Anne Feeney

Anne Feeney photo by Fred Walser
Over the past decades, local folkie Anne Feeney has headlined union and community organizing drives, strummed and sung for human rights, peace and the environment, and attacked the issues of poverty, racism, sexism and war both verbally and in song.

If she sounds like a child of the sixties cut out of the Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Peter, Paul and Mary mold, well, it's because she is.

Feeney was born in the Mon Valley town of Charleroi in Washington County in 1951, the first child of Annabelle Runner and Ed Feeney. The family moved to Pittsburgh's Brookline neighborhood in 1954, and Feeney was given a Catholic education, beginning with Resurrection Elementary School and then graduating from the now closed Fontbonne Academy in 1968.

After saving for a year, she bought a Martin D-28 guitar (maybe the most famous acoustic ever made; Hank Williams and Elvis Presley used the D-28) in 1967; she would play it for the next 40 years. She was, like many youth of the era, politically and philosophically shaped by the Vietnam War and Civil Rights Movement.

Feeney was also influenced by her grandpap, William Patrick Feeney, who was an long-time mineworkers' organizer and fiddler who played his music to promote political and labor causes.

As she says, her music is meant to “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.”

She gave her first public performance in 1969 at an anti-war rally, covering Phil Ochs songs. While a Pitt student in 1972, she was arrested in Miami at the Republican National Convention while protesting Richard Nixon's re-nomination; the charges were dismissed.

Politics wasn't all that she was involved in. The same year, she helped co-found Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, along with Annie Pride and NOW. Almost forty tears later, it's still the only organization in Allegheny County solely devoted to issues of sexual violence.

She earned her sheepskin from the University of Pittsburgh in 1974 with a Liberal Studies (what else?) degree.

In 1976 Feeney started down her musical road when she joined a bluegrass band called Cucumber Rapids; they disbanded the next year.

She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1978 and spent the next dozen years as a trial attorney; in fact, she was a charter member of the Women’s Bar Association of Allegheny County.

As she worked cases and raised two children with her lawyer husband Ron Berlin, Feeney also performed in local clubs and at rallies, such as the Great Peace March at the Lincoln memorial in 1986, or at the Washington Monument for the 1989 March for Women’s Lives. Deciding that her guitar was a more effective tool than a legal brief, she took full-time to the road in 1991 and hasn't looked back.

Since then, Feeney has toured the US, Canada, Mexico, Ireland, Sweden and Denmark, playing at folk festivals, labor conventions, churches, and political/labor demonstrations and rallies. She often tours 200+ days during the year.

Feeney has performed during events on Solidarity Day in DC, the WTO demonstrations in Seattle, the EU protests in Copenhagen, the LO Kongress in Stockholm and the March for Women’s Lives in Washington. Of course, she took part in several G20 related events when that show came to Pittsburgh.

She received the Joe Hill award from the Labor Heritage Foundation in 2005; a couple of other past winners were Pete Seeger and Cesar Chavez. The late activist Utah Phillips called Feeney "the best labor singer in North America."

Her music has been played and recorded by Peter, Paul and Mary - "Have You Been to Jail for Justice?" - and that tune has been featured in the documentaries "This is What Democracy Looks Like," "Isn't This a Time: A Tribute to Harold Leventhal" and PBS show "Get Up/Stand Up: The History of Pop and Protest." Political cartoonist Mike Konopacki used Feeney's song "Union Maid" in a flash animation in 2003.

Not that she really needs anyone's help. She's part of a dozen CD releases, with eight solo efforts:

Anne Feeney:

* Look to the Left, 1992
* Heartland (Live), 1994
* Have You Been to Jail for Justice?, 2001
* Union Maid, 2003
* Original Recordings, 2004
* If I Can't Dance, 2006
* Dump the Bosses Off Your Back, 2008
* Enchanted Way, 2010

With Chris Chandler:

* Flying Poetry Circus, 2001
* Live from the Wholly Stolen Empire, 2003

Compilations:

* Wild Wimmin for Peace: The Great Peace March, 1986
* Vote in November - Election 2004 by: Anti-Theft Device, 2004

(The disks are available through CD Baby or her website.)

Her music isn't all original, but follows an Americana template: bluegrass, traditional, labor, pop, folk, contemporary and her own material make up her playlist.

As expected, Feeney has her union bona fides. She served as president of the Pittsburgh Musicians' Union, the only woman ever elected to the position, from 1997-1998. Feeney is a member of the Industrial Workers of the World (the "Wobblies").

She also helped, with other folkie troubadours, to establish Local #1000 of the American Federation of Musicians, the "Traveling Musicians’ Union," in 1993. It represents acoustic players who perform most of their gigs away from their local AFM jurisdiction.

Feeney has paid her social dues as well, as she was president of a local NOW chapter, served on the board of the Thomas Merton Center and helped found PAAR.

She married labor attorney Ron Berlin in 1977, had two kids, Dan and Amy, and ended that union in 1995. In 2002, Feeney married Swedish political artist Julie Leonardsson, and they crash in Swissvale.

Feeney is fighting a new foe now; she was diagnosed with cancer this summer. She's battling on two fronts, trying to whip the tumor and raise money to pay the bills (you'd be surprised at how many working musicians there are who don't bring home enough bacon to pay for health insurance). She probably never realized how her quest for National Health Insurance would end up on her doorstep.

She's got a lot of friends; benefits have been held for her in Chicago, Eugene, Lexington and Cleveland among other spots. There was a local show for her just last week, and Mr. Small's in Millvale is hosting a super pre-Christmas event on December 12th.

Performing will be Joe Munroe, Mike Stout and the Human Union, Justin Sane of Anti-Flag, Hermie Granati, Liz Berlin of Rusted Root, Joe Grushecky and others.

If you'd like to donate to the cause, you can use PayPal on her webpage or just send a check; her address is also on the web site.


"Have You Been To Jail For Justice?" - Anne Feeney

Jilted Brides

The Jilted Brides are a psychedelic folk/electronic duo originally from Melbourne, but now based in Lawrenceville. And yah, they do sing of love gone bad and the road to redemption.

"The name for us represents wanting to do songs about deep feelings and emotions, heartache and those journeys through the dark night of the soul," Nicole Skeltys told Patricia Sheridan of the Post Gazette. "We are sort of reclaiming the idea of the jilted bride."

The pair formed up in 2007, in Melbourne. Skeltys is a song writer and producer, with a long background in electronica with the bands Artificial and B(if)tek (which had Sony releases "2020" and "Frequencies Will Move Together"), and then performed folk rock with Dust, all in her native Australia. She sings, plays the keyboards, provides the electronics, and writes the songs.

Her partner, Tanya Andrea Stadelmann, sings and creates video projections for the performances.

After recording "Larceny of Love" in just six weeks in a backyard shed, the Jilted Brides decided to leave Australia.

They released their debut album in February after meeting PCA/Filmmakers director Charlie Humphrey, another 'Burgh bohemian, who took "Larceny of Love" for his Uh Oh Records label, and is pushing it via iTunes, CD Baby, and the JB's My Space site. It's also gotten some web love on Radio Freakout, an indy site that streams music that mainstream radio ignores.

The album features two concepts - psychedelic ballads on one hand, and electronic hymns that feature analogue synthesizers and choir on the other, entirely appropriate for artists as opposed to rockers. Pittsburgh-bred garage R&B it ain't.

They explain their sound as "...a little like a cross between Leonard Cohen, Air, the Carpenters, Boards of Canada, Bobbie Gentry, (and) Brigid Bardot (backed by) drum machines, old organs and '70s synthesizers."

The Jilted Brides got together in Australia in December of 2007. Skeltys had gone through a tough year: she had just broken up with her partner, dealt with her mother’s death, and been diagnosed with breast cancer, which is now in remission. She hooked up with her longtime friend Stadelman, a video artist and photographer.

The Aussies decided it was time to depart on an excellent American adventure, both having spent some time stateside earlier and bored with the down under life.

Stadelman spent six years here while her father worked in Chicago and Detroit, and came back later to live in San Francisco, where she studied photography for five years. Skeltys took a road trip with an American boyfriend across the US when she was in her teens.

The first stop was Vancouver, playing at the New Music West festival. From there they headed to the United States, where they spent several months traveling to various art colonies on residency status.

The pair visited avant garde hot spots in Montana, Washington state and Woodstock, documenting their travels through films, blog posts, and part of their book (what artist isn't writing one?). When the funded residencies dried up, they spent some time in New York City. The Big Apple didn't cut it for them; it was too much of an urban canyon; too expensive, too concrete, too gray.

They had met Pittsburgh poet (we do have some, and they are quite good if greatly undervalued by the locals) Scott Reagan while they were in Montana, and he invited them to the Steel City if they ever reached the east coast. They took him up on the offer in October of last year, and been here ever since.

The Rust Belt image and the reality of Pittsburgh were quite different, they found. The vibrant arts scene, green spaces, friendly vibe, and affordable living blew them away. They rented a flat in Lawrenceville, scored artist visas, and planted roots.

They've played several gigs around town, released their CD, and found studio space and day jobs to support their arts jones. They met drummer Al Vish (Una De Luna) and guitarist David Wallace (ex-Boxstep/Underflowers), who back the Jilted Brides' live show, and were dubbed the "Jilted Grooms" by Caralyn Green of Pop City.

Stadelman, who is a filmmaker and a photographer by calling, is teaching a course in film production at Point Park University. She's also involved with the Squonk Opera, doing video clips for them. She and Skeltys just finished a vid for Pittsburgh Citiparks.

Skeltys has started up a music-writing shop called "Pittsburgh In Love," crafting songs for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, and other special occasions.

Hey, so Jilted Brides they may be, but we wouldn't feel very sorry for them. Nicole Skeltys and Tanya Andrea Stadelmann are riding life's waves just fine, thank you.


Jilted Brides - "Feelings Never Felt Before"

Maxine Sullivan...Loch Lomond Via Homestead

Maxine Sullivan from the New York Times
Maxine Sullivan was born Marietta Williams in Homestead on May 13, 1911, the daughter of a barber. The records she grew up with were by Bessie Smith, Fletcher Henderson and her favorite, Ethel Waters. Even though she never had any true musical training, those were pretty good teachers.

Sullivan got her professional start with her Uncle Harry Williams, who let her sing with his four-piece combo, "The Red Hot Peppers."

She was 19, graduated from high school with a son and broken marriage. She worked as a domestic by day and gigged with Uncle Harry at night until 1936, when she struck out on her own.

Big-band pianist Gladys Mosier caught her act at the Benjamin Harrison Literary Club, a small Liberty Avenue speakeasy snuggled between Smithfield and Grant, and said to be run by the mob. She sang from table to table, backed by a piano, and pulled in $14 per week, plus tips.

Mosier liked what she heard and introduced her discovery to band leader Claude Thornhill. It was a life altering hook-up. Sullivan made her first records in the Big Apple in June, 1937, under the wing of Thornhill and accompanied by his all-star band.

She had to screw up all her courage to take on the City That Never Sleeps. In fact, she had a return ticket tucked in her purse for the ride back home. But Sullivan never got to use it, and she made New York City her new home.

The critics at Metronome gave the discs good reviews. The session produced a hit record, a swing version of the Scottish folk song "Loch Lomond." Sullivan made the cover of Life magazine, and was featured as a vocalist on the CBS radio program "Saturday Night Swing Club." The song would become her signature piece.

Interestingly, Thornhill's decision to record folk and old standards wasn't a retro movement on his part. Like many Depression Era artists that didn't write their own tunes, he selected songs already in the public domain so he could avoid paying royalties.

Besides saving a buck and christening Sullivan's career, the song also stereotyped her to the public as a rockin' folkie, even though she had a cool, sweet jazz voice. Future sessions found her singing vintage folk tunes such as "I Dream of Jeanie," "Drink to Me Only With Thine Eyes", "If I Had a Ribbon Bow," "Molly Malone," and "Who Is Sylvia?" She never shed the folk/pop label for many of her fans.

Around the same time, Sullivan worked 52nd Street's Onyx Club in New York. She met bassist John Kirby there, and they made more than sweet music together. They were soon wed.

Kirby had worked with Fletcher Henderson and Red Allen. The bass man had recorded with Teddy Wilson, Willie "The Lion" Smith, Frankie Newton, Midge Williams, Charlie Barnet, and Lionel Hampton, and his contacts helped launch Sullivan's career. But their wedded bliss didn't have much of a shelf life, and they divorced in 1941.

In 1940 Sullivan and Kirby were featured on the CBS radio program "Flow Gently Sweet Rhythm," becoming the first black jazz stars to have their own weekly radio series. The show ended along with their marriage in the fall of 1941, but was taped by World and Associated for posterity.

Sullivan gigged at popular New York clubs like Le Ruban Bleu and the Village Vanguard. She developed a large following singing pop standards such as “I’ve Got the World on a String,” “Come Rain or Come Shine,” and “Skylark,” along with show tunes by Gershwin, Porter, and Noel Coward.

In the mid 1940s she recorded on the Decca and RCA Victor labels with Teddy Wilson, Benny Carter, and Jimmie Lunceford, doing mainly ballads. She toured Great Britain in 1948 and again in 1954.

She also appeared in the movies "St. Louis Blues" (starring Dorothy Lamour) and "Going Places" (with Ronald Reagan, Dick Powell and Louis Armstrong). On stage, Sullivan appeared in "Swingin’ The Dream" in 1939, and "Take A Giant Step" in 1953.

But with all that, Sullivan had pretty much fallen off of the jazz map until 1955 and 1956, when she recorded with Earl "Fatha" Hines, Dick Hyman, Buster Bailey, Charlie Shavers, and Russell Procope. It was a brief return to fame.

In the late 50’s she studied to become a nurse and took up the valve trombone and flugelhorn, which she played at numerous concerts and festivals later in her career. From 1958 to 1966, she became a nurse. Odd switch, hey?

Not really. She took a hiatus from the music industry to join the mommy track so she could raise her daughter, then 12, and was a community activist in the Morrisania section of the Bronx. She was elected to the local school board, served as P.T.A. president under her birth name, Marietta Williams, and was even a teacher's aide at her girl's junior high school.

In 1966, she returned to the floodlights, playing with her new hubby, pianist Cliff Jackson. From then until 1986 she continued to appear at festivals, recorded several Concord sessions with Scott Hamilton, and sometimes joined Jackson's group, the World's Greatest Jazz Band. Sullivan often played the trombone and flugelhorn during her act.

When Jackson died in 1970, Sullivan decided to open a jazz community center and museum dedicated to him, which she called the House That Jazz Built. It opened on July 19, 1975, with a party featuring the World’s Greatest Jazz Band with Sullivan on vocals.

Her career was back on top of the world. She received a Tony Award nomination for her performance in “My Old Friends” on Broadway and three Grammy nominations. Sullivan toured France and Sweden several times. Her last recorded concert was at the Fujitsu-Concord Jazz festival held in Tokyo in September, 1986.

Her hometown fans hadn't forgotten her. On March 15, 1984, she performed a concert at Walt Harper's in One Oxford Centre. Earlier in the day, then-Mayor Richard Caliguiri proclaimed "Maxine Sullivan Day" in Pittsburgh and state Rep Mike Dawida of Homestead read a citation from the Pennsylvania House dedicated to her.

A collection of her memorabilia is on display at Homestead's Carnegie Library. It's fitting in more ways than one. Sullivan made her first public appearance in 1918 at the Library at the tender age of seven, way before gaining international stardom.

She was slated to be the guest of honor at the 1987 Mellon Jazz Festival, but the Lord had other plans.

Maxine Sullivan died of cancer on April 7, 1987, little more than one month short of her 76th birthday. The last song she performed at the Fujitsu–Concord Jazz Festival and her final recorded track was "Loch Lomond." May the circle be unbroken.


"You Turned the Tables on Me" from the Manassas Jazz Festival