Digable Planets: Reachin for a re-release.
Digable Planets: Reachin' for a re-release. CHRIS DRUMM VIA Creative Commons

Light in the Attic to Reissue Digable Planets’ 1993 Debut Album in February: The Modern Classics subsidiary of Seattle/LA reissue label Light in the Attic will re-release the Digable Planets first record, Reachin’ (A New Refutation of Time and Space) as a 25th-anniversary edition on February 23.

Music critic Dave Segal says, "the album extrapolated on the jazz-sample-intensive template laid down by A Tribe Called Quest and purveyed intellectual/bohemian lyrical perspectives that proved smart hiphop could cross over to the mainstream." Of course, the expanded version of Reachin’ will still feature the Grammy-winning hit single “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat),” but also a complete lyrics sheet for the first time ever AND liner notes by Stranger contributor Larry Mizell Jr., who interviewed Seattle hiphop innovator and Shabazz Palaces primary Ishmael Butler, known as “Butterfly” during his Digable Planets tenure.

4Culture’s Executive Director Jim Kelly Is Retiring: He steps down after 25 years of leading the organization. Under his tenure at 4Culture, the art cultural funding-arm for King County, has given out over $130 million to 2,800 individuals and groups, and he led 4Culture’s shift to an independent public agency in 2001 after the dot-com crash. “He’s dealt with dissonance and turned it into harmony,” said Seattle Theatre Group Executive Director Josh LaBelle about Kelly’s leadership.

Meet the New LaSalle Grant Winner: E. Lily Yu has been awarded Artist Trust’s 2017 LaSalle Storyteller Award in Fiction, which recognizes “outstanding work by an established or emerging author of fiction based in Washington State.” (Her short story, "The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees," was nominated for a 2012 Hugo Award.) The Bellevue-based science fiction and fantasy writer will receive a $10,000 grant to pursue her literary projects.

Seattle Rep's Associate Artistic Director Is Leaving for Pittsburgh: Stranger Genius Award winner Marya Sea Kaminski will become the artistic director of Pittsburgh Public Theater. Here’s a long list of some of her very worthy accomplishments.

Dave Segal Has a Serious Vinyl Problem: And as his housing situation shrinks, his collection needs to as well. But he just can’t stop himself. Now for every 10 records he buys, he needs to ditch about 30 more: “This is a ritual that I anticipate repeating ad infinitum... or until I grudgingly cash in my journalism chips, sacrifice what's left of my soul, and get a job with Amazon.” In case you can’t stop feeding your own vinyl addiction, here’s some of his recommendations.

Calling All Musical Theater Writers Who Identify As Women: On Wednesday, the 5th Avenue Theatre launched a new development program called “First Draft: Raise Your Voice,” which they say is “designed to introduce and nurture new musical theater writers from traditionally under-represented populations.” Interested teams must submit bios and a show concept by June 2018. (Exact date cut-off date TBD, but they start taking submissions in March of 2018.) According to press materials, the panel will commission a first draft from three to five of those teams, and work then with them to develop the script. At the end of that process, the 5th will produce “a 29-hour reading of each of the projects in a setting accessible to producers and industry leaders at a local and national level.” Break a leg!