By Ingrid Schnader Theresa McKibben is gearing up for her performance with the Dill Pickers at the Central Alabama Theater. But before McKibben was one of the seven musicians who make up the Dill Pickers band, she was a little girl begging her mom to let her take piano lessons. “My mother had a terrible experience with piano,” she said. “Her mother made her take (lessons), … [Read more...]
Real Magnolias: Erin Weston Will Lead Bouquet Workshop at Antiques at The Gardens
By Donna Cornelius There’s no such thing as a typical day for Erin Weston. As the owner of Weston Farms in Garner, North Carolina, she might spend the morning tending to a broken water line and then dress up for a gala that night. “I’m comfortable in boots or heels,” Weston said. At her farm near Raleigh, she grows magnolia trees and uses their leaves to make her signature … [Read more...]
A Shared Experience: Homewood Theatre’s Bass Looks Forward to Another Successful Season of Live Community Theater
By Emily Williams Though establishing a successful local theater has seemed a slow process to Kyle Bass, the Homewood Theatre is looking forward to its third season with a new strength. “A comment that we get a lot is people saying that they didn’t even know Homewood had a theater,” Bass said. “One of the hardest parts about this process has been getting the word out … [Read more...]
‘Bitten by the Beatles’: How J. Willoughby Became the Rocker Behind Black Jacket Symphony
By Ingrid Schnader It isn’t hard for Black Jacket Symphony founder and guitarist J. Willoughby to remember what motivated him to pick up a guitar when he was 5 years old. “I got bitten by the Beatles,” he said. “Just became a weird freak about the Beatles at age 4. I mean, I was an only child, and I think it’s because I didn’t have video games to play or anything. I just went … [Read more...]
Pas de Deux: How Ballet Brought this Duo to Birmingham
By Ingrid Schnader Although Frederick Rocas and Nadine Barton have been dancing together at Alabama Ballet for the past five years, they come from completely different backgrounds. That’s because when you want to be a professional dancer, you might have to apply to studios across the world before you find a job that fits your needs. “You have to look for the job,” Rocas … [Read more...]