Taylor Ashton & Bella White
Presented by KGNU
Doors: 7:30 PM
Showtime: 8:00 PM
Taylor Ashton:
Taylor Ashton is a Canadian singer and songwriter living in Brooklyn. He spent the first half of his twenties on the road across Canada as frontman of the band Fish & Bird before moving to New York to work on a new set of songs and a new chapter of life. His music takes influence from the cosmic emotionality of Joni Mitchell, the sage vulnerability of Bill Withers, the humour and heartbreak of Randy Newman, and old-time and Celtic folk music. Alternately accompanying himself on clawhammer banjo and electric guitar, Taylor croons poignantly clever lyrical insights while effortlessly gliding between a Bill Callahan-esque baritone to a Thom Yorke-like falsetto.
His full-length debut album “The Romantic” was released in early 2020, followed by a companion EP “Romanticize” featuring remixes, reimaginings, and new songs. His songwriting appears on albums by Watkins Family Hour, the Brother Brothers, Benjamin Lazar Davis and others, and he has released singles with Aoife O’Donovan, The Fretless, and Aerialists, as well as a moody acoustic duo record in 2018 with songwriter & guitarist Courtney Hartman. Much is in store for 2022, including at least one new album and more fruitful collaborations.
Bella White:
A truly original new voice in songwriting, Bella White creates an undeniable magic by mining the rare duality at the heart of her artistry. Although she hails from the Canadian city of Calgary, the 22-year-old singer/multi-instrumentalist grew up on the classic country and old-time music she first discovered thanks to her father, a Virginia native who played in bluegrass bands all throughout her childhood. On her debut album Just Like Leaving, White balances her old-soul musicality with a lyrical perspective that’s entirely of-the-moment, embracing an intense self-awareness as she documents her coming-of-age in real-time. “I’m still quite young, but I was very young when I wrote this album,” says the Nashville-based artist. “All of these songs came from processing my feelings right as I was experiencing certain things for the first time in my life.”
Currently writing for her second album, White has already begun to see the impact of her debut’s exacting self-reflection. “Just Like Leaving feels like a storybook of the things I went through when I was 18 and 19—each song is about a very specific feeling from my relationships during that time,” she says. “I’ve had a lot of younger people tell me that they relate to the experience of learning about yourself through someone else, and I’ve also had older folks tell me how it reminds them of when they were younger. I used to fear sometimes that I might run out of things to say in my songs, but I don’t feel that way after seeing how this album has affected people. It’s reminded me that there will always be a creative source for me to tap into.”
*All tickets subject to service fees
Russia’s War in Ukraine: Bracing for Long-term Competition
(A Conversation with Professor Adam Stulberg, Georgia Tech)
Door Time: 6:30 PM
Show Time: 7:00 PM
Russia and Ukraine have been at odds since the end of the Soviet Union. Many Russians, especially President Putin, feel Ukraine should still be a part of their country due to a shared history and similar cultures. However, Ukraine treasures its sovereignty and has strived to balance historical ties with Russia with closer alignment to the West. Putin’s fateful February 2022 decision to wage war in Ukraine raises fundamental issues concerning limits to escalation, the meaning of victory, consequences and success of sanctions, and prospects for transformation of global politics, economics, and norms. Bring your own questions and join us for a thoughtful discussion with Professor Stulberg, Chair of the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech, who will put the war in context and facilitate a conversation with the audience.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Adam N. Stulberg is Sam Nunn Professor and Chair at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at Georgia Tech. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on international security; global nuclear security and (non)proliferation; geopolitics of energy; Russia/Eurasian politics and security affairs; comparative approaches to statecraft; as well as inter-disciplinary courses on science, technology, and international security policy. His current research focuses on new approaches to strategic stability, Russia’s cross-domain & gray-zone conflict behavior, the changing commercial nuclear landscape and international security, nuclear trading and trafficking networks, as well as energy security dilemmas and statecraft.
Dr. Stulberg earned his Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as holds an M.A. in International Affairs from Columbia University, and a B.A. in History from the University of Michigan. He served as a Political Consultant at RAND from 1987-1997, and as a Senior Research Associate at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (1997-1998). In addition, Dr. Stulberg consults for the Carnegie Corporation of New York (2000-2010) and Office of Net Assessment, Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense (2000-). He is currently Associate Director, Strategic Energy Institute, an institute wide-center at Georgia Tech that explores the geopolitics of the changing energy landscape.
Dr. Stulberg has authored or edited five books— including Well-Oiled Diplomacy: Strategic Manipulation and Russia’s Energy Statecraft (SUNY Press, 2007); [co-edited with Matthew Fuhrmann] The Nuclear Renaissance and International Security (Stanford University Press, 2013); and most recently [co-edited with Lawrence Rubin] The End of Strategic Stability (Georgetown University Press, 2018). He also has published widely in leading international academic and policy journals, including Foreign Affairs, Security Studies, Review of International Political Economy, Energy Research & Social Science, Orbis, Problems of Post-Communism, and the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Chautauqua Tree Tour
Event Time: 3:00 PM
Did you know Chautauqua has varieties of over 500 trees? Chautauqua’s enchantment lies in its setting, but the early settlers did little to cultivate the trees. Only the hardy native vegetation could withstand the summer heat and winter snow. By comparison, todays Chautauqua hosts an abundant urban forest. Join tree experts Bill Briggs and Jeff Rump as they guide you through the flowering oasis of native and imported species that have been introduced in the past 120 year. Chautauqua has everything from Eastern White Pines to Kentucky Coffee Trees to Buckeyes, in addition to the familiar Ashes, Oaks, Elms, and Ponderosa Pines. Attend this complimentary one hour tour to learn about the trees of Chautauqua and their history.
Plein Air Exhibit, Reception and Auction
Join Chautauqua and Open Studios at the Chautauqua auditorium for the Plein Air Event art exhibit and auction, complete with a VIP reception. Artists from around the region will show artwork they’ve created out-of-doors during a week-long plein air competition. All the art is of scenes from around Boulder County. Meet the artists at the reception at 4:00, view the exhibit of between 100 and 200 pieces of original art, and cast your bids for your favorite scenes in the silent auction and during a fun-filled live auction at 5:15.
There will be a number of awards offered for all mediums and a number of subjects, including special awards for Best Flatiron Image and Best Historic Chautauqua Image.
Presented by Open Studios and Colorado Chautauqua, with major sponsorship from the Boulder Convention and Visitors Bureau and Create Boulder. More details are available at openstudios.org/boulder-plein-air-fest
Image Credit Kathleen Lanzoni