Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn, Phuzz Phest, Clifford Garstang and Mona Wu on Triad Arts Weekend

Today on the show we'll pick, shred, paint, and write our way through the arts. Banjoists Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn have already sold out two shows this weekend at Crossroads @ SECCA #9, but they're here to share their own unique brand of music-making with us, and to fill us in on how musicians can save the world. Then, Eddie Garcia interrupts your cross country quest for the perfect music festival with this news flash: Phuzz Phest 2014—featuring 50 cutting edge bands—just happens to be right here in your own backyard! Phuzz Phest founder Phillip Pledger is here with a preview. Artist Mona Wu shares her Chinese calligraphy and print-making passion, and Bethany Chafin sits down with Press 53 author Clifford Garstang to find out What the Zhang Boys Know.

Béla Fleck and Abigail Washburn

He's been nominated in more musical categories than any other musician in the history of the Grammy Awards. She's been called “a modern classic” by the Boston Globe, and “a daring, defiant talent” by the Wall Street Journal. This weekend they'll share their amazing artistry with Triad audiences at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art. Crossroads @ SECCA #9 presents internationally renowned banjo sensation Béla Fleck and singer/banjoist Abigail Washburn on the intimate stage of the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem. The bad news: both shows on Saturday, March 8th have been sold out for some time. The good news, with the recent birth of their little boy Juno, the husband/wife duo decided the best way to spend more time together would be to play together more often. That means extended tour. You're about to get a preview of their performances together. If you like what you hear, you can check out Abigail and Bela in Chapel Hill on March 25^th, Wilmington on the 27^th and Charlotte on the 28^th. Eventually they'll be heading into the studio to record a record, but for now they're letting the duo discover its identity out on the road. They spoke with David Ford by phone from their home in Nashville, Tennessee.

We've been sampling from acclaimed banjoist/singer Abigail Washburn and her husband, 15-time Grammy Award-winner Bela Fleck.  Their next tour stop is the Triad. Where they'll perform two sold out shows on Saturday, March 8th at Crossroads @ SECCA #9. But if you liked what you heard but were unable to get tickets to this weekend's shows, fret not. The Abigail and Bela tour continues in Chapel Hill on March 25^th, Wilmington on the 27^th and Charlotte on the 28^th. 

Phuzz Phest

 The spring and summer music festival season is right around the corner, something we can all be thankful for considering the arctic temps we've been up against the past few months. But here's some even bigger news for you: you don't have to drive to Bonnaroo, or hop on a plane to Coachella to see some great, cutting edge bands. That's right, you can get your festival on right here, in lovely, lively Winston-Salem, North Carolina!

The 4^th Annual Phuzz Phest, that's P-H-U-ZZ, -P-H-EST, kicks off on Friday April 4^th, and rocks through Saturday, the 6^th. The three day festival will feature over 50 bands, culling from local, regional, national, and international performers from a variety of genres.  Single day and three day wristbands are going quick.

Our guest today is Philip Pledger, local singer & guitar slinger with the band Estrangers. He's also the founder & director of Phuzz Phest. He sat down with Triad Arts' Technical Producer Eddie Garcia for an in depth look and listen at Phuzz Phest 2014. In full disclosure Eddie will be playing the festival with his band Jews and Catholics.

The 4^th annual festival takes place at multiple venues in Winston-Salem from April 4^th through the 6^th. The three day festival features cutting edge rock, metal, folk, rap, and more.  You can find more information on tickets here.

Segment 3: Clifford Garstang and Mona Wu

 Clifford Garstang has volunteered with the Peace Corps in South Korea, practiced International Law in Singapore, Chicago, and Los Angeles, and worked with the World Bank in Washington D.C. as senior counsel for East Asia. Garstang is also an author.  He now resides in Staunton, Virginia and his most recent book is titled What the Zhang Boys Know.  The novel-in-stories tells of the intersecting lives of a group of tenants living in a condominium building near Washington D.C.'s Chinatown.  In 2013, the book received the Library of Virginia Literary Award for Fiction. He spoke recently with Associate Producer Bethany Chafin.

Clifford is the author of In An Uncharted Country and What the Zhang Boys Know. Both are published by Winston-Salem based Press 53.

He's currently working on editing and curating an anthology titled "Everywhere Stories", a collection of short stories by various authors set in different countries around the world.  He also serves as editor-in-chief of Prime Number Literary Magazine. 

****

In 2003 Mona Wu was voted Winston-Salem Artist of the Year.  On Saturday, March 8, from 10 am – 5 pm at the Senior Services Center, in Winston-Salem, Mona along with more than 40 of her well-known Piedmont-area artist colleagues will contribute up to 12 pieces of art each to the Senior Services Art Show & Sale. It'll feature a variety of mediums including pastels, jewelry, fused glass, pottery, oil paintings, textiles, wood, and baskets. It'll also feature Mona's fine prints.

A native of China, Mona She studied Chinese painting and calligraphy in Hong Kong before coming to the United States in 1971, and moving to Winston-Salem in 1974. In the 1980s she taught Chinese brush-stroke painting classes at the Sawtooth School for Visual Art, and in1996 Mona received her BA in Art History from Salem College. She's been studying printmaking at Wake Forest University practically ever since and she incorporates her painting, calligraphy, and printmaking into her collage work.

Winston-Salem artist Mona Wu. On Saturday, March 8, from 10 am – 5 pm at the Senior Services Center, in Winston-Salem, Mona along with more than 40 of her well-known Piedmont-area artist colleagues will contribute up to 12 pieces of art each to the Senior Services Art Show & Sale. It's free, open to the public, and it'll feature a wide variety of mediums including Mona's fine prints. You'll find links to more information at wfdd.org and click on TAW. Mona's current show is at Willow's Bristro and it'll remain on display there through March 22. She has a solo show scheduled to open at Artworks Gallery on Trade Street in May. Her ten year retrospective exhibition reception is May 3 from 2 to 5pm.