Lindsay Kupser
Geoff Bartley has been hosting the Monday Night Open Mic at the Cantab Lounge in Cambridge, Massachusetts for 21 years. Last night’s open mic was only a microscopic sample of what has been offered in the decades old nightclub. Yet, it was enough to get an idea of why Bartley has been able to keep it going strong over the years. There was a good mix of age groups among performers and audience members alike. Bartley also kept it organized and running smooth to allow for a rather large number of people on a Monday night in early September.
Patrick Roetzel was the person on stage as I arrived at 8:30 p.m. He was singing a traveling monologue called “A Fishing Song” in which he found himself in Boston in 1969 losing his virginity in a car to a young woman was directly descended from John Quincy Adams. His humor captivated the quiet listening audience. Roetzel also sang his song called “435,000 Years.”
While Roetzel was singing and playing his acoustic guitar, I noticed that the listeners are as much a part of the process as the performer. The crowd is polite, respectful, and they give each singer-songwriter a serious listen.
Raymond Gonzalez got up next onto the Cantab’s small stage to sing his songs “June Apple” and “A Little Magic.” Gonzalez sang with a handsome resonant voice that sounded out all the tenderness in his lyrics. His guitar picking style brought out the grit in his melody and he picked a lot of emotive nuances in his tunes.
Canadian turned Boston resident Lindsay Kupser sang her song “Six Weeks” with her sweet silky voice making you feel what she was singing about. Kupser also had a pleasant manner of emphasizing her theme with quick choppy pauses in her chords and verses. Each of her chords had a special resonance. Her strong coos were another treat for the ears, lulling her appreciative audience more deeply into her tune. Kupser’s next song was still untitled as of last night. It did have nice touches. Her vocal assertions, high, sweet, affective, address the theme’s depth as a haunting riff beautifully established her cred.
Last night’s featured artist, Chip Quinn, got to sing for a longer duration, as is the policy for that open mic at the Cantab. Quinn, who has a day job as professor of genetics, began his set with “Jesus People,” a jab at those who talk a lot about Jesus but do not seem to have the same philosophy. Quinn has a personable approach. He makes you feel he’s sitting down with you and having a friendly chat about the views he espouses in his songs. His smooth voice lets his words ease their way over to his listeners. He also has a sense of humor. His song mentioned how going to hell isn’t so bad, since he’d meet a lot of interesting people like Robert Johnson and Mark Twain and several others. Quinn sang his song “The Fabric Of Heaven” about the 1915 Bread And Roses Strike in Lowell in 1915, weaving a memorable tale of a tragic ending. You couldn’t help but feel moved by Quinn’s words and his tender guitar picking style. Another of Quinn’s songs,” If Tongues Could Talk” pulled his listeners deeper into the emotional core of his singer-songwriter story, using an emphasis in vocal projection, making his voice more heavily accented than his subtle guitar melody.
Quinn called up Bartley to play a duet with him on a Jelly Roll Morton song. Dual acoustic six strings wove a warm blanket of melody, giving the ear so much more to tune into. Quinn’s “Unintelligent Design” playfully mocked the notion of God’s plan, noting that there are sick children in the world. The song suggests that God was smoking reefer in the garden when he let the universe create itself. He also questioned why God would be telling us not to chase women when he made them so soft and pretty. Quinn closed out his featured set with “Litany For January 15,” which he let Bartley record on Bartley’s latest album Mercy For The Dispossessed.
Soundman PJ Shapiro, who I interviewed for Metronome Magazine over ten years ago, was running sound for this open mic. Shapiro got up from his board of many colored buttons and switches to strut his stuff on stage. Shapiro is a modern singer-songwriter and his song “Fire Escape” featured the sturdy style and more assertive vocalizations than the seasoned players. Shapiro may have gained his interest in a more aggressive singer-songwriter approach from his generation’s constant exposure to high decibels.
A real treat was a singer-songwriter named Ed White who opened his set with “You thought Your Boyfriend Was A Lesbian.” White’s wispy rasp applied well to his humorous tale of gender identification. His “True Believers” came across quaintly, with White’s brittle guitar notes contrasting well with his assertive rasp. Mr. White received an enthusiastic encore, which meant he got to play a third song, and he chose to cover The Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated,” which was a lot of fun for the crowd.
The Cantab Lounge is not a new building, but it is clean inside, and it is well decorated. Strings of lights and beer promo wall art lend the room a bright colorful appeal to match its amicable, comfortable, inviting vibe. It’s that atmosphere that helps make the Cantab Monday Night Open Mic such a cozy affair.
Singer-songwriter Kenney Thomas went on stage to sing his anti-government spy policy protest song “Big Brother Brouhaha.” It was an amusing mockery of the NSA’s use of intelligence in a waste of time rummage through private citizen’s e-mail accounts only to find nothing. The best line came when Thomas was wondering if “the constitution is constipated?” Thomas also took on New York City mayoral candidate and former congressman Anthony Weiner. It was certainly entertaining to hear Thomas’s take on the word “Weiner.”
A saxophone/acoustic guitar duo, 40 percent of the Rusted Bucket Band, went up next and showed that singer-songwriter-acoustic duo stuff can certainly involve saxophone. Soulful, seductive saxophone worked its way around the assertive low end-enhanced strum of the acoustic guitar. The singer grabbed the audiences attention with his hefty voice singing “You Fucked Me Right Up.”
In town for a few days from Limerick, Ireland, Noel Flemming crafted a pleasant sound with his soft gentle vocal timbre and his light touch on the guitar(borrowed from the previous act). “Everything’s OK” featured his playing style, peppy acoustic notes, each percolating into something larger, impressive, after they were picked and were still ringing in the air. Over that gentle patter, Flemming pushed his soft timbre along his melody line with delicate aplomb. An enthusiastic response earned Flemming a third song, showing he had found a good home in Cambridge
Well, there you have it folks, one little peak into the Cantab Monday Night Open Mic hosted by Geoff Bartley. Singer-songwriters looking for a special room where the focus is on the song in a comfortable environment need look no further than Cambridge, Massachusetts on Monday nights. You will be glad
you came.
Something called a “Guitar Séance” runs from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The open mic begins at 8:00 p.m. on Mondays. 738 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA. 617-354-2695
