<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2mnFgA_0vlMhWza00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2mnFgA_0vlMhWza00" width="1200" height="628" >The DIY ethos has been a stan­dard for creatives and artistic counterculture since the 1960s. It is a statement against consumerism and the greedy fixation on indus­trialization and capitalism that per­meates mainstream society. With the dog-eat-dog nature of major labels and booking agents who don’t return calls, the music industry often directly influences the decision amongst artists to subscribe to this self-sufficient method of getting their work out there. Bill Bartholomew is a shining example of that in New­port County. The Charlestown native has always been proactive with his creative desires.“I grew up in a pretty isolated, rural part of the state without cable television,” he said. “Music, radio and the surrounding culture was a portal for me to the outside world. The deeper I got into it, the more it became clear to me that it was the world I wanted to live in.” After gaining experience in the Providence area with his high school/college band, Acid Rain Re­vival, Bartholomew moved to New York City, where he spent years working on his songwriting, a pas­sion he continues to perfect. “I’ve always been more of a song person than a musician person,” he said. “Sure, I’m impressed by good technical musicians, but for me I am drawn to songwriting, performance and the culture around it. I still am.” There are many in Newport who will recognize Bartholomew as the frontman of Silverteeth, the indie pop outfit that he started in the early 2010s with his partner Gabriella Rassi, when the two were both active in the fast-paced landscape of the burgeoning alt- rock Brooklyn scene. What was originally a way to make food and rent money with busking on the subway turned into something more genuine and fruitful than the two could ever have imagined. The pair’s subsequent move to New­port came amidst a successful five- year run of recording and touring for Silverteeth. “It was a really important time in my life for a lot of reasons,” he said. Today, Bartholomew is focused on his career as a songwriter. His new EP, called “Icy,” is set to release in early October, alongside a music video that covers all five songs. Listening to this new music, it is clear that Bartholomew aims to start fresh, with a new path for his solo career already laid out. The songs are strikingly different than what audiences might be used to hearing from him. He seems to be processing the dystopian landscape of American capitalism in the wake of a contentious and intense presidential election. The scene this record paints is a per­fect encapsulation of this anxious feeling many people are experi­encing this year. For instance, the EP opens with the title track, a poetically aggres­sive journey that is enriched with tweaked-out synthesizers and a dub-style drum machine pattern. The lyrics evoke feelings of frus­tration and disenchantment with societal division and the loss of camaraderie that has followed as he proclaims, “I’m icy, and quite frankly when we spoke the skyline became pink smoke.” The rest of the EP is a dynamic expedition, with climbs and dips placed all over to keep the listener engaged and focused. The third track, “Rover,” which comes after the soft and lush “Gaza,” might make listeners think of Nine Inch Nails, with Bartholomew’s seam­less ability to blend melody and cacophonous noise into a song. In this song, he continues to conjure up his distaste for what he per­ceives to be the massive diplomatic failures of the U.S. government. “Politics, electioneering: it’s a little undressed. It’s a grownup with a pacifier,” said Bartholomew in what is a glaring dig at the low standards he sees modern day pol­iticians engaging in. The video for the “Icy” EP is just as creative and intriguing as the music. Capturing the actual live vocal take performance, it follows Bartholomew traversing the rooms of Big Nice Studio in Lincoln, with the lighting and mood of each setting corresponding to the song it visualizes. It was done under the production direction of Brad Krieger, who also mixed and mas­tered the EP. On top of this latest push at his solo endeavor, Bartholomew re­mains an active collaborator in the Newport area, doing his best to up­lift the creatives who surround him. “I drum for Gabriela Rassi’s in­credible dream gaze project and for Dave Flamand’s band, Fave. I also play guitar or drum with Randy Robbins, Michael James and Brian Flamand,” he said. “All of my friends in Newport are so inspiring, energizing and creative.” Those are uplifting words from an artist who is truly knowledge­able as to what it takes for a com­munity to exercise proactivity, in­genuity and dedication in creating a fruitful and consummate music scene. Bill Bartholomew will celebrate the release of Icy this fall with a string of shows in Providence and NYC. For more information, visit linktr.ee/bill­bartholomew.</div></body>

Mountain View, CA

NewsBreak

Newport Songwriter Gets Raw and Genuine on New EP

The DIY ethos has been a standard for creatives and artistic counterculture since the 1960s. It is a statement against consumerism and the greedy fixation on industrialization and capitalism that permeates mainstream society. With the dog-eat-dog nature of major labels and booking agents who don’t return calls, the music industry...