Music in the Tavern: Walter Salas-Humara

A Cuban-American whose parents fled Castro’s Havana with him still in the womb, Walter Salas-Humara was raised bilingual across the Florida Straits in Fort Lauderdale. College at the University of Florida in Gainesville and a residency with the Vulgar Boatmen left him with a lifelong habit of Mudcrutch/Tom Petty-style crunchy guitar riffs. Chasing the punk prairie fire to New York just in time to sift through the ashes, he formed The Silos in 1985 with guitarist Bob Rupe and violinist Mary Rowell, plugging the main cable of American rock idiom into the jerry-rigged soundboard of Velvets-era feral experimentalism. The unlikely result, as evidenced by About Her Steps (1986), seminal Cuba (1987), and their RCA debut The Silos (i.e., The One with the Bird on the Cover, 1990), was a loose-limbed conceptual country-rock that, in turn influenced (if not outright inspired) the alt-country No Depression movement just around the corner. The band was voted Best New American Band in Rolling Stone Magazine's Critics' Poll of 1987 and appeared on Late Night with David Letterman in 1990.

Stanley-Whitman House's Music in the Tavern Series presents artists and shows differently than a club show- instead, our house concert is more up close and personal. All of the artifice is stripped away. There is no stage, no dressing rooms, and no barrier between the performer and the audience. The SWH Music in the Tavern series is more like being one step closer to how music was intended- an artist traveling from town to town, telling stories, and making friends. Come check this out!

In 1935, Stanley-Whitman House was established as Farmington's first museum. It is a nationally recognized historic house museum and living history center that teaches through the collection, preservation, research, and dynamic interpretation of the history and culture of early Farmington, Connecticut. Programs, events, classes, and exhibits encourage visitors of all ages to immerse themselves in history by doing, acting, questioning, and engaging in colonial life and the ideas that formed the foundation of that culture.

Located in the historic village of Farmington, the museum facility centers on a circa 1720 National Historic Landmark house furnished with period antiques to reflect the everyday activities of Colonial life in Connecticut. Surrounding the house are period-raised bed gardens, an apple orchard, and heritage stone walls.

The public service areas of the museum, constructed in 2004, include a modern classroom, a period tavern room, a post-and-beam Welcome Center, a research library, an exhibit gallery, the Nancy Conklin History Gallery, and a collection storage area.

In addition to managing Memento Mori, Farmington’s ancient cemetery on Main Street, and the Village Green, located at the intersection of Routes 4 and 10, the museum also oversees the Scott Swamp Cemetery on Route 6. The Stanley-Whitman House is supported in part by the Farmington Village Green and Library Association.

At Stanley Whitman House, our commitment to accessibility is paramount. While not all of our programs are free, we strive to offer as many as possible at no cost, thanks to the generous support of our underwriters. If you wish to assist us in this mission, we welcome donations, which help us to expand further and diversify our range of activities. Your contributions play a crucial role in maintaining and increasing the accessibility of our programs.

Host or Publisher Stanley-Whitman House