2004 September

Maybe if I ever do something really important, a trio of esteemed Canadian singer-songwriters will record an album in my honor. And that tribute album will be riotously successful and make me famous — and them too, of...

No, this isn't that big-budget spring event that celebrates publishing, literacy, and other profundities. The Kerrytown District Association BookFest is much homier than that. A neighborly get-together that features...

When the Emerson String Quartet was in Ann Arbor early last December, it played Haydn, Beethoven, and Shostakovich. When it returns to town on Sunday, September 26, it will play Tower, Beethoven, and Shostakovich. From the...

The semi-underground world of free improvisation has its own heroes, its own publications, and its own network of dedicated supporters and performance venues. But even in this small world there are hierarchies and conformities...

I've seen and heard Ralph Stanley any number of times, once in a high school multipurpose room with the acoustics of a seashell. He's the greatest living exponent of bluegrass music, and just a few years ago, you'd...

Award-winning short story writer Nancy Reisman, U-M visiting professor for the past several years, has written one of those novels that alter your perception of the world before you even realize they've done so. At the very...

There isn't much room with eight musicians on stage, but that's okay. The folks in Rootstand are completely comfortable with themselves, their instruments, and each other. Two separate drum sets monopolize the back half...

Agreed, Wiard's is a wee bit hokey. But it's a mistake to get all snooty instead of enjoying what for me turned out to be a silly, interesting, and even mystic afternoon. After jolting down a washboard road and shelling...