American Thrift
The night before getting this assignment I had a dream involving its subject. In my dream, I got an unassuming Facebook announcement that David Bowie was playing at Haven, a small church/art gallery/performance space in the top floor of a small building on Laurel Street. It seemed, in the dream, that David Bowie was in town for some movie project and had befriended on of the guys from American Thrift, the collective that puts on low-key shows at Haven and other spots around town. In the dream, I got there in time to see David Bowie standing before a small rapt crowd, strumming a guitar and singing “Andy Warhol” from his 1971 album Hunky Dory, before departing to some other engagement. Upon waking, the dream was vivid enough that I checked Facebook over my first cup of coffee to establish that it hadn’t actually happened. “Andy Warhol” is a bit of an obscure tune for him to pick; that should have been my first clue.
The American Thrift shows I have seen have taken on their own dreamlike quality – quiet affairs with cozy lighting, where the music is allowed to fill the atmosphere of a room, where the circuit is closed between the singer, the song, and the audience. John Tulley and Barrett Black, two of the organizers of American Thrift, explain how this project came from their own dreams.
“We are music lovers and musicians who want to see a resurgence of intimacy in music. We were feeling very detached at bar shows,” says Tulley. “It’s very loud and the whole coupling thing going on, or people trying to find other people for that regard. We wanted to have some events that were more focused on actually listening, to have that connection between artist and listener. “
Barrett Black explains that the idea of American Thrift came out of seeing a few shows put on at Haven. “It’s just an old house. It’s got a cool vibe, so we kind of joined forces to do shows there. Our first show was back in February with Luke Ash and the Black Squirrels, who John and I both play with, then we had David Bazan [from renowned indie folk act Pedro the Lion]. We wanted to challenge the idea of where you can perform music and where you can hear music.”
My inaugural American Thrift show was a performance of Joe Adranga and Lee Barbier at Haven, performing songs off Adranga’s spellbindingly autumnal solo album Fall Back as well as a few covers. It was a small crowd, but then it’s a small room, just a few rows of folding chairs. I happen to be friends with both performers and the convivial stage banter reflected conversations with them off stage, but there is a marked synergy that can happen with two voices, two guitars and a collection of ears. The songs expand the way scientists say all matter expands in the universe, stretching across expectations and perceptions. The room seemed to grow as the music filled it up.
“It’s not like we are putting on shows out in a field, though I suppose we could do that, but we wanted to find spaces in town that might be a little different,” Black explains. "We’ve done a bunch at Haven. We’ve done a couple shows at Chelsea’s, and though those were late bar shows, they had the vibe of what we’re going for. We’ve done shows at Keary Beary’s Atomic Pop Shop and we had one in December at the Radio Bar.”
I took my daughter up to see Athens, GA’s Madeline Adams, who records and performs simply as Madeline, for her appearance at Keary Beary’s Atomic Pop Shop. We are already big fans of the adorable vintage record store on Government Street – me for nostalgic reasons, my daughter to feed her just-forming thirst for music and love of vinyl records. It was early evening and we spotted a bunch of our neighbors at the show, whittling down their purchases as Madeline let song after song from her album Black Velvet into the air. After convincing one friend in attendance of the merits of Billy Joel’s Glass Houses, I remarked that this is the kind of thing that happens in a cool city, and then it struck me that maybe the Baton Rouge my daughter is growing up in is a cool city.
Tess Brunet, whose group Au Ras Au Ras performed at an American Thrift show at Haven, echoed that sentiment. “I love what they're doing! The concept behind what they are doing is really special, the idea is something that currently exists and is thriving well in NYC and I hope catches on everywhere. Baton Rouge is a better place for it.”
A place doesn’t change on accident. Black explains the ethos of American Thrift. “We thought ‘America’ as a brand means a lot of things. It means consumerism, it means some of the negative things that it has come to mean. There’s strength in the word, and we wanted to use that to align with a sort of post-consumer culture. What’s next after this mess that we, in some ways, are in.”
“We put on these shows, and the reason people are coming is because they want to hear music. Our shows are typically BYOB so it’s cheaper for folks and is centered on the idea of artist and listener and stripping away everything else.”
American Thrift americanthrift.wordpress.com Keary Beary’s Atomic Pop Shop 2963 Government Street Baton Rouge, LA (225) 771-8455 Haven Church and Gallery 651 Laurel Street Baton Rouge, LA (225) 978-6040 havenbr.com