Maine

Chelsea Berry returns to Maine, to open for Livingston Taylor in Portland

Published

2 years ago

June 1, 2022

Chelsea Berry returns to Maine, to open for Livingston Taylor in Portland

Chelsea Berry Submitted photograph

Why do I write about an artist? Most likely a query a few of you could be pondering. Nicely, within the case of immediately’s topic, Chelsea Berry, it was so simple as listening to her voice. Having been doing this since 1969, the energy of a vocal efficiency is what clinches the deal for me, and after watching the movies on her web site the place her energy, ardour and persona command respect and attentiveness from her viewers, I needed to discover out extra about this singer-songwriter and one of the best ways to do this is to go on to the supply. I noticed that she can be opening for Livingston Taylor at One Longfellow Sq. on the 4th of this month down in Portland, in order that appeared like nearly as good a time as any to do it. So I organized to do a cellphone name with Berry and found that she and her fiancée had been pulled over of their truck so she and I may chat simpler.

Q: Not that way back, I interview Mr. Taylor for a present he was doing at Johnson Corridor — had been you his opening act at that venue?
Berry: I believe the final present I did with Liv was in Gardiner, I imagine.

Q: Yup, that was the gig I used to be referring to and let’s face it, you couldn’t ask to open for a extra certified individual so far as performing goes.
Berry: Yeah, he’s the consummate trainer. He units an unbelievable instance and its fairly nice being with him for numerous causes. He and I at all times joke that I’m sort of like the child he by no means had and so now we have a whole lot of frequent pursuits past music, as effectively; so we get pleasure from one another’s firm on the street and there are at all times issues to be taught. He’s good about reminding me once I want a bit nudge right here or there — he’s an exquisite trainer.

Q: Seeing you’re a new artist to me I’ve acquired to ask, how lengthy have you ever been doing all your musical profession?
Berry: I began enjoying guitar once I was 15, my dad taught me the right way to play guitar, and inside every week it was Father’s Day so I took the three chords he taught me and wrote a tune for him for Father’s Day and that was sort of the start of the top of the songwriting a part of it (chuckle). I began attending some songwriting workshops and issues like that, I had a babysitter who was a folks singer-songwriter in Alaska the place I grew up and I adopted her rather a lot once I was in highschool.

Q: So far as singer-songwriters go, I need to provide you with a heads-up about Connor Garvey who I interviewed simply yesterday, his new album is killer.
Berry: Oh, I do know Connor, not personally however I do know his music and of him.

Q: Nicely, I discover the musical panorama of Maine is well-tapped, some distinctive individuals in music both come from right here or get drawn to right here, it’s sort of neat.
Berry: Nicely, for me, and I’ve lived each in New York and Chicago for some time, finally I discover my peace in my songwriting comes out of being within the woods, being on the ocean, and being within the mountains. So I believe you’re proper that persons are born in it or search it out. It’s much more enjoyable to hang around on the mountains and within the timber for me than attempting to scrape by my subsequent hire verify for my condo.

Q: Nicely, for the oldsters who, like me, usually are not aware of your music, what can they count on from this One Longfellow present?
Berry: “What can they count on?” Oh, man, I virtually got here up with one thing actually sassy to say, however, (laughter)!

Q: Oh, please — don’t hesitate.
Berry: (Laughter) Livingston and I’ve a extremely enjoyable rapport. Plenty of instances whenever you see an opener it’s a separate factor: you see the opener, there’s a set break, and so they you see the headliner. Whether or not or not the music is comparable, it’s two very various things. When Liv and I began years in the past it was like that however the extra time we spent collectively the extra collaboration we began doing. So the way in which that we do it’s he comes out and introduces me and I sing my set, then I carry him again out and we do duets collectively. After which once more after his set, on the finish of the evening, he brings me again out and we sing collectively some extra. So there’s a whole lot of amusing stage banter that goes on and a whole lot of power, I imply, anybody who has seen Livingston carry out is aware of he’s an entertainer, so it’s very dynamic, we’re each dynamic performers and have a whole lot of enjoyable collectively, and I believe that individuals can actually see that and so they get pleasure from watching us get pleasure from one another’s firm on stage.

Q: I want to remark not solely in your vocal qualities but in addition your capacity to carry out another person’s tune and make it your individual, that’s not a straightforward factor to do.
Berry: Nicely, the way in which that the majority of us write music is as a result of we grew up listening to music, and there are issues that transfer us and encourage us, and we aspire to be higher writers so we do the most effective we are able to overlaying different individuals’s songs to be able to learn to be higher writers.

Q: Talking of songwriting, do you will have a brand new undertaking that you simply’re engaged on for the time being?
Berry: I do, truly, and I haven’t talked about it with anybody but, so right here you go.

Q: Alright, that sounds good … let’s hear it!
Berry: I used to be doing a present with Livingston and staying at a bed-and-breakfast that evening. The subsequent morning I apologized to the proprietor for coming in late and defined that I had completed a present that earlier night. She acquired excited and requested if I’d write her a tune for her son who had died from a Fentanyl overdose the yr earlier than. I did and despatched it to her, she preferred it and stated that she wished to do a complete file. So I’m penning this album for her and it’s extra for the people who find themselves left behind possibly, however she’s sending me into the studio — I’m doing the entire writing, it’s all authentic stuff — and as soon as the album is completed the proceeds of gross sales will go in direction of rehabilitation and consciousness. We’re doing a launch present in Alton, New Hampshire in August.

Q: Is there something, Chelsea, that you simply’d like me to cross on to the readers of this text?
Berry: Oh, man! Nicely, there are a thousand issues I’d such as you to cross on however we don’t have time (laughter) …

Q: Nicely, in the event you needed to choose one, what would it not be?
Berry: If I needed to choose one (pause) effectively, these are Maine-based papers so I’d direct it to Maine-based people: It’s been actually magical to relocate right here — do you know that? I stay up right here now.

Q: Say what?!
Berry: Yeah, my fiancée and I moved to Gouldsboro, which is simply north of Acadia Nationwide Park. I’m truly wanting on the mountains as I’m speaking with you proper now. He constructed a cabin up right here years in the past and we moved up right here full-time through the pandemic. I’ve lived in so many alternative locations all around the United States — we journey rather a lot and Maine is such an superior place to come back dwelling to. In order that’s what I might need individuals to know: how grateful I’m that I’ve landed right here!

Q: Is there something we haven’t mentioned that you simply assume we must always?
Berry: Nicely, probably not. I’m excited to be coming again to One Longfellow. I’ve performed there numerous instances and it’s considered one of my favourite venues to play, truly, of all of the venues I’ve performed simply due to the way in which it’s arrange: it feels very intimate, it’s a enjoyable little house, so I’m wanting ahead to that.

Fortunate Clark, a 2018 “Conserving the Blues Alive” Award winner, has spent greater than 50 years writing about good music and the individuals who make it. He may be reached at [email protected] when you have any questions, feedback or ideas.

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Maine

Maine Celtics fall to Capital City Go-Go on late 4-point play

Published

3 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Press Room

Maine Celtics fall to Capital City Go-Go on late 4-point play

Erik Stevenson was fouled making a 3-pointer and completed the four-point play with 3.5 seconds left to lift the Capital City Go-Go to a 96-93 win over the Maine Celtics on Sunday at the Portland Expo.

Stevenson finished with 36 points for Capital City. Ruben Nembhard Jr. added 13 points. 14 rebounds and seven assists, while Michael Foster Jr. had 14 points.

Ron Harper Jr. had 21 points and six rebounds for the Celtics. JD Davison added 11 points and 10 assists, while Baylor Scheierman finished with 16 points and six rebounds. Drew Peterson scored 18 for Maine.

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Davison leads Maine Celtics to comeback win

Maine

Investigation underway after fatal fire in Amity

Published

11 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Press Room

Investigation underway after fatal fire in Amity

AMITY, Maine (WABI) – Human remains have been found after a fire heavily damaged a home in Amity, officials said Sunday.

The fire broke out at the home on Emily Drive on Saturday.

Investigators with the Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office responded around 2:30 p.m.

We’re told human remains were found in amongst the fire debris.

The remains will be transported to the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta for positive identification.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

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Maine

A Maine man took his friend into the woods for one final deer hunt

Published

20 hours ago

November 24, 2024

Press Room

A Maine man took his friend into the woods for one final deer hunt

This story was originally published in December 2022.

Jerry Galusha and his best friend, Doug Cooke, share a friendship that dates back to 1984, when they were living in Rangeley and were introduced by mutual friends.

Over the years, they have often gone fishing or deer hunting, activities they both have enjoyed immensely.

“The relationship that we have is just unbelievable,” Galusha said. “We’ve had some really amazing adventures.”

This fall, Galusha was confronted with a heart-wrenching task. He would take Cooke into the woods, one last time, in search of a big buck.

The difference was that this time they would not be walking the tote roads and trails together. Instead, Galusha would be carrying Cooke’s cremains in his backpack.

Cooke died on Sept. 5 at age 61 after a long struggle with renal failure. Galusha said after 40 years of dialysis or living with a transplanted kidney, Cooke opted to cease treatment and enter hospice care when his third transplant failed.

Doctors had originally told Cooke he would be lucky to celebrate his 30th birthday. Thus, he tried all his life to avoid getting too emotionally attached to people. He seldom asked anyone for favors.

Cooke and Galusha hadn’t seen each other much in recent years as Galusha focused on raising a family. But in late August, Cooke left a voicemail for Galusha explaining that he planned to enter hospice care.

Cooke told Galusha he didn’t need to do anything, but wanted him to know. He did not want to become a burden to anyone else.

“His body was telling him that he’s had enough,” Galusha said. “He couldn’t golf. He couldn’t play his guitar. He hadn’t been hunting in years.”

The late Doug Cooke of Rangeley is shown with a buck he shot many years ago. Cooke’s best friend, Jerry Galusha, is honoring Cooke’s last wishes by taking his ashes on hunting and fishing excursions. Credit: Courtesy of Jerry Galusha

Galusha couldn’t let it end like that. In spite of Cooke’s reluctance to have his old friend see him in such poor health, he went to visit him.

But as Cooke faced his own mortality, he asked one favor of Galusha.

“He said, ‘Promise me one thing, could you please, just one time, take me in to Upper Dam to go fishing before you dump my ashes?’” Galusha said.

The dam separates Mooselookmeguntic (Cupsuptic) Lake and Richardson Lake north of Rangeley. It was a favorite spot of theirs, one Cooke introduced to Galusha, who grew up in New York.

“He really loved the wilderness and Rangeley,” Galusha said of Cooke, who was a Vermont native.

Galusha immediately said yes but, knowing how much Cooke also enjoyed hunting, he didn’t feel as though the fishing trip was enough to adequately honor his friend.

“I said, I’m going to take you for the whole deer season, every time I go,” Galusha said. “He looked at me and started crying and said, ‘That would be so awesome.’

“It was hard. We cried and hugged each other,” he said.

When Galusha went deer hunting near his home in Rangeley during the third week of November — a week the two buddies often spent together over the years — he tried his best to make it like old times.

Galusha spared no effort. He carried the cardboard urn containing Cooke’s cremains inside a camouflage can, which was wrapped with a photo showing Cooke posing with a nice buck he had harvested many years earlier.

He also packed Cooke’s blaze orange hat and vest, along with his grunt tube, compass, doe bleat can, deer scents and a set of rattling antlers.

Galusha chronicled the events of each hunting day by posting to Cooke’s Facebook page, complete with observations, recollections and photos.

Lots of deer were seen and there was one encounter with a buck, but after missing initially, Galusha refused to take a bad shot as the deer was partially obscured by undergrowth.

“I just did what Doug would have done. He’s not going to shoot and I wasn’t going to shoot,” Galusha said.

He spoke reverently about Cooke’s resilience through the years in the face of his constant battle with health problems, which included not only kidney failure, dialysis and transplants, but four hip replacements and, eventually, a heart attack.

Jerry Galusha carried the cremains of his best friend, Doug Cooke, along with several items of Cooke’s hunting gear, on hunts this fall. Credit: Courtesy of Jerry Galusha

The arrival of muzzleloader season provided one more week to hunt. On Friday, Dec. 2, Galusha walked more than 3 miles along a gated road to an area where he had seen deer a week earlier.

That got him off the beaten track, away from other potential hunters, something Cooke would have appreciated.

“He wasn’t afraid to go do stuff,” Galusha said. “It might take us a little bit longer, but he didn’t care.”

Galusha, who still often refers to Cooke in the present tense, said he vocalized some of his reflections while in the woods. He saw eagles, which he thought might be Cooke keeping an eye on him.

“I talked to him a lot,” Galusha said, who also enjoyed telling the handful of hunters he encountered that he was not out alone, rather with his friend.

He then explained the story of his promise to Cooke and reverently removed the urn from his pack to show them.

When Galusha finally saw the buck, it wasn’t quite close enough. He uses one of Cooke’s favorite tactics to coax the deer closer.

Galusha tried the grunt tube, and then the doe bleat can, but the deer didn’t seem to hear it. Then, he blew harder on the grunt tube and finally got the buck’s attention.

“I irked one right in, that’s what Doug would say,” said Galusha, recalling Cooke’s affection for using the alternating calls.

The spikehorn turned and walked directly at Galusha, who shot it.

“I cried,” he said of the moment, recalling that Cooke had been there when he shot his first antlered deer, also a spikehorn.

During the long drag back to his truck, Galusha had plenty of time to think about how much Cooke would have enjoyed the hunt — and watching him make the drag.

At one point, a crew of loggers had approached.

“I was pointing to the sky saying, ‘We got it done,’ shaking my hand,” Galusha said. “A guy came up behind me and said, ‘You all set?’ and I’m like, yup.”

Cooke and Galusha had lived together for 10 years at one point, but they also had gone long periods without talking with each other. Even so, whenever they were reunited it was as if they had never been apart.

The last few visits were difficult. Cooke’s health was failing, but Galusha just wanted to be there for his buddy.

“It was emotional,” said Galusha, who was present when Cooke died. “I held his hand to his last breath.”

Next spring, hopefully when the fish are biting and the bugs aren’t, Galusha will grant Cooke — who he described as a fabulous fisherman — his final wish by taking him fishing at Upper Dam, just like they used to do.

“I’m thinking maybe around his birthday [July 19]. It might be sooner, depending on how buggy it is,” said Galusha, who expects to make more than one excursion with Cooke.

Galusha said he will know when it’s time to say goodbye.

“I really don’t want to let him go, but I promised him I would, so I will,” he said.

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