Arts ©Entertainment
Wednesday, February 8,1995 Page 9
JayCalderon/DN
Folk singer Laurie McClain works and records in her Lincoln home.
Folk musician in tune with life
By Jeff Randall
Staff Reporter
Lincoln folk musician Laurie McClain
has spent more than twenty years working
on her music, but right now she’s worried
about something else — a hamster.
“I spent two hours this morning search
ing for it,” McClain said, “and I’m really
worried.”
The hamster belongs to her daughter,
and McClain fears the worst.
“It was so cute and cuddly,” she said. “I
just hope it’s all right.”
. This may not seem like the type of
concern musicians typically have. But
Laurie McClain isn’t a typical musician.
McClain is the single mother of three
daughters, ages 2,10 and 14, and has spent
the last 20 years creating original folk mu
sic in Lincoln.
Her third album, “We Were All Babies,”
was recorded and mixed on a four-track
recorder in McClain’s home.
“It took me about three months, record
ing in the middle of the night while the kids
were asleep,” she said, attempting to forget
“If I could do folk music as a full-time job, I would.
But it would have to be really low-key, because I
would have to be able to see my kids all the time. I
don’t know how realistic that is. ”
■
LAURIE MCCLAIN
Lincoln folk singer
the plight of the missing hamster.
Talking about her music seems to do the
trick. As she sank into the discussion about
her musical career, McClain leaned back in
her wooden chair for the first time.
McClain’s balancing act between the
responsibilities of motherhood and her
musical aspirations has been a bit one
sided, she said.
“Being a single parent, taking care of my
family is the major concern in my life,” she
said. “And music has become more of a fun
diversion, but I’m sure having a family
permeates even that.”
Family life recently managed to bump
music down to a low priority, McClain said.
Besides raising the girls, McClain owns a
transcription business. Spending a few years
away from songwriting, however, is some
thing McClain said she needed.
“I hadn’t written anything for about five
years, and then I wrote almost all of the
songs (from “We Were All Babies”) in
See MCCLAIN on 10
Pleasant’s
pop music
appealing
By Joel Strauch
Senior Reporter
Wally Pleasant, accompanied only
by his guitar, will deliver his own satiri
cal brand of pop music in Lincoln to
night.
Dave Rabe, Duffy’s Tavern spokes
man, called Pleasant “a ray of light in the
dark world of rock and roll.”
“I find him hard not to like,” Rabe
said. “He appeals to everybody.”
Andy Fairbaim, KRNU’s music di
rector and senior broadcasting major,
said he first heard Wally Pleasant about
two years ago.
“We got a CD of just a guy and his
guitar singing some weird little songs, so
we put it in rotation,” he said.
Fairbaim said Pleasant’s music really
appealed to KRNU listeners.
“People really dug his song, ‘She’s in
Love with a Geek,’ and then his other
songs got really popular;” he said.
Pleasant is currently touring in pro
motion of his third album, “Houses of
the Holy Moly.
Fairbaim said people either loved or
hated Pleasant’s eccentric brand of mu
sic.
“If you don’t like it, you’ll probably
get annoyed by it,” he said, “but person
ally I like it and a lot of other people do
too.”
Pleasant will be putting in an appear
ance at the downtown Homer’s, 1339 O
St., before his live shows.
Fairbaim said the Homer’s set should
be interesting.
“He’ll be walking around the store,
and whatever section he’s in, he’ll play
a song of that kind of music.”
Pleasant will give an all-ages show at
Le Cafe Shakes, 1418 O St., at 7 p.m.
“The first time he came here he was
just gonna do a 21 and over show, but I -
encouraged Dave (Rabe) to do an all
ages show too,” Fairbaim said.
“He always does well at them.”
Pleasant will top off the evening with
a 21 and over show at 10 p.m. at Duffy’s
Tavern, 1412 O St. He will be joined by:
opening act, Alex Lumelsky.
Fairbaim said Lumelsky played a'
darker version of solo acoustic music,: *
“He’s not quite as poppy and cheery
as Wally,” he said.
Rabe said Pleasant was appealing
because he was so unserious.
“I think he takes it sorta serious, but
he’s not this conceited, butthead, rock
star kind of guy,” he said.
Artist takes walk on cutting edge
By Charles Russell
Staff Reporter
Edges fascinate artist Kaiti
Slater.
Her new installation, “Eco
tones,” which is on display at the
gallery of the Department of Art &
Art History, proves it.
An ecotone is the edge where
two different environments meet.
In this very delicate area it is diffi
cult to know where one environ
ment ends and another begins,
Slater said in a gallery talk Tues
day. Those edges are the focus of
her latest work.
Slater calls her work an instal
lation, which is “an environment
we enter, instead of just looking
at,” she said. Her current installa
tion is made up of digitally ma
nipulated photographs embedded
in red sandstone rocks.
The pictures reflect suburban
locales and present a distinct con
trast to the rocks, which are left in
their natural state. The edges be
tween culture and nature are viv
idly detailed and subtly blurred.
The blurring of edges is not
limited to the subject matter of
Slater’s art work, but also carries
over into the presentation as well.
Viewers are encouraged to pick
up the rocks “and investigate their
embedded history, much as a cul
tural geologist,” Slater said. In this
way the viewer becomes a part of
the exhibit, she said.
Slater, who teaches art at the
University of Utah, said she got
interested in object/environment
pieces in graduate school in the
late 1980s.
“I wanted to focus on the expe
rience of relationships,” she said.
Slater started using repetition,
which plays a major part in her
recent work. She said she wanted
to explore “the relationship of the
one to the whole ”
This interest in relationships led
her to get involved with computers
and digitized imagery, she said.
“Our culture is fascinated with
simulated reality,” Slater said.
She began playing with the idea
of simulated reality in her art. By
altering images digitally, she tries
to create a perspective that can
help the viewer better understand
their experiences.
“Unless we get far enough away,
we can’t really see clearly,” die
said.
“Ecotones: an Installation
About Edges” will be on display in
Richards Hall until Feb. 23. Gal
lery Hours are 9 am. to 5 p.m.
Monday through Thursday.
Video releases offer mhc
By Gerry Beftz
Film Critic
This week and last week’s new
video releases bring a mixed va
riety of the good, the bad and the
SO-SO.
“It Could Happen To You”
(PG-13) — A nice, smarmy ro
mantic comedy for the early
Valentine’s Day movie renters.
Nicholas Cage plays a down
on-his-luck cop who, in lieu of a
tip, offers to split the possible
winnings of a lottery ticket with
his waitress (Bridget Fonda).
No Oscars are expected for
this flick or any of toe perfor
mances, but it’s still a wonderful
little film to watch with someone
you care about.
“Clear and Present Danger”
(PG-13)— Harrison Ford is back
in the proverbial saddle again as
Jack Ryan, toe defender of truth,
justice and other American stuff.
This is Ford’s second Jack
Ryan film; this one takes place
with Ryan chasing drug smug
glers in South America. How
ever, unbeknownst to our hero,
political forces are working
against the greater good (big sur^V?
prise!), and soon Ryan finds him
self hip-deep in trouble.
Another strong performance &
from Ford, and strong supporting
performances from James Earl
Jones and Willem DaFoe, conje
together for a decent
LONG — rental. .;~v: ..
“The Color of Night” (Rand _
unrated versions) Bruce —
Willis bares all for a film put opt
by Walt Disney; isn’t this a sign
of the apocalypse? n. •
A psychiatrist (Willis) takes
See VIDEO on 10
