When Cindy Friend decorates a Christmas tree, she tends to shy away from traditional ornaments and garland. She thinks big and envisions something completely unique. After all, more than 22,000 people will see it.
Friend is one of the many designers who lend creativity and talent to the Embassy Theatre’s annual Festival of Trees. She enjoys it so much, she’s played a part in the spectacular displays for 25 years.
“Every year I look forward to it and every year I think about how I’m going to top last year,” Friend said. “I always strive to do that. I also have a team of helpers and... Read more

Where guitarists for heavy metal bands are concerned, Halestorm’s Joe Hottinger is atypical.
Most of the heavy metal guitarists that feature writers encounter are gravely voiced guys who tell profanity-laden tales of debauchery that must be heavily censored for publication.
Hottinger, on the other hand, is amiable and self-deprecating — closer in temperament to Jim Halpert of “The Office” than Lemmy of Motorhead.
The band performs an astounding 250 dates a year, but rather than swear fealty to the rock n’ roll lifestyle, Hottinger instead talks about how much he loves his “road fam... Read more

Illumination’s new take on Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch is the cinematic equivalent of sitting down next to a roasting fireplace in the dead of winter, armed with a piping cup of hot chocolate in one hand with a beloved pet resting under the other. Or perhaps it’s more apt to say that it’s like a plate of comfort food, piled high with freshly-carved Roast Beast.
It’s a familiar pleasure and a welcome one, especially around the holidays, even if it’s one that won’t linger long in one’s memory after the experience.
Riding high off the success of The Secret Life of Pets and the Despica... Read more

The chill is in the air as the holiday season descends upon us and we all know that there is nothing better to rid us of the chill than a nice warm snack like hot apple cider and warm cookies. And we also know that the holiday season isn’t the holiday season in The Fort without a trip to the History Center for the annual Festival of Gingerbread.
Since its inception in 1985, The Festival of Gingerbread has grown into one of the community’s premiere holiday traditions and the best attended event at the History Center every year, with more than 12,000 visitors annually.
Step into the Shield... Read more

Any telling of the history of country music would not be complete without the inclusion of The Oak Ridge Boys. The quartet was founded way back in the 1940s as a gospel group, making the change to country a couple of decades later.
Their popularity peaked in the early ’80s with their biggest selling album Fancy Free, the album that included the monster hit “Elvira.”
While many, many people have been members of The Oak Ridge Boys at some point, the classic lineup that released Fancy Free is still together and touring incessantly, with a planned stop at The Honeywell Center in Wabash on ... Read more

Christmas at Old Fort Wayne is a celebration of Hoosier heritage and a wonderful time to get a little fresh air with a taste of the past mixed in.
That past, believe it or not, includes a heavy French influence. French-speaking residents were living on the banks of the Three Rivers in and around Fort Wayne before the area became a part of the United States in the early 1800s. The French presence officially ended in 1760 when they were forced out by the British toward the end of the French and Indian War, but they still played an important part in helping to found the city of Fort Wayne.
To c... Read more

When former CBS talk show host Craig Ferguson visits the Honeywell Center in Wabash on November 25, he will come equipped with some Wabash-specific jokes.
Ferguson is doing research on each town he visits on this stand-up comedy tour and crafting regional comedic notions that are designed to be expressed only once.
“It’s kind of a different thing, this tour,” Ferguson told the East Moline Dispatch-Argus. “I made a deal with myself, I never would film this show. It’s not a set script. The show I do in Davenport is not the show I do in Evansville, or New York, or Reykjavík, or Dubli... Read more

Veteran rapper Tech N9ne might not be planning to keep on performing and touring for a lot longer, but that doesn’t mean that he intends to disappear from the world of hip hop or that he’s putting his career on the shelf.
And it definitely doesn’t mean that he’s turning out the lights on his own music in the immediate future.
“I want to show fans that I’m still hungry and that we’re still trying to build Strange Music,” he said of his record label to Beatstars back in June. “I’m not complacent, I’m not content with this level of success. Even though we’ve reached a hig... Read more

You might not know the name Chuck Sperry, but there’s a good chance you have seen his art work at some point. Sperry and his art are in high demand in the music world. He has designed prints for Widespread Panic, Ben Harper, The Black Keys, Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, and The Who, to name just a few. In addition, Sperry has been featured in several documentaries and books, as well as featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Spin, The Independent, and Billboard. Sperry has art on display in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Now we have a chance to experience the magic of Sperry right h... Read more

While music created by guitars has been providing artistic pleasure to millions for many years and through many musical genres, the beauty and artistry of the guitars themselves are finally getting their due, thanks locally to a new exhibit at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art.
Medieval to Metal: The Art & Evolution of the Guitar allows visitors to study and admire the instrument itself as a piece of art and sculpture, one to be admired even momentarily disconnected from the music it creates.
Bringing this exhibit to Fort Wayne has been exciting for Charles Shepard, president and CEO of the Fort W... Read more

Local live juggernauts Sad Gravity finally release their debut recording in the form of a self-titled album of eight songs. The release launches with raw guitar and deep, thumping bass compiled with thorough, sometimes flashy drum work with plenty of vocal breaks for the instruments to shine through. The vocals often sway between straightforward singing and a falsetto that rotates the songs in and out of the “catchy without blatantly trying” category.
Connor Corwin and James Valdez switch off singing (and quite possibly guitar and bass, which they can be seen doing at their numerous live ... Read more

If you’ve been hanging around Fort Wayne over the past twenty years or so, chances are you know the name David Todoran & The Mobile Homewreckers.
These cats have been making music in various forms and with various locals talents in styles as diverse as pop/rock, Americana, and Byrds-y twang. Being a distant rural yokel and looking at the Fort Wayne music scene from a county or two away, I can say that the name David Todoran is one I’m familiar with, but I’m just now getting familiar with one of his albums. His newest, Apparition, is an absolute gem.
Todoran said this about its release, ... Read more

Right off the bat, the new album by Fort Wayne garage punk band Slug Love is hard-hitting and chunky and chugs along at a higher BPM. The first track on Underside, “Flying Discs,” has the type of riff that every band has ever played in a bar, but without the carbon copy feel to it. Its back-and-forth power chords launch Underside, and when the song lands, the underground heart of the record helps cushion the blow.
As it progresses on, the slower songs (though there are no real slow ones) and the more tender parts of the band’s songwriting offset all the super-sweet riffing and the old-s... Read more

Nate Utesch has been the leader and sole constant in the electronic band Metavari since its inception in 2008. He’s cultivated the sound and aesthetic from the sprawling vastness of post-rock to a much tighter electronic feel. If you listen to early Metavari, such as 2009’s Be One of Us and Hear No Noise, and compare it to 2015’s Moonless, you will hear a much different band. But under the surface, Metavari remains the product of Utesch’s singular vision.
Metavari is now a one-man band, a studio project composed and recorded by Utesch in his home studio. When the band plays shows, Utes... Read more

When you grow up in a small town but catch glimpses of what could be from your bedroom window, what does an angsty kid do about it? Some buy a guitar and amp, put their list of small-town and big-world issues to paper, and write songs. Then they find some like-minded guys and gals to spread their message of disenchantment from town to town. That was the case of Fort Wayne’s F---ing Panthers. This four-piece began their musical journey fresh out of high school and wrote punk and metal-infused songs about small-town life and the daily grind.
The guys built a following and put out Learning To ... Read more

Fort Wayne has plenty of guys and gals that work behind the scenes to help make the community the thriving, creative space it has become. One of those people is musician, studio runner, and jack-of-all-trades Jason Davis.
As owner/operator of Off The Cuff Sound in Fort Wayne, Davis has recorded bands as diverse as Legendary Trainhoppers, Addison Agen, Heaven’s Gateway Drugs, Water Witches, the D-Rays, and James and the Drifters.
But when Davis isn’t recording other artists, he’s booking studio time for his own band, Streetlamps for Spotlights.
“Streetlamps formed around 2004 as a wa... Read more

When local band elle/the Remnant released Skies I’ve Learned How to Love in January 2018, it must have seemed like a long time coming.
In 2014, the six-piece band had just come off a one-year hiatus and had reformed with a new spirit and a handful of new songs. Over the next four years, they recorded the 12 songs on Skies.
It was worth the wait.
The album, best categorized as indie-folk-Americana, finds Coplin and Armstrong, as well as bandmates Jessica Becker, Edith Coplin, Jen Foster, and Kelsey Schneider, in an adventurous mood. Driven by Armstrong’s propulsive guitar and Coplin’s cl... Read more

For nearly a decade, Tony Richards Didier shared the microphone with Charly Butcher. Today, Didier is one of many who are mourning the loss of their former colleague and friend.
Butcher died Aug. 15 of an apparent cardiac event. He was 61 years old.
“We did the morning show on WMEE together and we had so much fun,” Didier said. “We were young and did silly, stupid things on the air. Many of them took on a life of their own.”
Among Didier’s favorite memories is the creation of the Maumee River Monster.
“We got six months out of that bit,” he said. “It was so real. We just made ... Read more

Jordan Plohr wouldn’t exactly describe himself as a “born performer,” but he has been one for almost as long as he can remember. His first role was as Joseph in his preschool/kindergarten Christmas pageant.
“I don’t know that (performing) interested me beforehand,” he said. “It was one of those things they make you do at that age. But I remember it very vividly, and I must have enjoyed it because I kept seeking out opportunities to perform.”
Although he’s the only actor in his family, he does come from an artistic background.
“My parents are both pretty good at sketching,�... Read more

With a name like F---ing Panthers (blame them for the censorship), you can mostly guess what you’re in for: fast punk rock where the shows are overflowing with PBR and the crowd is rowdy as hell. And you’d be right to some regard. But what FP do best is mix these antics, in the spirit of Fidlar or even local steamroller Flamingo Nosebleed, with personal content and deeper meaning like any worthwhile guitar-based band.
The band, which currently consists of lead vocalist Billy Rivers on guitar, bassist Nate Green, “Diamond Boy Daniels,” and Ben Kelly also on guitar, and drummer Matt Brow... Read more

Colorful yet simple landscapes featuring bold, black lines make up En Hughey’s ink and paper illustrations.
“I find inspiration while walking my dog, biking, taking road trips and in video games,” Hughey said. “This current series began in a state park. I’ve found that anytime I’ve needed a new start, or a jolt of inspiration, the outdoors can only help.”
But this inspiration started long before Hughey was taking walks with the dog and soaking in the support from the Fort Wayne art community, both audience and creators alike.
“I can’t really remember not being interested in ... Read more

Leones’ latest recording is a slight departure from their regular output. Holy, the band’s 2016 EP, was saturated in distortion and heavier-hitting riffs. But Lovetrip keeps it cleaner until the bridges or the occasional heavy outro. The title track features reverb-laden deep vocals and clean guitars. Only at the end of the song is there any distortion, but it’s in the form of a sludgy, dissonant riff that still remains catchy.
“Underwater” starts off faster, though the vocals are still as subdued. Toward the end, there is some distortion featured in the background, but the song, a... Read more

For the past six years, the Ragin’ Cajun food truck has done an outstanding job serving up mouth-watering jambalaya, po’ boys, crawfish, and corn soup and other Louisiana goods out their side window. Owner John Maxwell and his wife moved here from New Orleans in 2012 shortly after Hurricane Katrina and it turned out to be a blessing, at least for us folks who have Louisiana taste buds.
Well, now the food truck is for sale. But don’t despair. Maxwell is ditching the truck to open a restaurant that will serve the same South Louisiana and American cuisine. NOLA on 13 is Maxwell’s latest ... Read more

Almost past its prime, my fruit falls, bruises,
Before the harvest has even begun.
Pears and peaches are picked up in the end —
Even though they rot, they’ve other uses.
The burning bush, ignited by the sun —
The apple trees, whose burdened branches bend
Almost to the grass — are both flaming red.
They’ll soon be stripped of life — barren, not dead.
My grapes tumble into the wine presses,
Where pulp turns to juice from urgent stresses.
The Argiope spider in his web still
Hungers, before hard frost, for a last kill.
My summer mate gone, I am gourd and leaf,
Nothing more. Winter will... Read more