In 1968, Mingering Mike was just a shy kid living on Barnaby Terrace SE, but he was about to become a soul sensation. That was the year he released his debut LP, Sit’tin by the Window, the first among dozens of albums, 45s, and movie soundtracks he’d make over the next 10 years—including 15 in [...]
Arlington County slashes Artisphere funding. [WTOP]
Kennedy Center announces its 2013-14 season. [Kennedy Center]
The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History adds a gem-laden, 77-carat brooch to its collection. [AP via WTOP]
"Searching for the Seventies: The Documerica Photography Project" comes to National Archives. [Post]
An Adams Morgan mural is in dire need of repairs. [Hola Cultura]
More about Mingering [...]
How Mingering Mike wound up in the Smithsonian [Post]
Local historian pens a history of Loudoun County African Americans who served in the Civil War. [Post]
Officials getting ready to predict the cherry blossoms' peak bloom time for the National Cherry Blossom Festival. [AP via WJLA]
The third annual (e)merge Art Fair now accepting applications. [Art 202]
Drunk History films [...]
Mingering Mike's career as a soul sensation didn't take any of the usual routes to superstardom, nor did his eventual appreciation as an outsider artist. In the 1960s and 1970s, Mike, a shy kid from D.C., produced dozens of albums, 45s, movie soundtracks, and liner notes—including 15 LPs in 1972 alone—corresponding with an elaborate mythology [...]
F. Lennox Campello—D.C. artist, art critic, and keeper of an indispensable art-news blog—is working on a book tentatively titled 100 Washington Artists that will be published in 2011 by Schiffer Books. Over the weekend, he revealed which artists made the cut.
Lists! Always somewhat arbitrary! Always fun to debate! And this one—which features artists veteran and [...]
Three years ago, bass player, DJ, and then record store owner Andy Noble and singer and tailor Black Wolf (born Jesse Davis) decided to put together an old-school soul band to play once a month in Milwaukee. Kings Go Forth, named after a Frank Sinatra movie, ended up with 10 members, all talented players or [...]
D.C.-based fantasy-soul musician/artist Mingering Mike is is auctioning off a hand-painted cardboard 45 to benefit Doctors Without Borders' relief efforts in Haiti. The auction— which is taking place on the Soul Strut message board (FYI: you have to log in to bid)—will end Thursday, January 28th at midnight.
Here's the details from the auction thread:
The [...]
A round-up of recently released vinyl records by D.C.-based labels and bands
Mingering Mike & The Big D: "There's Nothing Wrong With You Baby Pts. 1&2"
The first ever vinyl release from enigmatic D.C. soul musician/artist Mingering Mike. Originally put to tape by Mike and his cousin, Big D, in a bedroom, "There's Nothing Wrong With You [...]
Nerds rejoice. (Let's hope the vinyl skews a little rarer than '80s Kinks and Wes Montgomery LPs!) I'm sure the record fair is going to be well stocked. After all, the fair is being sponsored and promoted by some fine and discerning local tastemakers—Som Records, the Vinyl District, and DC Soul Recordings.
And amazingly, Mingering Mike [...]
Courtesy of Mingering Mike by way of this magazine. It's the latest art from D.C.'s most famous imaginary superstar.
