I can’t believe I haven’t posted on this website for an entire year… but it is that time again. I have booked the gallery space at the local library branch for the month of July. My art will be in the front room all month. We will also be having a reception on July 8. I have 8 new paintings, a scale model of the Whydah Gally, and more to share.
Northeast Tour 2015 – Jake and the Infernal Machine
13 AprHey all,
We’re only missing one venue now for tour for the band i play in, Jake and the Infernal Machine, here’s the dates and locations. Hope you can come out and see us!
Jake and the Infernal Machine Northeast Tour 2015:
-Wednesday April 22- Worcester MA
8pm at the Firehouse with Evan Greer, Greg McKillop, and Ghost Guest
https://www.facebook.com/JakeandtheInfernalMachine/posts/10100324713393759?ref=notif¬if_t=like
-Thursday April 23 – Boston
with Evan Greer & Friends, Absinthe Rose, Kelly Dogtooth
https://www.facebook.com/events/883779594998435/
-Friday April 24 – Brooklyn, NY
10pm at Pete’s Candy Store – 709 Lorimer St- with Yoni Gordon
https://www.facebook.com/events/424563937715906/
-Saturday April 25 – Philadelphia PA
7pm at Eris Temple Arts – 602 S 52 St – with On the Water and CityScapes
https://www.facebook.com/events/351134291759457/
-Sunday April 26 – Baltimore MD
2640 Space – 2640 St. Paul Street – with Ryan Harvey and Hyster Majesty
https://www.facebook.com/events/848875118560240/
-Monday April 27 – Pittsburgh PA, tbd
-Tuesday April 28 – Buffalo NY
8pm at Grant Street Neighborhood Center – 271 Grant St., with Ismail and Co.
https://www.facebook.com/events/529250517215243/
-Wednesday April 29 – Rochester NY
at Saxby’s Coffee – 1307 Mt. Hope Avenue – with Rattlesnake Lake & the Low Flying Vultures and Harsh Mellows
-Thursday April 30 – Turners Falls MA
at the Brick House – 24 3rd St. – with Loone, Evan Greer, and Matt Feinstein
https://www.facebook.com/events/1594175454154853/
– Fri May 1, 6:30pm – Everett, MA, Rumors Bar and Grill
56 Ferry St, Everett, MA 02149 Food, music, DJs TBA,
My band’s CD release show tomorrow:
1 JulHope you can make it: https://www.facebook.com/events/331396377014178/?source=1
CD Release Show, July 2
11 JunHey all,
Sorry I have been so quiet lately on this blog. I’ve been spending most of my free time preparing for this: My band, Jake and the Infernal Machine will release our new album, Rise Like Fire, at this show. Hope you can make it!
WEDs * July 2nd * 6PM
Abolition-Fest
At the Burrow in Lower Allston (Email trenchesfullofpoets (AT) riseup.net for the address).
FEATURING:
Evan Greer: Radical genderqueer singer/songwriter, parent, and community organizer based in Boston. She writes and performs high-energy acoustic songs that inspire hope, build community, and incite resistance! – http://www.evangreer.org/
Jake and the Infernal Machine: Boston rebel punk and folk. Releasing a new CD – “Rise Like Fire!” http://www.JakeandtheInfernalMachine.com/
The Old Edison: HoodFolk from Boston, MA.
http://theoldedison.bandcamp.com/
Radical Apathy: Local anarcho-syndicalist punk.
http://radicalapathy.bandcamp.com/
To Benefit:
Prison Action News – Prisoner writings about resistance behind bars distributed for free to prisoners.
WEDs * July 2nd * 6PM
Abolition-FestAt the Burrow in Lower Allston (Email trenchesfullofpoets (AT) riseup.net for the address).
Only 30 days left to Pre-order new Jake and the Infernal Machine album
1 AprHey friends
We’re getting really close to releasing a new album. Currently we’re working on final mixes, coming up with an album name and creating album art.
We’d really like to get the recording mastered, which will make it sound waaayyy better, so we’re trying to raise money through Indiegogo to make that happen. We only have 30 days left to raise $925. If you don’t preorder by then, you’ll have to wait until the end of June when the album comes out. Please pitch in by preordering your copy today:
http://igg.me/at/InfernalMachine/x/6646945
We’re really excited about the new recordings, which we’ve been working on since November of 2012. We have songs of all different genres, ranging in topic from the Greek Insurrection to gentrification in Boston, to our love for the Charles River. You can hear some early mixes of these new tracks here:
http://igg.me/at/InfernalMachine/x/6646945
Thanks for the support,
-Jake
Thank you Pittsburgh
25 MarThis weekend my family and I were back in Pittsburgh, where we had spent almost a year back in 2011 while my partner went to grad school. I got a chance to speak about my book Nine Years of Anarchist Agitation: The History of the Boston Anti Authoritarian Movement and Other Essays at the Big Idea bookstore. It was wonderful to see so many of my comrades and friends from our time in that city. Folks filled the basement of the bookstore and after I told my story we discussed anarchist organization and participation in social struggles. It was very interesting hearing about locals’ experiences with Occupy Pittsburgh, updates on Pittsburghers for Public Transit, the Shadbush Collective and other anti-fracking struggles, and I got to share news from the Insomnia Cookies campaign waged by our local Boston Industrial Workers of the World, and the formation of the Black Rose Anarchist Federation.
We sold out of all of the copies of the book that I’d brought, but I just ordered some more to be sent to the Big Idea. So for the handful of friends who couldn’t make it (or forgot which day it was!) 3 copies of my book will be arriving at the Big Idea around April 7th. You can also order copies online here: https://www.createspace.com/4055947
Thanks again to all our Pittsburgh friends and comrades, hope our paths cross again soon
After Protests, Suspended IWW Organizer Reinstated
20 MarOn Sunday, March 9, just six days after a settlement between Insomnia Cookies and four workers who went on strike last August, the company suspended bicycle delivery “driver” and union organizer Tasia Edmonds. Quick action by the Industrial Workers of the World, which represents Edmonds, the four strikers, and several other area workers, forced the company to reinstate Edmonds. Two dozen IWW members and allies picketed the Boston Insomnia Cookies location, where Edmonds is employed, on Friday, March 14. Organizers planned another rally for Saturday, March 22, after student allies from the abutting Boston University return from Spring Break, but the company capitulated, agreeing on March 20 to bring Edmonds back to work.
Edmonds was disciplined for speaking out against workplace injustices, which the boss called “Insubordination.” According to Edmonds ““I was suspended for my union involvement. I have never been disciplined before. I was not served any paper work detailing why I was suspended. I want to get back to work, and I want back pay for the days I missed.” While Insomnia has reinstated Edmonds, as of press time there is no confirmation that she will receive back pay for time lost during her suspension. The union is prepared to fight to win Edmonds’ lost wages, and to ensure Insomnia Cookies sticks to its promise not to discipline or intimidate workers for union organizing.
Days After Settlement, Pickets Return to Insomnia Cookies
16 MarDays After Settlement, Pickets Return to Insomnia Cookies
by Jake Carman
Picket lines have returned to Insomnia Cookies, less than two weeks after the company settled with four workers who struck in August of 2013. On Friday March 14, two dozen union members and supporters rallied in front of the Boston location of Insomnia Cookies, demanding the reinstatement with back pay of union organizer and bicycle delivery “driver,” Tasia Edmonds. On March 9 the company suspended Edmonds without pay for a month, alleging insubordination, while the union maintains she was disciplined for her union-building efforts.
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), of which Edmonds is a member, claims the company violated the terms of the recent settlement, in which Insomnia Cookies promised “WE WILL NOT fire you or take any other action against you because you engage in protected activities with your fellow employees that concern your wages, hours and working conditions, including a strike.” The union filed new charges against the company with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) on Wednesday, March 12, and launched a phone and email blitz of the company.
At the March 14 picket, workers and allies held signs, sangs songs, and handed out fliers demanding the company bring back Edmonds, make up for any lost wages, and uphold the promises outlined in the recent settlement. Edmonds addressed the rally, speaking about life working at Insomnia Cookies, while the manager who suspended her and a new security guard subcontracted through Securitas glowered down from the window above. Alberto Giorgio Peniche, from Boston Resist the Raids, also spoke, expressing his solidarity with Insomnia and other fast food workers and drawing the connection with the struggles of undocumented workers.
After almost two hours of rallying, the IWW promised to return with double the numbers, unless Edmonds is reinstated. “Are you tired of having us in your face?” they chanted. “Then get some justice in this place!” The union is planning another rally for next week, when student allies at Boston University, which abuts the Commonwealth Avenue Insomnia location, return from spring break.
“I believe I was suspended for my union involvement,” says Edmonds, a twenty-two-year-old who has worked for the company four and a half months. “I have never been disciplined before. I was not served any paperwork detailing why I was suspended. A few days after my suspension, the company even called me to ask for my story, as if they were asking me why they suspended me and didn’t even know themselves.” Edmonds went public with her union affiliation on December 7, 2013. In February, according to the union, a new manager began harassing her about her union membership.
“I believe the disciplinary action they are taking against me is excessive and unfair,” Edmonds says. “I want to get back to work, and I want back pay for the days I missed.”
According to the union, “Insomnia Cookies continues to violate the law by intimidating employees with threats and disciplinary actions to discourage union organizing. We call on Insomnia Cookies to uphold the terms of the recent settlement, bring back Tasia and pay her for any wages lost during her suspension, and to allow Insomnia workers to continue their efforts to improve working conditions through legally-protected unionizing efforts.”
Help Jake and the Infernal Machine raise funds to release a new album!
11 MarI play with a band called Jake and the Infernal Machine. We are almost ready to release a new 15 song album, but we’re trying to raise money to get it mastered.
Support Jake and the Infernal Machine through Indiegogo – Click here!
Below is a preview of one of these upcoming tracks, “6th of December.” Enjoy!