We all have stories. We hold them close, for stories are the most potent form that memory can take. We carry them around with us, carefully polishing and honing them in the telling and re-telling, until they become integral parts of our identity. How many times have you sat recounting a particularly memorable experience around… Continue reading Your Story Is Mine
Words
Tag, You’re Art
At this point, I think it’s pretty clear that I think graffiti is art. We’ve featured Birmingham graffiti in our SEEN section and on our cover on more than one occasion, and in an artistic context. What wasn’t clear to me until recently, however, was that the status of graffiti as art was in question… Continue reading Tag, You’re Art
Secret’s Out
If you haven’t heard, the state tourism board has dubbed 2011 the “Year of Alabama Music”, and it certainly seems as if their timing was right. The pall that fell around the music scene in Birmingham after the messy demise of City Stages has apparently lifted. There is a flood of music-related events happening or… Continue reading Secret’s Out
Dance For The Jilted
I hate Valentine’s Day. Call me the Love Grinch if you will, but as far as I’m concerned, never has there been a more loathsome, extraneous and humiliating holiday than the orgy of consumerism known as Valentine’s Day. One could say the same thing about Christmas, but at least on that occasion there is still… Continue reading Dance For The Jilted
Turning The Corner
Walking away from success is one of the hardest things artists can do, yet it is a choice that they often must face. Entry into the commercial marketplace with what amounts to an extension of your soul means viewing that piece of yourself as a commodity, which can destroy the things you love or that… Continue reading Turning The Corner
Get Your Move On
Dancing. We all do it, whether we trot our stuff on the dance-floors of Birmingham’s local clubs or wiggle to a favorite mix in the privacy of our own bedrooms. Even the most bumbling wallflower has surely tapped a toe to a good beat now and then. Dancing is a part of human nature, the… Continue reading Get Your Move On
Beautiful
If you spend much time walking or driving around the city of Birmingham, you have probably seen some of the recent additions to Birmingham’s graffiti collection. I am talking, of course, about the “You are beautiful” tags, which have appeared in various sizes ranging from giant building spanners to small stencils. The graffiti campaign recently… Continue reading Beautiful
Here Be Dragons
Right now, at this very moment, you are surrounded by hidden treasure. No matter where you might be in Birmingham, in all likelihood there are a number of carefully concealed containers near you…Read the rest
American Anthem
I have heard soft and beautiful folk songs. I have felt the heartache from a passionate lyric etch traces of longing over a wistful melody. In fact, in recent years, as the record labels realized they could sell folk again and began homogenizing the term “indie”, I have heard an awful lot of albums chock… Continue reading American Anthem