The Songs They Crooned To
Finding Community Through Karaoke, Indian Market, Graduations, Theater, Corvettes and Flowers
BAR HARBOR—The bartender crooned out something inoffensive, that total 2000s or 2010s sort of band where tweens go to the concerts, but don’t lose it the way they do for Taylor Swift or BTS. He started it off and headed back to the bar. Then the crooner who wore the fancy, old-fashioned clothes, one step away from a Sinatra movie, left his tie-dye shirted girlfriend to sit on a chair and not his lap, to belt out a ballad in mellifluous tones. A woman with dulcet tones and a lower register to die for sang hallelujah and pop though she secretly preferred show tunes. The real estate agent sang 1980s songs and before “Everybody Wants to Rule the World,” announced, “This one is for you, Bar Harbor. Everybody wants to rule Bar Harbor.”
There were at least five political candidates standing around the bar at Finback Ale House that night. Not all of them heard the improvised intro. At least one laughed and said, “Wait. What did he say?”
“This one is for you, Bar Harbor,” the woman on the stool near him explained.
“Oh my God, that’s what I thought.”
The songs they sung were all over the place when it came to genre and the skill they used to sing them? That was all over the place, too. Some sang sober. Some sang solo. Some sang in groups that swayed as they clung to each other for support. Cheers happened. Applause occurred. Democrats, Republicans, Independents, anarchists, people for dog parks and people against, stood, sat, and sang, applauding each other for being brave, for singing, for grasping and grabbing at notes and melody, and sometimes being spot on. And sometimes being so far from spot on that the song was almost unrecognizable.
“What even is this song?” someone murmured into an ear.
“Doesn’t matter.”
What mattered was the song. What mattered was the urge to sing. What mattered was the urge to cheer in a town that is often believed to be so divided into “us and them” that it’s hard to see the “we” in anything, a town that many believed has lost its soul.
Here’s the thing, one drunk patron told me, we make our own damn narrative as people and as a town. So, too, is the history of karaoke, an entertainment where the narrative isn’t always agreed upon or a straight line. According to Siga, “The origin story of this entertainment form has many twists and turns.”
And sometimes the notes sung reflect that. And sometimes the interactions of the people with glasses held high or flat on tables or spilling onto shirtfronts, people with arms around each other or in pockets or gesticulating madly, will do that too. The story of a town even in the throes of elections and controversies about cruise ship visitation numbers, dog parks, and affordable housing is also the story of the twists and turns of each of the individual people that make it a community, be they political figures, social media pundits, or the quiet people huddled in a table of the corner, slowly sipping a dark and stormy.
Sometimes that’s hard to remember, but at karaoke? As patron after patron becomes a performer for three or four minutes? That’s hard to forget.
“I love him,” one council candidate said about another candidate as they sang.
“I love her,” one drunk woman at the bar said as she told a story about a controversial town figure.
“I love you,” someone else mouthed. “I love him.”
To sing something in a bar, in a stadium, in a council chamber, on a street, is to expose yourself for ridicule and opinion, but also to take a chance to bare your soul, to touch someone. It’s goofy and wild and fun and though often surrounded by spirits of the human and inebriating kind, it’s often sobering. And Bar Harbor’s restaurants, pubs, and bars offer the chance to sing on many nights. Unfortunately, there won’t be one at the polls.
KARAOKE PLACES AND TIMES
This list is not all-inclusive and if you know of somewhere else, let us know and we’ll add it in!
Pizzeria 131—Cottage Street, Bar Harbor, no scheduled karaoke, but occasionally one of the live musicians offers it
Finback Alehouse—Tuesdays, 9 PM, Cottage Street, Bar Harbor
Pat’s Pizza – Mondays and Fridays, 7 PM, Pleasant Street, Bar Harbor
Lompoc’s—Sundays, check back for times, Rodick Street, Bar Harbor
The Nor’Easter—Thursdays, 7 PM, karaoke and open mic nights, 10 Hunington Road, Northeast Harbor
DRAG KARAOKE
There is a special Drag Karaoke at Leary’s Landing, this Thursday at 10 PM, as part of the Bar Harbor Pride Festival, hosted by the Curbside Queens. Dressing up is encouraged and singing is not required (but it’s better if you do!)
This event is 21+
For more Information about Leary’s visit
https://www.learyslanding.com/
For more information about the Curbside Queens visit:
https://www.curbsidequeens.com/
https://singa.com/blog/50-years-of-karaoke-history-the-essential-milestones/
SOME OTHER IMAGES FROM THIS WEEKEND AND THIS COMMUNITY (click on images to enlarge)
Abbe Indian Market
Modeled after markets like the Heard and Santa Fe (SWAIA), the Abbe Museum Indian Market is the first multi-day event of its kind in New England that invites Native American artists from across North America to participate, with the goal of developing Bar Harbor as THE destination for Northeastern Native Art.
“For many Native artists, their artistic expression is a family tradition, a connection to the past, present, and future, interwoven to create functional pieces of art. Family traditions, culture, personal experiences, and hopes for the future live within each piece created. For most, making art provides a source of income, but more importantly, maintains cultural traditions, family connections, and language. Wabanaki artistry is a tool for education, cultural resilience, and decolonization.”
- Gabriel Frey, Passamaquoddy
FLOWERS ON SCHOOL STREET
CORVETTES CAME TO TOWN
For an earlier story on the corvette rally.
LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS PREMIERED!!
Little Shop of Horrors is the story of a meek florist’s assistant, Seymour Krelborn, who nurtures a strange plant - named Audrey II after his co-worker and crush, Audrey. The plant flourishes under his care, growing to be a foul-mouthed, R&B singing carnivore. Seymour finds fame and fortune with his horticultural discovery, however, Audrey II’s appetite for blood and world domination is a struggle to manage. This musical fashioned after B-movie classics is a sci-fi comedy with a lot of heart!
For more information contact acadiacommunitytheater@gmail.com. Performances will be June 9th at 7pm and June 10th at 2pm and 7pm. Our earlier story is here.
KOTWICA
This wasn’t quite this weekend, but we have been a bit busy covering meetings.
Kotwica (Koht-veets-ah) meaning "anchor", a cultural symbol of freedom, plays folk music from the Baltic to the Black Sea. Directed by David Rapkievian of Bar Harbor, it features musicians on fiddle, button accordion, balalaika, guitar, and string bass. David Chrapkiewicz (Rapkievian) has been a professional award-winning violin maker for almost 5 decades. In his younger years he was a choreographer, director, and dancer in multiple dance groups. David also plays fiddle with the Big Moose Band.
The other musicians performing with Kotwica include:
Carolyn Rapkievian, who has been playing guitar with David since they married in 1991. She is an Armenian dance researcher and workshop leader and recently retired from a 50-year career in museums including 26 years with the Smithsonian.
Eloise Schultz, who grew up in New York City, where she studied classical voice and performed with ensembles around the city. Her interest in folk traditions was shaped by klezmer and shape note singing.
David Quinby, who is an enthusiastic double-bass player with various local orchestras, with the Big Moose Contra Dance Band, and with smaller ensembles.
Kevin Sone, who is one of the very finest accordion players in the area. He hails from the beautiful and bucolic Benton, Maine.
Vocalists providing beautiful harmonies in the group are led by Anne Tatgenhorst. Anne, inspired by her Bulgarian roots, began performing songs from Eastern Europe with Kirsten Stockman, Kim Reiss and the original Maine Women's Balkan Choir in the 1990's. The group's repertoire includes songs and dance music from Poland, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Macedonia, and beyond.
COA IS GETTING READY FOR GRADUATION!
Nearly 90 students from 23 states and 20 nations are among those set to graduate from College of the Atlantic June 10 during the coastal Maine institution’s 50th commencement ceremony. The event, which is open to the public, begins at 2 p.m., on the north lawn of COA’s Eden Street campus.
COA’s 2023 commencement keynote speaker is decolonial feminism scholar, author, Stephanie Bennett-Smith Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Richmond Dr. Julietta Singh. Receiving an honorary Native American Passamaquoddy historian, author, teacher, filmmaker, lecturer, storyteller, and community leader Donald Soctomah.
Performers, educators, entrepreneurs, conservationists, writers, artists, scientists, health and wellness practitioners, and social justice advocates are among the degree candidates. The class of 2023 includes a Watson Fellow, two Goldwater Scholars, and two Projects for Peace winners. Despite the challenges COVID-19 has presented over the last three years, more than 55% of this year’s senior class had an international academic experience during their tenure here.
Retiring professors Davis Taylor and Steve Ressel will share grand marshal duties along with retiring librarian Jane Hultberg. The procession will be led by the Anah Shriners bagpipers.
A total of five students will present as part of the ceremony. The student welcome will be given by Ninoska Isaias Ngomana ‘23, who has primarily focused on Black studies and political and cultural anthropology during her time at COA. Sharing a student perspective will be Lisa-Marie Kottoff ‘23, who has mainly focused on economics and Spanish, Maria Fernanda "Mafe" Farias Briseno ‘23, who has focused on political and cultural anthropology with a focus on Latin American Studies and education, and Silas Sifton ‘23, who has focused on literature and education. Liv Soter ‘23 will introduce Dr. Singh.
As part of the college’s commitment to sustainability, COA celebrations always consider environmental impacts. All paper used at the commencement is recycled, all disposable tableware is composted, no bottled water is served, and as much food as possible is organic and sourced locally. All food waste is composted.
AND FINALLY . . . MDI HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION HAPPENED!
We’ll hopefully have an update on this celebration soon. Apologies. It’s been a bit of a weekend. But congratulations to all the seniors and their families for this big celebration and achievement!