Blog Elements | The Bushwick Book Club Seattle

This week’s Bushwick Song of the Week is a bluegrass tune written a few years back by Galen Green. It’s titled The Golden Key and was inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland. Here is what Galen had to say about his inspiration behind the song:

I was listening to a lot of bluegrass and old-timey music at the time I wrote that song. Ralph Stanley, murder ballads, that sort of thing. I really enjoy the language in bluegrass music. It can sound fancy and flowery, but really plain at the same time. It usually has a strong narrative. Plus there are certain lyrical motifs and metaphors that always pop up, like traveling, alienation, despair, longing, salvation, damnation, the promised land, and of course getting really drunk. I thought Alice In Wonderland – a book about a young girl getting lost, eating magic mushrooms, carousing with disreputable creatures, finding a hidden magic kingdom, pissing everyone off, nearly being executed, and finally finding her way back home before anyone noticed she was missing – was a bluegrass song waiting to happen. After that, it pretty much wrote itself. The only problem was that I could fit just a single chapter of the book into my song, so it might work better as some sort of bluegrass-opera concept album.

— Galen Green

Did someone just say “bluegrass-opera concept album?!” That sounds incredible. I’m really hoping that happens at some point. But until then, check out Galen’s fantastic song below — plus you can download it for FREE. It was recorded live on January 6, 2012 at the Fremont Abbey.

Don’t forget to download it. It is FREE! Just click on the blue “download” link below and you’ll be all set.

<a href="http://thebushwickbookclubseattle.bandcamp.com/album/the-queen-of-hearts-original-music-inspired-by-lewis-carrolls-alice-in-wonderland">The Queen of Hearts: original music inspired by Lewis Carrolls' Alice In Wonderland by Galen Green</a>

For more info about Galen Green visit his website — galengreen.com

The Bookshelf Report is an ongoing series where a Bushwick reader invites us into their home and shares a little bit about the books that occupy their shelves.

Today’s bookshelf comes from one of our very Bushwick Blog writers, Kerry Garvin. She has recently moved and her bookshelves are as pristine as ever. Let’s take a look and what she’s got going on.

How do you organize your books?

I organize my books by category or genre. All the cookbooks are on a shelf in the kitchen and all the craft books are on a shelf in the craft supplies cabinet. In my living room, I have a pile of comic and cartoon related coffee table books for easy access and in the hallway I have two small bookshelves of books I’ve read and want to reread and books I haven’t read yet. The top shelf here is devoted to children’s books I’ve found at used bookstores and want to reread and write Bushwick Blog posts about. The other shelves are mostly Young Adult novels, but there are some non-fiction and fiction for grown-ups mixed in as well.

Half Sized Blog Element (Single Author Style)

Half Sized Blog Element (Multi Author Style)

Song of the Week: The Golden Key by Galen Green | Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland

Bookshelf Report: Staying Fit With Superheros, R. Kelly and Tacos

Song of the Week: The Golden Key by Galen Green | Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland

Bookshelf Report: Staying Fit With Superheros, R. Kelly and Tacos

Full Sized Blog Element (Big Preview Pic)

Song of the Week: The Golden Key by Galen Green | Inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland

Bookshelf Report: Staying Fit With Superheros, R. Kelly and Tacos

How do you organize your books?

Connect With Bushwick

PARTNERS