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Day: August 9, 2021

Water tower over the Cass Corridor, Detroit

Water tower over the Cass Corridor, Detroit

The lifecycle of a creative hub in American cities is interestingly similar. Cass Corridor in Midtown Detroit is an example of that. A working-class neighborhood – for whatever reason – becomes increasingly impoverished. With poverty comes crime and a lack of opportunity, and an economic spiral that eventually slows, but rarely stops. And unlike abandoned industrial areas (where large parcels of land decay and hulking structures crumble and people only exist pedestrians, travelers, or squatters), neighborhoods still have homes. Perhaps they’re neglected or damaged, but these neighborhoods have living spaces. And affordable places to eat and drink.

And that brings the artists. People looking for an inexpensive roof over their head and a cheap meal and a place to gather and have a beer. And they’re willing to weather the crime and the danger for an affordable place to create. And art tends to attract more artists, and eventually, the neighborhood becomes an interesting place to live. For a while, those areas have a Golden Age where crime is down, art is abundant, costs are cheap, and a true, genuine community is formed. These Golden Ages last until rent prices are driven too high, restaurants are no longer affordable, and community gathering places become havens for small groups of private individuals who never acknowledge or engage each other.

Wicker Park in Chicago. Williamsburg in Brooklyn. Most of Austin, Texas. They’ve all seen this same familiar cycle.

And now Cass Corridor – once a hub of violent crime, drugs, and prostitution – bears the same strange heavy-haunched nobility of an over-the-hill heavyweight champion. It walks an ever-uneasy tightrope, trying to balance generations of widely differing communities, the sheen of a history of artistic genius, and the plodding weight of the spoils of victory. It is beautiful and it is tired. It is not what it once was – for better and for worse – but it knows that few have ever been what it once was. It is a history simultaneously whitewashed and celebrated.

I can understand why people love it, and I can understand why people hate it. I’m just sad I never saw it in its prime.

Anyway, this water tower still stands above it on Canfield Avenue.

August 9, 2021 No comment(s) Travel
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addetrick

A bunch of upcoming shows in the next two months! A bunch of upcoming shows in the next two months! I've currently got three poetry features and nine gigs with all three bands! Check the link in my bio for times, locations, and links to tickets!
Here's your chance to see a free show and help me Here's your chance to see a free show and help me out! 

On FRIDAY, OCTOBER 11, my new acoustic duo, @mainstreethowl, will be performing at Leisure Club (1610 Oak St, Columbus). The entire performance will be recorded, so it's sure to be a good performance!

Leisure Club is a great venue for this kind of intimate performance! The event is free but seats will limited, so RSVP here - either in the comments or via Messenger - to make sure you have a spot.

Doors open at 6:30, and the show is from 7 - 8:30pm. Come on out and have a comfortable hang-out with us!
@thepoetryfestival is a brand-new poetry festival @thepoetryfestival is a brand-new poetry festival happening in Columbus on September 28 and 29. On Sunday, @poetry_cauldron_cbus will be presenting an hourlong feature, "Necessity In Verse", with:

Host/emcee: @addetrick 
Poets: @cmbarga.poetry 
 @charitydetrick 
 @suzflatt 
 @lowclasspoet 

The event is free, but you need to register! Come out and see us!
TWO SHOWS TOMORROW!! I start the day off singin' TWO SHOWS TOMORROW!!

I start the day off singin' the blues from 12n-4p with A.D. Detrick & Anything Blue at the Ye Olde Mill-Velvet Ice Cream Blues Brews & Barbecue in Utica, OH.

Then, closing the night out with rock & roll from Ragtop Down at the Memorial Run for American Thunder MC in Woodstock! Hog roast, biker games, generalized shenanigans!

Both are open to the public! 
Come out and see me!
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