CoMo Interviews - The COMO Collective

CoMo Music: A Conversation with The Hipnecks

May 11, 2012 By Susan McCullough 1 Comment

The Hipnecks, a Columbia-based band that has been around in one form or another since 2004, is playing a Pedaler’s Jamboree kick-off concert tonight at the Blue Note. I cornered one Hipneck, Pat Kay (banjo, harmonica, guitar, vocals), for a conversation this week.

Photo by Kevin Dingman, 2011.

You call your sound jambalya?

A reporter once called it “jambalaya” because of all the influences we gave her when describing our music. There are lots of ingredients, some seemingly dislike, that all seem to come together just how we want it. I think we may have overwhelmed her when listing the ‘ingredients’ of our sound.

‘Sound.’ Ours has changed quite a bit since then…but not too far. Lately I only feel a minor degree of difficulty explaining that we’re not what most folks would call a rock band because we tote around mandolins, banjos, fiddles, harmonicas, etc. However, we’re not a bluegrass band either. We have drums, driving electric guitar, keys…and we’re pretty loud. You can call it an attempt to avoid being labeled a country band, if you like…but to be honest we feel that we’re all of those, and yet none of those at the same time. I overheard someone call it “country-fried rock & roll” one time…and I think that serves us pretty well.

I like “country-fried rock & roll”. I think that you should go with that. I like “trash can Americana” too, but the country-fried term describes it better. Since we are using cooking terms to describe music…imagine that The Hipnecks is a meal…what would each member be?

Ooh –thats’ a good one… I’ll have to ‘digest’ that for a while to answer that in a way that’s insightful to everyone’s contributions, musically.

I would be a rib eye steak (with too much salt).
Harrison would be BBQ ribs.

Danny would be a sirloin steak.
Bryan would be a BBQ pork steak.

Molly would be apples and brie.
We would guest musician in a loaded baked potato for a show.

It doesn’t work… but it works.

That’s a lot of meat! I like Molly best, for sure. The Hipnecks is a great name. Did you really let an audience choose it?

True story. “Hipneck” was a term former Hipnecks vocalist/guitarist Scott Anderson and I coined one night to agree to disagree on the description of a friend of ours. Scott said, “He’s a total hippie.” I said, “No way dude, he’s a redneck through and through.” We argued about as long as it took us to reach the end of the driveway at the old band house, and I finally said, “Fine, he’s a… hipneck.” Oddly, we both said “hipneck” in unison. The name kinda stuck in my head after that.

We were in the process of changing the name before we released our first album, Just Another Fine Day, because our name at the time was ‘Farmhouse’ (a tip of the hat to the farm my family owns outside of California, Missouri, where we currently host our annual shindig called ‘Barnout’). Unbeknownst to me at the time of choosing that name, it is also the name of a popular Phish song and a college fraternity as well. To minimize confusion, we decided it was best to land firmly on a new name, because after the album released we were going to be stuck with it forever. We narrowed it down to “The Hipnecks,” “Farmacy,” and another I can’t recall at the moment.

We were unable to agree on which. I decided it was best to leave it up to our current fans at the final show preceding the album release. It was at The Tap Room, in Fulton, Missouri, where we played our first show and maintained a regular weekly residency for years. Armed with a human applause-o-meter (our friend Peter), we let the crowd vote by applause before we started our final set of the night, thus starting the show under one name and ending under another.

Are there any impending decisions that this Friday’s audience can help you with? Anyone need to name a baby?

Haha–no. Not yet anyway.

The rest of The Hipnecks are: Zach Harrison (guitar, vocals), Danny Carroll (drums, sinks, trashcans & other household items, vocals), Bryan Kay (bass, vocals), and Molly Healey (fiddle, cello, vocals).

You can catch them tonight at the Blue Note and/or the last weekend of May at the Pedaler’s Jamboree.

Filed Under: CoMo Interviews, CoMusic, CoMusic Interview, Misc CoMo Tagged With: slider

CoMo Community: Rainbow House

February 25, 2012 By Kerry Leave a Comment

Rainbow House

The mission of Rainbow House is to keep children safe and to support families in crisis through prevention, assessment, and intervention in child abuse and neglect

Rainbow House was founded in November, 1986, in an old farmhouse in Columbia, Missouri with room for up to twelve children. Kathy Hughes, founder, had been a foster parent for many years. She had the vision to provide a safe, home-like environment where sibling groups would be kept together and children would continue in their home school. Her compassion for children, sincere dedication, and ability to mobilize the community resulted in the founding of the only emergency children’s shelter in Mid-Missouri.The agency has historically provided placement for children age birth to eighteen years.

In 1992, services were expanded to include crisis care. This program provides for children whose parents are in crisis and need a safe place to house their children while they attempt to stabilize their own lives. Crisis Care is truly a prevention program in that it provides a respite placement that can be accessed by a parent without involvement of any other agencies. Parents may face a major crisis including homelessness, unemployment, temporary mental instability, or other issues that can cause major stress in one’s life. Crisis Care can relieve the parent of the added stress of parenting at the same time they are trying to solve their crisis. It is our belief that children are protected from abuse because parents choose to utilize this Rainbow House service.

Many years later, ICAN (Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect) and the Rainbow House Board of Directors recognized the need for a child advocacy center. In August of 1998, the Rainbow House Regional Child Advocacy Center (CAC) began conducting forensic (fact finding) interviews of children alleged to have been sexually or severely physically abuse., remaining true to the Rainbow House mission of keeping children safe and supporting families in crisis. The CAC offers a child-friendly environment where abused and neglected children may feel comfortable telling their story of abuse. Utilizing a multi-disciplinary team approach, the CAC works with the investigative personnel from law enforcement, children’s division, juvenile office and prosecuting attorney’s offices to coordinate the best and most effective response to allegations of sexual and severe physical abuse of a child. Every effort is made to interview a child only one time.

Rainbow House has progressively provided services to greater numbers of children over the years. In the past year, more than 750 children received services in the Rainbow House programs.

Rainbow House is staffed by trained, qualified individuals, experienced in working with children in crisis situations. Staff and volunteers undergo background checks and training to provide the highest level of care.

Rainbow House is not a chapter of any other national or international organization. It is a local non-profit corporation that serves Boone and other central Missouri counties. Rainbow House is supported by the Heart of Missouri United Way, Audrain United Way, Missouri Foundation for Health, National Children’s Alliance , VOCA, the City of Columbia , Boone County , Children’s Trust Fund and the Central Missouri Food Bank.

We Bet You Already Knew: Rainbow House serves abused and neglected children.

But Did You Know?:

Rainbow House has three Programs!

~ The Rainbow House Children’s Emergency Shelter temporarily houses children who are in foster care; and assists community parents who request placement for their children during a family crisis.

~ The Rainbow House Regional Child Advocacy Center (CAC) provides forensic interviews, advocacy and therapy for children whose lives have been negatively impacted by sexual and/or severe physical abuse. The CAC is a vital part of the investigative team.

~ The Rainbow House Homeless Youth Program provides housing and services for homeless youth who are interested in making a meaningful and productive transition into adulthood, and who have little family support or knowledge of resources available to them in the community. These youth need a helping hand, and Rainbow House provides that in a variety of ways.

We also provide Therapy Services, Support Groups, Parenting Classes and Community Education.

Some Terrifying Statistics That Illustrate The Importance of Rainbow House:

~ 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys have been abused.

~ At least 80% of the time, children know the offenders, most often a trusted parent or caretaker and approximately half of those cases the trusted adult is a father or stepfather.

~ Sexual abuse of children occurs to children of all ages, in every class, race, religion, culture and ethnic group.

~ 75% of battered women say their children are also battered..

~ An estimated 9 out of 10 cases of child sexual abuse are never reported.

Want To Volunteer?

Yes, we use volunteers – they make up a big part of our organization! They may choose to volunteer at events, help in chairing a committee, or serve on our Board of Directors.

We have several individuals that donate their time consistently (2-3 times a week), individuals that come in now and then to complete a specific project/task, and we have groups of people that will work on a project/task as well. The work these people do varies. We have volunteers that spend time with the kids in the Children’s Emergency Shelter and/or the teens at the Teen Emergency Shelter and Sol House. These volunteers may help staff complete daily tasks (cooking, cleaning, feeding, etc.), tell stories to the kids, facilitate a craft project, teach life skills, etc. We also have volunteers that are willing to help with the office work (answering phones, watching the door, organizing, etc.). We also have organizations willing to donate their time/services as well (for example – we have a taxi service that is willing to take families to and from the shelter free of charge if they have no other means of transportation). We typically have up to four interns per semester from one of the local colleges or universities, many times from the schools of social work or psychology.

YOU Can Make A Difference – Through Rainbow House Or By Directly Dealing With Child Abuse – Here Is How…

Your ability to help is essential in carrying out Rainbow House’s mission. There are many ways that you can help and through your donation of time, financial contributions and reporting child abuse you are able to make a difference in the life of a child.

Volunteer: You may choose to volunteer at events, help in chairing a committee, serve on our Board of Directors, volunteer your time to answer phones, help in our donation room, spend time/organize activities with our children/youth, or in a variety of other ways too numerous to list.

Donate: What Rainbow House’s volunteers and donors have in common is their love and concern for children. You’ve followed your heart, and realize that Rainbow House is a place that’s imperative to letting children live their best lives. Rainbow House always has a need for food, monetary donations, gift cards, cleaning and toiletry items, new toys, and new or gently used clothing. You may be a sponsor for one of Rainbow House’s annual events, be a part of our Monthly Giving Program, make a contribution of $100.00 or more during the year and benefit from 50% Missouri State Tax Credits .

Report Child Abuse: To report suspected child sexual abuse, call the following number: Missouri Child Abuse Hotline: 1.800.392.3738
You can reach this toll free number 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Do not hesitate to make the call, even if you are not a “mandated report”, and even if you don’t know for sure but strongly suspect a child may be the victim of abuse.

HAVE COMPLETE INFORMATION. The Missouri Children’s Division needs specific information to be able to respond to a complaint of abuse or neglect. Be sure you have:

the name of the child
the name of the parent(s)
the name of the alleged abuser
where the child can be located

The information about Rainbow House was provided by: April Barnett, Marketing Director who says, ” Your involvement is greatly appreciated by the staff and children at Rainbow House. Thank you for your support of Rainbow House!”

Website: www.rainbowhousecolumbia.org

Filed Under: CoMo Interviews, Misc CoMo

CoMo Community: Columbia Art League

January 18, 2012 By Kerry Leave a Comment

Columbia Art League

The Mission of the Columbia Art League is to provide the community with a stimulating environment for experiencing the visual arts through exhibitions, education, appreciation, promotion and creation of art.

CAL was founded in 1959 by a group of local amateur artists who wanted to meet regularly to create and receive critique.

Over the past 50 years, the Columbia Art League has had many homes around the city – North 10^th Street, the old Paste Factory building, the D&M Sounds building, Walnut Street, the City Building and, since 2008, at the Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts. CAL has always represented the artistic voice of the community and offered art classes for both children and adults.

What do most Columbians already know about your organization? I would hope that they know that we are non-profit organization that belongs to them. There are no owners of CAL. We exist for the community. We not only show local and regional art but we also sell many artworks ranging from paintings, photographs and sculptures to jewelry, wooden bowls, ceramic mugs, metal flowers, hand-dyed scarves and other smaller locally made art items. I hope they know that we organize the annual Art in the Park festival that takes place the first full weekend in June every year.

What would surprise many Columbians about your organization? That there are only 2 staff who make everything happen. Everyone else is a volunteer.

Columbia Art League By the numbers:

2 members of staff

200+ volunteers

500+ members (both artists and art patrons)

54 years running Art in the Park

6 exhibits in the gallery per annum.

Do you use volunteers? In what capacity? Yes, to help run the gallery, help with art classes, assist at events and to make Art in the Park come to life.

The information about Columbia Art Leauge was provided by: Diana Moxon, Executive Director

To learn more: www.columbiaartleague.org

Filed Under: CoMo Arts and Music, CoMo Interviews, Misc CoMo Tagged With: slider

CoMo Community: Understanding CoMo By Investigating Not-For-Profit Organizations

January 17, 2012 By Kerry Leave a Comment

The CoMo Collective has its finger on the pulse of Columbia, Missouri. By reviewing and pre-viewing the music scene, restaurants, community happenings and all things local, the Collective provides a unique glimpse into what makes Columbia special.
I think there is another way to gain additional understanding about a community and that is by getting to know its not-for-profit organizations. The community groups working hard to address our city’s problems reveal both our shortcomings and our passionate desires to improve our home. Therefore, I am delighted to start a new feature on the CoMo Collective – CoMo Community.
Every month we will feature a handful of local organizations, allowing them to introduce, or, more likely, reintroduce themselves to you. We hope these features might shed light on some aspects of the community not everyone is aware of. Maybe they will even inspire you to get involved.
There are hundreds of groups in CoMo working to create a more livable, compassionate community. If you know of a group you would like to see featured, please email me at comokerry@gmail.com. If you work for a not-for-profit, please feel free to add my email to your list of media contacts.
“An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr

Filed Under: CoMo Interviews, Misc CoMo

CoMo Tech: Kerry Mullin

January 17, 2012 By Amy Swiney Leave a Comment

Kerry Mullin is a contributor to The COMO Collective. You can read her posts here.

Who are you?

I am the middle-age mother of two high-energy toddlers. Our family was built both the traditional way and through adoption. We moved here when my husband took a job with MU in May, 2010. Although we both grew up in the mid-west, we spent almost 20 years in the Pacific Northwest.

What do you do for money?

I keep my kids alive and make sure my husband always has a clean undershirt.

What do you do for fun?

If I designed the ideal vacation it would include snowboarding, lots of reading, playing Ultimate Frisbee and game-nights with friends. As for real life, there is reading and Ladies Night Out with my Mommy friends. Things that make me happy – but aren’t neccessarily fun – a great, second-hand bargain, clean kitchen counters and hearing my kids play peacefully together or listening to them talk to their dad.

And participating in XCX!

I would characterize my relationship with technology as:

Love-Hate. I appreciate all it has to offer but I often feel at war with my lack of knowledge and the devices in my life.

Smart or dumb phone? What kind? If smart, what are the three apps you use most?

I have an iPhone. I use it mostly for email/FaceBook, weather and the maps and GPS technology. I love to read with my iPhone in hand. It makes is super easy to look up words and other references I am unfamiliar with. And I particularly like to use the maps feature to better understand exactly where the characters in my book are located.

Mac or PC or Other?

In our house there is a Linux desktop, a PC desktop, a Mac laptop, a pc laptop and two iPhones. I stick with the pcs and iPhones.

I use Twitter for:

Guilt. I feel guilty because I don’t use Twitter and yet I am afraid to open that Pandora’s Box. I already ignore my kids more than I should.

I use Facebook for:

Facebook is strictly social for me. Having recently moved to Columbia, most of our friends are still on the west coast. Our family is all over the country. Facebook keeps me from feeling isolated.

Do you write a blog? What’s it about?

I do have a blog that is primarily about trans-racial adoption, adoption ethics and our family’s life. I write it under a pseudonym because I include pictures of my children and I also want to reserve the ability to be perfectly honest about the people in my life. I am still very unsure how to manage the fine line between privacy and weird secrecy. In my real-life I am an open book.

Do you read any blogs? What are three of your favorites?

I read lots of blogs, but they are almost all of the mommy variety. In fact, pathetically, they are almost all about adoptive, trans-racial parenting. The internet is such a big world and I have successfully narrowed it down to one very small category. On the other hand, it is surprising what can be learned about the real state of racism, our insane judicial system and both love and loss through these blogs. My current favorites are:

Go-to menu item and restaurant in CoMo?

With two young toddlers I rarely go out. But I recently tried Room 38 and loved every single thing I tried especially the Spicy Ahi Tuna Ceviche.

What is your favorite beverage?

Diet Coke – from a fountain, not a bottle and never, never a can – until 2 pm. Water from 2 until 7. Beer from 7 until bed. I like traditional Pale Ales, not too bitter, not too watery. I am also partial to a nice glass of zinfandel or a small taste of anejo tequila. I take my beverages very seriously.

Friends are visiting from out-of-town. You’re for-sure taking them to:

Campus. I love living in college towns. The energy, multi-culturalism, and beautiful architecture of a large university is something special and should not be taken for granted.

My favorite city/town/hamlet/state/country/province in the world (after CoMo, of course) is:

Since we still own a house in Corvallis, Oregon I should go with that. But the minute we have a little savings, I am going back to Ethiopia. Still, I really love Sayulita, Mexico and I love to be in the mountains.

Thanks Kerry!

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