I've moved into my 26th year of curating dizzy's events. The first performance was way back in April of 2000, in that beloved dusty old 1911 warehouse situated right on the edge of the then desolate, homeless-filled East Village neighborhood. The area has since become commercialized and gentrified…
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It looks like the physical album has gone the way of the typewriter. Most people remember them fondly, but in this charged up, mile-a-minute world, it's become all about instant access, and music is generally swallowed in short gulps to satisfy some flash of curious craving. For the artist, it…
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Korean reissue specialist Beatball Records is preparing to release the most comprehensive collection of Chuck and Mary Perrin's original folk music yet assembled. The 7 CD box set contains remastered paper package replica versions of their long-sought after Webster's Last Word LP's: "Brother &…
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Music is the great transporter It can take us out of our bodies away from our troubles to a place where we can't be touched where all that matters is what we feel inside to a place where there are no restrictions or limits of any kind only pure consciousness. & music is best experiencedin the…
read more →The packaging for the 1995 Beat.itude CD was developed & created by Don Hollis & his staff @ Hollis Brand Culture - an all paper cover made from recycled French durotone 145# packing carton, featuring liner notes & lyrics printed on a fold out poster - as well as a prototype CD made to look like an…
read more →My good friend, filmmaker Rob Amato, was always brain storming creative visual projects. He regularly purchased old 16 mm film on ebay - the older the better - just to immerse himself in the visual vibe of times gone by. While screening some vacation films taken of Venice in the early 1930's, it…
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So my epiphany led me back to where I began, so many stops ago on the journey. I discovered intuitively that, if I could stay around the music, immerse myself in a close knit creative community, keep my head in the zone & away from the bullshit/competition/demands of the business, then I could…
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My friend filmmaker Rob Amato approached me about using some of the tracks from the Beat.itude album as musical beds in his film on Route 66 - Asphalt Americana. He felt the energy of the music was the right accompaniment for the visual journey he was portraying. So I went back into the studio to…
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In the early 1990's, many of us in the San Diego acoustic music community were grappling with the ever-evolving recording technology, striving to find some way to capture the intimacy and spontaneity of our musical performances in a way that was fun and financially feasible. Along came a guitarist…
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In 1979, things were changing. . .My daughter Aja Ann was born, & I came to realize that there were things I wanted that a gigging musician's lifestyle couldn't give me: a dependable car, health insurance, & a home of my own. So I took advantage of an opportunity to work for a national restaurant…
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In 1973 we headed South: Mary moved to Atlanta, & I received an invitation from famed Tennessee theatre director Paul Crabtree, who was overseeing the production of live performance shows for Opryland, to come to Nashville to help create a folk music show. It was an enticing opportunity to once…
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When I first started Webster's Last Word Records with the 1968 release of BROTHER & SISTER, little did I realize that 25 years later, technology would make it possible for literally anyone to record & release their music in a quality fashion that could compete with what the major labels produce.…
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The year before, while I was studying in Angers, France, I was a part of a tight knit group of 45 creative American students. We were very close, & used to hang together all the time. I loved that sense of community, & decided to try to bring it back to Notre Dame, & vibe it to the whole campus. We…
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Part of the problem with being a performer is finding a sympathetic atmosphere in which to present your music; some place that allows the nuances & visual aspects of performance to develop & flourish. You can only get so far entertaining at benefits, rotary club meetings, & high school assemblies.…
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I was the oldest of 12 children, so naturally my passion for folk music spread to my younger brothers & sisters. But it was my sister Mary, 4 years younger than me, who seemed taken by it the most. Of course, it helped that she had this amazingly unique voice, honest & natural in timbre, as well as…
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When I graduated from high school in 1964, I returned home to Pekin, Illinois to work for a year in order to save up $$ to attend the University of Notre Dame, but I used to go back up to ND a couple of times a month on weekends to hang out. On one my first visits, a football Saturday in fall 1964,…
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As a junior in high school @ Holy Cross Seminary, on the campus of the University of Notre Dame, I formed & started performing with my first folk groups: The Newports & The Brandywine Trio. I was heavily into Peter, Paul & Mary, The Kingston Trio, as well as researching Alan Lomax's collections of…
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