The bus was late. It was a cold January afternoon, I was on
my way to an Irish music session at the Harp, a pub in ..North
Amherst.. and the bus was late. The sky was rapidly darkening, and
when the belated bus finally dropped me off in ..North
Amherst.. center with nothing more than my fiddle, the clothes on my
back, and a crude mental map of the area. I began the walk up the road; night had fallen while I was en route, and I was soon chilled to the skin. I found the bar within five minutes, and stepped inside, where the hostess, a small thin woman, gave me a warm hello, glanced at the fiddle, and told me to follow the bar. I shut the door behind me and walked around past the handsome, L shaped wooden bar to the corner where the bar met the dining room. There, kitty-cornered into the space was a small gaggle of musicians, roughly in a circle, all sitting around a pair of crates that served as tables. I saw two fiddlers and three guitarists, two whistle and flute players, one mandolinist, a whistle player doubled on bodhran, and I pulled up an unused chair, and took out my fiddle. They were playing at a pace that challenged my skill as I had just learned the song, but I played along as best I could. Soon, one of the two younger fiddlers led the group into a new tune without so much as a word. I didn’t know the new tune, so I lowered my bow and tried my best to figure it out.  I noodled a bit, and then decided to take a moment to look about myself and get grounded.        

The Harp’s décor was virulently Irish. Portraits of Irish heroes adorned the wall behind the bar; Irish soccer & Gaelic football jerseys were hung on the ceiling. The crate-tables had copies of “The Immigrant,” a Boston publication aimed at Irish immigrants, lining them, the bathrooms were labeled in Irish Gaelic, and next to the extensive liquor collection (featuring many an Irish whiskey) on display behind the bar stood an impressive Irish harp, a little more than two feet high at my best estimation. What is more, the area the musicians occupied seemed to be meant for them; there
were framed photos of fiddlers, a uilleann piper, and a man with a bodhran
surrounding the benches, and further on down the same wall, a painting of the musicians’ area of the pub, where an accordionist, a harper, a flutist, and a fiddler’s instruments are spinning grey ribbons of something into the air above the crate-tables, twisting and folding like free-form Celtic knots, and where it intersects, the grey turns gold, depicting a stylized harp player in profile. Obviously, this was a place where Irish music was played and very much respected.

Public Notice – Part Three (Continued from GN V.2 #1 and #2)

In January we asked for your help to identify the provenance
of a manuscript purporting to tell the “real” story behind Grant Wood’s classic painting “American Gothic.”  Last month we received a mysterious obituary in response.  This month we received this:

(Email karl.stephan@cox.net to subscribe to the illustrated Garage Noir)

It seems that musical artists today pigeonhole themselves into a genre, and are unwilling to move on once they have found success. One band that is impossible to pigeonhole is I Set My Friends on Fire, a duo from Miami, Florida, that can best be described as “experimental”.

This genre-defying group, formed in August 2007 by Matt Mihana and Nabil Moo, combines elements of electronica, dance, metal, hardcore,
along with some comical lyrics and titles. Matt handles the vocals and Nabil
the instruments, programming, and just about everything else.

The two became a Myspace sensation almost overnight with
their screamo version of the popular dance song “Crank Dat”, originally by
Soulja Boy. The track on MySpace has to this date been played over 1 million times. The overnight success of the duo did not go unnoticed. They were signed by Epitaph, one of the largest independent record companies in the world, in spring 2008.

Their first album, entitled “You Can’t Spell Slaughter
Without Laughter”, was released in October 2008. It merges the pair’s unique sense of humor with a barrage of beats, riffs, screams, and sing-along choruses. The album is not for the faint of heart. The duo pours an overwhelming strength of emotion and musical ability into the 12 tracks, making it an aural workout. “I Set My Friends on Fire” appears to be going strong, and the best part is you never know what they’ll do next.

Recommended downloads: “ASL”, “Things That Rhyme With
Orange”, “Crank That”

This photograph was supplied to us by the art-crimes unit of
Scotland Yard, who in turn found it in a waste bin outside the Sub-National
Gallery in Louth, Lincolnshire, England.  Tellingly, Garage Noir’s customer service senior team lead Tuesday Alvarez remarked: “He looks so trustworthy.”

Opening Friday, March 6th 7-10pm

650MAC Gallery at Middletown ArtSpace
650 Main Street,Middletown CT

Free, with donations welcomed to support the arts.

LIVE hand-made music by The Kelvins with Michael Clancy
& Chris Phillips

In a world in which things are just thrown away & tossed aside, a group of
artists from the Libertine Collective reinvent art and celebrate the unwanted, discarded and misunderstood, and take the idea that "one man's garbage is another man's treasure" to another level. In essence, the concept honors the misunderstood in each and every artist. Instead of discarding the
individual, we choose to honor what is different and unique.

Artists:

Christian Ayala
Noel Coonce Ewing
Joseph Dinunzio
Silas Finch
H.L. Groen
Amy Mielke
Michael Shapcott
Karl Stephan (of Garage Noir, featuring“The many moods of junk”)
Carrie Swider
Michael Warble
Sid Werthan

The Libertine Collective is a Connecticut-based creative group of like-minded artists of every medium who express themselves and motivate others. The Collective explores and shares ideas through actions, connections, intellect, communication and intent; allowing for enriched life experiences. In doing so, we inspire one another with endless possibilities and gain insight by learning from one another.

Gallery hours: Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. For information
visit: http://mac650.blogspot.com.

Libertine” H.L. Groen of Hartford is an artist, art educator and mom.

Sneak Preview – Possibly the finest Wiffle Ball in Western art premieres at TLC ReArt

(Email karl.stephan@cox.net to subscribe to the illustrated Garage Noir)

Our First Playlist – GN Songs of the Week, January 2009

Garage Noir’s “Song of the Week” was inaugurated on MySpace to coincide with the New Year.  Here are January’s cuts in order of their appearance:

"Bounce Baby" - New Orleans funk masters Galactic team up with L.A. DJ Z Trip to put a little bounce in your step.

"Prepare to Burn Live" - Cincinnati punk veterans The Long Gones back up their name with this number, which is real gone.

"Marquis de la Noix de Coco" - French swamp rocker Coco Nut delivers a sultry, loony bit of self-promotion.  Vive le Marquis!

"Well You Needn't" - Thelonious Monk broke the mold of be-bop while it was still new.  In honor of American pioneers Martin Luther King and Barack Obama.

“Good Times, Bad Times” - Dread Zeppelin delivers Plant/Page “inna reggae style” behind Elvis impersonator Tortelvis.  Laughing in the face of Dread!

All GN artists and songs of the week can be found on MySpace.

Next Month