Good day, Internet readers. You’re tuned in to blogging from the Whitehaus Family Record. Jim of ThatHottness.com has kindly offered us a platform to promote Blastfest — our upcoming spring showcase.

Over the next few days, you will read about poets and musicians who count themselves among Boston’s emerging “Yes Wave” folk movement. These artists inhabit a variety of sounds, visuals, and messages, but are united by the fact that they connect themselves in some way with the amorphous cloud called the Whitehaus Family.

It is our hope that this series will introduce the reader to some exciting new artists homegrown here in Boston as well as the context in which their work has ripened.

The Basics

The Whitehaus Family Record is a DIY record label based in Jamaica Plain. The label grew out of the weekly “hootenannies” or “hoots” hosted by JP artists’ collective the Whitehaus. The residents of the Whitehaus created the Hoots as a space for anyone to share their talents and experiences with an audience.

» Whitehaus (Wikipedia)
» The Treemausers become the Whitehaus Family Record (whitehausfamilyrecord.com)
» NE Performer article about the WFR

Blastfest is an annual spring equinox showcase of artists on the Whitehaus Family Record. One of the aims of Blastfest is to introduce the public to as many Whitehaus Family artists as possible. Traditionally, each artist performs for 15-20 minutes in order to cram as many artists as possible into a 6-hour space. 2008 featured 18 artists. 2009 will have 19.

» Blastfest Info (whitehausfamilyrecord.com)
» JP-centric collective comes up for air (Weekly Dig)

The Yes Wave is a concept that Whitehaus Family members have been developing for years to describe their activities and aesthetic. As the word suggests, it embodies a spirit of acceptance (though not necessarily agreement) for all human experience.

This series will introduce some of the Whitehaus Family artists that will be performing at Blastfest. We open with what is for so many people the beginning: Brian S. Ellis.

Brian S. Ellis will be assuming the role as MC for the Blastfest experience, kicking off the showcase with his poems and setting the tone for the evening.

Brian has opened the Hoots for over two years, and thus has formed many first impressions of the Whitehaus Family. In his introduction to the night, he reads poems of his own devising and monologues on the traditions of the Hoot. Brian establishes the format for the evening, encouraging everyone to get up and do their thing for the room. People are inspired and made comfortable by his knack for open and familiar communication. Many folks (this writer included) who never considered themselves performers have discovered the fun of performance thanks to Brian’s encouragement.

Since he began performing poetry in 2006, Brian has become a well-loved figure in performance poetry circles. He is a regular on Wednesday nights at Boston Poetry Slam at the Cantab Lounge in Central Square, and has been on the team representing Boston twice in the National Poetry Slam. His book Uncontrolled Experiments in Freedom was published by Write Bloody Publishing in 2008 and is considered one of the most exciting poetry releases of the year.

Brian’s poems celebrate the human struggle towards enlightenment in a world demanding long days and hard work. One example of this is Fingertip Gunfire (mp3), a piece describing Brian’s employment as a clerk in a gourmet grocery store. In the poem, Brian demands respect from the customers in his checkout line, declaring his virtuosic command of the cash register with an endearing mix of good humor and gravity. In a similar vein is The Janitor Poem (mp3), which details his job as a mall janitor, waking before sunrise to commune with the mall and reflect on the nature of human society.

Another popular poem, Shopping Carts (mp3) breaks down assumptions of what an ordinary object is and must be used for by expanding the possibilities of what it can become. He does this not by philosophizing about the nature of matter and capitalism, but by describing the antics of a group of bored hooligans on Cape Cod.

All of these poems reveal one of Brian’s great strengths — grabbing your attention with a masterfully told story, transforming the everyday into the fantastic with subtle flips of language and gesture. Watching Brian perform is as if you are hanging out in the kitchen with your best friend, laughing along to stories about his day and the people he saw. This quality makes his poetry accessible to people who never thought they liked or “got” poetry before, and he has opened many eyes to the possibilities of language.

In addition, he is a great guy to hang out with and I encourage everyone who comes to Blastfest to make a point to catch Brian for a conversation. If you bring up Twin Peaks or kitchens, you can bet you’ll have plenty to talk about.

This post was written by Kate Lee, one half of the psychedelic gospel duo Gracious Calamity, who will be appearing at Blastfest on March 13, 2009, at the Cambridge YMCA Theatre in Central Square.