At Dog Canyon: Fela Becomes FELA!

Me talking Fela at Dog Canyon. Go read it!

At Dog Canyon: Loud & Rich at the UT Ballroom, 11/7

This is my first post for Dog Canyon, in which I review the Loudon Wainwright III/Richard Thompson show from last Saturday. Check it out!

Shoot Out The Lights in New Orleans this weekend

I haven't posted here in a while because, well, I haven't been doing much to promote the book lately.  But this weekend in New Orleans, The Susan Cowsill Band and Peter Holsapple will be performing Shoot Out The Lights in its entirety at Carrollton Station (8140 Willow St), starting around 8:30 on Saturday (that's Sept. 19).



The notice says:

The Susan Cowsill Band (Russ Broussard, drums, Mary LaSang, bass) is joined by Peter Holsapple for this special event on Saturday night. Peter, Susan and Russ are alumni of the illustrious Continental Drifters who did a fair amount of Fairport Convention, Richard Thompson and Sandy Denny songs over the years.

I'm working on a plan to be there.  I'll list any cross-promotional things that come out of this. If you can make it, hope to see you!

Review at Blurt + Audio of Hammer Museum Reading

Blurt Magazine has a review of Shoot Out The Lights online by the Rev. Keith A. Gordon. The good Reverend says:

If all this sounds confusing, well, it is... Childs provides a completely different way of looking at an album from the couple dozen previous 33 1/3 series books that I've read, and the first three or four chapters are difficult to slog through. By the end of the sixth chapter, though, the damn thing begins to make sense, and if you stay on the ride through the end, the insight proffered by Childs is rewarding as well as eye-opening.

Hayden Childs has definitely broken beyond the normal form of rock criticism with his take on Shoot Out The Lights, creating a review of some depth and intelligence, his critique as layered and textured as the album it explores. Whether you're a longtime fan of the Thompsons, or a listener just discovering the brilliant and disturbing Shoot Out The Lights, Childs' book provides the perfect guide to this difficult album.

Thanks! I feel pretty good about that one.

Also, for your pleasure, please take a listen to my reading at the Hammer Museum from October 29 of this year with Scott "If You're Feeling Sinister" Plagenhoef and Kim "In The Aeroplane Over the Sea" Cooper. You can't see the presentation (although maybe I'll figure out a way to put that up here sometime), but you can hear the commentary and music. Scott & Kim were fun co-presenters and the Q&A was a blast.

Edit: I'm unable to embed the player for some reason. The audio is here, though.

2nd edit: I think I worked it out.

Back from L.A.!

Great reading, great experience. Scott Plagenhoef talked about Belle & Sebastian's aesthetic and the changing face of music fandom with the advent of the Internet and the access it provides. I showed Richard & Linda Thompson pictures, some courtesy of Blair Helsing, a new Internet pal who drums in the San Francisco jazz combo Echo Beach Band, and some graphic depictions of Dante's Inferno, while I read from the book. Kim Cooper read parts of her narrative about Neutral Milk Hotel and showed an artist's rendition of the lyrics to "Holland, 1945". We had a pleasant Q&A with the audience and signed some books. I had a number of great friends who showed, plus my brother flew down from the Bay Area. All in all, a wonderful experience. Thanks, Hammer Museum!

Also want to mention that it's 33 1/3 pitch time! Get your pitch together.

Reading in LA TOMORROW

I can hardly believe it myself, but I will be reading from my book at the Hammer Museum in LA tomorrow evening at 7.

Incidentally, I learned a lot from this article, and I think you can, too. (Thanks to the RT List!)

3 x 33 1/3 at the Hammer Museum in LA

It's free! Be there!*

* should you happen to be in the vicinity.

I have a new gig as part of the crack team blogging about movies at The Screengrab, which is Nerve.com's movie page. My first post is up now. It ain't much, but it's a start. I'll post more for tomorrow.