Category Archives: Arts

From Studio to Center Stage

Posted on by
Reply

Laney Davis

What’s the buzz on Chris Stapleton? After going through my Facebook Newsfeed and watching the 49th Annual Country Music Awards, the new up and coming star Chris Stapleton is all the rage.

Stapleton started his career over 15 years ago on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. Since he began his career he has not only focused on singing, but he has written songs for other artists as well. He has written 5 number one hits for well known Nashville Country Stars such as: George Strait and Luke Bryan. Stapleton has also aided in songwriting with Adele and Jason Aldean.

Stapleton graced the country music industry with his voice in 2013 and signed with a record company called Mercury Nashville. He came out with his 2015 Album “Traveler” in May. This album lead him to “Album of the Year”, “New Artist of the Year”, and “Male Vocalist of the Year” this year at the CMA Awards held on November 4, 2015.

Chris Stapleton’s performance of the country classic “Tennessee Whiskey” along side pop artist Justin Timberlake wowed the audience. Stapleton’s deep, raspy voice empowers the viewers with qualities much like Hank Williams Jr. and Jamey Johnson. Many country music listeners view Stapleton’s voice as a change for Country Music.

Chris Stapleton and Justin Timberlake perform Tennessee Whiskey

Nightmare Trip to American Dream

Posted on by
Reply

Andy Verke and Leslie Arietta

Have you ever wondered about the hardships people endure trying to sneak into America? Thursday night, October 22nd Texas A&M University-Texarkana held a film event in the Eagle Hall in honor of Hispanic Heritage week. Special guest director, Ramon Hamilton, presented his award-winning film SMUGGLED.

As the event began Dr. Rincon welcomed everyone and gave a brief introduction about Ramon Hamilton. Hamilton took over and gave the audience his perspective of his film and a brief bio on himself before the film began. He was inspired to create this film because of the smuggling experiences his mother and friends endured.

10-year-old Miguel and his mother attempt to sneak into America by way of a compartment under a tour bus. With nothing but little water, food, medicine, and a Gameboy to keep them occupied, Miguel and his mother remain hopeful they will be reunited with their husband/father. Their trip gets even more difficult within the last few hours of their bus ride.

Miguel is abruptly awoken by a nightmare and accidentally breaks his mother’s last bottle of insulin. Without her insulin, she will not be able to live much longer. A couple of hours later she gives Miguel a piece of paper with the address to his father’s house and decides to get some rest. When Miguel wakes up from his sleep, he tries to wake his mother and finds that she has passed away. 

To make matters worse, the tour bus breaks down on the highway, forcing the passengers to switch buses. When help arrives, Miguel uses what little English he knows to yell for help. As the guy opens the compartment, he makes a run for it and gets away. Eventually he ends up being caught and interrogated by the cops for shoplifting at a grocery store. After being interrogated and barely speaking a word, Officer Salmon takes Miguel in his car and drops him off in the middle of nowhere forcing Miguel to find his father’s house on his own.

Throughout the struggles Miguel faced on his journey, he finds his father’s house and is reunited with him.

SMUGGLED won 5 awards and was selected for 10 more awards.

The Clique Invades Dallas

Posted on by
Reply

Stephen Jones

The entire length of the South Side Ballroom was lined with fans decked out in face paint, their favorite pair of Vans, and drawn-on tattoos. When walking past the front of the line, you would find people sitting in lawn-chairs with evidence of that day’s breakfast and lunch just below their feet, with the hope of getting the best spot in the house. The Texas Clique turned out in droves October 1st, as twenty one pilots (the band always prints its name in lowercase) made a stop in Dallas as a part of their 2015 Blurryface Tour. As a result of this very dedicated fan base, known as “the Clique”, the band achieved an important milestone when their newest album was #1 on Billboard‘s charts, upon its release, so a sold out venue was not unexpected.

Once inside, people flocked towards the stage, stationed just a couple feet above the standing-room-only crowd. The stage was set for the opening act, Finish Ticket, a Californian indie-rock band with traces of other indie groups, like Walk the Moon and Young the Giant, except with a little more edge. Finish Ticket was followed by indie band, Echosmith, who reached mainstream success with their single Cool Kids. As mentioned before, this was a sold out, standing-room-only venue, and the crowd was squeezing closer together until the lead singer, Sydney Sierota, paused their closing song to make sure everybody was okay, but they continued after she had the crowd take a couple steps back.

Now, it was twenty one pilots’ turn to perform for their fans, and they did not disappoint. The crowd followed every word, sang at the top of their lungs, jumped right on beat, and rapped every verse. The duo brought all the things their fans came to see: backflipping off a piano, crowd-surfing drum sets, climbing very tall objects, and countless acts of crowd participation. Finally, twenty one pilots closed the night with an empassioned speech, followed by a crowd-surfing dual drum-off (they really like crowd surfing), as powerful synths and confetti cannons blasted.When the performance was over, the duo stood together, and the crowd gave the band one final round of applause. As the applause died down, the two parted with the message, “We are twenty one pilots and so are you.”

Cowboy Up!

Posted on by
Reply

Jamie Williamson

Howdy partners, have you ever wanted to wanted to help students make the same great choice you did and become a part of the Texas A&M Texarkana family? On Friday September 11, 2015, Texas A&M-Texarkana held a meeting for the open house scheduled for October. The meeting was held in room 116 for all volunteers to attend and hash out the details to promote the campus to incoming students. The theme for the open house is western cowboys, so students worked together to come up with decoration and game ideas. The meeting was open to current students looking to do more volunteering and help get the university’s name out there.

Current students, ranging from freshmen to seniors plan to help promote the university to high school seniors looking for a fun college experience. The college students will help the upcoming seniors decide on a possible major. The high school students will get the opportunity to tour the campus and learn more about campus life and all it has to offer.

The open house hopes to promote the university as a diverse and welcome environment to new students. All the current Texas A&M-Texarkana students seemed eager to provide the best experience for everyone attending. The open house will encourage the parents to get involved with the activities along with their children, because the parents are a part of the education process. The students and faculty involved in the first open house meeting were a dedicated group. They want to make the new students feel comfortable making the transition from high to college as seamless as possible. All the thought, preparations, and time put into the open house is sure to make it the best it can be.

The open house is set for October 10, 2015. If anyone would like to volunteer to help out, they are more than welcome and can contact Ellen Wood by email ewood@tamut.edu. She is always looking for more volunteers to make this open house the best it can be. Everyone is welcome to attend the meetings for the open house and make suggestions. The meeting is a great way to make new friends and become involved in campus activities.

Ed Asner as FDR

Posted on by

Bethany Solomon

On April 14, several A&M-Texarkana students had the opportunity to see legendary actor Ed Asner perform in a one-man-show as President Franklin Roosevelt in FDR at the Perot Theater in downtown Texarkana.

Ed Asner has been an actor for over 50 years, and holds many prestigious accomplishments. Most well-known for his role as Lou Grant, the scruffy boss on The Mary Tyler Moore Show which ran from 1970-1977, according to IMDB. Asner has been the recipient of 7 Emmy’s. After his run on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, he went on to the spin-off Lou Grant as the headlining character from 1977-1982.

In his performance in FDR, Asner portrayed the president who served our country during the Great Depression and World War II. The show approached such subjects as Roosevelt’s struggle with polio, his decision to run for president, the economic crisis during his time as president, and important executive decisions he made concerning the war.

Asner delivered an exceptional performance, winning him a standing ovation from the audience at the end of the show. The show lasted approximately an hour and a half, in which Asner had no breaks in lines or appearances on stage as he was the only performer in the production. At over 80 years old, he was well-spoken, clearly heard and understood by all in the audience, and had an energetic, dramatic, and vivacious approach in playing the legendary American president. He would make a performer of any age envious of his talents.

After the show ended, many A&M students in attendance had the chance to attend a meet-and-greet session with Asner himself. During the discussion, Asner talked with his private audience about where he was when he heard about the bombing of Pearl Harbor as well as the death of FDR, his roles and experiences in Hollywood, and his political beliefs. The A&M students and local V.I.P’s then had the opportunity to shake his hand, take pictures with him, and get his autograph.

Not only was Ed Asner an interesting character to meet, but students had the opportunity to interact with some local dignitaries who were part of the group discussion. Attending the play were WWII veterans, political activists. One man was part of Congress during the war, and actually remembered Roosevelt addressing them about entering the war after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. It was an incredible and educational experience for all.

It was an evening that no one will soon forget, for Asner was charming, comical, and intelligent and it was an honor to hear his opinions, memories, and expertise on acting in theater and television.