Steve Betz | Without Love
Helena singer/guitarist Steve Betz likes to call his music “feel-good Americana with Christian threads.” He’s put a bunch of it out with a cadre of Queen City musicians on his new CD, Without Love, recorded by Dan Nichols at Soul Tree Recording Studio in Helena.
Players include producer and drummer Dan Nichols, Mike Killeen, guitars, Terry O’Hare, bass, guitars and background vocals, and Michael Kakuk, harmonica and saxophone.
Other performers are Jim Schulz, acoustic guitar on “Without Love,” Johnny Moore, keyboards, Carrie Stewart, violin, and Laurie Budlong-Morse and Jennifer Ruggles, background vocals.
Betz wrote or co-wrote all the tunes. He likes pretty, extended instrumental intros, and sings in a strong baritone voice. His compositions have a country-western flavor, and he sings about half of them to loved ones and half to the glory of a higher power.
Betz says he “grew up under a ‘glass half-full’ way of looking at life,” and it’s obvious. He writes with the optimism of a teenager about love, and the feeling of… Read more
Phil Condon | Nine Ten Again
You feel an almost uncomfortable intimacy with the indelibly drawn characters in Phil Condon’s new collection of short stories, Nine Ten Again, which won the Elixir Press 2008 Fiction Award. The contest’s judge, RT Smith, says the collection’s 10 stories “feature an unflinching realism but still manage to unfold surprisingly and eloquently." Read more
Aber Day Kegger documentary debuts during UM Homecoming
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the last of Missoula’s legendary Aber Day Keggers, when over 10,000 thirsty college students and their out-of-town friends gathered each spring to enjoy an afternoon of music by artists such as Bonnie Raitt, Heart, Elvin Bishop, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Jimmy Buffet, and to quaff over 1,000 kegs of icy cold beer. A new documentary about the event debuts Oct. 8. Read more
IOA stages “The Ballad of Baby Doe”
One of the most famous American operas makes its Montana debut with Intermountain Opera Association’s fall production of "The Ballad of Baby Doe,” Oct. 9 and 11 in Bozeman. Set in the Colorado silver mines in the 1880s and 1890s, Douglas Moore’s opera tells the rags-to-riches-to-rags-again story of Horace Tabor, who abandons his wife, Augusta, for the beautiful Baby Doe. Read more
Apply by Oct. 2 to sing with Broadway stars in Spokane
Five Broadway stars are giving away the chance to join them on stage in “Neil Berg’s 100 Years of Broadway,” Oct. 12 at the Martin Woldson Theater at The Fox in Spokane. Submission guidelines are posted at www.singingwiththebroadwaystars.com. Read more
On your mark for the Montana Governor’s Cup Marathon
The Montana Governor’s Cup Marathon, a USTAF certified course, begins Sept. 20 in the rural community of Molt and finishes in downtown Billings. The race includes a marathon, half-marathon, and marathon relay for both runners and walkers, as well as a 10k race and kids’ run. Read more
Helena hosts annual Festival of the Book
The eighth annual Helena Festival of the Book brings writers, editors, readers and booksellers to the Queen City Sept. 24-26. Highlights include a a lecture and panel discussion on the life and works of Montana-born author Thomas Savage, and a lecture by Great Falls-born, Greek-American poet George Economou. Read more • (1) Comments