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Admittedly the ArtKore.org open mic at the Goldhawk in Hoboken
has in recent months attracted more high caliber of performers
than ever. Singers, songwriters of all sorts coming to show
their stuff. In my opinion, the reason for the quality is directly
due to the clubs tight schedule. I think it scares away those
who are not professional enough to handle the pressure of the
rush.
Still, as with any situation, participants can become complacent
and almost formulaic in their approach to performing. You get
up, strap on a guitar, sing a clever song or two and get off.
No offense to the many talented friends I have at the Goldhawk,
but this past Tuesday made me realize how a breath of fresh
air can come from left field and wake you up.
He called himself Cabbage. First off, he prepared himself
by strapping on a toy guitar with all of the strings out of
tune and tangled together. Then he hung a backpack over his
shoulders with a conspicuous wire hanging out of it. At the
same time he was setting up two mic stands. One at mouth level
for vocals and the other curiously set up about a foot taller
than him.
He then placed a white helmet which had a speaker built in
on to his head, plugging the toy guitar into the mysterious
backpack then the backpack into this helmet thing. After hoisting
a Strat plugged into a direct box to the house P.A., he preceded
to chomp on a head of cabbage while he introduced himself to
the stunned crowd.
His songs were unique, the chords were complex and the role
of the second, taller mic stand was evident. As the Strat rubbed
against the poorly strung toy, it caused a brilliantly nerve-tingling,
droning buzz piped thru the helmet speaker. There is a fine
line between sound and noise and he was skating right on its
edge.
This and other refreshingly off-beat acts can be found at
BunnyHuangRecords.com. On that site, Cabbage calls himself
Butternuts. Check it out and shake the cobwebs off of whatever
you think a performer should be. You may like it, you may hate
it, but that is the point after all. There simply are not enough
risk takers in the scene anymore and I welcome the aural challenge
of Cabbage, Butternuts or whatever he calls himself next.
By the way, as homage to this guy, everyone began donning
a new vegetable name. On the suggestion of Jon D'Angelo—calling
himself Celery—I became Turnip. Others from the Goldhawk
... Freda was Arugula. Mary was Asparagus. Dave Calamoneri
was Radish but Mary's roommate Kate wanted to be Radish.
Since she is cuter (sorry Dave) she won the battle and Dave
was then Garlic.
See Also:
 Bunny
Huang Records
ArtKore.org
The
Goldhawk
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