We Recommend
LaVon Hardison has never been any one thing. Although she's identified herself as a jazz singer, the classically trained vocalist has a broad range of sources, including gospel and blues. What comes through is a voice and this combination of something very hopeful and effervescent and sparkling and also some
We Recommend
A new documentary, The Age of Love, focuses on a speed-dating event for daters aged 70 to 90. (Love Connection host Chuck Woolery, by the way, now qualifies at age 73.) It's already earned raves at film festivals and the AARP National Expo in Boston. Now it's coming
We Recommend
We've said it many times: Practice makes perfect. Doyle's Public House in Tacoma's Stadium District lives by this adage. Every 17th of the month, the watering hole hosts St. Practice Day, a trial run at its annual, massive St. Patrick's Day party. It's a warm-up, if you will. Our page-a-day
We Recommend
It's nice to have things you can always count on, like whiskey, cats being funny and, if you're a reggae fan, the Hawaiian Islands (needle across the record player). While old timers keep rummaging through the record bins of Hawaiian music past, a whole new renaissance is happening. Freed from
News Front
Throughout her career, Lt. Col. Celia FlorCruz has been a true military mover and shaker. Not only did she graduate from one of the first classes at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point to admit females, but she also served as a medevac pilot in Operation Desert Storm and
News Front
On Feb. 4, the USO Northwest unveiled its new SeaTac Airport Center. Located on Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's Mezzanine level, the new space is a major upgrade from their old one, and is two years - and about 1.5 million dollars - in the making. It will be open for servicemembers and
Critics' Picks
[EERIE POP] + FRI, FEB. 6-7 The struggle of a one-man-band is that your defining characteristics are utterly your own. There's no flavor to be found from the inclusion of a wild drummer or a stoic bassist - everything comes directly from whatever you decide to include in your lonely presence
Music
When I first saw Ravenna Woods, it was in Austin, Texas, 2011, at a showcase that included the Pacific Northwest likes of the Nightgowns and the Tea Cozies. Unlike those bands, Ravenna Woods were built in the mold of Washington's growing obsession with folk music. However, unlike the infestation of
Arts
Used bookseller Jerry Culpepper has always had great expectations. Born in Tacoma he decided early to stay and find his deliverance in town. With wife Michele Martin, he owns Culpepper Books at 2521 N. Proctor, one of the few remaining independent bookstores in the area, and one of the most
Food Matters
TRINITY NIGHT Engine House No. 9 (611 N. Pine St., Tacoma) will host a Trinity Brewing Night with five on tap and three different brews in bottles, beginning at 6 p.m. Trinity head brewer and owner Jason Yester will be in the firehouse. DOYLE'S NEW MENU Doyle's Public House (208 Saint Helens Ave.,
We Recommend
Ravenna Woods have grown in ways that enter them into a different realm from those that consider folk revivalism the be-all and end-all of new indie expression. What began as a three-piece that created percussive folk has nor involved more electronic elements that expand their sound. Now, with their newest
Military Life
Joan Brown writes with a lyrical touch about the challenges and triumphs she faced as a military wife. Move - And Other Four Letter Words is a prize-winning memoir of Brown's life as her Air Force husband moved from assignment to assignment. A memoir about Brown's mobile marriage, the book presents fascinating,
We Recommend
This festival of improvised music at Obsidian features a very special guest by the name of Mazen Kerbaj. Hailing from Beirut, Lebanon, Kerbaj specializes in the trumpet, taking that instrument many miles from any expectations you may have when I utter the words "improvisational trumpet." His style takes the trumpet