Photograph by Cara Walton
JULY
ISSUE SIX
Edited by Mike Arellano and Iain Oldman
WORST WEEK EVER Happy birthday, America! July is the month we celebrate the historical act of our courageous, brilliant forefathers, enabling the United States of America to separate from monarchical tyranny and injustice, proudly establishing this nation of amazing individuals as a beacon of freedom and personal liberties. Jesus Christ that was a real ballsy thing to do.
Photograph by Cara Walton
Not everything is that great, though. I mean, shit, most of those same guys owned slaves. So there’s that. Just look at July. The beginning of the month is parties and celebrations (Canada Day, Independence Day, Bastille Day) and then descends into a boggy hell of humid heat waves, or even better, goddamn super storms. This is when tornadoes happen. July is so hot that it literally kills old people. Fuck. So, ya know, enjoy Independence Day. It’s the beginning of a just...horrible, horrible time. This is the Worst Week Ever.
All poetry, short stories and artwork are submitted by people that live here in the Harrisonburg area.
Published and Edited by Mike Arellano and Iain Oldman
Photograph by Cara Walton
Zach Gesford
Elwood “Trip” Madison
July 9 at the Blue Nile Valkyrie, Vomiting Dinosaurs, Crab Action $5 Doors at 8 PM Truly a can’t miss show, come witness the showcase of the area’s finest metal on July 9th. Harrisonburg earthy doom legends Valkyrie headline an awesome bill featuring the always entertaining Crab Action and crushing grindcore from Vomiting Dinosaurs. Show up early at 8, this show will sell out.
July 15 at the Blue Nile Whorecough, Uninhabitable, Prick Bigot, Diseased Earth $4 9PM sharp All ages show On July 15th pure, crusty domination from our brothers to the south comes to the Blue Nile. Asheville’s Uninhabitable and Prick Bigot are both rough and purely punk, the former bringing doom to the table while the latter trashes away. Staunton’s death metal quintet and Rocktown’s brand new, sludgy grrrl band Whorecough open up, so don’t miss out.
July 22 at the Blue Nile Inter Arma, Bastard Sapling, Thrones of Deceit $5 9PM Two of Richmond’s most talented metal bands (and that’s saying something) visit the Blue Nile July 22nd. Inter Arma display immense orchestration and an uncanny awareness of sound in their genre-hopping songs, creating something that’s more of an event that a show, and Bastard Sapling rides in blaring trve as fuck black metal, inspiring arsons. Harrisonburg’s Thrones of Deceit round out the show with their overwhelming punch of crust and doom.
July 23 at the Blue Nile Sadjiqacea, Hivelords, Warlitner, Salvaticus $4 9PM Harrisonburg thrash band Warlitner returns from a long spell, locals Salvaticus show off their own brand of blackened ambience, and two hard ass black metal bands from Philly (Sadjiqacea, Hivelords) show up to blow the doors open on the 23rd. Not bad. Come out and watch some of the finest black metal that there is to be offered.
July 27 at the Blue Nile Mutilation Rites, Hexer, Earthling $5 9PM Personally, I’m fuckin’ stoked to see one of my favorite black metal band in the scene right now, Mutilation Rites, tear apart the Blue Nile. The Brooklyn-based group blitzes you with amazing speed, keeping you on your toes with shades of doom and death blended in. They’re a real treat. Hexer visits with them, another amazing black metal band from talent-rich Philadephia, delivering authentic Norwegian black metal in spades. Rounding out the bill, local giants Earthling will make this show a goddamn doozie.
July 28 at the Blue Nile Cousin Brian, Slow Animal $4 9PM After a month full of metal at the Blue Nile, come out to lighten your mood on the 28th as Cousin Brian and Slow Animal come down from Philly and New Jersey, respectively, with their notes of indie-punk, perfect for the summer. The two man band Slow Animal wash you out with simple, psyched out songs that mix breaths of early Wavves and 90s college rock. Cousin Brian bring something more upbeat and poppy, partnering happy, bright guitar tones with a rich bass and sunny vocals. This is going to be a great show to wrap up the month at the Blue Nile.
Gina Huber
July 4 at the Artful Dodger First Friday Art Show featuring Gina Huber Free 6PM While you’re out downtown for your Independence Day celebration, be sure to swing by the Artful Dodger to check out new pieces from local artist (and Worst Week Ever contributor) Gina Huber. Her work is whimsically odd and fun, mixing minor surrealism with cartoon influence, producing a bold line up of her art. The gallery runs all July, but be sure to show up early on Friday for first dibs on her stuff!
July 5 at “THAT SHOW HOUSE” Earthling, Nuclear Hellfrost, Boddicker Donations 10 PM Grind, death, black, doom, crust, whatever the hell you could want is all here on July 5 at That Show House You Know Which One. Indiana’s Nuclear Hellfrost delivers chaotic metal that assaults your ears and Boddicker (Detroit) blows out your colon with some of the most brutal and satisfying grindcore I’ve heard in a long time. Oh yeah, and Earthling will be there, putting on a party of a show. Hell yes.
Comedienne Liz Miele comes to Court Square Theater with her jokes about shitty contemporary life and the travails of being unsuccessfully young. She’s been featured on the Live at Gotham series and is seriously funny, so be sure to catch her with accompanying jazz from the Robert Jaspe Experience on July 25.
July 26 at “THAT SHOW HOUSE” Nate Hall, Dorthia Cottrell, Pussy Cutter (reunion/last show) Donations Late show After you go see the Bask/Crab Action show at the Nile (which you should do) walk down to this house show featuring two insanely awesome individuals and H a r r i s o n b u r g ’s newest, most rad, and (already) deadest band. Nate Hall (from Michigan’s US Christmas) is here to play his dark, dark folk tunes, followed by Windhand frontwoman Dorthia Cottrell’s super-creepy, hollowed out acoustic project. Then Pussy Cutter (pronounced cooter, thank you very much) crank up the fun with their dirt bag style punk, reuniting for the last time for your pleasure.
FIRST FRIDAY JULY 4TH 11am, 1pm, 4pm Court Square Theater Puppet Show: Little Bread Hen 5-8 Spitzer Art Center Annual Member’s Art Show 5-8 Asbury United Methodist Church | Music: Baroque with a Bang 5-8 Arts Council of the Valley’s Darrin McHone Gallery Brownsburg Skyline: paintings by Michael Papit 5-7 Clementine Extraordinary Everyday: paintings by Kristen Colebank 5-8 Oasis 180 Degrees-Reversible Letters: works by Suzanne Comeau also at Oasis on the 4th: Artist-made ice Cream bowls, buy the bowl, get free ice cream 5-8 Wilson Downtown Gallery @ Kline May Portraits by Jennifer Lockard Connerley 5-8 Larkin Arts Local Landmarks, Juried Show
6-8 Artful Dodger Evolution of Imagination: collaborative show by Andrew Bieber and Gina Huber 5-7 Blue Nile Upstairs The F150 Project: a photography series by Ben Fraits 5-8 Over the Moon Muralist Kelly FloraBrownell 5-8 Three Notch’d Photography by Paul Somers with food by Grilled Cheese Mania 9:30 Turner Pavilion FIREWORKS!!
Zach Gesford
Gina Huber
--Brandy Somers
Celebrating Life: The idea is to choose a random existing holiday each month. I’ll do a call for interest, then document the activity celebrating the holiday to share it with the world (as far as I can reach). www.friendlycitylens.com
Rice and Roll I have made sushi a total of two times in my life. And by made I mean someone else cooked/cut/ prepared everything and I rolled up a bunch of colorful stuff, dipped it in wasabi soy and ate it.
One of those two times was at a surprise birthday party my best friend planned for me and the other time was at my friend Todd’s house. Even after both experiences, I was useless in remembering how it was done. Kind of like singing a song with no music. Once the radio is up and the lyrics get going, I’m all “shooooot, I got this!” but if I’m flying solo it’s like watching one of those awful auditions on American Idol. So when planning for June’s Celebrating Life post, I skimmed right past National Donut Day and National Chocolate Ice Cream Day (to my children’s dismay) and landed happily on June 18: International Sushi Day.
www.friendlycitylens.com
If my past behavior was any indication, I knew the day would end in a shark-like feeding frenzy and I would soon forget all the steps...again. Luckily, this time I came armed with two things that rarely let me forget anything: my camera and my children. My friend Hannah, being the patient, child-loving, occasional sailor-mouthed, teacher and friend that she is, offered to make sushi with us. Read the full story here: Rice and Roll
Gina Huber
Harrisonburg’s premier new beer
Rocktown Rye Available July 4th
We were invited to the Rocktown Rye pre-release tasting at 3 Brothers Brewery. I was surrounded by men in pastel colored, ironed down cotton business shirts. They wore matching dark linen pants (creased, of course) that led the eye down to perfectly polished, black dress shoes, and I swear, I could watch my own poverty reflecting in their leather. The first of July provided an appropriate reminder to despise the sun and the United States lost to Belgium, 2-1, snuffing out that fun, too. Thanks Brazil. Rob my heart and wallet. All in all, my day wasn’t quite up to snuff.
And then I drank Rocktown Rye.
Here, I’ll set it up for you: the irradiate glow of heat pounding through Three Brothers Brewery doused my back in salty kerosene, and I was propped up against the bar. One of my elbows kept slipping off of the edge. I was, in a word, uncomfortable. Rocktown Rye? the bartender asked.
Yes.
He kept his back to the side, leaving the view of the pour open to me, and I did not lose the opportunity to gaze upon the grace of it’s fall. In that moment, the promise of the beer, there was a polished shine to the world and the golden river of rye and barley lept into the glass, splashing around, or frolicking. I cradled the cup like it was a grail when it was set in front of me. Thank you. That moment of absolute joy and refreshment hit me with the first sip, that sanctuary from the sun, and it finally bled into my organs, finding it’s way around me as it cooled down my limbs and slowed my heart.
The new Rocktown Rye release is more than just a simple beer: it is a full body experience, a true refreshment in every sense of the word, a veritable oasis to Harrisonburg’s brutal summer display. From the first taste, you get showered with the light, malty freshness that cools your mouth down, so you can feel it in your teeth. Allow the beer to float around in the back of your mouth like candy before swallowing, and notice the complex, dry finish of slight bitters and orange zest. It’s actually hard to put down. The collaboration between 3 Brothers and the town’s upcoming brewery,
Pale Fire, has this indescribable quality that makes you feel like you have to keep drinking it to survive. And I know what you’re thinking: But can it get me drunk? and the answer is yes. It has a middle of the road ABV (5%) but carries a ton of flavor, is deceptively light and possesses an absolutely gorgeous color, boasting a cloudy, dark blonde shade, and slight pockets of sediment that are illuminated by the sun. The great thing about this beer, though, is that you can feel at least pretty good about ordering too many of them and taking embarrassing calls from your credit card company. Yes, that’s right. This month has just been beer. Every bar in the downtown Harrisonburg area will carry the Rocktown Rye on tap, and for every pint sold, one dollar will go to the Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance. You’re literally drinking to put back into your community. It’s never been easier! Usually you have to dig up a hole and throw a dying tree into it or teach an orphan to read braille, but not anymore. Just drink!
Unfortunately only one batch of Rocktown Rye was made, so when it’s gone it’s gone. The beer is going to be unveiled at the beer garden during the Valley Fourth event downtown, on a day that promises to be crowded and hot. Make sure you stop in and slake your dying thirst on Harrisonburg’s newest fine craft beer.
WORST W
WEEK EVER Photograph by Cara Walton
Photograph by Cara Walton
I recently sat down with local volunteer organizer Natasha D’Souza to talk about her work here in Harrisonburg, and her upcoming trip abroad to Oman. The term “melting pot” became popularized in the early 20th century after a successful play from Israel Zangwill titled as such broadcast the reality of a culturally rich America. The play ran for 136 performances at the Comedy Theater in New York and when they toured to Washington D.C., president Theodore Roosevelt commended the director from his private box. A wave of immigrant sentiment was slowly spreading across America at a time when ethnic Europeans were establishing themselves as part of nation. That was in 1909. Over one hundred years later, any empathy for the immigrant experience seems to have halted. Eric Cantor was recently defeated in the GOP primary for his congressional seat, largely due to his policy stance on immigration reform. Protesters in Murrieta, Texas just recently attempted to block buses carrying illegal immigrants to processing centers, carrying signs reading “Illegals Out!”, and the rallies
don’t seem to be coming to an end anytime soon. Every other day it seems like we hear an accusation against Dearborns for trying to supplant the United States Constitution with sharia law. Harrisonburg is no different than any other city in America in that sense, either. Last year the local mosque was defaced with racial slurs. We’ve seen proand anti- immigration reforms on the square in this past year and the area remains to take in a growing number of first gens and their families with a noticeable ire from many, so color me surprised when you find people like Natasha D’Souza and the work she’s doing for immigrants here in Harrisonburg. D’Souza is an appropriate person to take on the task. An Indian-American herself, D’Souza recently received the Benjamin Gillman Scholarship and the right to travel to Oman for intensive studies in Arabic. Prior to winning the scholarship, though, she worked on Project Passport, an organization through Blue Ridge Community College that helps immigrant students adapt to home and school life in America. “A lot of these people have left their home country for religious persecution or another reason, but some of them are doctors in their home countries, but their degrees don’t apply here,” she tells me. “They’re washing dishes, doing jobs below them. It’s hard to
Photograph by Andrea Bianchi
come to America as an immigrant.” Running the program with only a handful of students on semester to semester commitments, for upwards of forty to fifty hours a week, D’Souza found herself getting approached by foreign students asking for help. While in Oman, she will be taking intensive training Arabic language classes and immersing herself in the as well, hoping to gain a deeper knowledge of the culture. D’Souza even has plans in the works to volunteer in India after her time in Oman is over, and then, when she’s done overseas? “I plan to return to work with Project Passport immediately when I get back,” she spills out, stirring her tea. “I want to work with women and children in the Middle East, and this is the best possible start to that.”
She opens her bag and pours a pile of books and paper and folders on the table. It’s glaringly obvious that D’Souza keeps herself occupied on the project, and it’s finally starting to pay off (though she has to do fundraising for cost of living in Oman, go to her website CLICK HERE to donate). JMU looks like they will implement a similar program next year, and she’s hoping she can train students at both BRCC and JMU to take larger roles in Project Passport. It’s refreshing to see someone so enthusiastic make a positive change in the community for a group of people so disenfranchised, especially from someone so young. Natasha D’Souza seems determined for that path of expanding Harrisonburg’s cultural roots, stirring the melting pot that seemed to have been forgotten so long ago.
Elwood “Trip” Madison
10:59 PM The Honduran, robust and jolly in nature, that old bullrider, amateur futbolista, probable murderer, though he never stuck around to find out, the proverbial John Henry of pizza, who we watch crying, teary eyed, and find him a stronger man. The Honduran taught me how to say “bacon� in Spanish.
Tocino. Tocino.
--Iain Oldman
Photograph by Cara Walton
Shifter I was a particular girl for 30 years; pegged with the hidden tongue, told that my confidence must nap near the door, alongside the ignored fattening dog. Words were saved up over the years now glued into a backbone; it shifts into shape when I need to be tall. The girl cried in the night, constantly uncomfortable with the pain of poise from the entire day. I am the particular woman that I wanted to be for 30 years; gifted with a life that was not my own; I cannot easily get used to this– and neither can those that were comforted by looking down at me.
--Angela M. Carter
Memory Chose A Woman’s Body is available for purchase on Amazon. Click here to order your copy today.
angelacarterpoetry.com
Photograph by Cara Walton
Fine Wine Like women There is a sea of wine styles and types to choose from Sometime in love, the best things are worth waiting for So for that special wine you might have to commit to a waiting list Like a fine wine or a fine woman Some age more Gracefully than others The Bonus is If you take your time with a fine wine You’ve got your whole life to enjoy it.
Poetry by Maurice McFadden
Zach Gesford
Elwood “Trip” Madison
mcrcsms Boukolikos Every once in a while, you’ll be surprised by an album that seems to melt out of your ears as you listen to it. Like, if you listen to mcrcsms new joint that will happen to you right now. Boukolikos has everything that you really look for out of an electronic release: variety, composition, volume, and enticement, and this album have those necessities in spades. Written by Iain Oldman
Opening up with layed back acid-bebop tracks (IOIIO and Headphase) that are laced with incredible rhythm, Boukolikos pulls back at the end, the coup de grace. The album’s fade out begins with mcrcsms’ remix, Zooanzoo/Marsh, and descends into imposing landscapes of sound that are crafted with wizardry and precision. The result? An impressive album, through and through, and damn entertaining to boot.
Whorecough Demo
Written by Iain Oldman
Crass and careless, harsh and hard as fuck, local outfit Whorecough explode like sludge from the gutter on their newly released demos. Originally known as Scan Tron, this coarse quartet blasts out a unique solution of psych-punk, riot grrrl, and doom that weaves up a whirlwind of chaotic fuzz. If you’ve ever imagined a world where the Melvins were fronted by Niki Elliott, then congratulations, Whorecough has you covered. These demos go well with beer, wine, and liquor, you know? Watch Whorecough play at the Blue Nile July 15th.
You’re Jovian
Whalehead
On the beach I feel like I can actually feel my skin tanning, simmering and folding under the pressure of a humid sun. Turning around, I look across the ocean and survey that great surmise, simultaneously held in the awe of infinity and disbelief. Sand filters through my toes.
Written by Iain Oldman
And that’s how you feel when you listen to Whalehead. Seriously, I mean, like, what the fuck how does this song bury me at the beach? You’re Jovian captures the essence of any self-loathing summer in the breadth of their newly released song, shooting sand into your eyes. One time at Fenwick Island, I saw a claw-crane in a dive bar, wherein live lobsters were the prize. I have always thought that was the perfect metaphor for my lovehate relationship with the beach, but You’re Jovian has supplanted that now. Whalehead makes you love and hate those rays of orange sun, that crash of saltwater in your ears, the cut of seashells, and if you’re determined to ingest drugs on the beach, I highly recommend playing this song. See You’re Jovian live at Gallery Five (Richmond) on July 10th.
Displaying an affection for the Americana sound that reverberates like thunder in the Valley, Suter Bay offer up a sound with slight distinction to separate themselves from the herd. Gently borrowing from the anti-folk movement, flashing glimpses of Tim Barry with a dash of Spoonboy, The Great White Quail rings out with a full bodied acoustic signature, delivering shades of early millenium area indie. Suter Bay is still young, with room to grow, so make sure to catch them at shows around town this summer.
Written by Iain Oldman
Suter Bay The Great White Quail
Written by Iain Oldman
fwawn From God to Man Waynesboro’s own ambient electronic project, fwawn, debut their introductory album, From God to Man, showcasing an intricate, slow wave of warping grooves. The three tracks are a promising sign from producer (and El Cid alumnus) Cyrus Fisher, blending together with impressive ease. The entire EP lasts about fifteen minutes, but showcases the talent and aspiration of the project regardless, including a track featuring Amanda Wilson (Flying Colors, thaanks) and closing out with the cymbalheavy The Evolutionary Trek of Adam, breaking in and out of beat patterns, flying all over the place, including some dope-ass marimba, and pulling everything back in. From God to Man offers up solid future jazz, chilled out buzz beats and proves to be a memorable debut for fwawn.
Check out some more independent music at: www.themodernfolk.net “the goal of my site is to feature what i think of as “folk music”, which is music made by people who are trying to get by leading lives in our modern world who love to express themselves through music. any genre or medium is welcome. i prefer submissions via soundcloud, bandcamp, or youtube, because these formats allow me to easily embed your music in my post and it leads readers directly back to your site, video stream, etc.”
the.modern.folk@gmail.com
Now booking shows for local and out of town bands, contact Michael Steele at
worstweekeverbooking@gmail.com
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