An Orchestrated Life
James Dixon, conductor of the University of Iowa Symphony Orchestra, is largely credited with putting Iowa on the orchestral map.

Live Java Blend Volume 2 by Sarah Sharp, Rachael Davis, et. al
A blend of recordings from local and national artists, Live Java Blend: Volume 2 makes a fitting soundtrack for daily living.

Slant 6 Mind by Greg Brown
Folksinger Greg Brown's silk-and-gravel baritone voice captivates audiences.

Homegrown talent is beautifully displayed and featured at Iowa City's Artisans Gallery.

Still a most popular diversion despite the announcement of a recession that's been dogging the U.S. economy for months, shopping might actually be good for the spirit. Have you ever entered a store and been swept up in the ambiance of a place that feels special?

One of the places that I find rejuvenating on otherwise ordinary days is the Artisans Gallery, downtown in Iowa City. Beautifully crafted glass reflects the vision of artists adroit with molten sand, color, and light; cast-iron sculptures attest to the whimsical worldview of craftsmen who could be making frying pans, but instead choose to cast a little humor in their foundry; coffee mugs that began as lumps of clay end up making a statement—not only about the potters who made them, but about those of us who buy them. There are lamps, pens, earrings, mirrors, clocks, paperweights, paintings, whistles, salt and pepper shakers, and all manner of ordinary things that become extraordinary in the artist's hands.

And there's music. On one visit, I discovered a mother lode of folk music CDs arranged in a small basket. I limited myself to three, Big Wooden Radio's visiting normaltown, Foot-Notes' Decorah Waltz, and Stones in the Field's Come Singing, Come Dancing. Click on the CD covers at right to hear a selection from that particular album.

 

Described as a "roots-based acoustic band featuring tight harmony vocals," Big Wooden Radio has been entertaining audiences around the Midwest with its mix of original compositions and distinctive arrangements for years. visiting normaltown, the group's third CD, features a comfortable bluegrass feel with gentle rock edges. With Sam Thompson, 80BA, 89MSW, on acoustic guitar; Joe Peterson, 81BA, on mandolin; Dan Brown, 81BA, 81SE, 83MA, on bass; and Will Jennings, 93BA, 97MFA, playing harmonica—plus compositions by Thompson, Brown, and Jennings, the CD highlights the multiple talents of these Iowa grads.

 

Decorah Waltz was produced in celebration of Iowa's sesquicentennial, when the Smithsonian featured Foot-Notes at its 1996 Festival of American Folklife. Inspired by the Nordic melodies and dances of their immigrant forebears, members of the quartet (Beth Hoven Rotto on fiddle and recorder; Jim Skurdal on mandolin; Jon Rotto on guitar; and Bill Musser, 01MA, on bass) perform vivacious schottisches, polkas, and waltzes that encourage listeners to dance—or, at least, to tap their toes. This CD echoes much of the music I heard as a child, and it makes me feel just as warm and happy and part of the culture now as the remembered melodies did way back when.

 

In another cultural vein, Stones in the Field plays music in the traditional Irish style, featuring jigs and reels, airs and polkas on its Come Singing, Come Dancing CD. The Iowa City band gots its start in the 1980s. Dennis Roseman (concertina, accordion, harmonica, banjo); Dave Hicks, 76BA, 85MA (fiddle, wooden flute, whistle, guitar, and bodhran); and Guy Drollinger (mandolin, fiddle, and guitar), are original members of the group, which was joined by Keith Reins, 96MA, on guitar, whistle, and bodhran, a decade later.