“They played at an impeccable level.”

With the Benders exit came the bubbly anticipation for the band we most all came to see and hear: Broken Bells.  As stated in previous writings, Broken Bells are seasoned musicians, and this show proved their musical merit translates graciously to the stage.  These guys know how to construct and put on a Show.  They enlisted backing musicians that are equally as versed and their collective set was an absolute showcase of talent with every member involved.  Each member given a chance to be highlighted; and they each took that chance under the spotlight, origami-ed it into something that was truly, solely theirs, and tossed it back at an audience that was at an emotional tipping point, verging near giving their first born for more more more, which we got (sans passed propriety of any prepubescent) when the collective performed together as some singularly-brained, multi-armed, thousand-fingered mystic creature of sublime music playing.  To say nothing of the lead musicians Burton and Mercer: the latter, unfazed by a rabid crowd, singing with crystal clarity while Burton maneuvered, seamlessly, drums then keys then back to drums then some stringed instrument then drums again then more keys; making the music of many from one without effort and error.  Talent, from all, at it’s most supreme.  Like saying they played well {which was my expectation} is a gross understatement.  Let’s say they took my high expectations, laughed at and ridiculed them, ground them to a fine powder they then mixed with expensive, foreign, aged bourbon to be seconds later shook in a mixer which they poured slowly into their solo cup and, after taking one contemplative sip, then heaved at my face, telling me never again to think that they’ll ever again play well because “well” is how high quality musicians play and we, sir, we the Broken Bells are beyond high quality, which is why we can ruin our expensive bourbon with your silly expectations and heave it at your person.  We can afford much more expensive, aged bourbon and your high expectations are, for lack of a better word, lacking.  These gentlemen are, like, The Wow.  And know, too, how to work a crowd.  They opened slow-ish, then rose to a triumphant crescendo with each song lifting your spirit higher to the sealing, then soon right through.  Creating a mass frenzy until all you could do was jump towards the blown rafters and scream along with the music.  They played at an impeccable level.  You can’t get a better sound then these guys.  It literally sounded like the record was in my head.  Every note on point.  Every lyric impeccable and discernible.  Everything musically and stage-presence-wise as you could have ever hoped and imagined.  Remarkable.  Hats off to the Bells and a tip of the cap to The Benders.  I’ll see you next go ’round.

It’s like finding some semi-worn but still wearable suit at the thrift store, right?

And that’s not to say that their music is on the emo-side, lyrically; or that it mainly wallows and wades in dark, corner hidden, wall flowered feelings, but some stuff here, lyrically, sounds a direct result of being young and feeling through growth, working through the thoughts that come uniquely from growing out of youth.  So it’s like you have these new, up-to-date musicians (age-wise) singing about nothing too ground breaking (though nothing too out dated or played out, either; timeless, I guess is the word) over music that sounds like it’s a throwback.  It’s like finding some semi-worn but still wearable suit at the thrift store, right?, and it fits and looks good and etc., so you buy it for a buck seventy five and this suit, while old, looks new on you and definitely takes on a different-y persona with you in it (assuming, of course, that suits, or any clothing really, can take on a persona).  So it’s a throwback dusted off and tried on by someone new giving it a fresh quality while still looking not all that new.  Different yet familiar.

The feel of the album, musically, is wall of sound-y with edges that have either been sanded too much or not enough.  Because the edges aren’t rough, ragged and jaunty, but nicely open and rounded in ways that kind of expand over like everything and let everything within float as they wish.  And it’s not like a booming, deafening sound(s) but more this pulsating, rhythmic, ever present hazy warmth.  I’m imagining staring at a sun [ed. note: not recommended] whose size takes up every square inch of your vision but not, oddly, overpowering but just there, making everything you see/hear be nothing but “It”, and only in turning your head will you hear/see anything outside this moderately bright and not too impeding star/sun.  And it’s like it’s almost like a big echo {DING!} Your can hear everything, but it’s nearly faint and distant, but still carries a largeness about it.  It seems like their singing and playing from the top of a canyon and we, the listener, are thousands of feet at the bottom, squinting up at the direction of the sound we’re hearing; the sound loud enough for us to know it’s not an apparition; indeed loud enough for us to pay close attention; yet just far enough away for us to be verging on second guessing what it is, really, up there; if it is up there. With open guitars and keys and lyrics that almost get lost in this giant space; slightly muddled by this vast space they’re in and you almost have to strain to here it all at all. And this thing sort of breathes, too; with large intakes of air then a flowing, steady release; then sometimes short, struggling for breath-type breathes, all while still and always having this cloaking and omnipresent quality about it.  Like a giant, echoing star that only by getting directly out of the canyon will you not hear and see it (you sold yet?)

This thing serves two purposes for me.  It can be nice playing while I’m beachside, hearing waves crash and listening to this thing that is similar to the sound of an open beach with active water.  And also, it’s nice to listen to in the comfort of the house; thinking about youth and its ups and downs and its general wide-open qualities.  If you’re in the mood for either, you won’t be disappointed.

–Nation’s leading fireworks manufacturer encourages fun, affordable home-style Independence Day celebrations–

FLORENCE, Ala. (June 16, 2010) – The Fourth of July is a day when all Americans can celebrate their independence. TNT Fireworks, the nation’s leading distributor of consumer fireworks and sparklers, would like to encourage everyone to celebrate the day to its fullest and honor the principles of freedom on which the United States was founded.

“Fireworks are synonymous with Independence Day celebrations,” says Tommy Glasgow, president of TNT Fireworks East. “We at TNT Fireworks would like to encourage everyone to keep patriotism alive by hosting at-home fireworks celebrations that are safe, affordable and fun.”

Here are a few ways family and friends can plan a 4^th of July celebration with TNT products:

Plan your own neighborhood block party and parade. Host a patriotic fireworks celebration, parade, and cookout surrounded by your family, friends and neighbors that will be equally as entertaining and affordable as any public display.

Make sure you have plenty of your favorite TNT fireworks and download your favorite tunes to create your own patriotic concert display. Coordinate your fireworks to coincide with your music for a memorable scene. The American Spirit Fountain, for example, makes a resounding bang to Neil Diamond’s “America,” Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” and Francis Scott Key’s “Star Spangled Banner.”

Incorporate fireworks into a 4^th of July civics lesson for your family. As you prepare for your fireworks display, share with your family the history of the American Revolution. An interesting note is that the Declaration of Independence was actually written on July 2^nd and then declared by the Continental Congress on July 4^th.  Conclude your fireworks display with a reading of the Declaration of Independence and make sure you have red, white and blue fireworks to represent the American flag.

Of course, safety should be top of mind when planning creative ways to celebrate our country’s independence. Remember to keep children and pets away from all fireworks.  By taking the following simple, precautionary steps, we can enjoy the 4^th of July in style, while preventing unnecessary injuries:

Once you’ve made your firework purchase, keep them in a safe place… out of the reach of children at all times.

Young children should not light or handle fireworks.

Use good common sense and always read and follow all warnings and instructions that appear on a firework or its packaging.

Always keep a hose and a bucket of water nearby in case of emergencies. Used fireworks should be soaked in a bucket of water prior to being discarded.

Use fireworks outdoors, only in clear areas, away from houses, buildings, fences, dry grass, and trees. Your firework display area should also be smooth, flat, level and swept clean of debris.

Never attempt to fix or relight a firework – if it fails to light, do not relight it. Place it in a bucket of water and make sure it is fully soaked before discarding it.

Animals are sometimes frightened by fireworks. To protect your “best friends,” keep them indoors – away from the loud noise – and secure.

As with any purchase, check the credibility of the distributor to make sure their fireworks are reliable, legal and come from a licensed source.

Remember – not all fireworks are the same. Be sure to purchase products that are manufactured by a trusted, established company that puts safety first.

Do not smoke when handling any type of fireworks.

Do not use fireworks while under the influence of alcohol.

Always use products that are legal in your community. States and local communities regulate the type of products that may be sold and used by consumers.  So make sure you follow state laws and local ordinances.

“Multiple safety education initiatives have consumers learn about the appropriate way to use fireworks and sparklers, leading to a significant decrease in mishaps. Injuries have been reduced, even as consumption has risen over the last few decades,” says Glasgow. “We are confident this trend will continue as more patriotic festivities take place at home this year, bringing people together to celebrate the 4^th of July affordably and responsibly.”

Please check your local laws to verify the legality of fireworks in your area. For more information about where state-approved TNT fireworks are for sale, visit www.tntfireworks.com, or call 1-800-243-1189.

ABOUT TNT FIREWORKS

TNT^® Fireworks (TNT) is the nation’s largest distributor of consumer fireworks and novelty items.  For more than 50 years, TNT has set the benchmark for safety, customer satisfaction, innovation and quality in the fireworks industry. For more information about TNT Fireworks, visit www.tntfireworks.com.

By  Elaine K. Delcuze

Preservation Committee Member

How can something be so irritating and yet so vital to life?  I’m referring to pollen, now that my seasonal sniffles are over, my eyes have stopped watering, my voice is back, and plants are abloom around me.

According to the American Institute of Biological Sciences, native insect pollination saves our country’s agricultural economy an estimated 3.1 billion dollars annually through natural crop production, and pollination produces some 40 billion dollars worth of produce annually in the United States alone.  Were it not for pollination, over 75 per cent of the worlds flowering plants and at least 90 food crops necessary to our diet would vanish.  Were it not for the work of some pesky critters such as bees, wasps, ants, beetles, moths, butterfiies, flies, hummingbirds and bats, certain plants would not get pollinated

Plants bloom for only one reason—to produce seeds which are the next generation of their kind.  To produce seed most flowers need pollen from another flower of the same species.  While visiting flowers to collect nectar or pollen, pollinators brush against the reproductive parts of the flower, depositing pollen from a recently visited flower.  This step is necessary for many plants to produce fruits and seeds.  Some plants even ask to be pollinated.  Their flowers are marked or shaped so as to not only attract their pollinator, but to facilitate pollination.

Bees prefer blue or yellow flowers and those that are sweet smelling.  Goldenrods, sunflowers, blueberries, salvias, anise hyssop, bee balm, coneflower, and rosemary are their favorites.  Bee flowers are usually tubular or have a landing pad with lines directing the bee to the nectar location.

Butterflies like flowers that are red, yellow or orange.  Scent is not critical because they rely mainly on vision for locating nectar.  They prefer daisy-like composite flowers and milkweeds—especially the orange milkweed, also known as butterfly weed.  They will also, however, visit coneflowers, salvias and mints.

Hummingbird flowers are usually tubular, down-turned, and red or orange.  Columbine, trumpet vine, and impatiens protect their nectar from most insects allowing the hummingbird with its long bill access to their treasure.

Most other insects have access to plants with simple flowers such as poppies, lilies, buttercups and trillium, and any insect you see on a flower is most likely pollinating it.

Some insects and animals are are also vital to the dispersal of seed as well.  In fact, many spring wildflowers—trillium, bloodroot, violets, and trout lily rely on ants for seed distribution.  These plants’ seeds are coated with a fleshy, oily body which attract ants or other distributors and when they carry them back to their colonies they inadvertently plant the seeds.   This process helps the parent plant and its offspring from competing with each other for the same location and resources.

In recent months there has been elevated environmental concern over the decline in pollinator populations due to agricultural monoculture which requires a concentration of a certain pollinator at bloom time in areas that are either forage poor or detrimental to the pollinators during the rest of the season.  Pesticide overuse or misuse, parasitism, clearcut logging, and suburban development also inhibit pollination.

Creating a pollinator-friendly garden focusing on plants that are native to our region and are adapted to cooperate with local pollinators and eliminating the use of pesticides could help reverse this decline and turn our landscapes into pollinator havens.

We are blessed with an extraordinary diversity of beautiful and useful plants and a variety of natural pollinators in the Southern Appalachian region.  The Preservation Committee of the Community Council of UGA’s Mountain Research & Education Center has two programs target at preserving this unique landscape.  The Appalachian Native Botanical Sanctuary program encourages landowners to set aside a portion of their property as a native plant sanctuary.  The Plant Rescue project provides trained volunteers to help identify native plants thay may be in harms way during land development, so that they may be worked around or relocated to a safe area.  For more information on these programs, please visit our website at www.gmrec.usa.edu/commcouncil, or call 706-745-2655 (Clare Johnston) or 706-745-9317 (Jennifer Cordier)..

From left: Lloyd Dunham, Donn Smith, Hal Calloway, Jerry Hobbs

Folks in Union County always welcome a performance by two native sons, Buck Buchannon and Nelson Thomas. The Union County Historical Society is pleased to present a concert by Buck and Nelson at The Old Courthouse on the Square in Blairsville on Friday, June 25 at 7:00 p.m.

Buck and Nelson are boyhood friends who grew up in Blairsville and started playing music when they were youngsters.

They have performed in venues throughout north Georgia and the neighboring states. One thing for sure is they are always asked to return wherever they play.

Both play a variety of instruments such as guitar, mandolin, fiddle, and banjo. They might also appear with a washtub bass fiddle or some other musical invention.

Attending one of their concerts is a multi-dimentional experience. One is treated not only to some great music, but also to mountain musical history. An example is the demonstration of “Fiddlesticks,” the art of one person beating rhythm on the fiddle strings while another plays the melody with the bow. Nelson’s humor is guaranteed to keep you laughing on the way home with enough jokes to last for a week, and Buck plays an excellent straight man to Nelson’s antics. One can also be assured of hearing a good cowboy poem or other essential elements of cultural enlightenment at their concerts.

The Summer Concert Series is presented by The Union County Historical Society as a service to the public and to keep alive the tradition of music in The Old Courthouse. There is no admission charge to the concerts. The musicians donate their time and talents. Voluntary contributions to the restoration fund are always welcomed and appreciated.

Last year an old tradition was revived at The Old Courthouse on the Square in Blairsville: A singing convention was presented by the Union County Singing Convention and the Union County Historical Society.  Eighteen people were inducted into the Union County Pioneers Hall of Shaped-note music.  All who attended agreed that it was a rewarding experience from the singing to the induction ceremonies.

This year’s program will be held  on June 26 at 2:00 PM.  The program will begin with the induction ceremonies for the people who will be honored this year as Pioneers in Shaped-note music.  After the induction ceremonies, the afternoon will be filled with singing which is basically what it’s all about.

Especially in the southeastern United States there is a renewed interest in the tradition of gospel shaped-note singing.  The Union County Singing Convention has helped keep the tradition alive by holding an annual singing school at Piedmont College with a week of classes and singing.  Earlier this year the Union County Historical Society presented a singing school taught by Jack Parler. and from that school a singing practice is held every third Thursday in the Old Courthouse.  More information about singing schools can be found on the websites of the Union County Singing Convention or the Union County HIstorical Society.

Being able to read shaped notes isn’t the only way to enjoy the music.  Most people simply enjoy listening to it. It is contagious, and many people want to become a part of it after listening to the great harmonies.  There is a great joy in being part of a tradition that is as old as the county, itself.  As with all of the presentations by the Union County Historical Society, there is no admission charge.  Everyone is invited.

By Jennifer Cordier, Preservation Committee Chair

A bright, sunny day greeted visitors and dignitaries during the ribbon cutting ceremony for the new interpretive center at the Georgia Mountain Research and Education Center. Dr. Jerry Arkin, Associate Dean of the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Georgia, commended the staff of the Research Center and the numerous volunteers of the Preservation Committee for pursuing the dream of establishing native plant gardens, a woodland medicine trail and a multi-use interpretive center on the grounds of the Research and Education Center. Joe Garner, superintendent of the GMRECenter, cut the ribbon, officially opening the Interpretive Center which is housed in the historic Community Cannery building built in 1935 by the Federal Emergency Relief Administration.

During the “Open House”, over 250 visitors toured the Interpretive Center and native plant gardens, learning about the important role that plants have played in our past and modern day mountain culture. Since the 1930’s the Research and Education Center (formally known as the Experiment Station) has served the agricultural needs of the mountain area and that history is preserved in historical panels displayed in the new Interpretive Center.

The Preservation Committee of the Community Council of the GMRECenter is pleased to announce that the demonstration gardens, woodland trail and Interpretive Center will be open to the public on Mondays, 9:00 am – 1:00 pm, from June through September. Exceptions to that schedule will be days when the Research and Education Center is closed (July 5, Sept. 6 and 13 [Johnny Appleseed] this year.) Group tours can be arranged by contacting Clare Johnson at the GMRECenter (706-745-2655).

The Georgia Mountain Research and Education Center is located 3 miles south of Blairsville, Georgia on the east side of US Highway 19/129.

REVIEW OF JUST BETWEEN US

By

Brenda Kay Ledford

Davis, Tom.  JUST BETWEEN US.  Fayetteville, NC:  Old Mountain Press, Inc., 2010.  90 pages, trade paperback.  $14.00.  www.OldMountainPress.com.

JUST BETWEEN US, compiled by Old Mountain Press, includes poetry and prose by 70 writers.  North Carolina Writers’ Network-West members, Janice Townley Moore and Brenda Kay Ledford, have works in this anthology that cover relationships.

Relationships.  That’s all there really is.  There’s your relationship with the dust that just blew in your face, or with the person who just kicked you end over end…You have to come to terms to some kind of equilibrium, with those people around you, those people who care for you, your environment. –Leslie Marmon Silko.

This book covers a hodgepodge of relationships with:  family, friends, the environment, music, math, teachers, students, God, pets, and people.

Works that cover the relationships with the environment include:  Shelby Stephenson’s, “The Spring Presses my Suddenness,” and Kerri Mai Habben’s, “Leaves.”  Ed Cockrell’s, poem, “Something in the Yard,” addresses beavers building dens on Collins’ Creek:  “Big Red barks, and I stand on tip-toes to scan/ the moon-lit bramble.  I wonder briefly/ if beavers have returned, eager for revenge.”

The relationships with animals range from Arnie Johanson’s, “A Couple of Mutts,” to C. Pleasants York’s poem, “Oscar.”  This rabbit edited, critiqued, York’s work at night while munching on a carrot from his cage.  His eyes were large, trusting, and liquid brown as he served as Editor in Chief.

Writers also described the relationships with families in this anthology.  Blanche L. Ledford’s, “My Mentor,” tells about the bond with her mother-in-law.  “I worked beside Ma as we cooked, canned food, churned buttermilk, kept house, and quilted.  Ma taught me many things, and I shared my knowledge with her.”

Another story that covers the relationship with family includes Tom Davis’s, “Who’s in Charge”:  “The door burst open, and Polly barreled in from a shopping spree, hugging an armload of pants, jackets, and skirts with little white tags flapping furiously in the air…”

Additionally, the relationship between a teacher and student was addressed in Barbara Ledford Wright’s, “Encouraging Andrew.”  Says Wright, “The bug game was the turning point that encouraged Andrew.  Between the two of us, a magnificent teacher-student relationship developed.”

Besides relationships with pets and people, Debra Kaufman explores “The Hidden Passion of Mathematicians”: “ Step into the garden of conjectures and see/ my Julia sets are uniformly perfect…”

Also, BJ Gillum refers to earthly bonds and his maker in “Eternal Love”:

When all our words are spoken

And sweet silence fills the air,

When earthly bonds are broken

And our souls ascend the stair

We will embrace and kiss forever

And to our maker we shall go.

Our hearts will then be happy

And with gladness overflow.

Finally, JUST BETWEEN US, covers the theme of relationships.  It’s a wonderful anthology and the writers hold outstanding credentials.  This book would make a great gift.

To order, JUST BETWEEN US, go to:  www.OldMountainPress.com.

Burton’s a versed producer. He’s worked within the hip-hop realm (e.g. the Grey Album [a now “illegal” download as it copyright infringed upon both the Beatles’ White Album and Jay-Z’s Black Album; sort of pitting these albums together; lacing the Fab Four’s vocals over Jigga’s beats into something that is unbelievably listenable] and also e.g. the production ½ of Gnarls Barkley, and many an underground MC); and Burton’s proven viable within indie rock-type projects (see the late Sparklehorse, also Beck, the Black Keys, the Gorillaz, and others along with movie score-ing). Burton can work, and well, with heavy hitters and fringe-musicians alike. And this here with This Shins’ Mercer (indie monie) is not at all too shocking. Their mettle at making “good” music individually is well charted, proven; and it’d stand to reason that these two well established musicians’ work, together, could make good collaborated music, which it (their mettle’) does. But its whole, to me, feels almost absent. Like my real beef with their self-titled debut [note: they’ve publicly said that they’re working on a second], but my real beef is I wanted something more. Something beyond their sum. Something possibly beyond reasonable expectation. Largely because I’ve heard their work and know their talent can, individually, make something whole and new and unique. And that’s what fraught my desire; wanting to watch their individual trademarks metamorphose into something untrademarkable, something vastly new, wholly foreign, unique; is what I held onto, wanted. As such: it (the album) is/was nothing that ripped my lid off and was/is nothing that made my brain melt and head explode, simultaneously, like I maybe unreasonably wanted to happen, but the album is just describable from me to you as not bad; like undeniably Not Bad, albeit anti-climatic, but something worth listening to because the talent is shown as known. Period.

To talk real quick about the music, I mean, it’s good. I can’t stress that enough. The stuff here is good. Indeed is The Goods; their best traits lay cut in vinyl (which subject [vinyl] to be spun sometime later with adjunct-vinyl Host; here, later, within). And it (this album)’s something that you’d expect; reasonably expect, from these two. Mercer’s soft, unique vocalic over Burton’s at times hip-hop-y beats; and all flowing well and regularly and like exactly how you’d expect; reasonably expect. There are some nuggets here, too, with both beat and lyric e.g. lyrically:

There’s no shortcut to a dream
its all blood and sweat
and life is what you manage in between
[BBELLS – October]

and I’d e.g. beats and such but I’m thinking that’s impossibly e.g.-able in written form. Making my advice regarding B. Bells and their debut this: maybe check out the Gray Album as it shows Burton’s talent for melding beat and lyric (or if you dig Gnarls Barkley beats and/or any such Burton beat, you’re prolly good hear with the beats here), and maybe check out some stuff from The Shins (maybe vocally, lyrically; specifically) and, if’n youse like both, then maybe pick up the ‘Bells record. And but both above and beyond that: You’ll like it; like, regardless. The belabored point here is the thing is f%$king good…But…aside from the thought of owning the collaboration of two masterful musical minds (a thought not discounted, for sure), there’s nothing here musically that would cause you to absolutely fawn over.

It also should be noted that I will be in attendance when Broken Bells take over the 40 Watt in Athens [June 11] in (me) full Volunteer regalia /GO VOLS/ and the ‘Bells will be opened by a band we’ll dissect next week: The Morning Benders.