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It’s probably not too often that comedic insult legend Don Rickles is mentioned in the same category as Willie Nelson and the Charlie Daniels Band.

But the MySpace page for Southern rockers Outformation lists the man that Johnny Carson dubbed Mr. Warmth as one of their greatest influences.

“He’s the king,” Outformation guitarist Sam Holt said in a recent phone interview. “He taught me not to be scared, that everyone is equal and anyone can have his (tail) handed to him.”

Though life on the road for an upstart band can be tough, Holt says the collective inspiration from Rickles and other...

A wooden crate, a tithing box and a donkey jaw may not be typical musical instruments, but they were among the only musicmaking objects available to Peruvian slaves from Africa. The crate, which evolved from farm crates used to collect fruit, is a wooden box straddled by a player who bends down to beat the box by hand. The tithing box, a cajita, is a small, lidded box used for collections in Catholic churches. It’s played by clapping the lid open and closed and beating the side of the box with a stick. The sound of the quijada de burro, the side of a dried-out donkey jawbone, is created...

When fiddler Eileen Ivers wants to recharge her energy, she spends time at the cozy cottage that she and her husband built on her parents’ land in Ireland. Outside her front door are lush, green rolling hills and fields grazed by dozens of cows and donkeys. Long walks are part of her daily ritual. She also visits local pubs that offer musical entertainment. Occasionally she’s an audience member, but often she’s the center of attention.

“My parents had a hard life in Ireland,” said Ivers, who grew up in Bronx, N.Y., after her family immigrated to the U.S. “But we’re proud of our heritage....

Art that moves along a spectrum from completely abstract to sensitive portraits is being featured in two artists’ shows opening simultaneously today at LewAllen Contemporary on West Palace Avenue. The work of Sharon Booma and Bernard Chaet, stemming from different generations and different painting philosophies, nevertheless showcases the importance of basic talent and desire in art.

Awarded top prizes and sought by collectors, Booma’s complex abstract paintings seek a balance between chaos and order using color, texture and repetition of form. What she’s looking for is a state of...

Mauka rocks! This attractive, heads-up restaurant, which opened in October, adds a new dimension to Santa Fe’s food scene. There’s nothing in town quite like the Asian-inspired food you’ll find here, served with a gracious smile.

Mauka occupies the space that Kasasoba vacated this summer. The new owners have slightly recast the decor, replacing posters with elegant floral prints and adding background music that reflects the Asian influences and a contemporary approach.

In any relationship, first impressions set the tone. My friend and I were off to a good start. I found an empty parking...

Santa Fe Symphony Orchestra & Chorus general director Greg Heltman remembers how awestruck he felt when he first heard Spencer Myer play the piano.

“I had been invited to attend the finals at the American Pianists Association competition in 2006 in Indianapolis,” Heltman said. “Spencer Myer performed a solo recital. He played the Barber Piano Sonata. The only word I can use to describe his playing is phenomenal.”

Myer won one of two fellowships awarded at the competition, which included a $75,000 cash prize, a recording contract and performance dates. Heltman didn’t book Myer to play...

James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues” navigates two sides of the African-American experience: assimilation versus life as a perpetual outcast.

The Bay Area’s Word for Word Performing Arts Company is bringing one of the author’s finest early works to Santa Fe. The performance opens at the Lensic Performing Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 12.

Da’Mon Vann plays the title role in “Sonny’s Blues,” a tormented jazz pianist who has rejected a conventional life.

Sonny’s brother, a schoolteacher and family man, is the nameless narrator who provides the stage direction through the original...

One of the better compliments bass player Travis Book heard recently came from a barista inside a hotel lobby.

Book, his band mates from The Infamous Stringdusters and other musicians were jamming inside a Tacoma, Wash., hotel’s hallways in preparation for a bluegrass festival there when their music caught the ear of a 27-year-old working behind a coffee bar.

He told the band that he dug the sounds that filled the lobby that day — quite a compliment from a young man who up until that point only had ears for hip-hop.

“He said that’s all he listened to,” said Book during a recent phone...

This month Hal Wingo delves into the world of mind-body connection and alternative health care with Dr. Larry Dossey, New York Times best-selling author, world traveling lecturer, and consultant. Hal joins our staff of monthly columnists after a career as editor of Life and People magazines.

Imagine a moment like this: you are walking down Marcy Street in the bustling downtown plaza neighborhood of Santa Fe. It’s a late summer morning. Chef James Campbell Caruso, a white apron tied loosely around his waist, is outside of his new restaurant, La Boca, watering the red geraniums in the flower box, or perhaps sweeping the front walk. He greets you cordially, his smile an invitation to pursue your curious thoughts of “What happened to Paul’s?” or perhaps, “What is this new place?” and “Who is this guy?” Sunlight streams through the flung open top half of the Dutch door to La Boca,...