Whitehaus

JP-centric collective comes up for air

By Lucy Barber

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For nearly a year it's started the same way—lights out, conversations hushed to a reverent silence. And then someone, it could be anyone, it could be you, takes the floor. Last year, after a poetry reading was prematurely cut short in an abandoned opera house, residents of a Jamaica Plain apartment opened their home so that the festivities could continue. Thus began the weekly Friday night "Hootenanny," an event that encourages anyone and everyone to sing, read, rap, juggle—to share whatever they want with an audience of open ears and snapping fingers. While the participants have grown in number over the past 12 months and the hoots now take place in the living room of a much larger house (named "The Whitehaus" in honor of out-jazz godhead Sun Ra), the sense of community remains the same. It's a space for local art that isn't competing for attention with bar noise or the din of an Allston house show.

More recently, the group has begun to exhibit some of their exceptional acts on their own record label, The Whitehaus Family Record, now with nearly 12 releases. The psychedelic, DIY collective will be sponsoring their first public show at the Cambridge YMCA this Friday. The lineup includes The Life Adventure, Prince Rama Of Ayodhya and slam-veteran and Cantab legend Brian S. Ellis. Also, those in attendance will get a chance to hear the orchestral pop of The Woodrow Wilsons and the ethereal dance beats of Many Mansions. This is just a fraction of the 16-plus billed acts and for $5 you can bear witness to nearly six hours of music, dinner included. "We are aching to give back to the city that has given so much to us," the group said via its web site. Get ready for the onslaught of Whitehaus talent as they start to surface all over town like so many dormant plants.

WHITEHAUS BLASTFEST

FRI. 3.21

CAMBRIDGE YMCA THEATER

820 MASS. AVE. CENTRAL SQ. CAMBRIDGE

617.661.9622

5PM-12AM/ALL AGES/$5

WHITEHAUSFAMILYRECORD.COM