By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR As singer Aaron Caruso views it, Mario Lanza was one of the best tenors of all time. Audiences will get a chance to judge for themselves as Caruso and two other performers take to the…
By KAITLYN NAPLES STAFF WRITER Local theater productions are open to everyone, and are a great way for families to come out and support their fellow citizens who are actors and actresses. However, sometimes families with children who have special…
By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR Typically, you wouldn’t expect to consider metalcore band Miss May I and teen pop sensation Justin Bieber in the same thought. But Levi Benton did just that when he called from his home in Cincinnati…
The New England Underground Film Festival reaches back in time Sunday when it screens the 1914 silent film, ‘His Majesty, the Scarecrow of Oz,’ which was written by L. Frank Baum, the author of the ‘Wizard of Oz’ books. By…
By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR Bristol Theatre Arts is a community theater. And that mission helped guide director Cassie Taylor when she led the effort to bring the musical, “Beauty and the Beast” to the Memorial Boulevard Stage this weekend.…
By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR The 2012 Mum Festival kicked off last Friday and there are a pair of new Mums in town. Grace Gagnon won the honor to be called Miss Mum for the next year during the annual…
By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR Fans wanted it. The fans got it. The Northstar Session’s Matt Szlachetka explained the band’s decision to record and release its latest double-album, the live “Echoes from the Canyon” was based on the requests of…
By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR NEW YORK– All eyes in the world of fashion were focused on New York City from Sept. 6 to Sept. 13 as the Spring 2013 collections were strutted out before buyers and the fashion press.…
By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR It’s been more than four decades since Grand Funk Railroad formed in 1968. But the band that helped define heavy music, American-style, in the late 1960s, early 1970s, is still chugging along and playing live…
Just in time for the inaugural Connecticut Fashion Week, which launched this past Saturday, some of the designers showcased their work alon side some of the designers of Raw: Natural Born Artists at an event dubbed ‘Ensemble’ last Thursday at…
By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR Bristol’s Ryan Casey is no newcomer to the world of film. Although “American Jubilee,” his latest, is his first full-length feature film, his 30-minute film, “Crushing Pennies,” debuted at the Kent Film Festival in 2009.…
When you look at Josh Blumenthal’s stained glass art, listen carefully as you admire it. You might just hear music. Josh did. Josh, a Bristol resident and graduate of Briarwood College (now Lincoln College of New England) in Southington, has…
By KAITLYN NAPLES STAFF WRITER Bristol Community Organization was able to employ 50 teens this summer, thanks to the state-funded Summer Youth Employment and Learning Program. The program allows individuals between the ages of 16 and 18, to spend their…
The 2012 version of the Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival was like a genealogical convention of metal music. The tour, which completed its current edition with a final show at the Comcast Theatre in Hartford on Aug. 5, had it…
By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR If you know Rome Ramirez only through his work with Sublime with Rome, you know only a piece of his particular musical puzzle. This is beginning to change. Rome recently released a four-song EP titled,…
by MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR Inspiration can come from within and from without for an artist. And both are the case for Lori Camilleri, who is one of the first artists to exhibit at Bare Bones’ new location at 156…
by MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR Jason Hook’s gut reaction when asked why his band Five Finger Death Punch wanted to head out on the road with the Trespass America tour was simple. “We get to headline, which is always nice,”…
by MIKE CHAIKEN A Bristol woman will be putting her love of Christ and dedication to the Catholic church into action for nine months when she heads to Ireland next month to undertake youth ministry efforts in that nation. Teallia…
by MIKE CHAIKEN It’s something the members of Slipknot are still dealing with. And, the band’s percussionist, Clown, said it’s something the fans are still dealing with. That something was the great tragedy of the Slipknot family. And this summer…
by MIKE CHAIKEN Art Alexakis of Everclear was taken aback a bit by the question. Not in a bad way. But in a pleasantly surprised way. In an interview to promote the Summerland Tour, which he organized with Mark McGrath…
by MIKE CHAIKEN The Dirty Heads might have been suffering through a lot of turbulence prior to writing and recording its most recent album. And some bands would have used that turbulence to create an angry record that allowed them…
By MIKE CHAIKEN EDITIONS EDITOR There’s the art of music. And there’s the artistry of painting. Typically, if the two meet, it’s a case of inspiration. For example, a piece of art may inspire a piece of music. Think Mussorgsky’s…