The Salina Journal from Salina, Kansas • Page 29

THE JOURNAL encore! WHATS HOT D2 EXHIBITS D3 WHATS HAPPENING D4 MUSIC FOLK ADVOCATES The folk band Rebecca Riots is bringing its message to Salina today that people can change their world just like the Welsh citizens for whom the band is named By AMY SULLIVAN The Salina Journal he three female folk singers who call themselves Rebecca Riots are quitting their day jobs to tour the country advocating social change. Now working as teachers in Berkeley the trio will de- vpte themselves to touring full- time after the school year to support their first nationally distributed CD, "Gardener." They will be in Salina today to perform at the noon-time Art a la Carte concert and then at a concert tonight at the Salina Art Center. All three penned songs for the CD, which takes on issues personal to political the death penalty, body oppression, homelessness, gay rights, militarism and police brutality. Vocalist and harmonica player Andrea Prichett started writing songs in college when she became involved in political movements. "Music was one way I had of releasing some of the emotion and passion I had for things I was seeing around me," Prichett said in a telephone conversation from Berkley "I was also writing songs, at times, to be used in protests." Prichett met guitar player Eve Decker seven years ago at a summer camp where they were counselors.

They swapped songs and brought in Prichett's guitar teacher, Lisa Zeiler, to add more instrumentation. "We aren't really shooting for fame and fortune," Prichett said. "We trust in the music and let it express our lives. Hopefully, that will resonate with people." The trio started touring full- time in 1998, but went back to teaching this year so they could record "Gardener" for Appleseed Records. "It's a social justice-minded label that really fit with what we're trying to do," Prichett said.

The group has made three independent CDs that they sell at concerts. The new CD will be available at tonight's show and will be in record stores in August. From the book of 'FT When the trio went to press their first CD, they needed a name. Rebecca Riots comes from the protests in South Wales in 1843, Prichett said. A group of citizens calling themselves the "Rebeccas" after the Old Testament matriarch dismantled tollgates they thought were oppressive.

When British troops were sent in to preserve the tollgates, the people stood up to the soldiers, and the ensuing con- Rebecca Riots is made up of Andrea Prichett (from left), Eve Decker and Lisa Zeiler. The folk band named for a 19th century uprising In South Wales will give two performances today in Salina. 7 liked their songs and the harmonies. They were just dynamite live, and I'm not that impressed very easily anymore." RubyTilton Salina folksinger who asked Rebecca Riots to perform in Salina Qicts were dubbed the "Rebecca Riots." The people prevailed, and there have been no tollgates in South Wales since then. Prichett learned about the events while reading the encyclopedia from a 1911 set.

The mother of a friend was planning to throw out the volumes from her bookstore, but Prichett "couldn't bear to see them go to the landfill," she said. "They're still in my kitchen," she said. Pritchett identified with the sto- ry of people taking matters into their own hands. They were determined, yet non-violent. Prichett took the name to her partners.

"There was just something about it," Zeiler said over the telephone. "We went through every possible name a band can go through. It was time for our CD to be pressed, and Andrea told us the story. I absolutely identified with it." Stopping by Salina Tonight's performance was arranged by folk singer Ruby Tilton, 1109 Gypsum. She met the trio about a year ago at a concert in Lawrence.

"They knocked my socks off," said Tilton, who hadn't heard of the group before but became a quick fan. "1 liked their songs and the harmonies," she said. "They just went up there and were good, and there was nothing pretentious about them. They were just dynamite live, and I'm not that impressed very easily anymore." When Tilton learned the group would be playing Saturday in Kansas City, she asked if they would stop by Salina first. The trio agreed, and Salina is the only place where the band is performing twice.

Reporter Amy Sullivan can be reached at 823-6464. Ext. 125, or by e-mail at com. Rebecca Riots The Berkley, folk band will perform twice today in Salina, including: ART A LA CARTEA free concert at 12:20 p.m. in Campbell Plaza in the 100 block of South Santa Fe Avenue.

AN EVENING OF FOLK MUSIC concert at 7:30 p.m. at the Salina Art Center, 242 S. Santa Fe, with guests Mattson Weaver and Ruby Tilton, folk singers from Salina, and Melissa Crabtree, a folk singer from Taos, N.M. Tickets cost $8 and can be bought at the door, the art center or House of Sight and Sound. LITERATURE Other options await kids who need 'Harry Potter' fix Latest installment of popular series isn't due out until July 8 By ERICA NOONAN The Associated Press BOSTON Kids are clamoring for another installment of Harry Potter, the unlikely young hero of the smash adventure series by J.K.

Rowling. But book four in the series, "Harry Potter and the Doom- spell 1 published by Arthur A. Levine, isn't due out until July 8. That's just two months for grownups, but it might as well be an eternity for Kids who cite the adolescent magician as their main inspiration for reading. "Harry Potter is still a major topic of conversation," said Becky Whidden, manager of The Children's Book Shop in Brookline, Mass.

"Kids want another book and parents want to Keep their kids interested in books." So booksellers are doing their best to interest young readers in other works that have similar themes of magic, fantasy and adventure. For some, it's the perfect opportunity to revisit classic fantasy books that captivated children way before Harry Potter was a gleam in Rowling's eye. For kids ages 10 and up, "The Chronicles of Narnia" series (HarperCollins) by Lewis is a must-read, said Whidden. First released half a century ago, the, stories about a set of British siblings in a magical land blended religious themes and mysticism. Kids who love books are being steered to classics like "A Wrinkle Time" (Yearling) by Madeleine L'Engle, and J.R.R.

Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings" series (RallanUne). White's The Qnce and Future King" (Ace Books), about the adventures of Merlin and King Scripps Howard News Service Author J.K. Rowling, signing booki lor Imt of her "Harry Pot- ttf" pookf ft Cillfornli pookttort, will unveil the fourth book In the In July. Arthur, and Susan Cooper's Rising" series published by Al- award-winning "The Dark Is addin Books are other options for Harry Potter-crazed young adults, Whidden said. Kids under 10, too, can be wooed with fantasy-type books featuring child heros who remind them of Harry.

Second- and third-graders may enjoy "The Dragonslayers Academy" series (Grosset Dunlap), about a boy attending school to slay dragons. Kids who read on a fourth- to sixth- grade level might like the "Half Magic" series (Harcourt Brace) by Edward Eagar, or Jon Scieszka's "Time Warp Trio" adventures (Puffin). "Kids love them, they're hilarious and they can read them on their own. Kids that age can't always read Harry Potter," Whidden said. Other fantasy-adventures worth exploring include "The Last Unicorn" (New American Library) by Peter Beagle.

At San Marino Toy and Book Shop, where 1,500 people' turned out last year for a J.K. Rowling signing, dozens of customers already have pre-ordered book four, which is expected to weigh in at a hefty 700 pages. The anticipated price tag is $25.95 a copy. The store plans to throw a "Midnight Madness" party from midnight to 2 a.m. July 8 so customers can pick up their books immediately.

"We've had parents who said their kids blew through Harry Potter and now they're having trouble," said store manager Anne McGann. "(Harry Potter) is a tough act to follow. The books got kids to read, which is a blessing, but there's been nothing since to grab their attention." Until the new Harry hits the shelves, McGann said, she's been turning kids on to books like 'The Thirteenth Floor" (Yearling) by Sid Fleichman, as well as older favorites by Roald Dahl and fantasy master Lloyd Alexander. SUGGESTIONS? CATALAN 8TOLFUS, ENCORE! EDITOR, QIJ OR E-MAIL AT.