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Cover Story

The Gospel According to Shaver

by Buck Quigley

“Willie’s a good old boy—that’s for sure,” says legendary songwriter Billy Joe Shaver of his longtime friend Willie Nelson. “You know, I met him in 1953. I was just a kid, really. It was a long time ago.”

Getting a Grip

Your Boss and Your Womb: A Weird Marriage of Plutocracy and Theocracy

by Michael I. Niman

The Supreme Court majority, five old guys I’ll refer to hereon interchangeably as “The Supremes” or “The Five Meanies,” are creating odd news bites that’re making headlines right up there with rouge squatting nannies, “cannibal cops” and rehashes of decades-old Bill Clinton sex scandals.

Art Scene

A Stranger in the Street at the Edge of the Earth: An Installation by David Mitchell and Joseph Stocker

by Jack Foran

Passageways: Works on Paper by Patrick Willett, Curated by Gerald Mead

by J. Tim Raymond

Theater Week

Assassins

by Anthony Chase

Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s Assassins, which is now being staged by Second Generation Theatre at the New Phoenix, is one of the great “concept musicals,” a show that, instead of being heavily plotted, explores an idea. With musicals like Company and Pacific Overtures to his credit, Sondheim is the master of the form.

Music Interview

Swans' Songs

by Cory Perla

The prevailing view of creativity is that it declines over the course of a lifetime. If that’s the case then Swans frontman Michael Gira is certainly an exception to the rule. At the age of 60, the stoic singer and guitarist has produced some of his finest work since reactivating his renowned noise band, Swans, in 2010.

Music Feature

Local Rockers the Heavenly Chillbillies Play Coney Island Festival

by Sara Ali

Women, beer and good ol’ fashioned rock’n’roll embellished with a fine twist of DIY roots and paired with a humble vibe: these are just a few words to describe the music and attitude of Buffalo’s eclectic band, The Heavenly Chillbillies.

Film Reviews

Snowpiercer

by George Sax

Tammy

by M. Faust

Listings

On The Boards Theater Listings

Movie Times (Friday, July 4 - Thursday, July 10)

Film Now Playing

Featured Events

See You There!

Artvoice's weekly round-up of featured events, including our editor's pick for the week: various Independence Day festivities this holiday weekend.

You Auto Know

It's Not a Minivan

by Jim Corbran

Somewhere along the line the minivan became the pariah of vehicles. I don’t know why. When our two kids were small we had one, and never once was I ashamed to pull into the parking lot of Tops with all of the other moms to do...wait a minute.

Offbeat News

News of the Weird

by Chuck Shepherd

Scott Fistler, twice a loser for electoral office in Phoenix, Arizona, as a Republican, decided in November 2013 that his luck might improve as a Democrat with a name change, and legally became “Cesar Chavez,” expecting to poll better in a heavily Hispanic, Democratic congressional district.

Horoscopes

Free Will Astrology

by Rob Brezsny

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The Venus de Milo is a famous Greek statue that’s over 2,100 years old. Bigger than life size, it depicts the goddess of love, beauty, and pleasure. Its current home is the Louvre Museum in Paris, but for hundreds of years it was lost—buried underground on the Greek island of Milos.