Alferd Packer Memorial String Band
Alferd Packer Memorial String Band
It's been 27 years since Lawrence's old-time folk and Americana outfit first made its debut jamming with friends at Johnny's Tavern. Too bad it wasn't 31.4 years ago, because that might explain the title behind The Alferd Packer Memorial String Band's newest CD, "Pi." The latest incarnation of the constantly evolving Packer group - Jim Brothers, Steve Mason, Steve Goeke, Matt Kirby, Mike Yoder and Lauralyn Bodle - will celebrate with a CD release party and concert that expertly mixes mandolin, accordion, washboard and guns. The Packer party takes place at 8 p.m. today at Lawrence Arts Center, 940 N.H.
Lawrence's version of The Walnut Valley Festival hits South Park this weekend. The free event features contests for fiddle, mandolin, banjo, flatpick guitar, dulcimer, ensemble folk singing and more. Other highlights include performances from The Midday Ramblers and Tichenor, Biggs, Desko and Atchinson, as well as food vendors and children's activities. The event runs from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 6:30 p.m. Sunday. Go to www.fidpick.org for a full schedule.
Hidden in Plain View
For those who think the latest crop of rock bands has lost its lyrical edge in favor of songs about girlfriends and video games, say hello to Hidden In Plain View. The New Jersey band's new record, "Life in Dreaming," explores such heavy themes as date rape, suicide and cancer. This ain't The Beach Boys. Yet all of the compositional raging is delivered in an ear-friendly package, complete with hooky harmonies and anthemic choruses. Hidden In Plain View joins The Academy Is, Spitalfield and Over It at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at The Granada, 1020 Mass.
'A Thread of Modernism'
During the past 30 years, quilts have come off the bed and onto gallery walls, blending function with decoration. It's easy to see why contemporaries would view the traditional American folk art as fine art: The flat planes, bright colors and abstracted forms play to our modernist sensibilities. "Quilts: A Thread of Modernism" looks at a dozen quilts from the Spencer Museum of Art's collection within the context of the modern movement. The exhibition is on view through Oct. 30 in the North Balcony Gallery.
'Unfolding'
'Unfolding'
Since her solo exhibition in August 2003 at Signs of Life, Lawrence painter Heather Smith Jones has gained a loyal, local following and has shown at galleries throughout the area. Jones says her work connects dichotomies: "I consider certainty and uncertainty, clarity and obscurity, unity and individuality, and permanence and ephemerality. To render these thoughts, I pair abstraction with representation, text with imagery, color with whiteness of paper, and austerity with indulgence." Jones will show 27 new pieces in "Unfolding," which opens with a reception from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. today at the gallery, 722 Mass., and remains on view through Oct. 22.
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