Arts & Culture
Bring that beat back
As his name suggests, Arts DEVO has a beat that he covers for the Chico News & Review. Pre-COVID-19, my notebook of story ideas and potential column fodder was always a mess of scribbles and […]
Articles by Jason Cassidy
Art
Setting the stage
As California moves further into stage 3 of the Resilience Roadmap for reopening businesses closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic, workplaces in the arts and entertainment sector are now being included in the conversation. […]
Arts & Culture
‘Carny prozac’
Sometimes when Arts DEVO sits down at the keyboard, this column just writes itself, especially when I copy and paste the words from somewhere else: Silver Dollar Fair Food Drive-thru Menu: Corn Dog……………………………..$5Giant Corn dog………………….. […]
Arts & Culture
Flip the script
When the Blue Room Theatre opened Stuff ’n’ Things on March 12, California had just announced the cancellation of sporting events, part of the first wave of the state-mandated shutdown in response to the coronavirus. […]
Arts & Culture
Good to-go
Are they open? That’s been the twenty-dollar question for Butte County residents as they stare into the refrigerator wondering whether or not their favorite grill or taqueria can save them from another night of leftovers. […]
COVID-19
First COVID-19 death in Butte County
On Monday (June 1), in addition to reporting that seven new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Butte County, Public Health announced the first local death attributed to the disease. “I’m very sad to announce that […]
Arts & Culture
‘Momma! I’m through’
This was going to be one of those quarantine-fatigue columns where Arts DEVO whines about life in times of pandemic and how all I can muster this week is a slideshow of images and words […]
Arts & Culture
Challenge: Autobiographical
Arts DEVO has been tempted. The “10 albums that impacted my life” or “10 albums that influenced my taste in music” challenges making the rounds on social media are just the sort of navel-gazing escapism […]
COVID-19
Backlash to masks
The Bookstore has been closed since March 19, as have most other “nonessential” businesses in Chico due to the coronavirus pandemic. In early April, the shop partially re-opened—for contactless curbside sales—and since then owners Muir […]
Arts & Culture
Explorers-in-place
Like so many cultural resources in Butte County, the Gateway Science Museum remains closed indefinitely in response to the coronavirus pandemic. But before they turned out all the lights, the staff populated the website with […]
News
Arts DEVO: Local music for your pandemic blues
Arts DEVO loves to hear himself talk about music, so a prompt is hardly necessary to get me going. But if you ask … Friend and co-worker CN&R writer Ashiah Scharaga posted a query to […]
Arts & Culture
Save me, art scene!
Arts DEVO is a slave to the internet right now. I’m just trying to stay connected to people as I shelter in place, but with that comes being connected to all the anti-science, anti-mask, anti-human-decency […]
Arts & Culture
The musical eccentrics among us
Did you know the “Last of the Vaudeville Cowboys” lives right here in Butte County? How ’bout the banjo player/historian known as the Banjo-Ologist? Or one of the founding members of 1960s/70s weirdo-rock crew Charleston […]
Arts & Culture
One new album; one new video
It has been eight years since longtime Chico singer/songwriter Fera (aka Mike Strishak) has put out a proper album of new material. This month, as a gift to sheltering-in-place music fans hungry for tunes, he […]
Arts & Culture
Virtual campus
Last week, Chico State President Gayle Hutchinson announced that, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the university will hold a virtual graduation commencement ceremony (May 15) instead of an on-campus event. It’s the final nail […]