Highlights of 2004:
Saratoga Faire began recording their first CD with John Kribs.
The Spirites Consort were invited to play at the
Killington Renaissance Festival in
Killington, Vermont. Lise’s photos and essay of the experience can be found here.
Saratoga Faire was invited to play a concert featuring
the hammered dulcimer for Wiawaka Holiday House in
Lake George. They also performed at The Golding Park Café and Inlet Fall festival and
were approached about doing a European tour for 2006.
Lise finished and released “The Goldenrod” CD in
October. The CD release concert was held at the Saratoga Springs
Arts Center
in Saratoga Springs,
NY.
Lise’s solo multi-media exhibit, “Angel Inklings”
(at the Small Gallery in Cambridge, NY) started at the beginning of November and
ran concurrently with group Christmas art shows at Lower Adirondack Regional
Arts Council in Glens Falls, NY, Beekman Street Artisans in Saratoga Springs,
NY, and Valley Artisans Market in Cambridge, NY.
2004 was rounded out with concerts at the Victorian
Streetwalk and Caffé Lena, both in Saratoga Springs,
NY.
Lise’s
web-diary for the year follows:
January 7, 2004
A new year! A new year in which to have new dreams…
And new dreams are taking shape. It’s an election year which means that
new things are bound to happen on a national level (sometimes in the wrong
direction, depending on your perspective!) and also the year of the monkey
(Chinese astrology) in which swiftness and daring are of the essence, or so I
have been told.
We, the Spirites Consort, performed at the
Saratoga
Arts
Center
recently. We mixed it up a bit for New Year’s with classical pieces,
Renaissance pieces, old folk songs, one or two originals and “Auld Lanzyne”.
I think we were the only music group who came close to performing classical for
First Night, so the audience, noticeably classical music fans, applauded most
enthusiastically when we played in that genre. We aim to please and filled our
remaining sets with more classical music than we had prepared for.
We also sent those strolling, looking for more good music, to Leslie
Ritter and Scott Petito who were playing at the
Temple
Sinai. We are not only appreciative fans of Leslie and Scott, but we also record at
their studio.
Besides new recording projects underway, Jeff and I recently joined a new
band called “Saratoga Faire”. Although there is a slight overlap with what
we do with the Spirites, Saratoga Faire is primarily about Jeff’s and my
original songs shared more or less equally with Jim Lestrange’s and Frank
Orsini’s instrumentals. Frank is pursuing a dream of playing numbers he has
always wanted to play (but hitherto did not have the appropriate group to
perform them with) and Jim is composing some unusual pieces on hammered
dulcimer.
During days when music is not on the agenda, I have been preparing for my
November art show and getting ready to come out with a new line of greeting
cards. New art images will be posted on the web soon.
March
12, 2004
This winter
construction crews lived outside our house. They jack-hammered at all hours of
the night and day (difficult to sleep!). It was sub-zero and the ground was very
solid, so they had their work cut out for them. When I’d look out at them from
my window, guitar or art supplies in hand, I was happy about my line of work
even though it can be so unpredictable and always at the whim of the public’s
interest.
We, the
Spirites Consort, found out that we had one of the largest audiences at First
Night Saratoga (from the Schenectady Gazette). Listen up, interested venues!
In
contrast, on a Sunday morning in February we played a low-key concert at Caffe
Lena for the Dance Flurry. Attendance was low at all of the Flurry events at
that hour, possibly because the attendees were sleeping in after dancing until
2 AM
or at church. But the audience that we did have was more wild, punchy and fun
than we were, joking and jibing us and attempting to placate the coffee-makers
in the back who had made an absurdly large quantity of the brew expecting that a
lot of listless dancers might wander in needing a pick-me-up for the big dance
farewell parties in the afternoon.
One of our
most appreciative audience members was Rick’s wonderful new girlfriend who
came up from
North Carolina
. She went to the Flurry with so many layers of clothes and wool, expecting,
somehow, that northerners really didn’t heat their buildings only to find that
tank tops abounded. She was also impressed with how we handle snow, i.e. without
much fanfare. She particularly noted how we park our cars as an accepted custom
of northeast living, in old encrusted snow banks on the sides of the street.
On that
subject, the road I live on may as well be a dirt one for all of the
uneven-ness, pot holes, sand, rock salt, patched up asphalt and half plowed ice
and snow that has accumulated over the past two months. In fact, it’s more
like a safari ride and all of the big beasts are the peeling houses.
But never
mind that.
My doctor
informed me last December that, based on some medical tests, I could have
something scary, so I avoided booking any performances this Spring just in case.
As it turned out, I didn’t have anything to worry about. Even so, I played it
safe: trying to perform (or reschedule or dally with obligation) when you’re
sick can be horrible. In fact, I can’t think of anything worse because stage
work takes so much concentration. I played 2 gigs last year when I was sick. Am
I looking a little piqued at the All Girl Revue (from the photo
gallery)?
Possibly didn’t sound so great either. So now you know why…
One thing this respite from performing has given me is time
to do some visual art. Check out the cards and prints gallery for new designs.
May
8, 2004
This winter and spring have been very productive in terms
of getting a lot accomplished.
Our band, Saratoga Faire, recorded
their first 4 songs and we are proud of the outcome. We hope to do 8 more soon,
but this is a great start. We have asked
John Kribs
to do most of the producing as it is often confusing and counterproductive to
have all of us producing it at once. He produced a two-song demo of hammered
dulcimer tunes for Jim and me a year ago and we were so impressed with how he
made the dulcimer sound that we went back.
One instrumental that puts the Saratoga Faire audience to tears is “LaRue’s
Lament”. It is the first one we recorded, as many of you will be pleased to
know, since many of you have asked for a CD of it to take home with you when we
have played it at our live concerts.
Those of you who have attended our concerts know that “LaRue’s Lament” was
written for Jim Lestrange’s best friend, Larry LaRue, a friend from his
childhood who died unexpectedly last year. It is a song written for Larry’s
family which laments his passing. Jim and I will be playing it live for the
LaRue family at the one year memorial service.
Anyway, keep asking for this piece at the concerts to motivate us to get back
into the studio again.
As for the Spirites Consort, the other group I play in, we have been hired for
the Killington Renaissance Festival in
Killington
,
Vermont
this year. It has been awhile since we played a Renaissance Festival since The
Medieval Faire at the Cathedral of All Saints (in
Albany
,
NY
) closed its doors last year. But we kept busy, trying to bring this music to
other types of venues, to people who might not be so inclined to go to a Ren-faire.
We actually played this music at a coffeehouse/bar (an unlikely venue) which
specialized in acoustic pop and got a very good response. We also sold CDs to
people who wanted to learn more about the genre.
We always get comments like: “This is really unusual music.” Well, it is if
you haven’t heard much of it.
My solo CD project, “The Goldenrod”, is finally in the mixing stage. As with
the “Wing’d With Hopes” album, it is largely being produced by Scott
Petito who I trust to handle a large ensemble and a very full production. You
can get advanced autographed copies of this CD by signing the guest
book and stating that you would like to be notified as soon as it
arrives.
I have also spent a great deal of time this spring preparing for my November art
show (please check back for exact dates including the opening reception). I have
been at this night and day, so at times I feel like a virtual art factory. I am
trying to get as much done now before July when concerts, rehearsals and a
recording studio schedule take over. I am happy that what little music we are
rehearsing and recording now breaks up the routine a bit for me this Spring for
the different kind of work it entails and the social benefits. Often when I get
into visual art projects too heavily I don’t see people for days or weeks,
becoming increasingly withdrawn and indrawn, so concentrated on what I am doing
that it fills up so much of my head space that I am not easily distracted, even
by conversation! However, I know I am blessed to be making art, particularly
since many musicians fall back on temporary restaurant work or house painting
during dry spells.
Often the most enchanting part about playing music, aside from the creative
process, is practicing with my band mates, building camaraderie, ideas, various
approaches and an “unusual sound”, a sound which is about truth and beauty
first (as much as musicians can strive for that) and becomes atypical only by
happenstance and personality.
July 4, 2004
Sometimes I have a hard time staying indoors
when the Northeast finally warms up. The season is so short here and the impetus
to walk in the woods or in an open field or park is just too much. However, this
means that I am not keeping to the grindstone as much as I perhaps should be.
As I shift my daily energies from visual art-making to
music-making (including daily rehearsals, setting lyrics to music, mixing in the
recording studio), I also have to shift how I think and behave since music
requires a different mind-set and approach, requiring a more extroverted
personality than I have been used to in the last several months.
I am in the final stages of finishing “The Goldenrod”, my
next album.
I also joined the Beekman Street Artisans in Saratoga Springs
in May of this year. The street is fast turning into a vital community of
artists and shops, including galleries, studios, a restaurant and other assorted
businesses. The street will also feature an events calendar.
A lot of the direction that Beekman Street has taken can be
attributed to clay artist Amejo Amyot who came up with the idea of starting an
artist’s co-operative in one of the buildings on the street. She got other
artists interested in buying buildings and it has drastically boomed in just a
year and a half. I hope that it continues, not only because it gives a place and
alternative for local talent in a way that our downtown has done little to
foster, but because it starts to include so many from the local community and in
the process, creates commerce which is interdependent. This is necessary if we
are to stay economically viable as a city and as a nation in future years when
shipping goods from half way around the world ceases to make much sense (as gas
and shipping prices rise and sources for oil dwindle).
In fact, we are one of the few small cities in
New York
State
which have not succumbed to being ruined because of suburban big box stores and
McRestaurants. This is due, in large part, to the fact that we have a large
tourist population in the summer which keeps us in the green. However, even the
tourists will dwindle when the oil crisis hits (as it will, I believe), and we
will need our local talent and resources to fill in the gap of decreased
manufactured goods.
So, I am very happy to be part of this community (and
movement) at the ground level.
Those of you who know me well, know that I am a big fan of a
local writer, James Howard Kunstler, whose
slant on the American landscape got my attention last year. I believe that his
book “The Geography of Nowhere” (available in Border’s from coast to
coast) is a must-read for every American.
I also avidly follow his acid, but very credible, on-going
commentaries about specific issues related to civic design, architecture, the
looming oil crisis and national events located on his website.
I came upon the work of Kunstler by the act of traveling. I
looked around and became dismayed and vocalized that dismay rather emphatically.
My music partner, Jim, heard me and bought me a copy of “The Geography of
Nowhere.”
I can tell you my thoughts at that time. I wondered why we were
choosing (or letting happen) our claustrophobic lifestyle of parking lots and
traffic jams and all of the accoutrements associated with it: a
preference for asphalt, cheaply made buildings and street lights over
just about any other construction for civic life. This, of course, includes
making our countryside into a wasteland of boxy, aluminum sided architecture so
prevalent in suburban-type houses and stores, the newer prison-like schools,
courthouses, libraries, stations and other public spaces, the shack-like road
side stands, the strips and signs that are taking over every corner of our
country and which are all part of erecting, what Kunstler aptly calls, a
“national automobile slum”. Besides the sheer ugliness of it, the
direction of this way of life has to be severely misguided in light of the
looming oil crisis.
Perhaps I am particularly sensitive to architectural issues
since, during my childhood, I watched my father, an architect and activist,
fight to keep our small city from conducting its “urban removal” programs, a
severe and virtually unproductive demolition of older, ornate, stately buildings
for new inhuman cheaply made modern architectural “boxes.”
Our city, ultimately, turned out to look like a city under
siege, between the approved systematic destruction of many downtown buildings
and the arson fires of the rest of them. A downtown marble building of five
stories with huge white pillars, perfectly sound outside and functional inside
(with existing businesses and offices), was replaced with a glass and steel mall
with adjacent parking garage which eventually failed. The city block where I
resided during college years contained many Victorian houses and 1920s era small
brick apartment buildings. They all went up in arson fires building by building
during the two years I lived there until our house and the one next door were
the only ones left standing. Our house reached its demise too after I had moved
out.
Now that our upstate downtowns have been ruined, we are trashing
our countryside as well with ugly buildings, lots and poor planning.
The Victorians built to complement natural surroundings,
choosing shapes, materials and colors that would go with the surrounding plant
life. Today we are hell-bent on erecting structures that wipe it out,
complementing our garish hard-edged road signs or the trailer or truck. At best,
our modern architecture tries to soften up these eyesores by a few landscaping
islands (rarely works).
And why are we trashing our countryside? Predominantly to make
way for big box stores like Walmarts. The large tracts of land are needed to
provide space for the steady and diverse stream of low-cost goods made in China
by workers who earn, on average, 19 cents an hour (China, the Communist country which had no compunction about marching into
Tibet
to destroy a culture and kill off its peace-loving citizens). Never mind that
you have to have a $10,000 car to go out of town to buy these cheap goods from
China, never mind that you also have to add on the cost of your own fuel to the
price of your cheap goods, never mind that you have to pay more in taxes to pay
for the unemployment of US citizens who used to manufacture these goods, never
mind that you too are losing your job because it is being outsourced to another
country, never mind that these businesses are wiping out nearby farmland we may
need some day when we will no longer be able to ship in food from far away
lands, never mind that it obsoletes manufacturing plants (and the knowledge
required to make goods). And while we’re at it, let’s not forget that these
mega-stores require lots of shipping and trucking, which is not only wasteful of
the finite amount of oil our world possesses, but will add more and more cost to
goods as gas prices ascend to ever higher levels and as China becomes more and
more industrialized and has to compete with us for the dwindling oil supply. It
becomes very expensive to buy cheap goods after all.
This is the ultimate premise of his writings: the mismanagement
of funds into business ventures and structures that are ruining the
USA. I say he is a “must read” for all Americans because his treatise is
pertinent to every town, city and small business across the country. Here is a
voice warning us of what future most of us are unconsciously building and if we
don’t heed some of his advice, we won’t have much of a future to look
forward to.
Not only does he warn of where we are going with our zest for
building without any thought towards future consequences, our local economies,
ecology, aesthetics or community, but he gives us a history of what cities and
small towns were like before the big boom in large buildings, suburban
infrastructures and highways took place at the beginning of the 20th century.
September 3, 2004
My CD is now in production and should be arriving in 14
days from now, give or take! Please join me for the CD release party on
Saturday, October 23rd at
7:30 pm
with both of the bands I play with (The Spirites Consort and Saratoga Faire).
Some of the illustrations featured in the CD (I really went overboard with
providing a mini art show inside the CD sleeves) will be featured with other
works at the Small Gallery, 25 East Main Street, Cambridge, NY (the site of
Hubbard Hall) from November 6 through November 19. Please join me for the art
opening, to be announced soon.
As for our summer:
We were concert-goers in July and one of the acts we saw
was Sara Milonovich, of our area, and Greg Anderson at a sold out concert at the
Fish House Community Concert Series. Our group, Saratoga Faire, played it last
year. It was a phenomenal performance of Cape Breton, Irish, Eastern European,
New England, Appalachian and original fiddle tunes. Sara has jaws dropping amongst our
area's other fine fiddlers. I had heard about her for years through other
musicians, and once I saw her, I had the distinct feeling that she is going to
go somewhere in the music business and will be in hot demand in the coming
years. I am glad that we were able to see her at the beginning of her burgeoning
career.
At the end of the month, Jim, Rick and I played a concert featuring the hammered
dulcimer at
Lake George's Wiawaka Holiday Resort. Jim, our hammered dulcimer player for both Saratoga
Faire and lately for The Spirites Consort, sold a lot of CDs at that concert,
attesting to the fact that hammered dulcimer is a popular instrument.
I still don’t know how Jim plays that thing (I have tried
it). I conclude that I don’t have a knack for it because it isn’t tactile
enough, as much as guitar and cello are. I have found that the relationship
between a finger board and hammers is similar to that of pottery-making versus
glass-blowing: one is tactile, one is not, one I prefer to spend my time doing,
one I don’t (and find frustrating!).
The next two weekends, we (The Sprites Consort) played at
the Killington Renaissance Festival. You can see photos and essay of our
experience at the festival here.
We (Saratoga Faire) rounded out August with a performance in Cobleskill at the
Golding Park Café (moved from the park because of rain). Check the schedule
for more upcoming performances.
A few days ago I was looking at the Saratoga Springs
telephone directory and admired the painting on the cover of it. I looked
inside to find out who the painting was by (it was painted by Harry Orlyk) and
read the blurb about the cover. I was struck by the following words: “He is as
intent to make his work a language or a process, communicating feelings for the
land, as he is the maker of products depicting it. Mr. Orlyk lives and works
locally in
Washington County,
New York where agriculture, in all its variants, has so far crowded out sprawl and
‘The Geography of Nowhere.’” Since I have expressed a similar view-point
in this website, I found it particularly notable.
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