Singers hone talent at open mike

Open mike night Wednesdays at Soma 36 in Orono has its share of novices, but a couple of the regulars there take their music beyond just one night into something a little more all-encompassing. The beginnings of a serious music career, let’s say, at least in the cases of Wood Burning Cat and Sarah Theriault-Cotton.

Let’s get one thing straight: Wood Burning Cat is Jason Unterreiner. Jason Unterreiner is Wood Burning Cat.

Wood Burning Cat? What the… ?

“It’s from the Garfield Christmas special. It’s a joke I never got,” said Unterreiner. “The grandmother picked up Garfield and said ‘Well I’ll be! I remember when all we had were wood burning cats.’ I used to watch that over and over again as a kid and never questioned it, and then I watched it last Christmas and thought ‘What does that mean?'”

OK. Anyway, Wood Burning Cat is the stage name of Unterreiner, a 23-year-old singer-songwriter who accompanies himself on guitar and preprogrammed drums, bass and synthesizer during his short, funny live sets. He can almost always be seen every open mike night, as well as various gigs in Farmington and Portland, playing his deceptively simple pop songs to a growing audience.

“My general sound is based a lot on old power pop and on more contemporary indie rock,” said Unterreiner. “I really like the Mae Shi, Weezer, the Dismemberment Plan, Against Me! and the Mountain Goats. But I also consider the DIY ethic of a lot of punk bands to be a real influence. The way music is made inspires me just as much as the actual music.”

“I don’t really consider myself a talented musician,” he said, though most would doubt that, seeing him live. “I don’t care if anyone thinks I’m a good guitar player. I just want to showcase what I think is solid songwriting and good melodies.”

He also likes to berate his listeners when he’s playing live – someone new to his music might not realize it’s a joke when he starts making fun of people, and he enjoys it when people yell right back.

“It’s kind of a way that I combat stage fright. It’s hard to seem all that nervous onstage when you’re yelling at people,” he said. “It’s also the exact kind of thing that I find hilarious. None of the bands I’ve ever been in let me have a mike, because they know I’ll do stuff like that.”

Consider him the Don Rickles of local indie rock or Unterreiner, the Insult Comic Wood Burning Cat.

Sarah Theriault-Cotton is a 21-year-old audio engineering student at the New England School of Communications who’s been playing guitar ever since she first heard the Who’s “Tommy” when she was 14.

“That album kind of changed everything,” said Theriault-Cotton. “Pink Floyd, too. I just picked up guitar one day and taught myself to play.”

With her cherry pink hair and big black boots, you’d think she was more of a punk rocker. But Theriault-Cotton’s style is more similar to modern torch singers like Neko Case and Cat Power, though she personally draws songwriting influence from Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan.

“They opened up my eyes to songwriting,” she said. “Songwriting is about letting out your soul, but not too much of your soul. I write love songs. I try to write political songs, but I don’t like to get into it too much, cause that means I have to be responsible for it in some way. I just want people to be able to relate to it. I like more simple music. I just got into ACDC, too, and it’s the same thing. It’s nothing crazy or intricate. It’s very basic and I like that.”

What sticks out most about Theriault-Cotton is her voice: a big, emotive instrument that she uses to full effect. And like with her guitar skills, she’s entirely self taught.

“I don’t do vocal exercises or anything,” she laughed. “I’m just concentrating on the emotions.”

She’s a member of the Maine Songwriter’s Association, a Portland-based group for songwriters in Maine. She’s also putting the finishing touches on her first full length album, “Higher Criticism in Low Light,” which she recorded herself, on a digital eight track recorder. There’s also rumors that she and a certain Wood Burning Cat may be starting a band, with another open mike night regular, the talented young guitarist Tony Bitetti. But you didn’t hear that from me.

“I’d like to help out around here, and help out the scene,” she said. “There’s a lot of potential for something really great here.”

For information on Wood Burning Cat and Sarah Theriault-Cotton, visit www.myspace.com/woodburningcat and www.myspace.com/sarahtheriaultcotton. Emily Burnham can be reached at eburnham@bangordailynews.net.