Clarence Greenwood already had developed his musical alter ego, Citizen Cope, when he went out on tour as a DJ with the Washington D.C. hip-hop artist Basehead in the late '90s. (More)

Though a proud and hardy bunch, we Vrabels are not, nor have ever been, what anyone could remotely call famous. None of us has ever invented anything important (with the exception of my uncle's failed attempt to patent his long-in-production Taffy Pants), no one has ever been the king, emir or despotic ruler of anything (although I must say that I ran the Crown Point Pool concession stand in high school with an iron fist), no one has starred in a movie (although I do have a brief cameo in the miserable 1993 comedy "Rookie of the Year" as Baseball Crowd Member #12,064). No, we are an understated and swarthy people, simple folk with simple means and simple goals, except my cousin Kevin, who wants very much to be a pirate. (More)

CHICAGO -- Mavis Staples was at a session in Los Angeles with the Freedom Singers last year recording her extraordinary new album, "We'll Never Turn Back." The air-conditioned studio seemed far removed from the world Staples and the Freedom Singers -- Rutha Harris, Charles Neblett and Bettie-Mae Fikes -- had known in the early '60s, she says. (More)

Long before the days of Cartoon Network, children bolted out of bed on Saturday mornings to satisfy their cartoon fix. And tucked somewhere between "He-Man" and "Thundercats" and "Muppet Babies" were old-school animated cartoon shorts called "Schoolhouse Rock!" Readers of a certain age might remember the grammar-centric "Conjunction Junction" or "I'm Just a Bill," an infectious ditty about the process of legislation that aired regularly between 1973 and 1986. (More)

Rumors are swirling on the Internet about a reunion of early-'90s boy band New Kids on the Block; a cryptic video on www.nkotb.com certainly hints as much. (More)

Yes, singer Freddy Cole is Nat's brother and Natalie's uncle, and no, that's nowhere near the end of the story.In fact, the New York Times has called Cole "the most maturely expressive male jazz singer of his generation, if not the best alive." (More)

Imagine putting on a set of headphones to listen to a 10-minute piece of intense Christian organ music. (More)

There's a moment early in "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" where the picture suddenly goes blurry. We've been watching the action from the viewpoint of a Frenchman named Jean-Dominique Bauby, a recent stroke victim who is completely paralyzed. (More)

Theatergoers will need to crank up all their little gray cells to solve the mystery of"Agatha's Christie's Black Coffee," being presented from Tuesday through Feb. 24 at the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina. (More)

Mike Doughty has a lot on his plate these days. The formerSoul Coughing frontman is also a blogger, traveler, photographer, storyteller, comeback story and poet, among other things. He's also a solo singer-songwriter and will appear Tuesday in Jacksonville for a show at which he'll premiere tracks from his new record, "Golden Delicious," due Feb. 19. Doughty, 37, took a few minutes for some e-mail chit-chat ahead of that show. (More)

The Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Maestra Mary Woodmansee Green, will conclude its annual JanuaryFest -- this year renamed CoplandFest -- with two shows of choral music by American composer Aaron Copland this Sunday and Monday at the First Presbyterian Church on Hilton Head Island. (More)

Everybody loves a clown, except me, because Ihate them, hate them with an intractable hate, an icy and all-consuming hate, a hate that's so hateful it's sort of lovely, because all clowns are bone-chilling, spine-curding, bone-curdling, fake flower-squirting, red-nosed, be-wigged messengers of hideous demon-terror. And I'm not just saying that because of the recurring nightmares I've been having since what years of therapy have determined to be around the age of 4, but then again, I probably am. For when they would haunt my sleep, the clowns would mostly chase me across a desolate, bone-dry landscape, one filled with brush and tumbleweeds and Sergio Leone camera crews; I tried in vain to run away, but they were relentless, cackling horrifically on their unicycles and popping up from behind cactus after cactus after cactus. This went on for years, pretty much until the nightmares with the Incredible Hulk began, but this is probably oversharing now, as well as a startingly long intro paragraph. (More)

I stumbled upon the most delightful TV show last night, and by "stumbled," I mean "planned to watch for two consecutive weeks, but apparently I'm really busy at 11 p.m. on Tuesdays." (More)

Bluegrass diehards might be tempted to pick on Cherryholmes because of their greenhorn status: Most of the members in the six-piece family bluegrass band had never listened to a bluegrass album -- or played an instrument -- before 1999. Also, they're originally from southeast Los Angeles. (More)

Here are a few things you probably wouldn't want broadcast on national TV: your drug addiction, the therapy sessions that unearth your painful childhood memories, a medical professional rubbing Icy Hot on your bare bottom and your detox. (More)

Today we take a small detour away from the raw, unyielding, succulent news that usually appears in this space into the world of onlinegovernmental record keeping: The National Archives. Yes, those The National Archives! That dinging sound you just heard was the Excitement Meter hitting 11. (More)

Did you think Chris Dodd's "White Hare" video was the best thing about the YouTube debates? (More)

We're not sure if you heard, but the presidential race is all about South Carolina right now, and the major candidates, as well as Ron Paul, are working overtime to endear themselves to Palmetto State primary voters (except Fred Thompson, who is probably napping). Some ways the candidates are trying to win over local folks: (More)

Cloverfield" arrives in theaters more marketing phenomenon than movie, a "Blair Godzilla Project" built on an unknown cast, "found video," a little-seen monster and a lot of hype. (More)

The Sun City Community Theatre will present "Moon Over Buffalo" today through Sunday at the Ulmer Auditorium in Bluffton Town Hall. (More)

Director Marc Forster's exceedingly respectful adaptation of Khaled Hosseini's international best-seller "The Kite Runner" has both a subtle, captivating naturalism and a few convenient plot turns that are difficult to overcome. (More)

It's a simple exercise: Make a list of all the things you want to do in your life, big experiences, noble goals, altruistic urges. From peering into the Grand Canyon to learning a foreign language or dating a cheerleader, this is what you will squeeze in before you "kick the bucket." (More)

David Letterman had one for a week, and Conan O'Brien still has his. Craig Ferguson tried to grow one, but got rid of it before TV time. Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert, in their own fake, untrustworthy manners, pretended to do it. Jay Leno, well, he didn't even try. (More)

When most people think of the music of the 1960s, names like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead come to mind. (More)

Alright, the charade is over. The jig is up. You caught me. I'm going to end the speculation, the rumor-mongering, the speculation-mongering and monger-mongering: I admit that I am a regular user of steroids -- specifically performance-enhancing writing drugs, which I have been injecting into my fingers for years. (More)