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Glenside (Phila)
sat sep 20 • 8pm
sat Oct 4 • 8pm
Oct 29 • 8pm
Oct 30 • 8pm
sat NOv 8 • 8pm
fri NOv 28 • 8pm
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SUMMER - FALL 2014 3 Tickets & info: www.KeswickTheatre.com and AXS.com • 215-572-7650 • ConvenientHEADSPACEMAG.COM to Septa rail & bus • FREE Parking
CONTENTS
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6
staf f
Letter From The Editor
parking lot
tunes
5 Letter From the Editor
14 The Vibration: Bluegrass Edition
Miscellaneous
6 A Head Of The Game Featuring Ben Jammin’
Interview by Alessandro Satta
10 Rocks With A Fox Focus with Fluorite
By Shawn “Fox” Rybacki
munchies
Food and health
11 Smoothie Recipes - Honey Bear
Music
- The Brummy Brothers
Interview by Joe Gurreri
- Still Hand String Band
Interview by Nikola Katkocin
16 Marco Benevento The madman of melodies
Interview by Becky Blumenthal
19 Album Reviews
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- Lotus -The Glided Age
- Old Crow Medicine Show - Remedy
- The Underwater Sounds - Visions Of Love & Light Pt. 1 By Matt Testa
- Avocado Kiwi
greens
spaced out
12 The Farmer’s Market ABC’s
20 Distilling The Facts of Essential Oils
Environmental initiatives By Janice Rhayem
Activities, arts, & culture
By Matt Testa
23 Exploring The International Gem Show By Mia Jester
24 Comic Corner and Event List 26 Artist Showcase
Featuring Olga Klimova
30 Vape Pen Review 4
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The wrought iron gates of the Mann Center for the Performing Arts stood ahead of me, while an ocean of tie-dye adorned Phish fans poured out towards me. A good chunk of the crowd seemed too ecstatically out of it to understand my words “Free Magazine! Music and art! In and around Philly!” The pile of magazines I was distributing started to go. As I handed them out, I quickly came to the realization that my wallet was missing. In the haste of paying a friend’s nephew to help me carry an extra box of magazines to the front, I had dropped my wallet. With the help of a random pretzel salesman, I scanned the area for forty-five minutes or more but found nothing. After a while, I gave up the search. I started heading home, and about halfway home, I saw my friend driving the car in front of me waving his arm out of his window, so I rolled my window down. “They found your wallet,” he screamed. “Somebody found your wallet!” When we got back to South Philly, I found out that this guy had picked the wallet up outside the show and had searched my name on Facebook. Once he found me, he noticed that we had five mutual friends in common and realized he had one of their phone numbers. The mutual friend ended up being Blake, one of our editors here at Headspace Magazine. For some reason she did not have my phone number, so she called our creative director that was driving the car in front me. Blake provided us with the guy who found the wallet’s phone number, and I gave him a call. “Thank you so much for returning this wallet. Can you tell me what all is left in it?” I asked. He said, “No problem. I see over a hundred dollars and three tickets for tomorrow night’s show.” That was EVERYTHING!!!! I couldn’t believe it. “Take $50 out of the wallet, and go have fun with it.” I said to him. “No it’s cool. I just want to see you at the show tomorrow, shake your hand, and give you your wallet back.” He insisted. I couldn’t believe it. The next day I met up with him in the parking lot of the next show of the two-night run at the Mann Center, and he returned my wallet, completely full. This selfless action from a member of our beloved community of heads, blew me away and has helped re-energize some of my faith in the human race. Thanks again, David Palan. You are the man!
founder / editor -in-chief Alessandro Satta
alexsatta@headspacemag.com
creative director Joe Gurreri
joegurreri@headspacemag.com
contributing editor Becky Blumenthal
becky@headspacemag.com
copy editors Janice Rhayem Blake Feldman
illustrators John Warner
Joel Kirckhoff
Kendra Dingley Ben Fowler Liana Kelly
graphic designers Katherine Wissner Jason Waggaman
contributing writers Shawn Rybacki Mia Jester
Matt Testa NIkola Katkocin
contributing photographer
- Alessandro Satta
Christina Klaproth Lisa Joyce Kowalski
Cover photo: Ben Jammin and Theresa Adams “Trixie” Garcia Photo Cred. Sean Behm
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A HEAD OF THE GAME featuring
Ben Jammin
The art of tie-dyes The hippie scene has many colorful traditions that have helped define its members through the decades. The art of tie-dying is just one of those traditions that has not been lost with time. The multi-colored roots of this art form stretch down to an Indian custom called Bandhani, which began over 5,000 years ago. The hippie movement took tie-dying to the next level. One person that has furthered this trippy mission in the last several decades is Ben Jammin. If you are in the jam-band scene or you enjoy Grateful Dead related music, you have probably seen some of Ben’s artwork either worn as tie-dye clothing on your favorite musicians or as psychedelic backdrops. Ben and his team will be decorating the rest of your summer, so keep an eye out. Ben took some time away from his shop to tell us about his inspiration and a little about his process. How and when did you get into this scene? In 1991, when I was the ripe old age of seventeen, the Grateful Dead came through town in Las Vegas where I was growing up. I spent two days in the parking lot, totally in awe of all that was happening around me. There was one cat particularly that I watched going in and out of his trunk time and time again. Stuffing shopping bags full of tie-dye shirts and replacing them with handfuls of cash. He saw me watching him and after a couple hours he came over with
a T-shirt and a smile. He said, “Hey kid, I know you’ve been watching me all day, and I hope you keep it to yourself, but I sold an awful lot of T-shirts, and now I’m going into the show.” That really intrigued me at that point, because I had never been to a show. I didn’t really know what was going on. I just saw all these people out there being free and having fun and people making money. He came up and handed me a fresh T-shirt that was all bright and pretty and said, “Hey, this is for you, but remember, if you want to survive on tour, you have to be true and find something cool to do so that people
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will come to you.” At seventeen years old I was really young. I couldn’t do a lot of the things that were going on out there that would keep kids on tour. So I went and found someone who had been there for quite a while and got him to teach me how to tie-dye. We ordered colors, and he taught me how to make a “Steal Your Face,” which is the Grateful Dead’s logo and their big icon. For the first six or seven months that’s all I made was a Steal Your Face tapestry. My friend said, “If you ever need anything, just take the tapestry to the show and hang it up, and let the people come to you. You will get
parking lot tickets, you will get food, you will find a place to stay, you will get everything. Just stand behind your artwork and let it do the talking for you.” How did you get connected with members of the Grateful Dead? In 1992 at the Compton terrace down in Arizona, I made eight tie-dyes and stuck them together and made a huge eighty foot by eighty foot square out of it that was stretched across the tops of the school buses. The news cameras filmed them that day. At night when everyone was home from the show every channel was showing these huge tie-dyes stretched over these buses. The next night when I got to the show, I made my way towards the VIP area, and I hung one of the tie-dyes up on a fence. It took about half an hour before a couple ladies, who turned out to be Jill Lesh and Vince Welnick’s wife, came up to me. They said, “The band would really like to meet you and check out your tie-dye work up close.” I was like, “That’s cool.” So they said, “Here, take this pass, jump over the fence.” I had barely been going to shows for a year now, and here I was climbing over the fence and getting walked downstairs backstage. I set up with Vince’s wife, and when the band walked off stage, we presented the tie-dye to them. They all came down and said, “Hello” and “Hi, how ya doing” and “Wow, that’s really cool.” We ended up giving Vince and his wife this tie-dye I had made with a big Steal Your Face with an Indian headdress and a big mushroom with sunshine going in it. It really took them by surprise. Here was this eighteen-year-old kid that was making something they had never seen before. Shortly after meeting them, we went to the Oakland Coliseum, for which I had made another tie-dye, and I ended up meeting Bob Barsotti, who took me backstage, and I set up with one of the dressing rooms in kind of like theater seating. They had rows and rows—probably ten rows of seats and maybe twenty-five or
thirty of the people from backstage, plus all the band members, and we brought the tie-dye in and everybody was sitting in the theater seating. We had rolled it up, and when we got in front of everyone we dropped the bottom of the tie-dye, and it just came cascading down. Everyone in the room’s chin hit the floor; Wavy Gravy, Ken Kesey, John Popper, Phil, Jerry, Kreutzman, and Tom Constanten. They were all in attendance, and they all pretty much lost it! Jerry said it was the coolest thing he had ever seen. I ended up giving them that tie-dye. A few months later Candice Brightman, the Grateful Dead’s lighting designer, filmed one of the tapestries out in the parking lot. Upon coming into the show we got to see the tie-dye thirty feet tall up on the video screens. It turned into one of the first pieces of artwork that was taken
out of the parking lot and turned into the Grateful Dead’s lighting show. She added to it and would twist and turn the images on the screen. She spent the next three years experimenting and playing with different stuff that I made and setting up stages. Can you talk about other musicians who have worn your tie-dyes in the past? In 1994 I joined with the group Rock Medicine. The Haight-Ashbury free clinic included Dr. David Smith and the director Glen Raswick, who brought me on board to decorate the “space tent.” It’s the tripper tent covered in tie-dye for when you get a little too high and you end up
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in there. They do an assessment of you and they lay you down in this tent. When it came time for me to sign on and get offered a job with Grateful Dead Productions or anything like that, I was able to tell them, “No, I already have a job. I work with Rock Medicine.” I have been volunteering with them for the last twenty-five years, which has afforded me to get into all the shows and get my artwork seen. In the course of that came 1998 at Mountain Air in Calavaras County. It was one of Phil Lesh’s first shows back. John Molo was in the band along with Merle Saunders and Steven Kimock. Owsley was there mixing sound. I ran into John Molo at the Rock Medicine tent and asked him if he could get me to decorate Phil’s dressing room. He was obliged and said, “Sure, Phil will get a kick out of this.” When we got back, we decorated the dressing room. I laid out three shirts with a little note that said, “Please pick one and give the rest away.” He ended up picking one of the shirts, gave one of the dancing bears shirts to Owsley, and Merle Saunders ended up taking the other one. So that opened up my relationship with John Molo and Phil Lesh even further. From there I went on to do some festivals down South where I met Bobby Krieger of The Doors and was able to do a show for him. I’ve worked with the David Nelson Band, Vince Welnick’s Band Missing Man Formation, and Melvin Seals’s band JGB. I did one of their first runs without Jerry. I have been able to maintain relationships with all of these bands by setting up stages and doing lighting. Through working with John Molo I was able to do some tie-dyes for his band, Modereko, who opened up for Dark Star Orchestra at the House of Blues in Los Angeles. I snuck in with Modereko and hung up my twenty ft x 5 ft back drops that you now see Dark Star Orchestra touring with all over the country. For the last four years, I have worked with Bill Kreutzman’s band 7 Walkers doing their lighting and stage design. We are hoping they will get back together for 2015.
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parking lot Can you talk about the process behind your tie-dyes? Tie-dye has brought really great joy to my life over the years. Each tie-dye starts with a piece of white fabric, then you fold it in half. You get a washable marker and you draw the design on there whether it’s going be a heart, a bear, a mushroom, a peace symbol, a pot leaf, or a Steal Your Face. Once the picture is drawn on there, you go around and make these tiny pleat folds where you go through and follow kind of like stained glass or a tattoo even. You’re following the lines and then you condense the lines until it’s divided into sections, and then you fill it in kind of like paint by numbers. You have your outline and your shape, then you come in with different colors and you have all these different shades going through it. For me, it’s almost as if Renoir, Monet, or Picasso are looking at their medium and it’s just white, then all of a sudden the shape and the design just forms itself. I will just take the marker and trace out the design. Its usually takes me an hour or two to fold a piece, then another half hour to tie it, and an hour or two dying it. I am best known for my elaborate picture pieces and being able to put multiple images in a single tapestry. I use between fifty to sixty colors where your average tie-dyer uses twelve to twenty-four colors. So I am able to achieve shades and ranges of different colors that you just won’t see in other works. I have a whole crew of people. In the last twenty years I have trained my two brothers, my cousins, my daughter, and multiple friends. I now have ten to twelve tie-dyers that support a store in San Francisco called Jammin on Haight,
parking lot which is located where Positively Haight Street used to be. It takes all of us working day in and day out, night and day, at all hours, tying and folding and tying and folding and coloring. The greatest thing that keeps us all coming back to it is that it’s like Christmas. With a painting or other forms of art, it sits there and you work on it and you work on it and then you go to bed and your mood might change and you come back and maybe do things a little different. Tie-dying you only get one shot. You lay it out, you fold it up, you color it, and then you wait. You have to wait twenty-four hours. You can’t touch it or do anything. The next day is like Christmas. You cut open the strings never knowing what you’re going to get no matter how much you plan it. It’s always going to be a mystery. The biggest appeal I find across the boards when we do tie-dye workshops is the anticipation of what is going to come next. So it is rewarding continuously. Even if it’s something you weren’t intending, you have no idea, so you are intrigued by it, which makes you happy and makes you smile. It makes you want to do more and more and more of it. Do you have any projects that you are currently working on or anything planned for the future? We do multiple festivals each year. For years we did Harmony Fest, which has now ended. We also always did Mountain Aire Fest up in Calagaras County. This year we have Reggae on The River, a booth at Gathering of the Vibes, and Jerry Day at McLaren Park in San Francisco. We recently got onto another project for Warren Hayne’s Jerry Garcia Birthday Symphony. All these years I have done
tie-dye we have never been able to tiedye polyester, sportswear, stage scrims, or spandex, so a lot of things that have limited me from being able to hang stages. We purchased sixty-inch wide dye sublimation digital fabric printers. They print images at the highest quality, almost photo quality. For thirty-five or forty years people have been trying to reproduce tie-dye as printed and pass it off as the real thing. Up until the last year, it hasn’t really been possible because it was screen-printing or big drum printing, which is color on top of color on top of color. With digital printing, we are able to take any high-resolution image and lay it out, cascade, tile and print it onto fire retardant materials all the way for stage specs. We have been asked to create a backdrop that is forty foot by twenty foot wide for the Jerry Garcia Symphony. This will be made out of Jerry’s paintings “Wetlands I” and “Wetlands II.” We have permission by the family to take and merge the two paintings into one and plot them out into eight twenty foot long by five foot wide strips that we will then sew together. This backdrop will hang at the Greek Theater and then at the next five consecutive shows, except for Red Rocks, because they of course want the natural beauty of the rocks to be the backdrop. We are doing the Peach Festival, which is the Allman Brother’s Band last big hurrah, although their last show will be at Lockn’. For Peach Fest, we are doing approximately 2,000 feet of fabric, which is a combination of the dye sublimation, digital printing, and actual tie-dye fabric itself. It will be lining fence lines, up on the stages, and stage skirts. It will be in the backstage area, in the kitchen, and pretty much all
over the festival. Then we will be going on to Lockn’ ,which is Pete Shapiro’s festival. Shapiro owns The Capitol Theater and Brooklyn Bowl. They have a side-by-side stage set-up with everyone playing from Phil and Friends to Tom Petty and more. We will also be doing the Shakedown Street stage, which is the late night venue. It is a thirty-foot stage where we will set up multiple video screens and stretch spandex backdrops. We have a full array of lasers, and we will use them to turn it into the night-time Merry Prankster, Furthur
bus super late night party. Then we go on from there to Phases of the Moon, where we will be teaming up with Alex and Allison Grey and the Furthur Bus, creating a gallery/visionary art laser light show. We will use lasers to draw Alex Grey’s paintings and pictures onto a building.
Anything to add to the interview? I have always used my art to communicate for me with the rest of the world. I can make something that no one else can make the same, not even me. This unique ability to create something beautiful from crinkling, folding, clamping, and binding and tying the fabric has helped me to share the joy of creation with many of my friends, family, and total strangers for the past many years. Some of my greatest influences start with my father, who was an amazing artist. He was painter, a model maker, and an avid model train builder, which I think helped shape my love of stage design as well as seeing through a project that started with only an idea. I would like to pay homage to Courtney Pollock, the Grateful Dead’s original tie-dyer, who has also been a huge inspiration in my journey as a tie-dye artist. Like him before me, I wanted to make big works for big bands. Thanks to Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzman, and the rest of the Grateful Dead, I have been able to achieve my goals, and I look forward to dyeing for the jam-band community for years to come. Interview by Alessandro Satta Photos by Sean Behm
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s k
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Focus with Fluorite
If there is anything I am familiar with (and close friends will second this) it’s being terribly flakey! In my extensive history of struggling to understand and conquer this frustrating quality, I have come to realize many contributing variables to the state of “flakiness.” If you suffer from constantly double booking meetings, magically seem to take way longer to do things than anticipated, or get dramatically distracted in the midst of a mission, I’d like to introduce to you a crystal that has helped me as I got to the root of my problem: fluorite. Known as a stone of order and organization, fluorite is the ultimate companion if you are struggling to focus, think things through, or make coherent decisions.
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Overcoming a habitually ambivalent mind can be a lengthy process. As it can infuriate friends, it can frequently become a deep individual journey. Meditation, in my opinion, is one of the greatest tools at our disposal to help us on paths like this. Fluorite has been said to facilitate greater levels of concentration during meditation, providing us with vivid messages from our higher selves. Said to dispel chaos and negativity, fluorite offers a space of quiet in which to decide how we really feel about things. Often times, when we fully understand what the right course of action is, it is that much easier to take action! Many ambivalent hearts are afraid of making the wrong decision. Fluorite has also been said to help quench fear and anxiety about the future. A beautiful exercise to practice with this crystal is to try and catch yourself when you start driving yourself crazy with “what-if” scenarios. With practice, you can begin to realize that most of the time you are upset about something before it has even happened. When we do this, we eliminate chances of things unfolding in any other way than the way we have prepared ourselves to react to. Fight the urge to disillusion yourself with what-if scenarios and remain present with the truth. For those more interested in collecting fluorite, you are in luck. Fluorite has been found in practically every color and deposits are located all over the world. As an additional bonus, pull out your black light when admiring your specimens. This mineral fluoresces! Falling on the Mohs scale at only 4, fluorite can sometimes be easy to chip when creating jewelry.
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SMOOTH OUT YOUR DAY On-the-go smoothie recipes
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Honey Bear 1 Serving
Ingredients - 1 Graham cracker - 1 tbs Creamy peanut butter - 1 Frozen banana - 5 - 6 oz Almond milk - tsp or more Honey
Kiwi Avocado 10
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2 Servings
Ingredients - 1 Banana - 1 Avocado - 1 large Kiwi SUMMER - FALL 2014
- 8 - 12 oz of coconut milk - 1 tsp. Ground Nutmeg HEADSPACEMAG.COM 11
greens
greens
ABC's
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Of Shopping at Your Local Farmers Market by Janice Rhayem
t’s that time of year when everyone wants to rush to their local farmers’ market to get the freshest seasonal fruits, veggies, eggs, meat, dairy, honey, baked goods, and so much more. These pop-up style markets get us out of the conventional super market and into a nearby parking lot or farm picking through fragrant, colorful produce and additional local products. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, “As of National Farmers’ Market Week (the first full week in August) last year, there were 8,144 farmers markets listed in USDA’s National Farmers’ Market Directory. This is
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a 3.6 percent increase from 2012.” It is important to keep this trend growing but to understand that not all farmers have our best interest at heart. Consumers can enjoy fresh berry picking in the early summer, along with deliciously ripe zucchini, tomatoes, peaches, pears, and nectarines bursting with juices. But should we just go up to any market and approach any vendor and trust that their produce is in fact local and chemical free? We think not. There are tons of trustworthy markets and farmers all over, but you
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have to be proactive in finding the best ones. The key is to not let yourself be intimidated by these vendors. Be sure to ask questions like: Where were these veggies grown? Did you grow them yourself? Is your meat and poultry grass fed, local, and humanely raised? What type of fertilizers and pesticides are used? The vendors that get upset by your questions are the ones you want to avoid, and the ones that gladly answer your questions are the ones you should support. They will respect the fact that you are taking interest in the food you chose to put in your body and also that you are taking an interest in the hard work they do.
These relationships can grow into being able to go directly to the farm during winter months to pick up things like meats, eggs, dairy, honey, and winter vegetables. Many farms have greenhouses and are able to supply consumers with winter vegetables like potatoes, onions, and leafy greens. Hitting up markets is also a great way to do research on the best CSA program to sign up for. If you haven’t already signed up for a CSA, go out and talk to some farmers to find the best option. Some farms will even allow you to customize your weekly CSA portion so you get the products that you and your family eat the most.
Though it is hard to know for certain who you can and can’t trust, there are some techniques that you can practice while at the market. For starters, go small. When you see a huge vendor with dozens and dozens of different fruits and vegetables out on their tables and a ton of boxes in their trucks that say “grown in Mexico” or “grown in Canada,” you probably want to keep looking. Furthermore, think about what season it is. For example, if it’s April or May and you’re seeing huge, ripe tomatoes, they more than likely aren’t local and not what you want to eat. Also look for the smaller farmers who are more likely to have grown the produce themselves or got it from a neighbor. Local produce picked at the peak of freshness is going to hold the greatest nutritional value and also taste the best.
A good website for lists of farms around you and, descriptions of what they grow and raise, and where you can find them is localharvest.org. You can type in your city or zip code and a list of farms will come up in your area. Information on CSA programs, farmers’ markets, and more tips for shopping at markets can be found there as well. And remember, no farms, no food. Support your small, local and organic farmers. Photos by Lisa Joyce Kowalski
Another thing I look for is ugly. Yes, I know it sounds strange, but chemical free, homegrown produce is not going to look perfectly round and blemish-free all the time. Sometimes tomatoes are going to look a little misshapen and cracked. Strawberries shouldn’t look like giant monsters pumped full of steroids. Peaches and apples shouldn’t be the size of your head. If you’re looking for organic farmers’ markets, you need to be very careful and do your research. Don’t just look at a sign that says “organic” and trust it. On the other hand it costs farmers money to get certified organic, which means that there are farmers out there practicing organic methods, but don’t get the recognition for it, because they can’t afford the certification. This goes back to doing the research on the farm and asking the right questions. You’ll also see vendors that specialize in specific products. For instance, I like to go to a specific meat vendor at my local market. They have a few different types of veggies, but their main niche is pork, beef, chicken, and sausage. They also sell literally every part of the animal, from intestines, brain, and tongue, to chicken breast, pork chops, and bacon. This is a good indication that they raised, slaughtered, and packaged their products themselves or had the job done locally. You can also take comfort in the fact that nothing is going to waste. They also boast “chemical free” practices. But again, don’t just take their word for it. According to the USDA “Farmers and ranchers must accommodate the health and natural behavior of their animals year-round.” Ask questions that force them to explain how they do things. If the farmers are happy to respond and don’t trip over their answers or seem a little annoyed, then they are more than likely trustworthy. Most farmers get excited and love to talk about what they do, and they love when others appreciate the hard work that goes into farming. So strike up a conversation, don’t be shy! Once you find the farmers and vendors that suit you the best, keep going back. When you become a smiling, familiar face, you may start getting better deals and their best products.
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After only two years of being an official band, The Brummy Brothers are becoming one of the fastest growing bluegrass bands in the northeast. Hailing from East Brunswick, NJ, the all-acoustic quartet has been taking full advantage of residing right in between two of the largest musical hubs in the world, Philadelphia and New York. Headspace had the chance to catch up with Dave Brumberg while on their busy end of summer-fall tour to ask a couple questions about how the Brummys gained notoriety so quickly in such a competitive neighborhood. HS: How and when did the Brummy Brothers begin? DB: My brother Eric and I had gone on Jamcruise together in 2012. That was our first year on Jamcruise. We had both really liked bluegrass before then. I had been in a band, and he had been in a couple bands as a kid as well. He started playing mandolin maybe a year or so before we went on that Jamcruise trip, and I had bought an upright bass around the same time, but had not really been playing it. After Jamcruise we were so pumped on music and life in general. He looked me
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in the face and said, “Dude I have a mandolin you have a bass. Let’s pick them up and start pickin’.” So he and I started working together a little bit. Meanwhile, he had put an ad out on craigslist about six months prior looking for band mates to do a bluegrass project. Andrew, the guitar player, had contacted him when he first put the ad up, but they lost touch. When the ad was renewed on craigslist, Andrew contacted us again, came over to my mom’s house to do a jam session, and he brought another friend of his who had played banjo with him. We really liked Andrew a lot, but we weren’t crazy about the banjo player. When he came back for a second session, he brought Russ, who he knew through the jazz scene in New Brunswick. Once the four of us were in the bowl, we just started going from there and very quickly started playing shows. I think it took four or five months of us being a band before we started putting our own songs together. We had a gig already at a friend’s party, and we had done a Rutgers University event. That was really our first gig. After that, we started doing normal gigs from there. HS: Is it hard being in a band whose genre is seen by some as nearing extinction? DB: I disagree that bluegrass is dying out. I think that it is actually in a revival right now. Music fans of all ages and categories are rediscovering bluegrass, because almost every jam band festival that’s out there has a bluegrass act or two in their lineup. I think one of the reasons that our band gained popularity so fast was because we kind of hit the scene right as the bluegrass bubble was really popping on the jam band scene.
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Bands like Yonder Mountain String Band, Greensky Bluegrass, Leftover Salmon and Railroad Earth were really getting big at that point. The String Cheese Incident helped with getting that bluegrass instrumentation back into the ears of music fans, and now all of a sudden there is this huge bluegrass scene that we are discovering and becoming a part of. It includes the traditional older acts from fifty to - sixty years ago, but then you also have a lot of younger guys, like us, who are from different, non-traditional bluegrass backgrounds. Recording our debut with Tim Carbone of Railroad Earth this past winter was pretty huge for us. Railroad Earth is big on the west coast, so when we finally start getting out that way, it’s going be really nice to kind of have that affiliation with him. HS: Anything else to add? DB: We are going on a two week tour at the end of August going as far north as Vermont and as far south as South Carolina, so we are really covering a huge area in the Mid-Atlantic region on that run. We are doing Philly Folk Fest, which is pretty big for us. We are also doing Bucks County Bluegrass Festival in September, which is the same weekend as Catskill Chill, so, unfortunately, we are not doing the Chill this year. I know we are definitely doing Harvest Fest up in Starks, Maine, at Harry’s Hill in October, so that one will be really cool. We are honored to be a part of that one. Whether you can make it to one of our shows or not, please support local, up-and-coming musicians by going to see live music near you! Interview and photo by Joe Gurreri
HS: Why did you guys decide to start a bluegrass band?
Still Hand String Band has been gracing festivals all over Pennsylvania with their diverse, progressive, fast-pickin’ jams that some refer to as “spazzgrass.” For the past two and a half years they have made a name for themselves and continue to deliver energy-filled sets, partying late into the night and early morning. Be sure to catch them at Peace of Mind 4, On the Rise 3, and Meeting of the Minds 7, just to name a few of their upcoming ventures. We were lucky enough to have bassist Dee Maple take some time out from cutting wood to talk with Headspace.
DM: Yeah, they kind of already had that established by the time I got there. I don’t know what their original thinking on it was, but I think it was the right choice. Right now people really seem to be paying attention to bluegrass or bluegrass-esque sort of music. We were all fans of bluegrass before we started playing together. I think Kid was the only one who was playing strictly bluegrass before he got with us, which makes sense as he’s the banjo player. Me, Sunny, and Eric all kinda come from a rock ’n’ roll sort of background, but we were always big fans of bluegrass. So, yeah, I guess that is why. HS: Can you name either some current or past musical acts that have influenced your sound? DM: Sure, I think we’re all big fans of people like Béla Fleck, Sam Bush, Tony Rice, and all that kind of stuff. Currently, Yonder Mountain String Band even though they are taking a new form. We really love Larry Keel and are big fans. Our influences go all the way across the board. We play some Pink Floyd, Jethro Tull, and Grateful Dead, that sort of stuff, so we kind of come from that jam-rock sort of background to progressive rock.
HS: Where is Still Hand String Band based out of, and how was the band formed? DM: Well, we always say we’re based out of Hop Bottom, Pennsylvania, or Susquehanna County. That is where the guitarist lives, and the banjo player has an apartment there. First, Eric and Sunny found each other on craigslist, and then Eric ran into the banjo player, Steve, at Del Fest or one of the other bluegrass festivals. Those three played for about six months before they put up an ad and found me. I was looking to join a band as a bassist, and I found their post about looking for a bass player. I got there and played with them, and it really was like magic. Everything fit right.
HS: Still Hand String Band is renowned for playing a lot of late-night shows in Pennsylvania; can you tell us some memorable moments from these late-night escapades? DM: Wow, I didn’t know we were allowed to remember any of that stuff. Haha, well it is kind of a big blur, you know, sometimes you look around and notice you
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were dancing for a long time and all of a sudden you see that caution blue coming up over the hill, and you know the sun’s coming up. For me, there is something really special about those people who dance right till the end of the show; it takes a lot of will power to do that. So many memorable experiences on the late night, I don’t think we could talk about all of them. I remember Jeremiah coming up and putting whipped cream on my nipple at not this years, but last year’s A Bear’s Picnic, asking if I wanted to do a whipped cream nipple shot, and someone else came from the audience and licked it off It is just so much energy and so much fun, you got to love the people who are there. It has got to be one of the best time slots to play; everyone that is there is really there for the music, and they are supporting you. There is something special about that. HS: Anything you would like to add to the interview? DM: Yeah, I would like to say we are really thankful to all our great fans that have supported us. Thanks to the great venues and production companies that have given us a chance to get out there. We’ve only been doing it for the past two and a half years, and we are all really amazed at the way we have been perceived. There are some good shows coming up with JibberJazz: Meeting of the Minds 7, The Kempton Community Center, there we’ve been getting to help raise money for Rex Foundation, like this Saturday we are playing after Dark Star Orchestra, which is a dream come true, being a big fan of the Dead. Also, I need to mention A Bear’s Picnic and a thanks to Mountain Sky for allowing us to have our Still Meadows Revue there for the second year, which had a great turn out. We never could have even imagined it would turn out so good. Thank you to Headspace Magazine for interviewing us and helping us get our name out there! Interviewed by Nikola Katkocin Photo by Joe Gurreri
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tunes
tunes
Marco Benevento
The madman of Melodies Marco Benevento is not just a pianist. He’s a composer, a collaborator, an improvisor, and a sound sculptor. In Richard Swift’s Oregon studio, Benevento worked with bassist Dave Dreiwitz (Ween) and Andy Borgor (Tom Waits, Norah Jones) to record a new album in only three days. Headspace Magazine writer Becky Blumenthal had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Benevento about his new album, Swift, his obsession with vinyl records, who would be in his dream band, and why Philadelphia is so damn awesome. How would you describe your music to someone who has never heard it? The vocal aspect of the new record makes it more “new rock” sounding—contemporary, modern rock. I’ve been making instrumental records and that puts you in a certain category for some people. Even though the music is really easy to listen to and easy to get, some of it is really simple. Some people think it’s experimental, because it doesn’t have lyrics. I don’t know, I’ve heard different people correct me on that. I will describe my music, and then they will correct me and say its “ambient rock” or “upbeat electronic” or something else. The hard thing about calling it rock is that there’s no guitar in the band. It’s not your typical sort of rock outfit. It is piano, bass, and drums with synthesizers and drum machines. To keep it brief, sometimes I just say contemporary rock or modern music. It’s difficult to describe, but I don’t want that to be a deterrent for people to not like it.
Who are your biggest influences? And who are you listening to now?
I’ve been listening to a lot of The Black Keys’s new record Turn Blue, especially Dan Aurbach. I’ve also been listening to Dr. John and Richard Swift, the guy who we made the record with. What do you mean by “modern rock?” The Foxygens, also recorded by Swift. I like LCD Soundsystem, Wilco, and a lot I mean modern rock like Wilco, LCD Soundsystem, trancy danc- of newer rock bands. I do have a serious ey tunes, and straight-up rock tunes. I don’t mean contemporary addiction to vinyl, especially 45s. I am also rock like Phil Collins—I mean 2014, newer sort of way. It is defi- really into Bo Diddley and a lot of the music nitely hard to describe. I want to keep it simple. Of all the genres, from the Chess Records catalog. Other influour music is more jazz than rock or funk or electronic. But it has ences include Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Little elements of all of those things. It is simple music; easy to get Richard, and really early 1950s rock. Bo Diddley and to follow. Unfortunately, it takes me ten minutes to describe built his own guitars and own amps, and that’s pretty it. Or you come to a show and “get it” when you get there. I wish fascinating. He was a true rock ’n’ roll innovator. The birth there were three words to describe it. of rock—all that stuff. I am also into Hypnotic Grooves right now. They have twelve to fifteen minute songs on their records. Their music is really tranced-out, 70s, minimalistic rock.
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Your new album Swift, produced by Richard Swift, comes out on September 16.What can fans expect? Will it have a similar cast and energy to Tigerface or is it a total departure? The record is definitely different than all the others, but it doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb. If you have listened to previous records, you will get this one. If someone were to know the evolution of my sound that I’ve been getting into in the last six years, it will make sense. It’s not a total departure. It’s an evolution of Tigerface. One of the things I was thinking about was trying to have a record that was almost thematic and really concise. A record that sounded like a record, meaning that you could play someone one song, and he or she would ask, “is the rest of the record like this?” And you could say, “yes.” It was all done in one studio, one recording. On Tigerface, the first two tunes are very different than the rest of the record. Someone sings, and those songs are more accessible and poppy. They are followed by instrumental jams. Swift is the-
matic. When you listen to the whole record, it feels like they all belong. And that’s something I’ve never done. All my records had different elements. This record is only forty minutes. Do you think you made the record this way because of your vinyl addiction? I had a convo with Alex Toth (bandleader and trumpet player) from Rubblebucket years ago about this! We were saying that neither of us had ever made a record that was one cohesive piece. We made the record, Swift, in three days. On the first day, we recorded four songs. The next
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day we did five songs and the final day was the vocals. Then Richard mixed it. He sang on it a little bit. It was so easy. Given we had tested some of the songs on the road, we were comfortable with the tracks and knew how they went. This is the most that I ever prepared for a record that I made on my own. I like to record kinda spur of the moment, then go home and do post production and mix it up. But for this one, I had all the songs basically written and fleshed it out in the studio.
Who would be included in your dream band? And where would your dream gig be?
You’ve played with many different groups. Bustle in Your Hedgerow, Benevento/Russo Duo, Garage A Trois, and in 2006 you toured with Trey, Mike Gordon, and Joe Russo. Many friends have requested that I ask you when the Duo is getting back together. Is that in the future?
What are your favorite Philadelphia memories?
Not anytime soon, but hopefully down the line. Joe is busy with carrying the torch of the Grateful Dead. He spent a lot of time learning the Dead. And now he has Joe Russo’s Almost Dead. We play shows in that outfit, and I play stuff on my own. We both dream of a reunion.
Paul McCartney on bass, Dan Aurbach (The Black Keys) on Guitar, Richard Swift, Jonathan Rado (Foxygen) for vocals, Matt Chamberlain (Pearl Jam, Morrissey, Elton John, and many others) on drums. Chamberlain is a friend of mine and on a lot of my records. We would definitely play at Madison Square Garden.
We had so many fun times at The Blockley. One of the best nights was when at 2:00 a.m. the bar had to stop serving, but right before two you could order drinks and then the venue could stay open until 5:00 a.m. as long as there was music, but they couldn’t serve. You could also buy a six-pack. We played from 11:00 p.m. until 4:00 a.m. with the Soul Rebels Brass Band. The bartender Holly was so sweet and nice. The guys that ran the venue were so accommodating. It was a really special place. We would show up and 700 people would come to the party. Marco Benevento will be performing on October 16 at the Abbey Bar in Harrisburg and on December 12 and 13 at Johnny Brenda’s in Philadelphia. Interview by Becky Blumenthal Photos by Joe Gurreri
tunes
Album Reviews Lotus
The Glided Age The Gilded Age is the new Lotus album, which seems to be taking their sound in an interesting direction. The album differs from past releases in the sense that it is more sleek and refined than some of their rawer, more energetic albums. The songs are catchy, definitely upbeat, and will have no problem getting people moving at a show. The Gilded Age seems to be the flagship of this new, post-rockish, dance style that they have begun to transition into, with songs ranging from high energy tunes with many layers and build ups, to slow melodic numbers with insightful, soulful lyrics. “The Oaks” is a cool song, because it exhibits everything that is unique about this album, yet still has the same elements of the magical music Lotus has been producing since their inception. Guest vocalist Steve Yutzy-Berkey sings on three of the songs, and he delivers a vocal performance that is almost as haunting as it is beautiful. “I want it all” is a slow, almost ballad that left me feeling pensive and reflective. All in all, The Gilded Age is a good album to add to your bag of tricks this summer.
Lotus Photo by Joe Gurreri
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[Written by Matt Testa]
Old Crow Medicine Show Remedy
Old Crow Medicine Show’s new album Remedy Is a bluegrass gem that hits upon all aspects of the genre. The songs range from slow, soulful ballads to high-energy, slamgrass feet-stompers. The band’s lyrical-storytelling skill is on full display with lyrics ranging from smirk-worthy, mischievous numbers, to heart-wrenching tearjerkers, to just plain old-fashioned, fun tales of booze-fueled rambling. They were not shy about showing off their ability to vocally harmonize and trade phrases of musical virtuosity while not overstepping the boundaries between refined style and over-composition. Remedy is an extension of the sound and niche they have cultivated, and while it will certainly not disappoint, it will also not give fans any big surprises. One of the first songs that stood out to me was “Brushy Mountain Conjugal Trailer,” a hilarious tale of jail time antics shared between fellow inmates that decide it’s time to do a bit of partying and throw down their shackles, if only in their minds. On the opposite side of the spectrum is “Fire Water,” a touching tune about struggling and coping with it the way we all know how to, for better or for worse … by giving them sorrows a swim. While all of the songs were noteworthy, “Mean Enough World” deserves a mention, because it is all about admitting that the world can be a rough place, and we should toss aside the people who only add negativity and focus on the bright spots rather than the dark blemishes.
The Underwater Sounds Visions of Love & Light Pt 1
The Underwater Sounds have been very busy this summer. To attend local festivals is to be privy to this fact. But what you might not know is that this whole time while hopping around from festy to festy, to shows in Philly, and back to a festy, they have been in the lab, hard at work on their third album. Visions of Love & Light Pt 1 is set to release in October, but I was lucky enough to get to sneak a listen. Visions of Love & Light delivers a fresh punch of all the things Underwater Sounds has already made fans fall in love with. The album exhibits hypnotic grooves, layers of sounds, crazy time signatures, and their transcendent blend of reggae, funk, and jazz with their signature psychedelic touch. It is a true musical conversation. Each member gets to shine at times, but no one completely takes over. The sounds range from funky, sexy grooves to melodic and deliberate tracks. Billy on lead guitar displays excellent virsitility and dynamic with his abilty to hang back with cool little licks in the background and blistering leads that shred and at times make the guitar wheep. Sean Youngman on drums does not miss a beat, which is extremley impressive condsidering all the complex time signatures he constantly bounces in and out of. The bass is something you can get lost in, and Ken holds down the foundation in a smooth and stylish manner. Sonni proves, once again, that she is truly one of Philly’s great natural resources. This album really shows off their chops and showcases how tapped in they are as a band. Rawness and precision represent the hallmark of Visions of Love & Light Pt 1 musically. The Underwater Sounds have always had uplifiting lyrics with a huge bit of wisdom about them, but this album is particularly introspective. The words in this album will really get your gears turning and make you look within. They are all very peacful and uplifting but also very real, not just happy for happy’s sake. The songs shed light on aspects of life we all deal with, and after giving this gem a listinening, you will feel better about those aspects and will be inspired to deal with them the best you can. My review of Visions of Love & Light can be summed up in two words—totally righteous.
The Underwater Sounds Photo by Christina Klaproth
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Distilling the Facts of
Essential Oils For thousands of years people have been extracting the essence of plants for their medicinal, healing, and cosmetic properties. I am speaking of essential oils, and they are just that—the very compounds that make plants what they truly are.
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spaced out The most common way of extracting essential oils is through distillation. In this process, the plant matter is placed on a grid inside of a still. Water vapor then heats the plants causing the volatile compounds that make up the oils to rise up through a tube along with the vapor itself. Once out of the connecting tube, it enters a cooler, or condenser. From there, physics does its thing, and the vapor/oil mix is cooled back into a liquid form. Since oil and water hate each other and naturally resist, the oils are easily separated and collected. This process requires a massive amount of plant matter and tools, which is the main reason why most herbalists purchase their oils from an outside source. “This brings up questions of sustainability and ethics for me. Some herbalists don’t use essential oils because of their potency and other issues with ethics and sustainability,” Olivia Josephine, a local herbalist, said. All this magical plant juice takes a lot of plants to make, leaving what can be perceived as a heavy toll on the planet. Another less common practice for extracting is called expression, in which the plants are ground up into rind, soaked in water, and then pressed through a sponge. This practice also takes advantage of the plague upon the houses of oil and water, because after the sponge is filled, it’s easy to empty it out and siphon the oils from the water. Unfortunately, big business has not had a deaf hear to this industry, and according to Olivia, “Many oils have a lot of fillers and nasty stuff, because when you mass produce something you need to
be price-competitive, and real ingredients are expensive to acquire. It can also be more expensive to use natural preservatives than chemical preservatives, so you always need to read the ingredients labels!” Essential oils have extremely small molecules, which means they easily absorb into your skin or through your sense of smell. Most oils are diluted with carrier oils, but some are gentle enough to be used with no dilution. They are also extremely potent, so only a few drops will do ya. Most should not be ingested. “I would not be comfortable personally advising anyone to take essential oils internally, as it can be very dangerous depending on the oil and amount consumed. I do not make products with essential oils for internal use, and I always dilute my fragrances in a high-quality carrier oil— coconut, almond, olive, jojoba, etc,” Ms. Josephine remarked. Some essential oils can deliver nutrients to our cells as well as provide protection from bacteria and infections. It is easy to sight the pleasant cosmetic uses of these, but they go way beyond making hippies smell better. They can in fact help to replace many of the unnatural products in our medicine cabinet and can help us maintain healthy balances when we are already feeling well. There are a few particularly handy oils I would like to highlight; mainly because the ailments they combat are among the more common things we all have to deal with. The first is one you probably already know about but might not have known it was an essential oil, tea tree. Tea tree oil
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spaced out can be used on pretty much any skin affliction, athlete’s foot, rash, hives, etc. It is also a popular ingredient in shampoo for its effects on dandruff. Tea tree is also one of the essential oils that can be applied to the skin straight up with no carrier oil or diluter. One of my favorite essential oils is peppermint. Peppermint essential oil is widely regarded for its pain relieving, antibacterial, and decongesting effects. Just a bit applied to your forehead or temples can zap a headache and give nausea the boot, making it a veritable hangover cure. If you have a cold, just rub a bit on your sternum and your lungs will absorb the oil and begin to clear themselves out, making it easier to breath. Another prevalent oil is lavender, which is beloved for its soothing, antifungal, and sedative characteristics. It is not only great for easing the pain of a burn but also is amazing at actually making the burn heal much quicker. Like tea tree oil, it can be used for lots of skin irritations. Lavender promotes an overall relaxed well-being, which is why many people apply it to their pillows before charging the batteries, because it helps to yield restful and uplifting slumber. Everything on Earth, alive or not, vibrates at a certain frequency. A healthy human vibrates anywhere between 5568 MHz. The higher your vibration, the healthier and happier you will be, when your vibration starts to diminish your very cells begin to mutate causing sickness and disease. The essential oils from plants generally vibrate at a much higher frequency than us, so by applying these to our skin or absorbing them through our sense of smell
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we are helping to keep our vibration up and stable. So even if you are using an essential oil blend mainly to smell pretty, you are still helping your body out by keeping your frequency nice and high. While it is clear that essential oils transcend the cosmetic scope to a vast universe of medicinal use, it can be argued that fragrance is their bread and butter, their essence. The abilities for these oils to raise our vibration and keep our disposition generally sunny while simultaneously making noses happy is just as important as their ability to cure our ailments and injuries and keep us healthy. Recently, I have seen an influx of herbalists at festivals, farmers’ markets, and other various gatherings. All of these potion masters possess a plethora of knowledge on the subject, however, there are several other sources one can go to should they like to learn more about this interesting and increasingly prevalent topic. Olivia assured me that if a person is serious about learning more and maybe even getting into the trade, that they would have all the tools they needed. “There are TONS of resources out there—from free online information, to numerous aromatherapy programs, both online and in person. The wisdom is also within you; just tap in. I am also scheduling some local hands-on workshops soon!” Ms. Josephine is an expert in the field, so if you would like to learn more or schedule a workshop session, she can be reached at BeltaneBotanicals@gmail.com. Written by Matt Testa Illustration by Joel Kirckhoff Photos by Olivia Josephine
Exploring The International Gem Show Marketplace of gems, beads, and jewlery If you’ve checked out concert vendors, cruised through festival grounds, or flipped through previous Headspace issues, you’ve more than likely come into contact with some beautiful crystals and highly impressive jewelry fabrication. Perhaps you’re drawn in by their metaphysical properties, impressive craftsmanship required for wrapping and setting them, or simply the way they shine. But whatever the reason, gems and jewelry play a pretty significant role within and beyond the music scene. If you can’t get enough of them, then the International Gem and Jewelry Show comes highly recommended. This traveling exhibit has been around for forty-seven years and appears for almost one hundred shows yearly in thirty-five markets, making its tour schedule as intense as some of our favorite bands! Since Herbert Duke Sr. first envisioned giving the public access to reasonably-priced commercial gems and jewelry in 1967, more and more people have been dazzled and delighted by this event. You can partake in the excitement when this show makes its rounds to the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center September 19th through 21st. The selection that the show brings is as large as it is varied, and cleaning and get some tips and tricks on maintenance and there is something for everyone in the multiple rows of gems, storage to keep your pieces as good as new. If you are involved jewelry, beads, pearls, precious and semi-precious gemstones, in the jewelry-trade, you have the option of a second show minerals, accessories, and section if you bring proof of busimore that are priced to sell. ness and register on-site. Whether Take a trip around the world you’re looking to get inspired or find without leaving the area as something to admire, this event could you check out exhibitors surely brighten up your weekend. from China, India, Africa, For those familiar with the crystal Australia, and the American market, you know that pieces are Southwest, among other loalways being bought, sold, or traded, cations. Find the materials so the best way to check out the to complement your own current inventory is to visit this exhibit vision, or give compliments in person. You can, however, check to someone else’s as you out the show’s website for video check out presentations links of past exhibitors. The website of rare and exotic gems, also comes in handy for scoring a custom work, and theme discounted $6.00 ticket, as the show jewelry. There’s also always costs $8.00 at the door. Leave little the possibility of a special ones at home, as the event is ages surprise exhibit at this nine and up. With three days of show renowned event. Whether times, there’s ample opportunity to you’re looking for a recently check out this event when it comes created piece or antique through Oaks, PA, so visit and estate jewelry, there’s www.intergem.com for more info! bound to be something that catches your eye. Plus, if September 19-21, 2014 your favorite accessory is Greater Philadelphia Expo Center looking extra loved, you 100 Station Avenue could check out free jewelry Oaks, PA 19456
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Comix Corner
What do you call a fake noodle?
We are always looking for fresh jokes! Submit them on our Facebook page and we will illustrate the joke with the most likes! www.facebook.com/headspacemag
What do you get when you drop a piano down a mine shaft?
A flat miner!
SUD OKU
By Liana Kelly
Hulavom VI Music Festival & Campout Vernon, NJ 8/22 - 8/24 Peace of Mind 4 Halifax, PA 8/28 - 8/31 Cornstock Music Festival Tunkhannock, PA 8/29 – 8/31 moe.down Turin, NY 8/29 - 8/31 Evolvefest 2014 Pottstown, PA 8/29 - 9/1 Now Here This Easton, PA 8/30 - 8/30/201 Lockn’ Festival Arrington, VA 9/4 - 9/7
By Ben Fowler
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F e s t i v a l
C H E C K L I S T
Get your last fix of music for the summer while you have the chance!
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Catskill Chill Hancock, NY 9/5 - 9/7 Bucks County Bluegrass Festival Morrisville, PA 9/5 & 9/6 ON THE RISE 3 Elysburg, PA 9/5 - 9/7 Kind Roots V Terra Alta, WV 9/11 - 9/14 Lunar Bay Music & Arts Festival Darlington, MD 9/13 - 9/14 MEETING OF THE MINDS 7 Schuylkill Haven, PA 9/25 - 9/28 Souper Groove Music Festival West Freehold, NJ 9/26 - 9/27
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FEATURING OLGA KLIMOVA
O
lga Klimova brings a wealth of techniques to her teaching, from finely-detailed figures to free-flowing brushwork and vibrant colours. The Russian-born artist started painting as a direct result of deep mystical experiences, followed later in life by a practice in Vipassana meditation. Her art is the on-going attempt to re-connect with this deeper level of consciousness while sharing its blissful state of being one with the world. After completing a classical art education in Russia, Klimova moved to New York where she created WizArt Visions, a scenography design and production studio which has developed numerous backdrops, fabric installations, U.V. paintings and stage settings for the festival scene. Coming to Visionary art through decor design, she has gained hands-on knowledge and skills in everything from large-scale compositional planning, projector use and perspective drawing to computer rendering, airbrushing
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and acrylics. Unity and self-reflection became the main themes of these projects, which combined symmetry, fractal patterns, portraiture and highly-saturated complementary colours to express greater dimensions of vision. During the 2012 Visions in the Mischtechnik Seminar in Italy, Olga Klimova studied egg tempera and oil glazing with Amanda Sage and Laurence Caruana. Through the deepening of her meditative practice and this completely new approach to sacred painting, her artwork became more spontaneous, intuitive and alive – with swirling organic patterns, expressive figures and a fantastic, dream-like transparency. Her high degree of skill in the Mischtechnik led to the invitation, in June of 2013, to co-teach with Laurence Caruana during the Enter Through the Image workshop at The Omega Institutein upstate New York. Here, she had the first
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seeks to evoke the shared feeling of our deep interconnectedness. The artist brings to our Academy a delicate sense of rendering and realistic portrayal of the figure, combined with decalcomania and the free creation of vibrant, energetic forms.
conscious experience of channeling her brush movements, thus becoming acutely aware of the vast potential for combining meditation with creative expression. Opening herself to the creative flow, trusting in the process, and expressing those energies in painting – all of these have became vital practices which she wishes to transmit to her students. Today, Olga Klimova exhibits her art internationally while teaching painting and maintaining her Wizart Visions design studio. Lucid dreams, channeled visions and deep meditation continue to inspire her work, which
“…Putting the mind aside and trusting the flow of creation, listening to the painting and one’s own subconscious, not trying to control what’s happening and letting go – all are very useful skills not only during painting,” she says, “but in life.”
installation at Flora Fest SUMMER - Olga FALL Klimova’s 2014 HEADSPACEMAG.COM 27
The Shaman
Manifestations
The Big Bang
Self-Portrait
Olga Klimova
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The One
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Reflection Fluoro
Realization
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Reconnected
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Vaporizer Pens:
Reviewing the top brands G-pen:
This brand is a lot of people’s go to in terms of vaporizer pens. The black, matte exterior gives these pens a nice grip and sleek look. At the same time, it does not provide as nice of a taste or as full of a hit as other vape pens that were part of this review.
AUG 16
AUG 20
21&28
AUG
AUG 23
SEP 6
SEP 19
MicroG:
Most people are familiar with the MicroG, but the people at Grenco Science have developed a new model that includes a threaded coil that can be replaced. The set includes three extra coils. I like this idea, because that part tends to get clogged quickly. I really like that you can charge the new MicroG with a mini USB charger. That is extremely helpful. Although the set does include the three extra coils, it is now limited to only one vaporizer pen, where as previously you were given two full vape pens in each set.
CloudV:
The cloud reminds me of the original MicroG in size and looks, but it provides a better taste. However, it does not seem to heat up enough to provide the user with a very full hit of tobacco vapor.
Atmos Jr.:
Overall, this was my favorite vaporizer pen that I tried. It provided the best flavor while still giving full hits. The heating chamber is huge, which is a big plus. It seems like it would be best for a dry, crumbly type of tobacco concentrate. I think the downfall of it is the small holes leading to the mouthpiece. It got clogged almost immediately.
TICKETS & FULL SHOW SCHEDULE:
23 East Lancaster Ave 610-649-8389
ArdmoreMusic.com
Atmos Bullet:
This vape pen looks like your average e-juice pen, which is great quality. The heating chamber is so long and deep that this vape pen is almost impossible to use with anything but dry, crumbly tobacco concentrates. It is important to note that this can be used for tobacco in its natural form or as a concentrate by removing the metal spring.
Micro-Vape (Dome attachment):
Out of all the pens that were reviewed, this one offered the most intense pull. If you are looking for something that is going to provide you with as full of a hit as a tobacco concentrate set up with a tube and a nail, this is what you should go for.
Pens provided by
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