Delta Fine Arts Program Developer Rodney Holman is also a North Carolina Governor’s School Foundation Board Member, U.S. State Department Franklin Fellow, Winston-Salem Centennial Committee member, and Golden LEAF Scholars Program Center for Creative Leadership coach. Rodney’s also a poet, author, and singer/songwriter.
You can hear him reading selections from his new book of poems on Sunday, May 13, during the Delta Arts Center’s annual Mother’s Day Jazz Brunch beginning at 12:30. A few years ago Rod decided to set aside his novel manuscript and publish a collection of his old poems, as well as new, yet to be written ones. He was faced with the fearful question: would he be able to once again summon the muse? Thankfully for us, the answer was “yes”, and the result is The Universal Solvent, poems by Rodney Holman. It’s just been published by ljames Press.
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The 12th Annual Bethabara Highland Games are coming up this Mother’s Day weekend all day on Saturday, May 12. There will be outstanding Celtic and Moravian games, Scottish Dance, great food from Finnegan’s Wake, and lots and lots of wonderful music.
This year the Bethabara Highland Games are hosting their first Scottish Fiddle Competition. The competition will be judged by National Scottish Fiddle Champion Jane MacMorran from East Tennessee State University. Jane will be offering a workshop from 11:00am to 12:00pm, and the competition begins at 1:00pm. There will be prizes for each level of the competition for the Junior, Novice and Open divisions. Winston-Salem Triad Scottish Fiddlers and Friends co-director Debbie Morris, and Historic Bethabara Park’s Ellen Kutcher dropped by WFDD to break down all the fun, and fiddling lingo.
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A Genius for Place: American Landscapes of the Country Place Era is the current exhibit going on at Reynolda House Museum of American Art where it will remain through August 5. American landscape design was shaped early on in the 19th century by Jackson Downing and Frederick Law Olmsted. Olmsted's last great project was the laying out of George Vanderbilt's 120,000 acre Biltmore Estate near Asheville.
A Genius for Place is also the title of a new book by Library of American Landscape History director Robin Karson. On Tuesday, May 15 at 5:30, she’ll present an illustrated talk about several artistically expressive landscapes from this period. The talk will take place in the Mary and Charlie Babcock Wing of Reynolda. A Genius for Place: American Landscapes of the Country Place Era is published by University of Massachusetts Press. The book will be available for purchase, and author Robin Karson will be available to autograph copies as well.
Last week, she spoke with David by phone from her office in Amherst, Massachusetts.
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Janus 4-14 is on the verge of releasing their very first album, and they want you to come celebrate. The self-titled Janus 4-14 recorded, mixed and produced by Mitch Easter at Fidelitorium Studios is full of sweaty, energetic, rock-n-roll with just a pinch of punk. You’ll hear plenty of 90s influence too, but delve just a little beneath the surface and you’ll find a whole host of musical references hiding amongst the interconnected story lines.
As lead singer/guitarist and songwriter Chad Barnard tells it, those stories are deeply personal, collected over many years and they’re keepin’ it real for Janus 4-14’s fans. They’re set to catchy melodies too that’ll have you humming. Coming up Friday, 11 May those tunes will be ringing through The Flatiron in Greensboro during the band’s CD release party beginning at 10:00pm with special guests Vel Indica. In the meantime, Chad and guitarist, keyboardist, and background vocalist Shane Mauck visit WFDD's Studio A to talk up the new CD, discuss the art of song writing, play a few tunes live, and reflect on their error prone 20-something years with TAW host David Ford.