Stories

All community thespians from ages 5-75, are invited to audition for the world famous Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, "The King and I" this Thursday, May 17 from 3-6pm and again on Saturday, May 19 from 11am-2pm.  Auditions will be held at St. Thomas Episcopal Church on Sun Valley Road upstairs in the sanctuary.  There will be a sign-in desk as you arrive with an audition form and upcoming rehearsal schedule (rehearsals begin at the end of August).  The musical show will run at the nexStage Theater from October 18-21---please do not audition if you have serious conflicts during late summer and early fall!!  Auditioners will be required to sing simple scales and a few bars from "King and I" songs solo and with a small group.  Easy dance movements and reading from script sides will also be part of the audition process.  Sides will be available for perusal as you sign in, not ahead of time.  We are very relaxed and like to have fun at auditions; all abilities are welcome! ... (more)

For those artists and craft-makers who have recently moved to our valley, or for those who have only recently gotten interested in participating in a craft festival, or for those among you who have meant to send in that application but just procrastinated.....please allow us to point out a small matter.  The 2012 dates for Ketchum Arts Festival are July 13, 14 and 15.  Although July seems faaaaaaar into the distant future, the application period is quickly running out!  As of March 5, the available booths were more than 60% gone, and a flood of applications right before March 15 is expected. Read on to see why you should get that application done today!

The Application Deadline is March 15 postmark. If you are a Blaine County resident (“local”), here's how that application deadline applies to you.  Locals can certainly apply later than March 15 but will not be included in the Festival Guide and will have to pay increased fees. The festival has a set number of booths, so you also run the risk... (more)

Gail Severn Gallery artist Theodore Waddell, will have an artist chat on Saturday, February 18 at 10:00 am at Gail Severn Gallery.  Come walk the gallery with Theodore as he discusses and fields questions about his latest work.

Idaho and Montana Rancher Theodore Waddell is an internationally recognized artist that has spent more than 50 years painting and sculpting his beloved western landscape full of horses, cattle and sheep - the icons of his life.

Waddell’s first exposure to painting was watching his father complete Paint by Numbers paintings.  He used small brushes and very small containers of paint.  This is the exact opposite of Theodore’s paintings. Waddell uses paint by the gallon, and he modifies brushes and trowels normally used for asphalt roofing. A gallery owner once joked that he should sell his paintings by the pound. Theodore’s love of the medium is evident even in his work on paper.

Waddell fills his canvases with endless combinations of colors, washes and sometimes wax. His impasto... (more)

Taking digital pictures is only half the process anymore. What you do on the computer using a program like Adobe Photoshop can mean the difference between a ho-hum shot and an outstanding one.

In a one-day workshop offered by the Sun Valley Center for the Arts on Saturday, February 11, photographer Stacie Brew will cover the essentials of Photoshop: resizing images, adding text, cloning and manipulating the color and lighting. Students are encouraged to bring in their own digital photos to work on.

Photoshop 101 meets from 10 am to 4 pm at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts, Hailey. Fee is $80 for Sun Valley Center members and $130 for nonmembers. To register, go to www.sunvalleycenter.org, call 208.726.9491 ex 10 or stop by The Center in Ketchum.

Cash’d Out is the premier Johnny Cash tribute band in the world, bar none. Cash’d Out is the only tribute band endorsed by and linked to the official Johnny Cash website. Cash’d Out live shows respectfully reference the late, great Man in Black’s early Columbia era  and Sun Records sound, combined with the energy of the classic multi-platinum live recordings from Folsom Prison and San Quentin. Bill Miller (owner of johnnycash.com and JC’s best friend for 25 years) requested Cash’d Out perform at the recent opening of the Johnny Cash Exhibit as the Fender Museum. Not a bad compliment from the man who has lived and breathed Johnny Cash since first hearing him in 1969! Not only that, they bear a striking resemblance to Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three!

Check them out @Whiskeys Febuary 1st. Band starts at 9PM. $8 Bucks at the door.

www.cashdout.com

— If you’re ready to take your digital photography beyond auto focus, this weekend workshop will teach you what you need to know to create compelling pictures with your digital camera.

Local photographer Dev Khalsa will explain all the necessary ingredients for making great photographs—metering, ISO, lens choice and composition—while strengthening your individual skills. By the end of the workshop, you will be able to control how motion and depth of field affect your photographs and feel comfortable using your camera in manual mode.

After obtaining a degree in photojournalism from the University of New Mexico, Dev studied at the Santa Fe Photo Workshops. She now operates her own photography business, Dev Khalsa Photography (www.devkhalsaphotography.com).

Introduction to Digital Photography meets Friday–Sunday, Feb 3 –5, from 10 am to 4 pm at The Center, Hailey. The fee is $250 for Sun Valley Center for the Arts members and $300 for non-members, plus a $10 supply fee. All... (more)

Ketchum Arts Festival (KAF), a much-anticipated summer celebration of local arts, entertainers, and food, has spotlighted Blaine County artists and craft makers since 1999.  Over the course of those twelve years, the festival has exploded in size and scope and gained a reputation among vendors and shoppers alike as a “must-do” on summer’s busy calendar.

Application forms and details are now available at www.ketchumartsfestival.com for the July 13-15, 2012 event. For best booth prices and inclusion in the Ketchum Arts Festival Guide, complete applications must be postmarked by March 15, 2012. Local artists are never juried, but will be accepted with a complete application as long as booths are available.  “Local artists” means those who are currently Blaine County residents or those who resided in Blaine County when they previously participated in KAF. Additional fees will apply to applications postmarked after March 15.

Each year a handful of talented guest artists from other parts of Idaho... (more)

The Infamous Stringdusters are doing something right. They’ve earned critical acclaim, from their inception, awards and nominations aplenty, host their own successful music festival, have their own record label and a quickly growing and enthusiastic fan base across the country. They sound like no one else, combining virtuosic chops on five traditional bluegras instruments, with an ethos on pushing the genre forward. The Stringdusters are taking improvised string band music to new places, combining musicianship, songwriting an experimental performance. As the band’s newest record, We’ll Do It Live shows, a Stringdusters performance is ecstatic, with contagious energy flowing between the band and crowd. At each show you’ll see the band relaxed and having fun, while focusing on the music, “podding up” and directing swells of energy from their fans.

Come check them out @ Whiskey Jacques. Wednesday January 25th. 

Bands Starts At 8PM. Tickets Are $10 At the Door Day Of The Show Only!

http://thestringdusters....(more)

Ketchum Arts Festival (KAF), a much-anticipated summer celebration of local arts, entertainers, and food, has spotlighted Blaine County artists and craft makers since 1999.  Over the course of those twelve years, the festival has exploded in size and scope and gained a reputation among vendors and shoppers alike as a “must-do” on summer’s busy calendar.

 Application forms and details are now available at www.ketchumartsfestival.com for the July 13-15, 2012 event. For best booth prices and inclusion in the Ketchum Arts Festival Guide, complete applications must be postmarked by March 15, 2012. Local artists are never juried, but will be accepted with a complete application as long as booths are available.  “Local artists” means those who are currently Blaine County residents or those who resided in Blaine County when they previously participated in KAF. Additional fees will apply to applications postmarked after March 15.

 Each year a handful of talented guest artists from other parts of Idaho... (more)

Are you interested in deepening your understanding of voluntary simplicity, wondering what material and psychological distractions prevent us from caring for the earth, and would like to know how we can acknowledge the connection between our lifestyle choices and the condition of the earth?  If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then join the Environmental Resource Center this winter in our five-week Northwest Earth Institute (NWEI) discussion course on the topic of "Voluntary Simplicity".

 The group will meet Tuesdays at 6 pm, beginning January 10, at The Sage School in Hailey (1451 Aviation Drive).  These one-hour classes are offered free of charge; however, participants will need to purchase a $21 discussion workbook.  Topics include: the meaning of simplicity, living more with less, making a living, and living simply and sustainably. 

 Please register by Friday, December 30th so that discussion guides may be ordered and picked up before our first meeting.  For... (more)

We are very excited to be bringing in RECKLESS KELLY for NEW YEARS EVE 2012.  What a great way to ring in the New Year!!!

For fifteen years Reckless Kelly has been doing things their way, bucking the mainstream system and playing by their own rules, straddling the fence between country and rock as if they built it themselves. Throughout the years their old school approach to recording has always adhered to one main objective: make each record better than the last. Their latest effort, “Good Luck & True Love” is no exception to this rule.

Recorded in an old farmhouse-turned studio in Austin Texas, and released on the bands new independent label “No Big Deal Records,” “Good Luck & True Love” is pure, driving, uncut Reckless Kelly. The songs are all written or co-written by front man Willy Braun and range in subject matter from road songs, (“Weatherbeaten Soul,” “Hit The Ground Running”) to songs about music, (“New Moon Over Nashville,” “I Stayed Up All Night Again”) and songs about good old-fashioned... (more)

Mickey and the Motorcars Live at Whiskeys Dec. 29 $15 adv/$18 dos!

Unlike the previous three albums by country band Micky and the Motorcars, the group — this go-around — had plenty of time to prepare for NAIVE. During recording sessions on the past discs, says front man-lead vocalist Micky Braun, “if a good gig came up, we had to leave the studio.”  Now established as one of the best-drawing bands on the lucrative Texas Music circuit, Micky and the Motorcars had plenty of time to make NAIVE (Smith Entertainment; street date: July 29, 2008), accumulating a large stockpile of songs before members even entered Austin’s Cedar Creek Studios.  “We had a good amount of time off, so we did a lot of rehearsal, working up different arrangements and trying to figure out the right way to play them,” says Braun. “That was kind of grueling, but it worked out.”  Braun collaborated on many of the songs on NAIVE with musicians such as his brother, Reckless Kelly lead singer Willy Braun, as well as Randy Rogers,... (more)

The Board of Directors and staff of the ERC would like to invite you to join us for an Open House this Friday, December 2nd, from 5-7pm.  Our offices are located at 471 N. Washington Ave, across from Rickshaw Restaurant.

Come enjoy hot chocolate, hot cider (or a glass of something chilled) and cookies around the fire.  Tell us about issues that interest you, how you think the ERC might be able to help and learn what we we are up to now.  The more, the merrier, so please who might be interested in joining us.  Click here to see our event on Facebook.

We look forward to seeing you.

Ok, maybe not the most news worthy story but Friday afternoons are long and boring. Good news, you can always count on a  local kid to keep us entertained.  Joey Sides grew up here in the Wood River Valley, best known for his Hockey skills, he secretly studied the art of dance in his parent's basement (kinda like Napoleon Dynamite).  Here is the results of years of serious dance training....Enjoy!

Tuesday night, August 16, is the last evening  this summer when the Environmental Resource Center will bring Wild Connections to the Symphony. For this free Parent's Night Out opportunity, the ERC creates a fun and educational setting where your children can connect with nature, freeing you to connect with the concert! You’ll find us on the lawn at the Sun Valley Pavilion. Open to ages 5—13.  Call Sun Valley Summer Symphony office at 208-622-5607, x12 to register. Some spots are reserved for drop ins, but please pre-register if possible.

The Environmental Resource Center  is bringing back two popular summer nature explorations, the Beaver Walk and the River Romp.  Both are coming up quickly, but you still have time to sign up by calling 208.726.4333.

Join the ERC  Beaver Walk on August 18, and get to know the largest North American rodent. Did you know that the beaver is considered the most intelligent animal, aside from humans, for the ways in which it alters its surroundings?  We'll learn about beavers - and with a little luck - see them in action!  We'll call you with the exact location  the week of the Beaver Walk, because we have to scout out the best location to see beaver activity.  Perfect for children and adults.

ERC members free; suggested donation $10 individual/$25 family nonmembers. Register 208.726.4333.

 Join the ERC River Romp on August 19, and discover Big Wood River ecology hands-on! Children and adults are invited to learn more about the many plants and animals which depend on this aquatic... (more)

Paul Thorn will bring his own brand of autobiographical music to the JAPOP (John Alan Partners Outdoor Pavilion) on Tuesday August 9th, located next to the Bellevue Atkinsons. Raised in Tupelo, Mississippi among the same spirits who nurtured a young Elvis, Thorn is an experienced musician having opened for Bonnie Raitt,, Huey Lewis and the News, and John Prine, just to name a few.

Tickets are still available at local outlets - Mahoney's, Silver Dollar, Oak Street Foods, Guffy's and Atkinson's for $15. They are also available at the Record Exchange in Boise and online at ticketbud.com for $18. They will be $20 at the gate. Kids 10 and under are admitted for free.

Bring blankets and low-back chairs to enjoy this rain-or-shine show. Local band Old Death Whisper opens at 5:30pm with the Paul Thorn Band going on at 7pm. Gates open at 4:30pm.

Food and beverage will be available at the Japop, provided by South Valley Pizza, Taqueria el Pastor, Mahoney's, Bucksnort Rootbeer and a cotton candy booth.

Parking is available... (more)

The Gail Severn Gallery will once again provide a visually and acoustically outstanding venue for Caritas Chorale to perform their 5th Annual Benefit Concerts this weekend.  Performances will be Saturday and Sunday, June 4th and 5th.  Gallery doors will open at 5:30 to welcome guests for wine, sparkling drinks and hors d'oeuvres and time to socialize in a setting surrounded by great works of art and lush floral arrangements.  The chorale will commence with their program at approximately 6:15, and it will last about 45 minutes.

This year's program features Broadway songs from both "Titanic" which opened in 1997 and won five Tony awards including Best Musical, and from "The Music Man" by Meredith Wilson.  The "Titanic" medley will include the title song, Titanic - Godspeed Titanic, Doing the Latest Rag, Lady's Maid, and others.  Also on the program will be All That Jazz, from the hit musical, "Chicago".  In a different genre, the chorale has chosen a hauntingly beautiful composition... (more)

The boys from Up a Creek will be taking the stage at the Sun Valley Brewery on Friday at 8:00 PM.  Enjoy a great dinner, the best brews in town and a raucous good time with some original Southern Idaho Folk n' Roll!

The world renowned St. Petersburg String Quartet will perform this Saturday, April 30th, at 7:00PM, in the Presbyterian Church of the Big Wood.  There will be a pre-concert lecture at 6:15PM, given by Dick Brown.  This concert and lecture are presented by the Sun Valley Winter Artists' Series as the spectacular finale to their successful 2010/2011 season.

The history of this quartet, their performances, the musicians,  etc., are legendary, and will be part of the lecture which is highly recommended as the perfect "prelude" to this evening of outstanding music.

The program will include the following selections:  Beethoven String Quartet No. 11 in F minor; and works by Glazanov and Borodin.  The history of these musical compositions is equally fascinating alongside the performers, and will be presented in program notes thoughtfully researched and composed by Fred Bieker, a long-time supporter of SVWAS.

The members of the quartet are Alla Aramovskaya and Evgeny Zvomikov... (more)

Replace your outdoor gear with silks and get ready to shimmy!

The next time you want to celebrate-be it a bachelorette party, birthday or other occasion, consider inviting CanZada to be you party leader.  She will show up in full belly dance regalia, provide costuming, music and introductory belly dance moves for the guests.  Add an East Indian or Middle eastern cuisine theme, and you are guaranteed to have a great time!

Provide this fun party in lieu of gifts and let the memories and pictures of your girlfriends dressed in their gorgeous costumes be enough!   CanZada will come to a Ketchum area location for 3 hours for $300.  That's $30/person if you have 10 guests--an affordable fun time!  No dance experience needed--this is all for fun!

CanZada is the dance and artist name for local Donna Savage.  Donna has been belly dancing for 30 years and has performed at county fairs, a night club, and private parties.  Her parties have embraced girls from age 8 to a 90 year old woman.... (more)

Artists Down Under is filled with local talent, located Lower Level, Giacobbi Square. Local artists, like many others, work several jobs to support their passion for creating art..........come meet them and view art of many different mediums. Love to meet you.

Visit MarleyInTheMountains.com for the full scoop, artist pages, photos/videos & more.
Tickets now on sale at all Atkinson's Markets - only $10

Sat, Feb 19

The Up Down-Get Down Commemorative Ski Tour
presented by 5B Ski Club
Benefits Sun Valley Adaptive Sports & The Sawtooth Avalanche Center
Pre-register at 5B Ski Club in Ketchum – Friday 18th 5-9pm Adaptive Sports Shuttles leaving Park-N-Ride at the YMCA lot in Ketchum 8:15 and 8:30

We strongly request you take the shuttles so we don’t overcrowd the SNRA parking. Ski starts at 9am. Recommended Donation $20 

Proceeds split between SV Adaptive Sports and the Sawtooth Avalanche Center.

Marley In The Mountains Concert - Shamrocks & Dreadlocks

Simplot Field, Ketchum, Across from the Post Office · Tickets Available at all Atkinson's Markets $10

 · Ethan Tucker & The Grass Roots All Stars

 presented by KECH/KSKI 5-6:15 pm

· Carlos Jones & Plus Band

  Presented by Rickshaw6:30 - 8:15 pm

· Swagger

 Presented by Watkins Distributing 8:30-... (more)

Caritas Chorale and artistic director, Dick Brown, will present Handel's festive "Coronation Anthems" this weekend.  Concerts will be performed at The Big Wood Presbyterian Church on Saturday and Sunday, January 29th and 30th,at 3:30 PM each afternoon. Audiences are in for a very exciting musical experience.

These concerts by the Chorale will feature four soloists, as well as a 38-member orchestra.   The soloists are: R. L. Rowsey, bass; Dawson Howard, tenor; Jenette Tomlinson, alto; and Amy Staiger, soprano.  Both R. L. and Dawson are Wood River Valley residents and well known in theater and musical groups.  Jenette and Amy are members of Anam Cara, The Chamber Choir of Idaho, also directed by Dick Brown.

In 1727, King George I signed an act naturalizing George Frideric Handel as a British citizen, and Handel's first commission was to write the music for the coronation later that year of King George II and Queen Caroline on October 11, 1727.  There is an extraordinary feature... (more)