[Artwork by ALEX FINE]

BY JONATHAN VALANIA It all started, for me anyway, at Brooke Sietinsons‘ walk-up loft/hobbit hole on Second Street, somewhere in that OK Corral-esque strip between the Standard Tap and the 700 Club. Even though she no longer lives there, the exact location will have to remain a secret because, technically speaking, L&I could still fine her for dispensing the Morning Glory seeds of Philly freak-folkdom without a permit. But the select initiates invited to these hash-pipe hootenannies — culled from some of the most remote and impenetrable redoubts of local bohemia — know where I’m talking about. A Jesus-haired figure sits crosslegged on the floor, illuminated by flickering sepia-toned film footage, strumming an acoustic guitar and ululating like Billie Holiday and Janis Joplin locked in dual cunnilingus in a crater on the dark side of the moon. His name, I later learn, is Devendra Banhart. Soon enough, many will know his name. MORE

Devendra Banhart and the Grogs with Luke Rathborne “Special Seated Show” Tickets All Ages Tuesday 11/24/09 at 7:30 PM Theatre of the Living Arts Philadelphia, PA