The Rural We: Karl Mullen
Painter and musician Karl Mullen may have been born in Dublin, Ireland, but the community-minded expatriate has been in the States since he was 20 years old. For the past five of those years, he’s been a Williamstown resident, organizing BarN concerts and managing the Barntone record label, while also performing with his band Long Journey, and holding song circles and communal readings including an annual Bloomsday event.
I grew up in Dublin, Ireland and came to the U.S. in 1976, when I was 20. I’ve always been drawn to American culture: the literature, the music, the Beat poets. I was mesmerized by American cities. But I like living in the countryside, because it reminds me of Ireland. It’s gorgeous here in summer and winter, and there are a lot of interesting people; it’s certainly never dull. Plus it’s wonderful to have the Clark, WCMA and MASS MoCA in your backyard.
I moved to Williamstown five years ago. Before that, I’d been booking music for World Café Live in Philly, and met my wife, Merritt, at SXSW. She was living in Washington, D.C., but when we found out she was pregnant with twins, we agreed that the city was not a great place to raise babies. She said “Have you heard of Williams College?" I said “I’ve only heard of Hank Williams." She had gone to a graduate program there, and we thought we could never make it happen here, but somehow we did. Now we put on a “Hank Williamstown" night on the Thursday before each FreshGrass Festival.
I love getting involved in the music scene wherever I am by jumping in and organizing things, in addition to playing music. I run the Williamstown Songcircle once a month, perform with Long Journey as a duo and a four-piece, and host the BarN concert series. I’d been a booking agent for 30 years, so people would still call me and ask if they could perform. We hosted a few house concerts, then moved the shows to the barn. The series is great fun, it’s getting a good reputation, and many performers have said that the barn is one of their favorite places to play. The audience enjoys it because it’s an intimate venue where they can make eye contact with the artists, meet them afterwards, and support them by buying merch directly from them.
In the wintertime, we hold the shows at The Williams Inn and the next one is Friday, Feb. 5. The Sea The Sea from Chatham, N.Y., a duo who also performs in Sean Rowe’s backing band, will be performing.
I’ve always been a painter and musician, and there’s not that much difference between them. I painted in anonymity for years, then started showing at outsider art fairs. I’ve shown my work locally at Dottie’s, The Whitney, and in last year’s 10x10 Festival. I’ve also done book and album covers; Texas songwriter Eric Taylor used my painting on an album which ended up being nominated for a Grammy.
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