Jesse Pearlman Karlsberg

Along with Carrie Dashow, I’m very excited to announce the Society for a Subliminal State’s first annual members party, on no other day than March 4th. The party will include: a pot-luck, a trip to the Subliminal State, shape note singing, and performances by two Society member bands.

You must be a member of the Society for a Subliminal State to attend. Membership is $5 (annual dues). You will also get Subliminal Statements in the mail, and a patch bearing the Society’s insignia.

Join on the Society’s web site. You can also read more about March Fourth.

The Boston Globe printed an article this January for their weekly Spiritual Life column, profiling the second Sunday Sacred Harp singing I help organize at Christ Church Unity in Brookline, MA.

The article, written by Rich Barlow, who attended January’s singing, explains the format of a Sacred Harp singing through the lens of the different faith backgrounds of members of our local singing community. The article follows how this music has brought us together for singing, fellowship, and in recognition of our common spirituality and religiosity.

I am quoted in the article as are two other Boston-area singers. You can read the article on the Boston Globe’s web site. It’s title: In song, different faiths find harmony

The Society for a Subliminal State, the organization I co-founded with Carrie Dashow has published a hardcover tunebook featuring all 53 shape note songs written during our summer tour of the Erie Canal with the Subliminal History of New York State.

Each song is accompanied by texts written by Carrie contextualizing the words and music, as well as occasional illustrations of how the poems were performed as participatory readings during the tour.

Order copies from the Society’s store

Come to Eyebeam Sept. 27, 6 PM for the opening of Interference. Eyebeam is located at 540 West 21st Street, NYC.

The show includes Subliminal History of New York State: Route of Progress (2007) an installation of community-shot video, original shape note songs and ephemera from this summer’s Route of Progress tour.

Jesse and Carrie will lead a shape note singing workshop (1-4 PM) and performance (5-6 PM) at Eyebeam on October 13

The exhibition will run through Nov. 10.

This summer I’m on tour with the Subliminal History of New York State, a tour with Carrie Dashow along the Erie Canal excavating subliminal histories and writing them into shape note songs, then presenting these songs with a video installation at final presentations in each location.

I’ll be too busy to post updates here along the way, but will have created a blog for the tour: Route of Progress which Carrie and I will be updating regularly.

Also on the web site for the tour is a complete schedule, podcasts, our press room, and lots of information about the project. Come see us this June and July in Troy, Schenectady, Rome, Palmyra, Lockport, or Lily Dale!

I’m giving an artist’s talk this Thursday February 15 for Upgrade! Boston, held at Art Interactive in Cambridge, MA. The presentation starts at 7:00 and should last about an hour and a half.

I will be speaking about recent work of mine (both by myself and with Carrie Dashow and the Society for a Subliminal State) telling stories about history and geology through participatory performances featuring shape note singing, storytelling, and other interactive activities.

We will also sing a few original shape note songs that I’ve written for these projects.

Presenting along with me is Deb Todd Wheeler. Read on for more about her, me, and the event.

Visit the Upgrade! Boston web site for directions and more information.

Join me and Carrie Dashow on Thursday January 11, 2007, for a performance of Under Island and a shape note singing school at Gigantic ArtSpace in New York. The singing school will be held from 5-7 PM and the performance begins at 7:30 PM.

Singing school participants will learn the basics of shape note singing and will learn original shape note songs that will be featured in the performance later that evening. Carrie Dashow will join the singing school to give an introduction to the Under Island story and the practice of subliminal history.

During the performance of Carrie’s Under Island story, the singing school class will join Carrie, Jesse, and the audience in singing several shape note songs, from the workshop.