Trained as a Byzantinist, Gary Vikan, the Director of The Walters Art Museum, has published and lectured extensively on topics as varied as early Christian pilgrimages, medicine and magic, icons and Elvis Presley. Why Elvis? After reading an article covering the events of the tenth anniversary of Elvis' passing, Vikan noticed a connection between the American icon and early Christianity, even finding links to Buddhism. Amazed at the pull Elvis and Graceland have over people, he researched further about pilgrimages, rites of saints, and the rituals of religion. This year marks the 30th Anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley. Memphis, Tennessee celebrates with Elvis Week—seven days of concerts, dancing, tours of Graceland, Elvis impersonators, and the Candlelight Vigil.

The Official Elvis Website
The Walters Art Museum

Guitarist/vocalist Tony Waddy of Splitsville got to know drummer/stand-up comedian Joe Parsons of Myracle Brah while the two groups were touring together in Europe. Vocalist/bassist/keyboardist slash-and-hyphen-enthusiast Paul Krysiak was a member of both bands at the time. (Still with us?) Those two Baltimore-based outfits already had years and miles under their belts as highly regarded standard bearers of “power-pop”. Their albums had more than once shared space at the top of various Best Of lists, in music publications from Montreal to Madrid. They had already shared countless stages on multiple continents, so a side-project combining members of the two seemed natural, perhaps even inevitable. The Lucky Few continue in the tuneful, guitar-pop footsteps of Splitsville, whom Baltimore City Paper called “a perfectly harmonized sound injected with a confident, almost reckless spirit” and The Onion dubbed a “burst of awesomeness”. They pepper that sound with influences ranging from Queen to Bernstein and propel it all forward with a driving, muscular rhythm section that puts the punctuation on every nuance of their thoughtful carefully-crafted lyrics. Be sure to catch their upcoming performances at the Old Bowie Town Grill on Friday, August 24th and The Waterfront Hotel in Baltimore on Friday, August 31st.

The Lucky Few

This week's Salon Art is by Amy Lamb, a trained biologist that has extended her expertise of examining the natural world into photographing it. The results are phenomenal! To say Amy Lamb's work comprises photographic images of nature does not justify the palpable imagery you get when you look at her flowers. Not only does the color of a gerbera daisy pop out at you but the plumpness of a succulent is right there in your face! They seem to represent so much more than flowers. Ms. Lamb's lifelike photographs are currently on exhibit at the United States Botanical Gardens in Washington, D.C. through September 9th. You can also view her work at various galleries throughout D.C. and the Maryland area. In particular, today's Salon Art was supplied by the Steven Scott Gallery in Owings Mills, MD. The address is 9169 Reisterstown Road. Hours are 12pm to 6pm, Tues.-Sat. and by appointment. Call 410-902-9300.

Amy Lamb Website
Steven Scott Gallery

Chris Bangs' love of life shows in each of her jewelry creations. Though she works with many different types of materials, like turquoise, onyx, lapis lazuli, and capiz shells, her favorites are freshwater pearls. She strings these various shapes of the oysters' creation on sterling silver strands into a array of forms, catching the sunlight and reflecting lovely colored hues. As she says, Chris happily dances to the beat of her own drum and she thinks that it's important for everyone to do that as well. These joyful light-filled creations remind us to enjoy the beauty of nature through the hands of the artist. You can get in touch with Creations by Chris by emailing geometer772@verizon.net.