Filling the Creative Well

Last night was fun and inspiring. Ian and I went to the grand opening of Arlington Art Gallery - a beautiful new art space featuring Hudson Valley artists. The place was packed - we saw many of the well-known local artists, and several people from the neighborhood. It's a sort of odd coincidence that the people who own the gallery also bought the house next door - that we used to rent, until last year. We spoke to them and mentioned it to them (they thought it was an interesting coincidence too) and wished them much luck. We also mentioned that Ian is a photographer and gave them his business card. They said he should bring in his portfolio, so hopefully Ian will get a chance to show there. They have a brand new website, www.arlingtonartgallery.com. Welcome and good luck, Arlington Art Gallery!
Then we stopped at the Cubbyhole Coffeehouse, where our friends Todd and Lee were playing. Lee has owned the coffeehouse for over five years, and it's a cozy, funky gathering place that has great music, interesting art and a welcoming atmosphere. Check out www.myspace.com/cubbyholecoffeehouse for more information. Lee is one of the best musicians I've ever heard, and I always try to see him whenever he plays. His music is genre-defying, but I'll try to describe it - he plays acoustic alternative/bluesy/avant-folk songs. His lyrics are mostly about political and social issues, and challenge the listener to take notice and think, rather than just enjoy the music. He wrote one of his early songs around the time of the Gulf War - it's called "Utopia," and it's still so relevant today. Some people have heard the song and were surprised that he didn't write it in the past couple of years. Lee has been working on a new CD, which will hopefully be completed and released soon. I will write about it here, as soon as it's out. (I should also mention that the first piece of writing I ever got published was a review, in a local entertainment paper, of Lee's first CD, which he recorded with his old band Patterns of Grace several years ago. I had always talked about wanting to do entertainment writing, until one day he said that I should just do it, so I wrote a review of his CD, and went on to have several music and book reviews printed in the paper. Unfortunately, the publication is defunct now, but it was fun while it lasted, and I have some pretty good clips in my portfolio. Thanks, Lee for helping me get my writing started!)
Lee and Todd have played music together on and off for several years. Todd has been a big part of the local music scene for many years - he has a rootsy yet modern folk style of playing and songwriting, and has just released his second CD, Little Known Secret. Some of his songs are politically aware too - one of the tracks on the CD, "Talking to Maryann," was written in reaction to the Gulf War, and like Lee's song, seems prescient when hearing it today . Check out www.myspace.com/toddgiudice for more information about Todd's CDs and upcoming dates.
Lee opened the night, and then Todd joined him on some songs. Lee's voice is resonant and as rich as the coffee he serves (even on a night like last night, when his throat was sore and his voice was strained, he still sounds great). Todd's expressive tenor adds a great harmony to Lee's songs. He also adds great guitar lines to counter and fill in with Lee's melodic, rhythmic music. Todd then played a long solo set - we haven't seen him play in several months, and it was great to hear some new songs along with old favorites. We bought his new CD, to add to his first CD that we have.
Ian and I have collected a number of CDs from a lot of great local bands and musicians over the years. I feel fortunate to live in this area, that's full of amazing artists, musicians, writers and theatre. The Hudson Valley is a great cultural center, and it's so inspiring to take part in it. One of the main tenets of Julia Cameron's book The Artist's Way is "filling the well." She likens creativity to a well that we dip into whenever we work on our projects. But to replenish and nourish the well, we need to seek out and immerse ourselves in things that inspire us. I'm constantly inspired by the creative atmosphere here, and after a great weekend like this one, my creative well is filled up with ideas, images and feelings. I can't wait to let it all flow out into my writing.