[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 116 (Thursday, July 23, 2015)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1116-E1117]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   BOSTON GLOBE STORY ON THE NARROWS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES P. McGOVERN

                            of massachusetts

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 23, 2015

  Mr. McGOVERN. Mr. Speaker, for more than 10 years I had the pleasure 
of representing Fall River, a great city with great potential. One of 
the jewels of the city is The Narrows Center for the Arts.
  Founded in 1995, it's a vital part of the community that's helping to 
promote the visual and performing arts. Patrick Norton, one of my 
former aides, is doing excellent work as the Executive Director of The 
Narrows, making it a one-of-a-kind destination.
  I urge my colleagues to read this article in The Boston Globe about 
The Narrows. The next time you visit New England, make sure you visit 
The Narrows to see all that it's doing to showcase artists throughout 
the community.

                 [From The Boston Globe, July 22, 2015]

                   The Narrows Is a Club to Call Home

                            (By Robert Kerr)

       Tom Rush has taken his music to a lot of places in 50 
     years, but no place quite like The Narrows.
       ``Those old, creaky floorboards--you can almost imagine the 
     ghosts of the people who used to work there,'' says Rush, who 
     has sold out the old mill music venue a record 11 times.
       There is something in those floorboards and in the slightly 
     slanted ceiling and in the big windows that provide a 
     striking view of the Braga Bridge and Mount Hope Bay. There 
     is history, reminders of a time when people did indeed work 
     hard in Fall River mills and, among other things, produced 
     more cotton cloth than any other place on earth.
       And now there is music in this wonderfully unlikely top 
     floor place. There is music that draws more and more people 
     to listen in an easy and intimate way. The musicians are 
     close and the audience has climbed those stairs or ridden 
     that elevator to listen and savor and maybe chat up a 
     favorite singer or guitarist.
       ``In 14 years, we've never had idiots,'' says Kathleen 
     Duffy, referring to the clear absence of boozy hustle at The 
     Narrows Center for the Arts.
       She is a retired speech therapist who bakes the brownies 
     that have become a part of music nights at The Narrows. She 
     is one of the dozens of volunteers who keep this mill town 
     miracle going.
       ``We couldn't do it without volunteers,'' says Patrick 
     Norton. ``They help load in shows, load out, sell 
     refreshments. Many have been here eight to 10 years. They're 
     a hard core, grizzled bunch.''
       Norton, a former aide to Congressman Jim McGovern, is the 
     executive director of The Narrows.
       ``I've been a music junkie my whole life. I've been in 
     bands. I wanted to be a rock star.''
       Instead, he resides at the soundboard and books the 
     performers and does what has to be done. He is one of the two 
     people primarily responsible for making it all happen.
       It began humbly, very humbly, about 20 years ago in Bert 
     Harlow's carpentry shop in a mill on the bank of South 
     Watuppa Pond. It was in that part of Fall River known as The 
     Narrows that is between the North and South Watuppa.
       Harlow is a carpenter, a skilled woodworker who has worked 
     in, among other places, Trump Tower in New York City. He even 
     remembers sharing an elevator with Trump, who didn't say 
     hello.
       He is also a Marine veteran of Vietnam whose combat 
     memories play a part in shaping what is an enduring sense of 
     community obligation. With his skilled hands, he created an 
     art gallery in the front of the mill where his shop was. He 
     had a vision of restoring the mill and creating a park.
       ``I want to be involved in doing something good,'' says 
     Harlow. ``For me, it's a way to heal.''
       He thought a coffeehouse would be a good idea. So there was 
     a coffeehouse. It was created in the mid-'90s by a small 
     group of friends, including Norton, who moved some of 
     Harlow's equipment to one side, cleared a small performance 
     space, put some coffee on, and invited musicians to perform 
     in a different kind of place.
       It was the beginning. Audiences were small at first, but 
     there was something about music in that mill setting on the 
     pond that drew people. A move to an adjacent room, where the 
     brick walls were sandblasted and some couches and chairs put 
     in, broadened the appeal.
       Then a developer bought the mill.
       ``He wanted four times the rent,'' says Norton.
       They couldn't afford it. Norton and Harlow went looking. At 
     one point, the mayor of New Bedford offered them free 
     downtown space.
       ``But we're Fall River guys,'' says Norton.
       They met Sam Shapiro, who owned a mill on the waterfront 
     that needed tenants.
       ``He liked what we were doing,'' says Norton. ``From day 
     one, he wanted to make this work.''
       They moved in in July 2001. And it has worked, but it 
     hasn't been easy. There was the building inspector who showed 
     up after their first show to point out the need for a few 
     improvements, such as enclosing the stairways.
       ``When things look a little dicey, something seems to 
     happen to pull us through,'' says Norton.
       There was also the time early on when Harlow said to 
     Norton, ``Let's book Richie Havens.''
       Norton thought it was too big a reach. Havens, the man who 
     kicked off Woodstock, was going to cost four or five times 
     what they had ever paid anyone.
       They gambled. They booked Havens.
       ``The energy that came off that man was incredible,'' says 
     Harlow. ``That was our first sellout.''
       And it was a message to people that there is music in Fall 
     River worth driving for. Maybe settle in for some excellent 
     Portuguese chow at a nearby restaurant, then take in the kind 
     of music people take personally. Tom Rush, Richard Thompson, 
     Los Lobos, Dr. John--all have come to The Narrows and claimed 
     a unique stop on the musical road.
       ``The audience there is special,'' says Rush, who returns 
     in November. ``They come for the music. And they come for a 
     good time, and they're not going to let me stop them.''
       Perhaps the one downside to the story of The Narrows is 
     that it has succeeded almost in spite of the city it's 
     located in. Fall River, a city too well known for squandering 
     opportunity, has not been a big factor in The Narrows' 
     success. And when, on show nights, someone asks for a show of 
     hands from Fall River residents, there are sometimes three or 
     four, sometimes none.
       ``We're attracting the Providence-Barrington crowd,'' says 
     Norton. ``Maybe it's shabby chic.''
       Still, there is a local connection at The Narrows that 
     Norton and Harlow have insisted on and which extends their 
     reach beyond the stage. It is the ``community piece.''
       ``I feel lucky to be involved here,'' says Norton. ``Being 
     around Bert all these years, he's like a big brother. And we 
     want to give back to the community. We believe in Fall 
     River.''
       There are five artists' studios at The Narrows and a 
     gallery designed by Harlow. There is a lot to look at before 
     and after the music. And kids come to learn about art and 
     music. The Narrows even provides buses. Norton's especially 
     proud of the connection with People Inc., the organization 
     that does such good work with the developmentally disabled.
       On a spring morning, musician Mark Cutler was onstage with 
     some of the clients of People Inc. He had been writing songs 
     with them--songs that include ``Do You Hate Mondays Too?'' 
     and ``Mind Your Own Business.'' Cutler played his guitar and 
     his young friends picked up microphones and sang in

[[Page E1117]]

     ways that amazed the people who work with them every day. It 
     was a wonderful show.
       A few weeks later, Cutler was back onstage, this time 
     leading the Schemers, the iconic Rhode Island rock band. It 
     was a CD release party.
       Cutler is positive The Narrows is the only place he could 
     have played those two gigs.

                          ____________________