Newspaper Page Text
S.C. musician set to release new album
By COLTER MCWHORTER
The Red & Black
Joal Rush released his
second album “Imag
ination” in South Carolina
Monday. Apparently, peo
ple noticed— Rush sold
out the local 5 Points Pub.
“We had about 300 plus
people that night, with
more standing in the
back,” Rush said. “Just
amazing.”
The South Carolina
native, navigating a pop
rock landscape reminis
cent of John Mayer with
sweeping guitar and drum
ensemble, takes the stage
in Athens Friday, following
the Gamecocks to town
from Columbia.
Speaking on his tours
in the Southeast, Rush
said, “It’s so many people,
“Abstract painting is always under fire because it’s not representational.
To appreciate it, you really have to appreciate it for what it is. ”
Nora Wendl
Lamas Dodd Gallery Director
Artist returns to painting,
new exhibit opens tonight
By VALENTINA TAPIA
The Red & Black
After a 10-year hiatus,
Richard Roth is painting
again.
Tonight, the Lamar
Dodd School of Art’s main
gallery will showcase
Roth’s latest works with
an opening reception at 6
and a gallery talk featur
ing the artist immediately
following.
The exhibit, entitled
“Cowboy Magic,” will
remain on view in the gal
lery through October 5.
According to Nora
Wendl, gallery director at
Lamar Dodd, Roth turned
away from painting more
than 10 years ago to cre
ate collections from found
object art.
“[Roth] was interested
in collecting artifacts,”
Wendl said. “Painting to
him seemed as though it
was pointless; why make
objects when the world is
full of objects?” Wendl said.
However, Roth eventu
ally did turn back to the
medium through which
his career began in the
late 1980s.
“He got back into
painting with the mindset
that paintings can create
their own narrktives,” said
Wendl. “Abstract painting
is always under fire
because it’s not represen
tational. To appreciate it,
you really have to appreci
ate it for what it is. You
have to engage the mate
rial world in the culture of
objects,” Wendl said.
As an academic, Roth
has written about his past
as a collector of objects.
Roth is Chairperson of
the Painting and Print-
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I mean, those are always
great shows to do acous
tic with. It’s a ftill band
performance.”
Although once gracing
the stage alongside others
such as Edwin McCain
and Foreigner, Rush prais
es his local connections.
“Zac Taylor, an alum
nus from UGA, is flying
from Berkeley to play,” he
said. “John Keane mixed
[the CD] right there in
Athens. I always like to
drop his name.”
And the listener is all
the better for it: the
album’s glossy production
shines through, beginning
with Rush’s target of bit
tersweet emotions on
“Imagination ” Rush pro
claims, “It’s imagination /
ride it on down, and ’cause
soon you’ll come around.”
RICHARD ROTH’S
COWBOY MAGIC
When: 6, Tonight
Where: Lamar Dodd Visual
Arts building, 285 S. Jackson
St.
making Department at
Virginia Commonwealth
University.
According to rich
ardrothstudio.com, he
received his Bachelor of
Fine Arts degree from
Cooper Union and a
Master of Fine Arts from
the Tyler School of Art.
When asked about the
exhibit’s title, Wendl said
she is not exactly sure
what it means.
“Cowboy Magic is actu
ally a brand of horse sham
poo (Cowboy Magic
Detangle and Shine),” she
said. “I don’t know if
[Roth] is aware of that.
He’s not someone who over
explains things, so I would
say that the title is kind of
perfect,” Wendl said.
“It could either mean a
shampoo or it could mean
simply what it means, that
a cowboy signifies inde
pendence and magic, that
it’s just kind of exciting or
magical that he’s re-enter
ing painting.”
The works in “Cowboy
Magic,” completed
between 2006 and 2007, all
share certain attributes.
The abstract three-di
mensional paintings are
done with Flashe paint on
small, box-like birch ply
wood that maintain the
same dimension.
Flashe is a vinyl-based
paint with an opaque,
matte finish. According to
flashepaint.com, it allows
for a variety of application
JOAL RUSH
With: King Cotton, The Cubs
When: 9 p.m. Friday
Where: Tasty World
Cost: $5
Glued tightly with a
deep guitar and drum
undertone, Rush’s voice
resonates clear through
out, teasing out intimacy
with standard pop under
tones. The same pace
maintains throughout
“Lovely Day,” star-gazing
in its Incubus-like back
ground chords.
“The 2004 stuff was a
little more languid,” Rush
said. “It was just a slight
ly slower pace. The big
gest difference the new
album was a bit tighter,
tighter arrangements. A
bit more edgy.”
Courtesy Richard Roth
A Richard Roth
returns to painting
with an abstract
exhibit opening tonight
at the Lamar Dodd Art
Building and running
through Oct. 5.
methods, finishes and
intensities of color.
Each of “Cowboy
Magic’”s pieces is bold,
typically working with two
colors in distinguishing
clean, simple shapes, lines
and forms.
Their understated
appearances as wholes
translate high energy and
vibrance.
Wendl said that
because people desire bet
ter and more beautiful
design in everyday objects,
Roth’s work appeals to
that sensibility.
“There’s something of
expecting things to be
beautiful all the time. He
already knows that people
are visually savvy and he’s
playing off that idea and
putting it in the context of
the gallery,” Wendl said.
OUT & ABOUT
Quite true, as “Living a
Lie” and “Bleed” both sup
ply tinged beats on solid
drum work, with dead air
vacuumed tight enough to
keep pace, though the lat
ter shovels the rock out in
much greater quantity.
The strangest sound
combinations stem from
“Stone,” the album’s lon
gest track, shaking speak
ers with reverberated
acoustic clips and move
ments from the band.
Prodding the concept
of unknown and unchart
ed paths in others’ lives,
Rush sings, “You’re figure
out who you are / and
break the spell that this
world has cast upon you.”
Commenting on his
progression with guitar
work, Rush said, “I mean,
the tones in the guitar,
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Courtesy Blue Flashing Light
A. Local band Blue Flashing Light and Atlanta band Red Letter Agent
will headline a benefit show Friday at the 40 Watt Club to raise money
for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
BENEFIT: Local bands, date
auction highlight fundraiser
► From Page IB
Red Letter Agent’s members grew up
together, formed their own group in col
lege and moved to Atlanta to go after
their dream.
Since then, James Templeton
(vocals), Travis Jones (guitar), Jon
Sheats (bass) and Ryan Joyce (drums)
found success opening for acts like The
White Stripes, Ben Folds and Butch
Walker.
“The 40 Watt has a great vibe.
Opening for Butch Walker was the first
time we played there, and we had a
blast,” said Templeton. “It’s a very
unpretentious place, a good sounding
room, and it has a maze of crazy rooms
backstage.”
Their latest album, “Bum the Good
Ones Down,” has sold more than 2,000
albums and received radio airplay
across the nation, including Atlanta’s
own 99X.
“(Schwarber) asked us to do the
show and told us what it was for, and it
was a done deal,” said Templeton.
“We’re not the band that plays a lot of
benefit shows, but for the sake of kids
with cancer, we are suckers.”
To raise extra money, a date auction
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The Red & Black | Thursday, September 6, 2007
there’s a bit more crunch.”
Closing the EP with
‘You are,’ Rush stalls the
pace and stretches the
vocals to a lullaby-like
tone, replacing a bedtime
hymn with resonant guitar
twangs and prayers to the
beauty of a woman.
Aside from the show,
the upcoming football
game against the
Gamecocks came to mind.
“I definitely am a huge
football fan,” Rush said.
“You know, it was a good
time to play the night
before the game. A few
people do get a bit too
overboard, ya know?”
In spite of school loyal
ties, Rush stands strong
on the performance
Friday night.
“Man, we do a good
blend of it all,” Rush said.
will be held during the bands’ set
changes. Audience members can bid on
five female Chili’s employees, complete
with a gift card to local restaurants
(DePalma’s, East West Bistro and Harry
Bissett’s) and Espresso Royale for cof
fee. T-shirts, necklaces and glow sticks
will also be available for purchase to
support the cause.
“A lot of people in the community
have pulled together to make this event
happen, which is part of what makes it
so special,” said Strom. “Scientific dis
coveries at St. Jude are freely and
immediately shared with scientific and
medical communities throughout the
world, helping countless children.”
After the concert, Blue Flashing Light
is representing Athens in the Austin
City Limits Music Festival this month in
Texas, and Red Letter Agent plans to
tour out west and record new songs.
In addition to accepting donations
at their Athens location, the entire
Chili’s chain will pitch in later this
month.
On Sept. 24, Chili’s restaurants
nationwide are donating 100 percent of
their profits to St. Jude Children’s
Research Hospital as part of the month
long fundraising campaign.
JOAL RUSH
‘BLEED’
Verdict: A short, well pro
duced record for Rush’s sec
ond outing.
“We’ll start the show with
nice and high energy, then
we’ll try to stick with that,
then slow it down a little
bit. We take you on a
ride.”
3B