Ben Bullington | White Sulphur Springs

CD-Ben-Bullington.jpg

One of the best liner-note quotes on songwriter Ben Bullington’s new CD is from country music great Rodney Crowell: “… the guy’s a pretty damn good doctor for a songwriter.”  

Crowell, singer Tracy Nelson, and a host of Tennessee pickers add their weight to Bullington’s 10 original tracks, a collection of wistful, visual song poems in the country-folk vein that was recorded at The Tone Chaparral in Madison, Tenn.

A chance meeting with Livingston’s Joanne Gardner, a former music exec, led Bullington to hook up with Crowell and others, who guided him through this polished and pensive effort. Bullington sings in a subdued baritone, with just the right amount of gravelly nuances, about jaded waitresses, lost loves and hardscrabble farm life.

Originally from Virginia, Bullington studied in Nashville, and while there, soaked up the styles of Crowell and other songwriting greats. But, while he studied, he “left performing to the professionals.”

Early in his medical career he worked in Montana, and returned to practice at the hospital in… Read more

Crazy-for-You-bsp05-2.jpg

Bigfork Summer Playhouse: After 50 years, “it’s still a joy”

The curtains rise May 15 on the 50th season at the Bigfork Summer Playhouse. Owners Don and Jude Thomson, who joined the theatre in 1964 as set designer and musical director and bought it in 1971, are looking forward to another year brimming with talent. After staging hundreds of shows, "It’s still a joy,” says Don. Read more

CMRAUCTIONRussellTrial.jpg

Economic downturn hits Montana art auctions

Buyers found bargains this year at art auctions in Great Falls, Billings and Missoula – an outcome that didn’t surprise the directors of the three museums that benefited from the sales. “Naturally, it’s disappointing,” says Yellowstone Art Museum director Robyn Peterson. “What’s encouraging is that it wasn’t the quality of art, or anything we did wrong. Everyone – the artists and the buyers – are still in the ring.” Read more

russell-thumb.jpg

Teenage collector snares Russell original

Although 16-year-old Tim Seery didn’t break auction records with his purchase of an original Russell painting, he probably comes in as youngest-buyer-ever at the 41st annual event, held March 20-21 in Great Falls. “He spied this piece when the catalogue came out, went after it at the auction and got it,” says Susan Johnson, interim director of the Russell Museum. Read more

Andy-Meyers-color.jpg

Actors offer a staged reading of “John and Jen”

Missoula actress Alicia Bullock-Muth joins New York actor and Missoula native Andy Meyers in a staged reading of “John and Jen,” April 25-26 at Lake Missoula Cellars. The hit Off-Broadway musical examines sibling and family relationships, and spans decades in its intimate, often comical and emotional storytelling. Read more

Monte-&-Mary-Beth.jpg

Odyssey honors artists Monte Dolack and Mary Beth Percival

Renowned Montana artists Monte Dolack and Mary Beth Percival will be honored April 18 during the University of Montana School of Fine Arts’ ninth annual Odyssey of the Stars, “A Montana State of Mind.” Read more • (1) Comments

josh-guthals-cd.jpg

From Billings to Brooklyn: The music of Joshua Guthals

There is a hill in singer/songwriter Joshua Guthals’s Brooklyn apartment. “I call it my pile,” he says, apologizing for the mess as he ushers me in. When he thinks about it, the pile is reminiscent of the hill he grew up on at his family’s home on a dirt road six miles outside of Billings. Read more

Page 1 of 2   1 2 >