The Wealthy Orphans / Bad Heart Bill – Time For A Folk Revival

If you have ever longed to experience that church-like quality you can feel on a early-to-midcareer Tom Waits record, then your best shot is definitely this Friday night when the Wonder Wagon pulls back into downtown and sets up residency as a sort of folk lighthouse for a special evening of art, music and modern dance. This time, we’re inside the Division Avenue Arts Collective, affectionately known to many as simply The DAAC.

The event kicks off with a photography show by photographer Bianca Grazzi, who is returning to Grand Rapids after spending four years in New York City with her first in-print exhibition of her latest works exploring the theme of home and the memories we often attach to this place.

Following the reception, Bad Heart Bill of Columbus, OH will take to the stage with a shadow puppet show before the musicians Rebecca Riley (formerly of Clitorectomy & the Mutilators) and Jo Letke move around the curtain to center stage. They call their haunting and, at times, jarringly raw set of folk music Riot Country and Anti-Christ Gospel.

Keeping with this theme of folk revival on the edge of the universe will be The Wealthy Orphans, artist/musician Rick Beerhorst’s latest musical incarnation. 

Under Beerhorst’s direction, this rather new band evokes all the joys and adulation one feels when spinning a vintage Tom Waits or early Talking Heads LP. Not known for their highly polished style or even strong pitch-perfect vocals, The Wealthy Orphans present a collection of new songs that are accessible in their spiritual familiarity, but also their humanist rawness rooted firmly in honest stories from the road known as contemporary life.

Due to space concerns, the Wonder Wagon, parked out front of The DAAC, will also have an ongoing stream of young crustpunk folkies performing curbside for all the lost souls who didn’t arrive in time and could not fit into the venue. It is also a place for those needing a smoke break to chill in the street with a great musical soundtrack. 

Joining the group on stage for a special number will be a few members of Grand Rapids’ most exciting dance company, the contemporary and risk-taking Dance In The Annex. 

And while the temptation is there to try and document the hell out of this visually rich night of music and art with a constant barrage of camera flashes or the glow of cell phones, it is my hope that the producers of this show are smart enough to remember that sometimes, art needs not be documented or interrupted by the sight and sound of ambling pho-taggers jockeying to capture the image for the social shut-ins who only experience our local art scene via Facebook.  

G-Sync has unofficially coined 2012 as the year of “getting real & getting out” if our local arts scene is to survive or be worthy of their residency.

The best stories of our place are the ones we tell with our own voices, which are still capable of recreating all the mystery and beauty a night like this promises to hold.

Admission: Art Reception is Free / Concert is $6.