Country singer Kristen Welch Sins, a former Summerville High School student, is returning to Tuolumne County this week to perform at the Black Oak Casino.

It will be her first performance in the Sonora area since she moved to Nashville in 2004.

In her remarks before the opening of “Six Dance Lesson in Six Weeks,” Sierra Repertory Theatre Managing Director Sara Jones mentioned that this was a different kind of production for SRT. 

Being rather clueless about the play by Richard Alfieri, I wasn’t sure what she meant. I knew the plot centered around a well-used but nevertheless sturdy theatrical premise about an odd-couple thrown together by circumstance who discover that they not only like but need each other. 

Ironstone Vineyards in Murphys will present three outdoor summer concerts this year, less than half the number of last year’s offerings.

Kicking off the 2013 series on July 20 will be Joan Jett and the Blackhearts. An evening with Melissa Etheridge will follow on Aug. 2 and country stars Big and Rich will wrap up the series on Aug. 10. 

 It’s not their first honor in nearly 50 years of creating ceramic art, but it is the highest yet.

Sonora artists Bill and June Vaughn, a creative team since their marriage in 1967, have had one of their pieces accepted into the American Museum of Ceramic Art.

“Feeding the Dead” is a book you can sink your teeth into.

Written by former foothills resident Jim Stearns, the new memoir details how a small backwoods cooking crew grew into the permanent food catering service for one of the world’s biggest rock bands, the Grateful Dead.