SOME WICKED: Dashiell Brown's Blog

RN Wagner is St. John’s spoken word aficionado. He came onto my show to do so some of his clever raps and talk about his fundraiser, The Anything Goes April Fools Showcase & Community Project Tour Fundraiser, to create funds for community art projects as well as a play that was put on by the “resilient youth” from For the Love of Learning. (Anecodote: Robin Grant, the Director, is Jenn Grant’s sister–she’s coming here in May, see mightypop for details.) The play was on the same night as the RPM Listening Party, which RN Wagner also did an album for, and we played some cuts from it on the show. (You can listen to my own project Circuit Tree on my site or on this blog.) 

Here’s Part 1. Here’s Part 2.

Press Release from facebook:

“These fundraisers are to create funds for Community Arts Projects such as…Publishing Ongoing Arts Books, Permanent Free Jam/Arts Spaces, Free Audio Demo Recordings, Film workshops/projects. 
The money raised in Newfoundland, stays in Newfoundland. I will be going to Ontario for a month doing more fundraisers/projects for out there, and then making my way back with a few others visiting community centres, schools, and other partnering organizations/groups/individuals who wish to contribute to these ongoing projects. 

Any help and guidance will be greatly respected. There will be a review of the updated news as things progress further. So far the places of visit are…

Newfoundland:
For The Love of Learning, St. John’s

Ontario:
Lighthouse Youth Shelter, Niagara Falls
The Raft Shelter, St. Catharines
Welland
Hamilton
Milton
Guelph
London
Toronto
Barrie

April 1st Schedule & Slam:

“Remember the dope jam slam that Neil Conway throwed down last year, this is kinda like that, there is also a format for the closing round, where the others competing get to try and mess yer stuff up without using physical contact or sound, anything goes, like a jar of mold and pictures of relatives young and old.” -RN WAGNER

5-7PM 
Silent auction, Poetry Slam and music Sign Up

So far there will be art auctioned by works from…… Alison Rideout, Robert Keyes, Sakurah Horwood, Joey Pynn, Jamie Michelyn…more TBA

7-8PM (Round 1) Open-Poetry Slam 
Confirmation List of Performers….

- The Wham Bam-a-Lamer Riley Fitzgerald aka ‘THE RIT’
- The Influence and Anonymous Poet
- Nathan Doucette, YoungBlood
- RADAR
- JOHNNY HARDCORE
- CYRUS CLARKE
- BOOGYMAN BRAND
- Stan Nochasak
- Deborah Jackman (Debtress Janewoman)
- Johnny Lewis
- YOUR NAME HERE
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8-9PM Music Showcase

- Dave Knill
- Hot Facets
- Stu Jones
- Patrick Molloy
- Matthew Hornell
- Johnny Hardcore
- Radar
- Liam Fitzgerald
- Sarah Stockley
- DowJonesNow

9pm !!!! (Final ROUND) Anything Goes Poetry SLam

Hosted by: RN WAGNER & 

Soundman: Jonathan Norris ( J FROST )

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 I just finished my new folktronica album, Of A Time. Influenced by Eastern European sounds, folk music, blues, indie rock, and electronica.

There’s a little interview from The Scope below.

You can listen to the album here.

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     Last night in St. John’s was the latest best show you never saw, unless you were there, and it was packed. I knew it would be a good show after I interviewed Geoff Berner ‘cause he’s quite a character. (Here’s my podcast of our conversation. Here’s my article in Current Magazine, pg 5.) And an incredible performer. Here’s a guy who knows how to interact with his audience, get ‘em dancing, get ‘em drunk (not that locals here have a problem doing that, they never need encouragement) and get ‘em talkin’. That’s what I’m sure lots of people are doing today: talking about last night. Talking about Berner’s dynamism, Davies’ insane fiddle playing, Adams’ smile that was plastered over his face for the whole show, man they had fun and so did we. But why it was a seminal show is because the audience was psyched, excited, chomping at the bit for more. Shit like this doesn’t drift into town too often, and everyone that was there knew it. The highlight was when Allison Corbett and Leila Qashu got up on stage, and the women had a threesome! (of fiddlers, that is.)

     The only reason I even saw the show was because his new release, Klezmer Mongrels, was sitting on the shelf there at CHMR, and I put it in for a new spin, I couldn’t resist the cover with the breastfeeding dog and the tentacles. When I heard the “dirty” klezmer pouring out of the speakers, I was hooked. This guy is one of the most original artists out there, and one of the most fun. I’m also a big fan of Klezmer, which I saw tons of bands while living in New York City and going to the Knitting Factory. I took my date (now my wife) to the New Orleans Klezmer Allstars, but I was into Klezmer way before I went to New York. I was a folk dancer for about 20 years in Solvang, the Danish capital of America, getting in the garb with the tassels on the knee-high pants, the lederhosen during Oktoberfest. (Solvang is about 45 min North of Santa Barbara, CA. See the movie Sideways and Solvang is a few minutes from Sideway’s Los Olivos and Santa Ynez Valley, home of the Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch (I went to high school there.) Want to see Solvang? Check out Ethan Turpin’s Youtube channel, Bright Eye Cinema; he was also a member of the Solvang Village Folk Dancers, still in operation today run by my dad. One of the dancers would always bring his accordion to our house and play tunes.) I also played clarinet in high school, so that might be another reason I was attracted to the sound. The majority of the music I danced to as a kid came straight out of Eastern Europe and the Balkans, and of course Scandinavia, where Berner is apparently going to visit now that his tour his over. And if you want to hear some great music, check out Scandinavian bands like Garmarna, Hedningarna, and anything else on the Nordic Roots Sampler. The most wicked thing about some of this music is the prominent sound of the nyckelharpa,

put it together with techno and you have some of Garmarna’s best tunes. It’s off the hook. Garmarna is the band that inspired me to do my own blend of electronic folk. (See Circuit Tree.) But since I’ve been dancing in the streets as seen in Turpin’s vids, it’s clear to see why I was so attracted to the Swedish sound, it’s velvet on your tongue. We actually have our own version here in St. John’s called The Dardanelles who are clearly inspired by Scandinavian music. Also, when the throat singers perform here at the Storytelling Festivals, very similar origins, being way up North, there’s some throat singing on the Nordic Roots Sampler by a band called Wimme. Read the book Out of Tuva for more about throat singing and just search it on Amazon. Also check out Sainkho, who’s Tuvan and does some crazy improv throat singing. See? You start writing about Klezmer and you get to Tuva. The joy of writing…it’s the process, not the product. I think that’s why blogs have taken off the way they have. Every single one of us is a writer.

oh, wanna see some crazy stuff, a bunch of women playing tons of accordions and banjos? check out the bonus features on the latest Jazz Singer DVD. there’s all these crazy vaudeville acts, you get to see what people did when there wasn’t the media onslaught of today. for fun, people actually got off their asses and went outside.

and have you heard Bruce Peninsula yet? Arcade Fire meets Nick Cave. check it.

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I just finished my album for the 2009 RPM Challenge, and here are a couple of  tracks as a sneak preview, part electronic, part folk. enjoy!

Suzie and Fred.mp3

Happy Little Song.mp3

here’s an article about where my inspiration comes from

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