he moved onto my floor, right across from my room,” said Reichert. “I knocked on his door and asked him if he wanted to hang out, and he was just like ‘yeah, some other time,’ and a few weeks later we actually became pretty good friends.”

Reichert and twins Ari and Zak Blumer had known each other for some time, having been in the same public school system since the third grade, and had explored a series of musical projects before they both enrolled at OU.

“They (Ari and Zak) annoyed me a little at first,” laughed Reichert, seated next to Zak in Donkey Coffee on a balmy afternoon in early May, only weeks after the announcement that their group would be included in the Firefly lineup. “Throughout high school we became best friends. We did a lot of battles of the bands and that kind of thing together – and when we got to college, we wanted to take our music more seriously.”

That they did.

Throughout the past couple of years, CLUBHOUSE has performed at a number of regional venues, lighting up The Union in particular with their ferocious, precocious tunes.

Like many musical outfits that assemble themselves in the high school years, the core group consisting of Reichert and the Blumer twins went through a series of band name changes, including the clever Mirror Image – playing the fact that Zak and Ari are, indeed, twins — before they settled on their present moniker.

“So far as a band name, we eventually settled on ‘clubhouse,’ because Zak and Ari had this little shed, this little clubhouse, which was about the size of a single room in the dirty south (green of Ohio University) that we used to hang out in back in high school,” said Reichert.

Although CLUBHOUSE has only been around for a little under two years, the group has already gone through some sizable music and aesthetic changes.

“At some point our sound sort of shifted, and we started making music that sounded a little more ‘tropical,’” said Reichert. “Almost like taking ‘80s pop and morphing it together with EDM with some R&B influence.”

One of the group’s most recent efforts, the track “Kyra,” glistens with lightly applied synth-pop gloss all while utilizing an undulating percussive streak to maintain the tune’s momentum. Kind of like a boy band from an alternative universe.

“How we consume our music is a huge part of what we’re all about, and the sound that we aim to create,” said Reichert, who said all of the members of the group are avid Spotify users and consumers of digitized media. “We really listen to everything, to every genre that we can. We don’t want to box ourselves in, we want to make music that is like the music that we listen to: everything and anything from Whitney Houston to R&B to rap or EDM. We’re kind of like an Asian fusion place – we take inspiration and influence from every cuisine.”

Being that the group is made up of undergraduate college students, they have their hands full with a burgeoning music project and their various academic and social obligations.

“Being in a band and in college is horrible and amazing – it’s hard because you need to put time into the band and when you have two people in the band who are engineering or accounting majors – and one of them was working an 80-hour a week internship this past spring – things can be tough,” said Reichert. “Right now it’s nice because we have this solid social network of people who will always come to our shows – and it’s a blessing. Being in college is helpful in that way, but it’s also something that propels us and hinders us at the same time.”

“We’re kind of like an Asian fusion place – we take inspiration and influence from every cuisine,” – CLUBHOUSE vocalist and rhythm guitarist Max Reichert

“Honestly, I don’t think that playing at Firefly would have been possible without the network of friends that we have, they’re so supportive,” said Zak. “It’s humbling to have to be in school and in a band, but I’m thankful for the network that we have.”

The band is hopeful for the possibilities that performing this weekend at Firefly could bring them.

“Hopefully playing the festival will help take us to new heights, to the point that we are actually getting asked to play the festival instead of winning a contest to perform there – not that that isn’t totally legitimate and also a blessing,” said Reichert. “Right after we formed the band we went to Firefly together 2015, and we had such a great time. But it was frustrating because we kept looking at each other and asking ‘why aren’t we playing up there on stage already?’”

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Kari Gunter-Seymour’s poems speak of the Appalachian experience – of pride, fear, family, memory, tradition. Of subsidized apartments and homemade desserts made with Crisco. Of a sense of duty; of a sense of voicelessness, of a deep restlessness and a resonance with the valleys and hills of Appalachia.

“My grandfather’s farm is minutes outside of Amesville – and I live in Albany. Athens had always been my center, and I’ve never gone far,” she said in an interview on a balmy afternoon in early May, just weeks after it had been announced that she was the 2017 recipient of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies’ (NFSPS) BlackBerryPeach Spoken and Heard award.

Gunter-Seymour, who is also director of the Women of Appalachia Project, said it was purely serendipitous that she even heard of the competition.

“It’s all rather crazy – I belong to a listserv that sends out weekly emails of various opportunities for writers – and this particular contest appealed to me because I am a performance poet in regards to the fact that I speak in persona,” she said. “I liked the idea that I could submit audio with my work.”

Joe Cavanaugh, the Vice President of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies, said that he was satisfied to see Gunter-Seymour receive the honor, which includes a $1,000 grand prize, the chance to present her work at the NFSPS national convention in Ft. Worth, TX on July 1, a customized chapbook that will be marketed on Amazon, and a YouTube video featuring her work on the NFSPS website.

“As the chairman of the award, I read all the submissions, even though I didn’t make any decisions,” said Cavanaugh. “There are so many genres of spoken word, and all of them speak with a different voice. I was very happy to see Kari win, partially because of the things she addresses in her work – international conflicts, potential for war, potential for suffering – Kari makes it all very real in the characters she creates and the depiction of life she creates.”

Gunter-Seymour began writing poetry in 2009 when her son was deployed in the Middle East.

“At that time, my fears and my anxieties were so profound,” she said. “I started trying to corral those in and condense them.”

After much practice and a lot of determination, her first poem was published in 2011.

“I was so thrilled to see my name in print,” she said. “Since then I’ve had my work published a number of times, but I have never believed in writing to get published. If that’s what you do as a writer, I honestly feel bad for you. It’s very competitive and I think that it is very important that you write because you literally cannot do anything else.”

Gunter-Seymour’s work has accumulated numerous accolades: she’s been a nominee for the prestigious Pushcart Prize twice; her chapbook Serving was a runner-up in the 2016 Yellow Chair Review Annual Chapbook Contest; and her work is in many literary journals, including the Crab Orchard Review, Rattle, Still: The Journal, and Stirring. She also has a B.F.A. in graphic design, a M.A. in commercial photography, and is an instructor at the Ohio University Scripps School of Journalism.

A major theme in Gunter-Seymour’s work is the constant struggle of people in Appalachia; against systemic poverty, domestic violence, drug abuse, and, the culturally assigned stigma that comes along with living in parts of Appalachian America.

“I’ve had my work published a number of times, but I have never believed in writing to get published. If that’s what you do as a writer, I honestly feel bad for you. It’s very competitive and I think that it is very important that you write because you literally cannot do anything else.” – Kari Gunter-Seymour

“It seems like Appalachian culture is one of the last cultures that everybody considers okay to make fun of, and that bothers me,” she said.

The marginalization of the Appalachian people can be easily traced back for well over a century – from the sensationalist journalism that described the occupants of Appalachia as prone to senseless violence and alcoholism in the early 20th century to current cultural prejudices against the approximately 25 million Americans who live in an Appalachian region.

“I am very proud to be representing Athens County, and Athens, OH – but even more so Appalachia as a whole,” said Gunter-Seymour. “I know that a lot of people blame Donald Trump on voters in Appalachia – and depending how you evaluate things maybe that has some truth – because people in Appalachia have long been overlooked. We are considered overfed, under-groomed, and undereducated. I really think that stereotype needs to be addressed and looked at more closely. I see this award as a chance to bring the focus to the Appalachian people on a national level. When people hear my poems, I want them to stop and think ‘wow, I hadn’t ever looked at that in that way.’ Poetry is made up of a few focused and clever words that evoke an emotion – and my hope is that people will think twice about their ideas of what it means to be Appalachian.”

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