Sandy Cilantro- Born Outlaw

 

I haven't been around here much, but have kept in touch with Sal through the occasional email.       

Since moving to  western Massachusetts, I've been involved in the electronic music scene. Western Mass Electronics hosts an open mic the last Sunday of every month at Quarters, a barcade in Hadley. There are two tables up front, and participating artists get 5 minutes to set up, and 5 minutes to play. It has grown significantly in it's two years of existence. Often 20+ artists, friends, and bar regulars make for an entertaining evening.

The last time I sat in for Sal coincided with my going down the Guy Clark/Townes Van Zandt rabbit hole after watching the documentary, "Without Get Killed Or Caught". I'd bought a lot of records and put together a "'T' For Texas Road Trip" weekend mix that went over far better than expected.

I started going to the open mics in March and immediately wanted to participate. Setting up electronic gear in 5 minutes is nerve wracking. Not a great state of mind to begin a performance. While the participants play a wide variety of styles and textures, many have no stage presence at all, just up front, staring down at their gear and twisting knobs. That first night, a woman, performing as The Third Entity, sang, which received a tremendous response from the audience. On the way home, I started thinking, "What can I do?" Maybe harmonica?

I'm not a singer or lyricist. I compose and record "Imaginary Soundtracks". Nor did I play harmonica, even though I'd inherited a few. I began experimenting, playing them through guitar pedals, looking for an electronic sound. I settled on Strymon's Night Sky, an experimental reverb unit, a pedal so crazily unsubtle it's hard to use. For a Hohner in the key of C, I composed a 5 minute soundtrack with strings, rain, lightning and thunder. I came up with a very simple setup for the open mic. Essentially "harmonica karaoke". I spent a few weeks learning to reliably improvise over "The Ballad Of Sandy Cilantro".

During this time Mollie and I came home from shopping with fresh cilantro, which I washed immediately. I told her about the time, over 20 years ago, that I forgot to, and that sandy cilantro ruined dinner. "That's my new stage name!" I'd outgrown BBJ a while ago, and it feels good to be free.

Sandy Cilantro is "A charismatic badass who brings a harmonica to a synthesizer fight."

I showed up to the open mic in full western cowboy garb, Stetson and all. It went over extremely well. The audience response was like nothing I've ever received before. 

6 months later Sandy Cilantro has nearly 40 harmonicas and at least that many fans. Somehow I managed to combine the Guy Clark/Townes Van Zandt rabbit hole with Western Mass Electronics.

The audio is the soundboard recording of my second Quarters appearance. The video was found on the Internet Archives, and is mostly from a 16mm school transfer of  "Alistair Cooke's America", with a brief appearance of a car from 1947.

I'm currently preparing a 20 minute set, and Sandy has become a big part of my existence. 

I can't take anything too seriously, but I'll ride this train as long as possible.

Enough about me. Someone else tomorrow. 

Thanks for listening,

-Sandy Cilantro