By Mettssa Dunne
Start Reporter '
With only a three-credit fresh
man math course standing between
him and a Spanish degree, Bryan
Bowers dropped out of college.
More than 30 years later, Bow
ers couldn’t be happier about his
decision.
“I’m doing what I’m supposed
to do,” he said.
For Bowers, that means making
music, especially if it involves an
Autoharp. Bowers will play his
Autoharp tonight at 8 at the Joyo
Theater, 6102 Havelock Ave. The
concert, sponsored by the Lincoln
Association for Traditional Arts, is
$8 in advance and $10 at the door.
Bowers said he found his calling
when he started playing guitar be
tween his junior and senior years of
college.
“I finally felt like I was doing
what I needed to do,” he said. “It
gave me an inordinate amount of
joy.”
Then he discovered the
Autoharp.
“I went immediately intoanother
zone,” he said. “The guitar fell by
the wayside. I went from practicing
five and six hours a day to practic
ing 14 and 16 hours a day.”
And, Bowers said, his passion
for the Autoharp hasn ’t diminished.
In addition to practicing hours
each night, Bowers performs at cof
' fee houses, schools, theaters and
music festivals throughout the coun
try and the world.
He said his performances were
mixtures of story, song and foolish
ness. Gospels, fiddle tunes and
“songs that told stories with teal
beginnings, middles and endings”
are among his favorites.
“I think fiddle tunes are the end
all-be-all of great melodic music,”
he said.
He has completed four compact
discs and has another four in the
making, including Christmas,
children’s and gospel albums.
Fans of Dr. Demento may be
familiar with Bowers’ rendition of
“The Scotsman Song,” written by
Mike Cross.
The song, Bowers said, answers
the age-old question, “What DOES
a Scotsman wear beneath his kilt?”
After five years of winning the
stringed-instrument, open category
of Frets Magazine’s reader’s poll,
Bowers was inducted into the
magazine’s First Gallery of the
Greats. In 1993, he was the first
living inductee into the Autoharp
Hall of Fame, joining such Autoharp
greats as May belle Carter, Sara
Carter and Kilby Snow.
Bowers had no regrets about his
decision to pursue music 30 years
ago. But he did have other regrets.
Twenty years ago, Bowers let
his sweetheart, Katharine Russell
Thompson, slip away.
Today Bowers’joy is complete.
He refers to his current 90-day tour
as a celebration tour because on
Dec. 25, Bowers made Katharine
See BOWERS on 13
Courtesy of Scott O’Malley & Associates '
Autoharpist Brian Bowers will play at the Joyo Theater tonight.
Courtesy of the Starkweathers
The Starkweathers, a Kansas City, Mo., band will play at Knickerbockers
Saturday night
The Starkweathers combine
country, rock and politics
By Pawn Brunke
Staff Reporter
The Starkweathers will offer a unique
blend of country and rock ‘n’ roll at
Knickerbockers, 9010 St., Saturday night.
Vocalist and bassist Mike Ireland said
the band has its political side, somethingnot
usually found in country music.
“We didn’t really set out to be a political
band. But I’m not surprised at it, Ireland
said. “It is what we talk about and get angry
about.*’
Their song “Bum the Flag” has probably
caused the most controversy and has caught
many people’s attention. In their hometown
or Kansas City, Mo., members were as
saulted by a group of skinheads during a
performance of the song.
“The song is not about just going out and
burning any flag indiscriminately,” Ireland
said. “It’s a warning against any leader,
symbol or group that wants you to follow
them blindly instead of thinking for your
self.”
The band’s name also causes some con
troversy.
“We didn’t choose this name to outrage
people or to support what he did, but be
cause we can understand why he did it,” he
said. *
See STARKWEATHERS on 13
‘Rosencrantz’ crazy, fun
—just like death in a box
Characters’ confusing
conversations are a joy
By Jeff Randall
Theater Critic
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Theatrix production of Tom Stoppard’s
“Rosencrantz and Guildenstem Are Dead”
Thursday night was a wordy and bewilder
ing exercise in chaos.
Tony Heffner and Amy Gaither-Hayes
played Rosencrantz and Guildenstem re
spectively, or was it the other way around?
To tell the truth, even the characters them
selves weren’t sure of their names. This
confusion is just one of the many bizarre
twists that playwright Stoppard threw into
this play, rased on the mirror-like servants
from William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.”
Heffner and Gaither-Hayes both gave
terrific performances as Hamlet’s confused
and philosophical childhood friends.
Heffner, who actually was Guildenstem,
stole most of the comic moments while
Gaither-Hayes took the straight lines gener
ously as Guildenstem.
Rosencrantz and Guildenstem were
onstage throughout the play, watching an
eclectic gallery of characters from “Ham
let” stroll on and off the stage, in and out of
the audience. The appearances of these as
sorted characters, although designed to bring
life to the otherwise dialogue-loaded per
formance, were mostly unwelcome distrac
tions from the witty banter between
Rosencrantz and Guildenstem.
Both the performances and the writing in
the “action scenes” seemed to break down,
as the confusion and rapid movement dis
tracted from Stoppard’s strong use ofwords.
Much like Samuel Beckett, Stoppard is an
expert in witty and introspective dialogue
rather than the typical dramatic fare. It is the
scenes in which he attempts to move away
from or complicate this dialogue that fail
most frequently.
Heffner and Gaither-Hayes did a master
ful job with Stoppard’s fast-paced words,
when given the chance. They were able to
hold the audience’s attention throughout
the performance. Their discussions, cover
ing topics such as the complicated techni
calities of probability to the disadvantages
and advantages of death if trapped in a box,
contained countless genuinely comic lines.
Nearly every one of these was delivered
with effective timing and presence, making
for a highly entertaining and truly funny
performance.
And even if you don’t enjoy the perfor
mance, the pre-show and intermission pre
recorded blues extravaganza is entertain
ment on its own.
“Rosencrantz and Guildenstem Are
Dead” will show tonight at 8, and Saturday
at 2 p.m. and 8p.m. in the Studio Theatre, on
third floor of the Temple Building. Tickets
are $2 and are available only at the door.