Okee dokee folks… I am seriously worried about funding for the arts and for that matter, most other programs that rely on government resources. The Mango Moron has been putting his swishy, Sharpie signature on so many unconstitutional executive orders that it’s hard to keep track. Can Canada please annex New England? At least there they appreciate and fund their arts and have healthcare. It’s only been a couple of weeks of this shitshow and it’s already off the rails. We must speak truth to power, resist, and defy! “Journalism is printing something that someone does not want printed. Everything else is public relations.” – George Orwell. We must dissent, stick together, organize, and fight the corrupt sociopath at every turn possible. Everything we care about is threatened, Everything. Read on…
Coming to the Greenwich Odeum is singer-songwriter Lisa Loeb. She is best known for her song, “Stay” from the 1994 Reality Bites soundtrack. The song launched her career; she was the first artist to score a number-one hit without a record contract. Loeb has gone on to record much more music, appear in TV shows, film, and even won a Grammy for her children’s music. She was a Rhode Islander for a bit while she was at Brown University in the late ’80s, had a group called Liz & Lisa, and worked with Duncan Sheik, who was also at Brown. I first heard her songs on WBRU’s local music program back in 1988. She has been making great music for quite a while now! I have a podcast interview scheduled with Loeb, and it should be online by publication. For more about the show, “Monster Stomp,” over to greenwichodeum.com.
The other night, I was perusing my streaming channels for a comedy special to watch. In my search for something new, I found a new-to-me comedian, Kyle Kinane. I watched the preview and figured I would give him a try. Loved it. Found another one of his specials and watched that one, too. He’s great! Coincidentally, I just learned that he will be at The Comedy Connection in East Providence Feb 27-March 1. You can find his specials, Dirt Nap, as well as Shocks and Struts on Hulu. Watch them, and you will surely want to see him live. For more, non sequitur over to ricomedyconnection.com
Also happening at The Comedy Connection is a fundraiser to support RI’s hardest working independent social justice reporter, Steve Ahlquist. It takes place on Sunday, Feb23 from 3 – 5pm. Steve is a journalist who reports the reality of the goings on here in RI without the sway of corporate media. He covers the important stories, and he needs your help to continue this. Meet and chat with Ahlquist, as well as his friends and supporters. You can subscribe to Ahlquist’s reports at https://tinyurl.com/ mp4uejx7 (in this issue, page 9). For more, get the scoop at fb.com/events/1308004053735596
The Gathering Grounds Coffeehouse located at the Senior Center/Recreation Center at 610 Waterman Ave in East Providence is back this month for their Monday open mic. They will happen on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month, coming up: Feb 24 and March 10 at 7. Feature performances will be on Fridays and coming up: On March 21, they’ll have Allysen Callery and Beth Barron.
Boston-based Fellswater (with RI members Chris & Diane Meyers) performs traditional and contemporary music from Scotland, Ireland, Galicia, and across all Celtic cultures. The group’s instrumentation ranges from fiddle, flute, whistle, bodhran, guitar, vocals, and Scottish small pipes to cello, harp, nyckelharpa, Hardanger fiddle, Northumbrian pipes, fife, mandolin, banjo, percussion, and accordion. Their repertoire spans centuries of songs and brings the heritage of Celtic music and more to new audiences. Fellswater will have their official CD release concert for their newest recording, Making Waves, on Feb 21 as part of the University Artist Series at the University of Rhode Island Fine Arts Center Concert Hall, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston, RI. For more, wade over to: fellswater.com
You can head over the bridge and into Newport for The Jane Pickens Theatre’s wonderful selection of films and great live music. Concerts coming up: March 9 Celtic violinist and founding member of the globetrotting music phenomenon Celtic Woman, Máiréad. March 28 it’s Grammy-winning, “Walking in Memphis,” Marc Cohn. April 1 brings in legendary songwriter, music producer, & Americana/rock/country guitarist T Bone Burnett. And on May 6, Rickie Lee Jones, singer-songwriter, storyteller, and two-time Grammy winner, brings her ”Coolsville” style music to Newport. For more, A-Quid-Neck to janepickens.com
Please contact our state representatives – Sheldon (whitehouse.senate.gov), Jack (reed.senate. gov), Gabe (amo.house.gov), and Seth (magaziner. house.gov), and tell them to fight for us, now more than ever. The future of this country is at stake. “This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.” – Toni Morrison. We are going to need some serious healing after this mess…•
That’s it for now. You can listen to my podcasts at motifri.com/rootsreportpodcast and find my concert photographs at motifri.com/fuzeksfotos. Thanks for reading and listening. johnfuzek.com
Photo by Fallswater