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Country stars have weighed in on the idea of using artificial intelligence to write their music, with one performer expressing concern that the technology could “get out of hand real quick.”

In the music world, artists like Tracy Lawrence, Riley Green, Nate Smith, and Tyler Hubbard have found success sharing real life trials and tribulations that connect with their fans. It is that sense of reality that many of those who spoke to Fox News said will ensure that real humans will never be replaced.

“I don’t really know. I played around with … a little bit of the AI stuff,” Lawrence said. “It’s a little scary that it’s kind of out there in the Wild West. I’d like to see some more regulations on it.”

Excited to announce that I’ll be performing at the 50th #CMAfest next week in support of the @cmafoundation & their mission to shape the next generation through music education. Get your tickets & I’ll see you Saturday, June 10th at Nissan Stadium! 🎵 https://t.co/Q98OW8QthE pic.twitter.com/09XEJkyv5P

— Tracy Lawrence (@tracy_lawrence) June 1, 2023

“I’m afraid it’s going to get out of hand real quick,” he added. “I hope that we put some buffers in place. Songwriters should be able to write their songs from their mind. They don’t need AI helping them write songs. There’s a lot of things we can use it for that probably, we really shouldn’t, so we’ll see how it turns out.”

Smith said that the “world’s always going to change. Anything’s going to happen. Nothing’s worth freaking out over, I think is the main thing… Real country writers, I think, are going to be around forever.”

“I would struggle to think something that couldn’t feel could really write a song, to make somebody else feel,” Green added.

While Hubbard joked that as long as AI “doesn’t learn how to write songs and perform on stage, I’ll be OK. But you never know.”

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Mitch Glazier, chairman and CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), said he gets why artists feel uneasy about AI because, “you spend your whole life grappling with what you want to put out to the world, how you want to express your ideas, what is your art. And a lot of times it’s very personal, and it reflects your lived experience.”

“It’s your genius. … It’s the essence of who you are,” he added. “So, to have that taken from you is a very personal and objectionable act. And even if it’s done, you know, sometimes by people who might love your work … that is not the art that the artist is … agreeing to make and that reflects who they are. Having your name and your likeness and your image and your voice appropriated is an incredibly scary and vulnerable act that I think that [artists] take very personally.”

Tributes have been pouring in for Lesiba Marokana.

METRO FM is mourning the loss of one of their own.

Music compiler Lesiba Marokana, popularly known as Stix, died on Thursday, 1 June. 

They announced the news on their social media platforms and sent out condolences to his friends and family. 

“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our beloved music compiler, Lesiba Marokana, who passed away yesterday. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and colleagues,” they wrote. 

His cause of death wasn’t mentioned.

His colleagues also paid tribute to him on air while Break Away with Khutso Theledi on Friday morning, 2 June, closed off the show with a message from Given Baloyi on his segment called the Break Away Note with Given Baloyi. 

He advised people to live life to the full. 

ALSO READ : Robert Marawa: Someone ‘tried to kill me’!

“As we remember our brother, Lesiba, what I’ve learnt in recent years is that when death takes someone from us, it’s a lesson to live fully. 

“I say this always, life is really that short. You can lose it in a split second. It’s not guaranteed. This moment, this second that you’re breathing, live fully. Do your best to be as happy as you can be, with as much peace you can find and love. Enjoy it as much as you can and honour this miracle of life we get to live every day,” he said. 

Industry peers and more colleagues also paid tribute to him on social media. 

Metro FM breakfast show host, DJ Sabby thanked Lesiba for working with him on his previous show. 

“Aaah, Les bro. Gone too soon bro. Thank you for everything man. One of the solid pillars who helped build the chart show to the success we enjoyed. Passionate about music in general. RIP dawg,” he wrote. 

Kaya959 presenter Sizwe Dhlomo wrote: “What a good dude! RIP, my G.” 

Bridgette Makhela said she was heartbroken by the news. 

“I am honestly so heartbroken. Such a kind and dope guy, since our early days and stayed the same all these years,” she wrote. 

Lesiba worked as a music compiler for many other radio stations such as 5FM, Power FM 98.7, and 7FM.   

80 years ago today, Queen Elizabeth II was coronated in one of the first major international events to be televised. Twenty-seven million people across Britain watched the event live on the BBC Television Service, many having purchased or rented television sets specifically for that purpose. There had been considerable debate within the British Cabinet on the subject, with Prime Minister Winston Churchill against the idea; Elizabeth refused his advice on this matter and insisted the event take place before television cameras. This was the first live broadcast of an event taking place in the United Kingdom broadcast in France, Belgium, West Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands, marking the birth of Eurovision. READ more about this historic day… (1953)

With Elizabeth having recently passed away, the UK and the world saw with what esteem humanity held her. While the idea of a monarch or an empire being mostly abhorred by political theorists of nearly every degree during her life, colored as it was by the independence of dozens of former colonies, other scholars have suggested that having the head of state separate from any kind of real decision making allows for citizens of a nation to have their icon of leadership free from the difficulties of politics to portray what the idea of a national leader should be—i.e. something like a noble representation of the character of a nation’s people.

It’s doubtful that any monarch will ever have the kind of adoration and respect that Elizabeth II received from those near to and far from the British Isles, and now most of the former dominion countries are removing the Crown as their official head of state, such as Jamaica, Australia, and Canada, for that reason.

READ More Good News on this Day in History:

• First smallpox vaccination in North America administered in Newfoundland (1800)
• Charles Rolls, co-founder of Rolls-Royce became the first man to make a non-stop double crossing of the English Channel by plane (1910)
• Pope John Paul II returned to his native Poland, the first pontiff to visit a Communist country, and was cheered by millions as he fell on his knees at the airport and kissed the ground (1979)
• The film Dead Poets Society premiered starring Robin Williams about an elite conservative Vermont boarding school and an English teacher who inspires his students through his lessons of poetry (1989)
• Ken Jennings began his 74-game winning streak on the TV game show Jeopardy! (2004)

On this day 77 years ago, the Italian Republic was born out of the monarchy of King Umberto II. The day is celebrated as “Festa della Republica” and is one of the biggest holidays on the Italian calendar. It’s celebrated under the late-Spring sunshine with parades, concerts, and merrymaking of all sorts, with one of several iconic dishes being a spit-roasted maialino or young pig. READ exactly how the republic was formed… (1946)

In 1946 a referendum was presented to the Italian people with as simple a resolution as possible: “Republic, or monarchy?” The question had been on the national conscience since the rise and fall of Mussolini. His end allowed the House of Savoy, the traditional monarchic rulers of Italy during periods when parts of the peninsula were united, to return to power.

The referendum didn’t have much between it, with a 54%-46% split, with northern Italy decidedly voting for a republic and central and southern Italy, Sicily, and Sardinia voting decidedly for a monarchy.

After the results came in, ministers urged King Umberto to move to Naples and proclaim a rival government with the intention of fighting a civil war, knowing the army would side with the wealthier faction. However, Umberto, angry as he was, could not do such a thing, saying “My house united Italy. It will not divide it.”

And on this day in 1967, The Beatles released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in America—widely regarded as one of the greatest albums of all time.

In the next four decades, it sold more than 32 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling LPs in history. Their eighth studio album, it was lauded for its innovations in music production, songwriting, and graphic design; for pioneering the idea of a concept album; and for providing a musical representation of youth counterculture during the 1967 Summer of Love—it was #1 on the charts for the entire summer.

Knowing they would not need to perform the tracks live (having recently quit touring), The Fab Four pushed beyond the technological progression achieved with their 1966 album Revolver. They adopted an experimental approach to composition and recording on songs such as “With a Little Help from My Friends”, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” and “A Day in the Life”.

Recorded over a 129-day period, producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick’s innovative work on the album included the liberal application of sound shaping signal processing and the use of a 40-piece orchestra performing aleatoric crescendos. The album also incorporated a range of stylistic influences, including vaudeville, circus, avant-garde, and Western and Indian music, which offered sounds and textures not usually associated with popular music.

It was Paul’s idea to build the album around alter egos. Martin explains, “Paul said, ‘Why don’t we make the album as though the Pepper band really existed, as though Sergeant Pepper was making the record? We’ll dub in effects and things.’ I loved the idea, and from that moment on it was as though Pepper had a life of its own.”

Critics hailed it immediately as a cultural turning point that elevated pop music to the level of fine art. The New York Times Book Review characterized it as a harbinger of a “golden Renaissance of Song”. It won four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year–the first rock LP to receive the honor. (1967)

127 years ago today, the Italian electrical engineer and inventor Guglielmo Marconi, applied for the first-ever patent for a system of wireless communication. He is credited as the inventor of radio, and shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics for contributions to the development of wireless telegraphy.

At age 20, Guglielmo began experimenting with a method to transmit and receive messages over a distance without wires at the family home—first, across the room, then down the corridor, then into the fields. A breakthrough came when Marconi discovered that a much greater range could be achieved by raising the height of his antenna and grounding his instruments—the system was capable of transmitting signals up to 2 miles (3.2 km), even over hills.

When Italian officials ignored his letter and instead evoked an insane asylum, Marconi left his birthplace of Bologna to go to England where he found the funds and support to convert his work into practical use. He became an entrepreneur, founding The Wireless Telegraph & Signal Company to innovate further.

His ‘Marconi’s Law’ is the empirical relation between the length of antennas and the maximum signaling distance of radio transmissions, but with over 800 patents, he moved into radar and shortwaves, and visual wave amplification too, as one of the founders of the BBC. Upon Marconi’s death in 1937, all the radio stations around the world kept 2 mins of silence.

WATCH a great bio about his equipment helping to save hundreds of people on the Titanic… (1896)

82 years ago today, Charlie Watts, the drummer for the Rolling Stones was born. Originally trained as a graphic artist, and self-taught on drums, he joined the band and doubled as designer of their record covers and tour stages. An aficionado of jazz, he tours with his own group, the Charlie Watts Quintet, and appears at London’s prestigious jazz club Ronnie Scott’s. (1941)

And, 79 years ago today, composer Marvin Hamlisch, who is one of only two people to have ever won the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony awards, along with a Pulitzer Prize, was born. The New York pianist wrote some of the best-loved and most enduring songs and scores in movie history, including the awarding winning songs The Way We Were, The Entertainer (from The Sting), and Nobody Does it Better (from The Spy Who Loved Me). Hamlisch was also the primary conductor for the Pittsburgh Pops from 1995 until his 2012 death. (1944)

Happy 67th Birthday to comedian and screenwriter Dana Carvey. The SNL alum from Montana brought to life Garth on Wayne’s World, and became renowned for his impressions of George Bush, Al Pacino, Paul McCartney, and many more. For his work as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 1986 to 1993, he earned Emmy nominations five consecutive years, with a win the final year.

His breakout character was the smug and pious ‘Church Lady’, which Carvey said was based on a woman he knew from church while growing up, who would keep track of other churchgoers’ attendance. WATCH him play Wheel of Impressions on the Tonight Show… (1955)

SHARE the Milestones, Memories, and Music…

It’s June, the sun is out and events are in full swing across Salem. This weekend, enjoy a plethora of performances, shop for comics and crystals and celebrate an iconic Salem landmark’s birthday.

Here’s a roundup of events this weekend, Friday, June 2, through Sunday June 4.

Carousel dedication

A Salem icon will get long-awaited recognition for her work bringing a carousel to Riverfront Park — and there’s cake (pops) in it for you.

A ceremony Saturday, June 3 at noon honors Hazel Patton, who’s now honored with signs at the newly-renamed Hazel Patton Riverfront Carousel. It’s the attraction’s 22nd birthday.

Rides will be $1 all day, the original price from the carousel’s opening. The carousel lives at 101 Front St. N.E.

Stage, choir, art and dance

The Delphian School Theater Program, based in Sheridan Oregon, will lay the scene in fair Verona with a performance of Romeo and Juliet at the Elsinore Theater this Friday.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. for a 6:30 p.m. showtime. Tickets range from $20-$30, and are available online. The Elsinore Theater is located at 170 High St. S.E.

This Friday, Confluence: Willamette Valley LGBT Chorus will perform a “Singing With Pride” concert at the First Congregational UCC Church, 700 Marion Street N.E. Since 2000, the group has met each Sunday to practice, and welcoming all who want to join, has grown to 50 singers.

The show starts at 7:30 p.m., and tickets are available online, $18 advance and $20 day of show, and free for children under 12.

The RiverCity Rock Star Royals will take the stage at the Gerry Frank | Salem Rotary Amphitheater from 8 – 10 p.m. for the city’s First Friday Concert series.

The show is free, and part of the city’s downtown art walk which features local artists all summer.

Saturday and Sunday, the Salem Philharmonia Orchestra will present “Romantic Impressionists,” a concert featuring romantic period composers including Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Claude Debussy.

Saturday’s show will be at 7 p.m., and Sunday’s will be at 3 p.m. The performance will be at the East Salem Community Center, 1850 45th Ave. N.E.

Admission is $20 for adults, $18 for students and free for children under 17.

On Sunday, Tippy Toe Dance Studio will perform “The Road Less Traveled,” an original production inspired by the Robert Frost poem, at the Elsinore.

The Salem studio will explore themes of choice and free will. Dancers in fuchsia and lime costumes will represent two different paths after balance in the community is broken.

Tickets range from $22-$25, and are available on the Elsinore website. 

This weekend is the last chance to walk through local artist Susan Napack’s memories. The Salem Art Association exhibition, “Memory Project Part 2: SHREDS,” features artifacts from her life, including home movies from her first wedding, collages and a quilt of letters from “a prolific but short-lived boy friend.”

The immersive exhibit ends June 4, and is in the Art Association’s Bush Barn at 600 Mission St. S.E.

Comedy shows

Salem’s Infinity Room, 210 Liberty St. S.E. #150, is hosting several comedy shows this weekend.

Electric Baguette Improv Comedy, which comes to the Infinity Room every other Friday, will perform at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10.

Jamal Coleman, featuring Mandy Simonson, will perform standup afterward, starting at 9:30 p.m. Friday. Tickets are $15.

“Sexy Talk,” a stand up comedy set about sex, love and relationships will take anonymous questions from the audience before its show on Saturday.

There will be two shows, both hosted by Salemites Curtis Everetts and Tony Meyer. The early show is 18+ with doors at 6 p.m., with a 21+ later show with doors at 9 p.m. Tickets are $15 advance, $20 at the door.

For more information and for tickets, visit the Infinity Room website.

Sports

Expect an action-packed roller derby bout this Saturday as Salem’s Cherry City Renegades take on Crow City Roller Derby, from Washington County.

Doors open at 6 p.m., and the bout starts at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $12 if purchased before 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, and are $15 at the door. Family passes of two tickets and all kids under 13 are $30, and kids under 5 get in free.

The competition will be at 1335 Madison Street N.E. For tickets, see the team’s website.

The Salem Capitals basketball team will battle the Seattle Superhawks on Sunday at 3 p.m., in a playoff game for The Basketball League.

The game will be at the Salem Armory, 2310 17th St. N.E. Tickets are available online, and start at $6.

Shop for local goods

On June 3, West Salem’s first Artisan Market will host local artists in the At the Corner Art Gallery & Boutique at 1105 Edgewater St. N.W.

The market features artists from marginalized communities, and will be from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Shop local goods at Salem’s Underground Market, hosted in the basement of Blast Off Vintage, 860 High St. N.E. The vendors will be there from 3 – 7 p.m. on Saturday.

Pop-culture and comic book inspired art and activities are coming to the Oregon State Fairgrounds on Saturday from 10 a.m. – 6 and Sunday, until 5 p.m.

The Mid Valley Comic Art Expo features over 100 exhibitors who will share their art, and special guests include writers and artists who have worked for well known comics publishers like Marvel, DC and Dark Horse.

The event will have family-friendly activities and interactive panels. A cosplay contest starts at 6 p.m. Saturday.

The event will be at the Oregon State Fairgrounds Columbia Hall, 2330 17th St. N.E. Tickets are $20 Saturday and $15 Sunday at the door. 

Get a tarot reading or shop for creepy plushies and dark decor at the Market for the Strange: Dark Rainbows market on Sunday from 11 a.m. – 6 p.m..

It’s the largest gathering for the market yet, with 70 area vendors. The market will be on the third floor in the Reed Opera House’s Ballroom at 189 Liberty St. N.E., and shoppers must be over 18 to enter, or 16 with a guardian.

All ages are welcome at an outdoor market in the nearby parking lot. Admission is free. 

Contact reporter Abbey McDonald: [email protected] or 503-704-0355.

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Abbey McDonald joined the Salem Reporter in 2022. She previously worked as the business reporter at The Astorian, where she covered labor issues, health care and social services. A University of Oregon grad, she has also reported for the Malheur Enterprise, The News-Review and Willamette Week.

Pop megastar Lizzo has had enough of snide comments about her body size and shape. So much so the committed Joe Biden campaigner took to social media on Wednesday to challenge what she calls the “fatphobic comments” she faces on a daily basis.

The Grammy winner who rose to public consciousness in 2019 with her third album Cuz I Love You and its hit singles “Juice” and “Truth Hurt” admitted “it’s really starting to make [her] hate the world.”

Taylor Swift looked sleek and chic on Wednesday afternoon as she dropped by a music studio in New York City.

The singer-songwriter, 33 — who is currently on her Eras Tour — was captured exiting a chauffeured vehicle with an attentive bodyguard in tow.

She modeled a black sleeveless dress that she cinched at the waist with a black leather belt.

The Fearless hitmaker strolled the sidewalk in black Anine Bing slide sandals and hid her blue eyes behind large Anine Bing sunglasses.

Swift’s golden hair was swept up in a bun and she brought along her essentials in a brown purse.

Music maker: Taylor Swift looked sleek and chic on Wednesday afternoon as she dropped by a music studio in New York City

At the ready: The singer-songwriter, 33 — who is currently on her Eras Tour — was captured exiting a chauffeured vehicle with an attentive bodyguard in tow

She accessorized her stylish look with a gold necklace and threw on her signature red lip for a pop of bold color.

Swift has been hitting the studio in NYC in recent weeks — including with Healy just last week — to work on her next album. 

She and the 1975 frontman sparked dating rumors in early May following her shock split from boyfriend of six years, Joe Alwyn. 

Healy has made a number of appearances in the audience at Swift’s Eras Tour stops across the United States. He also performed with the Anti-Hero singer’s opening act Phoebe Bridgers on three occasions.

The pair have been friends since 2015 but DailyMail.com obtained the first photos of Swift and Healy since the romance news broke this month.

They’ve since been seen ‘kissing’ and holding hands in public.

Earlier this week, The Sun claimed that Healy is planning on moving into the Grammy Award-winner’s New York City abode just weeks into their relationship.

But for now, the rumored couple are enjoying some time apart as Healy fled to the United Kingdom this past weekend to perform at Radio 1’s Big Weekend with his band.

During the gig, Healy teased the crowd about their relationship status.

Sleek: She modeled a black sleeveless dress that she cinched at the waist with a black leather belt

Shady lady: The Fearless hitmaker strolled the sidewalk in black Anine Bing slide sandals and hid her blue eyes behind large Anine Bing sunglasses

Signature lip: She accessorized her stylish look with a gold necklace and threw on her signature red lip for a pop of bold color

‘Is it all a bit? Is it sincere? Will he ever address it? All of these questions and more will be ignored in the next hour. Ladies and gentleman, this is The 1975,’ he said into the microphone.

Swift has also alluded to the romance while on stage.

At her concert in Foxborough, Massachusetts on Saturday, May 21, she told her fans that she’s ‘never been this happy in my life’ and that things finally ‘make sense’ to her.

‘It’s insane. I kind of just feel like telling you, that I don’t know, that just … I’ve never been this happy in my life in all aspects of my life ever before,’ the Pennsylvania native began.

‘And I just want to thank you for being a part of that. It’s not just the tour, like, I don’t know, my life finally feels like it makes sense.’

She went on to play the song Question, which she said ‘brings me a lot of happy memories.’

Though Swift appears smitten with the British heartthrob, her fans have voiced their concerns over Healy’s behavior and controversial past.

Most recently, he was slammed for the seemingly racist remarks he made about rapper Ice Spice — who collaborated with Swift on a new remix of her song Karma — in February.

They were said during an appearance on the Adam Friedland Show podcast, where he claimed to the hosts that he’d tried to reach out to Ice Spice via Instagram.

All love: Actress Keke Palmer took to her Instagram on Wednesday to voice her love for Taylor’s new Karma remix featuring rapper Ice Spice

After watching Keke’s passionate clip, Swift took to the comment section

Karma: Taylor brought Ice Spice, 23, to the stage at the Metlife Stadium in New Jersey to perform their collaboration of Karma live at her concert last Friday night 

Healy along with Friedland and co-host Nick Mullen then appeared to confuse the rapper’s heritage by referring to her as Inuit and Chinese, imitating and mocking the accents of each.

Also during the episode, he admitted to watching hardcore pornography that shows women ‘being brutalized.’

The episode was eventually wiped from Spotify due to backlash and Healy apologized for taking his jokes ‘too far’ and expressed his admiration for the rising star.

Ice Spice, 23, joined Swift on stage during her Eras Tour stop in New Jersey over the weekend to debut their Karma remix live for fans at Metlife Stadium.

Addressing the crowd, Swift gushed over Ice Spice and admitted that she’s never ‘been around an artist who’s so prepared and curious and focused on what she wants.’

As to how their collaboration came to light, Swift explained that she reached out to the hitmaker after listening to her music ‘pretty much exclusively.’

They then wasted no time getting into the studio to record the track.

Actress Keke Palmer took to her Instagram on Wednesday to voice her love for the remix — which earned an affectionate comment from Swift, herself.

The True Jackson, VP star filmed herself in the front seat of her car as she preached about not ‘worry[ing] about your enemies’ and believing in Karma. 

New man: Along with working on new music, Swift is said to be dating The 1975 frontman, Matty Healy. They sparked romance rumors earlier this month

They’ve since been seen ‘kissing’ and holding hands in public (pictured on May 11)

It comes shortly after her shock split from boyfriend of six years, Joe Alwyn; seen in 2019

‘It’s always going to be miss Swift’s lyricism for me. It’s always some fluffy vibes with weighted a** sentiment,’ she captioned the post.

She particularly loved the lyric ‘Karma is my boyfriend on the weekend.’

After watching Keke’s passionate clip, Swift took to the comment section.

‘Omg I love u so much,’ the Back To December singer wrote. 

Cool days and cool nights. Trees are mostly leafed out, leaves already darkening in color, and obscuring the view as they blow across my windows. I’m still writing upstairs in my aerie that reminds me of a treehouse I had as a child, a dogwood tree outside our dining room where I read, wrote, drew, and felt invisible.

Paul Karasik told me a story about a piece of music he couldn’t get out of his head. He heard “The Dream Passes by the Windows” a Ukrainian lullaby, sung at a Martha’s Vineyard Community Chorus concert. Being an artist and doing what artists do, he went home and made a six-panel comic, turning the musical experience into a visual one. His wife, Marsha Winsryg, suggested combining the two. Paul asked chorus director Bill Peek, who asked the original trio, Molly Conole, Jenny Friedman, and Jessica Sanseverino, to record their performance. It was made into a video that can be seen at

thenation.com/article/world/a-ukrainian-lullaby. Please take a look at this moving and beautifully composed video.

I am sad to report the passing of Tom Thatcher on May 20. I can picture Tom wearing a jacket, an ironed shirt, a bow tie. He was the somewhat formal sort of gentleman that I grew up with, of dress and manners, like my father and others of that generation. He was knowledgeable about art, music, books, Island history, an interesting conversational partner, someone I was always happy to see. He was often at the library or concerts. His eyes crinkled up when he smiled. I can’t believe that he was 96; he retained a boyishness that was endearing.

I knew of Tom before I ever met him. I can’t remember who took me to see his daffodil-filled field on South Road the first spring I lived on the Island. When I met Mike, I heard stories about Tom and his Martha’s Vineyard Pottery in one of Dan’l Manter’s outbuildings, a place he and other neighborhood kids frequented.

“He was so good to us kids. He always let us play with the clay and make things,” said Hannah Beecher, Mike’s cousin. We have two pieces of pottery that Mike made — an ashtray and a tile, both with a spouting whale swimming through the waves.

Condolences, too, to the family and friends of Sally Segall, who died on May 16. I didn’t know Sally that well, but ran into her and her husband, Marshall, often at the library. She was part of West Tisbury.

The annual “Remembering the Rosenthals” concert by Music Street Musicians at the West Tisbury library is Saturday, June 3, at 4 pm. The program will include Baroque, French, Argentinian, and Hollywood movie music. On Monday, June 5, the monthly wellness clinic will meet from 12:30 to 1:30 pm, including blood pressure and other screenings, health counseling, and health news. It’s free, and all are welcome.

The Neighborhood Convention will meet on Tuesday, June 6, at 11 am, at the Chilmark Community Church. Deborah Medders will speak about “From Restriction to Empowerment.”

I have been lucky enough to have tours of two friends’ gardens. Mike and I had breakfast at Sandy and Jim Turner’s last Sunday. After we ate, Sandy and I headed outside to see everything. She has a mostly shade garden in the woods, conditions similar to mine just up the road. Her rhododendrons haven’t wintered over well, so she has replaced them with different varieties of viburnums and Japanese maples, to a spectacular result. All are underplanted with ferns, ajuga, hellebores, astilbes, sweet woodruff, and incorporate the native oaks, sheep laurel, and ferns into her design. It’s lovely.

On Friday afternoon, Betty Haynes and I were invited to Julia Humphrey’s for lunch, a rhododendron walk, and to meet her visiting friend, Clay Dilworth. Most of Julia’s rhododendrons were planted in the 1970s, and are tall and well-established. They line her driveway, continue along the edge of her woods, and enclose her yard in a froth of white and pink. It was warm enough to eat outside, allowing extra time to enjoy the view. And the company. Clay was full of stories about her long friendship with Julia, her life in New York, and her recent move to the mountains of North Carolina.

After these many years living on the Vineyard, and after all my complaints about the rampant number of ticks this year, I suppose it was inevitable that I would eventually get Lyme, and I did. It was a surprise, as I tend to be casual about taking ticks off, wiping the spot with alcohol, and that’s that.

Mike didn’t wake me Sunday morning, just left a note saying he had an itchy rash and went to the ER. I hadn’t woken him Saturday night when I saw an itchy rash on my arm, planning to show it to him in the morning. We could have gone together.

As it turned out, he has Lyme, looked at my arm, and thought I should go, too. So I did. The woman at the admitting desk, the nurse leading me to the same room, the gentleman taking my information, and the ER doctor all laughed at me arriving with the same complaint. “I just saw your husband,” they said, one after another. I came home with doxycycline and instructions to stay out of the sun. Doesn’t it seem ridiculous to live here and have to be bundled up in long clothes, wary of being outside because of ticks?

If you have any West Tisbury Town Column suggestions, email Hermine Hull, hermine.hull@gmail.com.

San Francisco, May 31 : Apple Music Classical app is now available for Android users, which they can download from the Google Play Store. Apple Music and Apple Music Classical are two separate iPhone apps. The key difference between the two apps is how Apple Music Classical handles metadata.

Apple Music and Apple Music Classical for Android now have the same distinctions, according to 9to5Mac. Users can gain access to Apple Music Classical by subscribing to Apple Music or Apple One. The app includes ad-free classical music recordings with up to 192 kHz / 24-bit lossless audio, as well as thousands of recordings that support spatial audio. Apple iPhone 15 Series To Get Surprisingly Radical Specs Changes As per Latest Speculations; Here’s All Known Details.

There are currently over 5 million tracks and over 50 million data points with data attributes of 20,000+ composers, 115,000+ unique works, and 350,000+ movements available on the app. Apple purchased the classical music streaming service Primephonic in 2021 and announced plans to launch a classical music app in the future.

Apple Music Classical first appeared on the iPhone in March this year. Notably, the app’s Android release precedes the release of an optimised app for iPad and Mac. ChatGPT-Drafted Content Is Not To Be Used in Court, Orders US Federal Judge to Lawyers.

Meanwhile, Apple has announced that it will be shutting down the ‘My Photo Stream’ service on July 26, meaning users who are still using this feature will need to migrate to iCloud Photos before that date.

My Photo Stream is a free service that uploads the last 30 days of images (up to 1,000) to iCloud, making them accessible on the iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, and PC.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 31, 2023 11:55 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).

SCHENECTADY — A longtime music industry executive and Union College graduate has been elected chair of the school’s Board of Trustees.

Julie Greifer Swidler has been selected to succeed chair Robert Bertagna, who will continue to serve on the council.

Swidler, who graduated from Union in 1979, is currently the executive vice president of business affairs and general counsel for Sony Music Entertainment, a position she has held for the past decade and a half.

During her decorated career as a music industry executive, Swidler has received the Grammy Foundation’s ELI Service Award in 2016 and the President’s Award from Music.Biz for Outstanding Executive Achievement in 2022.

Swidler joined the Union board in 2015 and became vice chair in the spring of 2022. She was elected to her new role on May 13.

“Higher education is expected to face many challenges over the next decade, from a demographic cliff to financial headwinds,” Swidler noted in a statement. “My top priority is to support President David Harris, the board and the rest of the Union community as we face these challenges and come up with solutions to move from strength to strength for our long-term sustainability.”

Swidler studied political science at Union, then went on to earn a degree from New York City’s Cardozo Law School.

During her time as a student at the Schenectady school, Swidler ran the Union College Coffee House and was a member of the Speakers Forum and the College Conduct Committee.

“I look forward to working with Julie,” Harris said in a statement. “Her devotion to Union, combined with her professional experience as a leader in a highly dynamic industry, make her well suited to lead Union’s next steps.”

Swidler, a New York City resident, serves as a vice chair of the board of the T.J. Martell Foundation, which funds medical research to find cures for leukemia, cancer and AIDS.

“The Board of Trustees chose Julie as the next chair because she is a leader of high principles, strong intellect and deep experience, as well as for her ability to create consensus,” Bertagna said in a statement. “Julie is also highly dedicated to Union College and will be a great partner for President Harris. I am looking forward to supporting Julie in her new role and working with her on a host of new and continuing initiatives.”

Contact Ted Remsnyder at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @TedRemsnyder.

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