Why Easthampton Matters

Lately I've had some downtime (and it is true that "idle hands are the devil's workshop") and have been spending it in Easthampton. More than a decade ago, this town of roughly 16,000 was in dire straits. Sandwiched between upscale Northampton and whitebread Southampton at the base of Mount Tom, downtown Easthampton wasn't a destination. With the reformation of town government in 1996, Easthampton's first mayor, Mike Tautznik was the catalyst in revitalizing the crumbling downtown. Under his leadership, industry and the arts have flourished in Easthampton.

Here are a few of my favorite things about Easthampton:

1. "Buns-on-Wheels" Street food is important to any downtown economy. This one at the rotary (across from Pulaski Park) is one of my favorite gastro-intestinal stressors. Run by the "Portuguese Lady of Chicopee," cheap dogs and burgers are the order of the day. Occasionally some ethnic flavors are on the menu--and that's a plus in my book.

2. "The Brass Cat" There aren't any shortages of places to drink in this town. What sets this bar apart from the others is the jukebox--loaded with home-made playlists of local artists, hipster indie-pop and classic slacker rock. Chances are you'll find a semi-famous singer-songwriter nursing a whisky in the corner, or your drunk ex-girlfriend hustling at the pool table.

3. "BearFest" Everyone's an artist in this town (some are just edgier), and the bears that line the streets of downtown are a testament to that. Designed to boost the visibility of downtown, the bears have become news themselves.

4. "Flywheel" This arts collective is gearing up to re-launch after a nearly three year hiatus. Famous for booking some of the craftiest music shows in the New England area, the Flywheel outgrew its original spot and now will be located at Easthampton's old Town Hall.

5. "Lloyd Cole" Leader of the 80's Brit-pop band, Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, this resident of Easthampton keeps a low profile. On tour in far-flung countries most of the time, Cole likes to hang out at the Brass Cat.

6. "Eastworks" This old Stanley Home products factory houses some of Easthampton's most exciting arts and industries. Folks who lease space include Sonic Youth's "Ecstatic Peace"label, Luke Cavagnac's "Invisible Fountain"gallery and the wonderful Apollo Grill.

7. "Mayor Mike Tautznik" While it's an election cycle this year, and one candidates' platform is "Change?," this hardworking LEADER is in no danger of being ousted.

8. "La Casita Azteca" Please God, don't let this Mexican eatery go out of business--please?!

9. "Nashawannuck Pond" The visual centerpiece of downtown is about to be dredged by the Army Corp of Engineers, restoring the pond's aqautic life back to what it once was.

10. "Big E's" A local grocery store fighting for its life, this throwback to the super stores is a great place to get some kapusta or my favorite beers.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Lloyd Cole.

Readers of this blog are familiar with Lloyd Cole. The English singer-songwriter had hits on the modern rock charts in the ‘80s, and inspired a whole new generation of musicians such as Belle and Sebastian, Camera Obscura, and Stars. He appears on the indie super-group Gramercy Arms' recently released debut recording. Quietly living in Western Massachusetts, Cole continues to perform and record superb music. Cole was gracious enough to take time out to answer some questions I had for him about the usual stuff—good places to eat and what he’s reading these days.



Renaissance Man



CT: Your lyrics have always been literate and character driven. Who do you read these days for pleasure? Out of necessity, or for comfort?

LC: I read all sorts of things. I have a monthly gig for ABC Radio in Australia called Lloyd's Library where I talk about what I've read that month. It’s great as I get paid (very little), and more importantly, it keeps me reading.

Recently I’ve read Dickens’ Hard Times (how great is that book?), and A Tale of Two Cities–ditto. I had never read Dickens before and I'm now a convert.

Various essays by Clive James: Equally enlightening, erudite and annoyingly self important,

Charles Portis’ The Dog of the South: I cannot recommend it highly enough. Great dialogue on par with Chandler but quirkier, he wrote True Grit as well and I'll read that soon.

Harold Robbins! His biography which was a hoot and the first 200 pages of The Carpetbaggers : a sex scene every 17 pages! Actually it is quite well done for what it is, and his bio suggests that it was all down hill from then! Still, 200 pages are enough for you to get the picture (there's internet porn these days if that's what you're after….)

I read quite a bit of golf writing, mainly focusing on architecture. Bernard Darwin (the grandson) is a big favorite to read.

CT: What's the genesis of your writing for publications?

LC: I'd like to be a part-time musician when I'm 55. I can't afford to just quit.

CT: You're an avid golfer with a fairly decent ranking, is it true that you're tied with Alice Cooper?

LC: I was. A knee injury hasn't helped my game since that list came out.

CT: J. Mascis from Dinosaur Jr. is a golf nut. Has anyone suggested pairing you two up? I think he plays at Cherry Hill in Amherst.

LC: We finally met at a mutual friend's birthday party—it isn't going to happen.

CT: You’re a bit of a gourmand, any particular ethnic or regional flavors appeal to you most? Do you have any favorite spots in Western MA that you would recommend?

LC: In Northampton, the best food is at Amanouz, the Moroccan place. Great Wall in Florence does good dim sum on Saturdays. Pintu's in West Springfield is the closest we have to a good Indian.

(Note to Amanouz—pay up!)

Life in Western MA

CT: You lived for a period of time in the Valley prior to residing in Easthampton, right?

LC: A few years in Northampton.

CT: What drew you to Western MA in the first place?

LC: Indecision. Fear of being too far from NYC, fear of being too close. We also had some friends near here. Wife wanted a climate with seasons—be careful what you ask for, I say.

CT: What do you like the most and least about small town living?

LC: I like the people around here, mostly. I like my local bar, local golf clubs. I miss the really good food you get in the big cities, but I no longer miss the cities.

CT: What are your impressions of Easthampton?

LC: It's on the up and up. I hope that is a good thing. It doesn't rate itself like Northampton does and that is a good thing. The schools are really improving quickly and are not resting on their laurels. Downtown seems just a few years away from being really vibrant, but if our neighbor is anything to go by, I hope we don't change too much.

CT: While Western MA is not exactly Mecca for musicians or performers, it has its fair share (Martin Sexton, Mark Mulcahy, Chris Collingwood, Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon, J. Mascis, Cyril Neville, and Robin Lane to name a few). Do you feel a sense of a musical community? Or is that a presumption of a wishful music fan? Or does it even matter to you?

LC: No, no. But I have met some musicians I like very much as people—and that makes a change. I am a big Lonesome Brothers fan.

CT: Has your move to Western MA been helpful or a hindrance creatively and financially to your career?

LC: I have less overhead than I had in the city—that can't hurt.

Life After the Music Biz

CT: How do you see yourself in relation to where you once where, say twenty years ago to now?

LC: I was never doing as well I as felt I was, or was told that I was. I never managed to create any financial stability. But I drew bigger crowds and people played my music and wrote about me more often, that's for sure. Musically—I don't think I started to have a real clue as to what it is that I do until Love Story and by then, commercially, it was too late. I'm very pleased with most of the records I've made, the first one and the last two especially.

CT: If tomorrow you decided you were through with being a singer-songwriter, is there anything you could segue into?

LC: Webmaster?

Ranking your Output

CT: What are the elements for a perfect pop tune?

LC: Rhythm, melody and the words not getting in the way of those two. If the words can add something, then great.

CT: Which of your recordings are most important to you, and why?

LC: The first of each period. Rattlesnakes. Lloyd Cole. Music In A Foreign Language. Because I was at points when I wasn't sure if I could do something, for the first time, or anymore. But I had an idea of something I thought would be cool and it came out pretty well all three times . . . I think.



CT: Are there any of your recordings that you just can't listen to, and why?

LC: Minor Character. Bad words, or more to the point—words which get in the way of the song, awful singing, with pretty poor production to boot.

All the long play outs on Mainstream—I'm not a soul singer and someone should have told me.



Fall Together—self righteous, moi? I never thought I'd fall into that trap, but I sound awfully superior on much of Bad Vibes.



This is a shame because “wrote the sequel to the bible/ bought the rights to the original sin” ought to be in a good song.

Fellow Musicians

CT: After the Commotions disbanded you moved to NYC and you played with some major talent. You swiped two-thirds of Lou Reed's touring band and a member of the Golden Palominos before his solo career broke. Later on, you played with Jill Sobule and Dave Derby from the criminally under-rated Dambuilders. How did that trifecta of Robert Quine, Fred Maher and Matthew Sweet come about?

LC: I met Fred and they were his pals.

CT: If you could put together a dream band today, who would be the players?

LC: The Beatles would be fine.

CT: When I was teenager I dreamt up a super-group involving you, Lawrence from the Scottish band Felt, Pat Fish of the Jazz Butcher, and Paddy McAloon from Prefab Sprout—how wrong was I?

LC: There would have been fights—Paddy and I in the one corner, and the lightweights in the other. I must say, though, I heard a track by Denim about the ‘80s which I thought was great.




Misc.

CT: You seem to tour Portugal and Spain quite a bit, and yet keep a low profile in the States. Is your fan base there (or Europe in general) more receptive to Lloyd Cole the solo singer-songwriter?

LC: The Commotions were huge in Portugal for a minute. I'm still treated nicely and as the euro trounces the dollar, it's hard to turn down offers over there. Are they more receptive, though? The people who come to my shows—no.

CT: What is your interest in fado music? I think I read somewhere that you were a fan of the genre.

LC: I'm not a connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination and I don't speak Portuguese beyond “hello” and “beer,” but it is a lovely genre and very strict in its arrangements, which I like. I prefer women singing it—Amália Rodrigues (the most famous one) being mine and everyone else's favorite.

Lloyd Cole ‘No Regrets’ Pleasant Street Theater, Northampton, MA, October 4, 2007

Wow! Two shows in one year! Lloyd Cole came home to play yet another stellar, low-key show in the valley. This time, Lloyd played the “Music after Movies” series with the likes of Thurston Moore, Juliana Hatfield and Winterpills. It was theater owner Bob Lawton’s last ditch effort to resuscitate his failing movie house which is now up for sale.

I don’t write reviews and have no intentions of doing so here but let’s just say that opener Zeke Fiddler needs to reassess his music career. He sucks with a capital S and not just because of his crummy gear. Poor Lloyd was ever the gentleman and offered Zeke the use of a proper guitar cord. Zeke however preferred the authentic sound of crackling amp to go with his hushed, whispery-thin vocals and incredibly tedious musical arrangements. Thankfully his set was short.

What can I say about Lloyd? Each of his two shows this year in the valley has been unpredictable and magical. I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed a performer mingling effortlessly with his audience, chatting up retiree-aged golfing buddies or calling out to his teen-aged son Will in the audience to call “Mom and ask her for a ride home if your falling asleep!”

Lloyd’s set covered mostly his post-Commotion’s work, plenty of his recent work and a smattering of his booze-fueled songs from his New York period. He was at ease with the audience and at one point remarked how odd it was to see no one drinking. He promised to get everyone out before their sitters started to call. Oddly enough, with the exception of a few folks, everyone in the audience seemed 50-plus. Lloyd covered a couple of Tim Hardin tunes, prefacing them with “I wrote these after I got out of the Marines and on heroin.”

Lloyd shone on “The Young Idealists,” “My Bag,” “Patience,” and “Like Lovers Do.” Playing well over an hour and half, Lloyd confronted his negative image and offered that he had “no regrets” about his early career and his current low-key performances.

I just want to play some fado songs and get drunk with Lloyd sometime.

Lloyd Cole @ the Brass Cat, Easthampton, MA, July 14, 2007

Sometimes life here in the Valley is so sweet. Imagine this: in 1984 Lloyd Cole and the Commotions released my all-time favorite recording, Rattlesnakes. This was the soundtrack to my teen years living in Boston. I memorized the lyrics, track listings and credits (and if need be—would recreate the album cover photo). Yes, I am a fan and will do nothing here but praise Lloyd Cole. There was a tiny listing in the Hampshire Gazette that Cole would be playing the Brass Cat. I rubbed my eyes in disbelief as Cole lives in Easthampton and has not played out here in years. Sure, whatever. As the hour approached, I stood outside the Cat, nervously pacing and braced myself for disappointment. The first person I saw in the bar was Cole chatting at the pool table with a local. Dressed for the PGA tour, his shock of black hair now graying, I nearly melted down. Should I approach him? No, not drunk enough. I perched myself on a barstool and observed his every movement. Christ, I’m a celebrity stalker. I grew anxious waiting for a sign that he would approach the Cat’s ridiculously tiny stage. Then anger. Anger over the locals ruining my religious moment with their loud voices, pool playing and Red Sox game on all three televisions. Without fanfare, Cole stepped onstage, tuned his acoustic guitar and began to strum “Perfect Skin.” I grabbed a stool and planted it right in front of the stage. Ten other people stared in rapt attention. Despite Cole's stripped down versions, I heard Anne Dudley’s strings, I heard Blair Cowan’s keyboards. I was 18 again, and in love and alive. Cole played a number of songs from “Rattlesnakes,” often hitting the high notes that were a trademark of that recording. His between songs patter was minimal and often apologetic about being an aged singer. Cole could’ve cleared his throat for an hour and that would’ve been fine by me. Cole covered two Tim Hardin tunes, a Dylan tune and of course, “Chelsea Hotel” by Leonard Cohen. His finger-picking and vocals were spry and graceful. He asked the audience to pick some tunes and my voice went mute as I wordlessly mouthed “Brand New Friend.” In the end, it was “Undressed.” Forty minutes into the set and it was all over. Cole walked off stage and packed his guitar up. I wiped the dampness out of my eyes and fled the Brass Cat.