FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE
1. THE PONY INTERVIEW WITH LARRY KIRWAN OF BLACK 47
2. CALENDAR OF EVENTS
This Week at The Stone Pony: Soulive (Friday), 80's Valentines Day Dance Party (Saturday), Streetlight Manifesto (Sunday)
New on the Stone Pony Calendar: Dirty Wednesdays with The Dirty Water Dogs (February 18 & February 25), Jennifer Hartswick Band (March 5), Bret Michaels of Poison (April 16).
BLACK 47 RETURNS TO CELEBRATE THE RELEASE OF "NEW YORK TOWN"
Called "the house band for New York City," Black 47 makes their return to the legendary Pony stage on Saturday, February 21, to celebrate the release of their eleventh album, "New York Town". Over 15 years, Black 47, led by playwright, author and songwriter Larry Kirwan, has melded Celtic instrumentation, diverse musical influences and the rough-and-tumble spirit befitting New York's best bar band. The Newsletter spoke with Kirwan about his latest release, and several other projects in the works for this multi-talented and highly-creative performer.
The Stone Pony: February 10th will mark the official release of the latest Black 47 album, “New York Town”. After all of these years, so you still get excited at the release of a new album, and it is a special experience when a new record is completed as it was earlier in your career? How does the anticipation for this disc rate in comparison with your earlier works?
Larry Kirwan: Oh, it's still very special, on a number of fronts. I remember, early on, discovering that when you release a CD you're opening yourself up to many new relationships and friendships. This happens because you're being examined anew, in a way that you're not when you're just out there playing. For me, also, there's the sense that you've finally put all those recently created stories and characters behind you. I know Black 47 fans and collectors would be troubled by this, but I usually find it a relief to throw out rehearsal tapes, early mixes, and even the original taped genesis of the songs. It's akin to a mental house-cleaning, enabling you to totally concentrate on what's next. Of course, I will revisit the recently-recorded songs onstage many times - but that's different. These songs will now take their place in the crowded gallery of the other Black 47 material, and must fend for themselves. They grow up and become their own people - adopt their own identify, become the favorites of Black 47 listeners, and even affect and help individuals deal with aspects of their lives. But, I don't have the same intimate connection with them anymore. That space has been freed for new ideas to percolate and incubate. And, I'm always restless for that.
The Stone Pony: “New York Town” is the band’s first studio CD is five years, a period of time where the world has changed in a major way. Was there any difference in the way you approach songwriting and articulating the messages on this album from ones in the past? For a band that’s always been known for its strong social and political messages, do you feel that the times are different now and people are more, or less, interested in bands with a message behind their music?
LK: Actually, it's more like three-and-a-half years. Five years does sound more dramatic, but it's a case of miscommunication between me and our publicist. Part of the reason "New York Town" took so long in coming is because the world did change. As a band. we were very much affected by 9/11. For one thing, unlike most musical groups, we actually played more after the event than before it - and we play a lot anyway. I don't know if the regular person on the street knows just how much the music business has changed since 2001. Many promoters and clubs have gone out of business. There had been a great social change inexorably rolling in anyway, but 9/11 exacerbated it. The world of Rock & Roll, as we know it, is over. People are only going out on weekends. Thus, it is almost impossible - economically - to do a full tour of the country anymore, because for most of the week, many clubs are dark except for very proven money makers.
But I digress. I had, of course, been writing and thinking of doing a new album ever since "Trouble in the Land" was completed in 2000 and had most of the songs either written or conceived. But something kept holding me back from really setting the train in motion. Then we got caught up in the drama and the aftereffect of 9/11 - in many cities, Black 47 was seen as epitomizing New York City, and we received many calls to put on shows - to demonstrate, it would appear, that the New York City fighting spirit was intact. With the first anniversary in sight, however, I felt increasingly anxious and depressed. On Sept. 11, 2002, I decided to visit a couple of churches (I'm not a churchgoer, but sometimes find the actual spaces good for reflection). While in the Quaker Meeting House on 15th Street, looking out through the beautiful old windows at the trees shivering in the light breeze, it occurred to me that I should record an album and dedicate it totally to New York City. (Don't worry, it wasn't a flash of blinding light that smote me - more like a wave of common sense.) With decision made on the spot, a vague aura of peace seemed to settle over me. The original idea was to re-record six B47 songs about the city, and combine them with six new ones. But the new songs kept coming and, in the end, we only used two old B47's.
I never thought of the album in political terms - but I am a political person, so some political elements are, no doubt, present.
Are people expecting or listening to more political messages? I think many people - perhaps, without knowing it - are sick of the general vapidity and non-originality of rock music and are looking for a deeper meaning in general to life. There is a sense of emptiness in many people, and a general exaltation of celebrity that many young people, especially, find troubling. For myself, I've never been interested in celebrity (although I've had my mild brushes with it - it's just a pain in the arse in the long run); but I do try to write songs, plays and novels so that they are layered with meaning - you can just accept and deal with the surface, if you like; but you can also look deeper and find other worlds lurking beneath.
The Stone Pony: “New York Town” is notable for several guest appearances, including Rosanne Cash and David Johansen, who’s “Staten Island Baby” has already become a crowd favorite. Were the guest stars friends of yours, and how were the recording sessions put together? Did you enjoy working in a collaborative environment, and is there any chance that some of these performers will appear during your upcoming live shows?
LK: Yes, they were all either friends or acquaintances or friends of friends. Basically, some people were just obvious - like Mary Courtney, from the band Morning Star. She had been the singer on "Livin' In America" back in 1992. So, when I decided to see what the two characters in that song were up to in 2003, she was perfect. With Rosanne, I just knew she'd totally nail "Fiona's Song". She had been going through a lot of pain herself, and I was hesitant to ask her; but she really wanted to sing the song, and is a joy to work with.
David Johansen is a quintessential New Yorker. I've always admired him. With "Staten Island Baby", there was no one else that I'd have wanted. I must say that it was an education for both myself and Stewart Lerman (co-producer/engineer) to collaborate with him for a couple of hours. He's a consummate professional but, even more than that, a really larger-than-life individual.
All of the people who sang on the CD were wonderful. And I'm not just b*llshitting about that. When each of them stepped up to the microphone, they became the characters of the songs. And they helped re-create and add to some of the real life stories. I think fans are going to really enjoy their efforts and reacquaint themselves with the singers' back catalogues. As for the live shows, who knows?
The Stone Pony: Last year you put together your first American Fleadh festival. Can you share the basic concept behind American Fleadh, and what were the lessons that you learned when putting together such a big festival-style event? Was there an inspiration that triggered the American Fleadh concept, or did it just occur organically somehow?
LK: Well, we have played Irish festivals all over the country, and I always liked their multigenerational concept. It's probably contributed a lot to our own broad-based all-ages following. One night, a couple of years back, in Chicago, at the big Memorial Day Irish Festival, I watched the Saw Doctors go on before us and deliver a great show. When they finished, about 30% of their audience got up, left and went to the various other bars on the grounds, and the place filled up once again with more of our people. It occurred to me then, that if you got four such bands that had good followings, you would have the makings of great and successful show. Put that on the road and you have a traveling festival.
I took the idea back to our agents at The Agency Ltd. and they went for the idea. My original idea was for a mobile Irish Cultural Festival, with a tent for literary readings and a stage for Irish dancers. But there were difficulties nailing bands down, and in the end it was a scramble just to get the musical concert on. The lessons: start early, deal with bands whose agents do business with each other on a regular basis. The bands were all a joy to work with. Some of the managers and tour managers were - how should one phrase it - somewhat trying. In the end, I was just very glad that all the shows actually came off. The response was amazing from the fans who just loved seeing so many good bands all in one evening. And the music was blindingly good. It seems that having so many peers there caused the musicians to play more intensely than they would have at their own individual shows. We all made many good and, hopefully, lasting friends. And the tour itself broke even - despite the fact that last summer was a rainy nightmare for promoters. We kept actual costs to a minimum and the vast majority of monies taken in went to the bands.
The Stone Pony: You’ve announced plans for this year’s American Fleadh during the month of June. Are there any specifics that you can talk about with regards to the bands that will be performing and the venues where the shows will be taking place? Are there any changes or new attractions that you’re going to be adding, or special features from last year that you’re bringing back?
LK: It's at a really sensitive stage right now. We have a headliner signed up who is a big across-the-board favorite. Black 47 will play again. We're trying, as best we can, to get two more acts who would broaden the appeal even more, while still having some strong Irish music connections. A number of very attractive Irish-type rock bands are interested. So, it's a matter of mixing and matching. For now, it's all about getting the right musical bill together. Then, we'll try and fit the literary and Irish dancing around the main event. Perhaps, we won't get it all this year, but that's my ultimate goal.
The Stone Pony: You recently published an except from a new play that you’re working on, “The Heart Has A Mind Of Its Own.” Is this a work that’s almost completed or still a work-in-progress? Do you anticipate actually staging this or another one of your plays at any point in the near future?
LK: Playwriting is an ongoing process. I think "The Heart..." is pretty close, however. The storyline is all there, the characters need a little more seasoning. Plays are fascinating, because the characters gradually become alive in your consciousness and on the page in front of you. The characters take on lives of their own, so just like getting to know a friend - or enemy - certain aspects of their psychology, physicality and psyches unfold before you. It's catching these nuances and transferring them to the stage in a dramatic form - not a sitcom - that is the real job of the playwright. I'm about to do another polishing draft now to incorporate some of the advice and ideas of a couple of friends and a director. There will be a private reading with a director and a producer on Feb. 26th. After that, we'll probably have a staged reading. If it's in some kind of open space, I'll announce it through the Black 47 newsletter, so that anyone who has an interest in theatre can attend. Then, who knows? I have a feeling that this play will get produced in the next year because of its topicality - the subject (Post 9/11 NYC and America) needs some examination. As a nation, we're walking a tightrope right now - and taking an abrupt right turn (literally and figuratively) from Republic to Empire. To my eye, participants in the arts, for the most part, are not dealing with this huge sea-change. Hopefully, this play and some of the songs on "New York Town" will give people the courage and some impetus to enter into a public discourse of where the country is at and, even more importantly, where it's going.
The Stone Pony: Delving back into Black 47’s past a bit, the press release for “New York Town” mentions how one of your shows once “closed down the town of Hoboken.” Can you relate that story to our readers and give us some of the background on that piece of the Black 47 legend?
LK: I think it was back in '94. We were out on the road promoting "Home of the Brave," I believe. (The saga is recounted in the song, "Green Suede Shoes".) We got a call to do an outdoor gig in Hoboken and were very glad to head back to "Sweet New Jersey." So, we arrived after not being in NYC for some time. Unbeknownst to us, one of the big NYC radio stations was advertising our appearance and playing the music. The authorities in Hoboken expected three to five thousand people. But the place was jammed when we got there and trouble was brewing with the powers-that-be. The Chief of Police was onstage glowering. We just did our usual show and, from what I could see, everyone was having a good time. But towards the end, we were told that the show had to stop. We refused. I don't care who gives the orders, we never stop unless there is some real cause. The upshot was that Hoboken bars were all closed down after the show, and many of the revelers were escorted to the trains and sent back to NYC. Then it became a public debate in the newspapers. I had estimated that there were perhaps 10,000 people at the gig - granted, it was so full that I couldn't see the full extent of the crowd. The Chief of Police, in a rather charming manner, retorted that the lead singer of Black 47 must have had his head up his !!XX?? if he couldn't see that there were 30,000 people present and advised me not to set foot in Hoboken again. The odd thing was - a lot of the Hoboken Police Department were fans of the band and used come see us regularly in our hangout of the time, Paddy Reilly's. Amazingly, last year, we were invited to come back and play the Hoboken Festival. The organizers were forced to cancel the invitation because of pressure "from on high." We didn't really want to stir things up again and so accepted the cancellation. After all, as Bobby Fuller once noted, "I fought the law and the law won."
The Stone Pony: One of the more personal songs on “New York Town” is “Mychal,” about Fr. Mychal Judge, a fan of the band and a chaplain in the New York Fire Department. For those who might not know the story, what were the qualities of Fr. Judge’s life that made you want to write about him, and when writing a song like that do you feel additional pressure to somehow do justice to the life of someone who meant so much to you and knew personally?
LK: Fr. Mychal Judge OFM became a symbol for so many people after 9/11. Being a public figure and the first recorded death, he personalized the nature of the disaster. Many Black 47 people died that day. For about a year after the event, I didn't feel any particular desire or, indeed, duty to write about the tragedy. In fact, I live close to the World Trades and make a point of not passing unless it's absolutely necessary. It's still like an open wound to me and many others in the city. And then, one day out of the blue, a personal dam seemed to burst and I wrote "New York Town," "Orphan of the Storm" and "Mychal" in a relatively short period of time. I've never been the type of writer who can look at a newspaper headline and then write a song about it. (I wish I was.) It seems to take time for songs to crystallize inside me. And then, the enormity of the event towered over everything. It just took me a long time to become comfortable in writing about this event. Then again, "Bobby Sands MP" took me 15 years to write.
Mychal was a remarkable man. He used come see the band in Connolly's and, from time to time, we'd engage in conversation. We had a number of things in common and he had a gift of being able to relate as if you were the only person on earth at that moment. Oddly enough, I wasn't aware of other aspects of his personality and was struck that I only knew what I wanted to about the man. There was something about him that was fascinating. He was complicated, but also had a very simple side. Although he was somewhat exotic, I felt that he epitomized much of the great qualities of New York City. He was, in the best of ways, all things to all people. Even his little vanities were endearing - he was always totally coifed and liked to be at the center of the action. But he was often like a ray of sanity in a sea of craziness. Perhaps, it was because he had been through so much himself personally, that he had this facility of being able to relate to just about anyone. I wanted to catch both him and the universality of his character coolly - in a prayer-like song. Instead of dealing head on with the tragedy, I wanted to show him going about his business early on the morning of 9/11, taking stock of his life, then heading out on that beautiful, clear morning. I didn't feel pressure to capture him in any particular way, except dry-eyed and utterly unsentimentally. Hopefully, I achieved a modicum of that.
The Stone Pony: The themes of “New York Town” were obviously greatly affected by September 11, 2001, and you were quoted as saying that you wanted to write about the city “both pre and post 9/11”. Are there changes in the city that you think are permanent due to the tragedy, and how do you think the reaction to those events has changed now that we’re a few years beyond it, and new wars, elections and plans for a new tower are becoming foremost in our minds?
LK: I think New York City was changing long before 9/11. It's still a great place and I adore its very stones. But it's not the place I emigrated to. It's still the center of the world - from a media and glamour point of view, but I don't think it's the artistic haven that it was. You don't need to go to NYC to "make it" anymore. Ease of communication and technology has eroded the city's dominance. I also would, for the most part, not recommend that young artists come here. The rents and cost of living are too high and you'll spend so much of your time working for the bare essentials, rather than attending to your art. 9/11 hastened these sociological changes. It also left a hole in the heart of the city - although, if you were visiting uptown Manhattan, you might never even notice the difference. But you have to take into account that we lost up to 2800 of the most vibrant people from the catastrophe. This loss hurts and haunts so many areas, and so many groups of people still, and will continue to do so.
That's why I've set the play, "The Heart Has a Mind of its Own," in Rockaway Beach. That area took a real body blow - but you could substitute so many other outer-borough, Jersey, New York and Connecticut suburbs. People are still hurting there, and if you stop and let down your defenses you can sense and feel that pain. We, in NYC, also want no part of Mr. Bush's foreign wars. Most of us are appalled by his callowness and crassness. He uses our tragedy in downtown New York to justify his own foolhardy military adventures. We find this shameful and totally un-American. Chickens will come home to roost for this travesty; unfortunately, it's more than likely that innocent Americans and New Yorkers will be the ones to suffer - not Mr. Bush or his eminence grise, Mr. Cheney, who ran and hid when the chips were actually down on the morning and evening of 9/11. If the rest of the nation chooses to forget this, we, in New York City, will not.
The Stone Pony: While your lyrics draw directly from the working class and immigrant experience, they’re used in hundreds of political science classes around the country. In a presidential election year where less than 50% of the eligible population will vote, do you see any increase in activism, especially with your college fan base, and is there some core message that you would like people to take away from the new album?
LK: I think that people are finally waking up to what is going on in the country. One of the problems has been that most of the population gets its news and views from television. Although, there would seem to be thousands of talking heads now, they are chattering away, saying nothing, using up the time between the really important mission of television - selling and showing commercials. But, there's a sense of emptiness all over the land and nature abhors voids and vacuums. Things go around in cycles. People might not realize that what was once a great republic is in the process of being shanghaied by a bunch of self-serving businessmen and politicians. Young people are starting to ask questions, because they don't like the world that's been handed down to them. I think people are waking up, just in time. There's a lot of work ahead of us but we CAN collectively turn this country around and restore an eroding Republic. I know Black 47 will be there to do its small part. At times like this, I am often grateful for Bobby Sands' advice: "no one can do everything, but everyone has their part to play."
The official Black 47 website can be found at www.black47.com.
Now at AsburyPark.net:
Plans for lakefront units reviewed:
The city Planning Board will continue to hear testimony Feb. 24 on a plan to
build the first units in Asbury Park's waterfront redevelopment effort. The
proposal calls for 146 dwelling units and 9,000 square feet of retail space
in a five-block area.
Thursdays at the Stone Pony: Ladies Night
The hottest Thursday night continues with Ladies Night
at The Stone Pony. Music by DJ Prime spinning the best in house, hip
hop, reggae and trance, 18 to enter, 21 to drink, ID a must! Doors
open at 9:30 pm, dress to impress! 25 cent Budweiser drafts 'till 11
pm, $1 drafts after 11, $2 shot specials all night. Comes see for
yourself why Thursday nights are the hottest with Ladies Night at the Pony!
