Shane Butler is a nice guy, musician, and artist who has been bringing good vibes and great tunes to the people of Boston for quite sometime via his uniquely psychedelic band QUILT, and his solo project OLDEN YOLK. Check out his unbridled enthusiasm for life, art and other sweet things, around JP and in other select parts of the city.
Shane here. Here is a list of 30 memorable things for me in Boston this year. No particular order:
1.) When Thich Nhat Hanh came to Copley Square and over 300 people sat in silence, observing love, in the center of an historically loaded metropolitan area.
2.) When Brian Ellis read a poem at Blastfest.
3.) Ethan Kiermaier’s installation, PREHISTORY, at Villa Victoria Center For the Arts.
4.) Jamaica Pond
5.) The full moon at Jamaica Pond
6.) When the snow took over in February and the entire town of Jamaica Plain became like a small village in the 1900’s for two days; City Feed served as town beacon and the most popular forms of transportation were sled on ground or foot in boot. Everyone went sledding more than they went to bars, and everyone had goofy big clothes on; thus taking themselves less seriously. It was fun.
7.) Being front-row-ish at House Of Blues amongst a bunch of high-school kids and watching / listening to their reactions as they smelled the farts of fellow attendees during Tame Impala’s set.
8.) Seeing a really skinny, sick-looking dog in the Arboretum, and then realizing that it was a coyote.
9.) Wondering about the hundreds of beer cans on top of that one hill in the Arboretum; Wondering how, no matter how many times they get cleaned up, they always replenish themselves, and wondering why, among all of those beer cans, there is always one container of Hawaiian Punch.
10.) Walking the Conifer Path.
11.) Writing, demoing, and recording Quilt’s upcoming album ‘Held In Splendor’ with two of my best friends John & Anna.
12.) Deep Thoughts.
13.) The skate park all the dudes built near Stony Brook. Thank you.
14.) The New England Underground Fest in September.
15.) Being able to watch Soft Healer fill an apartment with smoked bodies for the second time in Boston at The Dreamhaus.
16.) Watching the Great Danes come hang out at Turtle Pond.
17.) Practicing in Charlestown and having random dudes swing by our practice space, stick their heads in, and ask to join our band in the middle of the night. Led Zeppelin? Maybe they were the ghosts of Jimmy Page’s longing. We decided though, that if we were to allow them all in the band we may have 3 bassists and 4 guitarists which COULD? Be cool? But maybe right now is not the right time.
18.) Watching Don Gero play on the floor of Great Scott in January.
19.) Playing with MMOSS for the last time at Middle East Upstairs.
20.) Hearing Doug Tuttle’s new jams.
21.) Watching Via App play in violet lighting and cool glasses at Blastfest.
22.) Holding my friends Luis & Kim’s baby Eva for the first time and watching her face jump between 30 emotions in one minute. Then realizing Eva is just like an adult in hyper-speed except she doesn’t use words or other people to voice her complaints, she just makes some motions.
24.) Faun & A Pan Flute.
25.) The show in the attic.
26.) Riding my bike through Olmsted Park in pitch black.
27.) Making breakfast tacos and eating them in the backyard with my buds.
28.) Ben & Teddi.
29.) Recording with a long time favorite of mine, and friend, Bobb Trimble. He played us ‘Galilean Boy’ and ‘Premonitions, The Fantasy’ this time around on acoustic guitar and I almost teared up. Thanks, Bobb.
30.) Ronnie Nordac
