Strength in Numbers – The Power of Art: A Discussion with Anna Rae and ‘All Together Now’ Showcase

I remember being incredibly intrigued by Anna Rae the first time I ran into her at the Lizard Lounge Open Mic a number of years ago. There is a power and arresting manner about her. I mean, how many songwriters do you know that choose bass as their primary instrument? Over the course of time I have kept tabs on Anna Rae, her album “Peddler’s Wares” was one of the first records I reviewed for Red Line Roots, and she has maintained a stronghold in the community here for the time she has spent in Boston.

The songwriter, bassist, and now community activist and organizer has an incredibly cool new project/showcase that will see it’s first installment later this month and 3 shows lined up during the rest of the year at Lilypad in Cambridge.

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RLR: Tell us a little about yourself, how you got a start here in the Boston music community and why this show in particular is important to you as an artist and member of that community?

AR: I moved to Boston in 2009 with a duffle bag and a guitar. While working at a dude ranch in Wyoming, I had met a Boston musician who was making music similar to what I was trying to do. He agreed to let me sleep on his couch while I searched for a place to live. I still have cowboy boots and a lariat that I brought with me.

My entrance to the Boston music scene started with several months of going to shows by myself to explore the sounds and venues. Tom Bianchi’s open mic at The Lizard Lounge quickly became a home base, and I really made my transition from folk to rock, and guitar to bass in his room. He does so much for our scene.

I always wanted to be in a purely democratic band, where the members would share the creative vision, and the labor. And I also wanted to play with people I like and respect. Hemway formed about 2 years ago, and it has been an opportunity for all of us to explore our ideas and develop our ability to work productively as a group.

There are really three streams that led to me creating the All Together Now series. First, I realized that I wanted to expand beyond music and incorporate some of the other amazing art I was seeing my friends do. Second, I was inspired by the art happening in NYC and wanted to bring that to our scene, and make a space for cross-pollination to occur. Third, I wanted to make space for many of the talented artists I know with identities that tend to be marginalized for one reason or another: women, POC, LGBTQ. But I wanted to do this in the spirt of true diversity: in collaboration with cis white male allies, not in exclusion.

RLR: So about your own project, Hemway. How did that project come about from the time before, being a solo artist and all? How has that effected you as an artist and performer?

AR: I played solo or with collaborators in Boston for 5 years, but my end goal was always to be in a purely democratic band. A lot of things happened during those 5 years, including learning to play and write on the bass guitar, expanding the song structures and themes, and solidifying my desire to play with people that I respect personally, as well as creatively.

Being in Hemway has affected me in a number of ways. James and Shaun are a musical family, that I respect and trust. Because I feel safe, I can take risks that I never have before, such as co-writing. My style and ideas continue to expand, and this is aided by the fact that they both come from different musical backgrounds than myself. We’ve written a few political songs, which I’ve never done before and I think that’s partly a result of the fact that we talk about our philosophies and ethics. Our band relationships contain more than musical collaboration. I feel that more of my human enters the room when I go to practice.

RLR:  So who are you excited about that is making music or creating art in the Boston area right now?

AR: Oh geez, you mean like specific groups?

RLR: Haha, too tough of a question?

AR: Really hard, because there’s so many good ones. Right now I’m really watching these bands: Eric Salt & The Electric City Abbie Barrett Field Day The Sound Down Cellar

For community, I’m watching: Hailey Paige Magee and the EBASS community Audrey Harrer and her loft space (multi-media) Audrey Ryan and her loft space The Backyard series (Alex Wajsfelner) Yukon Bob and his Luthier space

Oh, and DiDi Delgado and the slam poetry space.

But I automatically think of like 10 other bands and spaces I’m watching.

I’m really socliciting performances from all over our scene, which is creating even a sense of cross-pollination within the shows.

RLR: I think that’s incredibly important. The crossing over mentality, sharing audiences and sharing different kinds of art. But its also fairly difficult. How have you found it to be in the respect of crossing genres or interests?

AR: Honestly? Really easy. I think a lot of people are really excited about the idea of participating in something cross-genre. We all know the power and the limitations of our respective arts, and I think there’s a sense of making something more immersive and powerful together.

Now, whether audiences will like it is another thing. That’s part of the experiment. Of course I’m not the first one to make this experiment. But it might be the first time that a lot of our music fans will experience something like this.

There’s a strong sense of the weird about it, and I think people find that compelling because it’s unpredictable.

RLR: So, it seems like you are of the mind that community is thriving here in town. What would you say to folks that are nay-sayers to that fact?

AR: That’s a great question, and an interesting topic. I’m not sure I’ll be able to give you a bite-sized answer.

I think part of the issue is that people are spending a lot of time on social media, and that’s where a lot of art promotion takes place. So people see what comes up in their feed. A lot of times you have these pockets of people creating, and they see each other’s promotion and events on social media, but they aren’t getting exposed to the other pockets.

For example, I when I started to realize there was a burlesque scene in Boston, I followed a couple of the dancers on Facebook, and suddenly I’m seeing a whole stream of shows I otherwise wouldn’t have known about.

But I think another aspect of this is that producing events is a *phenomenal* amount of work. Performers don’t necessarily want to, or know how to organize events. So you might have a dearth of the type of shows people want to see, even though there are plenty of performers in town doing the art, or interested in doing the art.

Make what you want to see in the world, blah blah blah smile emoticon

RLR: Talk a bit about the artists you are highlighting with this first show a bit? Why should we be excited about this first installment of your new showcase?

AR: Regarding the performs… Jenee Halstead and The Grownup Noise are both acts that have stood out for me, for several years now, for creating art that is powerful and sincere, and pushes the envelope in some kind of way. It might be thematic, or sonic, or political, or melodic- but every song takes a bold stance. They are also both incredible human beings, and that is a huge part of artists I pursue.

Jeremy Stamas has been a friend of mine for several years, and we’ve talked about his work in experimental film, but he hasn’t presented in the Boston area for quite some time. So I’m really excited to create a platform where his work can be shown, and I’ve been amazed by how interactive his concept was.

I met Crichton Atkinson through a friend and was first struck by her intellect and warmth. She is a force. Crichton has this particular ability to take vast conceptual networks, and turn them into a performance that is visual and visceral. There’s this way that her kindness comes through the prisms of intellect – her art makes you feel that she loves you.

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