Alex Silver
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halfvivid.bsky.social
Alex Silver
@halfvivid.bsky.social
120 followers 130 following 440 posts
Folk music experimentalist and French teacher. Portland, Maine area.

https://halfvividsongs.com
https://alexsilver.bandcamp.com/
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halfvivid.bsky.social
Chico States has a new single out today through The Ugly Hug. I wrote the blurb for this album. Can't wait for you to hear the whole thing on Oct. 23.

uglyhug.com/2025/10/01/c...
Excited to welcome Chico States to the bagel fam with this fantastic third record. Hope you enjoy :) This third full-length of encyclopedic Americana shows Joseph Barresi elaborating on his odd merger of personal minutiae and public history. 𝘐 𝘚𝘢𝘸 𝘈 𝘎𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘕𝘰 𝘎𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 appears almost Lorca-esque in its take on the hyper-current-meets-the-heriditary. Coming off a few years of heavier performance and a shifting and expanding membership, Chico States’ band shows a pithiness in style and sonic clarity that earlier records hadn’t yet realized, partly due to scale. But here you can feel—in mind and chest—the distance and scary spaciousness of Barresi’s experience of travel through subcultures of the Pacific Coast, France, Aotearoa, Maine, or even along tracks in imaginary locations like Farmington Bay. It’s difficult, and rewarding, to know an artist whose voice confuses you about what’s real and what’s simply interesting. Barresi’s is like that, and this third record gives it a durable body. Like the tongue-and-cheek term “American primitivism” Fahey gave to his guitar music, the terms cosmic Americana or even anti-country become easier ways to understand this music. But the joke is that there is no actual desire to appropriate: in fact, Barresi’s songs are achingly sincere and concerned with real relationships to tradition, place, people, and 2020s gestalt. Folk music, from Roud Ballads to the documents of Appalachia made by Alan Lomax, has always expressed the individual situation in a way others feel inclined to repeat. In recording highly idiosyncratic, personal music borne out of compulsory love for rail systems especially, Chico States permits us to partake in the organized disorientation normally reserved for trainspotters. - Alex Silver
October 1, 2025 at 10:16 PM
halfvivid.bsky.social
Who's responsible right now? Who's aware of the tangible world in North America?

It's probably not powers-that-be and it doesn't seem to be the task of public artists anymore... Poor people? Indigenous people? Road crews?
Open meadow of ferns with some degree of perceivable depth, as viewed on a computer screen.
September 13, 2025 at 3:51 PM
halfvivid.bsky.social
If everyone is listing books that changed the patterns and movement of their physical bodies in 2025 so far:
Book cover for Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence by Dr. Anna Lembke. Text notes that it's a "New York Times Bestseller" and the artwork is warm-colored watercolors resembling the shape of a flower's crown.
September 11, 2025 at 9:09 AM
halfvivid.bsky.social
And here is my favorite photo-and-painting combo of geraniums. Anton Gojmir Kos.

#flowersky #centraleuropeanartists
Painting of geraniums on a windowsill in high-contrast shadows, black and white. By Anton Gojmir Kos. Photograph of geraniums on a windowsill in high-contrast shadows, in color. By Anton Gojmir Kos.
September 5, 2025 at 10:33 AM
halfvivid.bsky.social
Vaxholm, Sweden on August 17. I talked about the geraniums in the windows so much they suggested I take this picture.

alexsilvertown.com/2025/08/30/p...
Pink geraniums in a window in Vaxholm, Sweden. The house has red wooden siding, white window panes, yellow shutters, and a cemented rock foundation.
September 4, 2025 at 9:08 PM
halfvivid.bsky.social
Upcoming Chico States :) Band stoic, bassist squirrelly.

8/1 @ Blue w/ Lolabelle, El Malo—Portland, Maine
8/9 @ Prism Analog w/ Whip Appeal, Ruby Lou—Portland, Maine
9/26 @ Club Moss—Nobleboro, Maine
10/10 @ House Show w/ Lolabelle, Stephen—Bath, Maine
11/8 @ Hi-Fidelity w/ Vega—Portland, Maine
Black-and-white, hand-drawn, Legos/comics-themed show poster for Whip Appeal, Ruby Lou, and Chico States at Prism Analog on August 9th, 34 Preble Street, Portland, Maine.
July 23, 2025 at 5:06 PM
halfvivid.bsky.social
Everyone deserves to have their gig printed with the grocery coupons.
Advertisement for La Kermesse Franco-Americaine Heritage Festival showing a tent and the festival's classic red dining car. The ad is placed on top of the grocery coupons included with the newspaper. The text reads, "Car Show, Parade, Live Music, Fireworks, Food Trucks. June 19, 20, 21, & 22. St. Louis Field. Biddeford, Maine. www.lakermessefestival.com/"
June 18, 2025 at 2:08 PM
halfvivid.bsky.social
La Kermesse Festival in Biddeford is coming up next weekend! I'm playing Saturday afternoon outside. This is the 42nd festival and I'm there to pitch in to preserve and respect Franco-American heritage in Maine. Neil Young, Dylan, Cohen, George Harrison, my light-hearted stuff, and some en français.
Screenshot from the Schedule page of La Kermesse Festival website. Alex Silver is looking at the camera with a quizzical look while standing in front of blooming yellow flowers on a shrub in spring. The text reads, "Alex Silver, 2:30-4:00 PM, Outdoor Stage. Alex Silver is a contemporary folk singer, accompanying himself on guitar. He is also a French teacher in Saco and a supporter of efforts to preserve Franco-American heritage. Silver plays originals as well as favorites by Neil Young, Bob Dylan, and Georges Moustaki." Screenshot from the Schedule page of La Kermesse Festival website. Close-up portrait photo of Roger Hurtubise. Text reads, "The French Show w/ Roger Hurtubise, 6:15-7:15 PM, Main Tent. Roger Hurtubise from Seacoast Oldies will be appearing in the Main Tent on Saturday evening playing songs from his radio show L'Heure Francais avec Roger (The French Hour with Roger), featuring songs remembering French performers at the festival in years past."
June 13, 2025 at 12:23 PM
halfvivid.bsky.social
I'm also the bassist in Chico States, an alt-country band behind the songs of Americana madman and erudite traveler Joe Barresi. This is an exciting show for us. Seward is in the Burlington scene of Florry/Greg Freeman/Dear Life Records and we did a fav. show at the Trash Mountain of her new album.
Flyer for Lily Seabird, Hemlock, The Clearwater Swimmers, and Chico States at The Apohadion Theater in Portland, Maine on June 8th at 7pm, $10 cover. Flyer features a reservoir of water reflecting clouds and a windmill in a blue western sky. The text was created on burnt paper; three matches and a few hand-drawn butterflies sit three-dimensionally upon the picture's surface.
June 7, 2025 at 11:40 AM
halfvivid.bsky.social
I'm excited to share I'll be playing at La Kermesse Franco-Americaine this year. The festival has served to preserve French Canadian heritage in Biddeford-Saco for over 40 years. A lot of my students know it simply as the local fair each summer. I'm playing Saturday, June 21st!
"The La Kermesse float passes on Jefferson Street in Biddeford as riders wave to spectators during a parade kicking off the 36th annual La Kermesse Franco-Americaine Festival. — Staff photo by Derek Davis." This is a quotation from the Portland Press Herald website describing the original photo. The float includes many of the circular emblems for the festival, which include a green frog and the year, as well as "C'est le temps," the motto of La Kermesse.
May 20, 2025 at 10:09 PM
halfvivid.bsky.social
Yesterday's version of Growing Up Maine @statetheatreme.bsky.social could not have been more moving.

It fulfilled one possibility of art: I felt understood for what I see in the classroom. Teachers and friends relish with me the profound things kids say, but here they were given musical power.
"Growing up Maine In Concert" featured image from the Kickstarter campaign for Classical Uprising and its program materials. Background of student art in a giant multitudinous grid.
May 19, 2025 at 11:35 AM
halfvivid.bsky.social
Sometimes the world feels so abundant with the beautiful fruits of hard-working people. I've been listening to a lot from @ooyhrecords.bsky.social and Mali Obomsawin. Now, this morning I see she organized a film fest for Sunday in #PortlandME!

#wabanaki #film

www.pressherald.com/2025/05/16/w...
Wabanaki Film Festival flyer, background green with black-and-white movie poster thumbnails, reads: "The PMA in collaboration with Mali Obomsawin and Lokotah Sanborn present: Wabanaki Film Festival, Sunday, May 18th, 2025 @ The Portland Museum of Art. 11:00AM-1:45PM Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance + Q&A and Panel Discussion. 2:45PM-3:30PM Wabanki Short Film Block + Q&A with Filmmakers. 3:30PM-5:00PM Harvest of Empire + Q&A and Panel Discussion. Free Tickets in Bio. Bomazeen Land Trust. Presente! Maine.
May 16, 2025 at 11:48 AM
halfvivid.bsky.social
Chico States show coming up on June 8th! Lily Seabird just put out the beautiful 'Trash Mountain' on @lameorecords.bsky.social. I learned that we played with her at the "Trash Mountain" of the title! I sat in a recliner serenely while she and friends played an hour of perfect Beatles on a piano.
Flyer for Lily Seabird, Hemlock, The Clearwater Swimmers, and Chico States at The Apohadion Theater in Portland, Maine on June 8th at 7pm, $10 cover. Flyer features a reservoir of water reflecting clouds and a windmill in a blue western sky. The text was created on burnt paper; three matches and a few hand-drawn butterflies sit three-dimensionally upon the picture's surface.
May 12, 2025 at 9:37 PM
halfvivid.bsky.social
While taking Research Methods for my master's, we were asked to create a data visualization. I found this interesting study suggesting that the "mere presence" of your smartphone reduces cognitive capacity.

www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10....

#dumbphone #phonedumb #tech
Visual of "Working Memory Capacity by Smartphone Location" by Alex Silver in reference to the study "Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One’s Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity" by Adrian F. Ward, Kristen Duke, Ayelet Gneezy, and Maarten W. Bos, published in 2017 in the Journal of the Association for Consumer Research.
April 30, 2025 at 11:28 PM
halfvivid.bsky.social
on.soundcloud.com/Vdz7q5BV37hK...

#sungword #WIPWednesday

10th recording in the song diary I started in December. I'm averaging about 3 per month—an invitation to observe the (aural) branching of a mind 🌱
Banal photo of spring emerging in Scarborough, Maine in April 2025. Part of the photo diary of musician Alex Silver.
April 30, 2025 at 11:20 AM
halfvivid.bsky.social
Student Venn Diagram worksheet showing "My culture," "My friend's culture," and "Similarities" in the middle.
April 24, 2025 at 1:11 AM
halfvivid.bsky.social
As a kid, I liked pushing my head into the couch cushions. I love fiber. I look for music that feels like chewing on a piece of rope. It's great @danielbachman.bsky.social's work is called folk music. His "chopping up" of original material reminds me of Nick Dunston, except Dunston excavates jazz.
Album cover for Moving Through Light by Daniel Bachman, featuring a fragmented portrait of the artist and light shining through a window. Album cover for Colla Voce by Nick Dunston, featuring a print of two heads, one right-side up and the other upside-down, with a depiction of sound or dialogue emerging from the mouth they combine to make.
April 22, 2025 at 7:56 PM
halfvivid.bsky.social
This is the phone I take to the Atlantic Ocean or the grocery store. I forward all the calls from my supercomputer (iPhone) and any texts come from people who know the number: my partner, mom, dad.
View of the Punkt. MP02 in my hand, taken from above with reflection of iPhone and my face in "dumbphone" screen, with a background of ornate red rug, radiator, and the partial window.
April 22, 2025 at 2:30 PM
halfvivid.bsky.social
Since March, I've collected (and curated for quality) 33 articles, podcasts, and journalistic videos with "Maine" as a subject-matter, all originally created in French. Within Maine, @amjamboafrica.bsky.social publishes its own reporting.

Anyone know of similar projects in other states?

#langsky
Database of French-language journalism concerning Maine, collected at mainefr.wordpress.com, April to May 2025.
April 21, 2025 at 10:13 AM
halfvivid.bsky.social
I can't really imagine improvising with another person in this way. The silence is impressively confident. I've aspired to using silence holistically like this, but it remains an abstract hope. Hearing this music makes me see how it might be done.

open.qobuz.com/album/761994...

#piano #jazz
Album cover for Deux Pianos, a 2000 album by Sylvie Courvoisier and Jacques Demierre of improvised piano pieces.
April 18, 2025 at 7:37 PM