Matt Heckler, Hank Isabelle and Hannah Waltz
I had set up a show for friends, one that actually paid out real cash. It was 300 bux for a few hours of playing music, between three people, an hour south of where Hank and Hannah were and about 2 hours where Matt had to drive. My friend Phillip had told me about this place, located in a small town, with a small college, though I noticed that he booked in redneck bars where the company ordering drinks didn't pay attention to the talent on stage, which left the performer disjointed,as well as confused, trying to rile up a crowd of drama ridden walmartians, who were ending the work week by drinking heavily at a fluorescent lit watering hole. But what do you expect- Amerika!- while they essentially ignored the music being played for them.
Matt had gotten there way early, and he didn't like the look of the place, kept texting me things like ' I gotta bad feeling about this'' , " Shit, Tania, there isn't anyone here, except for two men at the bar, one is yelling and the other one is crying.", "The angry guy just left, and the guy is still crying by himself", " Make sure you bring your stabby stick", "Where the hell are you all?!!!!"
I have this habit of flaking real bad, I have set up shows and just not attended, even, and I wanna blame my Gemini-ness, and but also the fact that I am dealing with grown ass adults, who can handle themselves. And really it was rainy, and I was thinking I wasn't gonna go. But recording Matt and Hank and Hannah, who haven't played together, at least in a long time, and they discussed what to play by phone or text anyways, so,- made the need to record such a get together, important. Cause really, its not like they were gonna play again, like this, and the need for recording now was strong.
Now Matt looks like your typical ginger fiddler, tattoos when he rolled up his sleeves, and perhaps a deal with the devil for the right to play like how he plays, my god. Hank and Hannah rolled in, Hannah being sweet and beautiful and tattooed, dressing the part of old time women on banjo. Hank is a tall and substantial guy with his muscles and shitty tattoos, and nicer ones on his face, and band t shirt, good boots that made him taller, and whatever dumb trucker hat- I think he had cut off his dread mullet at this point, but he looked like you didn't want to fuck with him, or his lady, or his friends, which is good, cause I did bring my stabby stick, at Matt's suggestion, but it seemed that unless things got out of hand and all Blues Brothers, it was just gonna be them playing, people ignoring, there wasn't chicken wire guarding the stage, anyways.
Mostly at these places, there is a feeling in the air- sometimes the bar is jovial, sometimes its fighty. There is a large amount of feelings due to alcohol, and the vibe can turn on a dime.
..but this was good, Matt and Hank and Hannah played and the people wallowed in alcohol feelings.. and I left. Pretty much I wasn't drinking and I had gotten enough old time in me and my recording device to last awhile. I checked with the bartender to make sure they had the money to pay my friends, then checked in later with Matt, or Hank and made sure that they did. Honestly wasn't gonna have any leeway about if they didn't other that having to drive down and handle it in a breaky breaky kinda way, which woulda sucked, but everyone turned to be pals at the end, they got paid, got more alcohol in em, all was well.
Matt had gotten there way early, and he didn't like the look of the place, kept texting me things like ' I gotta bad feeling about this'' , " Shit, Tania, there isn't anyone here, except for two men at the bar, one is yelling and the other one is crying.", "The angry guy just left, and the guy is still crying by himself", " Make sure you bring your stabby stick", "Where the hell are you all?!!!!"
I have this habit of flaking real bad, I have set up shows and just not attended, even, and I wanna blame my Gemini-ness, and but also the fact that I am dealing with grown ass adults, who can handle themselves. And really it was rainy, and I was thinking I wasn't gonna go. But recording Matt and Hank and Hannah, who haven't played together, at least in a long time, and they discussed what to play by phone or text anyways, so,- made the need to record such a get together, important. Cause really, its not like they were gonna play again, like this, and the need for recording now was strong.
Now Matt looks like your typical ginger fiddler, tattoos when he rolled up his sleeves, and perhaps a deal with the devil for the right to play like how he plays, my god. Hank and Hannah rolled in, Hannah being sweet and beautiful and tattooed, dressing the part of old time women on banjo. Hank is a tall and substantial guy with his muscles and shitty tattoos, and nicer ones on his face, and band t shirt, good boots that made him taller, and whatever dumb trucker hat- I think he had cut off his dread mullet at this point, but he looked like you didn't want to fuck with him, or his lady, or his friends, which is good, cause I did bring my stabby stick, at Matt's suggestion, but it seemed that unless things got out of hand and all Blues Brothers, it was just gonna be them playing, people ignoring, there wasn't chicken wire guarding the stage, anyways.
Mostly at these places, there is a feeling in the air- sometimes the bar is jovial, sometimes its fighty. There is a large amount of feelings due to alcohol, and the vibe can turn on a dime.
..but this was good, Matt and Hank and Hannah played and the people wallowed in alcohol feelings.. and I left. Pretty much I wasn't drinking and I had gotten enough old time in me and my recording device to last awhile. I checked with the bartender to make sure they had the money to pay my friends, then checked in later with Matt, or Hank and made sure that they did. Honestly wasn't gonna have any leeway about if they didn't other that having to drive down and handle it in a breaky breaky kinda way, which woulda sucked, but everyone turned to be pals at the end, they got paid, got more alcohol in em, all was well.
Outlaw Ritual from Brooklyn, NY playing on Church st, Burlington VT.
Olivia on bass and Wilder doing the one man band thing that you see usually solo. Drum pedal on a suitcase, and a stringed piece in hand. Their dog Emma in tow. ..They live in Brooklyn now, but have traveled America in a small schoolbus repainted and repurposed. Playing music and making connections.
In 1900 they were everywhere. Singing on street corners, in front of circus entrances, or just moving down the dusty roads of the South, playing anywhere a crowd might be cajoled into donating a dime to the cause. To survive they played any request--ballads, popular tunes, white hillbilly music, hymns, and the newly emerged blues. Songsters were the first folk musicians to be "professional." Southern social occasions required a wide variety of music and the songsters strived to fill the need. Essential was the ability to provide a steady dance beat, but on the street corner a sentimental number could bring forth both tears and coins. By the 1930's, however, the songster was becoming a thing of the past, nudged out by an expanding national entertainment industry that reached into the deepest parts of the South. Most songsters faded into the past. A few waxed recordings, leaving a tempting glance into their world--and many questions.
the Resonant Rogues from Asheville NC, playing Church St, Burlington, April 27 2013
Church Street acrobat June 2013
Church Street July 31st 2013 burlington, vt
bass guitar trumpet accordian
Drunken Catfish Ramblers on church street, burlington, Vermont July10th 2013
Railyard Ghosts, Portland Maine..June 25th 2013
Members of Up Up We go, Belligerence, Minor Flail, Elder Scrolls, playing music on Church St, Burlington, Vt in june 23 2013
Eli and Sal Geloso from Up Up We Go..Burlington Vermont, June 23rd 2013