Myrtle Mania
Photos by Teagan Wall
Myrtle (📷: Teagan Wall)
Rick Maguire (Pile) and Carl Shane (Kal Marks) take solo spins at Myrtle on Sunday, 10 August 2025.
Maguire performs tracks off Pile’s new album Sunshine and Balance Beams, out August 15.
Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix
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Hump Nights
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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️ Hump Nights 〰️
Hump Nights
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Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix
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Hump Nights 〰️ Ace the Quiz, Win the Tix 〰️
On a mid-August afternoon, an East Providence bar transforms into a sonic oasis.
Myrtle is unassuming at first glance. Yet the neighborhood bar, sitting at the corner of Waterman Ave. and Ivy St., captures the heart of East Providence’s music scene.
Since husband-and-wife duo Natalie VanLandingham and Tommy Allen opened its doors in 2023, Myrtle has rapidly established itself as a mecca for New England artists. They’ve hosted over 700 free shows, pursuing their goal of nurturing an accessible art scene in the local community.
Myrtle (📷: Teagan Wall)
Glowing with tapestry-filtered midday sun, Myrtle’s eclectic bohemia hummed in anticipation of the electric meditations by Carl Shane (Kal Marks) and Rick Maguire (Pile) last Sunday.
The room stood at attention when the Shane and Maguire, each in turn, took the low-lying stage.
Shane used two pedalboards. He played a soft, raw set of four songs or so, and was light on stage banter, except for one “dad joke.”
Carl Shane (📷: Teagan Wall)
Maguire played more of a variety show. Probably 8-10 songs. Half noise-rock, half singer-songwriter. Some older, some off the new album Sunshine and Balance Beams.
He is bluesy in spirit, but somewhat improvisatory and folky in execution. There’s an emo-rock, Elliot Smith-style yearning to him that translates well to his guitar parts.
Pile’s new album, a self-described “Sisyphean fable concerned with labor and living,” drops August 15.
Rick Maguire (📷: Teagan Wall)
Myrtle seems like nice folks.
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