Willis Earl Beal Just Spent Two Weeks In Jail
Willis Earl Beal’s Noctunes is due at the end of the month, but as Spin points out, the outsider-art troubadour just spent part of the promotional cycle behind bars. A police report indicates that Beal was arrested in Portland on 7/23 on misdemeanor charges of criminal mischief and harassment. Beal’s rep confirms that he was incarcerated until his release yesterday. A tweet from performer Jean Smith aka Mecca Normal indicates that Beal’s arrest had something to do with a broken window in a venue; Beal’s rep told Spin those “assumptions are correct.” Portland resident Melanie Roberts set up a YouCaring fundraiser geared toward paying Beal’s $400 bail, which reads, “All great artists have a crazy night every now and then. That doesn’t mean they deserve to be in jail for an indefinite amount of time.”