The Fine Print
by Elisabeth A. Parker, 1991

-- Lee Kidd, Coffeehouse Activist and cofounder of the Naked City Coffeehouse

The Naked City Coffeehouse was started in January 1989, by Chris Dunn and Lee Kidd.

"It was the same night that George Bush was inaugurated,"Dunn mentions. | "I challenge Bush to I compare records with us," he adds jestingly. Bush would probably emerge defeated because (quite unlike our state of national affairs) the coffeehouse has enjoyed considerable success. Dunn and Kidd used to hang out in Harvard Square reading poetry to each other, and play music Saturday nights at the Desolate Angel Coffeehouse. Eventually they decided to expand and make it a regular thing.

Held every Wednesday night in Allston, the Naked City Coffeehouse draws anywhere between 30 to 100 people to share original poetry and acoustic folk and blues music. For a mere $3.00, you can enjoy coffee in an atmosphere of comraderie with creative, eccentric folk. A supportive attitude encourages everyone to get up on stage. Performers with varying levels of talent often impress and rarely fail to be interesting.

Watermelon Slim (a Cantab Lounge Blues Jam regular) sometimes drops by and plays authentic old-man-on-the-steps-of-the-shanty type blues on his battered metal Gibson. Lightning-fast, clattering spoons, wielded adroitly by Honor Havoc, comprise the rhythm section. Ryk McIntyre holds audiences with impassioned poetry readings laced with broad humor. Other guests include local storyteller Brother Blue; authentic mime Billy Barnum; and the scorching funk/jazz/fusion band, Bad Art Ensemble.

The Naked City Coffeehouse keeps its regulars and interested others abreast of activities through their magazine, Squawk. Featuring coffeehouse scene updates, personality profiles, original poetry and cartoons, this cleanly laid out, xeroxed ‘zine is put together by Mick Cusimano (whose cartoons sometimes appear in The Fine Print), character actress Jessa, and coffeehouse activist and poet, Lee Kidd. "It’s the emerging mouthpiece of the Squawk Generation," states Jessa. "Newly hatched," quips Cusimano. "It’s like the Beats in the 50’s who we will replace; it’s raw, fresh energy that’s still evolving," Kidd affirms.

Squawk adds a unique dimension by including the perspectives of their Soviet Squawk Generation counterparts. Cusimano began corresponding with Alik Olisevich and his friends after reading about Olisevich’s magazine White, a St. Petersburg rock scene publication, in Factsheet 5 (Factsheet 5, Mike Gunderloy’s mammoth ‘zine of ‘zines, reviews underground publications and alternative music from around the world.) The letters passing back and forth between Cusimano, Jessa, Kidd, and their pen pals continue to generate an exchange of ideas. Check out their open mike venue!