Alt-Nation: Swan Point
“A more groove orientated T. Rex kind of Electric Warrior feel.” –Swan Point’s upcoming album Salt
Whelp, the polar vortex has metamorphosed into a balmy-January-by-New-England-standards vortex. So let’s continue with a heat wave and talk about a new band that’s ready to catch some waves in Swan Point. I caught Swan Point a number of months ago at the Celtic Pub in Pawtucket, which just goes to show one you should never overlook any place that has live music. One never knows where one is going to find their next favorite band. Swan Point is getting ready to release their debut seven-song CD, Salt, and I’ve come into possession of a rough version of it. I like it. I’ll save a full review for when it is actually ready for release in a month or two. The CD features tracks like “Ruined,” which kicks off with a Stones “Live with Me” groove before veering into a more funky direction with the chorus. “Love in The Ghetto” has a definite T. Rex flavor. “The Pin” reminds me a little of the band Spoon. So on the cusp of Swan Point’s debut inside Providence city limits, I posed some questions to guitarist/bassist Dino Paolantonio (ex-Shed and Mustang Cobra) on what Swan Point is up to and what to expect this Friday.
Marc Clarkin: How and when did Swan Point come together?
Dino Paolantonio: Swan Point has been together for roughly a year. Our drummer, John Reddington, who I’ve played shows with for over 20 years back when I was in Shed and he was in Freakshow, asked me if I wanted to come play guitar with his childhood friend Pat Baron who had recently moved back to RI after living in LA, Detroit and Austin, TX. I knew of Pat just by name from stories John would tell me throughout the years, and also knew of his songwriting talent. So after one session, we already had four or five skeletons of songs that were ready for work. I would switch off between guitar and bass. We wrote enough songs to start recording a record. That’s when we realized we needed a true bass player. And who better to ask than the big guy Paul (Zeus) Souza. The record is called Salt and should be available for a record release in early March
MC: Listening to the new CD, I hear a more groove orientated T. Rex kind of Electric Warrior feel. What are some of the influences for you guys?
DP: Personally, the only way I can answer this is with the word “music.” I listen to all genres of music and am influenced by all of it. If I feel any emotion from a song, I am influenced. The T. Rex comparison is a compliment. I’m sure that there are some artists who are stronger influences on John, Pat and Zeus that I don’t feel as strongly about, and vice versa, but each member brings their own unique style that we add to the nucleus of the song. We ended up with something special that we are all proud of. For 20 years Johnny and I have been introducing new bands, or often old bands, to each other. For instance Ween, Phish, Grandaddy and Cake are a few that we are fans of. But again, when it comes to music, genre doesn’t matter. Good is good.
MC: You’ve been involved in the local music scene for a long time between your time with Shed and Mustang Cobra. How has it changed?
DP: You know, going back 20 years, the local music scene was at its best in my opinion. No matter who was performing, all the bands came out and supported. That was the scene. It was one big scene. Now I feel it’s a bunch of little scenes. With technology evolving and the social media boom, most bands can build a personal page or create a Facebook event and that’s it. The show is promoted. Back then we would go to the shows and meet people and hand out flyers to promote upcoming shows. I feel the connection from actual interaction with the folks is needed to make/build a scene. We have the venues to do it. There are pros and cons with social media. It’s a great way to keep people informed, but you also have local artists whining that no one came to your show or people are even bad mouthing other local artists. Those types of actions end up hurting the process of building a scene. Local artists need to support each other. The cliques and negativity only divide it. If four people show up to our show, we’ll do our best to make four fans.
MC: Having played in hardcore and metal bands, has it been a tough adjustment adapting your style for Swan Point’s music?
DP: It hasn’t been tough at all. When I was playing in Shed, it was loud, fast and aggressive or what have you. But at the time it wasn’t the only type of music I was listening to. I’ve always been a fan of music. I remember getting my balls busted unmercifully for going to Phish, Medeski Martin & Wood, and Billy Joel Shows cause, “That’s not metal.” I just never understood that if you play metal that’s all you’re supposed to listen to. And playing with Swan Point, it’s a totally different process when it comes to writing in comparison to Shed or Mustang Cobra. After Pat or John will bring a piece to a rehearsal, as a group we work out structure and dynamics. Then it might be a week or two before I’m fully comfortable with a lead for the song. I like to let the song develop an identity, and then proceed to work on what the song calls for to make it whole. I feel lucky and honored to be playing with these guys. We got a couple of great songwriters with Pat and his way of bringing his life experiences into song, and our drummer Johnny, who’s been on fire lately writing songs on guitar and piano. So that along with playing with my best friends, putting out a record I couldn’t be more proud of, and fully enjoying it, it would be ridiculous to describe it as “tough.”
MC: What should we expect this Friday at Dusk, and who is playing?
DP: We are happy that we were asked to play with our good friends Hope Anchor & Dog Day Afternoon. We will be going on first; my guess is 9:30/10:00. We will showcase the songs on our upcoming release, Salt. This will be our little warm-up for the record release. There are going to be three great bands with a $6 cover charge. Hope to see you there. You as well, Freddy!
Swan Point, Hope Anchor, and Dog Day Afternoon will all rock Dusk on January 17.
Email music news to [email protected] Tribes: Kill the Wabbit
“Despite all of the multi-layered wit, much of the play depends upon non-verbal communication by the cast.” — Epic Theatre’s Tribes at Theatre 82
The challenge of a play about tribal affiliation is that literally any arbitrary characteristic can be yanked out of thin air and turned into a criterion in order to draw a circle around some people and not others, defining who is in the tribe and who is not. This begins, for Tribes, in the opening announcement before the play even starts that masquerades as an innocuously conventional warning to the audience that there will be a pistol shot in the final act: it immediately creates an in-group who realizes, when that pistol shot finally comes, that it is a playful homage by playwright Nina Raine to her obvious influence Anton Chekhov and the theatrical trope known as “Chekhov’s gun,” first explained by him in a letter: “One must never place a loaded rifle on the stage if it isn’t going to go off. It’s wrong to make promises you don’t mean to keep.” Such meta-witticism might be appreciated by academics and theater critics, but – and this is my point – excludes those not of that particular tribe unless, luckily, a theater critic explains the joke in a review.
Billy (Joseph Ausanio) is born deaf into a hearing family. His parents, Christopher (Geoff White) and Beth (Carol Schlink), are a retired academic frustrated by his inability to do anything useful and an aspiring novelist frustrated by her inability to publish. His siblings temporarily reduced to living at home, Ruth (Blanche Case) and Daniel (C.T. Larsen), are an opera singer frustrated by her inability to get gigs of more than a few people in a small room and an aspiring academic frustrated by his inability to complete his thesis.
No one listens to anyone else, regardless of their ability to hear. Christopher is trying to learn Chinese wearing earphones that isolate him from what is going on in the room around him. Ruth is trying to learn to sing opera in French, a language she does not understand; the work in question is, ironically, Saint-Saëns’ “Mon cœur s’ouvre à ta voix,” which literally means “My heart opens itself to your voice.” (I warned you about meta-witticisms.) Daniel, among other serious problems, is writing a thesis about communication that is so fluffed-up with over-the-top academic jargon that it is incoherent. The family members interact via argument, profanity, name-calling, ridicule and constant interruption – all except Billy who, due to his deafness, is unable to follow these heated exchanges and then is told, when he asks what happened after each storm blows over, that it was nothing.
Billy meets Sylvia (Stephanie Traversa), who works as an event coordinator for a deaf charity and is herself going deaf. She introduces him to sign language, which his family strongly resisted because the “bloody deaf community,” as Christopher puts it, with its own language is a rival tribe to that of the family. As Billy and Sylvia become romantically involved, they form something of a tribe of their own, him distancing himself from his family and her distancing herself from what she sees as the limited and parochial community of deaf people.
Eventually these people are forced to start listening to each other, or at least making the attempt to the best of their ability, and that changes a lot. Although the dialogue is often clever and funny, it carries tinges of viciousness that are hard to ignore and are not meant to be ignored. Daniel at one point attacks opera, and therefore implicitly Ruth, by ridiculing the work of Richard Wagner, the ultimate expositor of regressive and ignorant tribal primitivism in music; Beth cuts him off: “Of course it’s silly, it’s Wagner.”
Despite all of the multi-layered wit, much of the play depends upon non-verbal communication by the cast. C.T. Larsen as Daniel especially stands out, a character going quite mad from his own inner demons, at one point unknowingly re-enacting a legendary story with himself as Androcles and his mother Beth as the lion. Geoff White as Christopher rises to the demands of an unlikable character, the sort of man who believes that blunt impoliteness accompanied by abusive profanity can be mislabeled as “honesty” and thereby become a positive thing. Joseph Ausanio as Billy has an exceptionally difficult role, conveying the perspective of a deaf character to a hearing audience. As with any good play in the Chekhovian style, what is not said, and the significance of how it is not said, is generally more important than what is said, making deafness a particularly effective metaphor amongst a veritable sea of symbolism and allusion. Director T.J. Curran understands that and employs his cast accordingly.
Even Chekhov, in his last play The Cherry Orchard, was not above making a joke at his own expense: he has a character brandish a gun that never does get fired.
Tribes, Epic Theatre’s Theatre 82, 82 Rolfe Sq, Cranston, RI. http://www.epictheatreri.org In association with the Rhode Island School for the Deaf.
Fri, Sat (1/17, 1/18, 1/24, 1/25) 8:00pm. About 2 hours including intermission. Includes mature content, including subject matter and language, not appropriate for anyone under 17.
Tickets: Artists Exchange, 401-490-9475 or at http://www.artists-exchange.org Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/224941627678555/
Arsenic and Old Lace Is High-Spirited Fun
Murderous Aunts and a delusional nephew make for a wacky family dynamic in Aresenic and Old Lace
The Community Players are having a bloody good time bringing the classic farce Arsenic and Old Lace to life on the stage of the Jenks Auditorium in Pawtucket. The show runs until January 19.
Written in 1941 by Joseph Kesselring, the story is about the two Brewster sisters Abby (Cathy Fox) and Martha (Lynn Price), who live in a house in Brooklyn with their nephews Mortimer (Tom Coughlin) and Teddy (Rick Braun). Mortimer, a theater critic, is engaged to Elaine Harper (Kathleen Seagriff), the daughter of Reverend Harper (Lee Hakeem).
Mortimer is mortified to find a dead body in the window seat of the house and discovers his two aunts have murdered a dozen men by giving them elderberry wine spiked with arsenic, strychnine and cyanide.
“How did the poison get in the wine?” Mortimer asks.
“Oh, we put it in the wine cause it’s less noticeable,” Martha replies. “When it’s in tea, it has a distinct odor.”
That exchange is typical of the dry wit of Kesselring’s dialogue. There is much more of it in a story that gets even more madcap as it proceeds.
The Brewsters are a truly odd bunch of characters. Besides his murderous aunts, Mortimer has to deal with Teddy’s belief he is President Teddy Roosevelt. Teddy’s favorite pasttime is running up the stairs and yelling, “Charge!” as if he is going up San Juan Hill. He also is digging the Panama Canal – in the basement.
Mortimer’s long lost brother Jonathan (Eric Barbato) soon arrives with his friend Dr. Einstein (Lawrence Calabro) in tow. Jonathan is a bad man who resembles Boris Karloff after some botched plastic surgery. The two unwanted house guests are determined to stir up even more trouble for everyone in the house.
The large ensemble cast succeeds brilliantly in bringing these wacky characters to life. Fox makes Abby into a cheerful eccentric, and she meshes well with her counterpart Price. These two actresses manage the difficult feat of being charming and likable even though they are also mass murderers.
Coughlin is a solid presence as Mortimer. He has exquisite comic timing and serves as the dependable voice of reason in a sea of insanity. One funny moment is when he chases a potential victim of his two aunts around the living room in an effort to save his life.
Barbato brings the right amount of menace to Jonathan, who poses a real threat to Mortimer in the play’s third act. Braun and Calabro deliver very fine comic performances and complement the other actors perfectly in every scene, and the direction by Peggy Pires is crisp and fast paced.
Victor Turenne’s set design convincingly recreates a Brooklyn home in the 1940s, complete with vintage furniture and antiques.
Arsenic and Old Lace holds up pretty well for a play more than 70 years old. This production is a well- staged, entertaining way to spend a few hours.
For reservations, go to thecommunityplayers.org. Or call 401-726-6860.
Dysfunctional Family Makes for Dark Comedy in The Lyons ” This is a show that deals with life, death and everything in between–” The Lyons at 2nd Story
The lives of a dysfunctional family take center stage in the black comedy The Lyons, which opened in previews January 10 and is running through February 9 at Warren’s 2nd Story Theatre.
The Lyons was written by Nicky Silver and debuted on Broadway at the Cort Theatre in April 2012. This is a show that deals with life, death and everything in between.
Paula Faber, a veteran member of the theater’s acting company, gives a tour de force performance as Rita, the overbearing wife of Ben Lyons (Vince Petronio), who is dying from cancer. Rita, stuck in a 40- year loveless marriage, now thinks of the future without Ben and plans to re-decorate their home. Ben lays in his hospital bed and speaks in a flurry of profanities. He is constantly annoyed by Rita and despises her.
Their grown children Curtis (Kevin Broccoli) and Lisa (Lara Hakeem) also come to his hospital room to pay a visit.
Lisa has left an abusive marriage and is a recovering alcoholic. Curtis, who is gay, has had little to do with his father, who is homophobic.
Throughout the play, all the resentments between the Lyons bubble up to the surface.
Rita is a fundamentally selfish woman who will not spare anyone’s feelings. However, she is not a one dimensional caricature either. Late in Act One, while her husband sleeps under dimmed lights, Rita realizes how empty her life will be once Ben is gone. The man she has spent so many years with has occupied a major part of her time and energy. Faber masterfully manages to gain the audience’s sympathy in a short monologue.
Broccoli dominates most of Act Two, when Curtis has a fateful encounter with a wily real estate agent (Jeff Church) who is not who he appears to be.
Broccoli gives a note perfect performance as Curtis, a troubled man who writes short stories for a living and has a non-existent love life.
Petronio has a lot of funny moments as he quarrels with Rita about her plan to redecorate their living room after he is gone. There is also a touching and bittersweet moment when he reveals that despite all the hostility he expresses toward Rita, deep down he really loves her.
The dialogue is witty and sometimes poetic. One exchange goes like this:
Ben: “Rita, I’m dying!”
Rita: “Just try to be positive.”
Lucia Gill Case plays Ben’s nurse, who has some tart repartee late in the play with Curtis.
Mark Peckham directed the production, which moves at a brisk pace. The downstage theater provides an intimate setting for a show like The Lyons.
The four lead actors convincingly portray a family at odds with each other. The Lyons all seek happiness in their own way, and by the end, you are pulling for them to find it.
2nd Story Theatre DownStage, 28 Market Street, Warren, RI 02885, Box Office:401-247-4200, Web:2ndstorytheatre.com, Email: [email protected]
Motif TV : Top things to do this weekend
Locale Profiles: The Fertile Underground Part communal garden, part co-op, part grocery store, part cafe, and entirely local. The Fertile Underground Natural Cooperative is two years strong into its quest to change the way Providence consumes its sustenance. Grocery Store The Fertile Underground’s West End store front is reminiscent of a merger between an organic supermarket and a corner bodega. Shoppers can expect to find basics like toiletries and kitchen supplies along with local or organic pantry items, spices, grains, cheeses, fresh bread, frozen foods and fresh produce. Their once abundant wall of veggies has dwindled with the winter season, but standards for fresh organics have not. The shop is dedicated to providing the best in organic and all-natural. This includes locally made, organic makeup and dried herbs, teas, salves, and more from Farmacy Herbs, based out of Providence. Cafe The allure of Fertile’s charm and guarantee of quality is exemplified by its cafe. The small bar in the center of the storefront and the intimate seating around the front of the shop buzz with conversation as patrons sip coffee out of the kind of unpretentious mugs you’d find in your mother’s cabinet. The cafe serves up breakfast and lunch daily with items like grinders, some seriously creative bagel sandwiches, smoothies, spinach pies, salads, vegan apple pie and their famous vegan chili, perfected through the years by the “resident chili master,” just to name a few. Co-op Fertile Underground owes its eclectic, community-oriented mantra to its structure as a co-op, operating entirely because of community support. Everyone who works at and for Fertile, other than co-owners, does it voluntarily without monetary reward. Only after a long stint of volunteering can one become a co-owner (there are 10 of them). The landscaping, elaborate mural covering the tall storefront walls, the maintenance of the structure and the snow removal on the property is all done because of the volunteers’ dedication and willingness to create a welcoming, nourishing, community mainstay. 1577 Westminster St, Providence 8 am – 8 pm (Mon – Sat) 8 am – 6 pm (Sun) fertileunderground.com Funda Turns Sweet 16
Rhode Island Black Storytellers’ (RIBS) annual event welcomes in its 16thyear as the state’s premier, longest- running and only black storytelling festival: Funda Fest
I have been on both sides of the stage with Funda Fest as both a performer and an audience member, and I have to say the sheer power of this viva voce marvel is guaranteed to move you. Stretching across the state, caravaning in the week of January 19 through January 26 will be 10 of the most heartfelt and exciting storytellers you could possibly ever want to be responsible for your unguarded imagination. Along with favorites Teju Ologboni from Milwaukee, Grammy nominated Christylez (pronounced Chris Styles) Bacon, and renowned storyteller Eshu Bumpers, making their debut appearance in the state and headlining the festival will be will be the performance duo of In the Spirit (vocalist Glenda Zahra Baker and storyteller Emily Hooper Lansana) along with the celebrated cast of the Rhode Island Black Storytellers. More than 20 years ago, Emily Hooper Lansana and Glenda Zahra Baker came together to form Performance Duo: In the Spirit. They have developed an extensive repertoire of stories that carry us on enthralling journeys. Each performance celebrates the power of the word to connect, uplift and transform. Their interactive, spirit-filled stories and songs engage audiences in a memorable, soulful way. Highlights of their performance history include: The National Association of Black Storytellers Festival and Conference, The National Storytelling Festival, The Illinois Storytelling Festival, Dance Africa Chicago and a number of museums, community and educational institutions across the country. I first witnessed this production in 2006, when the featured performers hailed from New Orleans, in support of the tragedy that happened there. The night totally changed my perception of storytelling. The orator’s voice connected everyone in the room until in the silence was weaved a people quilt held together by the single thread of the storyteller’s voice. This is not just for bedtime; because of the magic and level of coziness crafted by orator after orator, by the end of the evening a village was molded from the raw clay of strangers. Now seven years later I can say the momentum has not let up. Year after year I have been thoroughly inspired and I can’t wait to see the gifts brought by Funda 16 I asked Valerie what was the impetus that sparked Funda Fest (Funda meaning to teach and to learn in Zulu and KiSwahili) 16 years ago. “In 1999, The Rhode Island Foundation had an initiative to celebrate black arts and artists in Rhode Island. For years previous to that, RIBS would travel every year to the National Association of Black Storytellers Festival (NABS) and a group pondered having such a thing in Rhode Island.” she said. Storytelling is how we inspire blacks to tell our story in all the dimensions of being human. It’s what gives us hope, and what makes us black while bringing a broader image of being black. She finished. For full festival Information, join Rhode Island Black Storytellers on Facebook or check the website at www.ribsfest.org
Contemporary Plays Around for 24 Hours
“Sooner or later at every 24-Hour Play Festival, there arrives a moment where everyone comes together for the common cause of ripping up tiny bits of paper.” – Andy Hoover, playwright (one of six) for CTC’s 24-Hour Play Festival.
In February, 1920, a group of Princeton student thespians staged their first production. Their theater was a dorm room and a blanket hung over a string that served as a curtain. What started as an exercise in parody and improvisation became a tradition for Princeton’s Theatre Intime. Their 24-Hour Play Festival is still billed as a “wacky, caffeine-fueled tradition [where] everything but the kitchen sink gets thrown into some wild productions, all written and staged in just 24 hours! Written by various authors. Directed by various directors.” Princeton alum and CTC Artistic Director, Christopher Simpson, brought the tradition to South County in 2006 and now Contemporary Theater Company is poised to present their version of the festival for the ninth year running.
The premise seems simple enough until you break down the elements that make this unique offering possible. This is not improvisation, which CTC covers excellently with their late Friday evening Micetro series, but there is still very little time for structure, forcing the writers, directors and performers to think fast, think once and commit to those choices, however bizarre. Much like Christopher Guest’s loosely structured mockumentaries (Best in Show, Spinal Tap, etc.), there are a few guidelines, but the artists are left to their own devices in connecting the dots. At the start of the day, writers are given a short list of prompts and challenges and a few set lines that they must include in their pieces. Examples of guidelines include: “Two people speak the exact same line at the exact same time for very different reasons,” “include an ‘unstageable’ event” (which, in a past festival, resulted in a whale exploding onstage), and “someone has a gun that they didn’t know they had.” In addition, there are six lines that all of the writers must include in each play, giving audiences a chance to anticipate their usage in each piece. Directors are prompted to include elements such as: “Make the audience do something,” or “A musical number, sung sincerely” (an official composer is on standby, ready for such a prompt).
Although all of the action takes place on January 11, the social media campaign is well under way to hype the event. Statuses from various participants betray a level of anxiety that would seem to indicate that work is already underway, although nothing can really be done in advance. On the big day, potential audiences can go to the Contemporary Theater Company Facebook page to see a play-by-play of the festival’s progress, from initial writing sessions at midnight, to actor auditions at 9 am, to frenzied, on-the-fly technical preparations as crews scramble to create costumes and props based on little more than a Red Bull-fueled fever dream.
Other than showing off the talents and versatility of the assembled artists involved, why produce such an insane event? The resulting plays are not only untested, but are still dripping wet. Anything can happen here, and as exciting as that may be to watch, there is no shortage of suffering going on behind the scenes leading up to the 8 pm curtain time. The answer lies in the process, not necessarily the final product. Much like CTC’s work with South Kingstown High School in the Testing 1,2,3,4 series, the idea is to bring together the community for an immersive, collaborative happening. Trust is the watchword here as there is simply no time to take on individual points of view or take too much time to protect any one person’s vision. The festival is a distillation of the sweat of many to create something new, ephemeral and, as the previous eight events have proven, something brilliantly compelling and hilarious.
And that brings us back to Andy Hoover’s quote from above. At one point during the festival in 2010, barely 15 minutes before showtime as the audience filtered in and took their seats in anticipation, the festival’s writers, actors and directors gathered together. This assemblage was not a moment of unity before presenting the big event. This was not a last minute tweaking of details. All available bodies were gathered in order to furiously rip up colored pieces of paper and pour them into an urn. This one moment symbolized the frantically collaborative ethos that defines the 24-Hour Play Festival. No one person is less valuable, no need lesser than any other. And if an urn of construction paper is still required minutes before opening, then everyone is ready to jump in and make it happen. This is not a rarity in theater, but nowhere else do roles and responsibilities become so blurred in the service of a finished series of fully blown plays ready to present to a paying audience. So, to fully experience the 24-Hour Play Festival, tune in to their Facebook page and then head over to South Kingstown High School auditorium on January 11 to witness the results of CTC’s signature event – 24 actors, six writers, and six directors working midnight-to-midnight to conceive, rehearse and perform six original 15-minute plays. The process may stand alone, but the work can only truly come to fruition with an audience. Think of yourself as just one piece of colored paper ready to join hundreds of others in the spirit of collaboration. No matter what happens, you’ve never seen anything like it before.
CTC presents the 9th Annual 24-Hour Play Festival at SK High School Auditorium. 8 to 10:30 pm, January 11. Visit contemporarytheatercompany.com/box-office/ for tickets or call 401-218-0282. All tickets, $12.
Wanna Arm Wrastle?
“It’s a surprising sport. There’s a lot of technique and finesse – it’s not just about muscle, although that’s important, of course.” Rick North talks arm wrestling
We’ve all done it. Some of us do it in our homes, some do it in school, some do it on the weekends, and some do it every day. Not that. Get your head out of the gutter. I am talking about arm wrestling. Fans of the sport may have heard about the Rhode Island Arm Wrestling Championships, to be held on January 25 at the Atlantic Sports Pub. The competition is sure to be a great time for all!
I set out to arm wrestle Event Director Rick North, the founder of the Rhode Island Strongman Federation, but, alas, the wonders of modern communication failed me and I had to do the next best thing. I organized my own arm wrestling tournament between me and Alejandro, the 4-year-old nephew of one of my closest friends. Now, I know what you are going to say. It isn’t exactly fair to have a 24-year-old arm wrestle a 4-year- old. That is why I made some rules to govern the tournament. I could only hold on with two fingers on my left hand (I am naturally right-handed); Alejandro could use both arms and his full body-weight (about 60 pounds). I would be blindfolded, which does not seem to be a disadvantage until you learn the next rule: instead of a countdown to begin, it would be a silent start, counted down by the fingers of Alejandro’s mother. While two-finger wrestling with my left hand, I had to recite the Star Spangled Banner, while writing the pledge of allegiance with my right hand (surprisingly a LOT harder than it sounds). Finally, Uncle Andres (my close friend) would be allowed to tickle my nose with a feather duster. If I sneezed or broke my grip on either the pen or on Alejandro’s hand, it would be considered a loss.
So how did it all turn out? Badly. Even with all of the advantages for Alejandro, he was still no match for me… until the feather duster kicked in. On the verge of a great victory for all of adultkind, Andres saw the time was ripe for giving me a full face of feathers. (Alliteration is FUN!) Itchy as all hell, and especially dusty, I wrote a check my nose couldn’t handle. Eyes watering, nostrils twitching, finally I broke my grip on the pen and scratched the hell out of my face. I lost. To a 60 pound 4-year-old.
My search for glory finished, so was my arm wrestling career. Check out the real thing at the Atlantic Sports Pub, 70 Shove Street in Tiverton at 1 pm on January 25, benefiting breast cancer research and March for Tomorrow.
Talking to Rick North is like talking to someone who’s always in coach mode. We did pin him down on some of the details of the sport of arm wrestling. Motif: So, is the Stallone movie “Over the Top” an accurate representation? North: It probably was for the 80’s. The sport’s evolved since then – it’s not just a bar sport now. Especially in Europe, where it’s really taken hold, it’s become much more legitimate. It’s televised there. In Sweden it’s a high-school sport.
M: What about the US? RN: Here it has become more mainstream as well – there are competing national leagues. If you search for it on YouTube, you’ll get hit with all kinds of footage.
Why is it growing? It’s a surprising sport. There’s a lot of technique and finesse – it’s not just about muscle, although that’s important, of course. It involves strategy too. You have to know how to work your opponent. You have to know how to use the table [between the table and the 4” elbow pad, there are numerous starting positions to consider].
Is there also a mental game? Sure. My wife [Michelle Grayson North] recently took second place in Connecticut [at the Connecticut Fall Classic]. Her last opponent wouldn’t look at her or make eye contact – it was an attempt to psych her out. Of course, it probably didn’t hurt that she was about 6’2”.
Your wife also arm wrestles? She’s very good. She did it as an exhibition event at the RI International Brew Fest a few years ago [2009] and won 47 times in a row. She’s undefeated at brew fests. How did you get into this? I’d been doing strong man competitions. But in New England in Winter… my strong man stuff basically froze to the ground. 6 years ago, I started arm wrestling because you can do it indoors. [North then connected with the IAF (International Armwrestling Federation) and took up the baton for its RI Chapter]
How long do matches last? Typical is around 30 seconds. But it can last from 1/2 a second to 2 minutes or more, depending on the participants. I think the record’s around 7 minutes, but I don’t know how anyone held out that long.
How do people train for this? climbing ropes, pull-ups, a lot of spring grippers and stuff like that. If you lift, you use wider bars, so your hands are more open while you’re doing it. And of course, practice! Locally, we practice every Tuesday from 7 to 9 – that’s a lot of fun. We have a lot of veterans and former champions around our area. I know I always learn something.
Any highlights you’re excited about this year? We have three novice categories – that’s exciting, because you never know who’s going to be sitting across the table from you. Beyond that, we have former world champions we expect to be there, like Tim Bresnan and Norm Devio – he’s 165 lbs, proving you don’t have to be a big guy. He can hold a one- armed pull-up longer than anyone. We expect “Badger” Drew, who’s been described as ‘25% NFL, 50% Red Bull, and 25% WWE’. I’d be especially excited to see a rematch between Gabe Accardi and Ron Klemba. Accardi was National Champion in 1982 – he’s a smaller guy, but he just knows where you’re gonna go and how to beat it. This isn’t a young man’s sport – experience takes the match a lot of the time. And Klemba, the “High Chief”, is a 3x World Champion and larger than life. It came down to them a few years ago, and it was one of the best matches you’ve ever seen. They’re both very astute arm wrestlers. But we’ll have folks from all over New England – it’s a great bunch of people, and veterans are always up to help the new people out. It’s a great family sport, and it’s going to be a lot of fun!
Mark Cutler Dreams, Junior Varsity Arson Burns It Up
The best in local albums of 2013 and the best in January 2014 concerts
2013 was a strong year for local releases. People like these “Best of 2013” lists, but I question if anyone ever goes out and buys a record because of it. I guess the local New England releases that come to mind in no apparent order would have to include releases by White Dynomite, The Silks, Deer Tick, Six Star General, Malyssa & The Liberators, Reverend Bastien, Throwing Muses, Ravi Shavi, Brown Bird and Northern Lands. Maybe I’ll go into more depth in an online column, but who has time for that right now? In fact, 2013 was such a busy year that there are two new releases that came in at the end of the year that I haven’t gotten a chance to review. So let’s get to that, stat!
Mark Cutler – Dreamland (75orLess Records) After recently quitting his day job to be a fulltime musician, Mark Cutler hunkered down to record Dreamland, a decidedly more quiet and intimate album compared to his recent releases Sweet Pain and Red (both on 75orLess Records). Cutler tells me he recorded the album in his house and mostly by himself with cameos from his always formidable Men of Great Courage band. One doesn’t have to wait long to see the new direction: the first tune, “Doing Things That We Like To Do” has a lazy, peaceful strumming guitar around a campfire kind of feel. “Tankful of Gas” has a decidedly acoustic blues meets folk feel, with buzzing slide guitars. “Circle To a Square” reminds me of the 60’s folk of early Donovan, before he started singing about important stuff… you know, like the hurdy-gurdy man and witching season. The title track is my favorite on the record with a great melody that I can hum all day. “Too Much Fun” is a more upbeat rocker, while retaining the stripped down feel of the rest of the rest of Dreamland. “We Don’t Do That Stuff No More” has the feel of Tom Petty blues ballad. The theme of nostalgia runs through much of Dreamland, but probably never more than on the closing, “I’ll Play For You,” where Cutler weaves his tale of days past over a simple beat. It works. Dreamland may not be your typical get ready to rage on a Saturday night record, but it sure sounds great on a Sunday afternoon!
Junior Varsity Arson – Self Titled EP (75orLess Records) Every now and again I get a new biscuit and look at it and say what the hell is this? Case in point, when something called Junior Varsity Arson came in. So I checked out their one sheet that describes the band as “Lonely Guy Rock.” They go on to describe themselves as a soundtrack for men who are banned from certain establishments, with endless theories and endless amounts of time to explain those theories. Okay, maybe I’ll actually like this. Truth is, Junior Varsity Arson is a local super group of sorts, composed of Guy Benoit (Thee Hydrogen Terrors), Don Sanders (Medicine Ball, The Masons), Dave Narcizo (Throwing Muses), and Kraig Jordan (The Masons). Junior Varsity Arson is a little twisted in a fun indie rock way. The EP kicks off with “Her Parents Love Me,” chock full of lyrical gems like, “Her parents love me, I’m such a big improvement over the white supremacist.” Indie rock is a genre chock full of people that take themselves too seriously. That’s why it’s refreshing to come across something like Junior Varsity Arson, that’s lighthearted and still rocks. “Brown Jacket and Purple Keds” reminds me a little of the Dead Milkman as it chronicles the lonely man that Junior Varsity Arson proclaims to be the soundtrack for. “Hippy Dippy Milk Man” has an anthem, ‘60s spy feel with the keyboards. “Skull Collection” has an ‘80s alternative rock feel, while the song chronicles getting broken into and having one’s skull collection stolen. “I’m Hooked” is Junior Varsity Arson’s alternative dance number, that has a little bit of a psychedelic feel. What I like about Junior Varsity Arson most is they have personality both lyrically and musically, that makes each song memorable. Shows to look forward to:
Hellbound Glory Nothing like some old fashioned country music to warm you up from the winter’s freeze and that is exactly what you’ll get when Hellbound Glory invade Olneyville (aka Nashville North.) Hellbound Glory doesn’t bother pretending to do anything but straight, old school country, which I respect, when done well. It’s when people try to modernize it or meld it into Americana or pop that the whole thing goes to shit. Get there early to catch the local openers, Jay Berndt & The Orphans and Dog Day Afternoon – I’m as excited to see them as the headliner! Hellbound Glory, Jay Berndt & The Orphans, and Dog Day Afternoon will be at Fete on January 9.
The Creepshow The Creepshow are a female-fronted punk psychobilly band from the hot bed of horror that is Toronto. Truth is, I know nothing about Toronto’s music scene, but they do elect crack heads mayor. That’s a hint to expect something very disturbingly wrong with those people, right? Beside the headliner, this bill is stacked locally with the roots ‘n’ roll of The Throttles, the female fronted surf garage of The Evil Streaks, and the punk-a-billy of Tony Jones & The Cretin 3. I’d go out just to catch any one of the bands on this show by themselves. The Creepshow, The Throttles, The Evil Streaks, and Tony Jones and The Cretin 3 bring the rock to Fete on January 22.
Marshall Crenshaw and The Bottle Rockets I actually saw this tour the last time these two acts toured together, and stopped at The Narrows. Marshall Crenshaw enjoyed quite a bit of success in the 1980s, as kind of an offbeat power pop solo artist with hits like “Someday, Someway.” Crenshaw has been plugging along ever since and will have The Bottle Rockets as his backing band for the night. Don’t miss The Bottle Rockets’ opening set as they completely blew me away last time through town. Check out their first two records (The Bottle Rockets and The Brooklyn Side), which were recently re-released with bonus cuts on Bloodshot Records. Standout cuts include “Lonely Cowboy,” which comes across as a redneck version of Warren Zevon, “Gravity Falls,” which is my favorite of their tunes, and “Stuck in a Rut,” which reminds me of Crazy Horse era Neil Young. The Bottle Rockets are like a country version of The Hold Steady. Part country twang, part rock ’n’ roll, The Bottle Rockets are just an all-around great band. Even the bonus cuts on the two CD set are killers, with standouts like “This is What It Sounds like When You’re Listening to Lindsey Buckingham,” and the punkish Radar Gun (1989 Chicken Truck Version) among the assorted gems. The Bottle Rockets reissues were among 2013’s best! Marshall Crenshaw and The Bottle Rockets come to The Narrows come to The Narrows Center For The Arts in Fall River on January 23rd.
Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires There are a lot of shows to be excited about in a season – hell, in any given week there a couple. That said, if you only leave the house to go to one show this winter, this is by far the one. Charles Bradley is just your average former James Brown impersonator, who decided, at the young age of 62, to release his debut, after hooking up with the folks at Daptone Records who brought you Sharon Jones. Dubbed the “Screaming Eagle of Soul,” Bradley more than lives up to the name and still busts out all his patented James Brown dance moves, often while wearing a jumpsuit. I first caught Bradley at the Newport Folk Fest in 2012, and I was about to check out someone else, but his hype man (yes, the man has his own hype man) convinced me to stick around. I wasn’t disappointed. Bradley mixes the soul of Al Green and Otis Redding with the energy of James Brown. His sophomore album, Victim of Love was one of last year’s best. As a performer Bradley has an amazing ability to connect with the audience and share the joys and pains of life. Even if you’re having an awful day, you should go because Bradley ends all his performances by going out in the crowd and hugging as many people as he can before his manager drags him away. Charles Bradley & His Extraordinaires come to the Columbus Theatre in Providence on February 6. Odds & Sods
SexCoffee, Spider Rockets, Nymphidels, Paryah are at Dusk on January 11. The Can’t Nots, Torn Shorts, and Brainfruit are at AS220 on January 11. The monthly Alt-Nation listening Party returns to E & O Tap in Providence on January 16. I’ll be selecting the music that always includes a mix of locals, hits, and obscurities from all genres of rock ‘n’ roll. Mother Falcon and The Kids are at The Columbus Theatre on January 17. Vudu Sister, Dr. Jones and The Shiners, Paddy Saul, and Dan Blakeslee are at AS220 on January 23. Deleted Arrows, Tinsel Teeth, and Phantom Glue will rock AS220 on January 31. Yellowcard and What’s Eating Gilbert (featuring Chad from New Found Glory) will be at Lupo’s on February 1. A couple of weekly nights to check out include The Funky Autocrats every Wednesday at The Parlour, and Dropout Night is back with a new home at The Spot every Monday. Congratulations to Deer Tick’s John McCauley, who married Vanessa Carlton right before the New Year in a ceremony officiated by Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac. Best wishes to the both you.
Email music news to [email protected]