The Junior League Band (or this particular version of it) rolled through our Kitchen on their way to the Fiddler’s Grove Festival which was started by lead singer Lissy Rosemont’s family almost a century ago. There was all sorts of talk about moonshine and tents and campfire jams and we were excited that shooting our session would kick off such a fun weekend for them. Lissy and Faye Petree, who accompanied her on fiddle, couldn’t have been more charming or entertaining. Lissy and her band, now based out of Washington, DC, are getting all sorts of press lately as they prepare to release their new album and Lissy prepares to get married. We wish them all the best in their endeavors, but as you can see from their video, they’ve got this thing down. On a side note, Lissy has a Master’s from Georgetown in physiology and biophysics. I think that’s a first for the Kitchen series! More photos on our flickr page. Read Post
Anna Vogelzang came to our Kitchen session on a beautiful afternoon in April. We couldn’t bear to pull out the hot lights and crank up the kitchen. Luckily, Anna and her co-conspirators Guy Capecelatro and Megan Huddleston were game for whatever we threw at them. So, we dragged a light downstairs and set up on our front porch while keeping an eye on the darkening skies around us. Although we sort of hoped for some rain as a backdrop to Anna’s beautiful songs, we were relieved that a thunderstorm didn’t shut the whole thing down before we were done. We really enjoyed meeting all three of these cats and all of their cd’s have been on rotation in our house since they left them with us. If you haven’t checked out Anna’s video yet, take a listen and enjoy. Read Post
Last weekend Monkeywhale Productions teamed up once again with Mark Wagoner Productions for our first ever 48 Hour MWP Collaborative film, “The Adventures of Martin Dockery, Horologist”. I think it’s safe to say we had more fun in one weekend than we ever thought possible. A tireless and utterly amazing cast and crew made movie magic happen and we couldn’t be more grateful to every single person who helped us this year. From last minute Red Bull runs to miniature horse wrangling to telegram designing to bagel delivering to on the fly music composing to race car driving to the drop-off, this movie was a true labor of love and a collaboration of the highest form! Read Post
The boys from Steel Train are sitting in our living room laughing about some really funny crank calls they’ve just made from the road. Relaxed and laid-back, young and polite, these guys don’t seem like what you might imagine as rock stars. Once they start playing, though, their talent, confidence, and ability to nail each take regardless of how worn out they are from traveling is clear. Pros, you could say. Luckily, there’s a lot of laughing and silliness and, much to our delight, they don’t even complain when we have Driveway hit them with the van. Read Post
Molly McGinn has been in our Kitchen at least four times in the last year and a half and I must say that it’s always a great pleasure. A few weeks ago she stopped by with Molly Miller for their official Amelia’s Mechanics session. Lovely, lovely ladies. Beautiful songs. Great playing. Lots and lots of laughing. Amelia’s Mechanics is getting big fast and we couldn’t be happier for them. Stay tuned for more videos and photos as we attempt to document their journey. More photos from this session can be seen on our flickr page. Read Post
A few weeks ago Monkeywhale and our friends at Goodship Records teamed up to put on a pretty bad ass music show at a little place we like to call The Blind Tiger. Now You See Them, The Silent League, Pearl and the Beard, and Crystal Bright and the Silver Hands came from as far away as New York and as close as right here in the ‘boro to beguile and enthrall us for an evening. And boy, did they! If you were there, you know it was quite an amazing night and if you weren’t, well, we hope to see you next time. Many thanks to all the bands, Jamie Coggins, the Blind Tiger crew, our ever helpful and beloved Monkeywhalers Donna Smith and Barry Staples, and all of you who came out once again to support live, original music. For you curious types there are more photos on flickr. Read Post
Lovely, lovely, people. Amazing musicians. Good sports. Serious badminton players. Thank-you note writers. The David Wax Museum. Check ‘em out if you haven’t already and be prepared for great joy. Also, keep your fingers crossed they might be back for our next Save the Monkeywhale Festival. Ladies, that amazing dress worn by Suz (on and off the court) is made by Melanie Renee. More photos from their visit can be seen on our flickr site. Read Post
Joshua West braved the kitchen on a hot day waaaay back in July. Notice green trees and healthy plants in his video. (Luckily he’s a patient man. And longtime friend of Harvey.) Joshua’s music is downright lovely and if you live in North Carolina you might have been lucky enough to hear him play at various fine establishments over the years. Josh has an electric band, too, and word on the street (or his Twitter feed to be exact) is that finishing touches are being put on a new album. We are looking forward to it. Here are a few shots (with more on our flickr site) from Joshua’s visit last summer. A fun afternoon all around.
Joshua West, Harvey's Kitchen
Joshua West, Harvey's Kitchen
Joshua West, Harvey's Kitchen
Joshua West, Harvey's Kitchen
Joshua West, Harvey's Kitchen
Joshua West, Harvey's Kitchen
Joshua West, Harvey's Kitchen
Joshua West, Harvey's Kitchen
For the past year or more the hot buzz words and phrases such as, “literally” “at the end of the day” have been able to lend credence to otherwise nonsensical statements of nonfact or just plain made up points of opposition on what we now call the news. It’s been fun. If the term or words enter into discourse you can be pretty certain that the speaker is either making it up or so supremely confident of their position that they’re ignoring any other evidence to the contrary.
Well, a new term has arisen. “It is what it is.” I rather like this. It pretty much sums up just how miserably disappointing our economy and the consequences thereof can be. It’s a sign of the times. It is what it is. Of course as we delve deeper into the use of this expression of general apathy a pattern of not explaining things fully has emerged.
From pundits to celebrities to the commentary on national and international disasters, it is what it is. Not preventable or avoidable. They all simply are.
Keep your chins up.
It is what it is
This week Monkeywhale and Mark Wagoner Productions joined up (you can call us MWP, in fact) for a very exciting shoot at the Weatherspoon Art Museum documenting the artist Leonardo Drew during the installation of his current touring exhibit, “Existed”. To say we have been inspired by this project is an understatement. The exhibit itself is huge and complex and breathtaking and to get to witness firsthand the artist who created it working closely with the tireless Weatherspoon crew to bring the whole thing to life, has been an amazing experience. We are so thankful to our dear Monkeywhaler Heather who helped get this project underway for us. Heather and her co-workers at the Weatherspoon are a wonderful sight to see in action and we are very grateful to them for putting up with us all week as we attempted to document a process and an artist who are like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Of course we offer special thanks to Leonardo Drew who welcomed us (and our cat Leo) with open arms and has been more thoughtful, kind and gracious than we might have ever hoped for.
Tomorrow night kicks off opening night of the exhibit with a sold-out artist’s lecture at 6pm followed by a reception from 7-9pm. If bad weather keeps you away (which we hope it won’t) the exhibit will be up until May 9th and I promise you that you don’t want to miss it. Be prepared to lose your mind a bit. That’s what it’s all about, right? Here are a few sneak peeks from the last few days. Video coming soon.
Leonardo Drew, "Existed", Weatherspoon Art Museum
Leonardo Drew, "Existed", Weatherspoon Art Museum
Leonardo Drew, "Existed", Weatherspoon Art Museum
Leonardo Drew, "Existed", Weatherspoon Art Museum
Leonardo Drew, "Existed", Weatherspoon Art Museum
Leonardo Drew, "Existed", Weatherspoon Art Museum
Leonardo Drew, "Existed", Harvey's Kitchen
Leonardo Drew, "Existed", Harvey's Kitchen
Leonardo Drew, "Existed", Weatherspoon Art Museum
Leonardo Drew, "Existed", Weatherspoon Art Museum
Leonardo Drew, "Existed", Weatherspoon Art Museum
Leonardo Drew, "Existed", Weatherspoon Art Museum
Leonardo Drew, "Existed", Weatherspoon Art Museum
“The Junior League Band is an old-time inspired rock band fronted by the Georgia grown banjo, vocalist, Lissy Rosemont. Based out of Washington, DC, this nationally touring band has been compared to “Alison Krauss and the Band” by the Washington Post, and touts Levon Helm’s own horn players on their catchy single “South Carolina Blues.” [...]
“Anna Vogelzang is a songwriter splitting her time between Madison, WI and Chicago. She has shared the stage with the likes of Regina Spektor, Deer Tick, and Nat Baldwin, among others. Her fifth studio album, Paper Boats, was released earlier this year by Slothtrop Records.”
Dark altostratus clouds were encroaching into our neighborhood as we set up [...]
Here’s Monkeywhale’s submission to the 2009 48 hour film festival.
Additional writing credit should go to Mike Lowe, who worked on Swim Film’s production, “Polish Versus” this year. They deservedly received awards.
Every element in this short was created and edited within a 48 hour timeline and no alterations have been made since.
Many thanks to everyone who [...]
New Jersey. Yes, this band is from New Jersey. They’ve performed on the Conan O’Brien show, been featured by Spin Magazine, performed at Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Coachella, and were formerly signed to Drive-Thru Records.
We had to wait until close to the release date of their newest album, “Steel Train” before we could post [...]
Here’s part 2. It’s been a few weeks since part 1. Molly McGinn and Molly Miller after completing their first album “North, South” with Kasey Horton and produced by Jim Avett, are now beginning the process of recording their second album with 3 time grammy award winner Steven Heller and Laurelyn Dossett at Echo Mountain [...]
Around a year ago, Molly McGinn ventured into our kitchen with a small outfit she hustled together from local musicians which she fondly called her “Buster Dillys.”
Over the course of the following 15 months or so she encountered Molly Miller and together with Kasey Horton they formed Amelia’s Mechanics, very quickly releasing their first album, [...]
