Arts

When Hall and Oates played the Chumash Casino recently, they took a stage surrounded by rabid fans who were treated to crowd favorites, as well as rare “way back” tunes. With a new solo album (1,000 Miles of Life) released in September and a concert CD/DVD with Daryl Hall (Live at the Troubadour) set to […]

Violin virtuoso Isaac Stern once said, “America’s music was born at his piano.” He was talking about Irving Berlin, who touted “White Christmas” as the best song he’d ever written. Berlin proclaimed, in fact, that it was the best song “anybody had ever written!” This bold declaration came from the man who also wrote “God […]

It’s not unusual for a folk musician to strive for release from a conventional lifestyle, longing to take to the road to share music and a message. Then there are the brave souls who actually do it and are better for it. Four Shillings Short falls into the latter category. Being homeless and owning few […]

Surfers travel to where the surf is. Likewise, art enthusiasts travel to where the art is. And sometimes, people are lucky enough to be able to do both. On a recent weekend, the marriage of three circumstances—falling gas prices, dismal weather, and an ever-present feeling of wanderlust—led us to pack up and take a drive […]

Alan Riggle stared out of his window in Cambria. As he gazed at his tree-covered property stretching out before him, he had an idea. The abstract sculptor usually makes pieces that end up in television shows, movies, and car commercials, but for once the nature that surrounded him also inspired him. “I thought, ‘This stuff […]

The David Ryan Gallery in Old Orcutt, one of the few remaining art galleries in the Santa Maria area, is set to hang its last piece of art. The gallery will close by the end of December. The decision wasn’t an easy one for owners Ron and Terri Thatcher. The gallery was never about making […]

David Stroup is searching for the spiritual connection between humanity and nature. And on his journey, he packs a camera. Seeing the connection between the human spirit and the landscape that surrounds it through the lens of a camera has helped him share that vision. He creates black-and-white, large-format photos that depict nature in its […]

It started out with a little old lady, clutching an umbrella, sitting in a parking lot at 7 a.m. on a drizzly morning. I wondered who she was and what she was doing. I later found out that she was waiting for the bus that takes patrons to and from the Chumash Casino. The bus […]