Bear Connelly seems no stranger to the folk scene, but the Rhode Island native has been experimenting with different kinds of sounds since college when he moved out west in hope of inspiration. Mastering guitar, piano, bass, drums, Rhodes, congas, melodica, synthesized strings and mandolin, Connelly plays under the name Talking About Commas. His raw musical abilities have always supported telling stories that captivate listeners.
Continue reading ‘Folkin’ Around: Talking About Commas’
The Low Anthem stay hungry for your love
Ask any musician and they’ll tell you that all they want is to be able to quit their day job and have their music support them. For the artist already at that benchmark, they know who is the boss of them—the fans. As the collective “boss,” the fans write the paychecks through ticket, download and merch purchases. Sometimes bands get caught up in the glory of all night drives and cheap motel rooms, overlooking how awesome it is when 20 people make the effort to be at the gig. Granted, it’s a bummer to look out from the stage and face a room that hasn’t sold out. But it’s an even bigger bummer to be in the audience and know that the band is pissed off—like the fact that the fans who are there aren’t good enough. Not true in the world of The Low Anthem; they know who butters their bread. Thankful for every loving spoonful, the Rhode Island natives punched their last time clock roughly 16 months ago and are grateful for the legion of bosses who support their music.
If you’re not familiar with their sound, the band’s MySpace page describes their ethos as, “new songs that come from old songs. vibe. providence, RI. typewriters. folk art. corn-dogs. mini-van. gospel influence. wood bats. old-time headwear. not jaded: music that is music. not an advertisement. word of mouth. drink of mouth. bourbon…”. Whatever it means, the result is music so haunting and sweetly soul-searching that the trio deserves a raise.
Our resident tastemaker, Jay Sweet, caught up with The Low Anthem’s Ben Knox Miller, cracking open the nut that is the world of a working musician.
JS: Speaking to Ben Knox Miller of The Low Anthem who is graciously talking to us from a sleepy van ride. What’s it been like in the last 16 moths for you, as far as becoming a career musician, where you can quit all your day jobs and focus 100% on music?
BKM: Things have changed. We started 16 months ago as a duo. We were doing bar gigs and residencies in a few local towns —Providence where we lived, Boston, New York, and just trying to make enough money playing in certain places that we could get to by car to just pay our rent. Once we figured out how to play in a few towns we started branching out a little bit, all very slowly, just doing whatever we could, booking ourselves. We’ve had some great luck with different national publications that found our new record O My God Charlie Darwin… a great booking agent that was excited about the project that wanted to get on board and help out and very quickly, we’ve just gotten so many offers to travel to different crazy parts of the world. We understand how incredible that opportunity is so every time we are just saying “yes” to every option that comes up.
Continue reading ‘THE LOW ANTHEM KNOW WHO BUTTERS THEIR BREAD’
Fifty years ago the Newport Folk Festival founder George Wein set out to create a festival that embraced both commercial and noncommercial artists representing the totality of the folk world. In 1959, the festival showcased an open spectrum of performances—from the immensely popular five-time Number 1 record-releasing artists The Kingston Trio to an obscure singer songwriter named Joan Baez, who emerged as the event’s breakout talent. To celebrate the annual Rhode Island festival’s Golden Jubilee, organizers dubbed the event “Folk Festival 50”. This year, the festival commemorated its heritage with folk legends Baez, Pete Seeger, Arlo Guthrie and Judy Collin as well as the genre’s future with “newcomers” such as The Decembrists, Fleet Foxes, Iron & Wine and Ben Kweller.
Folk Festival 50 producer (and Editor-at-Large for Paste and the OurStage blog) Jay Sweet caught up with Kweller to discuss the weekend’s fest, the current state of the music industry and life as a do-it-yourselfer. View the video of the Q&A and hear Ben Kweller’s sage advice to indie artists.
Home of: H.P. Lovecraft, Throwing Muses, Monty Are I, Zox, Sage Francis, Billy Gilman, Family Guy, Debra Messing, Rhode Island Clam Chowder, Wizard rock bands Draco & The Malfoys and The Whomping Willows.
Fun Facts: State colors; blue, white, and gold, state song; “Rhode Island, It’s for Me,” state bird; Rhode Island red hen
The Venues:
This past weekend saw one of Rhode Island’s best-known events—the annual folk festival in Newport, RI— mark it’s 50th year. George Wein’s Folk Festival 50 featured performances by Joan Baez, Arlo Guthrie, Neko Case, Mavis Staples and Iron & Wine. This years’ festival also marked the 90th birthday of co-founder, folk legend and Saturday night headliner Pete Seeger.
Located in downtown Providence, Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel hosts acts of all genres that are too small to play the Dunkin Donuts Center but too large for other local clubs. The 1,200 capacity venue is currently located on Washington St., but the locals all know that the original, smaller Lupo’s used to be located two blocks over on Westminster Street.
Also in Providence is AS220, a non-profit community art space with the goal of providing Rhode Island artists a chance to exhibit or perform their work in a judgment- and censorship-free environment. In addition to live music of all genres, AS220 boasts living, working and exhibition space for artists, a youth arts program, a bar and a taqueria! Stop by AS220’s annual Foo Fest on August 15th for a total sensory overload. The street outside the venue is blocked off to make for interactive art installations, food from local restaurants and 12 hours of original music featuring Providence noise rockers Lightening Bolt and the Sun Ra Arkestra.
The Music:
Santa Mamba – With influences ranging from The Beatles to Ruben Blades, the members of Santa Mamba combine salsa, son, rock and reggae to create a truly genre-defying sound. Their song “Aroma” earned four Top 20 finishes in the OurStage Latin Channel this year.
The Jesse Minute -Female-fronted punk rockers The Jesse Minute have opened for the likes of The New York Dolls and Peelander-Z. “MILO” features lead singer Missa’s strong vocals over rocking guitars.
Jeff Byrd & Dirty Finch – Alt. Country group Jeff Byrd & Dirty Finch have been keeping themselves busy playing all over the Northeast and winning praise from Nashville publishers. Lead singer and songwriter Jeff Byrd has been compared to Ryan Adams and Paul Westerburg. Take a listen to “Raining Somewhere” and see if you agree.
RAS – Husband and wife duo RAS (Riders Against the Storm) might just be the next big thing in hip hop. Their song “Speak The Truth” won the Lennon Award in the hip hop category in last year’s John Lennon Songwriting Competition.
Check out these acts and other great Rhode Island artists in the playlist below!
Who are your favorite OurStage Rhode Islanders? Where do you like to see live music in Rhode Island? Let us know in the comments!
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| Aroma | by: | Santa Mamba |
| Raining Somewhere | by: | Jeff Byrd & Dirty Finch |
| MILO | by: | The Jesse Minute |
| Speak The Truth | by: | RAS |
| Can't Look Down | by: | Zox |
| Summer Sky | by: | Live from the Sun |
| Ebb Tide | by: | Cracked the Band |
| Even The Sun Shines | by: | Talking About Commas |
| Vampires | by: | Mark Cutler |
| Dig Deeper | by: | For The Love of Sloane |
