Staff Picks: Musician Sidney Joseph and the Andrew Wyeth Umbrella and Tote Bag

PLUS: My Uncle Sam Needs a House Call: The Faltering Health of a Great Nation

Sidney Joseph

If you were to back me into a corner, I’d say Joseph sounds a little like a stripped-back Lenny Kravitz—though his compelling strain of acoustic alchemy also brings to mind Jack Johnson. Currently recording with producer David Ivory (Erykah Badu, the Roots), this Phoenixville-based singer/songwriter just released the impressive single, “Found My Way,” and he’s been performing live with a vengeance lately. Rarely will you see an artist with this much potential playing a dive like Jitters in West Chester (Nov. 2). But something tells me that won’t be the case for long. For more upcoming gigs, visit thesoundofsidney.com. —Hobart Rowland
 

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Andrew Wyeth Umbrella and Tote Bag

These just-released umbrellas ($40) and totes ($35) feature a full-scale version of Andrew Wyeth’s acclaimed 1941 work, “Pennsylvania Landscape,” reproduced exclusively for the Brandywine River Museum. Pair one—or both—with a few passes to tour Wyeth’s restored Chadds Ford studio, and you’ve got the perfect holiday gift. Available at brandywinemuseumshop.org. —Tara Behan
 

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My Uncle Sam Needs a House Call: The Faltering Health of a Great Nation
Robert Poole (CreateSpace, 178 pages)

Though he’s written My Uncle Sam Needs a House Call at age 80, Dr. Robert Poole promises that it’s not “old fogeyism.” During his 40-plus years in a West Chester general practice, he made daily house calls. Now, just in time for this critical election month, the retired physician offers a pithy panacea for “a 50-year erosion of the nation’s wellness.” Full of medical motif, it suggests symptoms and signs of our nation’s failures, and a diagnosis and prescription for recovering “a proud, unashamed patriotism.” —J.F. Pirro
 

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