Emma Gibbs Band and Jag Star return tonight at Legends

Daniel Frazier - Contributing Writer

Winston-Salem's own Emma Gibbs Band (EGB) and Jag Star (JS), from Knoxville, Tenn., will co-headline a show tonight at Legends. The concert will be EGB's third show this year in Boone after having already played two shows at Geno's Sports Lounge last semester.

Since its formation in the mid-'90s, EGB has gone far in its accomplishments. The band has toured from New York to Mississippi, opened for Widespread Panic and James Taylor, landed a spot on the 1998 H.O.R.D.E. Festival, and shared stages with national acts such as Leftover Salmon, String Cheese Incident, Train, Vertical Horizon and Derek Trucks.

Its latest album, "Seven Even," was produced by John Keane (R.E.M., Widespread Panic) and features David Blackman (Widespread Panic, Blueground Undergrass) on fiddle for two tracks.

Emma Gibbs Band does not have a band member named Emma Gibbs. The name comes from the bass guitarist's grandmother, in whose garage the band used to practice. The band would meet there on weekends while the members attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Wake Forest University, according to band manager David Phelps.

EGB consists of six talented and creative band members. Brent Buckner plays harmonica in carefully selected solos. Will Straughan does vocals while using a variety of instruments including the mandolin, lap steel guitar, dobro and trumpet. Lead singer Richard Upchurch plays rhythm guitar while the other guitarist Drew Cannon creates the enriching leads. Jazz-influenced drummer Andrew LeVasseur and bass guitarist Jeff Remsburg make up the rhythm section.

Emma Gibbs' sound can be described as "acoustic rock" influenced by blues and bluegrass. The band's large variety of instruments allows them to be unrestricted for their sound. The band will often incorporate in-depth musical jams at their shows but always maintains the stage presence of a rock act.

Check out Emma Gibbs Band tonight and see why its fans pack the hometown venue (Ziggy's) on a regular basis.

Jag Star has come a long way in its career in a very short amount of time since the band last played at Legends as an opening act for Weekend Excursion last semester. Due to the buzz they created and large fan base in their hometown of Knoxville, Tenn., the band had an opportunity of opening for Macy Gray at the Knoxville Civic Auditorium last November.

JS has since expanded their touring range throughout the Southeast playing with bands such as Weekend Excursion and the Jennifer Nettles Band.

Jag Star was formed in the summer of 1998 by guitarist J. Lewis and his wife Sarah Lewis, who sings and plays the mandolin. Soon after, Erin Tipton was recruited to play violin and the viola. The rhythm section of Kenner Rawdon on bass guitar and drummer Seamus Tierney was later added to complete the band, and they began performing in May of 1999.

With a punk-rock influenced bass player and a violinist, Jag Star was destined to be unlike any other rock band from the very beginning.

JS made a heavy impact on the Southeastern music scene by playing major cities such as Atlanta, Louisville, Ky., Knoxville, Tenn., and Chapel Hill. The band was selected as finalists for the Charlotte and Nashville 1999 Lilith Fair Talent Search, placed second out of 50 entries in the Ernie Ball Band Battle and received the privilege to play in the 2000 Atlantis Music Conference in Atlanta.

Jag Star has a more mellow rock sound with an occasional Celtic influence. The band's sound is truly unique and will impress fans of all genres. Its quick success and growing fan base only foreshadows the band's growing career.

See the Emma Gibbs Band and Jag Star tonight at Legends. Tickets are $3 for students and $4 for guests or at the door. Doors open at 9 p.m. The event is B.Y.O.B. six-pack limit. Proper ID is required.

The show is sponsored by A.P.P.S. Club Shows. For more information on the Emma Gibbs Band and Jag Star, visit the bands' Web sites at www.emmagibbs.com and www.jagstar.com.

Accomplished musician Jerzy Kosmala and son give outstanding performance

Kara Hodge - Entertainment Beat

World-renowned musician Jerzy Kosmala performed as part of the School of Music's 2001 Recital Series Tuesday night.

"I know what a sacrifice it was for you to attend tonight. It must have been hard to get here for those of you who had to drive and so I thank you," Kosmala said quietly, referring to the snow and ice.

The concert featured Kosmala, an accomplished viola player, accompanied by Bair Shagdaron on piano and Kosmala's son Withold on violin.

Kosmala and company performed "Sonata in A Minor," "Arpeggione," by F. Schubert, "Trio-Sonata in C Minor" by J. Quantz and "Vocalise" and "Sonata, Op. 19," both by S. Rachmaninoff.

The highlight of the night was a duet by father and son in which the two performed Handel's "Passacaglia." The two played the difficult piece with grace and passion. It was an emotional time in the recital because Kosmala taught his son the craft of music.

Jerzy Kosmala is a professor of viola and coordinator of strings at Louisiana State University. He is also an Artist-in-Residence at the University of California at Irvine, a faculty member of the National Arts Camp in Interlochen, Mich., and a visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London.

Recognized internationally as a concert and recording artist, Kosmala has toured through Europe, the former Soviet Union, North and South America, and Asia.

He is also a frequent guest artist and performer at the world's foremost festivals, universities and academies including the Royal Academy of Music, Royal College, Guildhall School of Music in London, and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria.

Shagaron is an assistant professor of piano at Appalachian State University. He joined the faculty in the fall of 2000 after teaching at Ottawa University in Kansas.

Withold Kosmala has been a professor of mathematics at Appalachian since he joined the faculty in 1984.

He served as concertmaster at the University of South Florida, where he attended on a full music scholarship. While at Appalachian, Kosmala served as the violinist on the album "Warmlight" by Joe Shannon.

He is a student of his father Kosmala.

For more information about the School of Music's 2001 Recital Series contact its office at 262-3020. Concerts are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted.

Greer Arena Theatre to host evenings of entertainment

'Bedlam: An Evening of One Acts IV' starts tomorrow

Kara Hodge - Entertainment Beat

Think that there is nothing to do in Boone? Think again. For the fourth time this year the department of theatre and dance presents an evening of one-act student-directed plays.

"Bedlam: An Evening of One Acts IV" starts tomorrow through March 24.

Eerie love and mystery are presented in the two plays for "Bedlam." The evening consists of two student-directed plays, the first of which is "Seduction Duet" by M. H. Appleman. It is a strange and dark story of two hopeless romantics.

Here's a brief synopsis: Cynthia, played by Andrea Gilkey, gets molested by a coworker. Matt, played by Matt Thompson, rushes to her aid, rescues her like a knight in shining armor and walks her home.

At her apartment, they get to know one another, and soon begin to realize that the other is not really what they seem. "Seduction Duet" is filled with humor and tension and of course, love.

Jessica F. Hunt directs, Laura Killian designs costumes and Mindy Loughhead manages the stage.

The second play of the night is "The Heartbreak Tour" by Peter Morris. It is a story of a children's theater tour that goes horribly wrong.

The show goes through Larry's problems dealing with his fellow castsmates and his stage managers, Jason Adams, Jessica Kaufman and Jen Allman. Larry is played by Matthew Phillips.

"The Heartbreak Tour" includes music, dancing and fist-fights. "Tour" also promises to give everyone a newfound respect for those who have braved children's theater.

Noah Jones is the director, Laura Crisp is the costume designer and Caryn Crye serves as stage manager.

The one act plays represent a collaboration between the students in two upper-division theater classes this semester. The plays are directed by the students in the advanced-directing class where they each select and prepare the plays for public performance. The costumes have been designed by students in a costume design class. There will be an additional set of two one-act plays in April to complete the collaboration.

"One Acts IV" performs in the Greer Arena Theatre. Tickets are $3 and can be purchased at the Valborg Theatre Box Office Mon. through Fri. from 2-5 p.m. For reservations or more information call 262-3063.

Visiting Writers' Series to feature poet Tony Sanders

Kara Hodge - Entertainment Beat

Tony Sanders, Award-winning author of "Partial Eclipse" and "Transit Authority," will read from his works on Thursday, March 8, at 7:30 p.m. in Linville Falls Room of Plemmons Student Union.

His presentation is part of the university's Visiting Writers Series.

Sanders' first book "Partial Eclipse" received the Vassar Miller Prize for Poetry, an annual national competition resulting in the publication of a winning manuscript each fall.

"Sanders proceeds through his poems with a pervasive steadiness of diction, a syntactic resonance quite his own yet gratefully beholden to such exacting masters as Stevens," said Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Howard.

In "Transit Authority," Sanders looks with a rueful intrigue at an urban landscape swamped with near misses and has-beens. While the topic seems disconcerting, the poems' alluring subtleties keep the reader interested.

Sanders teaches English and creative writing at Fairfield University in Connecticut. Educated at Yale, the University of Iowa and the University of Houston, Sanders has had his works published in "The Paris Review," "Grand Street," "The Yale Review" and "The Gettysburg Review."

The Visiting Writers Series is sponsored by the North Carolina Arts Council, an agency funded by the State of North Carolina and the National Endowment for the Arts; Appalachian's Office of Academic Affairs, College of Arts and Sciences, Office of University Advancement, University Bookstore, Equity Office and Office of Multicultural Student Development; "The Appalachian Journal," the Hubbard Center for Faculty and Staff Development, the Richard T. Barker Friends of the University Library and the Friends of the Watauga County Public Library; business sponsors Gideon Ridge Inn and Red Onion Restaurant; and community sponsors Carol Anne Coe, Gil Verbit, Mildred Luckhardt and Robert Moren.