David Lynch's latest is playing tonight at the Michigan Theater.
Patricia Arquette stars in Lynch's latest bizarre film filled with the
director's classic twists and turns that basically make no sense at
all. Showtime is 9:15 p.m. and tickets are $5 for students, $6.50 for
others.
Monday
April 14,1997
Local author Henkin
reads at Drum tonight
By Jessica Eaton
For the Daily
Flannery O'Connor said that every-
e who lives to the age of 10 has had
W ugh experience to write about.
Joshua Henkin, the author of
"Swimming Across the Hudson; has
taken those experi-
ences of his own
and put them into a
fiction work that . Jo
University Prof.
Charles Baxter
calls "consistently
ving and won-
fully accomplished." Henkin will
read his experiences from his first novel
at Shaman Drum this evening.
Henkin refers to his development as
a writer as a simple series of coinci-
dences. Studying political theory in
college, he planned to go to graduate
school either in political science or phi-
losophy and to become "an academic of
sorts." He applied for scholarships in
England and didn't get them, so he
Aan writing for a magazine in
California.
"I saw how much bad stuff was
being written. I had always wanted to
do it but thought I couldn't, but I felt
oddly encouraged. If there were so
many other people who were trying and
failing, I should be willing to try and
fail," Henkin said.
Henkin, an Ann Arbor resident,
received his MFA from the University
* 1993. He has received a PEN
Syndicated Fiction Award, Hopwood
awards in the short story, novel, and
essay categories, . and a James
Fellowship for Novel in Progress from
the Heekin Foundation for "Swimming
Across the Hudson." His works have
been published in the New York Times,
The Nation, The Southern Review and
elsewhere. He presently teaches inde-
pendent fiction writing workshops in
n Arbor.
"Swimming Across the Hudson" is
I
the story of an adopted young man's
search for his own identity through the
discovery of his birth mother. It
explores the questions of upbringing
and heritage.
Said Henkin, "I think adoption served
the part of a metaphor. I'm interested in
characters who
E V I E W have trouble with
the relationship
shua Henkin between the past
Tonight at 8 and the present,
Shaman Drum characters who
Free have trouble mov-
ing on because of
the past. The fact that he (Ben Suskind,
the main character) is adopted and the
Jewish tradition both serve as a way for
the present and the past to get melded.
"I once had a teacher who said you
should write what you know about what
you don't know or write what you don't
know about what you know. That's what
I was doing here; I was writing what I
knew about what I didn't know. The
facts of the book are not borrowed from
my life. But the feeling about the book,
relations between generations, losing a
parent, surely are borrowed from my
own life. The texture of the book comes
from my own experience. It gets turned
into art in some ways. You need to know
me well in order to know the ways in
which it's about me and the ways in
which it's not;' Henkin said.
When asked to give some advice to
student writers, Henkin stressed the
value of reading. "I've had students
who want to write but don't want to
read, and I think that if you don't like to
read, you're not going to be passionate
enough about the language. A lot of
people have this romantic image of a
writer as someone who hangs out in a
cafe in Paris, or roughs it in the
Himalayas. I think that time is better
spent writing or reading than it is trav-
eling through the Himalayas. I'm all for
the Himalayas, but it shouldn't be a tax
deduction because it helps you write.'
Kula Shaker (from left) Alonza Bevan, Crisplan Mills, Paul Winter-Hart and Jay Darlington.
Kula Shaker makes waves in Detroit
By Brian Cohen
For the Daily
Don't look now, but it's happening again.
The Beatles did it first with talent and charm, Oasis
did it with less talent and more vulgarity, and now the
invasion from across the Atlantic is continuing with
another group of lads who are poised to follow in the
hallowed footsteps of their fellow
countrymen.
Yet aside from the fact that they
might share a love of tea and
crumpets as their afternoon snack
of choice, Kula Shaker don't have St
all that much in common with
their British contemporaries.
They don't make the tabloid headlines with loose-
lipped tales of alleged cocaine use or destruction of
hotel property. Instead, wide-eyed mystic Crispian
Mills and his band of retro-cosmic gurus have pushed
a new approach to pop music - one that encompass-
es everything from the lore of the Arthurian Grail to
Indian mysticism, but not excluding a deep apprecia-
tion for late '60s music or, of course, an obsession
with Spinal Tap.
Kula Shaker's success has been remarkable over-
seas. Along with the rest of the population, they wit-
nessed their debut album "K" sell at a faster rate in its
first three weeks than Oasis' "Definitely Maybe," not
to mention a string of Top 10 singles, and an invitation
to last year's Knebworth Festival, which turned more
than 125, 000 fans into believers.
Fresh from a sold-out tour of Japan, Kula Shaker
are now on their second official tour of the U.S., and
on Friday, they brought their melodic blend of Eastern
influenced vibes to a sold-out St. Andrew's Hall in
Detroit.
Even from their laid-back-yet-determined attitude
1
displayed before the show, it was clear Kula Shaker
had only one thing on their minds: To slay the multi-
headed dragon of American listeners by making the
strongest impression they possibly could.
As soon as Mills emerged from the darkness on
stage and began wailing on the intro to the stellar
opener "Hey Dude," it was clear that Kula Shaker was
going to do just that. Sporting a
freshly chopped Ziggy Stardust-
E V I E W esque hairdo rather than his tradi-
Kula Shaker tional flowing golden locks, Mills
held the audience captive from
t. Andrew's Hall note one. The soulful "Knight on
April 11, 1997 the Town" followed next, 'which
kept the momentum swirling, as
did the rough rawness of "303."'A spirited rendition of
the hippie-cynical "Grateful When You're Dead/Jerry
Was There" came next as the spotlight shined brightly
on Mills while he delivered an impressive off-the-cuff
solo half-way through.
Although Sir Crispian corrals much of the attention
on stage, Kula Shaker is in no way a one-man show.
Clad in tight black-and-white checkered flares, bassist
Alonza Bevan showed his musical prowess not only
with his athletic bass lines, but also with his fine tuned
back-up vocals. Jay Darlington's handiwork on the
Hammond organ and the mellotron enriched Kula's
live sound with a lush quality, and drummer Paul
Winter-Hart's frantic and youthful approach to his
unconventional drum kit boosted the crowd to a whole
new level of energy.
"We're gonna play a country and western song
now," Mills joked before kicking into the as yet
unrecorded newbie "For This Love.' Easily the high-
light of the performance, Kula Shaker's chemistry
mixed flawlessly on this enchanting rocker as Mills
and Bevan's vocals melted over top a combination of
psychedelic keyboards and jagged guitar.
Continuing to tear through most of "K' Mills next
led into "Tattva." While it was the first single to grab
the attention of American listeners, Friday's perfor-
mance had its slight difficulties (Mills actually turned
around to shoot a nasty look at Winter-Hart after a
missed drum beat half way through the tune).
Technical problems continued as the Hammond gave
out on part of "Hollow Man,although the song's gor-
geous melody was still able to seep through.
"We must have a cup of tea someday," Mills teased
before drenching the crowd in the thick driving b-side
"Gokula.' It was here that the magic returned on stage:
as Mills and Darlington exchanged solos and laughs,
while Winter-Hart kept a driving beat in the back. The.
band's current single, "Hush," a cover of the 1968'
Deep Purple hit, kept the retro vibe pulsating as Mills
feverishly shook his head while playing his guitar on
his knees.
Following a short recess, Kula Shaker returned to
the screaming audience with the keyboard ladened "In
To The Deep" and the galloping "Smart Dogs?'.On the
latter, Mills climbed on top of the Hammond during
an elongated free-form jam and extended his arms as
if he were "a spaceman sitting in the sky." After re-tun-
ing his guitar, Mills and company eased into
"Govinda," which enveloped the crowd in a mesner-
izing haze and then finished them off with a swirling
punch of guitar.
With an affinity for the spiritual and a style deeply.
rooted in the grooves of the late '60s, Kula Shaker has
risen above the water in the sea of imitators in todAy
music world. Having a hit debut album and an amaz-
ingly energetic live stage presence packed into their
still growing repertoire, Kula Shaker is ready to bring
its magical mystery tour to the rest of America and
launch itself into the stardom the group deserves.
Author and Ann Arbor resident Joshua Henkin will read from his first novel,
"Swimming Across the Water," at Shaman Drum tonight at 8 p.m.
WANTED
Volunteers for Sleep Research Studies
Men and Women
(agef t145)
Who Have:
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If you're interested In.....
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