From Maine #8

Stay warm!

Upcoming Artsy Stuff

There are two art shows coming up that include my work - woohoo! Just in time, too; my life needed something other than college class essays and crises from my four-year-old.

Coming up on November 19th is the opening of Creative Maine: The Works of Local Artists. Monkitree in Gardiner, Maine will be featuring the works of 30 Maine artists throughout the holiday season. Pieces are available for immediate purchase (as in, you can grab it right off the wall and walk out with it - no waiting 'til the end of the show!). With pieces coming and going as work is purchased and replaced, Creative Maine will be a dynamic show right through to its closing. My photograph, Junkyard, is included in the show. The opening is November 19th (a Friday night) and runs from 5:30pm to 9:00pm at Monkitree, which is located at 263 Water Street in beautiful downtown Gardiner.



The same weekend, The Higher Grounds in Hallowell is hosting what is shaping up to be an awesome and eclectic Artisans' Trunk Show. The trunk show will feature work from six amazingly creative endeavors of local artists (including yours truly, with CozInk Printed Goods). This is going to be a cozy little holiday shopping event, where you can grab a drink, listen to some live music by Harold Bailey, and do a little shopping for local art! Available goods will include hand-printed cards and totes (from me); pottery; handcrafted fine jewelry; original art; bath and body products; homemade jellies and goodies; and scarves. The show is Sunday, November 21st, from 11am-5pm at The Higher Grounds, located at 119 Water Street in Hallowell.

Help fund Arborea's next record!

A message from Arborea about their current Kickstarter.org project:

Hello, This is Buck and Shanti of the Indie folk duo Arborea.

Thanks so much for visiting our project page! Shanti and I have been working extremely hard since our debut cd in 2006...writing, recording, touring as much as possible throughout the US, UK, and Europe. If you aren't familiar with our music here are a few press quotes we've received for our past releases.

"Shanti and Buck Curran get it right, with memorable songs that linger in the ether long after the last track ends." - NPR

"Maine folk duo Arborea creates timeless music" - Dirty Linen Magazine

"Arborea's brand of folk music is ethereal, bone-chilling, and beautiful all at once!" - Performing Songwriter Magazine

"Husband and wife team, Buck and Shanti Curran, construct a fragile, resonant world with a lingering Americana after-taste, shimmering with the same wide-open spaces Ry Cooder’s
captured so well on Paris, Texas." - BBC

"Singer/banjo player Shanti Curran has an ethereal, frequently otherworldly voice that reminds of Mazzy Star’s Hope Sandoval, but with considerably more gravitas and soul" - Lucid Culture

"A Magical Mystery Tour" - Boston Globe

"Singularly breathtaking" - Portland Phoenix

...Each year we've had a little more success...becoming more independent along the way, leading us to our current project. We've spent the past year writing and recording, and now we are working hard to finish up the record but we need help, so we're reaching out to fans to help make this the most successful and creative release possible!

We are asking you to help raise money so that we can complete the final stages of producing and pressing the record...that includes mastering and manufacturing the cd. If we raise $2000 over our goal we'd also love to master and press vinyl...which is something we always wanted to do and also something a lot of fans have been asking about. Even a $1 to $5 dollar pledge would make a huge difference and helping us achieve our goal.

The other important reason for doing a Kickstarter project is the Best part...hitting the road and bringing the music to you guys! Shanti and I love sharing the intimate part of making the music come alive through performance and we are committed to traveling in America, Ireland, the UK, and Europe...but we'll need extra pledge funds to help us all get there. We also need to purchase some microphones to improve the 'acoustic' presentation of our live performances. Also, on tour we hope to make a special video to document our journey. All of this takes an incredible amount of hard work and resources!

We are also the parents of two great kids who are home-schooled, so they'll be traveling with us on tour and that will also be a major part of their lessons (think Road-schooling!). We traveled with them across the U.S. last spring and it was a wonderful experience as a family.

We've set our goal to the bare minimum of $2,500, but we can certainly use as much help as possible beyond that...because mastering, and pressing a cd can be expensive enough, add to that all the funds needed to help press vinyl, promotion, and go on tour (motels, food, fuel, oil changes, etc) and it can add up to well over $10,000!

For those of you not familiar with Kickstarter, here's how it works:
We've set a minimum goal of $2,500, and you can pledge any amount you'd like! In return for your contribution, you'll get great rewards like an advance signed copy of the cds, concert tickets, a tour dvd, your name in the liner notes of our CD, or in some cases a special performance just for you (the rewards are listed to your right). The catch with Kickstarter is it's an all or nothing project...so unless we raise At Least $2,500 by the project deadline...the project won't happen and all our hard work over the past year will not see fruition.

Thanks in advance for all your support and faith in our music, film, and art!

Note: The film used for our project page is one of Shanti's creations (with some filming done by me). We hope to get a better video camera to make ever better films! (It was shot with a small Sony Bloggie)
Also, the song is from our third record 'House of Sticks' and is called 'In the Tall Grass'

Project location: Lewiston, ME

Upcoming Show for Arborea

Arborea, recently back from their UK tour, will be playing a show this Saturday at the University of Maine at Farmington. The show will take place at 8pm in The Landing (found in the Olsen Student Center).

from Maine #7

Photo by Shanti Curran. (c) all rights reserved.

Jan Mayes & Jerry Joe Carrier - video of Friday's gig

Video of Friday's gig at Holly's Own Deli in Auburn, Maine (fyi - we had dinner there as well and it was sooo good). Sitting in with Jan and Jerry is Mark Pendleton on flute and soprano sax. This was the first time Mark had played along with Jan & Jerry, so I believe most of his playing was on-the-spot improvisation, making it all the more impressive.

Knockin' On Heaven's Door:

Since the Beginning (original song written by Jan Mayes):

Pay Me My Money Down:

There are a few more videos from the performance, which can all be seen at the CozInk Collective YouTube channel, along with videos from past performances of Jan, Arborea, and Old Man Forest.

Buck and Shanti left Maine today and set out on Arborea's UK tour - wishing them happy travels and good crowds.

Careless Love

A new track from Arborea today, available for listening on SoundCloud - "Careless Love"

etsy updates

Handcrafts Trunk Show - Aug. 14th, Augusta, Maine

Come and join us on Saturday, August 14th at Chase Farm Bakery! From 8am to noon, the bakery will play host to a Handcrafts Trunk Show, featuring three small Maine art/craft businesses. The artists behind these creations will be present to chat with, and their work will be on display and available for sale all morning.

Come check out original handcrafted creations from the following:

Sweet Mojo Apothecary: Specializing in "indulgence for the body and soul," the girls at Sweet Mojo work together to create bath and body products that are "meant to leave your skin soft and pretty, your soul soothed, and your senses revived." Stop by to pick up some of their wonderfully scented perfume oils, emulsified sugar scrubs, hot oil hair treatments, and more!

Littleput Land: Wearable art! Littleput Land's Scrabble tile pendants are unique, affordable, and beautiful pieces of jewelry. Using rich washi, chiyogami, or Italian papers, Casie creates each pendant by hand using reclaimed Scrabble tiles. Each pendant comes on an 18" organza necklace and in a coordinating tin. Littleput Land also makes Scrabble tile magnets and other goods that can be found at the trunk show!

CozInk Printed Goods: Grace of CozInk uses real Maine plants, flowers, and leaves to create one-of-a-kind usable art in the form of handmade note cards, bookplates, and more. In the past year, she has also branched out and begun creating unique tote bags and fabric goods, which are also each created with real pieces of nature. Each piece is carefully hand printed using a monotype printmaking technique, making each card truly one-of-a-kind. Each one is an affordable, original, and MAILABLE piece of original art!

And while you're browsing the work of these talented crafters, take a moment to enjoy Chase Farm Bakery's delicious menu. Specialties include homemade doughnuts, pies, breads, and more. Each bakery item is made carefully from scratch, NEVER with pre-packaged mixes or store-bought fillings!

Everyone is encouraged to stop by during the trunk show and enter our raffle - we will be raffling off a gift basket at noon that includes items from all three of the shops above! Also taking place on August 14th, Stacy's Hallmark (just a few feet down Water Street from the bakery) is holding an artist signing with Hallmark Keepsake Ornament artist Tammy Haddix from 10am-noon and 1pm to 3pm.

We look forward to seeing you!

Handcrafts Trunk Show - 8am to noon

Chase Farm Bakery

295 Water Street

(Old Federal Building)

Augusta, Maine 04330

Arborea in the Portland Press Herald

(Photo by Liam Curran)

There is a great piece about Arborea in today's Portland Press Herald, titled "Making Noise: Arborea's ethereal sound the fruit of rustic roots."

Mike Olcott writes: "Arborea's sound is just like dreams, only better. Despite the music's Celtic and Americana roots, to hear the husband-and-wife team of Buck and Shanti Curran is to be transported to another world.

The quiet vocals and rustic textures will fill the North Star Music Cafe at 8pm Saturday."

To read the rest of the article, please visit the Press Herald website here.


The next couple shows coming up are thus:
Friday, July 30th at 8pm: Arborea at The Starving Artist in Keene, NH.
Saturday, July 31st at 8pm: Arborea at the North Star Music Cafe in Portland, ME.