SATURDAY, JULY 2 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Reggae fusion + Tacoma craft beer bike tour = hugs Dirt Angels + Odd Otter Brewing Co. = sunshine REGGAE FUSION Eugene, Oregon band Sol Seed offers reggae fusion with a message. For six years Michael Lennon (vocals, guitar), Michael “Magic” Sorensen (vocals, drums), Benny Pezzano (vocals, bass), Kenny Lewis (vocals, guitar), Sky Guasco (vocals, percussion, didgeridoo) and Graeme Pletscher (saxophone) have combined rock, hip-hop, soul, world music and psychedelic jam with a Reggae foundation to form a positive musical fusion that is uniquely their own. With thought-provoking lyrics,
DJ Omarvelous spins at The Swiss tonight. FRIDAY, JULY 1 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … DJ Omarvelous + Dunagan Brewing = Gruit and The Quan DJ Dance Attack + Dick’s Brewing = Danger and Whip DJ OMARVELOUS Inspired by the lack of variety in dance music in Tacoma, Calvin Murphy and Omar Stokes founded Ocean Grooves Entertainment in January 1999. They started off strong that February with Monday night shows at the 6th & Proctor Bar & Grill (later became Hell’s Kitchen) and dedicated it to underground dance music showcasing various DJs from
If you’re looking for breweries at a lake community, don’t skip Lake Tahoe. MORNING FOAM FOR FRIDAY, JULY 1 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … The Alpine Lakes Pale charity beer by Elliott Bay Brewing Company will be released July 7 and poured during the July 16 Brewshed® Tap Take Over and Washer’s Tournament at Naked City Brewery and Taproom in Greenwood. The Pedaler’s Fair is spilling into the streets of Ballard for its fifth year as a marketplace for makers and
Will this guy cause people to collapse at Le Voyeur tonight? THURSDAY, JUNE 30 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Dancing Plague of 1518 + Top Rung = Dancing BrewDad of 2016 Puget Sound Brews and News + Fish Brewing = Fish stories Little Shop of Horrors + Oly Taproom = the Offices of Krelbourn & pFriem DANCING PLAGUE OF 1518 In July 1518, residents of the city of Strasbourg (then part of the Holy Roman Empire) were struck by a sudden and seemingly uncontrollable urge to dance. The hysteria kicked off when a
Nolan Garrett performs at Old Town Park in Old Town Tacoma tonight. Photo courtesy of Facebook WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Matthew McConaughey + Bacon, Bourbon and Brews = alright, alright, alright Jovino Santos Neto + Puyallup River Brewing = award winning Nolan Garrett + Pucker Party = facial expressions FREE STATE OF JONES In 1863, a poor Mississippi farmer named Newton Knight led a rebellion of deserters and escaped slaves against the Confederacy, waging guerrilla warfare from the swamps and eventually declaring their county the “Free State of Jones.”
Nasty? MORNING FOAM FOR WEDNESDAY, JUNE 29 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … After a successful first run last year, Brian Yaeger returns with his 2nd Annual Rural Brewer Fest Saturday, July 23 at Hawthorne Hophouse in Portland. Rural Brewer Fest will feature 14 of the region’s smaller and more remote brewers from Oregon and Southwest Washington. Celebrate Independence Day on Oregon’s North Coast as Buoy Beer Co. transforms its parking lot into the full-fledged afternoon Independence Day party Red, White &
G. Donnalson’s hosts live jazz and blues tonight. TUESDAY, JUNE 28 2016: South Sound events + craft beer and cider … Jazz and blues + Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. = Camp Cool West Olympia Farmers Market + Fish Brewing Co. = Full Blast Summer G’S SHOWCASE Steve Smith’s G. Donnalson’s is an amalgam and a tribute to his parents and their names, George and Donna Lee Smith. Located next door to Peaks and Pints, the restaurant, wine bar and cocktail lounge serves a wide range of international foods and, more recently, live music daily. At 7:30
Music makes everything better. Bachman Turner Overdrive’s “Taking Care of Business” turns the mundane task of cleaning out the garage into a much more enjoyable task. Washing the car? Rose Royce’s “Car Wash” inspires you to even clean the mud flaps. Sweeping to Queen’s “Another One Bites the Dust” and you’ll be kicking back with a craft beer much quicker. Walk into most breweries and tunes will be blasting as the wort flows through the hop back to remove trub. Yes, beer making and music are in sync and go together like Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough gracefully moving
D.on Darox & The Melody Joy Bakers perform at Rhythm & Rye in downtown Olympia tonight. MONDAY, JUNE 27 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Bourbon Street blues + golden grapefruit session ale = dreaming of go cups Fusion jazz + 10 Barrel = Cucumber Crush DIRTY GYPSY BLUES They are called D.on Darox & The Melody Joy Bakers. They’re a dirty, gypsy, blues band based out of Southern California performing original music. The band is lead by a brilliant, modern day nomad, and celebrator of life, that should have been born in another
You’re so pretty Moku Imperial IPA. MORNING FOAM FOR MONDAY, JUNE 27 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … The third annual Pacific Northwest Cider Awards drew an exciting 188 ciders from 40 cideries throughout the Pacific Northwest, including Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana and parts of Canada. Divided into 15 distinct categories, gold, silver and bronze medals were awarded in every category. Deschutes Brewery’s annual release of Double Black Butte Porter aged in barrels is today with release parties for Black Butte XXVIII
They’ll be pegging out and drink beer at Doyle’s Public House today. SUNDAY, JUNE 26 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Doyle’s Public House + Gig Harbor Brewing = fun and games Tacoma Little Theatre + Taste of Tacoma = community ONE FOR HIS NOB He proclaimed himself to be cribbage champion of the world, which was ballsy, considering he’s only ever won two games. She suspects his strategy is to distract his opponents with his quick-witted charm and good looks. It’s working; she’s smitten. He: dapper fellow with black framed glasses and salt
SATURDAY, JUNE 25 2106: South Sound events + craft beer … Prophets of Addiction + Parkway Tavern = insanity Candlebox + No-Li Brewhouse = Crony Swindler + Wet Coast Brewing = party time excellent Steel Creek party + Top Side Red, White & Brew = hop, skip, jump PROPHETS OF ADDICTION Tacoma’s Prophets of Addiction is a super glam band that’s all leather, hair and rock and roll. They’re about to hit the road for a little USA tour and The Valley grabbed them before they piled into the van. Baby and the Nobies will kick off the night at
Andy Kenser proudly displays American Brewing Company’s new line of craft beers. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner Two hundred and forty-one years after the American Revolution began in Massachusetts, and more than 3,000 miles away on horseback from that battle in Lexington, a different kind of patriots mustered in Western Washington, forming a craft beer bond and a subsequent re-branding for the good of the common man. Hear ye, hear ye! Beginnings Led by Brent Hall and Steve Navarro, Pacific Brewing & Malting Co. had grown significantly since it re-opened in September 2014. The craft brewery was
Ping pong was part of the fun at last year’s Portland International Beer Festival. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner MORNING FOAM FOR FRIDAY, JUNE 24 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … The weekend Portland International Beer Festival kicks off today with 200 beers from Germany, Belgium, Brazil, Lebanon, Switzerland, Italy, Scotland, Canada, England and Japan — among others. Pro tip: If there’s a beer you are dying to try, come early. They won’t last all weekend. The Seattle version is July 8-10 at
FRIDAY, JUNE 24 2016: South Sound events + craft beer and cider Mandy Patinkin + Tilted Tree Cidery = Have fun stormin’ da Pantages Weird Elephant + Taste of Tacoma = mysterious group of strangers OH, MANDY It’s inevitable that Mandy Patinkin’s vast Broadway and screen credits will find their way into a Trivial Pursuit game or Jeopardy’s Broadway category. You can almost hear Alex Trebek now: “He made his Broadway debut as Che, the revolutionary in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Evita. He starred in Stephen Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George. As a scholar, he made Barbra Streisand swoon
Trumpeter Lance Buller performs at the Worthington Center tonight. THURSDAY, JUNE 23 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Skull Kid + Parkway Tavern = Super Mario Fat Tires Book release + BrewDad’s = 10 Barrels and 45 Loves Dixieland Jazz Festival + Fish Brewing = When the Strawberry Berliner Weiss Goes Marching In SKULL KID With a sound that merges Empire! Empire! (I was a Lonely Estate) and Joyce Manor, the men who make up Pittsburgh band Skull Kid know a thing or two about emo. The band made their way across the country
Creative Colloquy Soiree is at Two Dogs Barking Productions tonight. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Literary shenanigans + 7 Seas Brewing = party hopping Comedy Open Mic + Half Lion Brewing = Lumberjacks and laughs CREATIVE COLLOQUY SOIREE You love Tacoma’s literary night that is Creative Colloquy. The stories, the people, the tasty coffee and craft beer. Sometimes you just want to take the stories out of the picture and just hang with the creative types, maybe talking stories, maybe discussing Brexit, maybe nibbling on Chef Aaron Grissom’s something something
Celebrate Crux’s 4th anniversary with live music all day long, tasty food and of course, beer, June 25. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 22 MORNING FOAM: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … This Saturday, Two Beers Brewing and Seattle Cider Company’s tasting room The Woods will host the 2016 Pacific Northwest Cider Awards and Festival. Global Beverage Traders and Sound Brewery in Poulsbo, marketers and producers of the Mortal Kombat X v1 Series of Beers, Scorpion – Imperial Stout, Raiden – Imperial Saison and Sub-Zero –
TUESDAY, JUNE 21 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Dreampop + Rain Warriors = dripping guitars and 5Ks Skateboarding film + Double Mountain = let’s go crazy! DREAMY POP MELT Pale Dīan formerly Blackstone Rngrs clawed their way through North Texas’s urban mantle, finding the blood connections necessary to drink from their fermenting sonic emotions. The sacred marriage blends affection for modern electronic music with an urgent fetish for classic 4AD dreampop and noise. The orgy happens when swirls of orgasmic synthesizers embrace dripping guitars and tantric rhythms and pulses. Healthy doses of noise are always comforted by
MONDAY, JUNE 20 16: South Sound events + craft beer … Literary night + Parkway Randall = oh the stories that will be told! The Lobster + Barefoot Wit Belgian White Ale = award winners CREATIVE COLLOQUY There’s no doubt that it’s become more convenient to talk at people via social media platforms than to share a face-to-face dialogue, so it’s refreshing that someone like Jackie Casella is keeping the art of critical discourse alive. For those who enjoy a night at the bar but don’t do well with crowds, or would rather meet new people by engaging in thoughtful
MORNING FOAM: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news for Monday, June 20, 2016 Yes! Craft beer drinkers may take their imbibing more seriously than their macro-brew loving counterparts, but, when they do drink, they drink less and boast healthier lifestyle habits. Deschutes Brewery’s Pinot Suave is everything the name suggests … and a whole lot more. A Firestone Walker classic is set to be recast in its 20th anniversary year as DBA gets nitro treatment for the first time ever, resulting in a fresh twist on a longtime flagship. Victory Brewing Company introduces its newest seasonal, Tart Ten, a
Strangely Alright, photo by Bill Bungard SUNDAY, JUNE 19 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Modern dance + Odd Otter = Father’s Day Strangely Alright + 99 Bottles = Father’s Day TEN TINY DANCES Instead of allowing choreographers to work within the infinite spaces and settings that dance allows, the fun of Ten Tiny Dances comes from its constraint: The short works must be performed entirely on a miniscule four-by-four-foot stage placed in the middle of a nightclub. Based out of Portland, the contemporary dance series has been adopted by many Northwest production companies,
Wet Coast Brewing Co. in Gig Harbor grabbed three medals at the 2016 Washington Beer Awards. Photo courtesy of Facebook Before the gates opened for day two of the Washington Brewers Festival at Marymoor Park in Redmond today, Specialty Competitions LLC and the Washington Beer Commission announce the winners of the fourth annual Washington Beer Awards. This year’s competition included 950 entries from 139 different brewing companies in 56 categories, which were evaluated in a blind format using the Brewers Association Style Guidelines by panels of trained beer judges Three special awards, the Small, Mid-Sized and
They called out to ye faithful, and all ye faithful answered. Last night, at the first session of this weekend’s Washington Beer Commission Washington Brewers Festival, we watched the huge Marymoor Park slowly but surely fill up with the most faithful of beer-goers, with only a few raindrops. Let us assure you, shelling out $25 for a five-and-a-half-hour session of limitless Washington state breweries beer sampling is absolutely worth it, especially when some of the 500-plus beers aren’t even out yet, or are limited-edition, or are one of 10,000 sours. More than 110 breweries and cideries made an appearance last
SATURDAY, JUNE 18 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Physique contest + (253) Draft Punk Festival = Date Night with Brian Pop icons + Digging Line IPA = Saturday Night’s Alright Funk + Northwest Beerwerks = Mega Dank PHYSIQUE COMPETITION If we believed everything on the Internet, and we apparently do, we’d know that the “dad bod” is in vogue right now. Problem is, at the Pantages Theater tonight, we’ll be the only ones. Trends come and go, but hard bodies are forever. Fat chance we’ll see Hollywood cast dad bods in Magic Mike XXL or the next
Mike Besser was Top Rung Brewing Company’s sales executive from 2014-2016. Photo credit: Pappi Swarner You might have spotted former football player Mike Besser wearing a keg costume at a beer festival, slinging craft beer for Top Rung Brewing Company in Lacey, or chatting up movers and shakers in the craft beer world. Either way, Besser is definitely a beer dude about towns. He’s about to be a one-town beer dude. Besser, also known as BrewDad, has purchased NW Caps N Taps bottle shop and taproom in Bonney Lake. In early July, the popular craft beer
The Cottonwood Cutups preform at The Valley tonight. Photo courtesy of Facebook FRIDAY, JUNE 17 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Americana + Gose = pinch of banjo and coriander Roadhouse blues + summer beers = Sixth and Pine Hipster music + Bloody Orange Ale = precious aroma Jazz guitar + Gig Harbor Brewing = Kopachuck Pale Ale Meaningful movie + Puyallup River Brewing = award winning Beer Camp + Eastside Club Tavern = Beer Camp at Eastside Club Tavern, duh KENTUCKY MEETS TACOMA The Cottonwood Cutups take American music back to your grandmother’s
Ninkasi Brewing Company of Eugene Oregon celebrates 10 years of brewing. FRIDAY, JUNE 17 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … Mike Besser, sales executive for Top Rung Brewing Co. and longtime beer blogger at BrewDad.com, has worked his last shift at Top Rung and will be taking over NW Caps & Taps in Bonney Lake. Schooner Exact Brewing testifies in front of Congress. Ninkasi Brewing Company celebrates 10 years of brewing. Left Hand Brewing Co. is finally cracking into cans. If all
Storm Large performs at The Washington Center tonight. Photo by Laura Domela THURSDAY, JUNE 16 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Storm Large + 3-Way IPA = bawdy banter Bloomsday + Melvin = freakouts Iggy Pop film + Lagunitas = Maximus Kareem Kandi + Crux = Proctor represent Post rock + Silver City Brewery = sweet, candied sugar STORM LARGE Storm Large is all about the performance. After years of performing in Portland clubs and theaters with her band, The Balls, and game changer appearances on Rock Star: Supernova in 2006, Storm Large has
Vince Brown performs at Swing Wine Bar tonight. Photo courtesy of Facebook WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Open mic + 3-Way IPA = four ways Jazz guitar + Hop Valley Brewing = Double-D Blonde Blues guitar + Ale House = Yay and Haye! NPCC OPEN MIC Unlike certain franchise joints that dot our landscape with little green faces like Martian pimples, Northern Pacific Coffee Company’s aspiration is not java hegemony. No, Northern Pacific is content with its corner on Garfield, a block east of Pacific Lutheran University, and its reputation
Full Sail’s new Brewmaster Reserve Capsize Imperial Pilsner WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … Beer production has officially begun at 7 Seas Brewing’s new facility in Tacoma with the release of their new Water Chopper Gose, which will be release Friday, June 17, in their Gig Harbor taproom. The on-demand convenience store delivery startup goPuff — which promises thousands of products at your fingertips in 30 minutes — is adding beer and wine to the list with the launch
Comedian Gabriel Rutledge performs at Jazzbones tonight. TUESDAY, JUNE 14 2-16: South Sound events + craft beer Comedian + Wet Coast Brewing = local goods Pelé + Elysian Brewing = kicks LOCAL FUNNY GUY Gabriel Rutledge and his self-deprecating autobiographical routine have been cracking up audiences and impressing comedy critics for 15 years or so. Rutledge started opening for touring headliners at the “Go” Club in Olympia in 2002 before winning the 2004 Seattle International Comedy Competition. Rutledge’s career has been on a steady upward trajectory ever since, taking him to comedy clubs all over North
Open mics are being hosted at The Swiss and Flanagan’s Craft Pub tonight. MONDAY, JUNE 13 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Punk ska + The Red Hot = Freigeist Geisterzug Open mics + craft beer = open mics and craft beer PUNK SKA NIGHT Wondering where socially conscious music went after the mid-90s? Northern Illinois band Bombflower offers a nice brew of punk, rocksteady-ish ska, and rap, topped with eloquent and socially conscious vocals delivered by Liza and guitarist Tic James. The band performs with Tarolas De Hueso from Escondido, California, plus Jurassic
Brewery Ommegang has released its first Double IPA. MONDAY, JUNE 13 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … Two Beers Brewing hosts Mary Panza June 15 to discuss Wilderness First Aid 101 as part of the Seattle Brewery’s “The Mountaineers at The Woods” beer and lecture series. Portland’s Organic Beer Fest is celebrating its 12th annual event this summer with a new date and a shortened name. Brewery Ommegang to release its first double IPA, Great Beyond Double IPA. National Homebrew Competition 2016
Sierra Nevada Brewing Company didn’t provide the entertaining sail boats and seaplanes on Lake Union, but the Chico, California-based brewery certainly took care of all the other details at Beer Camp Across America, a roving six-city festival that hit Seattle’s South Lake Union Park yesterday. There were celebrity brewers pouring their own creations — including Sierra Nevada Brewing founder Ken Grossman — beers from more than 100 breweries, on and off rain, the lush melodies of Deep Sea Diver band, tulip glasses for tasting cups, a plethora of food trucks and restrooms — all in a stunning setting between the
Compass & Knife performs at The New Frontier Lounge tonight. Photo courtesy of Facebook SUNDAY, JUNE 12 2016: South Sound events + craft beer Post rock + Wingman Brewers = zest Cerebral Jazz + Sunday Beer Sampler = Scenes WEAR YOUR SPACE PANTS Compass & Knife is a local, four-piece instrumental band that draws influence from ambient, shoegaze and post-rock sounds. Bassist Austin Patterson, guitarist Garrett Werner, pianist/guitarist Jordan Brokaw and drummer Patrick Smith create music that is happy, sad, quiet, heavy, dark, hopeful, introspective, existential, and any other feeling you care to project. The band
Boxing will be held for the 106th time at the Emerald Queen Casino tonight. SATURDAY, JUNE 11 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … DJs + Coconut Porter = Fresh Boxing + Rockridge Orchards = knockouts DJ DANCE PARTY Inspired by the lack of variety in dance music in Tacoma, Calvin Murphy and Omar Stokes founded Ocean Grooves Entertainment in January 1999. They started off strong that February with Monday night shows at the 6th & Proctor Bar & Grill (later became Hell’s Kitchen) and dedicated it to underground dance music showcasing various DJs from
The Kim Archer Band performs at Jazzbones tonight. Courtesy photo FRIDAY, JUNE 10 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Kim Archer Band + Seattle craft beer = I Heard It Through The Beerline The Stoned Evergreen Travelers + Harmon Brewing = Live After The Apollo Champagne Sunday + Odd Otter Brewing = Hurluberlu KIM ARCHER BAND With a timeless vocal delivery only matched by her engaging stage presence, Kim Archer has been pleasing live music fans in our area since 2004. Archer’s powerful voice a la Janis Joplin and Chaka Khan gels perfectly with
Bring your beard to Republic Brewing Company today. CRAFT BEER NEWS FOR FRIDAY, JUNE 10 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom gunk. … This weekend is Prospectors’ Days in the little town of Republic, Washington, close to the Canadian border, and Republic Brewing Company is hosting a beard contest. The Northwest Beer Night panel blind tastes Hefeweizen and it turns into a sausage fest. The beer drinker’s guide to summer music festivals. Fifteen memorable beers from the 2016 Firestone Walker Invitational Beer Festival. A
Dixie Highway performs at The Valley tonight. Photo courtesy of the Weekly Volcano THURSDAY, JUNE 9 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Dixie Highway + North 47 Brewing = Elated Slug Working Class Theater Northwest + Silver City Brewery = Big Daddy AMERICANA Dixie Highway. Remember those words. You may already know them, but in a year you’ll know them better. At the bluegrass family picnic, Dixie Highway is the loud and brash kid brother, the noisy upstart from down south who would just as soon stand on your sandwich and scream into your
After several wildfires burned across Eastern Washington in recent weeks, and with temperatures expected to reach the mid-90s this week, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources has increased fire danger ratings in several Eastern Washington counties. After last year’s devastating fire season — the worst on record for Washington state — the DNR has set out to better prepare for the wildfires to come in 2016. Every Day Thurston County firefighters Casey Sobol and Jason Stoltz think about those firefighters battling fires in brutal hot conditions. They know. Sobol and Stoltz have responded on firefighting mobilizations to the east
Barleywine Revue performs outside Treos in old Town Tacoma tonight. Photo credit Pappi Swarner WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8, 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Bluegrass + Parkway Tavern = Hop Freshener Bomber Boys + Rainier Growlers = historical night Terrence Malick + Northwest Beerwerks = Flying Cloud Student films + Westside Tavern = Olympia goodness BLUEGRASS ON GRASS “We’re bigger than Barleywine,” banjoist Forest Beutel didn’t say but no one would hold a press conference if he did. Beutel is one-fifth of the Tacoma-based bluegrass band Barleywine Revue, a University of Puget Sound college band
From left to right: “Hamilton” cast members Javier Muñoz, Kamille Upshaw, David Guzman and Max Balkin brew beer. Photo courtesy Jimmy Ludwig WEDNESDAY, JUNE 8 2016: A seven-taster flight of craft beer news, from the fluffy head all the way to the bottom splendor. … Over the next four months, Maritime Pacific Brewing Company will be launching one-of-a-kind, specialty IPAs called the Regatta Series designed by head brewer Matthew Schumacher. Bainbridge Brewing will celebrate its fourth anniversary 2-9 p.m. Friday, June 10 and noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, June 11. Cider Summit Portland will present nearly
TUESDAY, JUNE 7 2016: South Sound events + craft beer … Healthy Bay Hef + Maya Angelou = remarkable American Brewing + Comedy Showcase = Flying Monkey Dogfight MAYA ANGELOU FLICK One of the foremost 20th-century shapers of an African-American literature and identity, the subject of Maya Angelou and Still I Rise wore many hats in a long, complicated life that has been given valedictory treatment in Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack’s documentary. Made over a four-year period (which enabled them to interview Angelou several times before her 2014 death at age 86), this solid if conventional PBS-style overview
