Poignant live performance from ’90s dream pop Fishmans re-emerges

December 30, 2020January 5, 2021 Christine Hawes

In spite of such a difficult COVID-consumed year for all of us, the universe gave us unexpected gifts along the way. Some are bright and shiny; some are dark and stormy. Some are both. One of those dual-sided gifts for me has been discovering a 42-minute concert film that a commenter on RateYourMusic calls a “post-rock/dream pop/neo-psychedelia epic…. absolutely heavenly.” Known officially as “98.12.28 Otokotachi no Wakare” (“A Men’s Farewell”), this concert is, as video game developer Daulton Nelson writes, “a mastery in progressive pop and psychedelic pop” and “an…

On the anniversary of Woodstock, a look back at Camp Euforia 2019

August 24, 2019January 31, 2021 Guest Writer

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“The sunsets here are some of my favorite,” texts a friend before I head to the last night of Camp Euforia near Lone Tree, Iowa. My car was all set in the back, and I had my bag of nuts and White Claws in tow. I trudged through the festival field like a packhorse, in my Bonnaroo galoshes that I’ve had for over five years. After running into a high school buddy at the festival gate, I wove through and headed to a familiar campsite in the same spot as…

LGBTQ and POC: what’s it like to grow up in Iowa?

June 16, 2019December 14, 2020 Christine Hawes

This year’s 50th anniversary of Stonewall, though moving, has also been marred by episodes of entitlement. These included the shoutdown, at Stonewall Inn itself, of a black transgender woman as she tried to read the names of murdered transgender women amid a party involving mostly white gay men. The episode illuminated that even LGBTQ communities, while themselves marginalized, are still struggling with intersectionality, inclusion, and respect for other marginalized communities. Isaac Burris, 22, and Adrienne L. Woodard, 59, were among the headline performers at Iowa City Pride recently. They also…

Live local musicians deserve our dollars

March 17, 2019December 28, 2020 Guest Writer

When musicians perform, audience members only see the final portion of their work. That show, concert, or gig is only the end of a larger process that takes hours, days, and even years of investment and preparation. The compensation for these performances rarely matches the effort and time musicians put into their craft. This doesn’t even account for the time and energy spent booking shows, rehearsing, traveling, and setting up equipment. Typically, musicians make $50 to $75 a night. If you’re part of a band, you earn only a fraction…

Lend Handicare a hand at March 31 benefit concert

March 15, 2019December 14, 2020 Guest Writer

Ginny Ryan turned to Handicare to help care for all four of her children. All of the staff remember all of her kids’ names, and identified each of their unique needs. “We were so grateful to have the loving support and experienced care of Handicare providers,” Ryan said. “We utilized everything from the infant room to preschool, and felt confident that the kids were in great hands. Handicare has a wonderfully dedicated staff that has fun with every kid.” Handicare now needs the public’s support to pay for some much-needed…

The best of protest music

February 28, 2019February 12, 2021 Guest Writer

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Every year, I dive through the music industry’s “best of” lists, looking for albums and artists that made a splash or flew under my radar. This January, scrolling through lists from NPR, Pitchfork, the Guardian, and other tastemakers, one pattern became extremely clear: 2018 was a year for resistance music. Pop, hip hop, and indie music took a strongly political stance in 2018, reflecting resistance, frustration, and courage in the Trump era. From the cool, devastating rhymes of Noname, to the lonely alt-country ballads of Brandi Carlile, the rhetoric of…

EDITORIAL: Leaving behind The Music Man’s “Iowa Stubborn”

February 15, 2019December 28, 2020 Christine Hawes

Remember these lyrics in “The Music Man,” that famous Iowa-based musical from the ‘50s by Meredith Wilson? “We can be cold as our falling thermometer in December, if you ask about our weather in July. And we’re so by God stubborn, we can stand touchin’ noses for a week at a time, and never see eye to eye. “But we’ll give you our shirt and a back to go with it, if your crops should happen to die. So what the heck? You’re welcome; glad to have you with us…