A few Roses
Hey Chris, I'm a member
of Utah's Rose Tattoo and thought you might like to add this photo on his great
new site! The photo was taken at the Cleveland Folk Alliance "Rose Tattoo showcase",
Feb 2000, by Hobo Queen Connecticut Shorty.
In the photo is Larry Pen, Utah, Saul Broudy (guest), Al Grierson, Rik Palieri,
and Luther The Jet (Guest & National Hobo King 1997) sitting in front. Keep
up the good work.
For The Roses - Rik Palieri - "Song Of The Elk" www.banjo.net
 Si Khan, Rik, and Utah in Burlington, VT. |
 Utah's
liner notes to Rik
Palieri's "Panning for Gold" CD --- Jamestown, North Dakota,
midwinter, cold? The volunteer firemen lean into gale-force winds, and with
hatchets chop the dogs loose from the fire hydrants. A near white-out, and
the end of the world seems imminent. The small cafe, wreathed in swirling
clouds of snow, emits a feeble though welcoming light -- the last, lost
diner, teetering on the edge of the great American nowhere. Inside a handful
of snowbound rustics, leavened with a few extremely tardy truckers, revel
in the warmth, the camaraderie, the sprightly, light-hearted banter common
to such places and occasions. The coffee urn breathes a comforting gurgle
and the moist air is redolent of ludifisk and porkrinds. Suddenly the door
is flung open, the small bell attached to the jam jangles with a pathetic
urgency and into the rockwellian tableau stumbles Rik Palieri, clad in full
Polish regalia and cradling under one arm what for all world looks like
a small pig with several wooden legs. A moment of stunned silence... Until
one large rustic, a natural leader among men, thrusts out a well-horned
paw and barks, "Howdy, stranger! New in town?" "I'm Rik Palieri,
a Polish bagpiper," Rik replies, "and I just played at a school
one town over. I was on my way to the next school when I saw the light and
decided to stop in for breakfast. Didn't have time to change out of my costume."
Placated by this plausible explanation delivered in such a matter-of-fact
manner, the rustics invite Rik to a repast with the assembly, and he soon
establishes an easy rapport by rhapsodizing over the restorative virtues
of highly petrolated cuisine. The check arrives. "It is the custom
of my people," Rik intones, "after such a splendid meal to play
a song for the cook." He raises his porcine bundle, puts mouth to leg
and blows. The bundle, which proves to be a bagpipe, emits a series of sounds
which, while perhaps not heavenly, are certainly unearthly. As the last
notes trickle away into an unbelieving silence, the cook raises the check
and reduces it to shreds which he launches upward as if to say, "Well,
don't that beat all!" Rik gathers the bagpipe, now tamed, under his
arm, tosses off a cheery farewell, and exits, leaving behind an atmosphere
charge with awe and wonder. Outside, he makes his snowblind way to his rented
van where his dog Koza (polish for bagpipe) greets him with a yelp not unlike
those recently delivered by his namesake. Rik mounts to the driver's seat,
wakens the machine, and like some ancient wagnerian hero, plunges into the
withering blast. To this day the people of Jamestown recall with whimsical
disbelieft the visit on a cold winter's day of that spectral vision, and
parents, despairing of getting their children to bed, threaten them with
a raucous concert from the one now know as "The Phantom Pole."
Well, that's Rik Palieri, far-traveled, out there on a school tour doing
the real work of a real folksinger, taking music to the folk. He's come
up through a hard school and now emerges as a talent to be reckoned with.
... Rik writes outside of himself. He not only sings about what's going
on inside of him, but what's going on around him. That's pretty damned rare
these days. The ballad maker, the one who by moving and listening speaks
for us, becomes us. These are fine songs from a fine man and valued friend.
Take them in. Pass them along. -Utah Phillips (Drawing by David "Fish"
Palieri) |
In 1980, Utah walked up to a young man that turned out to be Rik Palieri with
this question:
"Son, are you blowing a dead goat?"
Rick sent this image over, where Utah and Rik met. And yes, that is Rik
playing the Polish Bagpipes.
(Well, there goes this sites PG rating! -Chris)
More pictures soon! Have any you took with Utah in them ? Send them on over!
Thanks!
Chris
© respective authors/photographers