The Buskers Blog

 

Newport, Rhode Island 6/24/09

And Now For Something Completely Different

Hey, Booboo, you want to steal some pick-a-nick baskets? Just in case you didn't take my last entry [all pseudo-scholarly] with the necessary grain of salt, you should know I'm subbing on keyboards with Lisa Young & Company tomorrow night--rock and roll at Jellystone Campground, Ashland, NH.  It's biker week, so the natives will be restless. See you there.

Excerpt From "Barking Dogs and Howling Wolves: Recurrent Motifs In the Lyrics of The Buskers"

Barking Dogs and Howling Wolves: Recurrent Motifs In the Lyrics of The Buskers; A Critical Analysis, by Gregory J. Reynolds [Excerpt reprinted below, by permission, from Eidetic Muse, Volume V, May issue, copyright 2009. Song excerpts reprinted by permission.

The earliest canine image is a passing reference in “So Dark Out There Sometimes,” from the band’s eponymous debut effort, released in 1999.  The lyric, written in the third person, is a series of narrative snapshots of an adolescent girl at risk.  The dog reference appears in the opening verse:

    She says she’s leavin’
    Her future’s double-parked outside
    She says she’s leavin’
    Dog barks and barks but no one seems to mind
    TV’s up too loud besides
    Kid sister says she pulls this all the time.

The narrator remains coolly observant throughout the song, until it reaches its emotional climax in the bridge, wherein more of the family drama is revealed through the introduction of dialogue, used here as the voice of the girl's mother: 

    Mom says don’t forget a good education
    Is one thing you’d have forever
    besides that tattoo
    Hand me my cigarettes, she says
    you’ve got to be patient
    Or you’ll end up with someone like daddy
    And a kid that’s just like you.

Is the use of the third person voice and choice of female protagonist a subconscious act of self-distancing or simply an effort to create “street credentials?”  The socio-economic background of the lyricist, Craig Jaster, is indeed inconsistent with the morbidly dysfunctional domestic environment portrayed in the song, but it is our contention that former studies have neglected to take fully into account the impact of Jaster’s experience as an educator; his choice of subject and grim socio-economic outlook here are an empathic channeling of the cultural milieu in which he has lived and worked since his move from New York City to rural New Hampshire in 1987, six years before he founded The Buskers with Kathy Zimpfer and Richard Danahy. 

High school dropout rates from the period of the song’s composition are in keeping with the challenges faced by the presumably fictional young woman depicted in the song.  In the year 2000 (one year after the song’s copyright), the dropout rate from the public high school in a former mill town close to the composer/lyricist’s domicile was over 15%, with an estimated cumulative rate (ECR) of 50%. However, for the issue of teenage pregnancy, hinted at in the lyric, “Her future’s gotten too big to ignore, but who can blame her for trying?,” we have no meaningful statistical data to reinforce our theory: in 2000 New Hampshire ranked 48th in the nation for teen pregnancy.

We detect a developing interest in the barking dog sound/image in “Will You Come And Meet Me?,” from The Buskers' second album. "Ray’s Vacation," released in 2004.  Originally written for an as-yet-unpublished play Jaster wrote and produced with young actors, the song was originally sung by a female protagonist to the accompaniment of a harmonium drone. On the album, Jaster himself sings.  In this iteration the dog is part of a scenario borrowed as much from Hindu mythology as small town New Hampshire life.

    I stand outside your courtyard
    And tap against your gate
    The stars above keep silent
    And I am so afraid
    The dogs will all start barking
    and I’ll be caught here in my shame
    but everyone is sleeping
    only You’re awake
    oh, will You come and meet me
    or will You make me wait?

The intensity of longing expressed above, paired with the image of a courtyard and gate, clearly reference Jaster’s association with the mystic Saint Ajaib Singh Ji of Rajasthan, India.  Jaster made two visits to Singh’s ashram in India (1982 and 1989), and Singh, who died in 1997, was himself a composer of hundreds of devotional songs dedicated to his own spiritual teacher Sant Kirpal Singh Ji Maharaj of Delhi, India.

In moving from the omniscient third person narration of “So Dark Out There Sometimes” to first person direct address, Jaster is clearly putting himself in a more vulnerable position, no less so for singing a lyric he originally wrote to be sung by a woman.  In this instance the barking dogs perhaps indicate the face of public shame and humiliation. But what shaming does the author/narrator fear? Criticism for his connection with an Indian guru?   It is entirely more likely that the author is referencing the ‘fallen’ human condition itself, given that in the printed lyric Jaster capitalizes the word “You” - clear, unequivocal evidence of intentional reference to the Deity.  

The third and most emphatic iteration of the barking dog theme in The Buskers oeuvre is found throughout the aptly titled, “You Dog, You Devil,” from “Spank That Tambourine,” which was released in May, 2009.  Once again, Jaster is working within a variation on the minor key blues format.  What is perhaps most notable here is the shift from indirection (as expressed through the third person voice in “So Dark Out There Sometimes”) and personal confession: (Will You Come And Meet Me?) to a confrontational modality in which the singer directly addresses the “dog.”

Here the use of repetition—the title phrase “You Dog, You Devil” is sung no less than seven times—and a rising action of potential violence combine to intentionally discomfort the hearer.  In the first verse the “dog” is “like a pebble in my shoe, like a bad tattoo.”  The second verse begins,

    You dog, you devil
    Stop nipping at my heels
    I thought we had a deal
    but I should have known better

The tension is increased dramatically in the chorus with the introduction of that potent symbol of violence, a gun:

    When you pulled out a pistol
    And waved it around in my face
    I thought I was toast
    The gun wasn’t loaded but how could I know
    That was just your idea of a joke

Jaster is returning to the same emotional territory depicted ten years earlier in “So Dark Out There Sometimes,” but here he is upping the emotional ante, shifting the focus from a third-person portrait to a personal confrontation as by adding the iconic pistol.  If we apply the linear analysis of chronological development, the older Jaster is no longer satisfied attempting to objectify or distance himself by placing the barking dogs into another’s “fictional” narrative or by placing them poetically in the distance, but is here determined to address them directly.

    You can howl all night if you like
    But outside’s where you’re gonna stay
    And you’ll come when I whistle some day
    You dog, you devil, you’ll come when I whistle
    some day

The dog which “no one seemed to mind” when it barked ten years ago in “So Dark Out There Sometimes” now has the composer/lyricist warning,  “be careful what you say/ for it might come back and bite you some day.”

In a rare interview given after the release of “Spank That Tambourine,” (NHPR, 5/3/09), Jaster explained,

"I don’t have any enemies in this world.  I’m really just talking to myself [in the song]…even then the   toughest thing I say is, ‘you have to stay outside,’ and ‘you’ll come when I whistle some day.’ That’s just discipline.  I don’t know about yours, but my mind is no lapdog.  It’s more like a bull mastiff, always running away with me if I let it."

Sant Bani School Auction/Cabaret Tomorrow Night

I will be accompanying amazing jazz vocalist Donna Jewell at this event. Sitting in with us: Dave Nix on saxes and Dave Coulter on bass.  Quite a few former students returning to play, as well--I just heard one will play some sitar!  What can I say?--an anything goes, multi-generational almost-open mic atmosphere, all under the big graduation tent.  For more information visit the  Sant Bani School website.

Just One More Nail In The Coffin

I stop by the Vintage Fret Shop this afternoon for a quick repair on a bass.  Bring along a few copies of the new Buskers cd, of course—they sold a good handful of copies of our last album, and owner Dave Colburn wrote a great review for us.

But that was five years ago.  Guitar Tech Scot Maywalt tells me they don’t sell local artists' cds any more.  Says he, “The Buskers would probably sell, but to be honest, we were really running a charity.  Nobody buys CDs any more, anyway. It’s all downloads.”

As he finishes the bass repair, he goes on to tell me he hasn’t bought a cd in years. I pay up, slip the cds into the pocket of the bass case, and head home. One more nail in the coffin of indie music.  When even your local quirky, independent music store can’t keep a small local artist section to browse through.

Well, download away, folks.  We have the technology.  But for you Luddites, we also have these quaint cds in their little cardboard sleeves with great graphics.

Mass Accordions Will Invade Park Slope On Summer Solstice

Latest from the National Enquirer: Composer/Accordionist Bob Goldberg at it again.  This ought to be so loud I'll hear it in New Hampshire.   I ought to drop everything, grab an accordion or two, and head on down myself.  I'll be there in spirit, at any rate.

Sufficiently Peculiar

Here's a blog you should visit:  Sufficently Peculiar.  Written by Henry Beer (who designed the cover of the first Buskers album), here's his descriptor of what it covers, which is pretty right on:

"Music: obsessive hoarding of, digging obsessively for, possessed by demonic visitations of, compensating for various shortcomings with, plagued by dearth of and inundation of, grieving for surrendered copies of or lost opportunities/memories of, zealous loyalties to outmoded formats/forms of, explorations of meanings surrounding the possession of, ridiculously pedagogical listings of, casual ignorance of, etc."

A recent,  typically ruminative, maybe obsessive, quirky. somehow satisfying entry involves the pairing of  record covers:

...what can I say, Henry must have some free time on his hands (:-)  He was also kind enough to mention our new album and CD release concert. 

"From the opening chords it's clear that The Buskers have sharpened their production and sweetened their sound. The vocal mix is the best yet, with terrific backup singing and the instrumentals are smoking. Not literally. Favorite song (so far): "You Devil, You Dog." (or is it dog/devil?)"

I should have titled it Devil Dog.

Spank That Tambourine!

Our new album, recorded over the last two years with Chris Westerman (Blackwater Sound) and mastered by Gerry Putnam (Cedarhouse sound & mastering), is done. I will try to get it on our site soon. It will be for sale at our CD RELEASE CONCERT tomorrow night at the Franklin Opera House, Franklin, NH. You can also just send me a check for $17 and an address to send it to and I will get one right out.  We caught much more of a live feel on this album, a bigger sound, more drive throughout, than on the mellower Ray's Vacation (2004).  We're five years older and five years better.

KZ has been in town all week and we are well rehearsed.  She's debuting on electric bass on "It Could Have Been Worse!"  I'm playing umpteen instruments: Hammond as well as piano, two accordions, (though not at the same time, I'm afraid), my Azola bass, electric guitar, and mandola on "Nobody But The Baby."   Our main man Tim Gilmore, who played on most of the songs on the album, is our drummer for the night.  I just played with him on the Delfeayo Marsalis gigs a couple of weeks ago. mm, yeah!)

I would now like to offer an apology to birthday boy Paul for accidentally leaving out "harmonica" on the credits on the album.  The boy plays a mean harmonica and he deserves credit. 

Here's A Good Gig

I present the following Craigslist offering for your enjoyment (with thanks to Paul Bourgelais for forwarding it to me*).

Guitar tech needed (Salem NH)

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Reply to: gigs-hhqsm-1146809549@craigslist.org ^{[Errors when replying to ads?]}
Date: 2009-04-29, 8:59PM EDT

Guitar tech needed for guitarist Clintone. (clintonemusic.com) I play on the weekends with the cover band Ript as well as tour throughout New England in my signed orignal band Clintone. I have a very bad back and am unable to load and setup my rig which is a simple head, 4x12, pedal board, rack and 3 guitar setup. The chosen person will get into all shows free and will be treated as a member of the band including any meals and or drinks that are compt to the bands along with $30 per gig starting pay. This is a good gig for the single person who wants to get out, meet people, be apart of something while making some extra cash. Must play some guitar and be able to setup, tune and restring the guitars. Also must hang out until the end of every show for load out.

• Location: Salem NH
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
• Compensation: $30 per show

PostingID: 1146809549

(Editor's note: It sounds like a good gig, doesn't it?.  I mean, it's not like they're demanding sex or anything. And you are considered a member of the band.  That means a lot.)

Stella Blu (Review From The Bandstand)

Paul Bourgelais and I played at Stella Blu (formerly Manhattan on Pearl) in upscale Nashua, NH Friday night. It's a long, narrow room, packed with people, lively and loud (though the new owners  are making efforts to improve the acoustics--they've put in a rug and a little sound-absorbing material high on the walls, though they need to do more); the food, “American tapas,” looked good from where we were sitting; and best of all, the staff was exceptionally warm and friendly.  I found out at the end of the night that the bartender, who knows his way around some good jazz requests, is a former student and fan of fellow Busker Paul Hubert, and it looks like not only will Paul Bourgelais and I return in the near future, but the Buskers might also play there this Summer.
 
Stella Blu--(but where did all the people go?
did the band play some Cecil Taylor?!)

And on a related note, word is that Michael Timothy's "Wine Bistro and Jazz Bar," just around the corner from Stella Blu on Main Street,after ten years or more of serving live jazz along with their wood-fired is, sadly, eliminating the live music.  Their loss.