Strung Out

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"First it is ridiculed, then it is persecuted, then it is marketed."  So says Blake Malliway, quoting one of his teachers from Glastonbury, England.  Blake and Wycke Malliway are the village witches of Rogers Park, Chicago, Illinois, having established a shop on Morse avenue that offers what one would expect a shop for witchcraft to offer.  (To view the shop, watch the Mr. Marty Show by clicking on this link)  Though you ng men, the Malliway Bros. Shop and the courses, spells, wards, charms, candles, relics and bones conjure up something much older and deeper.  That is where their training in Glastonbury, (a "university town of witchcraft") and Cornwall England come into play.  Under the tutelage of practicing village witches, the Malliway Bros. bring to the shores of Lake Michigan some serious magic.  And though they happily embrace the imagery and support for magic that the Harry Potter movies created, they are by no means dabbling in some passing fancy.  These two witches, and the coven of witches, they have formed in this part of Illinois are serious practitioners of the art.   Through it all, they have faced the bias and fear that has been part of the witch practice since time immemorial.  But they have also found a great acceptance in the community, from the curious to those who seek knowledge and those who need a good spell.   Carefree, open and very approachable, the Malliway Brothers are happy to call Rogers Park home.  And we are happy to have two very good village witches. 

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An article from the National Geographic Magazine put it plainly enough in its title:  How can the most endangered ecosystem in the world be saved?  Immediately one thinks of the Amazon Rainforest.  The reality is, that the greatest carbon sink has been right here in the Midwest. The Prairie. 

As the article states: The loss of the Amazon rainforest may get the headlines, but grasslands are even more imperiled, experts say. Roughly half of all temperate grasslands worldwide have been lost, compared to less than 20 percent of the Amazon. In 2019 alone, 2.6 million acres of North American grasslands were plowed under, according to a World Wildlife Fund report.

I immediately sought out someone who knows how each of us can make a difference and bring back Prairie, even if it is a Purple Coneflower in a garden pot.  Howard Bright, who, along with his wife, Donna, created a Prairie Seed and Plant company, the Ion Xchange, has devoted his whole life to protecting, saving and promoting the Prairie.  The Xchange's seeds have been planted throughout North America, which says something considering the early years were scouring the roadside ditches of rural Iowa for plants.   

In this era of people working to combat carbon emissions and climate change, Howard's Tennessee-dry way of talking is perhaps the best way of getting across to people that it is all our responsibility, especially in the Midwest to fight for what remains and restore what doesn't, the Great North American Prairie. 

 

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Sandeep and Marty break down this podcast into three sections.  Part One deals with the difference of approach to problem solving between artists and engineers.  You can guess who is who by now.  The talk revolves around getting ready for winter, infrastructure (such as sewers) and who is better equipped for handling such challenges.  The arrival of a Union Pacific Rail-laying train at the vast 2000 acre estate brings us to Part Two.  On this section, Sandeep and Marty discuss an article Sandeep found that illustrates how much classical masters of music, such as Bach and Beethoven are currently earning on the musical portal Spotify.  The article is deceptive in that such masters, with 300 years of promotion behind them receive royalties (or someone does) of about $200,000 adjusted for inflation.  But the reality is that the average artist (such as Marty) receives far less and the average payout per listen is shy of four cents.  Sandeep and Marty discuss the lopsided field of the music business and why such big labels, who sign, promote and make-an-artist-a-product-to-sell, still have much power.   Part Three.  We touch upon the announcement of the extinction of 23 species in the United States.  We come full circle to our discussion in Part One of the analytical verse emotional side of people.  Sandeep believes in the power of science and that our humanity-created problems, such as climate change, extinction and hunger will be solved by science.  Marty goes on to explain his desire to see science bring back species of animals and how infrastructure indeed needs some "big ideas" to make things happen.  Marty also says (referencing Part Two) that perhaps the arts need to take a back seat to science these days as we need brains solving such issues.  The discovery of 26,000 old footprints of paleo-Americans hunting the Giant Sloth in what is now White Sands, New Mexico illustrates that man has been at changing the environment for quite some time now.  And that it may be science that is needed in the end to make all things right.  

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We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links:

SUPPORT THE SHOW:
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http://www.MARTINMcCORMACK.COM 
(note---you can get my weekly bulletin when you sign up on the list!)

MARTIN'S MUSIC:
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Sandeep and Marty take this week to the local level in Rogers Park,  discussing the arrival of Fall, the homeless camp springing up in a public park,  the dog Capers, the odd furniture store on Clark Street that Marty thinks is a front, the Rusty Patched Bumblebee, and how odd it is that planes always seem to be flying overhead when STRUNG OUT  is recording.  A lot of laughter, PLUS, two sneak peaks at the upcoming children's album MISS RACK'S ZOO!

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We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links:

SUPPORT THE SHOW:
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Seán Cleland is an Irish fiddle player, Irish music teacher, adjudicator, collaborator, producer and executive director of the Irish Music School of Chicago, a non-profit traditional Irish music, language, song and dance school, which he founded in 2003.

Seán grew up on the North side of Chicago in an Irish-American household.  He started classical violin lessons at age 7, and at age 9 his parents took him to one of the first North American concert tours of Comhaltas Ceoltóirí Éireann, Ireland’s national music organization. The performers that fall night in 1972 were the absolute best traditional musicians, singers and dancers from Ireland including Paddy Glackin, Paddy Ryan and Antoin MacGabhann. That night was so impactful that he decided right then and there that he would play the fiddle.

His musical education through the 1970s was energized by such local legends as Liz Carroll, Michael Flatley and Jimmy Keane who were bursting out of Chicago onto the world stage.  Additionally, there were quite a few older Irish musicians who had emigrated to the United States in the 1950s and Sean was incredibly privileged to get to know them and to spend so much time listening to their music and stories.

Niall O'Leary TCRG, ADCRG is from Dublin Ireland. A former All-Ireland and World Champion, he founded the Niall O'Leary School of Irish Dance in Dublin in 1995, in the New York metropoilitan area in 1996 and in Florida in 2007. The School is currently the largest in New York City.  Niall O'Leary performs regularly as a solo artist, in duet with Darrah Carr, and with various acts such as Natalie MacMaster,Cherish The Ladies, The Prodigals, The Andy Cooney Band, Atlantic Wave, The McCabes and Mick Moloney's Green Fields of America. He is in constant demand as a choreographer and master instructor and conducts regular workshops around the US, Canada, Ireland, Japan and Mexico. He has made a CD and an instructional video in Irish step dancing entitled 'Cuts from the Kitchen'. He was the founding chairman of Ull Mor CCE, the Manhattan branch of Comhaltas.

Marty joins Seán and Niall to talk about the Kilgubbin Project, which is an ongoing exploration of Irish music, pushing the boundaries of what Irish music means, and plumbing the depths of appreciation and love for it as well. 

Support the show

We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links:

SUPPORT THE SHOW:
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MARTIN'S WEBSITE:
http://www.MARTINMcCORMACK.COM 
(note---you can get my weekly bulletin when you sign up on the list!)

MARTIN'S MUSIC:
Music | Martin Laurence McCormack (bandcamp.com)
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The southeastern corner of Iowa is home to Lee County.  There, a little town called Donnellson has one water-tower, some shops, a nice city park and the distinction of having its first organized music scene created by one live-music-loving farmer by the name of Doug Seyb.  For 15 years, Doug ran the quasi-house-concert-meets-Grange-meeting-meets-Austin City Limits "Under The Water Tower" series.  It was a series that presented live, independent musicians, offering their own originals and pretty much nothing else, to a populace that hungered for community through music.   A "whos-who" of regional, local, national and international artists, all independent and all featuring their own original music visited "Under the Water Tower."   It was never a money-maker, but a community sustainer.  It was, truthfully, what real music should be all about. 

All was well with this small, well attended temple of independent music.  That was, until the music licensing agency of ASCAP asked Doug for money to support the very musicians Seyb was supporting.  What amounted were thinly veiled (and not so thinly veiled) threats of lawsuits by ASCAP representatives for their "licensing fee"  in order for Doug to continue the  public gathering at Under the Water Tower.  

The result?  Seyb ended the series.  ASCAP did not get their money they maintained was being used to support the artists featured at the venue.  Those artists the agency was supposedly supporting lost a venue and desperately needed funds for their survival. And the folks of Lee County lost community and joy through music.  Sadly, this has been part of an ongoing campaign by licensing agencies that have successfully driven live music out of small, rural and for all intents and purposes, non-profit venues.  Mom and Pop restaurants and coffee houses lost out.  

Nobody won. 

Independent artists are now turning to house concerts and other under-the-radar opportunities to survive. 

Music promoters like Seyb are a treasure of the live, independent musical performers and their audiences. Doug, a farmer by trade has continued to support live, independent music in Lee County through other less-traditional opportunities.  He offers advice to those wishing to create house concerts and other means of keeping live, original, rural, regional music alive and kicking.   The Farmer still raises music.  

Support the show

We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links:

SUPPORT THE SHOW:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MartyfineaK

MARTIN'S WEBSITE:
http://www.MARTINMcCORMACK.COM 
(note---you can get my weekly bulletin when you sign up on the list!)

MARTIN'S MUSIC:
Music | Martin Laurence McCormack (bandcamp.com)
Martin McCormack | Spotify

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Marty and Brian take on the microphone to do a podcast about where things are right now in the musical world.  A special glimpse of a song under construction is revealed as well!

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We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links:

SUPPORT THE SHOW:
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MARTIN'S WEBSITE:
http://www.MARTINMcCORMACK.COM 
(note---you can get my weekly bulletin when you sign up on the list!)

MARTIN'S MUSIC:
Music | Martin Laurence McCormack (bandcamp.com)
Martin McCormack | Spotify

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Support the show

We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links:

SUPPORT THE SHOW:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MartyfineaK

MARTIN'S WEBSITE:
http://www.MARTINMcCORMACK.COM 
(note---you can get my weekly bulletin when you sign up on the list!)

MARTIN'S MUSIC:
Music | Martin Laurence McCormack (bandcamp.com)
Martin McCormack | Spotify

MARTIN'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Martin McCormack - YouTube

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Calle Sur is what happens when you combine man and woman, Black and White, urban and rural.  Seeing Calle Sur is living proof that the terms "Hispanic" and "Latino" can't be summarized.   

Ed East is Panamanian. His upbringing in Panama City meant noise, hustle, bustle, and those chaotic smells and sights so characteristic of any Third World metropolis. It also meant a fierce need for individuality and lots of musical innovation and creativity, as expressed in the work of his compatriot, Rubén Blades.

Karin Stein, his Colombian partner, brings to the music of Calle Sur the perspective of her rural upbringing.
Very rural, that is.  She grew up as a cowgirl on a remote ranch in the eastern Llanos or plains of Colombia.

While he rode buses and watched TV, she rode horses and watched the red ibis stalk across emerald green
rice fields. There was no TV in her neck of the woods. No electricity for that matter. Only a small transistor
radio which sometimes worked, and from which she gleaned tidbits of an outer world. His veins were filled with the fusion of world beats converging in a big city. Her soul harbored haunting cowboy tunes from her
traditional Llanero culture, a fascinating people whose music remains one of Latin America's best kept secrets.

They met in Iowa, of all places, where they each had built a life in a foreign but welcoming land, and where their Latin heritage has blended with their predominantly Anglo-Saxon surroundings. They have been pioneers in a state that has only in the last 15 years seen a significant influx of Latinos.  Calle Sur, however, commonly performs outside of Iowa: New York, Colorado, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Romania - wherever their music takes them. They have composed the film score for three documentaries, some of them aired worldwide. Their compositions have also been used in feature-length movies. 

​

This duo has charisma, it has class, and it has talent to boot. One minute, Ed's drumming makes you jump to your feet. The next, you sway to the samba he plays on his guitar. Karin strums a mean 6/8 beat on her Venezuelan cuatro, then effortlessly switches to Bolivian panpipes. Ed's versatile expressions take you from guajira and jazz to bossa nova and salsa tunes.  Karin's  stirring vocal quality melts your senses with a tender love song, then wraps its power around you in an Afro-Colombian cumbia.  And when they sing one of their boleros together, the perfect blend of their harmonies will likely give you goosebumps.  

Support the show

We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links:

SUPPORT THE SHOW:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MartyfineaK

MARTIN'S WEBSITE:
http://www.MARTINMcCORMACK.COM 
(note---you can get my weekly bulletin when you sign up on the list!)

MARTIN'S MUSIC:
Music | Martin Laurence McCormack (bandcamp.com)
Martin McCormack | Spotify

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Marty and Sandeep talk about their very unscientific, yet tasty taste test in which they compared grass-fed beef with the Impossible burger, which is a pea protein based patty.  They also reached out to Upside Foods for some lab cultured meat and hope that in the future they can compare that as well.   While they couldn't participate in this taste test,  we may be able to obtain some cultured meat samples in the near future. 

However you look at it, the writing is on the wall for the large scale, feedlot, corporate meat industry and the University of Maastricht shared these facts:

• Cells from a single cow could produce 175 million quarter-pounders. Traditional farming methods would need 440,000 cows
• Global meat demand estimated to increase by 73% by 2050. But we already use 70% of farm land for livestock
• Livestock farming for meat is responsible for ~18% of all greenhouse emissions, more than all global transport combined

At the end of the day, the question on most peoples tongues (sorry about that pun) is cost and flavor/texture.  The results were fairly surprising. 

Support the show

We are always grateful to have you listening to STRUNG OUT.    Here are some important links:

SUPPORT THE SHOW:
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/MartyfineaK

MARTIN'S WEBSITE:
http://www.MARTINMcCORMACK.COM 
(note---you can get my weekly bulletin when you sign up on the list!)

MARTIN'S MUSIC:
Music | Martin Laurence McCormack (bandcamp.com)
Martin McCormack | Spotify

MARTIN'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL
Martin McCormack - YouTube

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