I’m back from New York, and getting geared up to read next Thursday night at Metropolis Books during the Artwalk in Downtown LA. I’ve posted some pictures from the reading I did at goodbye blue monday in Brooklyn, which was a great experience. Check out the gallery section of the site if you’d like to see them. I read a few short pieces from the book, and then read the 25 or so pages I have of prison-house (for the first time). Generally, I’ve only read very short sections, so it was somewhat dizzying to read the whole thing. I find it daunting, too, to read works-in-progress, but having some friends there to help me along was useful. As I read prison-house, I was accompanied by 4 musicians: a drummer, violinist, guitarist, and a pianist. We had no real plan and the whole thing was improvised, a form that seemed to match perfectly, for me, with the notion of presenting a work-in-progress publicly. I feel even closer to the piece after performing it in this setting, and I learned a lot about what I’d like to accomplish with it. It was a major challenge, acoustically and energetically, to read with and over the music, and the reading had a very different feel from other readings I’ve done. We were well received, and GBM was packed for the duration, with both old friends and strangers. If you live in Brooklyn, or are planning on visiting soon, I highly recommend paying goodbye blue monday a visit. It’s located in Bushwick and is a great place to check out some free music/performance, have a drink, and buy weird stuff (everything in the place is for sale).
I’m planning on staging a similar reading of prison-house once it’s further along, and will keep all you LA people posted when I figure the timing of that out. I’ve been traveling a lot lately, and it’s good to be home, where I’ll actually be staying put for a while. Hope to see some of you at the Artwalk–I’ll post the info here, of course.
