BLASTFEST
The arts collective/DIY record label known as the Whitehaus Family Record has been brewing and stewing all these winter months. On Friday, March 13, 2009, they’ll be serving up what they’ve been cooking: BLASTFEST – the second annual spring celebration and showcase of Whitehaus Family artists.
Blastfest is your chance to participate in a particular congregation of energy. Whitehaus Family artists spin folk songs, poetry, sound collage, avant-garde compositions, psychrobeat, solid rock and roll, and good old-fashioned storytelling, into a yes-wave that comes out of an ever-expanding love for the entire human family. Blastfest will feature a total of 18 artists over approximately 6 hours (See below for a comprehensive list of artists).
!!!CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AND LISTEN TO A FREE PREVIEW OF BLASTFEST PARTICIPATORS!!!
For pictures from Blastfest ‘08, click here
BUY NOW AND GET A FREE WHITEHAUS FAMILY RELEASE AT BLASTFEST!!
WHITEHAUS FAMILY 2ND ANNUAL SPRING EQUINOX BLASTFEST
FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2009 / STARTS AT 6PM / DOORS 5PM
AT THE CAMBRIDGE FAMILY YMCA THEATRE, 820 MASS AVE, CAMBRIDGE
ALL AGES
$5-10
WHO’S PLAYING
Anna Rochinski
Delicate melodies dance with each other all around. They come from a girl with a voice like silkworm playing now a banjo, now a guitar, now a broken guitar… it always sounds lovely.
myspace.com/annafoxmusic
April Ranger
April Ranger is perhaps best known in Boston as the winner of Emerson College’s Nicole DusFresne Playwriting award, but she became an almost instant Cambridge favorite when she began reading regularly on the Cantab open mic. Since day one, her vivid, original imagery has been eliciting longing sighs from our audience, making her the local master of the Oh-I-Wish-I-Had-Written-That poem.
Avi Jacob
Avi Jacob writes songs with a distinct country/gospel flavor, orchestrated by haunting vocals and guitar lines that wander through the air. He will charm you immediately with lovely melody and bold emotion. After seeing Avi perform, all your days will be blessed with songs that come to you as you listen to your feet falling on the pavement.
Baixa
Pushed into the earth as a seed during the 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love, then tended gingerly through a hard winter where the iceglyphs and rimed cliffs could have spelled their doom, BAIXA pushed through the soil by the spring of last year in the shadow of a mysty mountaintop and blossomed as the dollar slowly became worthless. Brothers Samuel and Benjamin Potrykus, with friends Gregory Tellier and Chris Mara provide folk medicine for a droan sike nite of heavy bloozin.
Brian S. Ellis
Brian S. Ellis began slamming in the spring of two thousand six. Since then he has been on the Cantab Lounge Slam team twice and has represented the Cantab at the individual world poetry slam. He is the current slam champion of the Cantab and has been featured at poetry venues throughout New England. His fast paced, colorful voice is a strong addition to the Boston spoken word tradition.
Casey Rocheteau
Casey Rocheteau is interested in producing big sounds. Her work ranges from historical to purely sonic. She’s been on multiple Pioneer Valley slam teams and coached three of them. She writes simple songs and the mythology of sand, kiteflyers and witches. She’s been known to say some outrageous things. She knows that there are plenty of folks in the world who think they could do without poetry. She can’t. And she’s pretty sure those people are just wrong.
Debbie and the Bullets
Blasting out of what it was with the healthy sh-t. Trying to forget about jeans and kicks, trains and getting there late. Debbie used to sing cause he was sad. Made him feel like he was singing right into the earth. Right into some rotten ears. Then, it got heard. Now he just sing cause its what he do. Debbie’s songs sound like the ladder being kicked out and then you land in your grandfather’s armchair. Positive messages form a place that’s warmer than outside. Big heart with harmonies galore, some would be wisdom from the depth, some out twanging 7ths and open arms. Chants of friends and family. Daps for two wheels and plane tickets. Debbie and the Bullets want you to be happy. They want you to know it’s been done and yeah, it’s still gonna happen, but you got it. Sing along. Get with it. Debbie comes to us straight from Kazakhstan, where he’s been volunteering in the Peace Corps for two years.
myspace.com/debbieandthebullets
Gracious Calamity
At the core of Gracious Calamity is the blessing of two voices singing together. Woven around that are interlocking threads of ukulele and guitar, picking out half-remembered, half-dreamt old-time melodies. The resulting sound is something you might hear when you have been wandering alone through the jungle or a very thick forest, and you start to imagine wisps of human voice on the vine. It was probably just a bird or some far out insect. But because you are alone you tell yourself a story about two sisters who have built themselves string instruments out of plants and spend the days wandering and singing, mimicking the sounds of the forest.
The Great Valley
The Great Valley is a V-shaped space between Diamond Mouse and Big Dipper. On some nights, an invisible family can be heard playing pretend pop songs on the saw, but in the day, the V opens up and arrows rain down on the bears below. Make make believe; Halloween is every night.
myspace.com/kennedysgreatvalley
Gregory J. Moon
The voice of Gregory J. Moon scratches and bursts through your inner fog to settle deep in the cracks of your mind. His lyrics toss and turn restlessly in your sleep. With each turn, the song reveals a new face, winking knowingly at you as you gaze dumbstruck at the mystery you have just been shown. Listening to Greg perform is an experiment in rediscovering your humanity.
myspace.com/welcometothelifeadventure
Lindsay Clark
“I grew up in the mountains; in this aspect I relate to all mountains, including the Appalachians, the Sierra Nevadas, the Rockies, even the Lovozero Tundras in Russia. By singing, writing, and performing, I aim to make something simple, clear, and direct out of the complex and ever-changing web that makes up our lives. I use music as a gap-bridging and problem solving art, to create greater joy and peace in my life. I gravitate toward folk music — Appalachian, country, jazz, and classical-inspired songs with grounded words and traveling melodies. I am a piano, banjo, guitar, and violin player, but I feel my voice is the most natural and self-affirming instrument I have come to own.â€
Manners
“Manners is a project of Gregory Beson, who has created a constantly evolving piece of sonic, visual and conceptual art. At the forefront of the Yes Wave movement, Manners is a furnace on cosmic industry: which manufactures information of secrets of the universe to share with kindred spirits. The music is a reflection of jazz-folk stylings interloped with classical melodies, electrified momentum, and a touch of soul. The sound poses powerful emotional questions about the calm and the violence of our shared inner world. The Atmospheric performances from Beson seem to come from within you, and extend back to him as he plays. The intoxicating groove of the songs is an testament to the nature of a young man with the intent of supremely elevating the spirits of anyone with open ears.†(Brian S. Ellis)
Many Mansions
Many Mansions is the ongoing recording and performance project of Shane M. Donnelly. Begun in 2005, Many Mansions has had numerous releases on cassette and cd-r over the years; however only three have officially been released on the Whitehaus Family Record so far. The project has many different faces and has evolved greatly since its inception as a lo-fi noise tape recorded on four-track cassette. Most recently, performances have been dance oriented, blending the repetitiveness of trance, the feel-good vibrations of tropicalia and the mind-bending aspects of psychedelia.
Morgan Shaker
Morgan Shaker was raised in the Ocean on the shore of Cape Cod and grew up Listening to the waves crashing and the gulls howling. From the reel to reel tape recorder, he learned distance, from the church organ he learned patience, from the fishing boats bells he learned chances, from the stories of his family he learned how to entertain. A typical Morgan Shaker show consists of introductions, invocations, and allusions, Songs drift in and out of the ether as vibrating sonic sculptures transform and transport the audience. Whether thundering through the damp pine woods or digging for truth from the piles and piles of human words left to the elements, Morgan Shaker combines chance, fidelity, and solid songwriting, to create a sonic experience like no other.
The Needy Visions
The Needy Visions are the product of a corrupt upbringing spent wallowing around within the various nether regions of the Boston, MA area. Through some partial schooling and the chance stumbling upon of some Wire, Loretta Lynn, Temptations, Merle Haggard, Barracudas, The Band, Mills Brothers and James Brown records they have been able to lift themselves to just below the respectability line. They just don’t give a fuck. Pure rock and roll.
Peace, Loving
Peace, Loving is a supergroup founded by atomfoam and Morgan Shaker. The lineup now includes some of the Whitehaus Family’s most prolific artists in various combinations. Artists who frequently perform with Peace, Loving include: poet Brian S. Ellis, Gregory “Manners†Beson, poet Casey Rocheteau, Needy Visions/Christians and Lions bassist Samuel Potrykus, Shane “Many Mansions†Donnelly, Evan Foudray, and Gracious Calamity. Peace, Loving builds an exciting sonic and sensual environment out of homemade chime-structures, tape collage, aromatics, folk songs, sawing, Beatles records, nature sounds, poetry, and rock and roll jams.
The Points North
The Points North was founded in January 2008 when duo Saint Joe Hazelwood (Christopher Alspach and Regina Peterson) expanded with the inclusion of Tiger Saw/Fort Orange drummer Dylan Clark. As a trio The Points North compose their hushed minimalist New England-inspired folk songs with nylon-string guitar, octave mandolin, Irish flute, reed organ, percussion and the male-female harmonies of Alspach and Peterson to deliver their twenty-first century take on traditionalist country folk songs. From their home in Boston’s Jamaica Plain and Roslindale neighborhoods The Points North have played widely at DIY venues, and recently released a split cassette with The Woodrow Wilsons.
myspace.com/thepointsnorth
Shira E.
Shira E. is a poet, musician, and artivist. She has been called “one of the most original and compelling voices in slam.” She has been nominated for / won the most awards of any Whitehaus Family member. Some of these include: 1983 Professional Kitten Wrestler, 2004 Worcester Youth Grand Slam Champ, 1973 Underwater Chess Champ, 2005 Worcester Grand Slam Champ, 1948 StrongWoman “Small But Mighty” Competition Champion, 2005 Worcester Adult Nationals Team, 1908 Grandma-Breakdancers Referee, showcased at 2005 College Nationals “Best of the Rest” at finals, Def Poetry Jam Myspace Winner, 3rd Place Shira E. Look-Alike Contest 2001, showcased at 2007 Adult Nationals “Best of the Rest” at finals, “The Piano Speaks” featured on Bordersmedia.com, nominated for a Pushcart Prize (Best of the Independent Presses) 2007. Shira E. recently turned into a hot air balloon for the NARAL Free.Will.Power Campaign. She is co-founder of the band and thrill-quest the Bright Hearts Brigade. She is small, she is powerful. She is big, she is vulnerable.
The Woodrow Wilsons
The Woodrow Wilsons play quirky and clever folk-pop songs. The young Boston five-piece is beloved for its unique juxtaposition of lush instrumentation and smart, introspective lyrics. The group released their debut EP, According to the Seasonal Tilt of the Earth, on The Whitehaus Family Record in 2008 and quickly followed with a fantastic split cassette tape with The Points North.