Entertainment

I had been looking forward to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts’s annual Art in Bloom show since March. I’d never gone before, and considering the lack of spring we’ve had this year I figured it would be a great way to usher in the new season. As with most events that I anticipate with no prior experience I set my expectations ridiculously high.

NEEDTOBREATHE is passionate about everything it takes to be a really good band. You can see it in everything they do from memorable live shows to meticulous songwriting that incorporates rich harmonies, uncommon instrumentation and creative extended jams. The Rinehart brothers, Bear (vocals, guitar, piano, organ, harmonica) and Bo (lead guitar, banjo, mandolin, backing vocals) grew up the sons of a pastor in South Carolina with an assorted mix of musical influences. During their college years, collaborations with Seth Bolt (bass, mandolin, backing vocals) who was a studying to be a recording engineer, and Joe Stillwell (former drummer) resulted in the formation of NEEDTOBREATHE.

The 14th annual Newport Beach Film Festival started April 25 and ends this Thursday, May 2. After the extravagant weeklong festival ends, they will have screened over 350 films, screening at five different venues and at times occupying 12 screens at once. I knew very little about this festival, other than a few key programmers—Max Naylor, Amanda Salazar, Adam Gentry, Jay Winterstein, and executive director Gregg Schwenk—whom I had met in previous years attending Sundance standing in lines, sitting near one another at screenings, and meeting up at parties. (On opening night, I was blown away by the fact there were some announced 500 volunteers that would work over 50,000+ hours, year-round and during the festival to make this event happen!) This past January at Sundance, I was asked to participate at the festival as a jury member and there was no way I was going to say no.