New report on economic impact of the arts in Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh ranks high nationally on arts spending, jobs
Pittsburgh’s Roberto Clemente Museum accepting donations Oct. 1 for hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico
Relief supplies for victims of Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico are being collected by The Roberto Clemente Museum.
Art exhibit about risks to region’s air quality opens tomorrow at Pittsburgh’s SPACE Gallery
Louisiana’s Cancer Alley offered as a possible vision of Western Pennsylvania’s future
Lynn Cullen Live – 9/26/17
Video Archive Audio Only Archive Stream or download the last 5 shows on the MP3 downloads page.
MP3 Monday: slowdanger
Each week we post a song from a local artist online for free. This week, it’s “Open Door” by multidisciplinary performance duo //slowdanger\\. It’s a spacey electronic number with a dreamy melody that makes you want to dance in a zero-gravity chamber. Stream or download “Open Door” below. To download “Open Door,” right-click here and…
Lynn Cullen Live – 9/25/17
Video Archive Audio Only Archive Stream or download the last 5 shows on the MP3 downloads page.
Katy Perry brings “Witness: The Tour” to Pittsburgh
Photo highlights from Katy Perry’s concert at PPG Paints Arena
Tim Russell and Lucky ‘The Painproof Man’ Munro Team Up for Hurricane Relief
“A lot of people have been affected by Hurricane Irma, in the United States and elsewhere, but people tend to forget these are Americans, too.”
Final weekend for ‘The Scottsboro Boys’
Four performances remain of scathing musical The Scottsboro Boys
Lynn Cullen Live – 9/22/17
Video Archive Audio Only Archive Stream or download the last 5 shows on the MP3 downloads page.
Poll shows support for legal recreational marijuana, Pennsylvania Auditor General says time to legalize is now
A Franklin & Marshall College poll shows that 59 percent of Pennsylvania voters now say recreational marijuana should be legalized.
Saigon to Pittsburgh: the queen of bánh mì
77-year-old Lucy Sheets smiles widely at every customer she greets. She often knows their order and inquires about their children or parents. For most of her life, Lucy has run her own business, serving bánh mì and other Vietnamese food on two continents while raising a family and thriving on opposite sides of the world. For…
New musical work honoring enslaved African laborers is performed tonight
“Unburied, Unmourned, Unmarked” receives free showing at the Carnegie Mellon School of Music, Trevor Weston, Edda L. Fields-Black, Tameka Cage Conley, Vanessa German
CP Podcast: Can a fantasy football team of only “morally upstanding” players hold its own?
Do nice guys finish last? Last week City Paper staffers did a fantasy football draft picking only “morally upstanding” players. Then, they drafted an opposing team featuring the worst of the worst. Here’s how it worked out. __
Lynn Cullen Live – 9/20/17
Video Archive Audio Only Archive Stream or download the last 5 shows on the MP3 downloads page.
The Battle of Homestead Foundation’s The Homestead Strike of 1892
THE HOMESTEAD STRIKE OF 1892 continues 1 and 7 p.m. Fri., Sept. 22, and 2 and 7 p.m. Sat., Sept. 23. Battle of Homestead Foundation at the Pump House, 880 E. Waterfront St., Munhall. Sold out. battleofhomestead.org After 125 years, the indignation has not waned. The play The Homestead Strike of 1892 is misnamed, although…
Sazerac
Louisiana’s official state beverage, the Sazerac, embodies the essence of “craft cocktail” — for both the bartender who prepares it properly and the guest who ultimately reaps the benefits. Strong rye, sugar and bitters are complemented with subtle hints of anise and lemon aromatics. It is as easy to perfect as it is to spoliate…
This week in Pittsburgh Sports History
Sept. 21, 1947 The Pittsburgh Pirates welcome the people of Cincinnati to the world of televised baseball, beating the Reds 11-7 in the first game on WLWT, which would broadcast the Reds for the next 48 years. Sept. 21, 1963 In 1961, Gene Baker became the first African American to coach a team affiliated with…
A Conversation with Osama Alomar
Osama Alomar is the kind of person who speaks softly, but leans forward so you can hear him clearly. Raised in Syria by a book-loving family — his father taught philosophy and his mother, elementary school — he started writing when he was 13, inspired by the works of Kahlil Gibran, who “was the writer…
Brad’s Status
Brad (Ben Stiller) is broody because he is suffering from a very mild mid-life crisis. On the upside, he’s a happily married, financially secure white guy, with a well-behaved smart kid. On the downside, his college buddies — portrayed in extended cameos by Luke Wilson, Michael Sheen, Jemaine Clement and Mike White — have become…
Pittsburgh City Paper Booze Battles: Cure vs. Umami
Each week, we order the same cocktail at two different bars for a friendly head-to-head battle. Go to the bars, taste both drinks and tell us what you like about each by tagging @pghcitypaper on Twitter or Instagram and using #CPBoozeBattles. If you want to be a part of Booze Battles, send an email to…
Turn It Around: The Story of East Bay Punk
Sure, San Francisco had an early and notable punk scene, with “star” bands like the Dead Kennedys and Flipper, but across the water in the East Bay was another, scrappier scene. Geographically, it ran from Oakland through Berkeley and north to the smaller hamlets like El Sobrante, Pinole and Rodeo. And while the East Bay…
412 Food Rescue spawns 724 Food Rescue
Good ideas spread quickly. In 2015, the nonprofit 412 Food Rescue began connecting food destined for landfills with people who go hungry. Hundreds of active volunteers to date have diverted nearly two million tons of fresh produce, baked goods and more from landfills to tables in Allegheny County. Then, says, co-founder Leah Lizarondo, the growing…
Tei Shi makes introspective pop from the ground up
Tei Shi + Lawrence Rothman 7 p.m. Sun., Sept. 24. Cattivo, 146 44th St., Lawrenceville. $13-15. cattivopgh.com Tei Shi is a pop performer from New York City. Valerie Teicher, an artist who came up in the vibrant, multi-faceted Brooklyn DIY scene, is the brains behind Tei Shi. While some may have the idea that DIY…
Can socialist ideals gain support in Pittsburgh?
On a recent September evening, 76 comrades of the Pittsburgh chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America joined together to discuss society’s travails, like the disproportionate harm natural disasters cause poor communities, public-education funding shortages, and access to health care. One answer prevailed throughout the evening as the cause for these problems: capitalism. And, if…
Thursday Critics’ Picks: Son Little at Club Cafe; Lucky Tubb at Hard Rock
[R&B] + THU., SEPT. 21 It’s a good time to be a modern R&B artist who taps the traditional. Son Little, like his peers Leon Bridges and Benjamin Booker, makes smooth and soulful music that draws from the masters of the genre like Stevie Wonder. Little’s latest album, New Magic, has sweet and pining love…
Savage Love
I am a 35-year-old straight guy. I met a nice lady through the normal methods, and we hit it off and have grown closer. I think we are both considering “taking it to the next level.” We are on the same intellectual wavelength, enjoy the same social experiences, and have a lot of fun together.…
Critics’ Pick: Digable Planets at August Wilson Center
[HIP HOP/JAZZ] + FRI., SEPT. 22 I feel like I’ve heard “Cool Like Dat” (full title: “Rebirth of Slick (Cool like Dat)”) in a dozen different movies and commercials. It’s one of those songs that’s both ubiquitous and a mystery. Where did it come from? What year was it even released? Actually, a lot of…
A homebrewer fulfills his dream at Eleventh Hour Brewing
Since the day he was born, the number 11 has had an almost mystical significance for Matt McMahon. Starting with his birthday (Nov. 11), the number has followed him, from his baseball-jersey number as a kid to the fact that his wife’s birthday comes 11 days after his. Now, McMahon hopes the number continues to…
Critics’ Pick: Paul Cauthen at Stage AE
[COUNTRY] + SUN., SEPT. 24 The most distinct feature on Texan Paul Cauthen’s debut album My Gospel is his voice. It hangs in a low register not unlike Johnny Cash. The subject matter, too, is similar to the Man in Black, covering religion, love and youth, with tones of classic and modern country on tracks…
In the Company of Ghosts at New Hazlett Theater
IN THE COMPANY OF GHOSTS 8 p.m. Fri., Sept. 22; 8 p.m. Sat., Sept. 23; and 2 p.m. Sun., Sept. 24. New Hazlett Theater, 6 Allegheny Square East, North Side. $25-30. 412-320-4610 or inthecompanyofghosts.com Personal stories of life’s trials and triumphs are the foundation for In the Company of Ghosts, a new stage show by…
Ana Popović, a different kind of blues guitarist, plays Jergel’s Rhythm Grille
ANA POPOVIĆ and JERICHO RISING 8 p.m. Sun., Sept. 24. Jergel’s Rhythm Grille, 103 Slade Lane, Warrendale. $18-20. 724-799-8333 or jergels.com/calendar/ Ana Popović is nobody’s idea of a typical blues guitarist. Born and raised in Belgrade, Serbia, she nonetheless grew up immersed in the quintessentially American musical form. “I was inspired as a little girl…
mother!
mother! Directed by Darren Aronofsky Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer Darren Aronofsky’s mother! is one of those polarizing movies. For real: The dude sitting next to me at the screening stomped out, loudly declaring, “Well, that was a terrible movie.” And if you were hoping for a standard spooky thriller with…
The real fantasy-football game is pretending that the NFL doesn’t have major character flaws
I love fantasy sports. Since I started playing in the early 1990s, I’ve been involved in fantasy football, baseball, basketball, NASCAR, college football and golf. But football was, and is for most people, the gateway game into fantasy sports. Fantasy players used to hold drafts in private; now you can go onto mainstream sites, like…
Sparkling Traditional Mead, Laurel Highlands Meadery
“This mead is lighter than its non-sparkling cousins because of its effervescence. Laurel Highlands Meadery uses Pennsylvania wildflower honey and doesn’t add sugar, making for a lightly sweet and floral flavor that has some white-wine qualities to it.” Recommended by Celine Roberts, staff writer Sparkling Traditional Mead from Laurel Highlands Meadery is available for sale…
Short List: Sept 21-28
FREE EVENT: Thu., Sept. 21 – Art Sandra Gould Ford is an artist, educator and award-winning writer. But from 1977 to 1985, while studying writing at the University of Pittsburgh, she was a clerk and secretary at Jones & Laughlin Steel, on the South Side and in Hazelwood. Cameras were prohibited there, but Ford, enamored…
Old-time South Siders recall the community-building legacy of Charlie Samaha
Fifty years ago, the South Side was an old mill neighborhood with a dwindling population. Its main drag, East Carson Street, was cavitated by vacant storefronts. Few people saw its potential to be something else. But one of them was Charlie Samaha, and that was no small thing. Samaha moved to Pittsburgh from New York…
Liam’s Fish, Wings, & Things offers Southern-fried food in Wilkinsburg
Last year, East Liberty lost an important mural of African-American children, riding their bikes and blowing bubbles, on the side of a building whose tenants wanted windows. This year, the balance tipped in favor of Wilkinsburg, which gained a mural of Flyboy, Chicago artist Hebru Brantley’s iconic superhero. A be-goggled brown-skinned boy, Flyboy soars, larger…
Critics’ Pick: Charly Bliss at Cattivo
[ROCK] + TUE., SEPT. 26 Brooklyn-bred Charly Bliss can best be described as the music the cool older sister in a ’90s movie would be listening to. The sound has an edge, and the lyrics don’t hold back, but they contrast with lead singer Eva Hendricks’ sweet, upbeat voice. The band is joined at Cattivo…
Scott Silsbee’s poetry collection Muskrat Friday Dinner
The title poem of Scott Silsbe’s third full-length collection, Muskrat Friday Dinner (White Gorilla Press), clarifies that the rodent mentioned isn’t so much a metaphor as a regional dish in Silsbe’s native Michigan. As he writes, “In Downriver, Detroit, they are a delicacy of sorts — / those odd river rats you see in marshes…
Pittsburgh premieres of two notable plays
City Theatre was founded 42 years ago, and for the past 16, Tracy Brigden was its artistic director. City specializes in local premieres of new plays, and Brigden’s track record of smart, sometimes edgy work ranged from Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Topdog/Underdog (starring a young Billy Porter) to Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s The Brothers…
Proposed legislation could increase protections for victims of domestic violence
In 2002, Deborah Murphy was taken hostage by her estranged husband. The man entered her home after shooting through the basement door. Police were called to the scene, and Murphy’s 1-year-old son and 3-year-old daughter were rescued. But Murphy was held captive at gunpoint in the home for five hours. During her captivity, Murphy was…
Author and environmentalist Patricia DeMarco offers Pathways to Our Sustainable Future
In June 2013, Patricia DeMarco joined 1,700 viewers at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall for Gasland 2, filmmaker Josh Fox’s sequel to the documentary that helped launch national opposition to fracking for gas. The new film, about how fossil-fuel money was warping democracy, did its job: After the screening, says DeMarco, “Everybody was angry.” However,…
The Me Toos and the Spectres debut their split release at James Street, Sept. 23
The Me Toos/Spectres Record Release 8 p.m. Sat., Sept. 23. James Street Gastropub and Speakeasy, 422 Foreland St., North Side. $7. 412-904-3335 Home-studio recording has come a long way since bands like Sebadoh and Guided by Voices started inspiring lo-fi indie rockers in the ’90s. These days it’s possible to make a recording that captures…
Friend
I see you, bent in half, climb the asphalt that buried the trolley rails before we were born. Sunday’s our wet 3 o’clock lunch. I toss the literary magazine in my recycling bin — Fuck the fake goths of New York. You’re trying to sell your welder’s mask. You say your eyes hurt. We curse…
New Local Releases: Aaron Myers-Brooks’ Conduits
Aaron Myers-Brooks Conduits Self-released aaronbrooks.bandcamp.com Experimental guitarist Aaron Myers-Brooks, on loan from Pittsburgh post-metal outfit Night Vapor, slants toward the “avant” in avant-jazz on Conduits, the third EP he has self-released in the past 14 months. Musical notes seem to trip over their own feet on the three-song recording, where Myers-Brooks’ angular guitar work is pristinely accompanied…
Stronger
Jeff Bauman was watching the 2013 Boston Marathon when a bomb exploded near him. He had both legs amputated above the knee, and while fighting through subsequent physical and emotional challenges, the 27-year-old working-class guy became the public face of the city’s perseverance following the terrorist attack. David Gordon Green’s bio-pic Stronger retells this story,…
New Local Releases: Outsideinside’s Sniff a Hot Rock
Outsideinside Sniff a Hot Rock Machine Age Records www.facebook.com/outsideinside1 Sniff a Hot Rock is an old-school rock ’n’ roll record all the way through. Classic crunchy riffs and gritty vocals about loneliness, booze and love, Sniff is for fans of older acts like ZZ Top and Cheap Trick and newer outfits like J. Roddy Walston…
Lynn Cullen Live – 9/18/17
Video Archive Audio Only Archive Stream or download the last 5 shows on the MP3 downloads page.
