Confessions of the Starving Artist - 5/7/08

"Confessions of the Starving Artist" - 5/7/08

Rock me, roll me
'Til my time rolls around
I feel so holy
When I hear your sacred sound
I just go
Bomp ba bomp bomp

A while back Charlene of Project Mercury was having a baby and the group had to cancel, but they said they would line up an act I would love. They gave me two names - Jeffry Braun and Susan Kane. I had heard Jeff before and Susan wasn't available. Sometimes that's it, you know? We offered Susan a gig down the calendar from there and Friday, May 2, eventually arrived. Susan is a singer / songwriter with a country folk aural hue. She plays a Gibson Jumbo very well. Her songs are melodic and range from sweet to powerful. She speaks her mind in these songs. Her voice is clear and beautiful with that country edge. Go listen to her songs on her MySpace. She's coming back, so keep an eye out.

Friday night was my son Josh's birthday, and his wife, Jamie, threw him a party at the Artist. We all wished him a happy one. I gave him a mustache for his birthday.

Saturday, May 3, 2008. Fourscore and... Well, not quite that long ago, but 11 years ago Silver Charm won the Kentucky Derby (at Churchill Downs) and I opened a silver shop called the Starving Artist Studio & Gallery on City Island. We were just a gallery of visual arts back then; my jewelry, handmade boxes, paintings, photography, pottery and small locally authored books. Well all this time has passed and we have stayed on this great adventure in the arts that now includes live music, comedy and poetry and performance art, as well as artisan sandwiches and such. So on our 11th anniversary I would like to thank you all - particularly "Aunt Ma" Marion Rosenfeld for the flowers and balloons; Cheryl Solomon and John Esser for the beautiful tulips; and Don and Millie Nester, and Frank and Cheryl for the champagne - and return all the love while still keeping it, hopefully. That's the beautiful magic of love. You can get it, give it back and still keep it. Thank you all for sharing our adventure and more of you can share the love, too.

So an anniversary party needs entertainment and we had it in spades. The amazing Nicola breezed into the Starving Artist and a party was in the air – a joint party because it was also a CD signing party for Nicola's new CD. She sang songs from all her CDs, and they all were great. She was accompanied on stage by bassist extraordinaire Jules. Together they created a sound that belied the fact that it was only two instruments. I remember thinking as I prepared food that this girl kicks butt. Her voice is a powerful instrument of which she possesses complete control and a supreme knowledge of its effect on different parts of a song. She is a master performer. The songs themselves are great art. Click the link and hear her for yourself. She's going to the top. I'm certain of this. Those that got the signed CDs (I got mine!) will be thrilled in a year or so. You'll wish you had yours. Come see her on Saturday, August 9, and get yours, too! But reserve early. There is a live podcast at her MySpace of the May 3 show. Have a listen!

So the anniversary weekend moved on to Sunday, May 4. Sundays the music is in the afternoon. I like live music on a Sunday afternoon. Debuting at the Starving Artist was a roots band of sorts. The name Spuyten Duyvil is a reference to a section of the Northwest Bronx whose name hearkens back to old New Amsterdam (now New York) when the Dutch owned it before the British translated it means "spite the devil." This is a very together band. They call themselves a group that plays original and cleverly recycled alt folk, roots, traditional and acoustic music. All that is true, but wait, there's more. Mark Miller plays a dobro, a bouzouki and an eight-string tenor guitar (custom made for him) and sings. Steve Horowitz plays bass. Sarah Banks - our first connection to this band; she and her family (husband Howard and children, Hannah and Bernard) came in to celebrate St. Patrick's Day at Starving Artist - plays fiddle and sings. Tom Socol plays guitar and dobro. Beth Kaufman sings lead with a most wonderful voice, both sweet and earthy. Then there are the songs. They cover the whole spectrum of Americana - Civil War, early Americana (like in Colonial). Great arrangements and beautiful harmonies. They hit on something very special here and I love it. I'm having them back. Trust me.

Well, 11 years is the longest I ever had a job. Thanks for keeping me off the streets. Seriously though, thank you to all who have supported the Starving Artist from the craft show days to now (like Bob and Mary Lou Lachman, and Frank and Cheryl Koller), and to all the artists, audio and visual (like Cheryl Solomon, and Don & Millie Nester, who celebrated with us Saturday), who have shared this journey with me. So, be good to one another and click the links to the artists, "click on Glick" at Neil Young's Living With War Web Site and "click on Glick" (#86 - Bitter Tears; #85 - Baby This One's For You), come out and support live, independent music, buy the CDs and downloads (especially mine at CD Baby and Verizon V Cast, give yourselves a big hug - and come in, and live right.

Elliott Glick