Take a drive Downeast to hang out with Maven, a leather bag and motorcycle seat maker before hitting up a show at The Pickled Wrinkle, a music venue and restaurant in Prospect Harbor.
Announcer:
You're road tripping to America's best music venues with Kyle Lamont on this episode. We're driving way Downeast to see how this region's rugged lifestyle and landscape inspires a local handbagging motorcycle seat maker and then head to a show at the Pickled Wrinkle in Prospect Harbor, Maine. Concert cast, the podcast is an audio atlas filled with music, maps, conversations and discoveries to help you navigate America's soundscape and tune into every state's live music scene. Concert culture is travel centric, and every venue has a voice. So let us go and listen.
Kyle:
To drive on Route 182 known as Blackwood's Road is to be momentarily transported in many ways it's similar to that feeling you get when walking into a music venue, a portal that, upon entering imagination, is unlocked and you're completely receptive to all emotions. Connections are made and you can travel deeper inside the music and into yourself. Hi, I'm Kyle Lamont and this road is important to Downeasters. Not only is it a shortcut and moment of solace from Route one, but grounds for inspiration.
Aaron:
It's all about, you know, traveling and coming back home and coming back to where you want to be. It's the name of that song. It's called Black road
Kyle:
Do you guys come up with songs while you're driving into town?
Alan Guptill:
I write most of my songs while I'm driving and I record them in my phone and then figure out how to play them on the guitar later. I have a note on my phone that's like I don't know how many pages long. That's all. Like a lot of, like one liners that sometimes make it into song, sometimes don't. But I don't think in whole songs. I think in one liners and lyrics..
Kyle:
That was Alan Guptill. He's the guitarist from the Fremont String Band who I spoke with before his show at Fogtown Brewing Company for the Ellsworth episode when we were chatting about his point of view on being inspired while driving. I was nodding in total agreement, but rather than song hooks for me, it seems for a music video.
A few years ago, I was obsessed with the song Sea of the Edge by the Bright Light Social Hour, a psychedelic rock band from Austin. And while driving this road and listening to the song, I conjured up a love story about two travelers, one on a motorcycle and one on a sailboat, who travel up Maine's rocky coastline and rendezvous at a lighthouse.
It was the first sex scene I ever directed. But underneath the hot passion, it was a way of showing how beautiful this road is and also how love is so forceful it can bring people together. It was a no brainer to ask my friend Emma Thieme to star in it because, well, two reasons.
When you see Emma ride a motorcycle. Your jaw slacks a little. She has grace and confidence and also because she lives and works in Cherryfield. The town that 182 drives through. She was my muse for the video, which starts on a beautiful fall day in Cherryfield and follows her on a journey through Blackwood's road. Then it cuts to her lover's sailing up the coast. And then we see the two of them meet on a foggy day on an island in Cutler, a fishing town on the Gold Coast of Maine.
We just have you in this outboard like bombing through lobster boats, you know, to capture the scene of you going towards this lighthouse. And to me, it will always embody your adventurous spirit and it will always embody, like our collaborative trust with one another. Yeah. And just the essence of the nature of what I was trying to project is doing whatever it takes to get to a place in the name of love.
Emma:
That entire experience was like, incredible because I didn't know what to expect. And it was so gorgeous to how you kind of walk through the woods. We had to, like, hike all this stuff up that forested path.
Kyle:
I felt as if it was so mystical, you know, cause of the fog and was just almost a little scarier. Doomsday-ish. Yeah. And then it was like when we got onto the islands. Like the clouds did clear a little bit. But what was your initial thought? Because you can't really see the lighthouse from, you know, the wharf. So what was it like when you first laid eyes on this just quaint little lighthouse in the middle of nowhere?
Emma:
Yeah, and it's like not even quaint. It's like Majestic
Kyle:
when Emma isn't making music videos with me. She's making high end leather bags and motorcycle seats. And I am en route to meet with her at her studio in Cherryfield. Blackswoods Road connects two towns called Franklin and Cherryfeld.
And when I said earlier that it's like being transported, what I meant by that is it feels like you're entering a fairy tale. The winding road takes you through a tunnel made of overhanging trees and wraps around ponds so clear you can almost see the bottom. You'll go over hills and carve around crooked corners. Scooting mountain seems to rise and fall out of nowhere.
The experience is mesmerizing and also short lived, which is also part of the allure. And did I mention there was once a rope swing that catapulted you into Fox's pond? in high school this was a go to summer hangout spot, complete with a little cove to smoke a bowl and afterwards.
Aaron:
Actually, the last time we played Fogtown, good story. We stopped on the Blackwoods on the way and all went skinny dipping.
Kyle:
That's Aaron. He's the bassist of Beach Trash, a Down East's punk rock band fronted by a lobsterman by day and drag queen by night. Listen to their segment in our Ellsworth episode.
Aaron:
The whole band and everybody, all the people that followed us from the gig. It was great in the warm summer waters. It was good.
Kyle:
And whatever you do while driving on this road, do not pick up a hitchhiker named Catherine. I don't want to see Catherine, but at the same time I do.
Aaron:
Right. You always wonder if she's going to pop up, right. I love it.
Kyle:
Maine's most well-known ghost story is about Catherine, a woman who lost her head in a terrible accident on this road and that her and her significant other who was driving was never found. And she now wanders the road in search of her head and her missing loved one. There are so many stories about a woman wearing a blue dress hitchhiking, and when people pull over to help, she disappears. Or some have said that when she's denied a ride, she ends up in the backseat of their car. Anyway, all spookiness and partial-ism aside, this road is definitely a slice of driving paradise.
On the surface, Cherry Field, a town known for being the world's biggest exporter of wild blueberries, not cherries. One would think that there's no subculture here, but nope, there is a very loud art and music scene going on and the best place to see live music is—
Emma:
the Legion Hall. Yeah. And also I think it's Cherry Field Academy Community Center because it's the old Cherry Field Academy and it's like a gorgeous building. And they'll have bands in there and they'll even have like a bar in there sometimes.
Kyle:
Yeah. What are those get togethers like with people seriously coming out of the woodwork.
Emma:
Oh yeah. Yeah. People come from all over too. People come from Machias which isn't that long, but it's kind of a different group of people and everybody's dancing. It's really awesome. It's like serious dancing and always live music. Like there's a lot of musical talent around here. It's pretty insane.
Kyle:
And Cherry Field is the last place you would expect to find a designer of high end small batch leather bags and motorcycle seats. But au contraire for Emma Thieme of Maven Leather. The region inspires her creations.
Would you say that there is like a correlation between your designs and maybe where you work and live?
Emma:
Yeah. Definitely. Thank you. I want to think of it as gritty and raw and like. Yeah. Not refined. And I have found over the years that my designs change based on where I live. Like when I first got started kind of playing around with leather, like that summer I moved to Portland and like I had some really like, colorful kind of like 80s designs, like just really bright and funky. And then like later on, I move to MDI for the first time and like I found that the stuff I was making there, like I was using birch bark and like more kind of an earthy thing as I was spending more time in the woods. And now that I've kind of really grown into my style and I think that the area is really playing into it because I'm looking in the woods and on the river, like on my property, like I walk every day. So that definitely trickles in. But I'm also looking at the different kinds of working mechanisms for this area. Like I'm looking closer at like how things come together, you know, old school designs, like things on boats, like how does that not work? Like, how does that hardware work? And I'm putting that in to the design and like the metals, like now I want to use copper and I want to use solid brass. And I'm realizing that, like, the hardware makes a really big difference. And I'm looking at what's around me because this is just such a rough, hard working area. And people don't just, like, go out and buy something shiny and new, like they have the tools and the mechanisms and the styles and techniques.
Emma:
Like, I've always worked with leather and I've lived in other places. But it hasn't been until I moved here that I really developed a certain style ascetic and really, like, went for it with a business because there aren't a lot of things in my way I can do it. And honestly, if I don't do it. What else am I gonna do? Cause there isn't a lot of work here. So I think it attracts people who are like, I have an idea, I have something that I need to do, a passion, and I'm gonna do it here because it's inspiring. And it's also gonna help the community out, too.
Kyle:
Emma recently moved from a room in her humble off the grid, home to a bottom floor storefront in a house on Main Street that has an awesome view of the Narraguagus River. The space was once a bottle redemption center and then a hair salon and even a second hand store. Today, the place has a fresh coat of white paint, huge bay windows and an awesome front porch. On one side of the room is her boutique, lined with shelves and racks made from pine slabs and old pipe that hold her work. On the other side is where she designs and sews bags, and in the back of the room is where she sculpts foam for her custom motorcycle seats.
Emma:
There's a buzz about town. People are curious. They hear it at the town office. I hear it at the post office. People are like, what's going on? People are like, oh, someone saw you moving things in there the other day. So people are, you know, raring to go for some fine leather goods.
Kyle:
When I walk in, she's definitely in the zone.
Emma:
I'm working on some, like, custom orders that people have put in. Like one girl is a musician from. I think she's in Belfast and she wants me to do a guitar strap.
So that's cool because she, like, sent me photos of things that she likes, like items like she had a tarot card reading and she sent me like a photo of her reading as inspiration, which I'm like, this is great. I love that because I can see what her style is so I can kind of create something that's gonna be unique instead of her, just like showing me a photo of a guitar strap, you know, and then I'm making a belt for this guy. He gave me like an old brass buckle and I'm just doing a belt for it. And I did some cool, like stamping and dying and stuff like that.
Kyle:
She's listening to Fiona Apple's, TIDAL album. The vibe is moody to match the weather. But I can attest that Emma is known to cut a rug, especially at local gigs.
Emma:
Like there's a lot of musical talent around here. It's pretty insane. And I think it's just because people grow up with the idea that being creative is really important, but also just the basic thing that there's not a lot to do. And I think people really like hone their creativity and it's a place of no distraction. And I think that creates a really unique style,
Kyle:
Especially when it comes to playing music or learning the guitar or in general?
Emma:
Yeah, I mean, because there's a lot of songwriters around here, like not just people doing covers, like people are writing their own songs and they're like jumpy or slow. It's all different. And like Beach Trash who we saw the other night.
They're so fun to go and see because you can dance and you might not really listen to the words, but I got one of his songbooks. They were handing them out at one of their parties here. And I was just so impressed. Like the poetry in what he’s writing. And he does have something to say, but he's putting it in this package that you can really, like, move your body to.
Kyle:
Emma grew up in Winterport, Maine, and she gravitated to the upholstery side of the moto business simply because—
Emma:
Aesthetics are important to me. I love fashion and I love style. And I didn't really want to start riding until I could make this thing look like me and be mine. And I thought to like, whoa. I love to work with leather. I want to teach myself how to do this. So this is a fun job. I'm going to try it. And it seems like not a lot of people do it, which they don't.
Kyle:
She went to a leather upholstery school in New Jersey to learn more about the trade. And in just a short time, her work was in high demand.
Emma:
I have to be a little bit selective and I like the way people approach me, too, which is something that floored me in the beginning, is they wanted me to choose them, too, cause they have a vision and they have an idea for the bike. And a lot of people are looking for the right person to kind of complete it because the sea is really the last thing that you do and you want it to be right because it's so important. And if it's wrong, if it looks like cheap or if the materials cheap, then like I mean, the whole project kind of falls flat. And then, too, even if it's not a project, if it's like a great bike and you just want to cool seat like it will instantly elevate the machine to something that's really custom and really yours.
Kyle:
And driving her motorcycle around Downeast Maine is a mission in itself.
Emma:
So I would have to make myself like you today. You're going to go to the grocery store and you will take the motorcycle. And then it's like a process of getting your helmet on and making sure you have all your gear on and like hoping that you're not going to drop it when you get out of your parking spot. Cause at that time I was living like on a gravel road. It was a lot to go on the bike by myself. And I used to think, and you might die like today, you might die. This is dangerous. And like, you don't really know how to do it. And it would scare me, but I had to do it anyway because unlike I think it's fun and I want to keep doing it. And that just eventually melted away. And so sometimes it surprises me how I'll be on a motorcycle and I am in control of this crazy machine.
[Music Plays]
Emma:
People ride, they're taking in surroundings, and they're it like when my dad rides like, I remember him saying, like, you just smell everything, you see everything, you feel everything. And that's true. Yeah. You feel that on a bike. Your senses are like overload, like driving by the boat building place in Stueben in a car like that's whatever. But when you're on a motorcycle, you're like overwhelmed with the smell of fiberglass.
It's insane. Like you cough or sneeze. It's chemicals like burning wood fire. Stuff like that. Like you're sensing all of that. And then there's also the way your body feels when you're moving at that fast of a speed without a lot of protection around you. It's really exhilarating.
And I think that you noticed more about where you are and where you're going and where you've been, because it's not like you can really I mean, some people do, I guess, but you can't really use a G.P.S. and you're not really going to put earbuds and listen to music. Some people do, but I don't. Because I feel fulfilled without it.
There's something about riding a bike, too, that takes you back to this other time where, like, you need to read a map and you need to be aware of street signs and landmarks and like it's going to take you longer to get there, maybe because you have to stop and take a rest because it is like it's physically exerting to be on the bike. And like you get dehydrated being on the bike and and paying attention to where you're going, like, you might have to stop and ask. And so that really slows you down in terms of travel.
Kyle:
Another machine that she's totally in control of is her sewing machine, which is used to make small batch leather bags that have been deemed must have items by the Maine magazine and Downeast magazine. Two of our state's most influential publications.
Emma:
And so in order for me to control this, I have to know how to fix it. That goes back to motorcycling, too, because when you're riding like a vintage motorcycle in order to ride it, you have to know how it works and you have to be able to fix it. And it's the same thing with this machine. Like I know the quirks. I know how to tune it up. Like, I know when it needs oil. Like, I can't neglect it because first of all, I can't even pick this up or move it alone. It weighs probably three times as much as I do. And the closest person to fix it is like three hours away. So maybe I'll go to him once a year to get a service. But no, I'm I'm taking care of this machine myself, and it does require taking care of.
Kyle:
So you did a little. What do you call it a line?
Emma:
I've found that when sewing if you want to get some cool lines and if you want to do some straight lines, a little philosophical thing for you, you always have to look where you're going and not where you've been. It's a big thing about sewing because I do have my ideas and thoughts when I'm at the machine just kind of going for it. Things come into my head,
Kyle:
But you have to just keep looking forward or you'll mess up?
Emma:
Yeah, because you do have the tendency to look where you just were like to look at the stitches you've already done. But you really need to focus on where you're going and you need to keep the speed up because if you're slow, like the stitches not going to look good, you need to keep it up, up, up, and then you can get the straightest line.
Kyle:
And what is the feeling like when you have completed a bag or a seat?
Emma:
I'm pretty pleased with myself. I have to say it's a good feeling. And I say to myself, that's pretty fuckin sweet. That looks good. And it's something I would use or wear cause I only really want to make things that I think are cool. And that's like the evolution of the business, you know, because there's things that you don't really agree with, but it's just your opinion. And, you know, people have their own ideas, too. But I like to get to a point where I'm like, yeah, I can see why that would look good.
Kyle:
All right. Let's do some more of those sound effects here. This is fun. I love the sound of this machine.
Emma:
I kind of get jealous of other sounds of other machines because they're newer and they sound a little bit cleaner. Mine kind of slaps a little bit. But it is. I have no need to replace this one.
Kyle:
While Emma was getting Maven off the ground, she worked at The Pickled Wrinkle, a restaurant and music venue in Prospect Harbor.
Emma:
It will get packed in there on live music nights. It's great. It's so cool. I mean, honestly, if I do see more music in Downeast's Maine than I did when I lived in Portland. It's easy to find people are really doing it and people do show up for it to, you know, like you don't really ever go to a place that's dead when there's music there, like everyone's going to go. And yeah, the Wrinkle is like a big scene for that.
Kyle:
And we're heading there next.
Announcer:
A forger finds a family secret on the forest floor. From producer Kyle Lamont and Director Jim Picariello comes the mushroom huntress. A modern day fairy tale made in Maine on Mount Desert Island. Goodtogostudio.com to watch the trailer and more.
Kyle:
To get to the Pickled Wrinkle from a studio, get back on Route one south, which will take you through the town of Mill Bridge. Then take a left on Route 186, the scenic byway around Schoodic Peninsula, which is home to the communities of Goldsboro, Winter Harbor and Prospect Harbor while whipping around corners. Be very careful here. The smell of bait juice from all the fishing wharfs will waft through your windows and you might be caught off guard by friendly locals waving at you. But don't worry, it's completely normal around here. You'll definitely be dazzled by the picturesque harbors with dozens of lobster boats glimmering in the sun. These towns are fishing towns through and through. But the area is also a big attraction for summer travelers who've caught wind of Acadia National Parks’ biggest kept secret Schoodic point Schoodic point is a reprieves for Mount Desert Island. And the drive is partly the reason why there are one way roads wide enough for two cars and bicycle's and so many places to pull over and take it all in. And the cool part. It's open all year round. The iconic stopping point is Schoodic point and it's like a pink granite playground that you can walk on and bound on and explore. You're able to be so close to the waves that splash up through the glacial crevices and you'll taste the Atlantic on your lips. Come here during a nor'easter and you'll see things you never knew waves could do. I prefer scooted at sunset while watching the orange orb settle into the Gulf of Maine. You can feel the moon silently crest over the rocky cliffs behind you. I say follow the moon as far as you can, and then you'll find yourself at the pickled wrinkle. A local restaurant and music venue. But first, what is a Wrinkle? Well, it's a sea snail, a DownEast's delicacy.
Sarah:
They're kind of a byproduct of lobster fisherman, fishing I mean, they come in the traps. When I was a kid, my father is the lobster fisherman, so I would get really excited when he would bring wrinkles home. And my husband actually came up with the idea that it would make a great bar name. I'm just an eater of wrinkles.
Kyle:
That’s Sarah Christiansen. She co owns the restaurant and music venue with her husband. She's from Winter Harbor and after graduating from Sumner High School, she moved to Hawaii.
Sarah:
I started working at an Irish pub in Waikiki and that's where I met my husband and we worked together there for eight years. And then we actually we moved back here actually for the summer and got summer jobs. So he worked here and I worked at a restaurant in nearby. That's when we got the idea to buy it, but we lived in Missoula, Montana, after that for like two and a half years and kind of plan things and saved up money and stuff
Kyle:
Before the pickled wrinkle. There were other bars here. And let's just say they had rowdy reputations.
Sarah:
The former owner worked really hard. Like cleaning it up and, you know, making shirts. It's not like a dive bar with brawls going on all the time. And he really wanted us to buy it. He didn't, like, put it on the market. He really wanted someone to kind of keep going with stuff
Kyle:
And hosting live music was a high priority when opening up the Wrinkle.
Sarah:
The place that we met working in Hawaii.The owners had like three or four other bars in Honolulu and they did like music was like their thing. So we would have like three different sets of live music every day, pretty much. And yeah, we just knew that was what we wanted to do for our minds this weekend.
Kyle:
What is your process behind booking bands?
Sarah:
We I mean, we try to keep a variety going. We have our regular bands and it kind of, you know, it evolves. We get the people that will play once a month and then, you know, they'll kinda start doing something else. We'll switch it up a little bit. But we mostly people contact me for for bands
Kyle:
Why are people reaching out to you?
Sarah:
I think people are, you know, very often they're going through Bar Harbor, which is a lot bigger. And, you know, they're just Googling music venues in the area and they find us and doing music on Monday in the summer is really helpful to a lot of those people. You know, they'll book in the area and we'll be on the end of their little tour. It just helps them pay their bills
Kyle:
In between sets the singer from the band playing tonight comes up to say hello.
Cody:
He's a wonderful human being and a credit to all humanity.
Kyle:
Who is this?
Cody:
I'm just another musician,
Sarah:
Not just another musician.
Kyle:
Who is he?
Cody:
I'm Cody Phipps. What's the Pitch Black Ribbons. And we're happy to be here. Sarah and the crew always treat us really nice here,
Sarah:
And we love them.
Kyle:
Where are you from?
Cody:
Maine. Maine. Generally speaking.
Kyle:
And why should people come to the pickled wrinkle
Cody:
for levity and atmosphere and wonderful food and good service and all the right reasons.
Sarah:
Fantastic music.
Cody:
That too. There's good music.
Kyle:
So you're getting ready to play your second set.
Cody:
I’m going to get back.
Kyle:
How’s the room feeling for you? How do you like this venue?
Cody:
They’re relaxed and they're comfortable and they're having a good time.
Kyle:
It's not pretentious here. You know, it's like a good little ambience.
Cody:
They're good people and just a great crowd consistently.
Kyle:
The history of the building goes way back.
Sarah:
Like our current bar section is an addition. It was it was over on the other side. So the post office and there is a laundromat at one point and the salon has been there. I think the whole time I got my ears pierced in the salon when I was like five years old. And yeah, there was there is a pawn shop on the other end of the building at one point. It's been through a lot. But this part is pretty much always been a bar.
Kyle:
The venue is split into a bar area and main dining room, which is where the music happens. My favorite meal here, by the way, is Hands Down Crazy Deb's seafood stew. Mm hmm. But I digress. Design wise, it's wood paneled with kitschy signs. An old nautical charts hung up, but the emphasis isn't on aesthetics. This place does the talking with its menu clientele, friendly service and unique energy when music is going on a common. Your meal, but doesn't overpower it. However, when dinner times over, there's plenty of room to dance.
Do you ever book a band and accommodate to the room? Or maybe like the band isn't made for the wrinkle.
Sarah:
Yeah, when we first started, we would have like rock bands more often. And it does not work for our building at all. We need way more noise reducing and we put up a lot of noise reducing panels. But it's a wooden building. It doesn't really work for like a loud, loud rock band. And we've also we had at one point I had booked someone and this other couple showed up and it was just way too mellow for the, for the crowd. People were not into it. People were leaving. And I was like “okay it's like it's snowing, maybe you guys should just pack up.”
I try to never insult anyone, but yeah, you can't ruin the whole night because that's only happened once ever, though. I mean, mostly we have awesome awesome bands
Kyle:
And maybe the unique energy is because it's just so laid back in here.
Sarah:
You'll have a clam diggers sitting next to a millionaire and they're hanging out and buying each other drinks. Yeah, that's what I love about it, too, for sure. Like real people that you want to hang out with.
Kyle:
I mean, this area truly is transforming. You know, and you're stoked on it. I think your Pickled Wrinkle has a lot to do with that, too.
Sarah:
Thank you.
Kyle:
I think you're you're definitely an anchor within this region of, like, cool place to go and get some great food, good music. Do you love just being out and out on the town and sort of hearing people talk about it?
Sarah:
Yeah. Yeah. It’s definitely awesome for us. I grew up in Winter Harbor, so I just remember everything closing down in May and everyone saying, oh, well, you know, no one can support a restaurant in the winter. But I always thought, what about all of us that live here all year? And apparently there are people around that want to go out.
Kyle:
If you build it, they will come.
Sarah:
Exactly.
Kyle:
Excellent. All right, cool. I'm hungry.
I order my favorite meal and listen to the Pitch Black Ribbons play. It's nights like these that remind me why I love living in rural Maine. Being able to drive and visit with my friend Emma in Cherryfield and then swing by the Wrinkle for dinner and a show, maybe even gossip with an old classmate about the drama going on around town. Being comfortable is a big part of what community means when traveling. I'm quick to picture myself, as anyone does when they travel. Living in the town or city, I'm visiting. Fantasizing about new beginnings and a new way of doing things can be so enticing. But in the end, it's just a fantasy because it's Downeast, Maine that I keep coming back to a place where I have a true sense of belonging and also a place where I can easily venture down Blacks woods Road and momentarily leave all that I know behind.
Announcer:
Check out Schoodic Arts for All located in downtown Winter Harbor. From plays to contra dances, plus art exhibits, movies and more. There's something going on every night of the week. Up next, Lamont ventures to Maine's most remote music venue, Eureka Hall, in Arooksook County, concert by Ben Cosgrove, a traveling composer who translates landscapes into sounds. Subscribe rate in review concert cast on your podcast, app of Choice and type in ConcertCast.live for a music centric itinerary and to learn how you can be part of the show and find us on Spotify to listen to our Maine music playlist. This has been a Good To Go Studios production made in Ellsworth Maine.
Our resident mastermind is Mark Tekushan, our editor and engineer is Pete McGill. Special thanks to the Fremont's string band for their song, Black Road, the Bright Light Social Hour for their song Sea of the Edge and Beach Trash for their song Desperate Nation and to Pepper Little Amy, Charlie, Abbey Rock Jessamine, Corey Chandler, Emma Thieme, Eddie Contento, Jesse Couto.
And thank you for listening.