Creation:Tuesday at the Spot Underground is definitely not your typical folksy open mic snoozefest. For starters, the night is hosted at a venue that seems to genuinely care for the eclectic ad-hoc nature of the event and doesn’t treat it as an afterthought, or an off-night filler. The eccentric ambiance of The Spot perfectly accentuates the colorful and diverse music that spills from the place each week, drawing artists and patrons from all over the state.
The strength of the night most definitely rests with the talented and ambitious people who run it, and its origins go back nearly five years to The Spot on Thayer, where promoters Josh Willis and Josh Fulford were looking for ways to incorporate their love of live music into the gallery and studio space that made up the venue. When the Spot acquired a second room, they began building out a stage and a recording studio space. With that, the idea for a freeform open mic night was born.
“With the way we all jammed, the word ‘creation’ just made sense to me,” Willis recalls. “Creating something out of nothing, out of an idea, a moment of inspiration.” Talent booker Nick Cardi adds: “I don’t believe Josh Willis has missed a Creation since its inception five years ago; the show is his baby. It really has become an institution among Rhode Island and Providence musicians.”
What makes the night unique is the house band and the squads of featured bands who make the night seem more like a fully fleshed out show. But it wasn’t always this way. “When we started we were much more free form,” Willis says. “Now we have more experience and more of a skeletal structure to follow. We have a house band, Psychedelic Clown Car, made up of truly amazing and experienced musicians; Matt Martin, Kurtis Bento, Bill Ferri and Tony Depoto can lead any jam and constantly cycle through musicians looking to be thrown into the mix.”
Matt Martin, most notably of The Wippets, a fiery outsider folk group, is another driving force behind Creation:Tuesday. On the nights I visited, he maniacally paced the club, rounding up musicians and potential musicians alike; remembering me from my stint with the ‘Mericans a few years back, he very nearly dragged me up on stage too. Martin was hard to resist – the extremely affable musician is a dynamo of kinetic energy. He’s the kind of guy who has headed a stable of bands including The Wippets, Psychedelic Clown Car, Lyin’ Bitch and The Restraining Orders. Last year he released 52 CDs, one a week for a year, with a revolving cast of musicians who also participate on Tuesdays.
“I’ve been hosting open mics in Providence for five years,” Martin says. “The Spot is by far the best place we’ve hosted yet. Great sound, soundman, lights, smoke machine, c’mon! The players are good enough to let a song find its place; if you listen to the other musicians you’re playing with, incredible things can happen. There’s no TV in the bar; all music. Hopefully the future holds more of the same.”
When considering the future of the night, Josh Willis finds it hard to suppress his own excitement: “More artists, recording and filming everything; live streaming events over the Internet; live radio shows and podcasting. The sky is the limit. If you have an idea, I’m gladly accepting help from anyone and everyone.”
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