Entertainment Briefs - Sept. 4

CLC Community Band members wanted

The Central Lakes College (CLC) Community Band will begin its fall 2014 season with the first rehearsal at 7 p.m. Monday in the rehearsal hall E471 on the CLC Campus in Brainerd.

Rehearsals last two hours and are open to all interested musicians from high school juniors to adults of high school skill level and above.

The band's fall concert, "A Bit of Scotch, A Bit of Brit" will be performed Nov. 18 in the Chalberg Theater.

For more information, contact Steve Anderson at sanderson@clcmn.edu or 855-8215.

Martin Zellar and the Hardways to perform

STAPLES - Martin Zellar and his band The Hardways will perform at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13 in Centennial Auditorium in Staples. The concert is underwritten by Unity Bank.

"Country-tinged exploration of human frailties," describes the music of Zellar.

Zellar has fashioned a music career firmly grounded in the quality craftsmanship of his songwriting. His songs are a combination of lyrical sincerity, inspired by simple arrangements and unmistakable raspy vocals.

Zellar rose from the ashes of the legendary Gear Daddies, the Midwest-based country-rock team led by the singer-songwriter. The Gear Daddies formed in 1985. A rabid fan-base soon developed and the band dished out two releases on a major label, "Let's Go Scare Al" and "Billy's Live Bait." Critics gushed about the band's "gutsy, country-tinged songs filled with heartland angst" as the group spawned a string of tunes about lost souls, drunken nights and unrequited love. Prior to their amicable disbanding in 1992, the band appeared on the David Letterman show.

Two years after the Gear Daddies parted, Zellar found himself on another major label releasing his first solo effort, "Born Under." A self-titled CD came two years later. Acclaim continued for Zellar's gritty and honest tales as Gear Daddies fans remained faithful and his live show sparked a new generation of Martin Zellar fans.

In the subsequent years, Zellar formed the independent record label, Owen Lee Recordings. His first release on that label was "The Many Moods of Martin Zellar and the Hardways." He and his family moved to Austin, Texas, for a few years; and currently reside in a mountain town in Central Mexico. Despite the distance, Zellar still tours frequently throughout the Midwest.

His latest project, "Roosters Crow," was recorded at the Zone Studio in Texas by engineer/producer Pat Manske.

Still to come on this year's Arts Council season are Trick Boxing, fast-paced physical comedy full of rapid-fire dialogue, dancing, puppetry; The Things They Carried, a one-man show that recalls Vietnam with words and sounds; The WoodPicks, bluegrass band; Beyond Ballroom Dance Company; and St. Anthony Brass Quintet, one of the finest chamber ensembles in Minnesota.

For more information, check out the Arts Council's website at www.staplesmotleyarts.org

Tickets for Martin Zellar and The Hardways are $20 in advance, $25 at the door. To purchase tickets by cash or check go to the Staples World.

Feast, Film and Forum! planned in Pine River

PINE RIVER - Happy Dancing Turtle (HDT) and the Northwoods Unitarian Universalist Fellowship announce another round of Feast, Film and Forum, free events that include potluck dishes, films, speakers and discussions that are hosted on the Hunt Utilities Group Campus in Pine River.

The events will be held for four Thursdays, beginning Sept. 11. Each event begins with an optional potluck at 5:30 p.m., followed by a film or panel of speakers at 6 p.m. and finishing with a question and answer period and discussion.

Event topics include:

• Seed Saving on Sept. 11. Participants will watch part of a film followed by discussion on why seed saving is important, what seeds are easy to start saving and how to do so.

• Alternative Preservation, Sept. 25. Panel speakers will discuss different methods of preserving, such as drying and fermenting.

• Herbs, Oct. 9. Participants will view "Numen," a film about the important health properties of herbs followed by a couple of speakers discussing their experiences and suggestions.

• Agroforestry, Oct. 23. Highlights of the different practices that make up the technique of combining agricultural and forestry to create more diverse, productive, profitable, healthy and sustainable land-use.

Rehearsals begin for Staples Area Women's Chorus

STAPLES - The Staples Area Women's Chorus will open the 2014-2015 rehearsal season at 8 p.m. Monday at the Staples Motley High School Choir Room.

The chorus is under the direction of Director Rob Freelove, who is starting his fifth season with the women's chorus. Sandy Paskewitz will be the accompanist. Paskewtiz and Freelove are working in the music programs in Staples Motley and Pillager School Districts.

The chorus has secured a 501(c)3 status, taking part in a four part professional development series through the Five Wings Arts Council. Information the chorus has taken part in during the four sessions: "Relevancy and Relationships: Who is my community;" "Think and Act Strategically;" "Finance and Fundraising;" and "Leadership: What is it: Do we have it?"

Over the summer, the chorus board spent time in a strategic planning session with Vicki Chepulis from the Five Wings Arts Council on "Building Resiliency/Adapting to Change."

This session will help the chorus build capacity in the organization to be relevant to the community they serve long into the future.

One of the goals of the chorus his season is to increase the membership of the chorus and

maintain that membership through the season.

The chorus invites women to join the group. The season runs through April and it will host its new member night Sept. 15. Events in the planning stages are the Soup, Sandwich and Song scheduled Oct. 25; "Her Voice, Her Song" in January of 2015; and a possible spring event.

Several of the projects and the operation of the chorus is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through grants from the Five Wings Arts Council, thanks to a legislative appropriation from Arts and Cultural Heritage Funds.

Exhibit and class planned at Jaques

AITKIN - The Jaques Art Center will host on-going class with sessions from 1-3 p.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays. Adele McDonnell will help students make frogs and dragonflies, "Up-North" bowls, platters or large mosaics for tables or to hang on the wall.

There will be a $5 per session charge and additional charges for supplies and firing.

For more information call Jaques at 218-927-2363.

In the gallery, "The Francis Lee Jaques: The Shape of Nature" exhibit from the Bell Museum in Minneapolis will begin Sept. 11, with a public reception from 4-7 p.m. At 6 p.m. Don Luce, Curator of Bell Museum Exhibitions and Susan Weller, director of the Bell Museum, will speak about the exhibit. The exhibit ends on Nov. 1.

In other news at the gallery, tickets for the annual Harvest Dinner planned Oct. 4 are now available.

Nature exhibit on display in Little Falls

LITTLE FALLS - Chuck Norwood's Intimate Nature exhibition is on display in the Great River Arts Side Gallery through Sept. 27. The collection of detailed images highlight personal reactions to the majesty of nature with exquisite black and white and high definition full color photographs.

Norwood of St. Cloud, moved to Minnesota from the east coast 30 years ago. He finds himself being drawn to the beauty, psychology and transformations of nature. This interest in natural elements is evident in his composed images of waterfalls, ice caves, flowers and canyons. Collectively the show gives viewers a moment to pause and embrace the delicate elegance of nature.

During the month of September, Norwood is instructing a five-session photography workshop that utilizes both classroom and fieldwork to develop students understanding of SLR cameras and nature photography. Focus on Photography: Take II is the second workshop series he has taught at Great River Arts, with the class starting Sept. 9.

For more information on the exhibition and upcoming photography workshop go to www.greatart.org/side-gallery .

Exhibit planned at Franklin

The Franklin Arts Center Resident Artists Gallery will host two exhibits which open Friday and run through Sept. 27, with an opening reception from 5-9 p.m. Friday.

The exhibits are "After Hours, An Exhibition Of Tattoo Artists" and "Danse Macabre" by artist Steven McKnight.

"After Hours, An Exhibition Of Tattoo Artists," features a selection of artwork in all mediums from local tattoo artists, including artists Clint Lasher and others from Pain Ink Tattoos and Piercings and Tony Powers. People will get to see the other side of the tattoo artist, and the art that is created outside of the shop. Some ideas and imagery transfer over from day to night, but all in new and different mediums.

The artwork in this exhibition includes oil and acrylic paintings, drawings, pen and ink pieces, airbrush paintings, sculptures and more.

In the front gallery space, McKnight presents his first solo exhibition titled "Danse Macabre," a collection of black and white photographs. McKnight explains how the project started with an unmarked box of expired 35mm black and white film, delivered without notice by a distant friend. In keeping with the grainy, uneven characteristics of expired film, he used it to channel his love for the aesthetics of horror films and gothic literature into an exploration of existential crises using masked characters. He assembled a cast of friends to model and bring their personal demons to exemplify the conflict in each shot. Each character represents a person at a critical turning point in their life, a moment where the uncertainty of life and the certainty of death dovetail into a spiritual paralysis which leaves people foreign to themselves.

There will be live music and a special live performance art/painting by Tony Powers during the opening reception.

Poets honored at Northwoods Art and Book Festival

HACKENSACK - The seventh annual poetry recognition event was featured in August at the Northwoods Art and Book Festival in Hackensack.

Poetry was displayed in the book arts section and each Minnesota poet who entered the event had one or two of their poems on display.

A committee selected four poems as winners for Works of Merit. During the day those who attended the festival had an opportunity to vote for their favorite poems. Four poems were then chosen as winners in the Popular Choice category.

Sue Ready, chair for the 2014 Poetry Recognition event, presided over the poetry reading. Each of the poets in attendance shared with the audience their submitted poems and why poetry matters to them.

Poets recognized as Works of Merit include the following: Audrey Kletscher Helbling, Faribault, for "Hope of the Farmer;" Sandra Burwell, Minneapolis, "Ironing Day;" Francine Marie Tolf, Minneapolis, "Summer Night, Listening to Debussy;" and Linda Maki, Tonka Bay, "Mine Field."

Popular Choice winners were Lea Johnstone, Backus for "The Wind Chime," John Harrington, Stacy, "Winter Morning's Walk;" Cheryl Wilke, Minneapolis, "Blue Jeans and Flannel Shirt;" and Francine Marie Tolf, Minneapolis, "Late Summer Gold."