The other day on Buzzfeed, Louis Peitzman put together a list of the 25 Most Challenging Books You Will Ever Read. I was disappointed to see that I had read ZERO of the books on the list. As someone who prides herself on (attempting to be) well read this was a punch in the gut. It got me thinking about difficult books. Hard books. Challenging books. What’s the deal with those guys? Read more
For a variety of reasons I didn’t much care much for S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders. The sentences were pretty bland (I’m a words guy) and the story was overly dramatic. But like any good Bushwick artist, I stuck with the dumb book to the stupid end, only with one slight tweak. While reading I imagined the Greasers and the Socs as members of rival boy bands, fighting for girls’ hearts while doing whatever it took to get to the top of the charts (now that’s a book!). This was not hard to do, especially since as a kid I had been witness to the movie version of The Outsiders which was jam packed with all my favorite 1980s Tiger Beat Heart Throbs including C. Thomas Howell, Ralph Macchio, Tom Cruise and The Swayze (R.I.P.). My inspiration for this song came from that boy band premise. So I threw in a few lyrical references to the book and did my best to make a boy bandy-esque song that would make all the teenage girls squeal. And squeal they did (or at least they did in my head).
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This week’s Bushwick song of the week is…. (drum roll)
“Fade to White” by Mozo | inspired by Dan Savage’s The Commitment
This song is inspired by Dan Savage’s The Commitment, and was performed and written for our benefit for Music for Marriage Equality. For this night, there were so many ideas floating around about marriage and love.
Are you ready for another Song of the Week? I hope so because here it comes.
“Animal Not Important” by Karen Lindenberg | inspired by Ellen Forney’s Lust
All right, everyone. It is time to go for a ride through the world of… ummm… Animal Costume Sex! For this event, we asked the musicians to pick their favorite illustration from Ellen Forney’s book Lust, a book inspired by the online personal ads of The Strangers Lust Lab, and then use it as inspiration to write a song. Double inspiration!I know it seems a little weird to start off a blog talking about songwriting this way, but the truth is Karen Lindenberg really nailed the curiosity of how one could not care about which animal they would want their lover/complete stranger to dress up as. It is quite curious indeed and maybe even a little confusing.
It’s time for another “Song of the Week”. In these articles I talk about some of my favorite tunes inspired by Books. We can all agree that music inspired by books is awesome and I’m gonna tell you why.
“A Little Less Each Day” by Anna Coogan | inspired by Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity
photo by Wade Trenbeath
Every time I hear this song I find myself closing my eyes in an attempt to listen to it harder than I did the previous time. I love a simple opening guitar line, especially when I know what is coming next.
Anna was out on tour during the time she had to read Nick Hornbys’ High Fidelity and write the song. I believe she was in somewhere in Europe with her band. I could really feel her inspiration coming from believing in love, and what long distance can do to being in love. This is something I can relate to from my life’s experience, even if my feelings weren’t exactly the same as the way the tune came out for her. Read more
Most people remember at least a few stories from those early years of reading that stick out as something special. The pool of childhood storytellers is wide and deep, from Maurice Sendak to Dr. Seuss, Roald Dahl to Madeleine L’Engle, J.K. Rowling to Mark Twain, and more and more and more. What are the first three books that influenced your distinct perspective?
Today, Bushwick reader and performer, Debbie Miller, shares her memories of the first books on her shelf. Debbie is a clever singer-songwriter originally from Long Island, and has written and performed 5-star hits at Bushwick Book Club shows inspired by books such as Alice in Wonderland, 1984, A People’s History of the United States, and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. Read more
Every day last week KBCS 91.3 FM broadcasted a radio segment featuring a Bushwick artist performing music inspired by Michael Pollan. In case you missed the original broadcast, those segments are now available for download. Enjoy! The links are below. Read more
New artists imitate, great artists steal.
(I was asked to write a post explaining the basics of copyright in music. This is not really that post.)
An original musical work is protected by copyright law the instant that the artist (or artists) first records it or writes it down. An unrecorded session doesn’t create any lasting rights, copyright-wise at least. After a first recording, a musician has a protected copyright in both the song as a musical composition and the recorded version of the song as a sound recording. This assumes the songwriter and performer are the same. It seems strange now, but back in the old days music had to be put in notational form to gain copyright protection. In practice, a musical composition and a sound recording are typically owned by different people and different sets of rules and rights apply to each. Read more
One wonderful aspect of the Bushwick Book Club: it conducts art across fields, generating new creation. From textual to musical, prose to lyrical. Inspiration via artistic translation and cross-pollination is a wonderful phenomenon with a rich, varied history.
I heard my own favorite example of this occurrence at a Seattle performance years ago. Back when Consolidated Works was a happening venue, the pianist Jason Moran (a recent MacArthur Award winner, deservedly in my estimation) came to town and used mesmerizing artistic translation in a solo piece.
The video below is the same song he played that night. Check it out–I’ll bet you’ve never heard anything quite like it. (Although this version is with a trio, you’ll get the idea even if you only listen for a minute). Do you know Turkish? In addition to piano, bass and drums you’ll hear a woman in Istanbul chatting with her mother on a cell phone. What to listen for? Hint: the night I heard this tune my friend turned to me, noticed my furrowed brow, and said: “He’s playing a note on every syllable.” This ordinary conversation becomes the tonal palette for Moran’s composition. Read more
Hear ye! Hear ye! Please direct your attention toward your computer screen so that I may inform you of a thrilling spectacle of the musical variety that will be taking place in your neck of the woods in no less than a few short hours from this very moment. (Gasp!) If you continue to read this I cannot guarantee that your mind will be blown, nor can I guarantee that you will meet the man/woman of your dreams. But I’ll tell you what, for those of you who are fortunate to attend the event of which I speak, I absolutely 100% guarantee that you will witness not one, not two, but THREE featured Bushwick acts, all in one spot and all making incredibly pleasant artistic sounds using nothing more than whatever instruments they happen to bring and their very own mouths! (Double gasp!) So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I present to thee This Tuesday night, July 9th 8pm at The Triple Door Musicquarium Lounge, none other than MoZo, Bradford Loomis, and By The Way. Silly me, I almost forgot to mention the best part… this show is free! (OMG!)
MoZo (Moe Provencher, Aimee Zoe) is a folky/blues group that got their start many years ago busking on the streets of Seattle. This two person politically minded musical empire has graced the Bushwick stage countless times and they are the masterminds behind my favorite track off of Bushwick’s one and only album (#iloveit).
I first met Bradfrod Loomis back in January at The Howard Zinn show where his booming, yet elegantly sincere voice stomped his way into my fragile heart. I’ve been a fan ever since. His new album Into the Great Unknown is fantastic and he most recently won first prize in Bushwick’s Best Beard competition, narrowly edging out comedian Emmett Montgomery. Additionally, the word on the street is that Bradford has been secretly auditioning for NBC’s The Voice. With any luck you will soon be seeing him lay down some silky voice grooves on Team Usher.
The last act in this powerhouse trifecta lineup is the acoustic duo By The Way, featuring Don Hopwood on guitar and voice, and the creator of The Bushwick Book Club Seattle himself, Mr. Geoff Larson on standup bass. I’m not gonna lie, these guys are really really good. They have one album to their credit, Late Night Stumble, which is great and I listen to often. Musical talents aside, By The Way is best known for PISSING ME OFF with their complete and utter lack of a web presence. Come on guys (I’m looking at you Don), this isn’t 1996 anymore, you should have a website. BUILD A STUPID WEBSITE!! It is not that hard.
Well, there you have it. If my blathering didn’t convince you to want to experience this show in all its glory than I don’t know what will. There is no hope for you, you are dead to me. As for the rest, I will see you this Tuesday night at the Triple Door Musicquarium Lounge . Yeeeeehhhaaaaaaaaaaa!!
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