Thursday August 21 Walk in beauty: There’s always someone marching to a different drummer, and in the local art community, it’s Cherry Creek North, where galleries go against the grain of the “First Friday” arts stroll and throw their own Third Thursday Art Walks. But that’s okay–it just gives us…

Thursday August 14 Next of Keen: Cult favorites often get that way because of a quirk; for guitarist Robert Earl Keen, it’s an oddball brand of deadpan humor that’s just weird enough to elicit double takes wherever he plays. But on that second look, you’ll usually discover that Keen has…

Thursday August 7 Tale-telling hearts: Call it escapism, but everyone loves a story. And that simple truth is what fuels the annual Rocky Mountain Storytelling Festival, a weekend retreat at Palmer Lake where you and your family can get deliciously lost as much as you like, at least for as…

Thursday July 31 Out of the woods: Smooth as silk. Liquid gold. These are just two of the ways one might describe the facile voice of Kevin Mahogany, the male jazz vocalist generally named these days by those in the know as the Joe Williams or Billy Eckstine of his…

Thursday July 24 Ska’s the limit: What goes around comes around, and when it comes to something as exuberant and danceable as ska, we couldn’t be happier. What began in the ’50s as a full-throttled precursor to the more loping Jamaican reggae music went through its first revival nearly twenty…

Thursday July 17 Garden party: Next weekend’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream might seem to better fit the occasion, but look at it this way: Kicking off this summer’s Theatre in the Park series in Civic Center Park with James Goldman’s Lion in Winter at least sounds pretty cool…

Thursday July 10 How street it is: What better way to kick off this summer’s Colorado Dance Festival than with some exuberant dancing in the street–style, that is. A unique troupe of dancers, Rennie Harris PureMovement uses hip-hop as a springboard, taking the giant choreographic leap from lowbrow to highbrow…

Thursday July 3 War zone: The air is warm and soft, summer’s at its peak and it’s the glorious start of a long holiday weekend–perfect conditions for a night of dancing in the street. And few bands lend themselves to that purpose better than ’70s funk ‘n’ rollers War, guests…

Thursday June 26 24 carrot gold: Any Jew worth his or her chopped liver knows there’s nothing more priceless than bubbe’s home cookin’. So for ethnic gastronomes, the name of Jewish-music group Tzimmes makes perfect sense. The band’s Yiddish title refers to a chutney-like stew of carrots, raisins, prunes and…

Thursday June 19 Just put your lips together and blow: Folk art is just to look at and enjoy, right? Wrong. The wacky, whimsical works of Iowa carver Connie Roberts have hidden talents, as well: They’re whistles. The outside might look like a tic-tac-toe board festooned with comic cats and…

Thursday June 12 Oh, you kid: Erstwhile kid-in-the-hall Scott Thompson is a dedicated Streisand-watcher. Not a fan, mind you, just a watcher. It has to do with the striking resemblance: In an interview in US magazine, Thompson said, “A little more nose bump and I’m there.” The fey Canadian, who…

Thursday June 5 Girl talk: The quartet of professional Latinas in Luminarias is looking for role models more inspiring than what it calls the stereotypical “gang mothers, undocumented workers, hookers and suffering women kneeling before the Virgin.” Along the way, the four find time to discuss politics, racial issues, relationships…

Thursday May 29 The mortal Coryell: Who but Larry Coryell could deliver an electrifying performance even when he doesn’t plug in? The mellowing guitarist, a rocked-up fusion pioneer in the ’60s and ’70s, now seems content to sit down with an acoustic instrument all by his lonesome and just play…

Thursday May 22 Beck to the future: The performer of the future is here right now. It’s Beck–and not much else. Somehow, though, Beck hauls his turntables and microphones and pale, deadpan eyes on stage with him and manages to deliver a whopping good, charged-up live show for the ages…

Thursday May 15 Sticks and stones: Behind every great comedian, there’s a guiding philosophy. For pernicious stand-up wit Bobby Slayton, it goes something like this: “If you can’t laugh at yourself, make fun of other people.” Be forewarned–meanness is Slayton’s oeuvre. Slayton says himself that even Don Rickles apologizes at…

Thursday May 8 War and priests: Church-related issues run thick and deep in Racing Demon, David Hare’s insightful theater verite based on the playwright’s in-depth interviews of priests in impoverished London neighborhoods. While Hare pays homage to the grassroots efforts of Anglican clergymen on the streets of South London, he’s…

Thursday May 1 What’s new? In every swarm of musicians, there are always a few adventurous souls who aren’t satisfied with playing the same old thing. Now a handful of the area’s intrepid music makers, the Modern Chamber Players, with help from the Boulder Philharmonic, are celebrating la difference with…

Thursday April 24 Sister act: One by-product of having lived 100 years is a sweeping, first-hand sense of American history that most of us can only cull from books. Having Our Say–an autobiographical, two-woman dramatic adaptation based on the best-selling true story of African-American sisters Miss Sadie and Dr. Bessie…

Thursday April 17 Purple prose: Controversial scholar, feminist and prize-winning author Alice Walker is best known for her bestseller The Color Purple and the ensuing inspirational Steven Spielberg flick. But her newest book, Anything We Love Can Be Saved: A Writer’s Activism, is a whole different kettle of fish, collecting…

Thursday April 10 The write stuff: Writer Mona Simpson has a real gift for weaving fiction out of the threads of autobiography. What’s really amazing is how she manages to do it without boring anyone to tears. Simpson’s notable 1986 debut novel, Anywhere But Here, and its followup, The Lost…

Thursday April 3 Well-versed: It’s the little things in life that make it more palatable, and perhaps that’s why National Poetry Month deserves attention. Or at least more attention than what’s afforded by a few bad jokes. The art of verse, after all, serves no pragmatic purpose; it’s there simply…

Thursday March 27 All aboard! Extreme sports and extreme music take a ride together on the slopes this weekend during UnVailed ’97: The Ultimate Band & Board Event, a spring snow extravaganza in Vail designed to appeal to the shaved, tattooed and pierced crowd. Or to the rest of you…