Sag Harbor artist Kevin Teare is releasing his latest recording with a bit of a splash. Dual release parties--one in NYC and the other in The Hamptons--are designed to mark the connection between the new album and it's inspiration--The Beatle's White Album. Recorded with his band, MERCYFUNK, the double album "Don't pet the white dog" has its Hamptons release party set for Saturday (November 29) at Inner Sleeve Records in Amagansett. The reception takes place from 5 to 7 p.m. The NYC party took place last week with an invite-only event held on November 22. The album's release was timed to mark the 46th anniversary of the release of The Beatles' original recording in 1968.
Each CD and vinyl record of the 30-song homage is individually numbered and comes with a full color poster, a la Richard Hamilton's "The Beatles" original. Material for "Don't pet the white dog" almost entirely live from Teare's Sag Harbor painting studio from July 2012 and October 2013. Core members of the MERCYFUNKS are Pony Thompson on vocals, Jewlee Trudden on guitar, Keelan James on piano and Teare on drums.
It's the guest artists that give the recording a serious extra kick.
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The MERCYFUNKS.
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The list of guest contributors is long, illustrious and pulls from musician or artist-musician talent pool. Guests contributing performances include Pat Place of The Bush Tetras, Jay Daugherty of Patti Smith, composer Carter Burwell, artist Dennis Oppenheim (1938-2011), John Sebastian of The Lovin' Spoonful, Apple recording artist Paul Glanz, Sara Lee of The Gang of 4 and B-52's, Peter Stampfel of The Fugs / Holy Modal Rounders, Paul Most of das rockenfeber, and Teare's ex-bandmate Bruce Anderson of MX-80 Sound, among others.
The album was recorded in Teare's painting studio using an Otari 16-track 1-inch reel to reel. The analog tracks were converted to digital and mixed at Monk Music by Cynthia Daniels. Tracks for the vinyl version were mixed down to Otari 2-track reel to reel and pressed at Telegraph Mastering in Portland, Oregon, by Adam Gonsalves.
Seventy percent of sales proceeds of the recording and merchandise will be donated to Lyme Nation, a progressive clearinghouse for information and treatment protocols on tick-borne diseases.
Teare was a founding member of the '70s No-Wave band MX-80 Sound. In 1999, Teare, who is primarily known as a visual artist (profiled in September on Hamptons Art Hub), released "The List of Who Lives" to critical acclaim in such publications as The Village Voice, CMJ & MOJO. "The List of Who Lives" featured all original material with guest performances by such luminaries as Terence Stamp, Jay Daugherty, Wayne Kramer, Richard Lloyd and Bob Neuwirth.
Teare is also a visual artist. His latest series also pulls inspiration from The Beatles. A solo show including some of these works were exhibited at Quogue Library Gallery in September 2014. Teare's work has been exhibited nationally and internationally. This includes MoMa's P.S.1 (New York), the Parrish Art Museum, Guild Hall, Islip Art Museum, Harper's Books, Jan Weiss Gallery (New York), Keyes Art Project (New York), Yes Gallery (Brooklyn) and more. His art can be viewed at www.kevinteare.com.
BASIC FACTS: MERCYFUNKS: ‘Don’t pet the white dog’ Album Release Party takes place on Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. at Innersleeve Records, 199 Main Street, Amagansett, NY 11930. The recording will continue to be available at the store after the party is over. www.innersleeverecords.com. www.themrcyfks.com,
RELATED: "Kevin Teare: All You Need is Art" by Andrew Botsford.
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