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'16 & Pregnant': Mom Defends Her Daughter Against Her Boyfriend

2012-05-16T09:38:34Z

MTV's hit cautionary series for sexually active teenagers gave fans a double-dose of teen parenting with two episodes of "16 & Pregnant" (Tue., 10 p.m. ET on MTV). One of those focused on Sarah Roberts, who was the classic model of a typical high school teen. She was doing well in school with aspirations of college.

She had the perfect boyfriend, someone whom she'd been with since junior high. A relationship that blossomed out of a friendship. Sounds perfect, doesn't it?

Unfortunately, Blake couldn't handle the pressure of fatherhood. He and Sarah argued constantly, with Blake lashing out at Sarah's mother even when she came to her daughter's defense. A few weeks after the baby was born, he was out of the picture for good.

She won't be going away to college as she'd planned, but still intends to graduate on time and go to college nearby. Her head is still screwed on straight. But for one lapse in judgment her life would be entirely different.

Roberts posted an updated on HuffPost Teen, where she wrote, "The best advice I could give girls out there is to respect yourself, and never compromise yourself for someone else."

Meet new young moms each week on "16 & Pregnant," Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET on MTV.

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'NCIS' Season Finale: Who Died?

2012-05-16T09:25:48Z

Season 9 of "NCIS" (Tue., 8 p.m. ET on CBS) came to an explosive end Tuesday night as a terrorist bomb went off outside the team's office.

Not only that, but Ducky (David McCallum) escaped the blast only to collapse on the beach when he heard the news.

"Dear God," he said. "How many?"

Which is precisely what viewers were asking as the cliffhanger ending left the fate of all major characters hanging in the balance.

Find out who survived when "NCIS" returns for Season 10 in September 2012.

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Rollo Ross: Can Cannes Do It?

2012-05-16T09:14:04Z

I've been going to Cannes for more years than I care to remember and it's always fascinating when I return back home after 12 days of hell and champagne to hear what reports people have seen or read about this - the most iconic of festivals.

Some years it barely registers with the general public, while other times you feel like you've been a VIP at the centre of the universe and all your friends get green-eyed while talking over a beer in Camden.

You see, like every festival, Cannes, despite its reputation as leader of the pack, has to work hard to hit the front pages and like the Oscars, this is more likely to come about from a celebrity or their fashion or a combination of the two. But it's the programming of the official selection that will dictate the flow of editorial and will decide if the festival is a success or not.

If news editors around the world give up on their coverage of the world famous red carpet (which is more common than you'd think) then the festival is sunk - and so are all the brands associated with the festival who spend a fortune trying to get a large dose of not-so-free publicity.

So, it's more than important to kick off the festival with a bang; or rather an American film where all the stars are globally recognizable.

This year, it's Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom which spearheads the Cannes charge with the likes of Tilda Swinton and Bill Murray and then the game is on to keep these stuffy news editors interested.

Cannes has a few aces up its sleeves this year. Brad Pitt will be in town to premiere Killing Them Softly slap bang in the middle of the festival which will no doubt cause a flurry of media interest - "Will Angelina come? Will she do that leg thing again? Will they have engagement rings on? Do they fart and if they do, do their pumps smell of roses?"

Following on from Brangelina, the Twilight Saga is coming to Cannes in the only way it would ever be allowed; both leads, Kristen Stewart who wouldn't know a smile if it kicked her in the teeth and her awkward public schoolboy boyfriend Robert Pattinson are both making appearances; the former in the Jack Kerouac adaptation On the Road and the latter in David Cronenberg's Cosmopolis.

And as if that wasn't good/bad enough, Zac Efron is making his Cannes debut in The Paperboy. The only teen superstar missing is Justin Bieber but if I've learned anything over the years at the festival, it's important not to rule anything out.

Like, who would have thought Kylie had gone back into acting and was appearing at the festival in what looks like a very strange French film called Holy Motors? This, unlike Kylie, is bound to raise eyebrows.

Towards the end on the 24th, there's the perennial amfAR event (American Foundation for AIDS Research), the stock cube of Cannes celebrity juice, where all the stars from the festival turn out to have one massive party conveniently in front of the world's press.

If all goes according to plan, it would appear on paper that you're going to hear quite a lot from this year's festival but you never know how the world will turn and how the brains of news editors work.

I personally won't know until I get back to the UK and go to the pub with my friends. They'll fill me on what they've heard on-line, in the papers and on TV about the fashion faux-pas, the celebrity gossip and the rumours.

However, they'll always end up asking "But what were the good films?!"

Welcome To Lisa Vanderpump's O.T.T. Bathroom

2012-05-16T08:57:59Z

On "Celebrities At Home" (Tue., 8 p.m. ET on HGTV) Tuesday night viewers got a glimpse into the opulent lifestyle of "Real Housewives" star Lisa Vanderpump.

Surveying the vast expanse of white marble and mirrors in her jaw-droppingly extravagant bathroom, she said "I know it’s decadent. I know it’s ridiculous. But," she added, "I’m really, really happy I did it. Because I spend a lot of time here."

The blingtastic decadence continued in the rest of the house with tons more marble, mirrors and crystal throughout.

Check out more houses of the rich and famous on "Celebrities At Home," Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on HGTV.

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80-Year Old Rapper Granny G Keeps It Positive On 'AGT'

2012-05-16T08:40:39Z

The new "America's Got Talent" (Tue., 8 p.m. ET on NBC) continued to send through some surprising candidates, but was Granny G one of those? The 80-year old presented a rap that focused on family values, with some straight talk for all the "horny boys out there."

She stole the show, had the audience in her corner, and got three affirmative votes from the judges. Granny G is headed to Las Vegas, where she'll no doubt continue preaching positive messages. If she takes Sharon Osbourne's advice, she'll be doing it from behind a pimped out walker, too.

But while the audience and judges seemed unanimous in their love of the rapping senior citizen, critics were mixed. While a writer for Hollywood Life was ready to take Granny G home as his grandmother, The New Jersey Star-Ledger categorized her among their worst of the night. "This was a 9 on the weird factor," they declared.

"America's Got Talent" continues Mondays at 8 p.m. ET and Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.

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'Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files': A Haunted Battleship?

2012-05-16T08:16:20Z

The movie "Battleship" may feature alien encounters, but there was a whole different encounter on board a battleship on "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files" (Tue., 9 p.m. ET on Syfy). The latest episode saw them get on board the USS North Carolina, which was reportedly haunted by the spirit of a man who died on board.

While they didn't necessarily see the ghost, they did nevertheless get some mysterious occurrences. At one point, one of the guys was certain that he heard someone running across the deck, but another team member was up there and there was no one else around.

Furthermore, she found that one of the motion detectors they'd set on the deck had been knocked over. If a spirit didn't do it, then what happened? As always, there isn't enough direct evidence to say anything definitive, but the team was convinced. There is definitely something paranormal happening on the USS North Carolina.

Tune in for more ghost stories on "Fact or Faked: Paranormal Files" every Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on Syfy.

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EXCLUSIVE CLIP: Wes Anderson's 'Moonrise Kingdom'

2012-05-16T07:24:14Z

It's always a big deal to have your film appear at Cannes, let alone the opening night, and this year that honour goes to director Wes Anderson.

Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom will premiere tonight on the first evening of the glamorous festival, which means stars Bruce Willis, Ed Norton appearing on the red carpet at La Croisette.

To celebrate, we have this EXCLUSIVE CLIP (above) of the film, which tells the story of two young lovers fleeing their New England town and their parents setting out to find them.

Kara Hayward and Jared Gilman play the star-crossed pair, while Bill Murray and Frances McDormand play the girl's anxious parents. And they enlist the help of the local Sheriff - that'll be Mr Bruce Willis.

Tilda Swinton and Harvey Keitel also appear, making for a typically pedigree offering from Anderson, previously celebrated for his Royal Tenenbaums, The Fantastic Mr Fox, Rushmore and The Darjeeling Limited.

Check back here later for the latest video and pictures from the Cannes Film Festival's opening day. In the meantime, some pictures below from the dreamy-looking Moonrise Kingdom (in UK cinemas on 25 May - full review of Moonrise Kingdom will appear on Friday)...

The Return Of 'Ever After'

2012-05-16T06:19:47Z

NEW YORK -- There will apparently be back-to-back Cinderella stories on Broadway in the coming seasons.

Producers announced Tuesday plans to bring a new musical based on the Drew Barrymore film "Ever After" in the 2013-14 season under the direction and choreography of Kathleen Marshall.

"Ever After" will feature music by Zina Goldrich and a book and lyrics by Marcy Heisle, who also are teaming up for "The Great American Mousical" at the Goodspeed Opera House.

The story is set in 16th century France, where a young noble woman learns to stand up to her scheming stepmother, befriends Leonardo Da Vinci and wins over a French prince.

It will follow a production of "Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella" on Broadway, which is slated for next season with an updated book by Douglas Carter Beane.

'90210' Finale: Wedding And Car Crashes

2012-05-16T06:02:18Z

When Naomi gets a job offer from Rachel that would require her to head to New York on the "90210" (Tue., 8 p.m. ET on The CW) finale, she decides she won't be able to finish helping with Max and Madison's wedding. But Max thinks she wants to skip out because of unresolved feelings.

It turned out he was right, as Naomi didn't head east. Instead, she crashed the wedding and convinced Max to leave Madison at the altar. What that means for New York will have to wait. But while Max did choose between his two lovers, Silver chose neither of hers. Instead, she went with Teddy to be the donor for her baby.

Possibly the most dramatic moment came after Dixon returned and convinced Adrianna to give their relationship another chance. When he failed to show up to a meeting with her, though, she mistakenly thought he was skipping out on her again in favor of his career. The truth was that he was in a horrible car accident.

But she didn't know that, so she hopped on a plane with Austin and headed to Vegas. What will she do when she finds out?

All the answers will have to wait until next season. "90210" has already been renewed by The CW and will return in Fall 2012.

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Howard Sherman: What We Bring to the Theatre

2012-05-16T06:00:16Z

In the days before I married, in the days before the advent of mp3s and i-devices, the soundtrack of my life was provided by the radio. Primarily listened to while driving, I had an elaborate series of preset stations for my eclectic tastes, geographically diverse enough to allow me to travel between Philadelphia and Boston without searching for stations. Yet, in the wake of each romantic breakup, they all seemed to be a single station programmed specifically to torment me. Every time a relationship ended, popular music seemed a conspiracy -- every song was either about the desire for love, the thrill of current love or the desperation of lost love. Who, I wondered, were these sadists?

Of course, the programming was the same it had always been. What had changed was my perception of it. Bereft, expressions of love were taunts; plaints of longing or loss egged me deeper into despair. "Sylvia's Mother" could reduce me to tears. It wasn't good.

This effect is true in every aspect of our lives, since we are emotional creatures and view everything, especially art and entertainment, subjectively, not objectively, no matter how hard we might try. For all the talk about how theatre is different every night because of the interplay between actors and audiences, the real difference is found in what each member of the audience brings with them to the theatre: a rough day at the office, a misbehaving child, an undigested bit of beef. Theatres work very hard to create an optimal situation (excepting, for some reason, leg room) for the consumption of dramatic work, but they cannot know or in any way control the many experiences which each member of the audience brings to bear on the event.

I share all of this by way of prologue, because the effect of the day to day on theatergoing has been much on my mind for the past few weeks. Why that time period? Because three and a half weeks ago, my elderly father fell and sustained a traumatic brain injury (believe it or not, this had happened once before, just a year earlier, and he came back from it beautifully). As a result, I have been spending roughly every other day waking early, departing New York for the hospital in New Haven at about 6:45 am, arriving by 9 to speak with the attending physician during rounds, and heading back to New York by noon. Then I nap and, given the time of year, see a show in the evening.

Why did I keep up my theatergoing? Simply because that is what I do. I wanted to retain a sense of normalcy. My father has been seriously ill many times in my life, and always survived. I needed to do all that I could do for him, but for me, the less I broke my patterns, the better.

So the question is whether my response to the theatre I've seen in the past three weeks would have been different if my father had not been ill, if my days had been less complicated. Of course, I will never know. I have, to be sure, laughed in the theatre these past three weeks; I have not once cried. I have experienced joy; I have been dismayed and feel quite certain that I will never, willingly, see some of those shows again.

I also did something unprecedented: I walked out of a show mid-act. Was my anger and impatience at the story played out before me a true aesthetic appraisal, or did this show somehow become the repository of my concerns for my hospital-bound father? I really can't say. I might have merely been exercising my own natural taste, since the kind usher who showed to me a door where my departure would be least disruptive tried to persuade me to stay. "It gets better," she whispered, suggesting that perhaps others had made this mid-show journey. "Not for me," I replied.

Was it fair for me to keep seeing shows at a time when so much was weighing on my mind? Perhaps, for the artists and my relationship to their work, it was not. But I was not about to sit home, passively watching TV. I was going to do, to the best of my ability, what I always do, which is go to the theatre. After all, the tickets were arranged, I couldn't spend every minute with my father and even if I did there was little I could do for him. For me, keeping up the familiar seemed wisest. If I didn't enjoy shows fully, if I can never enjoy those shows in the future because of those first impressions and associations, that is my loss and my error. But I have also been suffering from severe neck and shoulder pain for quite some time, recently diagnosed as bulging and herniated discs, so that has also influenced how I have perceived theatre over several years. I may have not given certain shows the fairest seeing because of physical pain, just as the emotional impact of my father's injury may have clouded my responses more recently. My thoughts, my physical condition have always colored my theatergoing, so even at a time of extreme stress, I never really thought to stop.

As I write, it is four days since my father died and two days since his funeral. I was at a show only hours before he passed and I will return to the theatre, for a comedy, in two days time, with at least two more shows on tap in the following four days. I will carry memory of him as the lights go down, just as I carry with me the memory of others I have lost in all that I do. But because my dad was not much of a theatregoer, the environment will not specifically evoke him (though the play, or future plays, might). The interior of a theatre will instead signal to me that despite a loss, life goes on; after all, between vocation and avocation, I have spent so much of my life in theatres, they are familiar, comforting places for me to be, my refuge, my sanctuary. I will always carry in delight and despair, happiness and worry, and countless other feelings. And the theatre may well give feelings back to me, intentionally or otherwise. But that, as it always has, depends on me.

'Cougar Town': The Death of Big Carl

2012-05-16T05:25:50Z

ABC treated fans of "Cougar Town" (Tue., 8 p.m. ET on ABC) to back-to-back installments of the under-rated show. With the good news already in that the series will continue with a 15-episode commitment on TBS, fans were able to relax and enjoy the fun.

Unfortunately, the hour also came with a price. Ellie wanted so desperately to believe that Stan wasn't a hellion, that she convinced Jules to let him be in her wedding. But Stan is already tagging the town, among other crazy activities. And in a moment completely out of nowhere, he completely and totally broke Jules' heart.

He threw Big Carl into the air, destroying the second giant wine glass in the series' history. Julies threw a memorial service for the shards, and by the end of the hour she'd found yet another replacement in Big Lou, assuring that the wine will never stop pouring.

"Cougar Town" takes a week off before returning for its one hour network finale at 8 p.m. ET on ABC. The show shifts to TBS for its fourth season, expected to premiere in early 2013.

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Crystal Bell: 'Glee' Recap: We Are The Champions

2012-05-16T04:06:15Z

Note: Do not read on if you have not seen Season 3, Episodes 20 and 21 of Fox's "Glee," entitled "Props" and "Nationals," respectively.

"Glee" has never been perfect. In fact, this season, it's been far from it. But just when you count them out, the New Directions have a way of winning you over again. Ladies and gentlemen, I think I'm a gleek again.

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from the first hour of "Glee's" two-hour event, so I was pleasantly surprised to see that the much-talked about role reversals were barely a fraction of the episode. I'm not saying that it wasn't fun to see Finn rock Kurt's stylish cape collection, and to see Tina put on a pait of knee-high socks and belt out one of my favorite Celine Dion songs, but I was glad that segment only lasted a mere 10 minutes. I don't think I could have taken anymore of Kurt's creepy Finn.

Sure, it was a gimmick, but despite its silliness, it was fun and gave Tina something to do. Also, Ryan Murphy is no Matthew Weiner, but I like how he incorporated a real-life, viral video into his storytelling. If you haven't seen this video, then I recommend that you watch it immediately.

Before Tina bumped her head and ended up in la-la glee club land, she threw a fit in the choir room. Why should Rachel get all of the solos? Now, if you feel like you're having deja vu ... you are. This also happened earlier in the season (and the season before that) when Mercedes didn't want to share her spotlight with Miss Berry. However, this time, it's Tina who's feeling left out -- as she should.

Despite her 15 minutes of fame in Season 3's "Asian F," Tina Cohen Chang has pretty much been ignored for the last three years. But with Nationals just days away, now really isn't the time to freak out about it. Not to mention that I have to agree with Mike Chang on this one: Rachel's a senior, so it's her time to shine.

It may have taken a bump on the head to figure it out, but ultimately, Tina finds her purpose: To service Rachel. Not only does she drive Rachel to Oberlin to find Carmen Tibideaux, but she also stands up to Carmen's diva-tude, letting the N.Y.A.D.A. dean know that Rachel Berry may be a "pain in the ass," but she's their pain in the ass. She's not just a big nose; she's a big nose with even bigger dreams. OK, so I improvised on that last part, but Rachel's nose was mentioned so many times in tonight's episodes that I think it's appropriate.

Carmen doesn't give Rachel another audition, but she doesn't necessarily reject Rachel's offer to come to Nationals, even after Rachel threw a little sass in her direction. "I read that you auditioned for Julliard four times." Take that, Tibideaux.

Rachel passing the diva torch to Tina was touching, but the true champions of "Props" were Coach Beiste and Puck.

"You and me, we're bad asses," Beiste tells Puck before they both break down in each other's arms. It was heartbreaking yet, in some ways, satisfying watching these two interact. They've never had a lot of screen time together, but their stories have always been similar. Both of them are misunderstood and afraid of the future. I could have seriously watched an hour dedicated to Beiste and Puck.

Mark Salling isn't the best actor on "Glee," but his performance in the locker room -- when he breaks down and tells Beiste that he has nothing -- was truly incredible. In Season 1, Puck was notorious for throwing kids into dumpsters and now he was the one getting thrown into the trash, and by Rick the Stick, no less. That kid has a mullet. How is he popular? At that point, Puck had reached an all time low.

Meanwhile, Beiste finally dealt with her broken reality. After enduring more verbal abuse from Cooter, and with a little encouragement from Puck, she finally left him -- for good. Once again, I have to applaud Dot Marie Jones for doing a wonderful job with the material. I still feel like it was irresponsible for the writers to have a domestic abuse storyline, especially one that was so sloppily handled, but I'm happy that they found a way to wrap it up decently. By the way, we still don't know what Karofsky's up to since his suicide attempt.

I think tying Beiste's sensitive storyline into Puck's was probably the best way for the show to go about cleaning up the mess it made in "Choke." How could you not be moved by their duet in the auditorium? (Who knew Puck loved Taylor Swift?)

Puck's future may still be up in the air, but at least Beiste got him another shot at taking -- and passing -- his European geography test. Here's hoping that "My Fair Lady" will come in handy again.

Heading into the second episode, the New Directions are off to Chicago for Nationals. I'll make a long story super short: The New Directions win Nationals. I can't say that it was entirely predictable -- after all, Unique was FIRECE -- but everything that followed after their win was sickeningly predictable.

I'm going to be honest: Vocal Adrenaline clearly deserved to win Nationals. They simply put on the better show. (It probably has something to do with the fact that they practice their routine all year long!) However judges Lindsay Lohan, Perez Hilton and Rex Lee thought differently. However, seeing the judges debate behind-the-scenes kind of takes away the entire title. All three of them could care less about the winner -- not that Rachel will ever know that. At least Lindsay got one good "Freaky Friday" reference in. That was well worth the entire two hours.

In the end, Rachel got everything she ever wanted. She was prom queen, she took home Nationals glory and she even got Carmen to come to Chicago and watch her lead her show choir to victory. It was all very perfect ... and in my opinion, too perfect.

What's the point of even focussing on Lima in Season 4 now? The New Directions got what they wanted. They won Nationals. They're the heros of McKinley. Instead of slushies, they were getting confetti thrown at them in the halls. How can the show be compelling if they're not underdogs anymore?

I think it's important to note that Unique (played by "Glee Project" runner-up Alex Newell) hinted that she thinks it's time to transfer schools. Does this mean that Unique will transfer to McKinley? Possibly, but we all know that Murphy likes to tease his viewers. It could have very well been a throwaway line, but I kind of hope that it's true. Unique has an incredible voice. Even Perez Hilton had to give snaps for that.

Not only do the New Directions win Nationals -- and get treated like bosses when they walk into McKinley -- but things also wrap up quite nicely for Will. He wins the Teacher of the Year award, and ... wait for it ... Emma finally has sex with him. It was weird and uncomfortable, and the reasoning was horrendously misogynistic, but hey, WIll finally got it in.

In the final scene, the New Directions sing Queen's "We Are the Champions" for Mr. Schue, as the entire school cheers them on. Maybe it was the red outfits or the classic rock song, but something about this made me very nostalgic.

It was very reminiscent of the pilot episode, when a ragtag bunch of misfits sang a Journey song to an empty auditorium. It's good to know that the spark is still there. If only we saw it more often.

Notable Quotables:

Sue: "It's tucking time."

Sue: "Isn't she the one who used to stutter?"

Tina: "I'm tired of being silent."

Tina/Rachel: "I can't believe how supportive you are when I can't even be bothered to acknowledge your supporting performances."

Sue: "Jennifer Beals is spinning in her grave."

Sam: "Why is this in black and white?"
Kurt: "Because I worship 'The Artist.'"

Sue: "Every show choir in the country has a little girl with a big nose."

Puck: "I'M NOTHING!"

Tina: "Rachel Berry is a pain in the ass."

Coach Beiste: "You are loved, pumpkin. You are not alone."

Unique: "Unique might need to transfer schools next year."

Jesse St. James: "Most people don't realize that I lost 10 pounds during that performance."

Finn: "You're, like, our teacher of a lifetime." (VOMIT.)

Lindsay Lohan: "I was robbed for 'Freaky Friday.'"

Jesse St. James: "Rachel is the most talented person that I've ever met." (VOMIT AGAIN. WE KNOW. SHE'S REALLY GOOD.)

The Season 3 finale of "Glee" airs Tuesday, May 22 at 9 p.m. ET on Fox.

Mike Ragogna: Gonna Take An Elemental Journey: A Conversation With Sonny Landreth, Plus Getting To Know J.D. Shelburne

2012-05-16T04:01:03Z

A Conversation With Sonny Landreth

Mike Ragogna: Sonny, your new album is called Elemental Journey, as in, "Gonna take an elemental journey," kicking off with "Gaia Tribe," as in "diatribe." Nice.

Sonny Landreth: You know, actually, those are two good perspectives because you want to come up with interesting titles but it certainly has to have the depth to back it up. It's interesting because in the very beginning of writing this song, I really liked it but it was quite simplistic and at one point, I wasn't even sure it was good enough to make the cut. The fact that it became this epic piece after all that took place and how it evolved, it really became a special track for me. That's why it's the lead track. I still think I'll affirm back to old school with albums and I think in terms of the sequence, it's really important, and therefore the first song is very important.

MR: Yeah, and you allowed Joe Satriani to guest on it.

SL: I think it was the other way around, but actually he's incredible. I've been a big fan of his for many years and we got to know each other, as I do often in cases of sharing the bill or playing festivals together, and that culminated in a show we did in Amsterdam about two years ago. I sat in with him and it just really clicked. He's a sweetheart of a guy and back then, I asked him if he would play on my next album and I told him that I just have to write the music, and he didn't hear from me for two years. He was very patient, but the amazing thing about it, really, is the fact that I had to send audio files--that was the plan--and he was home for only, literally, the time to do this. He's a super busy guy. I just sent him the MP3 to see if he liked the song. He took that into the studio and he played a solo to it. That was a shocker because typically, you would send all the digital files that you could work and listen to at different levels. But because his solo was so intense and comes out of nowhere, I was concerned how to treat that in the song. Long story short, he told me he would always include the element of surprise in his instrumental. That gave me the idea to push the envelope, so-to-speak, and write string arrangements to embellish his part and make it segue back into the rest of song. So it just turned into a whole that was taken to a whole different level. That would not have happened had I not played the song the first way.

MR: Another featured track is "Passionola" with Eric Johnson.

SL: Yeah, Eric Johnson, he's just working it, what can you say. He's got it all. He's the tone master, incredible chops. But the thing is he's so soulful. He's legendary in the guitar community...how meticulous he is, and his high level of excellence. We've gotten to be friends over the years and he's played on an earlier project of mine and I've played on his, and we've played together a lot. We would do a run of dates together, and whenever we're in the area and he's home, he sits in with us and vice-versa, so he's a good friend. I bet he did exactly what I hoped to accomplish on that song and that's probably the only one that does the call and response between the two guitars. That was really important to me to get that on this project as well.

MR: "Heavy Heart Rising." Is there any story behind that one?

SL: It's a personal story and one real close to me. It's essentially about embracing loss and finding peace with that and also atonement. It's coming up from that, we all have those experiences and the older we get, the more of those we have. I wanted to try to capture that and put that into the sonic soundscape. That was the force behind the song.

MR: Let's deal with your other superstar on this project, Robert Greenidge.

SL: Robert Greenidge, my goodness. Here's the thing about him--he's the master steel drummer. You've heard him on tons of records. The first time I ever heard steel drums it was him on a Taj Mahal album. I didn't even know what steel drums were, I never heard them. This was a long time ago. I thought, "My god, what a masterful sound." Fast forward all these years later, I met him working with Jimmy Buffet. He's been with Buffet for a long time and I did a lot of shows with him. We got to be friends and I learned how amazing his repertoire is. He has perfect pitch and he plays jazz and classical music on steel drums, so I wanted to tap him for that in that song.

MR: You mentioned the Jimmy Buffet connection and you played on projects by him.

SL: Yeah, Jimmy and I met a long time ago with John Hiatt at Jazz Fest in New Orleans one year. Then one year Clint Davis, the promoter, was down on the side of the stage and I said, "You gotta hear this." Then Jimmy invited me to play on an album he was making and he ended up doing one of my songs. It's been great, he basically says whenever you're not working, here's our schedule, come on out and play. I do about eight to ten shows a year and I've been doing that for a while. Not so much last year, but even recently, we're having a lot of fun speaking at the New Orleans Jazz and we did an acoustic set on a Thursday night, so that was pretty special.

MR: You're known for your slide guitar and how you have a very particular technique where your little finger is doing the slide while you're playing chords underneath with your other fingers. How did you develop your style of playing?

SL: Well, it would actually precede that in learning the Chet Atkins right-hand approach to finger style. Basically, what that means is that you're playing multiple parts. Listening to Chet Atkins, it made me aware of playing melody, rhythm, and the bass line all at the same time. Then I got into the blues and discovered the slide. When I put the two in the slide on my left hand with the Chet Atkins approach on my right hand, that really set me on my path. At one point, I just had a flash of inspiration out of needing to figure out how to play in different keys--major to minor. I could see those notes behind the glass and it just occurred to me to press the string down behind it. What happens is when you're playing the slide, those strings don't touch the neck, they're floating, just like a steel guitar or a Hawaiian-style guitar, when you see them playing guitar on their lap; they're just sliding. When you combine those notes and when you fret behind, those strings go underneath what you're using for slide. So it's a combination of the notes that are floating with the slide above the fret and the notes are fretting behind which creates the mojo.

MR: As far as the blues, who are some of your favorite artists? What inspired you musically in that world?

SL: I was listening to Mississippi John Hurt, Fred McDowell, Charlie Patton, all the great players. But when I heard Robert Johnson, that just did it for me. I just couldn't believe I'd never heard anything like that. To me, that stands out far from all the others. What I also got from them was the same thing I was getting from my jazz heroes because I actually started out playing trumpet when I was ten years old. I didn't get my first guitar until I was thirteen, so I had jazz and classical heroes, and then I had my blues heroes on guitar, but they were all seeking to emulate the human voice with their instruments. So the slide really, really did that for me, more than anything else, because the potential there was to create a lot of different sounds; that really stuck with me and also the tradition as a story song. The delta players, they were all about the song and using the guitar to help embellish and interpret the lyrics of the song. So you're singing, you're using the guitar for your other voice, and much more in a calm way than I mentioned earlier. That stuck with me all these years.

MR: So Elemental Journey is an instrumental album top to bottom.

SL: Well, I just figured I'm sixty-one years old, if not now, when? I've always loved instrumentals, this goes all the way back to the beginning of me loving to play the guitar. I was a huge fan of The Ventures, and that's all they ever made, instrumental albums. I think what stuck with me there was the power of imagery and how instrumental songs inspire that in a different kind of way than songs with lyrics. Don't get me wrong, I love lyrics. Obviously, all of my albums have been based on that all these years. But I've always included one or two instrumentals in all these previous albums. That's where that comes from. Early on, I really experienced being influenced by instrumental music, so this time around, I just wanted to focus on that and see where it would take me. I think that probably the best thing about it for me is without having to concentrate on the vocals this time, it freed me up to go back to some of these influences that I've had all along and to really include that in the overall sound. I think the net result is much more diverse. I wanted it to be with a lot more melodies and much more complex chord changes. By the time I was using the different sound from the guitar to get those vocal sounds and to make it have a richer sound, then another thing I always wanted to do was to use strings. Once I started working on the string arrangements with my friend Sam Broussard, who did a brilliant job, that just took it to another level too. The thing just kept expanding and that was very exciting for me.

MR: I was going to ask you about the strings. And your conductor is...

SL: ...Mariusz Smolij. He's a world-renowned conductor and that's all he does. He travels all around the globe conducting the world's greatest orchestras and recording with them, so we're very fortunate to have him. He's the musical director to the conservatory in La Fayette, Louisiana. He lives in Texas, but he makes the trek in between all his touring as a conductor. He works with the Acadiana Symphony Orchestra here. What's really amazing about that is that they bring in students from LSU--the state university in Baton Rouge--and these kids are some of the best there are. They're coming from all over Europe and they're studying here. I got to tap into that. The way that came about is that several years ago, he invited me to participate in the Christmas program they do every year. They have a guest artist. One of the cool things about him is he actually played rock 'n' roll and came up playing bass and keyboard in bands when he was younger, so he has that sensibility. He wanted to incorporate the local musicians, like myself into this Christmas program he does every year. He got me to do the Bach piece "Cantata 140." I've never played Bach on guitar, let alone slide guitar, so now there's another throwback to my trumpet days and playing a big part of the world of academia. That exposure is something I've never incorporated like I have this time. Once I did that performance for them, I knew that was going to be a part of the next album. That sealed the deal for me to make an instrumental album.

MR: It must have been very fulfilling to see a lot of the younger talent play in those adventures, right?

SL: Oh yeah. The thing you become keenly aware of is that these kids now with all the information that is immediately accessible, they're starting out at three, four, five-years-old, which is not unusual in the classical world anyway; such a strict regimen. But even more so, you can get on the computer and look at something that Segovia did or any of the great masters so long ago and study that in a way that wasn't available up until then, so it's great to see how they're open minded and in my area. The Cajun and Creole musicians are coming from whole families of musicians. These young players are incorporating new sounds and they're pushing the boundaries too. I think it's a really exciting time.

MR: What advice do you have for new artists?

SL: The best thing I could say to someone is the obvious which is you have to woodshed. There's no way around it. If you really want to excel, you have to sit down and you have to really approach this with a perspective that you're going to master your instrument, as a singer, an instrumentalist, or both. You have to do that. Have your antennas up and take in everything. Watch as many people live or in videos as you can. Learn much about all kinds of music, take in as much as you can. But at one point, you'll find that spark or fun that nobody else has, that thing that you bring to the table that someone else doesn't. That's your identity, that's your own sound, that's from your heart and soul. That just takes time to do, but don't lose sight of it. In terms of the business, I would encourage everyone to try and retain ownership of your masters, so that when you enter into any kind of contract or deal with anyone, after a certain amount of time, the rights to those masters are reverted back to you. Ultimately, that's your catalog that you're working on. Most of us came up from the older school and went through the labels and that whole thing for so long. Much of my earlier work, I don't have control over, and now I do. The catalog from the label I was last with comes back to me. That's sometimes the only way people can ever hear it.

MR: Publishing, I imagine, is also something they should retain if they can?

SL: Absolutely. As a songwriter, at least there's some built in protection that didn't come into play until the mid-'70s, really, that the actual writer of the song is the author of the song. You could enter into a publishing deal but you have to ask yourself the question what are you really getting out of it. If you're going to sign a publishing deal, it should be a big enough company that they're going to give you enough money up front that it's worth it to give up receiving the publishing royalties later on. Nothing's for free, so if you can retain that up front, then go for it. That's usually the case. A lot of these young bands out there are trying to make a name for themselves and do what they're all doing. Use the internet, spread the word, word of mouth. But in the long run, that's what it all comes down to, you have to play live. You never know who's going to be in that audience who knows somebody else, who knows somebody else, and one thing leads to another. You have to open up to that.

MR: I want to ask you about your experience in the studio. You had Steve Khan on keyboards, Dave Ranson on bass and a couple of drummers. What was the feel like when you guys were getting together and recording this? What was the experience for you all?

SL: With some of them, I go way back. Dave Ranson and I have known each other since we were young teenagers. Steve Khan is one of my best friends. We've been playing for so many years. There's something very special about that in terms of chemistry that it already feels better going into the studio. I know it's going to be there, it's never failed me. We've never failed each other, and it also enables us to experiment and push that more and try different things. The other part of it was I started out at home and recorded a body of the track on guitar just to get that idea to them, the direction I was taking. Everyone knew that I was upping the ante and pushing this in a way that I never have. It was definitely much more adventurous and much more complex and everyone just came up swinging, it was great. The vibe was great and once we got the ball rolling and heard the results flood back in the system, in the studio, it was really a moment. We knew it was going somewhere that we'd never been before. That sense of adventure is really important to hold on to, the longer you stay at it. You have to keep that element of mystery and apprehension that really inspires you.

MR: Since there were no lyrics, melodies had to have been based on some premise of a lyric that didn't exist, right?

SL: Exactly. That's why I describe it as stories without words. If you were to take a soundtrack and there were no pictures so the person was not watching the music and they were hearing the same music, it inspires imagery and people come up with their own stories. That's why I say that the melody in an instrumental is important, but it's even more important in an all-instrumental project because you need to connect with the listener on a deep emotional level. There has to be that connection, in the final analysis it has to resonate. When you do that, you have something.

MR: Do you have any words of wisdom?

SL: Words of wisdom? Well that's a good question and actually refers to the title, the multi-meanings of Elemental Journeys. That's the notion that we're all on our own path and the idea of embracing all that happens to us, good and bad, all of those experiences as essential experiences that define who we are. We all have our own belief system and it's following through with that. It's very much a thing with me in creating this album.

MR: Touring?

SL: We wrapped things up back in November so I could finish the album. We've gone in and out of the studio during the touring part of the year, so we just started back up. Our first gig was at the International Festival of Louisiana here at La Fayette. Our second gig was The New Orleans Jazz Festival. I would have liked to warm up a bit more, especially with the new songs, but there you have it. We're back at it, we have a long two weeks of gigs, and now we'll be back in airports flying all over the place. We're going to Japan at the end of the month. That'll be the first time with a band so I'm really excited about that. We have a lot of new places we're going to and we're going to our regular places that our people have been supportive of. That's a great vibe. It's really about people and getting out, having that experience and tapping back in, and making the music. Hopefully, we touch a part of them that they take home with them, which made it special for them.

Tracks:
1. Gaia Tribe - with Joe Satriani
2. For You And Forever
3. Heavy Heart Rising
4. Wonderide
5. Passionaola - with Eric Johnson
6. Letting Go
7. Elemental Journey
8. Brave New Girl
9. Forgotten Story - with Robert Greenidge
10. Reckless Beauty
11. Opening Sky

Transcribed by Narayana Windenberger

LOCAL HEROES: Getting To Know J.D. Shelburne

This piece on country-rocker J.D. Shelburne begins a series on local heroes that have an interesting story or who have been kicking around a while on the national scene but may be just under the radar.

Growing up, J.D. Shelburne spent his summers on the family farm, raising tobacco and following in his father's footsteps, excelling in multiple sports during the school year. Born to be a star, he was just that in his small town on and off the field/court, where his father was assistant principal and athletic director, and his mother, a homemaker and special education teacher. Music had not yet made its way into J.D.'s heart at this point, though after high school graduation, J.D. departed Taylorsville to attend the University of Kentucky, and the music story started there. In the summer between his freshman and sophomore year, his grandmother Clara passed away, unexpectedly. Traumatic as it was, it turned out to be a major turning point in J.D.'s life. In the days after her death, the family gathered to take care of her belongings. After spending countless hours cleaning out her house, they stumbled upon an acoustic guitar that once belonged to J.D.'s uncle. "I never saw that guitar and I swear, my brother and I trampled all over that house growing up," remembers J.D. "Thankfully, my uncle never sold it, or this journey may have never begun."

Remembering his grandmother, J.D. says, "She touched so many people in this small town. I have so many wonderful memories that she was a part of that I will cherish and never forget." He continues, "I think the whole county shut down for her funeral. She was loved by everyone in Taylorsville." It was later that summer that he dusted off the guitar and tuned it up. "One day, it just hit me and I picked it up. A chord book just happened to be in the case and I came across the first song, "Unanswered Prayers" by Garth Brooks. I just thought, 'This is what she wanted me to do,' so here I am." Music lived in J.D. from that point on.

Over the next year, he spent every free moment learning to play and perform. Friday night college parties turned into solitary Friday nights in his empty hometown Baptist church sanctuary, singing and playing, dreaming of a career in country music. After that one year of dedication and persistence, J.D. sang publicly for the first time in that hometown church. Not being known as a singer, much less a guitar player, it shocked everyone! "Everyone in the congregation was crying. I'll never forget it." That moment gave J.D. the confidence to continue his journey to stardom. After graduating from UK in 2007 and with some gentle nudging by his parents, he packed his bags and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in February of 2008.

His road to stardom has been blessed since the move. J.D. has had enough recognition to land him in Country Weekly Magazine in March 2009, numerous television and radio appearances, a Grand Ole Opry appearance with country legend, friend Steve Wariner, a USO Troop Tour to Camp Shelby, countless gigs that include the KFC Yum Center!, The Wildhorse Saloon, CMA Music Festival Appearance, Fourth Street Live!, The Bluebird Café, Churchill Downs--home of the Kentucky Derby and Louisville Slugger Field to name a few. J.D. Shelburne was also invited to be a part of the first ever HullabaLOU Music Festival at Churchill Downs with Bon Jovi, Kenny Chesney and many other national artists in July of 2010. He has also been highlighted at numerous award winning fairs and festivals all across the region.

J.D. Shelburne has also shared the stage with many national country acts since his debut. He has opened for artists such as Clay Walker, Kellie Pickler, Aaron Tippin, Easton Corbin, Josh Kelley, Johnny Lee, Cowboy Troy, Mark Wills, Josh Gracin, Bryan White, Trailer Choir, Craig Campbell, Love and Theft, Jeffrey Steele, Trent Tomlinson, Sam Bush, Gloriana, Colbie Caillat, The Kentucky Headhunters, Steve Wariner, Joey & Rory, The Harters, Adam Gregory, Daryl Worley, Crystal Shawanda, Jeremy McComb, David Frizzell, Joe Nichols, John Michael Montgomery, Shannon Lawson, Halfway to Hazard and Juice Newton.

J.D.'s kind of country has never been straight-up-the-middle. Instead, the Taylorsville, Kentucky, native grew up on a potent hybrid of honky-tonk, gospel, singer-songwriters, classic country and modern rock 'n' roll, forging his own sound along the way.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: https://www.jdshelburne.com
MYSPACE: https://www.myspace.com/jdshelburne
FACEBOOK FAN PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/jdshelburne
TWITTER: https://www.twitter.com/jdshelburne

Aaron Sorkin Writing Steve Jobs Movie

2012-05-16T03:41:17Z

LOS ANGELES -- Aaron Sorkin is going from Facebook to Apple.

Sony Pictures officials say the Oscar-winning writer will write a screenplay based on the Steve Jobs biography.

Sony Pictures co-chairman Amy Pascal says Sorkin will make the film about the late Apple founder "everything that Jobs himself was: Captivating, entertaining and polarizing."

Sorkin won the adapted screenplay Academy Award for 2010's "The Social Network." The 50-year-old writer was nominated in the same category for 2011's "Moneyball."

His other credits include "Charlie Wilson's War" and "A Few Good Men." He also created TV's "The West Wing."

Actor Ashton Kutcher is set to play Jobs in a separate project.

Who's Not Going To The 'Dancing With The Stars' Finale?

2012-05-16T02:07:57Z

Maria Menounos was eliminated from "Dancing With the Stars" in the semi-finals, despite a near perfect evening of dancing on Monday night.

After a devastating back injury left Katherine Jenkins in tears on "Dancing With the Stars" this week, many thought the opera singer would be eliminated in the semi-finals round. But it was Maria who said goodbye.

Only three points separated the top of the leaderboard -- Maria and her partner Derek Hough with 59 -- from the bottom -- Katherine and her partner Mark Ballas with 56. But, in a shocking twist, after many counted former frontrunner Katherine out, the audiences' votes saved her. She and Mark jumped around and screamed in the ballroom, but that meant bad news for someone else.

When it was next revealed that Maria was in jeopardy, the crowd booed. Between the final two men -- William Levy and Donald River -- it was the NFL star that was also in the bottom.

"No matter which way this goes, it's gonna suck," host Tom Burgeron poignantly said.

Then, like a harsh Band-Aid rip, Maria was announced as the eliminated contestant. The very gracious "Extra" host said the competition taught her how strong she was and how to persevere. And before her send-off package rolled, Derek told the audience that Maria "is a champion of life."

Now, Katherine, Donald and William will advance to the Season 14 "Dancing With the Stars" finale. The top three will perform on Monday, May 21 for the last time and a winner will be crowned on Tuesday, May 22.

On Monday night, a complicated move caused Katherine's back to spasm, leading to a minor breakdown. But Maria hit her stride this week, turning out two solid performances -- and a near perfect 60. William Levy once again left the ballroom speechless with his salsa -- earning a perfect score -- and NFL superstar Donald Driver narrowly missed that 10 he's hoping for from judge Len Goodman.

Even though Maria may not walk away with the Mirror Ball, she'll back for the "Dancing With the Stars" Season 14 finale next week, as will the rest of the contestants.

"Dancing With the Stars" enters its final week with the last performance night on Monday, May 21 at 8 p.m. ET and the results show on Tuesday, May 22 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.