ON Culture | A Posse of Comedians, a Fistful of Films, and a Gaggle of Good Stories You May Have Missed
This edition of ON Culture was originally emailed to subscribers on January 19, 2024. To receive Leslie Dinaberg’s arts newsletter in your inbox on Fridays, sign up at independent.com/newsletters.
ON the Walls
Benjamin Anderson recently began a stint as the Artist in Residence at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara, Santa Barbara, and his first show was on view this weekend, when I was at the resort for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival’s fabulous Kirk Douglas Award fundraiser featuring Ryan Gosling (see my story here). The loosely film-themed exhibit features Anderson’s own work as well as photography by local artists Matt McGrath, Jean Ziesenhenne, Ted Rhodes, and Nick Presniakov. Click here to learn more about the exhibit, which is open to the public.
Solvang’s Wildling Museum has a new name — the much more descriptive California Nature Art Museum — and what should be a an interesting talk coming up with outdoorsman extraordinaire Chuck Graham, a frequent Independent contributor who is also an excellent writer and photographer. Chuck celebrates the release of his new book, Paddling Into a Natural Balance: Stories of Kayaking & Conservation Around Channel Islands National Park (see Matt Kettmann’s story here) with a lecture and book signing at the Museum on Friday, January 26, at 4::30 p.m. Click here for tickets and more information.
ON the Stage
I often find laughter to be the best medicine — especially given much of the news these days. Luckily, our comedy coffers have been running very full recently. This weekend alone we’ve got Lewis Black at the Lobero on January 19, then Gary Gulman on that same stage on January 20, with Don’t Tell Comedy also in its super secret venue that same night. Kevin Hart is bringing brand new material to the Arlington on January 27. Also recently announced on the Lobero stage are Demetri Martin on March 28 and Felipe Esparza on March 30. Click on artist names for more information. And if you missed Brad Williams’ great show earlier this month at the Lobero, here’s my review.
I had the opportunity to see the Immediate Family in action at the Lobero back in 2022 and they were so much fun. Danny Kortchmar, Waddy Wachtel, Russ Kunkel, Leland Sklar, and Steve Postell are all incredibly accomplished musicians, playing roles in an endless list of best-selling and hugely influential recordings over the past 50 years. So much so that the band is actually the subject of a documentary film now streaming on Amazon Prime, AppleTV, YouTube, and more. (Click here for more info) The band will be back live onstage at the Lobero on February 14, which sounds like a great Valentine’s Day date to me. Click here for more information and tickets.
ON the Page
Fans of The Doors will be excited to hear that John Densmore is coming to Santa Barbara Museum of Art on Sunday, January 28 to discuss his latest book The Doors Unhinged, described as “a powerful exploration of an approach to life and culture that is NOT driven by greed.” Novelist and art essayist Andrew Winer will interview the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are available at tickets.sbma.net.
Registration is now open for the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, which is coming our way June 9-14. Speakers include Jess Walter (author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Beautiful Ruins), Mary Otis (author of Burst, which is longlisted for the 2024 Joyce Carol Oates Prize), W. Bruce Cameron (the creator of the most beloved brand of family dog entertainment in the world), Cathleen Schine (author of the internationally bestselling novels The Love Letter and Rameau’s Niece), and Caitlin Rother (whose latest book, Death on Ocean Boulevard: Inside the Coronado Mansion Case, is currently in development for television. Click here for more information and updates.
The annual Stafford Poetry Reading to celebrate the life and work of William Stafford is back in action on January 27 at 2 p.m. Organizer Paul Willis (Emeritus Professor of English at Westmont College and a former Santa Barbara Poet Laureate) is excited to be back “after missing three consecutive years because of Covid, the Omicron resurgence, and last year’s flooding.” Special guests this year will be Catherine Hodges as principal reader and Rob Hodges on the cello. All are welcome. Click here for all of the details.
ON the (Big) Screen
This is the time of year where I feel the overwhelming urge to catch up on all of the probable Academy Award nominated films I may have missed. But for those more rational folks who don’t have any overwhelming compulsion to see, well, everything, Joe Woodard has compiled a couple of mini-review lists with his takes on a whole bunch of current films. Click here to read about Killers of the Flower Moon (Martin Scorsese), The Killer (David Fincher), Saltburn (Emerald Fennell), May December (Todd Haynes), and The Holdovers (Alexander Payne). And click here to read about Poor Things (Yorgos Lanthimos), Ferrari (Michael Mann) (I also reviewed this one here), Godzilla Minus One (Takashi Yamazaki), The Boy and the Heron (Hayao Miyazaki), and The Color Purple (Blitz Bazawule).
ON the Web
The new year is off to a really fast start, and our editorial team at the Independent is buzzingly busy. Here are some reviews and stories you may have missed.
Fashion: Tiana Molony profiles NINA Q’s new collection of reimagined vintage clothing. (You might even recognize some of your friends doing the modeling.)
Philanthropy & Art: I did a cover story last week on the incredible Kids Helping Kids group of local high schoolers. Their concert is tonight (Jan. 19) at the Arlington and features Switchfoot with JohnnySwim as the opener.
Joe Woodard attended Alan Parsons’ 75th Birthday Bash benefit for One805 at the Lobero.
Theater: Pretty Woman is coming to the Granada Jan. 22-23. I spoke to one of the stars, Chase Wolfe.
Everybody’s favorite TV parents, Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross of Family Ties, will give a special benefit performance of Love Letters for the Ensemble Theatre Company on January 27.
Film: Joe Woodard reviews Driving Madeleine
Visual Art: There are two new art galleries in town. Sean Magruder has the scoop on Kelly Clause Art in the Funk Zone, and Tiana Molony interviewed Broc Ellinger of the new BE Gallery downtown.
Music: Joe Woodard reviews Quire of Voyces, and speaks with Conductor/Musician William Maxfield, a Santa Barbaran who just won the prestigious Josef Gabriel von Rheinberger Prize in Europe.
Santa Barbara-born Trout Club has a new album
I caught up with Amy Ray before her show at the Luke. She’ll be back at the Bowl in September as well.
Chloe Shanfeld interviewed Jeffrey Paradise of Poolside, who’s coming to SOhO on January 19.
ON the Calendar
Diana Raab is such a great supporter of the writing community (see my story about the UCSB Raab Writing Fellows here), not to mention an accomplished writer herself. Her new book, Hummingbird: Messages from My Ancestors, just launched, and as part of the celebration she will teach a free workshop on “Writing Rituals for the New Year” at the Santa Barbara Central Library Faulkner Gallery on Tuesday, January 23 at 5:30 p.m. Click here to register for this free event.
For a complete calendar of events this week and beyond, visit independent.com/events/.
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