Country singer/songwriter guitarist Sean Mettler has experienced the sweet taste of success as well as the cruelty of the music biz. At 16, a young Jason Williams joined Sean’s band near his hometown in Forsyth, Georgia. Williams was quickly discovered, left the band to go to Nashville, dropped his last name, and after a few years became a superstar known as Jason Aldean. Meanwhile, Sean never got the call to join Jason as his guitarist, but after a few ups and downs in Nashville, things are headed in the right direction for Sean here in Forsyth County. Last month he won the Forsyth County Entertainment Awards Country/Folk Artist of the Year. This week his face graced the cover of Relish Magazine, and he’s just formed a new band.

You can hear Sean in concert Friday, August 10, at the Oasis Café in Rural Hall, and on August 24, he’ll perform at the BB&T Ballpark. Later that night Sean will play live at Big Shot’s Tavern in Clemmons.

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Triad Arts Up Close as broadcast at 1:00 p.m.

On July 18, 2012 the Triad lost a consummate artist, and a man beloved by all who knew him well. Pianist, educator, and lifelong learnerRuskin King Cooper passed away at the age of 54. Today TAUC host David Ford celebrates Ruskin’s life and incredible artistry by sharing his interview with Ruskin from April 31, 2005.

Ruskin lived life to its fullest, traveling the world as not only an admired piano soloist and chamber musician, but as an accomplished multi-linguist in search of the perfect accent, and he remained fascinated by different cultures and people wherever he traveled. Ruskin gave generously of his time and energies to a host of causes, raising several thousands of dollars for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in honor of his mother. He loved cycling and cooking, and he even dreamt of one day opening a soul food restaurant in Berlin—ah, but how to get collard greens delivered to Berlin from home?

First among all of those loves was always music. Ruskin’s love for music began even before he could speak, and by the age of four he was already singing several songs in perfect pitch. It wasn’t long before that vocal ability found its way into Ruskin’s singing piano style.

The Music Department at Davidson College is planning a Memorial Concert in honor of Ruskin King Cooper to be held in the Sloan Music Center's Tyler-Tallman Hall at 3:00 p.m. on September 30. Ruskin had been a Davidson College artist associate since 1997, where he was beloved by his students and colleagues. As a piano soloist, Ruskin thrilled audiences throughout the Southeast, Europe, and Mexico. In 2006, he played to large, enthusiastic audiences in Italy, prompting theCorriere Adriatico to write that he "literally drove the audience wild" with a program of American piano music.

Ruskin’s critically acclaimed CD American Originals featuring American piano music is available on Centaur Records. It’s been broadcast on many radio stations throughout the NPR and MPR networks, and this Friday afternoon, David will sample from that recording as well as some of Ruskin’s concert and recital performances. Joining David in the studio will be three musicians who knew Ruskin well: soprano Barbara DeMaioCaprilli, and pianists Federico Pivetta, and Mauro Botelho.

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The North Carolina Black Repertory Company was established in 1979 by Larry Leon Hamlin. It’s Our State’s first professional Black theatre company, attracting the finest actors and directors from across the country.

That tradition continues today under the leadership of Executive Director Gerry Patton and Artistic Director Mabel Robinson. The North Carolina Black Repertory Company’s international outreach is the National Black Theatre Festival which they produce every other year. Coming up August 3rd through the 5th at the Arts Council Theatre in Winston-Salem, the Repertory Company presents the gripping and thought-provoking playAccept “Except” by Karimah. Audience Development and Public Relations Manager Wende Walker stopped by to talk about it with TAUC host David Ford.

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Pianist and Wake Forest University professor Peter Kairoff discusses the German composer who put the “t” in "tortured artist" and the “R” in "Romantic Period". It's understanding Robert Schumann with Kairoff at the Keyboard.

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Tonight at 9:00pm The Reynolda House Museum of American Art kicks off Cinema Under the Stars: Heroes and Legendsoutdoor film series with the 1938 Errol Flynn movie The Adventures of Robin Hood.

This Oscar-winning classic, along with countless other adventure films that came after it, was greatly influenced by 19th century book illustratorHoward Pyle. Hollywood directors, costume designers, screenwriters, and more have continually drawn on Pyle’s colorful recreations of the past, and movie pirates from the golden era of cinema to Johnny Depp have all worn costumes inspired by Pyle’s illustrations. The great Vincent van Gogh himself once wrote that Pyle’s work struck him "dumb with admiration", and at 8:00pm on Friday, you can find out why during Reynolda’s pre-screening talk. It’s titled Buried Treasure: Howard Pyle and the Silver Screen, and it’ll be given by David's guest today, art historian and Wake Forest University Professor David Lubin.

Last year, on the 100th anniversary of Pyle's death, David Lubin was invited to speak at the Delaware Art Museum in Wilmington (Pyle’s hometown), where the largest collection of Pyle’s work resides. David has just returned from another talk on Pyle’s work and influence at theNorman Rockwell Museum in Massachusetts, and yes, it turns out that Norman Rockwell himself was a Pyle devotee as well.

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Zone of Contention: The U.S./Mexico Border is a powerful exhibition going on right now at the Weatherspoon Art Museum in Greensboro that focuses on artists’ investigations of issues related to the U.S./Mexico border. Through photography, sculpture, works on paper, video, and new media, subjects such as migrant labor, the Dream Act, and border control are being examined in terms of their current social impact.

Zone of Contention: The U.S./Mexico Border runs through September 2, and features new and recent works by artists from the U.S., Mexico, and Canada, including David's guest, Greensboro’s Todd Drake. Todd’s new exhibit Help: Hidden Work, Hidden Lives draws a line from the enslaved to the undocumented exposing a repeating history of exploitation. It’s one man’s call to help those struggling for a better life through work and education.