The thaw that comes with spring not only wards off the cold weather but it can help break down creative blocks. We’ll devote this time to music that has been stuffed away in closets and forgotten about for the winter only to be discovered again during this annual seasonal clean up. Performers and audience members are encouraged to play instruments of theirs that have rarely seen the light of day and/or play original pieces that have been shelved for quite some time.

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Spring can really hang you up the most.
--Fran Landesman

There’s something about the beginning of spring that really annoys people. The longer days and mild temperatures make it feel like the budding flower is right below us. Yet endless overcast skies often greet us with more snowfall, forming slushy mounds on top of large tracks of mud and ice. When it seems like the weather is ready to break, another six inches of snow falls on us and pushes back this anticipated rejuvenation. This often keeps that first walk in the woods or that stroll in the park just something to be desired. By April some of you may feel that spring has turned against you, and what seems to be just around the corner is still another month away. What you thought were songs of the Blue Jay may have been the evil Mocking Bird mastering its art of deception.

Worry not friends, this is no “anti-Spring.” This is just a slow thaw, a time of transition from the dormant survival of winter to the leap into the summer outdoors. For this growth, though, all of us must first endure change. Before we can fully indulge ourselves in the gentle pastures of lilacs and daises, we need to set aside the time to cleanse our heads and our homes of winter’s lasting grip, whose cold, soul-crushing fingers may stunt our growth. The Bunnies must clean their dens to make room for expected young. The Squirrels will clean out their pantries of acorn shells to make room in those nooks, eventually, for… more acorns. And Artists and Musicians will need to unblock their minds of all of the old ideas that once meant something to them so that new pieces can be conceived. As tempting as it may be, “looking for sea glass at the beach” may be contrived at this time. Mother nature is teaching us to be patient by forcing us to slow down and be introspective. She wants us to make space for future indulgences by putting behind us the memories and miseries of the past. Music not excluded. You can’t really hum “Joy Spring” if you have “Autumn Leaves” on your mind.

Luckily Spring Cleaning is a night to help you achieve this change. While you’re scraping out the snow crud from the gutters, dusting the gunk off celling fans, and Windexing® ALL the windows of your house, let this Junk Kitchen installment be your soundtrack. We will perform original pieces that have been sitting under piles of papers for years, just waiting to be played. Some of this music will be performed on instruments that haven’t seen the light of day for quite some time, too. You can pretty much let your imagination run wild of what sort of kooky things people have lying around in their closets. For example: an autoharp duet composition performed by William Kenlon and Ben Dicke. Audience members are strongly urged to bring their own well-wintered pieces and dormant instruments as well!

If spring cleaning at your home seems too overwhelming, let me suggest you “whistle while you work.” At this musical Spring Cleaning, the only work we’ll ask of you is to just… whistle. ☺

Compositions and performances by

William Kenlon
Ben Dicke
Andy Volker
Eric Hofbauer
Esther Viola
Scott Fitzsimmons
Brigham Hall
. . . as well as many others TBA

Special thanks to Brigham Hall for inspiring this show idea.
Anyone who would like to contribute an idea, theme or title for a Junk Kitchen show is more than welcome to do so!!! WE WANT COLLABORATORS!