Rhode Island Live Music Scene Brought to You at Home

Rhode Island Live is all about the music and musicians that live and travel through our state.

The new weekly series covers all genres of music from rock to rap, from traditional spiritual to blues and folk. The series will be filmed primarily at The Met in Pawtucket, as well as at other venues such as AS220 and the Rhythm and Roots Festival, all showcasing the incredible talent we have at our doorstep.

Rhode Island PBS proudly crosses that threshold to carry the live concert experience right into your home. Each week the series will host different acts on the stages of Rhode Island - some performing in intimate gatherings, some playing to an audience of thousands.

Rhode Island Live premieres on Sunday, February 8 at 10 p.m., followed by the legendary Austin City Limits at 11 p.m.

February 8 - Dylan Sevey and the Gentlemen, Torn Shorts 

February 15 - Red Dog Run, Ten Strings and a Goatskin 

February 22 - The Mallett Brothers Band

Future episodes will feature Chuck Mead + His Grassy Knoll Boys, Bill Kerchen and Too Much Fun, Eric French and the French Quarter, and the Erika Van Pelt Band.

Stay tuned!

Dylan Sevey

Ten Strings and a Goatskin

Red Dog Run

Mallett Brothers

Out of Prison and Back to Life - The Blessing Way

A Way Back

More than a third of the men and women released from prison in Rhode Island return to the Adult Correctional Institution (ACI) within a year - nearly half within three years - often because they have no support system when they get out. 

This month, Jim Hummel takes a look at a decade-old program, run by a non-profit organization, that has reduced the recidivism rate of its participants dramatically, laying the groundwork for employment and sobriety.

The Blessing Way may be seen on Rhode Island PBS on the following dates and times this next week:

Rhode Island PBS
Fri 1/23 at 2:16 am
Fri 1/23 at 11:22 pm
Sat 1/24 at 6:45 pm
Sat 1/24 at 11:45 pm
Sun 1/25 at 2:18 am
Mon 1/26 at 2:16 am
Mon 1/26 at 12:23 pm
Tue 1/27 at 12:21 pm


For more information about this segment and to see other Rhode Island Spotlight segments, visit the Rhode Island Spotlight Web site.  

Why Should Your Town be "Our Town"?

After the warm and friendly reception for its first Our Town film project with residents and friends of Glocester, Rhode Island PBS now launches a search for the next Our Town location.

Our Town is a community project where neighbors become filmmakers to tell the stories of Our Town. Rhode Island PBS invites residents to nominate their town by January 31. The town with the highest number of nominations will be the next location for filming in March.

“Everyone has something they love about their town - and they are happy to talk about it, given the chance,” said David Piccerelli, president of Rhode Island PBS. “Our Town taps into that town pride, giving people the opportunity to tell those stories now on television and preserve the stories for future generations to enjoy.”

The Our Town series shares with viewers the local legends, historical happenings, and backyard secrets of Rhode Island towns and villages – those untold or uncelebrated stories that capture the essence of the town. Using a simple online survey form, town residents are especially urged to participate, but one need not be a resident of the particular town - just have a great town story to tell. The nomination form is also available as a PDF to download, complete, and mail-in. Even without the official form, nominations will be accepted by email or regular post if accompanied by an essay that answers in 100 words or less, “Why should your town be Our Town?”

Deadline for submission of nominations is January 31. The winning town will be announced on February 16. Entries are available online at www.ripbs.org

For information about the Rhode Island PBS Our Town project, visit www.ripbs.org/ourtown.

Edison's Miracle of Light on American Experience

Edison's Miracle of Light on American Experience

  

In September 1878, when Thomas Edison announced his intention to harness Niagara Falls and produce a safe, electric light system, gas stocks plummeted on Wall Street. It was said that soon, only the rich could afford candles.

While "the Wizard of Menlo Park" and his staff would, in time, develop all the components needed for an electrical system -- bulbs, sockets, switches, wires, junction boxes, power meters, voltage regulators -- Edison himself became caught in a web of personal, patent, and corporate battles. In the end, Thomas Edison revolutionized the world, yet lost control of the industry that he founded.

Produced by Rocky Collins. Peter Coyote narrates.

Rhode Island PBS premieres Edison's Miracle of Light January 29 at 8 p.m.

Beyond the Flames - Rhode Island Spotlight with Jim Hummel

Beyond the Flames

Chances are you’ve seen, or been to, the annual Flames of Hope torch lighting and road races over the Columbus Day Weekend. This month Jim Hummel takes a look at the vast array of work the Gloria Gemma Breast Cancer Resource foundation is doing the rest of the year and introduces you to some of the lives the foundation has touched.

This week's video may be seen on the following channels and times:

Rhode Island PBS
Thu 01/08 at 12:22 p.m.
Sat 01/10 at 9:51 p.m.
Mon 01/12 at 3:22 a.m.

Learn
Tue 01/13 at 9:53 p.m.
Wed 01/14 at 4:53 a.m.


The entire Rhode Island Spotlight series can be found here.

WSBE Learn: Great Performances at The Met in January

WSBE Learn: Great Performances at the Met 

WSBE Learn is your destination for opera every Saturday night. Great Performances at the Met presents a variety of what you love in opera, and yours is always the best front-row seat in the house! Check our listings on Learn for new and encore performances every month. 

Make note to reserve your place for the following performances. Five Saturdays in January means you can enjoy a bonus show this month! Enjoy. 

January 3 - Don Giovanni - Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi leads his first Met performances of Mozart's Don Giovanni in a new production directed by Tony Award winner Michael Grandage in his Met debut.

January 10 - Satyagraha - "Almost all the techniques of protest--now the common currency of contemporary political life--were invented and perfected by Gandhi during his South Africa years," Philip Glass has said. See stills from the revival of Phelim McDermott and Julian Crouch's 2008 innovative production of Satyagraha, Glass' opera covering Gandhi's early life in South Africa.

January 17 - Rodelinda - Renée Fleming reprises one of her most popular interpretations: the title role in Handel's Rodelinda, under the baton of Baroque specialist Harry Bicket in the revival of Stephen Wadsworth's acclaimed production. 

January 24 - Faust - Three of the opera world's leading stars-Jonas Kaufmann, Marina Poplavskaya, and René Pape-sing the principal roles in a new production of Gounod's Faust, directed by Tony Award winner Des McAnuff in his Met debut. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts his first Met performances of the opera.

January 31 - Le Nozze di Figaro - Met music director James Levine conducts a spirited new production of Mozart's masterpiece, directed by Richard Eyre, who sets the action of this classic domestic comedy in an 18th-century manor house in Seville during the 1930s. Dashing bass-baritone Ildar Abdrazakov leads the cast in the title role of the clever servant, opposite Marlis Petersen as his bride, Susanna, Peter Mattei as the philandering count they work for, Amanda Majeski as the long-suffering countess, and Isabel Leonard as the libidinous pageboy, Cherubino.

Scene from Le Nozze di Figaro

East Coast Antiques premieres January 9 - Have you seen the tease?

Just about one week to go before East Coast Antiques, the fun, funny, and fact-filled series begins on Rhode Island PBS.

Grab the popcorn (or tea and scones) and tune in Friday, January 9 at 8:30 p.m. - the perfect lead in to the 9 p.m. Season 5 premiere of Downton Abbey on Masterpiece!

Have you seen this tease yet?



More about the show in our previous post here.