Live Music Review //
Marie Carroll / Dan Greene / Michael Slyne / Matt Rupar
@ Willimantic Records, Willimantic CT
April 20th, 2024
Saturday morning, Quentin and I woke up and headed down to Willimantic Records for live music. This specific Saturday was both Record Store Day (check out my Instagram for what I picked up) and also 4/20. It's fun when days like this overlap, like how soon we will have Free Comic Book Day and Star Wars Day together (May 4th). It had been a while since we had been to Willimantic Records and though it was raining overnight, as we drove there the rain stopped and it became a rather nice day out.
What I liked about this show was that even though it was three musicians playing solo, they each brought something unique to their set. They each also have their own character and that came through in the music as well. The show opened with Matt Rupar, who I had not heard of before but has quite the discography on Bandcamp. With an acoustic guitar and his voice, the songs had a punk rock feel to them.
As was fitting for the day as well, some of the songs seemed to have a theme of smoking pot. While these came out in that sort of vibe it still felt like many of the songs were protest anthems. Loud in its own way, people were coming into the store to browse the records and I think this really grabbed and held their attention. Go out of your way to see Matt Rupar if you have the chance.
Up next was Michael Slyne, who I've seen in different forms but haven't seen for a little while. With several tape decks on hand, this set started with a more ambient and relaxed type of field recording vibe. There was audio coming through, a patient explaining to a doctor how they were not like everyone else. The electric guitar would make its way into the mix, adding new layers to the sound.
At times this sound could just be hypnotic, where it can put you into a trance so that you kind of forget what is happening all around you. I had to kind of snap myself back into reality a few times and when I did it was nice because that reminder of the differences between experiencing music live and listening to recordings became clear. At one point, Michael Slyne used this instrument on his guitar that looked like a blue dot and I'd never be able to pick up on such a thing on a recording.
Our third artist of the day was Dan Greene. I had previously seen Dan Greene perform solo at Willimantic Records but at that time he did so with an acoustic guitar and his voice. (Michael Slyne was also on that show!) For this set he had a small electric piano and his voice, which seemed like such a treat because we were experiencing familiarity in new boundaries.
Right before Dan Greene started playing he mentioned that he lost his mother this past week, which seemed to take everyone by surprise, and so he played a set of songs about death which he had written some ten years ago. And he said that even though there were individual songs he was just playing them through, as if one long song.
There was something to be taken from this set that felt like it was more than just music. I am by no means a religious person- I can't tell you the last time I went to church and I believe what I believe- but this felt like we were in church, listening to a sermon and while I cannot speak for everyone else that was there I feel like I came out of it different than what I was before.
The day was concluded with a performance by Marie Carroll playing the Koto. The Koto is such a large string instrument that makes sounds you might not think it could make. I feel like every time I see Marie Carroll perform live with this, I learn something new about how it can be played. This time I was really paying attention to when the drumsticks came out and it was played almost like a percussion instrument.
Notes can be individual and minimal or they can all come together as chords, feeling loud and destructive. It's also always fun that I think that at least one person every time asks Marie Carroll what the instrument is called. But the more you know about it, the more you really listen to it, the more it becomes such a beautiful sound.
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