Get outdoors today and enjoy the weather. It’s going to be "mostly" sunny and back up to the 60s. Considering the weather lately, that’s pretty darn good. And when the evening starts to fall, get out and use some of that sun-fueled brain & body energy.
MUSIC Uh Huh Her
For a real spring sound, go check out Los Angeles-based music duo Uh Huh Her at the Varsity tonight. Leisha Hailey and Camila Grey serve up some seriously mellifluous indie electro-pop. You might recognize Hailey, formerly of The Murmurs, from the Showtime hit series The L Word. And Camila Grey, bassist and keyboardist with lo-fi rock band Mellowdrone, has worked with Dr. Dre, Busta Rhymes, Melissa Auf Der Maur, and Kelly Osbourne. How about that?
8 p.m., Varsity Theater, 1308 4th St. SE, Minneapolis; 612-604-0222; $15.
BOOKS & AUTHORS The Man, the Writer, the Revolutionary, the Legend
We have a legend in our midst today: Amiri Baraka is in town to share his wisdom with us. This man was one of the leading voices of the Black Arts Movement in Harlem in the ’60s — the one that essentially laid out the path for a new American theater aesthetics. Author of over 40 books of poetry, essays, drama, music history, and criticism, Baraka has covered virtually all aspects of art, politics, and activism in the United States, the Caribbean, Africa, and Europe. Yes, that’s a lot of ground to cover, the man is quite the master. It’s not often he comes to Minneapolis from his hometown of Newark, NJ, so be sure to catch him now.
Don Lee’s latest novel has gotten a lot of attention lately (so I’m guessing it’s quite good), and he’s here in town today to speak for himself (you know, a reading, a discussion, a book signing, and all that jazz). Lee, currently a resident of St. Paul, served as editor of Ploughshares for nine years, prior to accepting an associate professor position at Macalester College, teaching creative writing, of course. And it seems we got him at just the right time, as Wrack and Ruin takes the world by storm. In this latest novel, Lee writes about about two brothers, one a sculptor-turned-Brussels sprouts farmer, the other a charlatan movie producer. If you happen to have read Yellow, his previous collection of stories, you’ll recognize the made-up town of Rosarita Bay, California, the setting for his latest novel. Apparently, having grown up as a diplomatic brat, it’s easier for Lee to make up a fictional home than to draw from his own experience (though, to be fair, it is based on a real town).
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