The Battalion
ELIr E
Page 3
Tuesday • April 22, 1997
o-fi album mins
ireene's potential
By Brandon Truitt
The Battalion
o Contracts,” the
last song on bo
bud greene’s latest
lum, the same but different,
las only ten words: “There are
10 contracts here and we still
Tt along.”
bo bud greene
the same but different
Super Cottonmouth
Records
(out of five)
...
Even though bo bud
eene may have “no con-
Jacts” and is still on a small
independent label, it is diffi
cult to say whether the song
isabout the band. Contracts
onto contracts, the band is
not getting along,
i It is almost impossible to
judge what the band’s music
is actually like, though, be
cause this album was made
so cheaply.
I The strongest part of the al
bum is Borederson B’rock’s
[guitar work, the only thing
that sounds normal. B’rock’s
guitar playing remains crisp,
clear and full of talent
throughout the album.
In fact, it is B’rock that
ives all the effort the band
placed into the album, be-
use the other members of
the band sound as if they are
landing across the street
om their microphones.
The bass work throughout
the album is muffled to such
inaudible levels it is impossi
ble to tell if the bass player has
any talent.
The drumming, although
audible, has other sound
problems. One problem is that
every hit on the drums or
cymbals sounds exactly the
same. Eventually, no matter
what the drum line is, it begins
to sound the same.
Both these problems
could have been fixed with a
deal from a major studio,
but instead the effects ruin
the album.
The bass and drums sound
like they were recorded first on
tape, and the vocals and guitar
were recorded digitally before
being mixed. The lack of clari
ty causes the bass and drums
to sound slightly flat.
With all these sound prob
lems and the atonality they
add, no one can say whether
bo bud greene can ever be a
respected band. Technically
speaking, the music sounds
like it could be okay, but it is
hard to imagine what out-of-
key music sounds like when it
is played in key.
The only noticeable prob
lem with many of the songs is
their length — they are too
short. This problem could
(and would) have been fixed
by any major record label, but
record labels are expensive
partners for young bands.
Maybe what bo bud greene
really needs is a contract.
With that, its sound prob
lems could be solved and its
talent would finally have a
chance to be discovered or re
jected because people actually
would be able to hear it.
In the song, the band says
even with no contracts “we
still get along,” but with a
contract the band could do
much better than get along.
It could be anything — “get
ting along” is actually noth
ing more than a nice way to
say mediocre.
i > HH
■
ip;''
’ r:
bo bud greene
A
dream
come true
“The Arrival" (front) and "Seasons: Summer" (back) at the Red Brick Gallery.
Artist Timothy Vanya ‘brought the mountain
to Mohammed’ with his Red Brick Gallery
Story by Aaron Meier
Photos by Dave House
By Aaron Meier
The Battalion
1
he building at 202 South
Bryan started out as a liv
ery stable, then housed a
DeSoto dealership. Later
it became a hardware
supply store. Then it
evolved into a batch
plant that made concrete. The
building’s latest incarnation is the
Red Brick Art Gallery, which opened
this past weekend.
The Red Brick Gallery is the real
ization of eight years of hard work
and dreaming by artist and museum
owner, Timothy Vanya.
Vanya began his handicraft career
building boot cases for seniors in the
Corps of Cadets, then he expanded
into art embodying what he felt por
trayed the Aggie spirit. Vanya said it
was not long before he saw the de
mand for art in the community.
“I first noticed it when the
Forsythe Gallery opened,” Vanya
said. “There are so many people at
tending this school that have a gen
uine hunger for the visual arts, and
I wanted to satisfy that hunger for
the community.”
Vanya’s dream of opening a
gallery to serve the Bryan-College
Station area came tragically close to
not being realized. His wife Kathy
had a job that kept the Vanyas tied
to Houston. Then she was diag
nosed with cancer, forcing the fam
ily to stay in Houston to pay for
medical treatments.
Vanya said following his wife’s re
covery from cancer, their daughter
Sarah decided to attend A&M, mak
ing a dream of opening the gallery
even more appealing.
“It was one of those ‘bring the
mountain to Mohammed’ sort of
things,” Vanya said.
Vanya said constructing the
gallery showed him just how im
portant the friends he had made at
the University and in the commu
nity were. Vanya said Kay Conlee,
owner of the Old Bryan Market
place, was instrumental in making
his dream a reality.
“We were just sitting there talking
one day and she told me how her
dream had come to life when she
opened the Marketplace,” Vanya
said. “I told her my dream of the
gallery, and she and I sat there and
discussed how to make that dream
come true.”
Conlee said supportive friends
can help anyone achieve their goals.
“Anyone can dream a dream, but
if you can’t find other people with the
same motivation to make that dream
come true, then the dream is that
much harder to reach,” she said.
Vanya said once the decision
was made, many people were will
ing to help create the Red Brick
Gallery. Vanya said one former stu
dent with a construction science
degree volunteered his days off to
help build the gallery. Also, the
freshman cadets of Squadron 17
spent an entire Sunday helping
Vanya meet his target opening date
of Parent’s Weekend.
“I really want to thank all the Ag
gies who helped make the gallery
possible,” Vanya said. “These people
just wanted to help out. They saw the
dream and wanted to see it happen.”
Andy Cuellar, executive officer of
Squadron 17 and a senior health ma
jor, said the work the freshmen did
for Vanya was small compared to the
gifts he had given them.
Timothy Vanya, a local artist who produces Aggie-inspired artwork, said
he opened his gallery in Bryan to satisfy students' hunger for visual arts.
“Tim has offered both moral and
financial support to Challenger 17,”
Cuellar said. “When he asked us for
our help, it was the least we could do.
He is a special man to both the out
fit and the Corps as well.”
Vanya said now that the Red Brick
Gallery is open, he hopes he can give
back to the community that was so
willing to help him.
Vanya said the future of the
gallery includes not only art displays,
but also performances by a wide va
riety of artists. Vanya plans on open
ing the gallery one night a month in
a coffeehouse format for performers.
“One night you could walk in and
Lyle Lovett is playing,” Vanya said.
“The next month there might be a
string quartet from the high school.
I don’t want to advertise what is go
ing to happen. I see people just walk
ing in and enjoying the variety of
things this community has to offer.”
Vanya’s gallery also will function
as a learning studio for the stu
dents he plans to teach at the
gallery. Also, he plans to exhibit his
works and the works of other local
and international artists.
Conlee said Vanya’s philosophy
for the gallery follows the vision she
had for the Marketplace.
“People these days are literally
starved for quality,” she said. “I think
people see that high quality in Tim
when they talk to him. They see the
quality of his heart.”
Vanya said he hopes to bring his
philosophy of art to the gallery.
“When art doesn’t stir up some
kind of emotion, then it is not doing
its job,” he said. “A woman was in
here looking at one of the pictures,
and she started to cry as she stared at
the picture. That is what art is sup
posed to do.”
d&ccr
reifitr al park college statiais
April 26, 1997
17 Varieties of Beer
(commercially available - not homebrew)
FREE ADMISSION
FREE PARKING
MSS TOWN
L£ PRESENTS
OPEN TO THE BUBLIG • NOON TO DARK
f ~
Sneaky Pete • Texas Twisters
Ruthie Foster • Miss Molly and the Whips
noi
USE
Food Provided
by:
WKTC Atwmr* Ooumbi
Bring your lawn chair, your family and your dog
For more information call 764-8486
April 24
Rudder Auditorium
7:OOlpm
TICKETS ON SALE NOW
at the MSC Box Office or by phone at 845-1234
Persons wHl. rtisahiiities please Mil 845-1515.0 Wltll SpSCil GlieSt tO tS AmOUnCed
iuioroi us of your special needs. We request r
.c^ttaswssrs'rss? all seats reserved to ticket limit