time-consuming process of creating original art. He did as many as 12 fliers a
week, including some for shows at The
Ritz, Local 506 and Go!, and he painted a
mural of a cat that still graces the Cradle’s
walls. When he silk-screened a poster, he’d
often work late at night after everybody
had gone home, using the club’s pool table
as an art stand.
Over 10 years, Burns created posters
for a number of area artists — Tift Merritt
’00, Southern Culture on the Skids,
Superchunk, Don Dixon ’ 73, Two Dollar
Pistols, and his own band (The Nein) —
and national and international acts including Mogwai, Lucinda Williams, Yo La
Tengo, Joan Baez, Sex Pistols, The Flaming
Lips and Burning Spear. Often band feedback was generic — “Whoa, killer poster!
Thanks, dude!” — but Sonic Youth was
ecstatic that he’d captured their style. To
Burns, a longtime fan, that meant a lot.
He heard from bands and band
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