Author: andrea Page 10 of 72

A marquee first lit in 1926 is blazing once more: Providence, RI’s venerable Columbus Theatre Columbus Theatre, which opened when 10¢ matinees were the rage, reopened after extensive renovations in 2012 and has been ramping up its calendar of shows ever since.

Booking is coordinated by a collective that also helms a small recording studio upstairs. So far they’ve brought some heavy-hitters to town — last fall Bonnie Prince Billy, Bill Callahan and Cass McCombs all played in rapid succession — but they’ve also gained a reputation for an eclectic and forward-thinking booking philosophy.

Some upcoming shows that will be worth your while:

TONIGHT, March 22: Rough Francis + Ravi Shavi
ROUGH FRANCIS is a young band with an unusually heavy sense of history. Three of the Burlington, VT-based band’s members — Bobby Jr., Urian and Julian — are the sons of Bobby Hackney Sr., bassist and vocalist of the legendary Detroit proto-punk band DEATH, who crafted a uniquely fiery brand of propulsive rock in the era of MOR disco. (Their amazing story is told in the 2012 doc, “A Band Called Death.” Watch the trailer.)

Although they began as a tribute to Death, the band quickly found their own style — showcased on its rough-and-tumble, gritty debut, “Maximum Soul Power” (Riothouse Records).

Openers RAVI SHAVI kick up a righteous groove too — be sure to show up early!

SUNDAY, March 23: Death Vessel + Purple Ivy Shadows
Joel Thibodeau’s Death Vessel project is as otherwordly and delicate as the moniker suggests. Sometimes the band is just Joel and a rotating cast of guests — but these days the lineup includes Jeffrey Underhill (Honeybunch), Rachel Blumberg (The Decemberists) and singer-songwriter Liz Isenberg.

And be sure to catch a super-rare set from the reunited Purple Ivy Shadows, who released some excellent records on Dark Beloved Cloud and Slow River before calling it quits in the 2002. Do not pass go!

THE COLUMBUS THEATRE | 270 Broadway, Providence, RI 02903
UPCOMING:
Mar 28: Magik Markers with Pixels
Mar 29: Lonesome Leash with Diane Cluck and Orion Rigel Dommisse
Apr 1: Arc Iris Record Release Show with Sugar Honey Ice Tea + Chris Daltry (The ‘Mericans/Purple Ivy Shadows)
May 10: Sharon van Etten

Purchase tickets at Olympic Records, Armageddon Shop, and at ColumbusTheatre.com.

COLUMBUS MARQUEE SHOT BY ROUGH FRANCIS.

Kristin Hersh on the Places that Make Up Throwing Muses’ DNA

Songwriter Kristin Hersh has called Throwing Muses’ new album + book Purgatory/Paradise “a keyhole view of our goofy world.”

It’s also a ramshackle map dotted with places and memories — a kind of Rough Guide to Throwing Muses, or a music-based 36 Hours in…

While the band’s hometown of Newport, RI, is a subtle but pervasive influence, Purgatory’s 32 songs careen restlessly from place to place —to New Orleans, Hersh’s sirensong “Bayou Paris”; down dark Portland highways, into the Palm Desert and across sticky Coke-spattered sidewalks in Providence, RI — but they always, always return to the windswept grandeur of Aquidneck Island.

I asked Kristin to tell me about some of the places that MADE the Muses — and how they continue to influence and shape the band, which is still a beautiful work in progress after 30 years.

How has being from Newport, a tiny town at the edge of a very big ocean, influenced your songwriting?

Kristin Hersh: Everybody from an island has an island-based psychology: you know that you’re essentially safe. All you gotta do is wander around in order to get to where you’re going. Because circles are all you’re meant to move in and god introduced confines and expanses at the same time.

This is kind of metaphysical, but what places give you strength + make you feel like you can accomplish anything?

KH: Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh: you climb a hill past ruins and picnickers and end up moved to tears by heather and yellow wildflowers.

Texas hill country, where the air feels infused with potential.

Forest Park in Portland, OR, sucking down the chlorophyll.

Anywhere in Australia or New Zealand. Sachuest Point nature preserve, here on the island.

And New Orleans: voodoo plus alcohol plus forgiveness.

Purgatory Rd. + Paradise Ave. are an actual crossroad in Middletown, RI. Name 5 other places that are part of Throwing Muses’ DNA.

KH: The Bells, a graffiti-covered wreck of a wreck of a building on Ocean Drive. It’s where skaters and burnouts partied when we were in high school.

The Cliff Walk, in Newport. We’d stumble down the cliffs to hide with our friends by the water, drink beer, and play guitar and boom boxes.

Dave’s parents’ attic, our practice space when we were 14. We left spray painted messages and drawings for each other on the walls. A far as I know, they’re still there.

Second Beach in Middletown. The suffer end is for surfers, the other end is for beached whales. We hang out in the middle.

The Salvation Army on Broadway in Newport. Nobody there has any teeth. It’s where we bought (and still buy) our clothes, furniture and Christmas presents.

Places past, present, loved, hated — go with your gut instincts.

KH: Little Five Points, Atlanta, GA. Where I was born, where my hippie home movies were filmed. Where I got the accent you can only hear when I’m tired, drunk, or both.

Athens, GA, where Vic Chesnutt lived when he lived. His house was my safe house. Can’t say that I really feel that safe anymore.

Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, TN, where my family is from, where my grandparents lived and where I learned all the Appalachian folk songs on “Murder, Misery and Then Goodnight.”

The Living Room!! We opened for REM, X, the Meat Puppets and the Violent Femmes there and played our first headlining show (where they paid audience members a dollar to come in).

Investigate

Read the CD, listen to the book —Purgatory/Paradise lets you determine your own experience. It’s totally choose your own adventure, but I went for the listen first, then listen-and-read, then listen again approach. (And I’m still listening.)

Find your own way of diving in — knowing full well that, no matter how you get there, the rewards will be huge.

Buy Purgatory/Paradise
Throwing Muses on Twitter
Kristin Hersh on Twitter
Lakuna Design
Cashmusic.org
Kristin Hersh

IMAGES: LIVING ROOM (FROM ALLKINDSAGIRLS BLOG) | ATTIC BY PAUL ROBICHEAU, 1985 (SCAN COURTESY OF C. PUFFER) | FIRST BEACH, BELLS STILLS BY JORY HULL

Can you go home again?

Back in high school, I distinctly remember vowing to leave Providence and never come back.

Since then, I’ve ping-ponged back and forth so many times it’s a wonder I don’t have whiplash. And yet — there’s something about this town that’s magic. Weird magic, but magic nonetheless.

And for me, the town’s allure was solidified through music.

Two bands in particular formed the soundtrack to my Providence adolescence: Throwing Muses and Coat of Arms.

Keeping Providence Weird

Mid-80s Providence was your typical post-industrial city — economically downtrodden and pretty damn culture-deprived. But, like anywhere, there were beacons of hope around if you took the time to look for ‘em. It’s hardly an exaggeration to say that comics and music got me through high school.

I’ve seen the Muses enough, and in such far-flung venues, that I no longer even truly associate them with Providence (or Newport), or think of them necessarily as being a local band. Coat of Arms, on the other hand, bring me right back to Providence, c. 1987.I’d just moved back here from California. I’d started to get into weird comics (the weirdest I got at the time was Love & Rockets —I know, NOT WEIRD. But, context is everything, and I lived in a tiny cultural wasteland) and I figured it was time to branch out into music.

I became friends with the school’s lone acid freak, who got me into the Velvets and Eno. (That was a slow process, but I got there eventually.)

Somewhere along the way I bought a slew of cassettes by local bands like Sleep that Burns, Stained Rug Theory, and Coat of Arms.

Coat of Arms: Party Band for Weirdos

Coat of Arms stood out. They had a rep as a party band, but they also weren’t afraid to use instruments not seen in your typical 4/4 lineup (flute, banjo, violin).

And their sound was comparatively sunny-sounding and all-American, fitting in nicely with their contemporaries (fIREHOSE, Pixies, Muses, Lemonheads). Songs like “Common Ground” and “Indoor Poolz” were giddy and effervescent, equal parts power-pop and kitchen-sink glam. (“(When I) Touch You There” went all jangle-pop on us.)The band’s reach often exceeded their grasp, but that was part of the fun. Thankfully, their one-off reunion in 2006 didn’t add any gloss to the proceedings. (And no, the cheekily earnest cover of “Borderline” didn’t count.)

Throwing Muses: Fearless + Beautiful

Back in the socially awkward years of late high school, Throwing Muses’ first album and the subsequent Chains Changed EP were the most cathartic albums I owned.

Although I was also a big Joy Division fan, I preferred the conversational, open-ended quality of singer/songwriter Kristin Hersh’s often harrowing narratives — they were fearless but also approachable, humane, sharp. They felt like real life to me.

I don’t think I’d ever seen a songwriter write so matter-of-factly, and so un-self-pityingly, about some of the bleakest experiences of her life — or with such wry humor.

The Muses didn’t really fit in to the Providence scene, and maybe that’s why I loved (love) them so much. But then, I’ve always loved the outliers, the outsiders and the oddballs.

Investigate

Coat of Arms singer Pip Everett’s got a couple of bands going right now: The Hope Anchor + Everett Bros. Moving Co. Follow The Hope Anchor.

Pip also just recorded a track (or two?) for Tanya Donelly’s next Swan Song series. Not sure when it’s coming out — check Tanya’s website for release dates.

The Hope Anchor
Throwing Muses on Twitter
Tanya Donelly on Twitter

IMAGES: THROWING MUSES IN 1985 (PHOTO BY J NARCIZO) / COAT OF ARMS’ ROUST! CASSETTE (1987) / COAT OF ARMS + SUBJECT TO CHANGE FLYER, 1985 (COURTESY OF CHRISTIAN PUFFER / 1987 MUSES PIC CREDIT UNKNOWN — GET IN TOUCH IF IT’S YOURS!