Raise your hand in feathers.*
by Dave DeCastris
About the Print:
Editor’s Note: This print is part of a show taking place this weekend at the WallBlank.com Gallery at the Brewhouse.
The history of the feather, the songwriter and his band it was for, Cory Chisel & The Wandering Sons, goes back a few years. The feather was first scribbled as a sketch idea featuring a little man staring at a giant feather for a record made in Rockford, IL at the now defunct FUSE studio. That record was & is “Little Bird” by Cory Chisel and The Wandering Sons. A beautiful little soul filled pop folk rock album produced by Mark Muraski, Miles Nielsen and Cory themselves over the course of 2005-2006. It features many talents by many people who helped shaped that album and Cory’s midwest vision in song. The feather means something different to Cory and everyone else involved as it does to me. At some point in the making of the record I remember Cory arranging a great well-know session player in Augie Meyers who’s played with everyone from Bob Dylan to Tom Waits to fly into Rockford for, During those moments with the making of that record it became clear to me this little project Cory was recording with FUSE was thinking ‘big’ and beyond those moments. Other artists like Bun E. Carlos and Rick Nielsen with their Rockford ties came by to add parts. In whole, it’s a beautiful little accumulation of the midwest scene caught in a tiny little moment featuring great talented skillful unknowns in Mark, Miles, Noah & Adriel Harris, Dan Pittney, Mike Beert, Rachel Hanlin, Rick Setser, Justin Perkins, Daxx Nielsen, Tony Berkman, General Jim Westin, Mark Baldin, Mr. Adam Plamann, and Daniel McMahon. My memories from watching the making of this record influenced many decisions made artistically giving color and shape, design, to Cory’’s record and anything else needed artistically to help market along the way
Music will do that to you when you’re making it, it’s unlike any rush when you hit a note, or a groove, or an accident you can not duplicate because of the moment itself, the time of the day, or night– the goosebumps basically. Positive delusion kicks in mixed with the reality of trying to accomplish artistic goals more so in music than any other medium I personally and professionally believe. The road was filled with hard work and feelings. Creating an artistic statement does this to people, it can destroy friendships in the face of artistic adversity if you don’t know how to separate the two. It’s what separates dreams from accomplishable goals and in many cases it’s what defines artists from the rest of the very educated (or not) ’let’s go milk the cow’ 8-5 working class.
Said record went through many shift shape ideas and album cover ideas and eventually the feather was thrown out because the goal was to market Cory- not a feather. That mock eventually became the cover of another great midwestern punk band’s record by The Pimps after it’s songwriter, Stu Johnson saw the sketch and demanded it for his band. In Cory’s case, simple 101 music marketing theory took over, and successfully I will add. Cory and “Little Bird” got the attention of many people in the music industry, pieces fell into place, and Cory signed with Sony/RCA in the fall of 2007. The record itself is still widely unavailable but should be in the near future after the launch of his major label debut.
So the feather, the idea of feathers, came back around in some way. Cory’s major label debut hits everywhere you can find music on Sept. 29th, 2009. “Death Won’t Send a Letter” is it’s title and it’s definitely worth seeking out. It’s a great 2009 American pop-rock-folk-blues-record manic on style and full of live studio energy thanks to an awesome rhythm section. One of Cory’s strongest aspects as a songwriter has been his voice, a soulful-gospel-rock-scream-it-from-the-mountain yelp that can crack or soar. With a rotating cast of ‘Wandering Sons’, how would you not want to hear a band like this on record? Matt Cameron of Pearl Jam; Brendan Benson, Little Jack and Patrick Keeler of the Raconteurs, Greenhornes and solo ventures; Sam Farrar from the very under appreciated Phantom Planet really brings an awesome bass feel to the whole sha bang. The list goes on, the rhythm section rocked my first listen, and Cory’s songwriting has sharpened too on pop focus. “What Do You Need” may be the best indie pop song I’ve heard this year hands down, the kind that gets buried on a record and slips into indie nerds’ favorite of the year list, like mine- it’s a great overall pop rock song, unlike anything I’ve heard Cory write to this date and deserves to heard whether you like sitting through full records like I do, or buying singles on iTunes- which is a giant excuse for being lazy. ; )
So the feather. Cory, Adriel and the rest of the Sons are set to embark on their first major tour of the US & the Europe supporting indie songwriting great and Raconteur, Brendan Benson. The idea of a lively skeleton staring at his insides came to me via email. The perfect idea actually considering I’ve spent 4-5 years now focusing on drawing little human or animal objects staring at ‘something’ larger than themselves in theory and wonder. Cory and Adriel needed something simple on style, not too abstract, that conveyed the feeling of taking a look inside yourself combined with birds and feathers, life and death, hearts and thoughts– if possible. All elements present themselves in various manners. In this case it had to be marketable for merch material (tour ts, posters), but it still had to mean something and appear fragile, powerful and marketable to the average music lover all in one. Enter medical anatomy books, various feather images, ink, paper, various sketches, ‘there it is’, scanner, digital threshold and coloring for presentation. And away it goes. Another great idea attempted and brought to life in an effort to merge the gap between art and commerce. Not many ideas end up this way. Most in fact end up in the trash can or stuck in a notebook. So thank you to Cory and Adriel for conveying this idea so clearly making sure the guessing game as an illustrator was removed. The guessing game kills many designers, artists, projects & client relationships, ‘communication breakdowns’ we’ll call them, but the greatest communication problem comes from cities like Rockford barely in tune with it’s arts community, it’s music scene, the events that occur outside of the few that care centered around the disintegrated downtown scene that’s been replaced by Sunil Puri’s 173 and Perryville vision of Rockford.
I feel my own city, their publications, the awful radio stations and tv stations, media outlets, could care less about Rockford, IL outside of promoting Cheap Trick for the millionth time as if they need more PR or news. The cultural events that happen here when they do go under the radar, and the midwest itself in this case via Appleton, WI, not many people know outside of our little artistic cultural shell here tends to drown if we the artists stuck in markets like Rockford, IL, don’t speak up a little louder. So speak up, yell, scream, the midwest is tired of laying low and being proud because we were born here and that’s how it is. Being quiet, hibernating, thinking, not doing anything or talking about it and waiting for doors to open or opportunities to arise will kill you if you live to dream and work in places like Rockford, IL. It has almost killed me, this town is a killer, people don’t dream here, they make babies and think this is as good as it gets. Tired of being quiet, it’s time to throw it back. Every artist needs to step up, speak up and say something. There is no better medium to do such when your local papers and radio are dead set on not starting fires or sharing the goodness that is going on here. We have that right, it’s our freedom to speak and yell. Take it, use it. “Ra ra ra ra ra” said the grizzly bear is right.
Fellow Grizzly Bears, it’s time to wake up, now is that time, we’re dead center in a tornado recession that is going to hurricane kill cities & artistic communities like Rockford, IL. There has never been a worse time in history to live and work in cities like Rockford, IL where there are no opportunities to progress and succeed and feel a part of something. Our leaders have failed markets like Rockford since the 70s with poor decisions, selfish investments and a downright majority lack of effort trying to replace the industrial market we lost for something new or sustaining for the middle class. People argue the great depression was worse- but those people were already poor before it occurred. This recession is destroying the middle class, the upper middle class, the educated, the hard working small business owners, the root and backbone of America’s workforce is being poisoned in cities like mine. It’s been happening for over 20 years in Rockford, IL because we have never replaced what we’ve lost. This economic-emotional lack of labor storm is worse will be my argument, Rockford, 2009 is on the verge of slipping into one of the top 10 worst cities to live and work in- don’t believe me? Visit the US Department of Labor’s website. As of the beginning of August, 2009, we were in the worst top 20 cities for employment having suffered a 15.1% unemployment rate. As of October, 2009, we will have moved into the top 10 inching closer to 17%. Here’s the awful truth, those numbers don’t take into account self-employed individuals, contractors, freelancers, many construction workers without labor for over a year- who legally can’t file for unemployment, so that number is awfully skewed in markets like Rockford where I personally know more self-employed people than those with an every 2 week paycheck. Frightening.
Hibernation season is over, we have options to move, relocate, or like me get pissed and yell loud when you get a chance to, make people think about where they are, and the life they live in words, sound, and vision. Now is the perfect time to yell responsibly and make sh*t happen, use your asterisks, let your leaders know you are pissed and you want more in return to remain in run down communities like Rockford, IL that forces the educated and hard working away from the city rather than make efforts to keep us here. We have more to give than what’s been offered. Every professional creative or artist needs to say something and the best place to start is right here in the midwest, spread outward, use your skills and growl like a hungry bear waking from a long nap. Find that bird, eat it, and raise your hand in feathers. Then go buy some good music and stop listening to the junk they play 4xs a day in between creepy car commercials on crappy radio stations with DJS that brag more about their own cover band. Seriously people, go to the mall, get away from facebook, go save the economy, enjoy some Sbarro’s, save the next GAP, find a local record store if you can in a downtown like Madison, WI (B-Sides!) and buy something like Cameron McGill and What Army’s “Warm Songs for Cold Shoulders.” The perfect american record to weather a recession, or a divorce with, and then ra ra ra ra r ar ar ra r ar a ra r ar a r a ra r ar a r ar a ra ra r ar a r ar a r ar like a grizzly bear.
By Dave DeCastris. From the ra ra ra ra ra said the grizzly bear series. An archival pigment print. Also includes a surprise second print.
This print and many others (by Dave and 7 other artists) will be available this weekend at our gallery show, At the Brewhouse: Cover Your Walls.
(*A line from the song, “Longer Time at Sea” by Cory Chisel and The Wandering Sons featured on “Death Won’t Send a Letter”)
This print is no longer available from Wallblank. It is shown here (and will remain) for archive purposes.
Print Details:
Museum Quality Pigment Print
Our prints are made with the highest quality inks on the finest archival papers available. The size stated is the size of the paper; included is a minimum 1/4" border (often wider on 2 sides so the image isn't cropped) for ease of framing & handling.
