Matthew Kahler Photos

Matthew Kahler, of Atlanta, performed in December of 2002.

Pamela Means Photos

Pamela Means performed on Saturday, Dec. 3 to a crowd of 21 people. Photos are below.

Rose Polenzani: Friday, Jan. 13

Rose Polenzani performs on Friday, Jan. 13 at Holden's Lair in Baltimore, MD.

Doors open at 8pm, and the show is $10 (all proceeds go to the artist). Please RSVP via this site or by e-mailing markmiazga@hotmail.com.



Rose is one of the most talented artists to ever perform at Holden's Lair, and I'm very, very excited about the show, and for seeing Rose perform live for the first time since I booked her back in 1999. There are a lot of free downloads available on both her website (http://www.rosepolenzani.com) and her myspace site (http://www.myspace.com/rosepolenzani). On the latter, you can hear her sing a beautiful version of Bruce Springsteen's "I'm On Fire"!

Bring a friend! Tell a friend! Mass forwarding of this information is strongly encouraged.

Artist Bio: Having been called the heir to Nick Drake's domain and a cross between Joan of Arc and Leonard Cohen, Rose Polenzani seems to have some fairly sizable shoes to fill. And fill them she does, with a captivating maturity and a sense of poetry seldom found in young artists. Polenzani offers more than just a girl, her acoustic guitar, and a bunch of songs. She pours out her soul in every note, each utterance unveiling a wealth of emotion and meaning. For her first musical offering, Polenzani devoted herself almost maniacally to a college arts project, memorializing songs on a four-track recorder with so much verve that she was given A's in all of her classes for having proven that she learned what it was to be an artist. From there, Polenzani became a staple of the Chicago open mic scene for two years before stretching her legs with a tour of the Northeast in 1997. That marked the beginning of a streak of good fortune, as she was invited to play with Shawn Colvin, at the Newport Folk Festival, and at Lilith Fair in 1998, and got a call from the Indigo Girls' Amy Ray with an offer of assistance. Independently releasing her self-produced debut album Dragersville in August 1998, she continued to spread her wings with a showcase appearance during the Sundance Film Festival. And in 1999, after combing through all of Polenzani's early recordings together, Ray's not-for-profit Daemon Records released Anybody to strong critical praise. (All Music Guide)

About the venue:

There's a lot of painting and construction being done in the house right now, so accomadations probably will not be as prestine as your are used to. (Heh.) But we'll be fine for a show.

Holden's Lair is a house concert venue doing monthly shows since May of 2002 in Baltimore, MD. If you've never been to a House concert at Holden's Lair, they are a laid back affair. Everyone usually brings a dish to pass and everyone chats in between the breaks. If we know you're coming, we often wait until you get here until we begin. The artist mingles with the fans, signing CDs and schmoozing. A box is passed around and the money is collected, and all of it goes to the performer. Children are welcome, and don't be surprised if a friendly cat jumps in your lap or starts mewing to the music, or if a slightly overweight dog gives you sad eyes, hoping for a treat off your plate.

A few rules:
Please RSVP by e-mailing before the show so I know the number to expect.
Please try to get here before the performer begins
Please bring food or drink to pass

If you want to sit on a piece of furniture and not the floor, come early to grab a seat. It never hurts to bring something - a pillow, a beanbag. I offer no illusions that the house is nice or ideal for concerts. What it is, though, is a community of people who appreciate the independent spirit in music coming together to support art and free expression. With our radios dominated by just a few corporations, this is a way for non-mainstream voices to be heard. It's also just a way to hear great music. And you'll hear it every time at Holden's Lair.

Rose Polenzani: Friday, January 13

Rose Polenzani performs on Friday, Jan. 13. Please RSVP today.

"In their psychic intensity, Polenzani's compositions sometimes evoke the spirit of the late Velvet Underground chanteuse Nico, albeit without that singers icy aloofness. Indeed, Polenzani's breathy, tremulous voice has a beckoning power more akin to that of a child ghost in a graveyard."--Request Magazine

"Somewhere in-between the raw emotion of singer Patty Griffin and the poetry of Anne Sexton, you'll find Rose Polenzani."--Utne Reader

"One of the best songwriters around...Rose Polenzani actually has a chance to pick up the Mitchell mantle."--BUST Magazine

"[Rose has] an otherworldly quality that transcends musical categories, much like Rickie Lee Jones's early work. Anybody has me searching for Polenzani's self-released 1998 debut, Dragersville."--CMJ

Celebrate the Holidays
Hear Rose Polenzani and Catie Curtis singing "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear" together - free MP3 at Catie's website:

http://www.catiecurtis.com/index.php?page=cds&display=387

Reminder: Pamela Means performs on Saturday, Dec. 3

Check out Pamela Means' Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/pamelameans.

There are four free songs to listen to, where you can hear why Ani DiFranco said about her music, "You've got a deep, deep groove, I can't get out. And I wouldn't want to."



"If Black warrior poet/feminist political activist Audre Lorde had taken up folk singing, she might have attacked her guitar and wrapped her lyrics around it the way Pamela Means does."
-Valley Advocate, Northampton MA

Pamela's latest release, Single Bullet Theory, confronts the USA Patriot Act, racial profiling, and the Bush Administration, while advocating for the rights of marginalized identities. Through the song "O.D.", "Means fires off what is easily one of the best musical summations of our current political situation.." (Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco, CA). Pamela also recorded a haunting version of "Strange Fruit". The album also showcases Pamela's innovative, expressive guitar style, evidentiary of her conservatory studies of classical and jazz guitar. The fruits of such discipline shine in her fleet-fingered fretwork, fluid phrasing, 'dizzying acoustic guitar riffs' (Boston Globe) and 'powerful songs' (Time Out NY) all of which place her at the vanguard of the new acoustic frontier. Spanning from Spanish-influenced rolling crescendos through the detuned growling guitar funk of an aggressive interrogation, Means is "redefin[ing acoustic] music.." (Washington Blade).

Don't miss Pamela Means as she brings her "kamikaze guitar style" (NY Times) to Baltimore for a rare, intimate house concert!

Please RSVP here or via e-mail. Tell your friends because we need to get people to this show!

Pamela Means performs Saturday, December 3

Who: Pamela Means, political and fiery folk-jazz performer
When: Saturday, Dec. 3. Doors open at 8pm.
Who is invited: Everyone. Please spread the word, tell your friends, and RSVP here or via e-mail.
Cost: $10 (all proceeds go to artist)



Pamela Means is a Boston-based Out (spoken), Biracial indie folk artist whose "kamikaze guitar style" and punchy provocative songs have worn a hole in her guitar. Armed with razor wit poetry and irresistable charm, Pamela Means' "stark, defiant songs" (New York Times Magazine) set the status quo and the stage afire.

Pamela Means' many honors include being named Falcon Ridge Folk Festival's #1 "Most Wanted New Artist", and both Wisconsin's "Folk Artist of the Year", and "Female Vocalist of the Year". Pamela has also been a Boston Music Award Nominee ("Outstanding Contemporary Folk Artist").

Currently, Pamela performs over 150 shows a year at clubs, coffeehouses, colleges, and festivals across the country, most notably the Newport Folk Festival, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, South by Southwest Conference, Southern Womyn's Fest, and Michigan Womyn's Festival. Pamela is also a favorite at innumerable regional Gay Pride events, Take Back the Night rallies, and Black History Month celebrations. Pamela has shared the stage with artists including Ani DiFranco, Joan Baez, Neil Young, Shawn Colvin, Richie Havens, Patty Larkin, Melissa Ferrick, Violent Femmes, Pete Seeger, Janis Ian, and Holly Near.

Pamela's 2003 summer tour took her nationwide, promoting her fifth self-released album, Single Bullet Theory (Wirl Records, 2003), in which "...Means fires off what is easily one of the best musical summanations of our current political situation.." (Bay Area Reporter, San Francisco, CA)

Quoting her inspiration, Warrior Poet Audre Lorde, Pamela asks "I am myself- a Black woman warrior poet doing my work- come to ask you, are you doing yours?" With Truth as ammunition, a Pamela Means performance brings the fight for social justice and human dignity to the forefront of a new generation.

Urinal Ads

The recent Caleb Stine show featured Holden's Lair's first attempt at Urinal Ads. (No, we don't technically have a urinal; they were behind the toilet.)







Next show is Saturday, Dec. 3, with Pamela Means.