W♥M

Talking Volumes, with Viet Thanh Nguyen, at the Fitzgerald Theater, St Paul (24 Oct 2023)

10/24 Talking Volumes with Viet Thanh Nguyen hosted by Kerri Miller at The Fitzgerald Theater Highlights Saigon Moi Viet Thanh sitting in the woods Excerpt from A Man of Two Faces D'Lourdes: “Now and Then” Cancelled 92NY event Viet Thanh and his brother Parents in America Mother in Ao Dai Excerpt from A Man of Two Faces D'Lourdes: “Brings Me To Tears” Questions and Answers Book Signing Read More Viet Thanh Nguyen Talking Volumes is hosted by award-winning journalist Kerri Miller, who will be interview/talking to Vietnamese/American author Viet Thanh Nguyen at the Fitzgerald Theater in St Paul, on October 24th. …

Professor and novelist Viet Thanh Nguyen was the special guest for Talking Volumes, hosted by award-winning journalist and MPR News host Kerri Miller.

The show is recorded live at the Fitzgerald Theater, and will air on MPR (Minnesota Public Radio) and online at a later date. You can tune in on October 27 to hear the hour-long conversation with Nguyen and his unconventional memoir A Man of Two Faces.

Miller would bring up a couple of photos from Nguyen’s past to get the conversation going. For example, showing a photo of his parents’ store Saigon Moi, we got to hear how they were the first Vietnamese grocery store in San Jose. He said he never worked in the store, but would count the money as the “family accountant”.

There were two excerpt readings from his book, and immediately after the excerpt, we were treated with a song, sung by Filipina-American, singer-songwriter D’Lourdes. She played two demos, “Now and Then” and “Brings Me To Tears”. Miller had a brief chat with the singer, who was apparently experiencing “cold season.”

After the interview/conversation with Viet Thanh Nguyen ended, they opened the floor for questions and answers. It seems there were a lot of Vietnamese/American fans in the audience, some waiting to ask their questions.

The most interesting one was about the upcoming HBO Max television show, The Sympathizer, based on Nguyen’s debut novel of the same name. The book had won numerous awards, including the 2016 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

According to Nguyen, they are filming in Thailand (since they weren’t allowed to film in Vietnam). The show will feature star Robert Downey Jr., but he promised that everyone else cast in the show are Vietnamese or Asian actors (Hoa Xuande, Fred Nguyen Khan, Toan Le, Ky Duyen, and Sandra Oh).

The best part is that it’s co-showrun by Park Chan-wook (Oldboy) and Don McKellar, and production is by my new favorite distributor/studio A24 (as I previously mentioned in 2022).

After the Q&A, fans lined up to get their books autographed.

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s new memoir A Man of Two Faces is out now on Grove Press.

D’Lourdes with Viet Thanh Nguyen and Kerri Miller

Viet Thanh Nguyen and his older brother Viet Thanh Nguyen and Kerri Miller

D’Lourdes

Make Art (Vuart) Viet Thanh Nguyen and Kerri Miller

Talking Volumes, with Viet Thanh Nguyen at The Fitzgerald Theater, St Paul

vu ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Minneapolis: January 20 to January 21

Read more Minneapolis Music Guide.

01/20 Wolves in the Throne Room at Fine Line Read More Wolves in the Throne Room Black metal band Wolves in the Throne Room announced a 2022 tour in support of their latest album Primordial Arcana. The band will be along Relapse label mates Full of Hell and Portland’s Uada. … Full of Hell Hardcore, grind, death metal band Full of Hell will be touring with Wolves in the Throne Room and UADA this Winter 2022. The band’s latest release, Garden of Burning Apparitions

01/20/2022 Thursday

Wolves In The Throne Room
with Full of Hell and Uada
at Fine Line
first-avenue.com

Update: We just learned that this tour has been canceled due to personal reasons. See message below.

To our beloved fans. The upcoming North American tour will be canceled due to personal reasons. We know that our most dedicated fans already have tickets, so we encourage you to get your refund now and have a bit more cash for the Yuletide season. This is a disappointment for us all…but we promise that we have other plans for live Rituals in the works and we will see you in the New Year.

With love and fire,
A/N/K

Excerpt Halloween: Early Eyes, Cannibal Corpse, Full of Hell, Boiled in Lead:

WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM
wittr.com

Black metal band Wolves in the Throne Room announced a 2022 tour in support of their latest album Primordial Arcana. The band will be along Relapse label mates Full of Hell and Portland’s Uada.

FULL OF HELL
fullofhell.com

Hardcore, grind, death metal band Full of Hell will be touring with Wolves in the Throne Room and UADA this Winter 2022. The band’s latest release, Garden of Burning Apparitions, is available now on Relapse Records.

01/21 DaBaby at Armory Read More DaBaby DaBaby, Azura Amphitheater. $49.50-$199.50 Bryce Vine, Liberty Hall Lawrence. $30-$50 Unlikely Candidates, Bottleneck- Lawrence, $15 …

01/21/2022 Friday

DaBaby
at Armory
armorymn.com

Rapper DaBaby will be stopping by the Armory in Minneapolis this January 21st. He recently released a six-track EP called Back On My Baby Jesus S***t Again.

Earlier this year, DaBaby earned seven nominations at the 2021 BET Awards and won two Billboard Awards for “ROCKSTAR,” including top rap song.

Live Show Killa Tour Dates

01/09/2022 Echostage Washington, DC
01/11/2022 House Of Blues Boston, MA
01/12/2022 Toyota Oakdale Theatre
01/15/2022 Fox Theatre Detroit, MI
01/16/2022 Akron Civic Theatre Akron, OH
01/17/2022 UPMC Events Center Coraopolis, PA
01/19/2022 Municipal Auditorium Nashville, TN
01/21/2022 Armory Minneapolis, MN
01/23/2022 The Criterion Oklahoma City, OK
01/25/2022 Fillmore Auditorium Denver, CO
01/29/2022 SOMA San Diego San Diego, CA
02/01/2022 Memorial Auditorium Sacramento, CA
02/02/2022 San Jose Civic San Jose, CA
02/03/2022 House Of Blues Anaheim, CA
02/05/2022 Arizona Federal Theatre Phoenix, AZ
02/06/2022 Hollywood Palladium Hollywood, CA
11/11/2022 House Of Blues Boston, MA
11/26/2022 Aragon Ballroom Chicago, IL
11/27/2022 Miller High Life Theatre Milwaukee, WI
11/30/2022 Albany Capital Center Albany, NY
12/02/2022 The Met Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA
12/04/2022 Coca-Cola Roxy Atlanta, GA
12/07/2022 713 Music Hall Houston, TX
12/08/2022 South Side Ballroom Dallas, TX

01/21 Early Eyes and Dante Elephante at 7th Street Entry Read More Early Eyes Just in time for our favorite holiday, Halloween, Minneapolis band Early Eyes released “Halloween ‘18”, the single from their forthcoming debut album Look Alive!, set for release on February 25 via Epitaph Records. …

01/21/2022 Friday

Early Eyes and Dante Elephante
at 7th St Entry
first-avenue.com

It would appear that local bands Early Eyes and Dante Elephante will be co-headlining the 7th Street Entry this January 21st.

Excerpt Halloween: Early Eyes, Cannibal Corpse, Full of Hell, Boiled in Lead:

EARLY EYES
earlyeyes.band

Just in time for our favorite holiday, Halloween, Minneapolis band Early Eyes released “Halloween ‘18”, the single from their forthcoming debut album Look Alive!, set for release on February 25 via Epitaph Records.

“We made ‘Halloween 18’ because we wanted to make the next Halloween chart-topping single, influenced by Ari Aster, James Wan, Sasquatch, and a zombie with no conscience.” Explains vocalist Jake Berglove. “We wrote the majority of the song in memoriam of the ghost of a Halloween party that happened in 2017, but ‘Halloween Seventeen’ wasn’t the right amount of syllables…”

We caught the band at Basilica Block Party in July 2018, and wrote, “Early Eyes is a name new to many, the Minneapolis indie-pop/rock quintet only becoming a band in late 2016, but they’ve already attracted Hippo Campus-like buzz from very early-on.  Second EP, Decorating, is just out and songs like the title track and ‘Feathers’ suggest a youthful energy and musical statement that the band has a lot more to say, and they also were fun and engaging live (and easy to see, with two of the five in bright-yellow t-shirts).”

01/21 Happy Birthday Janis at First Ave Read More Janis Joplin Sony Commercial Music Group/Legacy Recordings announced the releases of Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968, a previously unreleased live concert recording of Big Brother and the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin …

01/21/2022 Friday

Happy Birthday Janis
at First Avenue
first-avenue.com

Local classic rock station KQRS is celebrating Janis Joplin’s birthday, in this 15th Anniversary show at First Avenue.

In Joplin news, Genesis Publications, working with the Janis Joplin estate, releaesd a limited edition, personal scrapbook Janis Joplin: Days & Summers - Scrapbook 1966-68. The book chronicles Joplin’s meteoric rise to fame.

The book was made possible because Janis, started a personal record of her journey and the flowering of Sixties counterculture in which she was to play a lead role.

Thanks to her, we get to see various posters, souvenirs, press clippings, and photographs, that would have been lost to the passage of time. The book also features nearly 40 contributors includes Big Brother bandmates Peter Albin and Dave Getz, Jefferson Airplane members Jack Casady and Jorma Kaukonen, musicians Mick Fleetwood, Chrissie Hynde, Tom Jones, Taj Mahal, Michelle Philips and Jimmy Page, talk show host Dick Cavett, as well as siblings Laura and Michael Joplin.

If your band is coming to the Minneapolis/St Paul area, please email details to [email protected] with a good lead time. Thank you.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Books

Read More They Might Be Giants The thing about They Might Be Giants is that they understand their fans. They get it; they know people don't automatically rush out to get the latest album, so they didn't bombard us with playing all 25

THEY MIGHT BE GIANTS
theymightbegiants.com

You know we’re huge They Might Be Giants fans, and their latest release/project is called BOOK - a 144-page art hardcover book of original Brian Karlsonn Photos and TMBG lyrics, with the new album included.

If you preorder the album, via tmbgshop.com, you’ll get instant free downloads of “I Broke My Own Rule” and “I Lost Thursday”.

While you wait for BOOK to come out, you can see them live, as they celebrate Flood (“a brand new album for 1990”) with their all-Flood live sets. As we previously wrote, in July 2020, because of the COVID-pandemic, all the 2020 dates were rescheduled. Unfortunately, the pandemic took longer than expected, and those original 2020 to 2021 dates were once again rescheduled for 2022. Of course, they’re mostly all sold out, as originally mentioned in 2020! Fans have waited over two years to finally see Flood live in its entirety…. But it’ll be worth it!

Since Flood won’t be long enough for a full TMBG headling show, they’ve said they’re throwing in tracks from their “lost” album Mink Car. The album came out at a bad time, their then-label Restless Records went into bankruptcy and basically the album disappeared from store shelves.

Rescheduled 2022 dates:

03/02/2022 New York, NY 03/03/2022 Washington, DC 03/04/2022 Washington, DC 03/05/2022 Washington, DC 03/06/2022 Baltimore, MD 03/09/2022 Pawling, NY 03/10/2022 Philadelphia, PA 03/11/2022 New York, NY 03/12/2022 New York, NY 03/13/2022 New York, NY 03/24/2022 Boston, MA 03/25/2022 Boston, MA 03/26/2022 Burlington, VT 03/27/2022 Northampton, MA 03/29/2022 Ithaca, NY 03/30/2022 Buffalo, NY 03/31/2022 Pillsburgh, PA 04/01/2022 Pittsburgh, PA 04/02/2022 New York, NY 04/05/2022 Cleveland, OH 04/06/2022 Cleveland, OH 04/07/2022 Chicago, IL 04/08/2022 Minneapolis, MN 04/09/2022 St Paul, MN

04/10/2022 St Louis, MO 04/28/2022 San Diego, CA 04/29/2022 Los Angeles, CA 04/30/2022 Oakland, CA 05/03/2022 Portland, OR 05/04/2022 Portland, OR 05/05/2022 Seattle, WA 05/06/2022 Seattle, WA 05/07/2022 Vancouver, BC 05/11/2022 Salt Lake City, UT 05/12/2022 Denver, CO 05/13/2022 Boulder, CO 05/14/2022 Fort Collins, CO 05/15/2022 Lincoln, NE 05/17/2022 Kansas City, MO 05/19/2022 Tulsa, OK 05/20/2022 Dallas, TX 05/21/2022 Houston, TX 05/22/2022 Austin, TC 08/30/2022 Asbury Park NJ 08/31/2022 Asbury Park NJ 09/01/2022 Portsmouth, NH 09/02/2022 Portland, ME 09/03/2022 North Adams, MA

Read More Johnnyswim Acclaimed husband-and-wife team Johnnyswim will be heading out on their second annual "A Johnnyswim Christmas Tour" this December, stopping by the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis on Tuesday …

JOHNNYSWIM
johnnyswim.com

We’ve mentioned about the real-life husband/wife music duo Johnnyswim (Amanda Sudano-Ramirez and Abner Ramirez) in our previous coverages. Now their story can be read in their forthcoming book Home Sweet Road: Finding Love, Making Music, and Building a Life One City at a Time (Convergent/Random House). The book includes a foreword by longtime friends Chip and Joanna Gaines, stars of the hit TV series “Fixer Upper.”

To celebrate the release of the new book, Nashville’s Parnassus Books will host a virtual event on Parnassus Books Facebook page on Monday, June 14 at 6:00 PM CT with Johnnyswim.

If that’s not enough, they’re the subject of Magnolia Network’s new season “Home on the Road with Johnnyswim.” The series is about their struggles and triumphs of life on tour with their three kids. The new season begins July 15.

Tour dates:

September 30—Cincinnati, OH—Ovation*
October 1—St. Louis, MO—The Pageant*
October 2—Chicago, IL—Riv*
October 4—Columbus, OH—Express Live*
October 6—New York, NY—Irving Plaza*
October 8—Boston, MA—House of Blues*
October 9—New Haven, CT—College Street Music Hall*
October 11—Raleigh, NC—The Ritz*
October 12—Knoxville, TN—Tennessee Theatre*
October 14—Atlanta, GA—The Eastern*
October 16—Nashville, TN—Ascend Amphitheatre*
October 18—Houston, TX—White Oak Music Hall*
October 19—Dallas, TX—Southside Ballroom*
October 20—Oklahoma, OK—The Jones Assembly*
October 22—Kansas City, MO—The Truman*
October 23—Minneapolis, MN—The Fillmore*
October 25—Denver, CO—Ogden Theatre*
October 27—Los Angeles, CA—Orpheum*
October 28—San Francisco, CA—Regency Ballroom*

*w/ Katelyn Tarver

THE FALL thefall.xyz Legendary punk/art band The Fall is the subject of a book called Excavate!. The book is a collection of never-before-published essays and ephemera from fans and collectors of The Fall and Mark E Smith (who sadly passed away in Jan 2018). Although the book came out in the UK, it’ll finally be available in the USA on June 22 via Faber Books USA.

TANK AND THE BANGAS tankandthebangas.com You may recall that we accidentally caught Tank and the Bangas at the Minnesota State Fair 2017. We liked them enough to see them again in October 2018 and said, “Tank and the Bangas’ new 2018 show is just wild, upbeat, and dance/party focus, with a little slam poetry thrown in.” Apparently the poetry thing is a passion of Tarriona Ball (aka Tank). Her debut poetry book is called Vulnerable AF.

21 SAVAGE tankandthebangas.com When we first mentioned 21 Savage in Dec 2017, we noticed that he must really love the horror movie Friday the 13th. So it’s no surprise that he was the executive producer of the soundtrack for the recent torture horror film Spiral: From the Book of Saw (Slaughter Gang and Epic Records). The soundtrack features numerous hip hop/rapper stars, such as Gunna, Young Thug and Young Nudy.

BRETT NEWSKI brettnewski.com Milwaukee-based alternative songwriter/illustrator/podcaster Brett Newski is releasing his first book It’s Hard To Be A Person: defeating anxiety, surviving the world, and having more fun and its accompanying sountrack on June 22, 2021. The idea of the It’s Hard to be a Person book was to blends humor with Newski’s own anxieties and mental health struggles.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

The Smiths - The Day I Was There

Cover photo by Stephen Wright The Smiths - The Day I Was There Paperback by Richard Houghton Publication date: 15 October 2019. thisdayinmusicbooks.com With fans recalling memories of the earliest Smiths shows at UK clubs, you'll see a portrait of The Smiths from the fans perspective. With personal photographs, memorabilia, fascinating anecdotes, and fan stories that have never been published before. Based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Marr, The Smiths are one of the most important bands to emerge from the British independent music scene of the 1980s. All four of their studio albums reached the top five of the UK Albums Chart, including Meat Is Murder which hit number one. They won a significant following and remain cult favourites. The band broke up in 1987 due to internal tensions and have turned down several offers to reunite. Read More The Smiths Legendary The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr is on his Call The Comet tour, stopping by the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis last night, September 17th. …

As you know, I used to be a devoted The Smiths and Morrissey fan. Like many of you, I have grown up and may have been a little disenchanted by singer Morrissey’s beliefs and personality... but I still love the music, and I still love guitarist Johnny Marr, and would consider myself somewhat of an expert on The Smiths (at least pre-2000).

I was excited to see that This Day Is Music is publishing The Smiths - The Day I Was There, a new book on the Manchester band. This book is more or less a collection of memories from various fans, compiled and edited by Richard Houghton.

The book is divided by dates 1982 to 1987, Morrissey’s “Solo Years”, Paying Tributes, and finally, Random Encounters. The titles are self-explanatory, and you can go to any section, as it’s not a book you read from start to finish.

Every entry is written by a different person, “who was there”. The problem with this is that some entries are incredible short with very little information (particularly the early days of the Smiths and it’s understandable since it’s over 30 years ago), and some went on too long and misses the point.

Sometime the person who was there, just assume you knew things and don’t explain how they knew this or that. Sometime they use slangs that I’m not familiar with (hey, we’re not all British). Sometime it gets too personal and political, which the Houghton kept in the book because, “I also felt it was wrong to leave them out.”

It’s inconsistent, but that’s just the nature of different views and ideas from many different people. Thankfully, the editor did also add comments and quotes from members of the Smiths about those entries, possibly from magazines or interviews, showing the point of view from the band.

I did enjoy reading entries by various Smiths tribute bands, like Sons and Heirs, The Smyths, Viva Morrissey, Frankly, The Smiths, These Handsome Devils, and Caligula Blushed (what, no Sweet and Tender Hooligans?), as the music of the Smiths affected these fans so much that they had to try to emulate their heroes. It’s interesting to hear what first single or album that they first discovered that really spoke to them.

Undoubtedly the most interesting entry is by Simon Wolstencroft, who was Johnny Marr’s first choice as drummer of The Smiths. He actually turned it down, because he didn’t like Morrissey at the time, in his own words, “I didn’t like the cut of his jib.” Wolstencroft did wonder what could have been if he had joined The Smiths.

If you’re looking for a book on the complete story of The Smiths, this isn’t it. If you’re a Smiths/Morrissey fan and interested in reading about other fans’ perspective about The Smiths or Morrissey, you may want to check out this book. You might also want to look into Mozipedia: The Encyclopedia of Morrissey and The Smiths (2010), which I also own, and that reads like an Encyclopedia, as the name suggests.

As a diehard fan, I do own and have read most of the popular books on Morrissey and the Smiths (even read Morrissey’s non-Smiths Autobiography), so I can tell you the best books on the subject of The Smiths and Morrissey are anything written or compiled by Johnny Rogan. He wrote the definitive Morrissey & Marr: The Severed Alliance (1992), the photo-centric and day-by-day breakdown of The Smiths: The Visual Documentary (1994), and the music-centric Complete Guide To The Music Of The Smiths (1995). The other book you may want to seek out is Peepholism: Into the Art of Morrissey (1994) by Jo Slee, which details every cover artwork and designed for The Smiths (and some Morrissey) artwork.

Books you should not seek out (but I also own), are any Morrissey-written books like The New York Dolls, James Dean Is Not Dead, and Exit Smiling. They don’t offer much to the world of The Smiths, and even Morrissey admit they are awful and doesn’t endorse those books.

The Smiths - The Day I Was There Paperback is out now. The book is available as a softcover and limited hardcover (signed by Richard Houghton), available at thisdayinmusicbooks.com.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Closer You Are: The Story of Robert Pollard and Guided By Voices

Guided By Voices News W♥M saw Guided by Voices in August 2016 and reported that they played over 50 songs. GBV is known for their massive music output! Don’t believe me? The double album Zeppelin Over China to be released on February 1, 2019, followed by Warp and Woof in April 2019. According to the band, they’ve recorded the songs in various locations: studios, club soundchecks, hotel rooms and even in the tour van. If that’s not enough, be on the lookout for four vinyl-only (1000 copies) limited edition 7-inch EPs: Winecork Stonehenge and 100 Dougs will be released on December 7, Umlaut Over The Özone and 1901 Acid Rock in March 2019. Tour Dates 12/30 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue 12/31 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge Read More Guided by Voices Cult indie rock band Guided by Voices will be headlining First Avenue next Wednesday, August 31st, in support of Please Be Honest. …

Closer You Are: The Story of Robert Pollard and Guided By Voices - BOOK REVIEW
By Dena Maxwell

It’s not every day that an elementary school teacher gets to become a rock star. Yet that’s exactly what happened to Guided By Voices frontman Robert Pollard. Picture him sitting at his desk in front of the class, designing covers for albums that may never be realized.

In reading Matthew Cutter’s Closer You Are, I deduced that Guided By Voices probably holds the record for most times being banned from venues for alcohol-related misconduct. I knew they liked beer, as evidenced by the well-stocked beverage cooler that always sits onstage when they play. I just never realized quite how much they like it. American beer, that is. And I never realized how attached Robert Pollard is to his hometown of Dayton, Ohio. It’s the only place he’s ever lived and likely the only place he ever will. Due to the dearth of American beer and food, it pains him to tour outside the U.S., even though he gets to do his hard-won dream job while he’s away.

Inside the pages of this book, you can learn about all the band’s (and Pollard’s) gazillion albums and how they came into being. All joking aside, Guided By Voices is one of the most prolific bands around. Their creative output is astounding. On the band’s website under ‘Recent Releases’ there are 19 albums listed. As of today, that is. As you might have guessed, Robert Pollard writes lyrics pretty much every day. Ditto regarding album cover design. Even though Guided By Voices has gained a huge cult following, Bob still designs most of their uniquely awesome album covers himself.

Bob is not only a dynamite singer; he’s also a kickass guitarist. Just listen to the studio version of Watch Me Jumpstart. That’s Bob playing those hot guitar licks. Yet if you’ve ever seen them live, you can probably understand why he chooses to keep his hands free and perform sans guitar. He conveys much emotion in the way he grips his microphone, in his jumps and high kicks. His agility while cavorting onstage is amazing, and it’s no wonder. He was a star baseball, basketball and football player in high school and in college. Pollard is the quintessential beer-guzzling rock’n’roll athlete.

The center of the book is filled with black-and-white photos that trace GBV’s lineage from baby Bob to his sports glory days to the ever-changing GBV lineup. Near the end you’ll find “The Rock’n’Roll Rule Book,” Bob’s list of do’s and don’ts on “how to avoid pomposity and cliché.” One of my favorites is “guitar must be played at crotch level (not above or below).”

The bulk of the chapters begin with excerpts from Pollard’s lyrics, and more lyrics are sandwiched inside. Many of these you might recognize, but there are likely others you won’t, especially some early stuff written before Guided By Voices fully came into being. Keeping up with all GBV’s songs, lyrics and albums is really a fulltime job. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn the fascinating origin story of GBV and take that delightful plunge into the seemingly bottomless rabbit hole that is the Guided By Voices catalog. In Bob we trust.

dena ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ podcast.weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Steve Parke - Picturing Prince book signing at Barnes & Noble, Edina, MN (19 Sept 2017)

Picturing Prince PICTURING PRINCE sees the late icon's former art director, STEVE PARKE, revealing stunning intimate photographs of the singer from his time working at Paisley Park. At least half of the images in the book are exclusively published here for the first time; most other images in the book are rare to the public eye. Alongside these remarkable images are fifty engaging, poignant and often funny written vignettes by Parke, which reveal the very human man behind the reclusive superstar: from shooting hoops to renting out movie theatres at 4am; from midnight requests for camels to meaningful conversations that shed light on Prince as a man and artist. STEVE PARKE started working with Prince in 1988, after a mutual friend showed Prince some of Steve's photorealistic paintings. He designed everything from album covers and merchandise to sets for Prince's tours and videos. Somewhere in all of this, he became Paisley Park's official art director. He began photographing Prince at the request of the star himself, and continued to do so for the next several years. The images in this book are the arresting result of this collaboration. Read More Prince The two big shows on this date will be the Prince Tribute Concert (featuring Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan) at Xcel Energy Center and Sia at Target Center. …

“In the early morning when I'm feeling nice, I walk by the mirror and kiss it twice” —Prince, ‘Prettyman’

As one of the most recognizable and photogenic musical icons ever, the late great Purple One has been the subject of thousands of photographs, but with his untimely death, even more of these have started to see the light of day.  Picturing Prince: An Intimate Portrait (Cassell Books) is a new volume by Steve Parke, the esteemed digital illustrator, photographer, and one time Art Director at Paisley Park that reveals a different side of musician, and its release was celebrated at a recent public discussion/signing with NPG band member Morris Hayes in Edina. 

The 200+pg book includes numerous photographs that have never before been seen and also finds the Baltimore-based Parke reminiscing about his time working for Prince in stories that are touching, funny, and displaying of a more human side of the icon.  Parke began working for Prince in 1988 and became Art Director for a decade and a half, before leaving after the birth of his son and increasingly unpredictable work schedule, made him change his priorities. 

Hayes began by asking Parke how he began working with Prince, hired by Alan Leeds to help design the ‘Glam Slam’ video set, after a friend had seen some of Parke’s paintings.  Parke came on board at the advent of digital artwork (Photoshop, Quark) and photography, and was allowed to learn while working for Prince, on the fly, helping craft the musician’s visual image as the late ‘80s gave way to the early ‘90s.

Parke learned very early on, that Prince would be very hands-on with his participation and overseeing of all projects, that no response from Prince was a sign to keep going, and that he always encouraged pushing the creative envelope as far as possible. 

Hayes spoke about Prince often renting out movie theaters and bowling halls for the band after shows, and Prince after watching everyone else bowl, then managing to show everyone else up, with skills simply learned by observation.  As evidenced in the book, the nearby Arboretum in Chanhassen was a favorite place for Prince to be, able to relax and reflect there, more so than back in the business confines of Paisley Park.

Parke was also partially responsible for changing the look of Paisley Park, from a sterile studio complex to a building that better reflected Prince’s personality by adding images, graffiti, and paintings to several of the recording rooms.

Hayes told a story about Steve Vai giving a new signature seven-string guitar to him to present to Prince, as Prince was one of Vai’s guitar heroes, but Prince was unfazed, remarking, “I can do what I need to do with six (strings)”. 

Both also spoke of Prince’s work ethic (“he’s the hardest working person I’ve ever met” Parke said) and his uncanny ability to see the most minute detail, whether it was in an angle of a photograph or able to pick out an off half-note played by one of many horn players.

The photos in the book (most being portraits as the few “live” shots were actually paused and posed for) give additional inside insight to a man most thought to be mysterious and private, to be warm, funny and a creative individual that was undoubtedly, one of a kind.

Picturing Prince: An Intimate Portrait is in bookstores everywhere now and online at Amazon and elsewhere.

Picturing Prince

Steve Parke

Steve Parke

Steve Parke and Morris Hayes

Steve Parke - Picturing Prince book signing at Barnes & Noble, Edina, MN (19 Sept 2017)

john ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Set the Boy Free: Johnny Marr on Tour

Read More Johnny Marr Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr (one of the subject in a recent W♥M Podcast) recently performed "Easy Money" from his latest Playland (Warner Music Group) on The Tonight Show Starring …

Legendary The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr is currently on a book tour for his autobiography Set the Boy Free (Century/Cornerstone).

At each of these stop, he will be on stage with a moderator, interviewing Johnny Marr each day. For the The Vista Theater with Skylight Books event, he was in conversation with KCRW’s Jason Bentley. Our friend, Mark, in attendance, sent in the Vista Theater’s marquee.

Remaining Book Tour:

Friday, 11/18
Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
3200 California Street
San Francisco, CA 94118
7:00pm

In conversation with San Francisco Chronicle music critic Aidin Vaziri

Saturday, 11/19
Powell’s Bookstore
Cedar Hills Crossing
3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd
Beaverton, OR
4:00pm

In conversation with Portlandia and Documentary Now’s Fred Armisen

Johnny Marr’s live solo debut album Adrenalin Baby came out December 4th.

Johnny Marr at Vista Theater, Los Angeles (16 November 2016) photo: Mark

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Freddie Mercury: A Kind of Magic by Mark Blake

Read More Queen Since Freddie Mercury's death in 1991, Queen has been without a regular lead singer. Various vocalists have temporarily joined on stage, including Elton John, Luciano Pavarotti, …

The biography Freddie Mercury: A Kind of Magic by Mark Blake is not only an engaging read; it’s also visually well-designed with bright colors and good flow, incorporating a mix of photos, text and quotes. The vast majority of these quotes were spoken by Freddie Mercury throughout his career. They appear in a large cursive font that attracts the eye. Also attractive to the eye are the book’s bright colors, including several fades from pink to orange to yellow.

Each chapter begins with a handy timeline, detailing the events to be discussed in the chapter and when they occurred.

This book contains photographs of all sizes, including 2-page spreads, of Freddie and Queen dating from 1958 – 1991. All of the photos have captions, many of which begin with Queen song lyrics. Of particular interest is a full page print of Mick Rock’s iconic band photo for the Queen II album sleeve. The author has done a good job of collecting photos that capture the proud, flamboyant, one-of-a-kind spirit that is Freddie Mercury.

Author and music journalist Mark Blake grew up in the 70s and 80s listening to Queen and going to their shows. Blake bases the book’s contents on interviews with members of Queen, their friends, families and associates. Many of the interviews were conducted by the author himself. It’s a really good read; it pulls you in with its captivating stories and clever design theme. I had trouble putting it down.

Details:

Freddie Mercury: A Kind of Magic Author: Mark Blake Publisher: Backbeat Books, an imprint of Hal Leonard Format: Hardcover Price: $34.99 (US) ISBN: 9781495030116 UPC: 888680079048 Width: 8.75" Length: 11.25" 224 pages Color and B&W photographs throughout

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Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones by Paul Trynka

Product Details Hardcover: 432 pages Publisher: Viking Adult (October 9, 2014) Language: English ISBN-10: 0670014745 ISBN-13: 978-0670014743 Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.3 x 9.4 inches Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds Read More The Rolling Stones Although most people associate The Rolling Stones as mainly Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, in the early days, it was really Brian Jones who was the band leader. …

I feel after reading the Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones book by Paula Trynka, that I'm a thousand percent more knowledgeable about who Brian Jones was.

The book does a great job covering Jones' life, particularly during the early days and development of The Rolling Stones. We're given a chapter on his childhood, including some rare facts like how he got a girl pregnant when he was 16. All that childhood information was quickly covered, as the real story in the book is about the creation of the Rolling Stones, which started on chapter two.

Trynka painstakingly detail Jones' involvement in creating the Rolling Stone, from coming up with the band's name to placing the original ad on Jazz News to drafting all the band members... Brian Jones was The Rolling Stones. Unfortunately, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards started to overshadowed Jones as the songwriting team, and by 1969, Brian Jones seemingly pressured into leaving the group.

To be fair, Trynka does document all of Jones' problems, leading up to his removal from the group. It started with health issues (rashes, epilepsy, asthmatic) causing Jones to miss shows to substance abuse in the later years (Trynka actually doesn't know what Jones was using, but suggested it was Mandrax prescription, combined with regular alcohol abuse). Instead of seeking help for Jones, the book tells us that everyone seemed to have just ignored Jones ... as if he was not there.

The vast majority of the book is focused on Brian Jones and the early days of the Rolling Stones, like the book title suggest, but like many of you, I was more interested in his death - which happened less than a month after he was walked away from the band. When I first got the book, I did skip to the final chapters to get Trynka's summarization of his death. What we're given here are facts, and Trynka let us make up our own conspiracies (if any) on Jones' "Death by Misadventure".

Some people suggests that it was suicide, especially before the Rolling Stones were about to play Hyde Park with their new guitarist Mick Taylor. Others think it was murder conspiracy by Jagger and Richards to seize control of the band.

Some interesting items in the Brian Jones' death:

Police version: accidental drowning due to drinking/blackout

Nicholas Fitzgerald: Fitzgerald and friend Richard Cadbury witnessed three men pushing someone under water.

A.E. Hotchner: According to his 1990 book Blown Away: The Rolling Stones and the Death of the Sixties, there were two witnesses, Dick Hattrell and 'Marty' saw Jones being murdered.

Tom Keylock: Brian's driver and minder, admitted that Frank Thorogood (the last person to see Jones alive) confessed on his deathbed that he killed Brian Jones (this was disputed by Jan Bell, daughter of Thorogood, who said no one came to visit her father before he died).

Jan Bell: Her father shared a story about how Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Brian Jones were arguing over ownership of the name Rolling Stones - which Keith pulled a knife on Jones. This story is in question because the Stones were at Olympic on that date.

Geoffrey Giuliano: In Giuliano's 1994 book Paint It Black, 'Joe' and 'Sean' held Brian Jones underwater.

You wonder sometime, if Jones were to die today, with the internet/cell phone tracking/digital fingerprints/news coverage, that it would be a different story?

On defending Brian Jones, I did get a sense that for the man who created the Rolling Stones, I felt like he was taken advantage of and regularly mistreated. The book paints a picture that Jones slowly lost all support and friendship from the other band members. Furthermore, there were no support from Jagger/Richards, whether financially or donations to Jones' family and estate after his death.

Paula Trynka's book Brian Jones: The Making of the Rolling Stones is out now on Viking.

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A Man Called Destruction: The Life and Music of Alex Chilton, From Box Tops to Big Star to Backdoor Man by Holly George-Warren

Product Details Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: Viking Adult (March 24, 2014) Language: English ISBN-10: 0670025631 ISBN-13: 978-0670025633 Read More Big Star Big Star is releasing some singles on Record Store Day. This is to coincide with the release of the documentary of Big Star called "Big Star: Nothing Can Hurt Me", which you can check out the …

Fans searching for an account of the life of enigmatic and underappreciated singer/songwriter Alex Chilton need look no further; March 24th marks the release of “A Man Called Destruction” by Holly George-Warren, a thorough and highly enjoyable document of Chilton’s life and career. I admit that I haven’t completely finished the book (I’m a rather slow reader and when it comes to this particular musician, I try and savor each page), but what I’ve read has been illuminating. I’ve been burned by other music-related biographies in the past and a surefire way to destroy interest in a subject is to write a book that’s dry and lifeless. George-Warren does the exact opposite; her writing is lively and engaging and the book itself is well-paced. It’s also well-researched; George-Warren combed through interviews Chilton gave to various media outlets and conducted her own with his family, friends and associates. The book even opens with a brief history of the Chilton family lineage (a topic Alex was keen on later in his life) from the shores of England to the plantations of Virginia.

George-Warren’s portrayal of Alex himself is honest and compassionate. Chilton was a bright and talented young man and grew up in a household brimming with creative energy, but struggled with emotionally unavailable parents, alcohol abuse and depression. When he was just six-years-old, his older brother Reid died from accidental drowning, an event that haunted Alex the rest of his life. A moody, rebellious teenager, Chilton sought comfort in music, listening to everything from his father’s jazz records to his brother’s Coasters 45s and was an avid listener of The Grand Ole Opry and local R&B radio stations. It’s been a joy reading about Alex’s encounters with music and his early foray into rock and roll with his first bands the Moondogs and the Devilles and later, the Box Tops. And the cast of Memphis characters that surround Chilton as he launches his music career has me jotting names down on a separate piece of paper, Game of Thrones-style.

Clearly, this is just the tip of the iceberg, as Alex Chilton embarked on a music career that would span 43 years. I’m excited to read about him producing iconic psychobilly quartet The Cramps, playing with avant-garde iconoclasts the Panther Burns and writing and singing for one of the most influential bands of all time, Big Star. And for those of you who haven’t yet seen it, the 2012 Big Star documentary “Nothing Can Hurt Me” is the perfect companion to this book.

Currently, Spin has an excerpt from the book up at their website and Holly George-Warren kicked off a book tour earlier in March at the South by Southwest festival.

Holly George-Warren's book signing tour:

New York, NY	McNally Jackson / 7:00pm In conversation with Anthony DeCurtis	March 24
New York, NY	Hi-Fi / 7:00pm	March 28
Memphis, TN	Crosstown Arts / 6:30pm	April 2
Oxford, MS	Thacker Mountain Radio Taping / 6pm	April 3
Woodstock, NY	Woodstock Writer’s Festival	April 6
Woodstock, NY	The Golden Notebook / 6:30pm	April 12
Los Angeles, CA	Book Soup / 7:00pm	April 22
Los Angeles, CA	Grammy Museum / 7:30pm	April 23
Seattle, WA	Elliott Bay Book Co. / 7:30pm	April 26
Nashville, TN	International County Music Conference	May 21

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