Jim has covered Boston arts and events since 1978. In addition to this column, JimSullivanInk, he is a freelance columnist for the likes of the Boston Phoenix, the Christian Science Monitor, Search Boston and Hall of Fame Magazine.
The Cello Chix believe in truth in advertising. They are chicks and they - well, two of them - play cellos. Rasputina probably started this mini classical-rock fusion-cum-revival back in the '90s. It wasn't a bad idea then or now. But Rasputina was not the Chix role model.They don't do originals and they're not subversive. Nor do they dress in neo-goth garb. They just do classic rock songs - "Sunshine of Your Love," "Come Together," "Black Dog," "Light My Fire," "Paint It, Black" - in a classical manner.
We go upscale, we go downscale. And this is one of the things we love about Boston - and try to represent in this space. It's what Brian Eno once told me about "high" art and "low" art. They both existed in the same realm of enjoyment and edification. And, so we introduce you to what Whiskey Park (in photo, as human-free as you'll ever see it) would say is on the higher end of the nightlife word: "Soul Clap Thursdays," which they call a new late night option for urban professionals.
Margot Livesey on her latest novel, "The House on Fortune Street"
Thurs. May 8
Margot Livesey – a Scottish-born writer who currently the “ distinguished writer in residence at Emerson College – has written one of the most moving novels we’ve read this year. It’s called “The House on Fortune Street,” and, while compelling in its entirety, it’s not that easy to describe. As Livesey found out when she first started talking to the press about the book. Livesey told us: “I gave an early interview and I saw this pained incomprehension creep over her face. I realized I had to simplify the book and present it more as whole. To say there were four protagonists was not always helpful. So I said it was about friendship, the question of luck, and how people deal with damage. I suggested that I hope the book is emotionally persuasive. I offer some dark material, but it’s not a depressing book.”
Here, we submit, is one strange - albeit rewarding in some weird way - musical life: Guitarist Douglas Blair lives in Newburyport and splits his time between the local duo, signal2noise, and the L.A. naughty boy/metal band, W.A.S.P., led by Blackie Lawless. We asked Blair, whose s2n outfit plays Church Thursday May 8, what this was all about. He told us: "signal2noise sounds like Zeppelin, Rage Against the Machine, Rush or King's X musically, with the limitations of two musicians/singers, thankfully preventing the ongoing trend of blending twenty-nine styles together into a big hodge-podge, Our primary goal is to reach a level of unpredictability and variety that having only two players facilitates (ex: Dresden Dolls), but in a very musical manner. ...
We're just going to summarize "Fuddy Meers," the first production of the year for F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company (up Thurs. May 8 - Sat. May 10) and see if you're not intrigued. Claire lives a quiet, suburban life with her husband, Richard, and teen-aged son, Kenny. But Claire has a secret, mysterious past. That past is a secret - even to herself, because Claire has a rare form of psychogenic amnesia, which erases her memory every time she goes to sleep. (Every day is "Groundhog Day.")
Barenaked Ladies: Live, Male and Childish in Framingham
Thurs. May 8
Bold prediction: The Framingham Barns & Noble is going to be a freakin' zoo Thursday (May 8) afternoon around 3:30. No, Barbara Walters isn't coming to sign her book; Barenaked Ladies are making an appearance - performing and signing copies of their new album, which is called "Snacktime." We like the way Time Out New York describes it as "BNL’s first album created intentionally for children." There has been something - oh - child-like about BNL because a certain silliness has always been part of the package.
We attended the party at Liberty Hotel Tuesday afternoon, with Live Nation announcing its summer series of shows at the Tweeter Center, the Bank of America Pavilion and the TD Banknorth Garden. The primary booker, Dave Marsden, said they had put tickets on sale earlier this year - as well as announcing the full (or close to it) slate of concerts. This, he added, allowed people to make choices on what may - for many - be a more limited budget. It's very busy concert season, with many of the superstar acts on tour, and 12 of the Tweeter shows had sold out already. They would surpass the 375,000 tickets they sold all last year later this week. Recession? "The recession is bad economic news," said Marsden. "At some point, you do hit the wall." But that clearly hasn't happened as the season gets underway. The Boston-based shows and the Tweeter shows are up on site, sans commentary, if you hit "read more." Of note: The Pavilion now has permanent, and more plush, seating. .
Dropkick Murphys - pretty much the official Red Sox theme team as well as being our proud Celtic/punk rock standard bearers - can pretty much be counted upon to do the right thing. Whether we're talking song subject, downhome approach to fans and to rock, or to causes. On Thursday, May 8, Ken Casey, Al Barr and the boys are playing a short, free gig 4 p.m. in the Longwood Medical Area in Brookline/Boston. They're supporting Boston hospital workers who are organizing to join the state’s largest healthcare union, 1199SEIU. Hospital workers will be rallying under the slogan “Be fair to those who care.” By joining together as a union, Boston caregivers hope to improve not only their own lives, but also improve the quality of care for patients. The rally should last about 90 minutes.
Avenue Louis Pasteur and Longwood Ave., 617-282-8384
Alternative Comedy Lands in Somerville
Fri. May 9th & Sat. May 10th
Truthfully, we'd be hard pressed to define "alternative comedy." We suppose it's a spinoff of "alternative rock" which was the broader catch-all term that used to bracket punk and new wave music. So, the assumption we'll make as America's First Alternative Comedy Festival comes to town - the Somerville Theatre Friday May 9 and Saturday May 10 - is that you won't hear many jokes about girlfriends, boyfriends, driving, cell phones and mothers-in-law. When we look at the lineup we see Eugene Mirman and Emo Phillips are on the bill.
El Perro Del Mar Brings It: Softly, Gently, Beautifully
Fri. May 9
El Perro Del Mar means "Dog of the Sea" in Spanish, but it is also the moniker of choice for Swedish singer-songwriter-keyboardist-guitarist Sarah Assbring. It's not unreasonable to use another name when your last name is Assbring, we suppose. What El Perro Del Mar brings to the stage is something very special: soft, haunting, beautiful sounds that envelop and transport you. We've been grooving to her new CD, "From the Valley to the Stars."
The Wiyos Take You Back, Way Back ...And Yet Forward, Too
Fri. May 9
I read this great piece recently in the New Yorker about country and folk music, going way back to the beginning. It included one iconoclast collector who had no use for Johnny Cash - a hero in our book - because, well, probably because he was there went country went from a folk tradition to a profession. Purism is a lonely spot. TheWiyos might entice this particular iconoclast, if someone were to convince him their debut CD, "The Wiyos," was really an old 78 transferred to CD by analog technology. The Wiyos have studed the American music of the 1920s and '30s - jugband, mountain music, ragtime, swing - and written songs that reflect a 21st century life.
The pressure on China to behave in more humane fashion is amping up - can't you feel it? Not that we here in the good old USA live in a glass house and can throw stones. I mean, we can, but you look around at the greed, hypocrisy, recession and wars and well it's not exactly time to be "Proud to Be An American." (Two points if you recall that old Tubes song.) Anyway, Rick Roth - a buddy/competitor from back in my fastpitch softball playing days, a raging liberal and a t-shirt design and manufacturing innovator - is devoting a lot of his spare time to the Free Tibet movement. Roth is friends with lots of like-minded rockers, so benefits come together, sometimes at the last moment. This Friday, May 9, there's one at the Middle East Corner, with the Chandler Travis Philharmonic (or most of it) playing at 11:30. "Like playing in a slightly bigger closet with a slightly smaller band!" quips Travis. Also on the bill, Michael Bloom and Peace Chorus. It starts at 10:30: Donation: $5.
The Cello Chix believe in truth in advertising. They are chicks and they - well, two of them - play cellos. Rasputina probably started this mini classical-rock fusion-cum-revival back in the '90s. It wasn't a bad idea then or now. But Rasputina was not the Chix role model.They don't do originals and they're not subversive. Nor do they dress in neo-goth garb. They just do classic rock songs - "Sunshine of Your Love," "Come Together," "Black Dog," "Light My Fire," "Paint It, Black" - in a classical manner. 
We go upscale, we go downscale. And this is one of the things we love about Boston - and try to represent in this space. It's what Brian Eno once told me about "high" art and "low" art. They both existed in the same realm of enjoyment and edification. And, so we introduce you to what Whiskey Park (in photo, as human-free as you'll ever see it) would say is on the higher end of the nightlife word: "Soul Clap Thursdays," which they call a new late night option for urban professionals. 
s year. It’s called “The House on Fortune Street,” and, while compelling in its entirety, it’s not that easy to describe. As Livesey found out when she first started talking to the press about the book. Livesey told us: “I gave an early interview and I saw this pained incomprehension creep over her face. I realized I had to simplify the book and present it more as whole. To say there were four protagonists was not always helpful. So I said it was about friendship, the question of luck, and how people deal with damage. I suggested that I hope the book is emotionally persuasive. I offer some dark material, but it’s not a depressing book.”
uo, signal2noise, and the L.A. naughty boy/metal band, W.A.S.P., led by Blackie Lawless. We asked Blair, whose s2n outfit plays Church Thursday May 8, what this was all about. He told us: "signal2noise sounds like Zeppelin, Rage Against the Machine, Rush or King's X musically, with the limitations of two musicians/singers, thankfully preventing the ongoing trend of blending twenty-nine styles together into a big hodge-podge, Our primary goal is to reach a level of unpredictability and variety that having only two players facilitates (ex: Dresden Dolls), but in a very musical manner. ... 
F.U.D.G.E. Theatre Company (up Thurs. May 8 - Sat. May 10) and see if you're not intrigued. Claire lives a quiet, suburban life with her husband, Richard, and teen-aged son, Kenny. But Claire has a secret, mysterious past. That past is a secret - even to herself, because Claire has a rare form of psychogenic amnesia, which erases her memory every time she goes to sleep. (Every day is "Groundhog Day.")
hursday (May 8) afternoon around 3:30. No, Barbara Walters isn't coming to sign her book; Barenaked Ladies are making an appearance - performing and signing copies of their new album, which is called "Snacktime." We like the way Time Out New York describes it as "BNL’s first album created intentionally for children." There has been something - oh - child-like about BNL because a certain silliness has always been part of the package.
e right thing. Whether we're talking song subject, downhome approach to fans and to rock, or to causes. On Thursday, May 8, Ken Casey, Al Barr and the boys are playing a short, free gig 4 p.m. in the Longwood Medical Area in Brookline/Boston. They're supporting Boston hospital workers who are organizing to join the state’s largest healthcare union, 1199SEIU. Hospital workers will be rallying under the slogan “Be fair to those who care.” By joining together as a union, Boston caregivers hope to improve not only their own lives, but also improve the quality of care for patients. The rally should last about 90 minutes.
unk and new wave music. So, the assumption we'll make as America's First Alternative Comedy Festival comes to town - the Somerville Theatre Friday May 9 and Saturday May 10 - is that you won't hear many jokes about girlfriends, boyfriends, driving, cell phones and mothers-in-law. When we look at the lineup we see Eugene Mirman and Emo Phillips are on the bill.
sbring. It's not unreasonable to use another name when your last name is Assbring, we suppose. What El Perro Del Mar brings to the stage is something very special: soft, haunting, beautiful sounds that envelop and transport you. We've been grooving to her new CD, "From the Valley to the Stars." 
ay back to the beginning. It included one iconoclast collector who had no use for Johnny Cash - a hero in our book - because, well, probably because he was there went country went from a folk tradition to a profession. Purism is a lonely spot. The Wiyos might entice this particular iconoclast, if someone were to convince him their debut CD, "The Wiyos," was really an old 78 transferred to CD by analog technology. The Wiyos have studed the American music of the 1920s and '30s - jugband, mountain music, ragtime, swing - and written songs that reflect a 21st century life.
e pressure on China to behave in more humane fashion is amping up - can't you feel it? Not that we here in the good old USA live in a glass house and can throw stones. I mean, we can, but you look around at the greed, hypocrisy, recession and wars and well it's not exactly time to be "Proud to Be An American." (Two points if you recall that old Tubes song.) Anyway, Rick Roth - a buddy/competitor from back in my fastpitch softball playing days, a raging liberal and a t-shirt design and manufacturing innovator - is devoting a lot of his spare time to the Free Tibet movement. Roth is friends with lots of like-minded rockers, so benefits come together, sometimes at the last moment. This Friday, May 9, there's one at the Middle East Corner, with the Chandler Travis Philharmonic (or most of it) playing at 11:30. "Like playing in a slightly bigger closet with a slightly smaller band!" quips Travis. Also on the bill, Michael Bloom and Peace Chorus. It starts at 10:30: Donation: $5.