Listening to Resolver, the latest offering from Footings, you’d never know that the main creative force behind the distinctive rock outfit got his musical bearings playing in hardcore bands. Footings blend acoustic sounds with electronic elements and straddle that fine line between folk and indie rock. The band produces moody, stark, and downright haunting sounds, all punctuated by the wry lyricism of Eric Gagne, a name you may recognize for a number of reasons.

Gagne and his wife, Mary Goldthwaite-Gagne, co-founded the annual Thing In The Spring arts festival. In addition, Gagne—who has been writing songs since the age of 13—has done time with several distinguished groups, including Death to Tyrants, Redwing Blackbird, Dweller, and Passerine.

“I also had a band in high school, [and did] some embarrassing stuff in college, but thankfully this was before the Internet as we know it,” Gagne quips. “I’m pretty happy to have the chance to go out and play music, and have people interested in the songs I write.”

Footings. Photo by Michael Gunlach

Footings is Gagne, who was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, but grew up in Rindge, New Hampshire, and Elisabeth Fuschia, who has been playing viola since the age of 3 and has lived for years in Northampton, Massachusetts.

Since the band’s inception, Footings have rightly drawn comparisons to both Songs: Ohia and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. But even fans of acts like Dinosaur Jr. and Andrew Bird will find themselves transfixed by Footing’s brilliant compositions.

Gagne says the band spent nine months on Resolver, which was released in early August. “When I am thinking about or writing a song, I always feel like I’m accessing memories from growing up, which all took place in the woods, or with people who are from the same kind of area,” Gagne says. “So even when I’m thinking about driving down 95 to Washington, D.C., it’s like we’re shooting out of a deep forest into this strange and uncanny place.”

Footings play live throughout New England, and can be seen regularly at venues in Burlington, Vermont, Portland, Maine, and up and down New Hampshire’s seacoast. “We love that you can tour for two weeks for under $200 of gas,” Gagne says. “Generally, it’s amazing that such a small geographical area can support so many artistic communities. I have friends that I see once a year on tour whom I would drop anything for if they needed me. That is a special thing; fostering those kinds of relationships.”

He adds about being a New England musician: “It’s amazing to get to hear so many artists too; to keep up with all of my friends who write and perform, as well as getting to meet new people and hear new things.”

Want to know what’s on Gagne’s playlist when he’s not performing with Footings? Check out our Take a Listen Spotify channel to find out. While there, listen to what the other musicians we’ve profiled have on their playlists.

Eric Gagne — Guitarist and vocalist for Footings
Peterborough, New Hampshire
Website
Facebook

Top image: Footings. Photo by Britt Shorter

The post Footings’ Musical Foundations appeared first on Take Magazine.

While Mary Goldthwaite-Gagne is probably best known as an artist for her cut paper illustrations, she has many identities, all of which are connected. As an exhibiting artist, full-time high school art teacher, and co-founder of The Glass Museum, she plays a major role in the Peterborough arts community. Though much like paper cutting, the added challenge in Goldthwaite-Gagne’s life is that the entire piece has to hold together as one connected structure in the end.

“Of course, there is a constant search for balance between all of these identities,” Goldthwaite-Gagne says. “It is a challenge to ever feel like I am excelling at all of these things simultaneously.” Yet as the recipient of the 2013 New Hampshire Civic Leader of the Year Award and a 2017 PBS Digital Innovator, it’s clear Goldthwaite-Gagne is making a positive impact in her community.

Becoming a parent has given Goldthwaite-Gagne a greater sense of urgency in teaching and community building in general. “I am constantly asking myself if I’m helping to cultivate a school culture that I would be happy having my child be part of,” says Goldthwaite-Gagne. “I really love living and teaching in the same community; I can’t imagine dividing my energy into different communities simultaneously.”

Outside the classroom, Goldthwaite-Gagne’s art was recently featured in the 2017 Whitney Houston Biennial: Greatest Love of All exhibit in New York City. She has also been working on a series of portraits of women she admires. Her goal for 2017 is to create at least 52 portraits, which she will debut at Aviary Gallery in Jamaica Plain in early 2018. “This started with a poster project that I created this past fall to raise money for Planned Parenthood,” says Goldthwaite-Gagne. She chose nine of her creative heroes: Alma Thomas, Nancy Spero, Yoko Ono, Eva Hesse, The Guerilla Girls, Margaret Kilgallen, Zadie Smith, Swoon, and Sarah Urist Green. Goldthwaite-Gagne sold 50 posters in one day, and raised $500 for Planned Parenthood.

Through The Glass Museum, a 501c3 non-profit organization that began in early 2008, Goldthwaite-Gagne and her co-founder and husband, Eric, produce Broke: The Affordable Arts Fair and The Thing in the Spring concert series. Their mission? To bring world-renowned music and high quality affordable art to the Peterborough community at large.

The duo did not set out to build an arts non-profit. Initially, things started out with modest music and arts events around Peterborough, but over the years the scale of these events has grown exponentially. “The guiding principle of Broke has always been that art is for everybody,” Goldthwaite-Gagne says. “We are committed to always offering free admission to the public, keeping the work on sale under $50, and maintaining affordable tabling fees for vendors.” These days, Broke frequently receives more applicants than they can accommodate, often times twice as many.

“To me, these projects are really about bringing the art and music that we love to Peterborough, which is a really singular and special place,” says Goldthwaite-Gagne.

Mary Goldthwaite-Gagne–artist/teacher/co-founder of the Glass Museum
Peterborough, New Hampshire
Website 
Facebook
Instagram

The post The Job-Defying Mary Goldthwaite-Gagne appeared first on Take Magazine.