Singin' peace

More than her rich voice sets Streetpeople apart, not only from the slews of streetcorner musicians in town but even from the higher-profile multitudes with guitars. She has a prestigious invitation to perform at the Grushin Festival this July. As the lone American act invited to perform at the Russian equivalent of Woodstock, Streetpeople faces just one obstacle standing between her and the stage: about $3000. On a street performer's salary, it's difficult to afford plane fare to Moscow -- plus some spare change for the 18-hour train ride to Samara, the nearest city to the festival site. Wonder how you go from Downtown Crossing to playing for a crowd of more than 100,000 in Russia? As the old joke goes, practice, practice, practice -- with some luck thrown in for good measure.

Mare, whose Czech surname, Ulicne, actually means "streetpeople," has been performing since she arrived in Boston 17 years ago from Pennsylvania. Days after she arrived here, she played her first gig in front of Faneuil Hall, where to her astonishment she made $100 and met her first manager. In the early '80s, her career took a decidedly different turn -- to the past. She became a Janis Joplin impersonator. Keeping it all in perspective, she says, "I was partying too much. I was turning into her, which was really stupid. I drank a lot of Southern Comfort. It's easy to sing drinking Southern Comfort, but it's not easy to live."

She returned to making original music because of the Gulf War. Frustrated at the prospect of America's entering yet another conflict, she said to a friend, "Just as a joke, why don't we go to the front lines, play our guitars, and see what they do?" Instead she formed the Peacetroupes, a group whose purpose is to "start the war against apathy in our own community." They started out as a varying line-up of jugglers, magicians, and musicians who would entertain at shelters, mental health centers, and nursing homes. "We wanted to play music for people who are always forgotten," Mare explains. In 1992, the Peacetroupes were recognized with a certificate of recognition from Mayor Ray Flynn for their community service.

Streetpeople continued to sing and play guitar in the subway to pay the bills, as well as doing shows at Catch a Rising Star and the Middle East. It was at the Middle East one night that a new venture occurred to her. As fellow Peacetrouper Karen Rosado recalls, "When she had Mare's Menagerie at the Middle East, sometimes while our show was going on there would be throngs of people lining up for the heavy-metal thrash band that was about to go on downstairs. We'd be in the Bakery and there'd be, to us, these scary-lookin' dudes, and they'd be smoking and talking. A lot of times there would be leakage of noise from the back room to the front. We were minimally amped, mostly guitar with one voice accompanying. They came out and were asking us to turn down! That was one of the nights we realized we had to get our own space."

In November 1994, Mare and Karen started Sweetie's Café, a once-a-month coffeehouse at the Congregational Church on Garden Street featuring a variety of acts in a smoke-free, alcohol-free environment. Coming up on March 23 is the Russian Tea Room Party, a fundraiser for Mare's trip to the Grushin Festival. A celebration of Russian culture, it will include Russian concert pianist Sophia Zamanskaya, a video of the festival itself, a lecture by Elderhostel tourguide Ludmilla Toman, and plenty of Russian food. It was a Sweetie's patron, Ludmilla Sereyhk, who suggested Mare to the Grushin organizers. A Russian who was then studying at Harvard, Sereyhk hopes to be on hand at the festival herself, to translate lyrics.

All that remains to put Streetpeople and the Peacetroupes on the road to Russia is the fundraising, which must be completed by May. (The group's grant proposals have been turned down because it is neither a non-profit organization nor an educational group.) Mare has been paying the rent by performing and selling cassettes of her Mare Streetpeople album and other works on her Now or Never Productions label. But it will take more than quarters in a guitar case to send her to Grushin.

The next Sweetie's Café will be March 23 at 8 p.m. at the Congregational Church, 11 Garden Street, Cambridge. Donations can be sent to Karen Rosado, Box 79211, Belmont 02179-0211. Call 489-5990 for info.