Blog No. 184: Pete Muller House Concert, Practical Things You Might Find Useful, More Mary Oliver

CORRECTION: Sonabai Rajawar: Indian Folk Artist coming next week

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Pete Muller House Concert

I held a really cool house concert last Sunday with Pete Muller and his band the Kindred Souls (Martha McDonnell on violin, Andy Mac on drums). I got the idea many years ago when I attended a David Bromberg concert in the Ann Arbor living room of Dave and Linda Siglin--they called their place The Ark (after Noah). The Ark still exists but now in a much more official, larger space...At that time, and still now, they attract the big names in the singer/songwriter folk roots blues genre...

I hosted my first house concert just before the pandemic--I had my friend Sloan Wainwright come play in my living room and it was a big success. I wanted to continue the trend but covid got in the way. When Pete Muller put out a call that he loves doing house concerts, I jumped at the occasion.

I personally love this informal approach. It is the way I sell my art, going into people's living rooms and showing my work in that informal setting--it is the direct contact with an audience and the intimacy that has meaning for me (and obviously for Pete too).

I took some video which I will share with you here. And if you like what you hear (they are really good!) and you are in NYC on July 10th, you may want to catch them at Joe's Pub. They are playing all over these days so check out their facebook and instagram for more information and future concerts.

Practical Things You Might Find Useful


Dogfish by Mary Oliver

I just can't resist sharing these Mary Oliver poems I come across. So beautifu, so seemingly simple and yet so profound. And accessible...

DOGFISH
By Mary Oliver

Some kind of relaxed and beautiful thing

kept flickering in with the tide

and looking around.

Black as a fisherman’s boot,

with a white belly.

If you asked for a picture I would have to draw a smile

under the perfectly round eyes and above the chin,

which was rough

as a thousand sharpened nails.
And you know

what a smile means,

don’t you?

I wanted the past to go away, I wanted

to leave it, like another country; I wanted

my life to close, and open

like a hinge, like a wing, like the part of the song

where it falls

down over the rocks: an explosion, a discovery;

I wanted

to hurry into the work of my life; I wanted to know,
whoever I was, I was
alive

for a little while.
It was evening, and no longer summer.

Three small fish, I don’t know what they were,

huddled in the highest ripples

as it came swimming in again, effortless, the whole body

one gesture, one
black sleeve

that could fit easily around

the bodies of three small fish.

Also I wanted

to be able to love. And we all know

how that one goes,

don’t we?
Slowly

the dogfish tore open the soft basins of water.
You don’t want to hear the story

of my life, and anyway

I don’t want to tell it, I want to listen
to the enormous waterfalls of the sun.
And anyway it’s the same old story – – –

a few people just trying,

one way or another,

to survive.
Mostly, I want to be kind.

And nobody, of course, is kind,

or mean,

for a simple reason.
And nobody gets out of it, having to

swim through the fires to stay in

this world.

And look! look! look! I think those little fish

better wake up and dash themselves away

from the hopeless future that is

bulging toward them.

And probably,

if they don’t waste time

looking for an easier world,
they can do it.
-– Mary Oliver


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About The Author

New York City based contemporary artist, Pam Smilow, began writing the creative lifestyle blog “things we love” in an effort to foster a sense of community during times of isolation and reflection. To read more about her and her art, visit her website and check out the essay written by Frank Matheis entitled The Sophisticated Innocence of Pam Smilow.

Source: https://pamelasmilow.substack.com/p/blog-1...