Musical theatre is an entirely new affair with the wildly electric words & riffs of Scottish, Jewish composer Paul Scott Goodman. Featuring family friendly topics like sex, alcoholism, religion, neuroses, night clubs & RockN’Roll, brilliant insanity only begins to describe his skill & inspiration.

“The madness feeds the music feeds the words and then back to the madness .. define madness? .. Hmmm, the roiling repetition of the inner demons clashing with the angels to produce off kilter harmonies, reappearing melody, form, structure and rhyme from inside the insanity which ultimately leads to a raging calm which then passes again into the next approaching storm. Is there any other way to live? [The madness] led me to write “Bright Lights, Big City” and “ROOMS: A Rock Romance”, so I would say the whole mad thing needs more nurturing, loving care & raw red meat, kosher of course. x.” PSG.

For info on all of his shows, check out: http://www.paulscottgoodman.com

Red Grooms’ massive cartoon-like 3D paintings and lithographs are kinetic and inspiring. His perspective is so unusual that his pieces seem to fall in upon themselves and to explode outwards simultaneously. His depictions of other great artists: Pollack, Dali, Picasso and of bustling metropolises: Chicago, Nashville, New York have been enjoyed by international audiences.  He has been described by Lois Riggins-Ezzell as “a social Historian with a hot glue gun.” An oddly apt view of a wildly inventive artist.

South Carolina oddball/sweetheart David Reed makes shiny, polished indie rock.  But underneath those catchy melodies & that coifed hair is an artist just as silly & messy as the rest of us. Listen to his music at myspace.com/ThePrivateLifeOfDavidReed, Twitter him & check back for his upcoming music video!

A bit about where David’s affections lay: “Hi, my name is David Reed. I’m 28 years old & I talk to my stuffed animal. In fact, I feel guilty for writing this because I truly believe he is real & I‘m making light of the situation. My redeeming factor is that I’m hoping other people who have these same feelings & do the same things read this & know it’s ok. I have had him now since my first Christmas, which makes him 28 years old. Sometimes I feel as if no one, not even me, understands what makes me sad or down, but somehow Pappy Bear does. He was given to me by my grandfather, Pappy–hence, Pappy Bear. He sleeps with me on road trips as well as my bed at home. I love him dearly and he will never be replaced. I am also obsessed with the number 222, which has nothing to do with Pappy Bear (that I know of).”

A man with a plan… and a van… Reed KD’s upbeat, laid-back, melodic music is the result of crazy determination and hard work. Hear it here: Myspace.com/ReedKD & www.ReedKD.com.
And check back in May for his upcoming CD release!

Insight into the insanity: “I’ve been living out of my van, showering at the gym, sneaking into college locker rooms to bathe & traveling all over the U.S.A. this last year & probably made about $5k total. I’m spending every cent of that to release a new album. Crazy enough? I’ve dug ditches, sold shoes, made smoothies, taught honors chemistry, algebra & economics at the high school level, have worked for a credit union, made rock walls, etc. I did a 2 month tour packing 6 people into a VW van & drove it over the Rockies, across the high plains of Wyoming, through tornadoes in the midwest, ate deep fried turtle in the South, then went all the way up to NYC only to turn back around & drive all the way back, going through Montana, to Seattle. I then headed South through CA while about 50% of the state was on fire, playing shows the whole way through. I think we did about 45 shows in 60 days. [Go] check out my blog. There are some great photos and stories for anyone who has dreamed of being on the road.” ♥ReedKD

Jeremy Greenberg, the obsessive, artistic upholsterer, creates sculptures that, in his own words, “consist of elaborate and seductive objects which exaggerate traditional appeal, creating an obnoxious and elegant style.” His “eccentric self image” is part of the inspiration for creatively bizarre pieces, such as, “an abstract chair in the shape of a tongue or a series of symmetrically constructed arches resembling a rib cage with individual seats. It becomes furniture that functions better as an object of desire or entertainment then of conventional décor.”

Timothy Belknap describes it best in his 2005 MFA Thesis Exhibition Review, “Jeremy’s work is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% upholstery” … which, by my math, adds up to 105% of awesome. Check out more of Jeremy’s work at: www.JeremyJGreenberg.com

An odd and inventive warrior of the anti-folk genre, Eric Wolfson spews politically informed, harmonica accompanied, melodic excellence all over NYC. Eric in Action: Sleeping is a Sucker’s Game & Obama Song

A few lines on insanity:
‘TRUE!-nervous-very, very dreadfully nervous I had been and am; but why will you say that I am mad?’
‘You must be,’ said the Cat, ‘otherwise you wouldn’t have come here.’
Said the Fool to Lear: ‘He’s mad that trusts in the tameness of a wolf…’
Says I: ‘Madness makes kings of us all.’”
For more of Eric’s music and madness, visit: Myspace.com/EricWolfson  or www.EricWolfson.com              (and for more antifolk, check out our Artist Showcase archives, re: Lach!)

      A bit about Tim Robinson: “I started out trying to be a painter but the NYC artworld was no place for me… I drifted into songwriting and found it just as visual, in a way more so. That clicked and I became a bit obsessed, writing hundreds of songs [though, oddly] recording none. I scaled down the painting to small collage work, made from junk, mostly stuff I picked up off the ground around the city. Sometimes I would do it block by block… a piece might be called “Schermerorn, between Court and Henry”, that sort of thing. As the computer crept into my life, I discovered the business of internet junk picking and began experimenting with digital collage. I grab things, mess with them a bit and just start throwing elements together. Magical things happen then, what was an engine diagram suddenly seems soulful next to a bird. Anyway, it’s an ongoing experiment. I hope folks find something to pivot on in all of it.”
      To see more of Tim Robinson’s art and to hear his music, visit: Myspace.com/TimRobinsonSongs

In Fiona’s words, “I think there’s a fine little line, a lovely line, between madness and beauty and I think a lot of times really great (or at least, unconventional / unique) art stems from that.”

Some Fiona gems: “Here are four things about me that are pretty crazy-town:
1. I consider myself an amateur stalker.
2. I practice primal scream therapy.
3. I obsess about a lot of things constantly, and call it multi-tasking.
4. I talk to myself & sing to an empty chair (while pretending there is a specific person sitting in it!)”
With classics such as: “(I Don’t Wanna Be) The Guy”, “Diets Are For Suckers” and “You’re So Boring” how could you not want to find out what this girl is about? Myspace.com/FionaLanders

      Childhood musical prodigy, Noel Rockmore, discovered his ultimate calling as a painter, after an early bout of polio made him delve deeper into darker, more macabre inspiration.  His subjects had wide range, including denizens of Greenwich Village and the Bowery, Coney Island, Jerusalem, shipyards and cemeteries and above all, the jazz musicians, surreal architecture and rituals of life and death in the New Orleans French Quarter. His biographer described him as a “compulsive draftsman”.  He often chose painting and smoking over mundane tasks such as sleeping and eating. Noel defined obsession and artistic possession, producing over 10,000 works in his lifetime.

There is so much to say about the UK band Telegraphs. This five-some is great at what they do and people are catching on.  Instead of ranting about their brilliance, however, I’m giving you their own words and a chance to find out for yourself! • Badass Music • Brand New Artsy Video • Free Song Download! •

               Aung    &    Hattie    &   Darcy    &    Sam    &    Darren  

Presenting a WEALTH OF CRAZY from across the pond:

Darcy: “I have a tendency to sleep walk… more than a few times I have awoken in various different places in my house and for some reason when I come too I’m usually playing air guitar!”

Aung: “I have an aversion to spelling/grammatical mistakes in public places, such as shop front signs, magazines/newspapers etc. - whoever allows them through often deserves to be taken behind the cattle shed and shot. When I see these spelling mistakes I feel compelled to take photographic evidence.”   

Sam: “I have a massive issue with the volume setting on a radio. It has to be set to an even number. So if someone sets the volume to 11, for example, I have to bump it up 1 notch to 12 or down 1 notch to 10.”

Hattie: “I’m quite the fruitloop when I get going…” (Hattie’s insanity took up the whole page so check back next week for the rant in its entirety.)

Darren: “I am obsessed with statistics and facts. I often compile said facts in a spreadsheet and file them fastidiously!”

From Mangua, Nicaragua to Coral Gables, Florida, from elementary school on, Cecilia Dubon Slesnick has chosen art over sanity. Cartooning, Illustrating, and Photographing everything around her, Cecilia makes the world a brighter and more bizarre place. Check out her artwork at: www.ceciliadubon.com

Songwriter/Performer/Ringleader/Poet/Comic-Artist/Innovator Lach is streaming his entire new album  ”The Calm Before” on his website: www.LachToday.com                                                                            While you’re there, check out his gigs, pics, ponderings, and comics (soon to be featured here!)                    Read Lach’s exclusive “iAmSlowlyLosingMyMind.com” poem below (and click HERE to submit yours.)

“The day I went insane was today
And I’m a mad, bad, sad, lad crouched inside my name and age
Raging at the nineties recovery zombies
Who threw me a lifesaver of the wrong flavor
Behavior sanctioned into boxes too small for
my psychedelic soul and I want out
And I want to be demon and angel both
Don’t divide me! Don’t divide me!
Don’t divide me!” © 2009 Lach

Painter/ Professor/ Inventor, Martie Holmer is quirky and creative to the extreme.
She’s illustrated cookbooks, calligraphed, hand-painted maps and currently plays jazz piano and finds unlikely inspiration for her art in bombs and missiles.

See more of her portfolio at: www.martieholmer.com

From Pittsburgh to Stockholm to New York, Andy Fite has been spreading his jolly, jazzy, sardonic sense of musical humor. Here he is in his animated video, jazzing it up For Jesus: Andy Fite - I Miss Jesus

Also, check out the “Jazz, Comic, Philosopher’s” other music at: http://www.andyfite.se/

Darby Cicci worked endlessly, crafting an album that he wants you to have, for FREE!

He’s a multi-talented musician / artist / friend, whose songs are nearly ALL about losing his mind.

Find out more at www.myspace.com/DarbyCicci and www.minusgreenmusic.com

Ariel Eisen is a musician/ artist/ ball of warm fuzzy creativity.

Check out her music and sketches at: www.myspace.com/ConstantHum

There will be more art to come, so keep checking in!