Las Vegas Writes Volume 13
Neon Riffs and Lounge Acts: Las Vegas Writers on Music
ABOUT THE FEATURED WRITERS
Jason Bracelin enjoys playing death metal for his cat Cucumber, who may not or may not enjoy the experience quite as much as Jason does. He’s also a features writer for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Prior to relocating to Las Vegas in 2006, he worked as the music editor for the Cleveland Scene alt-weekly and the Cleveland Free Times before that. His work has appeared in magazines like Spin, Complex, and Alternative Press, and in alt-weeklies such as the Stranger, L.A. Weekly, and Miami New Times. A native of Decatur, Illinois, Jason is a graduate of the University of Illinois.
Dr. Betty Burston is an Associate Professor in Residence in the School of Public Health in the Department of Healthcare Administration and Policy at UNLV. While she has published a multiplicity of academic articles and books, her heart resides in the universe of poetry and fiction. In 1973,she co-authored the book Poems of the Soulmates with her then-husband Maxie Collier, M.D..In 1994, she wrote the novelized version of the film Streetwise, published by Holloway House. Other published novels include The Deposition, Get Thee Behind Me, Joshua’s Harvest, Shades of Gray, and others. With husband Sid Burston, she has also co-written multiple touring stage plays, films, and television shows.
Alycia Calvert has been a resident of the Las Vegas area for 30 years. She moved just late enough to miss the PEPCON disaster of 1988, and got to hear about the explosion that rocked the valley for the next few years of her life. After marrying early, getting her GED, having some pretty cool kids, and working for eight years on her undergraduate degree, Alycia earned her MFA in creative writing after completing a summer semester at an artist residency at Marnay-sur-Seine in France. She looks forward to finding a publisher for her first story collection, and beginning her next one. Her favorite things when not writing or avoiding harp practice are hiking, kayaking, and exploring with her camera.
Sara Dudo grew up in rural, middle-of-nowhere South Jersey on her grandparents’ two farms and on the coast. She started working at age 9 on her grandparents’ blueberry farm and then at a flower nursery while completing her Bachelors in Literature. Due to a very bad/good habit of being interested in everything, she enjoys reading and writing poetry and creative nonfiction, painting, growing plants, experimenting with film and digital photography, running and biking, and making music. She also has a chocolate problem and will ugly-cry when she has to leave her dog in NJ. Sara has spent many hours exploring the Mojave Desert while staying with her family and friends in Las Vegas.
Brian Garth is a third-generation native of Las Vegas, a musician, a producer, and a recording engineer. His favorite Miles Davis album is In a Silent Way, and he can’t decide if his favorite book is Plato’s Republic or American Psycho, but either way he should probably see a therapist about that. He has zero respect for politicians and thinks it’s odd when people deify them. He drives a cream-colored 1987 LTD Crown Victoria Station Wagon in near-mint condition, which should have a sticker on the rear bumper that reads, “Oh cool, your mom had one when you were a kid, no it doesn’t have those seats in the back, it’s a 1987, no they sure don’t make them like this anymore, yes just like in the Vacation movie.” Every other year or so he’ll drop an album with his band Black Camaro that changes the world for thirty seconds, before putting it right back where it was. He likes chocolate.
John Glionna is an award-winning journalist who has traveled the world as both a newspaperman and magazine writer. After spending 26 years at the Los Angeles Times, a career that included stints as a foreign and national correspondent, he is now a freelance writer, dividing his time between Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. His work has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, the Guardian, Outside, California Sunday Magazine, Las Vegas Review Journal, Desert Companion, and Phoenix New Times. His work has been included in such national anthologies as Best American Sports Writing and Best Los Angeles Times Foreign Reporting. His collected stories about rural Nevada were published in 2022, entitled Outback Nevada: Real Stories from the Silver State.
After receiving a Master of Arts in Creative Writing, Wendy Randall began work as a freelance writer and editor. Her work has appeared in books, newspapers, and magazines, as well as on many stages throughout the Las Vegas Valley. Wendy served as Executive Director of Red Mountain Music Company from 2001 to 2008 and Artistic Director of Zion’s Youth Symphony & Chorus from 2010 to 2020, during which she penned scores of concert scripts. She wrote the book and lyrics for House of the Lord, a sacred oratorio, and ReParable, a musical based on the parables of Jesus, both of which debuted attThe Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas. Wendy lives in Southern Nevada with her husband and five children.
Timea Sipos is a Hungarian-American writer, translator, and poet with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. A 2021-2022 Steinbeck Fellow, her work has received support from the MacDowell Colony, the Vermont Studio Center, Tin House, Bread Loaf, the American Translators Association, the Nevada Arts Council, Black Mountain Institute, Nevada Humanities, and PEN America, among others. Her writing appears in Prairie Schooner, Passages North, Juked, Florida Review, Joyland, and elsewhere. Learn more about her at www.timea-sipos.com.
Benjamin Stallings is an American writer and musician who grew up in Beijing, China. He lived in Cleveland, Tennessee, at the feet of the Blue Ridge Mountains before moving to Las Vegas. His writing has appeared in Diagram, Tulane Review, EcoTheo Review, Bag Magazine, and others. He is the Managing Editor at Witness literary journal and plays music at churches and dive bars, mostly on guitar, sometimes on bass, and, in an emergency, on keys. He contributes guitar and occasional lyrics to Fawley, a project born out of El Bandito Forever.
Kelly Stith is a Las Vegas native who completed her master’s degree in English at UNLV where she wrote her thesis on the concept album as literature. She enjoys researching critical theory, modernism, music, and film and has presented her work at numerous conferences, including the Far West Popular and American Culture Association and Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association. She is currently a part-time professor in literature and composition and is looking to apply to a PhD. program. When she’s not busy writing and teaching, Kelly loves watching films, playing video games, and spending time with her amazing partner Mauricio.
Carlos Tkacz is an avid traveler and climber; he has explored more than 20 countries, having climbed on five different continents. He has written three science-fiction novels to date, and his creative work explores themes of the determinism of history, free will, violence, and utopia/dystopia. Before returning to school as a PhD candidate in English, he worked as a climbing guide and instructor, a substitute teacher, a production assistant for Broadcast Publicity at ABC, and a house painter. When not doing any of the above, you can find him in the gym training for his next climbing trip.
Tyler Williams is a bassist and composer living in Las Vegas, Nevada. Among many other gigs, he was the musical director and bassist for Le Rêve at Wynn Las Vegas. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, he enjoys playing a variety of genres on the upright and electric bass. He has worked with many notable artists including Andrea Bocelli and Clint Black. He has performed in several Broadway-style production shows including Fiddler on the Roof, Phantom of the Opera, Avenue Q, and Monty Python’s Spamalot. For more information, visit TylerWilliamsMusic.com.