Young Mary's Record of Wild and Beautiful Things

(photo by John Doorman)

My boy PATSON had his DEBUT show at The Basement last night.  DAMN STRAIGHT. 

Video of him being a badass: HERE.  (This is my favorite Patson tune, right now.)  I say hell yeah.

I am fortunate enough to be friends with the beautiful Mallory Mcqueen, Sammul Scott, and Cathy Dobson and even spent last weekend at Cookeville’s first PRIDE event with them.  (Post coming soon, promises. xo.)

Alyssa Orr, a photojournalism major from WKU, made this FANTASTIC video documentary on Mallory — just released last night and I couldn’t resist sharing.  My favorite quote is from Cathy, Adam’s sweet, passionate mom —

If you don’t support ‘em, who’s going to?  You should love them unconditionally — you gotta support what they are, who they, you can’t afford to lose a child — you have to adapt and appreciate what you have.

Thanks to Alyssa for her hard work and time investment, I can’t wait to see the great things she continues to produce after WKU.

Full disclosure: These are my only facial expressions.

Babies, as most anyone in my intimate or extended friend circle knows, are not my thing.  They’re wiggly and require lots of attention and care and they totally gank up your body while they’re living in it and eventually exiting it.  They cost money (ask my parents - they’re still payin’ off the debt that is me.) and in addition to that, for a long time, you have to put on their pants for them, their little shoes, and fix their hair.  So sue me, I’m just not a mommy.

That being said, I am something way funner (!) and way wonderful (!).  I am, thanks to the beautiful Ivory seen above and below, an Auntie. 

   

Not biologically, Brandy (the loving, patient, wonderful mommy seen at top holding Ivory’s hand) is not my literal sister, but I do love her just that way.  Like a sibling, she’s loved me through all of those stages that nobody names between 18 and 30 — “batshit in love with someone else batshit”, “unemployed and depressed” “unemployed and maniacally happy” “unemployed” — and so any kid of hers, I consider a kid in my family.

Ivory — who just had her 2nd birthday this week! — came unexpectedly early.  Months early.  Early enough that she got to attend her own baby shower because they hadn’t thrown one yet when she decided it was time to greet the world.  She was tiny. 

See?  I told you!  2lbs of sweet, adorable little baby.  I gushed over her.  In my own way.  By saying nothing but weird things that non-moms would observe (Example: “Of course I love her!  She’s little.  I’ve always loved miniature size things.  I love Polly Pockets!”) and taking a million pictures, like the one above.  Brandy’s fingernail is the size of Ivory’s palm.  Tiny.

Being a premature baby, Ivory had challenges immediately and required lots of medical care.  She lived for 60 days in the hospital under a constant watchful eye - 17 of those days on a ventilator, and 7 on an oscillator. Without the help of doctors and nurses and advances in technology, Ivory might not survived at all.   And that’s where the March of Dimes comes in.

Brandy did her first walk last year.  She told me,

“The walk last year seemed like something I could throw myself into to absolve the pain and fear that had initially taken over when I wasn’t sure if she would survive.”

And I did my first walk this year.

The event, held in Somerset, KY, happened on Saturday, April 28th and tons of people came out in support of the little sweet baby cause.  You could order t-shirts to wear that signified what team you were on — like the one I’m sportin’ above for Team Ivory.

A good, crafty friend of mine from high school (she’s the yin to my yang, upon seeing her I said “your hair’s as clean as mine is dirty!”) made these sweet bows for her little babygirl and Ivory.  She creates tons of other crafty stuff as well with her business, Doodads of Liberty — and you can follow it on FB: HERE.

This wasn’t a just-mom, or a just female event, either, lots of guys and age groups showed up to support the cause. This guy, for example.  One of my best dude friends from my high school years.  Thanks to him, we maybe didn’t exactly complete the whole walk as a result of being distracted by a funnel cake stand.  The grease.  May it drip on me from heaven. 

Ivory’s great-grandma (above) even came to support.  

If you knew a sweet little baby in the area that March of Dimes helped, you were there. Grandmas and grandpas and cousins and uncles and even aunties, like me.

Sometimes, you get wrapped up in your own lives and you forget what else is out there.  If you work heavily in the music field, you might forget the medical field until something (or somebody- Ivory) reminds you.  It’s the people that support it that keep it going in both, though.  The ones behind the cause.  I’m thankful for Ivory existing to make me conscious of babies and the possibility of them being likable — and I’m thankful for Brandy for being one of those people that pays it forward.   The people that supported March of Dimes 10 years ago may have saved her own baby’s life — and she hopes that in 10 years, her fundraising and steps will save another somebody’s little 2 pound miracle.   Babies might not be my thing, but making a change like that for my sister sure is.

To learn more about March of Dimes, click HERE.  To support Team Ivory next year in any way, shape or form - or come hang out with us and sport a dang nice t-shirt — feel free to email me at Mary.Sparr@Gmail.Com — subject: Ivory. 

       

For the last week, I’ve been on a little vacation of sorts with Chicago’s The Bears of Blue River.  They were in my neck of the woods — Kentucky/Tennessee/Georgia — on their 5-week tour and it only made sense to join ‘em on some dates. 

A common thread in all the places I trekked to with The Bears were the dogs.   Louisville, Bowling Green, Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta — with every gracious host, there was a new pup.  So, it only made sense to compile these guys in a post.  Please enjoy.

     

                                          Louisville, KY’s ONYX.

   

                                                                BGKY’s TEX

     

                                                   Nashville TN’s ELANOR

     

                                                   Chattanooga, TN’s ISABELLA

      

                                                      Atlanta, GA’s RILEY

A round up of some of my favorite posters available (and at a pretty righteous discount!) on Fab.Com today!  LESS than a day left to get these babies.   To use my Fab invite — (It’s free and they have TONS of great products! Really.  Truly.)  You can click HERE.

Super print of SuperFriends!  Regular cost = $25.  Today on Fab ONLY = $17.50

The Black Belles!  The Black Shades! Oh—did I mention THIS blog sponsored this baby?!  Regularly = $20.  Today only on Fab.com = $14.

BARDOT.  Beautiful lovely bardot.  Regularly = $20.  Today Only = $14. SOLD OUT.

Regularly $40 - Today only $28!  Gig poster from 09! Limited JACK WHITE shiz!

Hanky Panky.  Hank! Hank! Hank!  Regularly $20 — Today only $14!

(On Friday, 03/30, the fantastic new venue The Warehouse at Mt. Victor — hosted another Mary (my opinion is that all Marys are good Marys…) - the likes of Mary Gauthier.  A brilliant singer/songwriter that I vow NOT TO MISS on her next adventure to sweet Bowling Green, Young Mary’s Record is privileged to have received this guest blog about the gig from music sage Jeffrey Sweeney.)

At times, it felt as if the hand of God was touching the Warehouse @ MT Victor  on Friday night, but it was actually just a rather extraordinary mortal named Mary Gauthier…  (Pronounce it: Go-Shay.)

Gauthier is an exceptionally gifted singer-songwriter from Nashville (Via New Orleans and the school of hard-knocks) who has led a rather extraordinary life; Orphaned at birth by a mother she never knew, Gauthier’s back story reads like a Kerouac novel. Adopted by Italian-Catholic parents and haunted by her birthright and sexual identity, Gauthier allegedly stole her parent’s car at 15 and spent years in and out of rehab and halfway houses, struggling with alcohol and drug dependency. She spent her eighteenth birthday in jail. Sober for the last twenty-two years, Gauthier didn’t write he first song until she was 35, following an 11 year stint as a successful  restauranteur in Boston. In 2005, her career blew wide open with the release of the amazing “Mercy Now” and the awards poured down like a redemptive rainfall, her experiences and struggles providing endless fodder for one brilliant song after another.

Mary Gauthier didn’t just write about the dark side of life. She lived it.

On Friday, Ms. Gauthier brought her special brand of storytelling magic to the Warehouse at Mt. Victor and her hour and a half set held a mostly appreciative crowd in thrall, save for a few idiots who seemed intent on conversing over her quiet introspective masterpiece’s. ‘I just can’t imagine why a person would pay twenty bucks to see a show and then talk through it”, she quipped at one point.

“I shoulda made it fifty”, she said, smiling.

Live, Gauthier exudes the kind of warmth and sincerity that you might find at a Springsteen concert; she makes you feel like you’re sitting in the living room with a few of your best friends, sharing something very special . Mary worked the crowd like the seasoned pro that she is, punctuating the spaces between her dark tales of loss and redemption with humorous anecdotes that tended to leaven the weight of the songs without diminishing their emotional impact. Fiddle player/vocalist Tania Elizabeth was an amazing artist in her own right, complimenting Mary’s earthy, grittier style with a sweetness both vocally and instrumental, that gave the song’s precisely what they needed to thrive in a live acoustic setting.

Gauthier’s friend’s and contemporary’s include John Prine and Steve Earle,  heady company by anyone’s standard’s and she more than holds her own next to her peers. Her narrative style has often been compared to Prine’s, as she draws on her own experiences to paint pictures of desperate characters trying to cope with life’s darkest challenges. Gauthier has that uncanny ability to rip your heart out and make you beam with hope, all in the course of a single verse. If the brilliant “Mercy Now” doesn’t hit some kind of emotional trigger when you hear it, you might just want to check your pulse…haunting and beautiful, it’s the type of song that if you hear it once, you’ll remember it a lifetime. 

The next time you feel the need to have your spirit moved and you can’t get Jesus, you may just wanna call Mary…

-Jeffrey Sweeney

(Huge thanks to Jeff for his contribution to our music community and this blog — shall we encourage him to guest blog more often?  *nods yes.*)

Inspired by AMC’s awesome Walking Dead series, sweet art print from PRINT MAFIA JUST RELEASED. Get them before they’re gone.

You don’t want to be the one on their site (HERE) sayin, “Where’s ‘Where’s Carl’ ?”

16X20. Heavy stock. $30.

This week is awesome.  There is no way to put it that sounds hip, so that is just how it shall be.  To help everyone deal with the overwhelming buzz of BG, I have compiled this Young Mary itinerary to help you cope.  And also, let’s be honest.  Facebook events are as effective as a poke, anymore.

WEDNESDAY IS HUMP DAY. 

DAYTIME: Go To Labolds.  It is where everyone cooler than you (and maybe you!) shops.  Spring has done up and sprung and you have two choices: look like you took your outfit off the mannequin or look like a fly-ass human. 

DAYTIME: Go to Great Escape Records and Comics.  Buy Pre-sale Tickets for $10 instead of $12.   We are the GROUPON GENERATION.

NIGHT-TIME: YB Music Co-Op Fundraiser = Tidballs.  Buffalo Rodeo (can’t we all just start calling them Buff Rod or the Brodeo boys like I do?  Catch on, people!), Fatbox, and Canago.  All-star line-up.  $5.  21+ 

                             

THURSDAY IS THIRSTY.

DAYTIME: Get your pre-debauchery on at Bowling Green Pipe and Cigar.  Best kept secret downtown.  This is not a just-the-dudes suggestion.  There is something smokin’ hot (see what I did there?) about a lady and a cigar.  They also are just good for conversation and people-watching. 

DINNER-TIME: Get your eat on at Molly Shannon’s Irish Pub.  Not only is it LOCAL, GOOD SHIT- nom, nom, nom - but if you eat between 5-9 this week, 10% of sales go to Hope Harbor.   Hit the event: HERE.  ( A little side note: you know how I found out about this?  From the lovely Sarah Arnold while at BG Pipe and Cigar.  Just sayin’  — that’s where the news is.)

NIGHT-TIME: I know I seem like I have a Tidballs bias- well guess what? I do.  If you don’t like Tidballs, you can suck it.  On Thursday, one of my favorite touring bands on the verge of a break-through, The Hollywood Kills will be returning.   Just back from a tour with crowds like this turning out to see them:

                       

I tweeted about their good news a bit back:

@hollywoodkills impending success = proof that talented, hardworking, and GOOD people still make it. #bigcongrats #goodguysfinishfirst

That’s not just twitter-pandering, either.  I mean it.  These are good guys.  And they’re sexy.  And they have great music. 21+.  $5.  Welcome that back to the USA- I bet they got a whole lot of poutine in Canada.

FRIDAY DOESNT FUCK AROUND

DAYTIME: Peel yourself from sofa.  Put on pants. Blunder down to Spencer’s Coffeehouse and get your day started.  You’re going to need caffeine for the weekend.  They posted some of their scones on FB.  Have. A. Scone.

*Also - the Spencers bulletin board (yes, back there by the bathrooms) is chock full of posters and shiz promoting some really good, not dumb (and some really bad, so dumb) events.  It’s worth a gander.

NIGHT-TIME: 7:30pm.  Sam Bush returns to BG.  What I’m interested in?  (Yes, Sam Bush is great.) Barren River Trio as the opening act.  Bowling Green — you better be payin’ attention to these folks.  You’re missin’ the boat.  Skypac tix = $22.50 for the cheap seats - but I promise you the environment and sound and show will be worth it.  This is our brand new SWEET facility - use it!

NIGHT-TIME:  The Bears of Blue River (abridged, with Maggie and Gavin) return to Tidballs w/ Plastic Friends & The Instruction.  $5.  No holler.  (I just love that saying.) 21+.  Black Belles pre-party.  I *think* I will have some swag to give away at this and if you’re coming in for the weekend from out of town, this is your chance to make friends with the people you’re going to be boot-bumping with on Saturday. …I meant that literally and figuratively. Meow.

*Additionally, The Bears of Blue River will have limited-edition tapes to release of their album, Dames. Sincerely fantastic album (listen and then, buy : here)— They are putting this out with a new local label Residual Stacks - and even though they’re not one of our local babies, they have the same talent, drive, and good attitude that BG knows how to respect.  Welcome them with open arms.  This is their year.

SATURDAY IS COMING.

DAYTIME: Revolution 91.7 Sponsors The Pooch Pageant.  If cute little doggies running with all the energy and life in the world don’t fix your hangover, WHAT WILL!  1pm.  FREEZIES.  Go check out the nifty dogs and if you feel the need, roll around on the ground and eat some grass.  All proceeds go to Hildreth Adoption Center. 

DAYTIME:  Succumb to sports.  Tune into UK vs UL - get a good layer of sportsy-food in your belly and get the blood pumpin’ with a nice rivalry.  Oh, and be proud of your state. 

NIGHTIME: If you don’t know about this - or you know about this and don’t come because of a piece-of-shit reason, it will be a sad day for Bowling Green:

                                                

NIGHTIME: The only reason that is not a piece-of-shit reason to come to Young Mary’s Records Presents The Black Belles is if you are seeing The Lost River Cavemen.  And yes, I think it is feasible to do both.

                                                

If the poster for the show didn’t bring your rear-end there, what will!?

Last week.  Thursday night.  Party time.

Louisville’s Jack Holiday and The Westerners opened.  I missed that.

Second on the agenda was Rainbow K.K.  Unveiling some new material (to me, at least — this is my first time catching them since their Young Mary gig earlier this year) - I was very happy to see progress in them as songwriters and performers.  Never a dull moment with frontman Lando/Stefan/Pistolwhip Meadows - he seems to have really gotten a handle on maintaining his erratic body language with more controlled vocals. 

Now, this wasn’t just another gig - but also the dual release of RKK’s new EP: Cutie Pie (BELOW) and Fairweather Kings’ (first!) self-titled EP.  (second post on FWK to come!)

Photo by Daniel Peach.  Recorded by Greyskull Recordings.  Design by Kelly Mulhall.  In local terms, that is an all-star recipe for an EP based on who’s helpin’ alone. 

A six-song release of the homespun, quirky, going-going-gone tracks we have come to expect from these guys, I’d compare this EP to their first release by looking at the little kitty sticker that came with my purchase of the cd.   Before, RKK was a kitty.  Furry.  Inquisitive.  Our sweet new pet.  With Cutie Pie, our darling babies have found the ball of yarn.  It’s only a matter of time before they’ve strung themselves all over our house - these tunes say to me: it’s okay to be a little messy, a little crazy, and unravel in front of someone. 

To download the EP for FREE: hit RKK’s bandcamp: HERE.  To do what I did and SUPPORT local music, donate to them via bandcamp or buy that physical CD from them at their next gig.  They’re pretty receptive dudes and I bet if you posted on their FB, they’d probably just drop off some tunes in your mailbox or in a hole in a designated tree in a public park.  SEND THE CASH. MAKE THE DROP.

*Favorite Track from Cutie Pie: Teenage Myth

*Most meaningful lyrics to me from Cutie Pie:

“thinking back on you, you had me broken, now i’m fixed

looking back on you, you had me broken, now i’m fixed

but now that you’re gone, but now that you’re gone,

SHE HAS ME FIXED” - from title track, Cutie Pie.

*What I Love: These lyrics remind me of college and college reminds me of fearlessness and being very much alive and being very much alive reminds me that I should be using my life.

*What I Like: Stefan doesn’t have to be anything but himself to pull this off.  No insane vocal wanks, no trying too hard.

*What I Wish: The backing band = solid, talented musicians.  Pack that punch, boys.  You will have women (and men) indie-bopping their heads ‘til the end of time and mimicking Stefan if you will just be the example for them that it is okay to act out, too. 

A huge thank you to Thomas Fox and the fantastic guy at Bad Racket Recording Studio in Cleveland for creating this video for The Black Shades’ single Bread N’ Butter — charting top 200 on CMJ right now!

Another one of those things that I can thank Matt Pannell and Buy Local BG for — acquainting me with Bowling Green Pipe and Cigar.  The eternal non-smoker, I went to meet him downtown to talk shop at the smoke shop and was amazed by how happy I was in the environment.

Were there lots of dudes? Yes.  (There were women, too, less of them, but COOL women.) Smoke? Yes.  And was it the least bit uncomfortable? No.

There were drinks, and comfy couches and chairs, and a beer club meeting.  Familiar faces and unfamiliar faces that were approachable and keeping it cool the way cool is supposed to be.

Aaron bought a new pipe and tobacco. 

I shot the shit with various local folks on everything from music to politics (locally and beyond) to art and literature. 

I didn’t want to tell you about it.  I wanted to keep it a secret.  But it just isn’t fair.  Go have a few drinks, take a smoke, and visit this place.  Young Mary Approved, Endorsed!

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Congratulations to BGKY’s own SCHOOLS  on their trek to SXSW and Red Gorilla Music Festival!

Happy Belated Birthday to guitarist JD Minor, too! 

Photo by Young Mary, Live @ Chuggin’ Monkey, ATX.  The Black Shades and I were lucky enough to make it to their gig.  The BGKY love was REAL.

If you like my stuff, follow me HERE, and on FACEBOOK.

sweet ridez.

simple. classy.  st. patricks.

sartorialist photo of the week.

Clean cut.  Stylish.  Love any woman that pulls of short hair because I look 48 with a bob.

Adorable.  Her tiny feet surely hate her.

Then, MIA showed up.  (This is not really MIA or she’d be wielding a middle finger.)

Just when you think SXSW is a classier, networking event more so than other festivals….

I took this picture to remind me how OVER I am of the look of big boots worn loosely.

Our cat Fran isn’t the smartest- but boy is she pretty!  I wanted to teach her something new that would be useful for her attractive, dumb self — ya know — to move her ahead in life.  I thought teaching her to effectively use photobooth might be a start.

Us doing “surprised/not ready” on photobooth

“looking off in the distance” on photobooth

“someone took my picture while i was asleep” on photobooth

“kissy/sexy” on photobooth.

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