Fall Music Issue 2006: The Great Unkowns

Adam Arcuragi and 11 other Philly music secrets we can't keep.

by Patrick Rapa

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Published: Oct 11, 2006

How much do we really know about our neighbors? Are they mere lollygaggers and wastrels content to jam with their beatnik friends and rock out in their blacklit basements, or are they plotting something? A paradigm shift, a new world order, a coup?

They've worked in secret, mostly by cover of night, for far too long. It's high time we found out what these people are capable of.

So.

The artists in this Music Issue are the essentials, the ones we really need to know about. In fact, some of these mysterious figures are already well-known somewhere else, in different circles, in different countries — like the ones A.D.'s lined up for his Big In Japan piece. Are they patriots spreading musical democracy, or spies with sinister intentions? Those are the only two options!

Meanwhile, others have been operating in our midsts for so long, we may have grown complacent to their presence. But be on guard.

Did you know that charismatic jazz kingpin Jack Wright has built a compound up on Spring Garden Street for himself and his disciples?

Or that Voices of Africa has been initiating hapless thrillseekers into its percussion-and-a-cappella lifestyle for two decades now?

How about Marc-André Hamelin? Can anyone tell me what one of the greatest living pianists is doing living in Queen Village? That's very suspicious.

And this guy Paul Romano — in recent years, he's painted and designed album art in his Northern Liberties home for bands like Mastodon and Dälek. I mean wtf?!

And, damn, what about Keisha Hutchins and Adam Arcuragi? They sing, they play guitar, they write really interesting music. That can't be all there is to them. What makes them tick? Can they be stopped? How come they both have such great hair? I'm totally freaking out right now. They walk among us, people.

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The House That Jack Built
Reappearing Act
Blood on the Canvas
Spiritual Healing
The Secret Star
And the Beat Goes On
Big in Japan