Art notes, Oct. 5
By Casey Gillis on Nov. 05, 2008
From staff reports
Connecticut band makes stop
The Alternate Routes, an indie rock band from Bridgeport, Conn., will perform Friday evening at The Spring House.
With roots at Fairfield University in Connecticut, where songwriting partners Eric Donnelly (lead guitar) and Tim Warren (lead vocals, guitar) first met, The Alternate Routes grew into a five-piece outfit that has received national recognition. In April 2007, they played on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” and are presently touring along the East Coast.
The concert starts at 7 p.m. with No No Nacho, an eight-piece Chicago style band from Lynchburg College. Tickets are $6 at the door.
The Spring House Restaurant and Reception Hall is located on 9789 Richmond Highway (U.S. 460 east). For more information on the concert, call (434) 993-2475. For more on the band, visit http://www.thealternateroutes.com.
Solo show on stage at SBC
A little taste of Cirque de Soleil is coming to Sweet Briar College this weekend.
Mark Magruder, director of the college’s dance program, will be performing in a solo show called “Kinetic Playground,” which mixes dance, music and art, at 4 p.m. Sunday in the Babcock Fine Arts’ Center’s Murchison Lane Auditorium.
For the show, he’s created a wooden, ladder-like sculpture that is 16 feet long, 8½ feet tall and 7 feet wide. It’s been in the home studio where he built it, and it’s so big that Magruder will have to get it out through the window in time for Sunday’s show.
Magruder was inspired to create the show during a one-week stay at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts — just across the road from the college — when he composed its score, choreographed dances and came up with the idea for the sculpture.
Academy hosts musician
Music has always been in Ty England’s blood.
The Oklahoma native, who will be playing at the Academy of Fine Arts’ Warehouse Theatre at 8 p.m. Saturday, taught himself to play his grandfather’s guitar as a child. He quickly became enamored with country music, learning the works of legends like Hank Williams and Roy Acuff.
After high school, he enrolled at Oklahoma State University and spent his nights performing at campus coffee shops. It was there that he met Garth Brooks, who was then just a fellow student. The two hit it off, became roommates and started playing together.
Life eventually took them in different directions until Brooks signed his first record contract. England spent the next six years in Brooks’ band as his touring guitarist and backup vocalist.
The pair also co-wrote “Every Time That It Rains,” which appeared on Brooks’ first record.
“It was like taking a short course in songwriting,” England says on his Web site. “Working with Garth taught me a lot about coming up with a song idea, exploring it and then following it through.”
In 1995, England released his own self-titled debut album, which featured the top-fivc single “Should’ve Asked Her Faster.”
He’s released three albums since then, the most recent of which is 2007’s “Alive and Well.”
Tickets to the show are $28 for adults, $15 for seniors and $14 for students. They can be purchased at the Academy Box Office or online at http://www.AcademyFineArts.com.
For more information, call (434) 846-TIXX.
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