#THAT LAST LINK LEADS TO HIS CONCERT LINEUP!//

[dojae-huh]

hi huh 🫶 so many good news happened in just a span of one day yesterday, the reaction on X is chaotic so your blog is my safe space!

i love jaehyun's new song! it showed a new color of his vocals, and his lyricism (though i'm not really fluent in korean, i can't say much about it) and the chance for him to be creative and do what he wants. it was nice and refreshing 💛

do the ever supportive "co-worker", posting about every neo solo on his ig each time. it's endearing 🫶 has become a thing for jaedo, they really do have a special connection hehe

nct 2023 announced a few hours after jaehyun's solo, which i would admit a very bad move on sm's part. though i'm excited really, with the return of t7s unit and the upcoming nct concert. but i do notice one thing - where is nct japan unit??

i did my basic google search, lastart will be around 5 eps and this week is the 3rd eps. So 2 weeks more and we have the final lineup for nct's last unit. and it's just right before the nct concert and album release, so i was expecting them to be included in 😔 i feel very bad for these trainees, all these fans doomsaying and planning to boycott any nct activities is just evil they're innocent :( the fandom, at least on twitter is a whole mess, i can only hope that nct 2023 is as successful as the other nct albums. i feel it's safe to hide behind ask and say about this, and i love reading your replies so i hope you don't mind my thought dump haha

i'm also curious about your thoughts on riize? i've been actively following them and they're really good!! all the boys seem promising and i'm shaking with anticipation for new content haha. they just had their first ig live last night, it's cute how shotaro was suspected as the leader since he's leading the group greeting!

link for group greeting -> https:// twitter.com /riizepics/status/1688883426659872768?s=46&t=m039VaKV8OZmu71_7XkSMQ

hope u have a good day and thank u for readinggg 🫶

Hi,

X is like a busy market where everyone hurry, shout and shove others with their elbows, meanwhile small blogs are like bars with regulars.

I can't say much about Jae's lyrics as well. As English is not my native language, I can't even feel how off the English parts are.

Many pop songs don't have intricately crafted lyrics, they just rely on words of association, a few sentences that vaguely paint a scene or describe a feeling, therefore, Jae shouldn't be much worse than the average male singer nowadays, me thinks. He does try to be poetic, describe love taking certain moments in daily life, states of "being/existing" as a starting point (spending time alone in a room, longing; daily life on the road; yearning after parting), which is nice.

NCT2023 album will be released in less than three weeks, there is little time for promotion. If the shops are ready for pre-order, it is time to make the fans know. It's inevitable that announcements overlap, NCTLab is a side project, like SM Classics, not a solo album. Sm moving to NCT2023 doesn't mean the promotion of "Horizon" has stopped. "Forever only" was included in several articles with best songs, there was a remix.

The MV has Mnet 2023.08.03 stamp at the very beginning. Seems like the MV was originally scheduled to be released earlier, on the 3d and not on the 8th?

Fans are quick to say SM does something intentionally to undermine their artists, when oftentimes it's circumstances and SM's lack of staff to properly manage everything. Which should be fixed, for sure.

Let's appreciate that Jae's MV was shot in Italy, has the boyfriend vibe that will give the song a bigger chance to take off, and not in a studio with a few hung lights like Moon Sujin&Taeil's The Moon.

The last unit is scheduled (tentatively) to release the first solo at the end of 2023. The unit need to train together, shoot some promotional content (like NCT LIfe). Quite possible they will start with a showcase in Japan to launch them. It is Riize' time now.

NCT2023 will have merch. And you can't make one for NCT Japan while the members are still unknown. Plus, the fans will hate the new unit for "riding on the coattails". They haven't earned the NCTnation concert yet.

It's OK. SungTaro were accused of every possible evil as well. A couple of years later the same fandom was crying over their departure.

Every NCT album was planned to be boycotted. Didn't happen.

Riize group greeting

I've checked Riize IG and the first track video, I will observe their debut. I have a feeling they will become like WayV for me: I'll tune in only for the albums and won't follow closely. The concept isn't for me. I have no interest in bands and the garage group aesthetics. Seunghan and Shotaro are the only attracting factors, the new members didn't pick my interest. I might as well just subscribe to a Seunghan stan acc to not lose the sight of him.

[sinceileftyoublog]

Square Roots 2024: 7/13-7/14

Big Star Quintet's Jody Stephens

BY JORDAN MAINZER

One of this year's Square Roots headliners is calling it quits after their upcoming album and current tour, and another hasn't really been a proper incarnation of itself for a decade and a half. Nostalgia be damned, this past weekend, both X and Big Star Quintet beat the heat and sounded as good as ever. Okay, my in-person experience with X is limited to Riot Fest 2017, I never got to see Big Star, and otherwise, all I have are each band's multiple live albums to wonder what they might have been like in their heyday. Hindsight aside, X's cowpunk momentousness and Big Star Quintet's glorious sky-high rock and roll rendered them the unabashed standouts of a weekend that featured guitar music heavyweights new and old.

X's John Doe & Exene Cervenka

X has released only one song from their final record Smoke & Fiction (Fat Possum), and they did perform a few new chuggers during their Saturday night headlining set. But from the moment Exene Cervenka, John Doe, Billy Zoom, D.J. Bonebrake, and touring drummer Craig Packham entered the stage to Link Wray's "Rumble", you knew their focus would be the past: "You're Phone's Off The Hook, But You're Not", "In This House That I Call Home", and "Because I Do". Yes, Zoom whipped out his saxophone and Bonebrake his vibes; Cervenka and Doe's contrasting vocal timbres gave the whole set an rousing feel, as if the sonically diverse voices in the crowd were meant to shout along with them. They did, to the stuttering "I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts", and some of the more musically inclined, limber set goers perfectly air-drummed Packham's choppy thwacks on "Los Angeles". If X is truly leaving us, they're at least still having a blast.

Big Star Quintet's Chris Stamey

Big Star Quintet, meanwhile, may have only one member of the original power pop quartet in drummer and vocalist Jody Stephens, but they feel more Big Star than, say, the current Beach Boys feel like the Beach Boys. (I know, that's not a high bar to clear.) But at least two of the members have direct connections. Jon Auer (The Posies) was part of the reformed Big Star from 1993 until 2010, when the deaths of Alex Chilton and Andy Hummel effectively ended the band. Chris Stamey briefly played bass for Chilton in the late 70s before embarking on his own musical career with The dB's. And while R.E.M.'s Mike Mills (who participated in a Chilton tribute concert during SXSW 2010) couldn't join the Quintet in the Chicago area, not one, but two members of Wilco (bassist John Stirratt and multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone) rounded out the lineup and provided a wonderful local connection to boot.

Big Star Quintet's Pat Sansone

The Quintet was celebrating the 50th anniversary of Big Star's sophomore masterpiece Radio City, but on Sunday night, they didn't adhere to any self-imposed rules and play the album front-to-back. Instead, before even mentioning Radio City or playing any of its songs, they started their set by banging out 9 (!) straight from Big Star's debut, #1 Record, switching off lead vocals and instrumentation. Stirratt unleashed a feverish falsetto on "In The Street", immediately answering the question of who would sing "September Gurls" when the band inevitably played it last. Sansone and Auer gorgeously harmonized on the ripping rocker "Don't Lie To Me", while Stamey provided some welcome quietude on "Give Me Another Chance" and "Watch the Sunrise". The band itself was in sync, but not stuffy, deft enough to tackle the funk-to-stadium rock breakdowns of Radio City's "O, My Soul", loose enough to adhere to the snappy ramshackle spirit of the harmonica-imbued "Life Is White".

Big Star Quintet's Jon Auer

When Stephens sang, though, it felt a little bit like time stopped, and not because he brought the house down or anything. (His voice does remain strong!) He dedicated "The India Song" and "Way Out West" to Hummel, stating, simply and heartbreakingly, "He was a close one to me." And when the rest of the band stepped up to the microphone with acoustic guitars in hand, and it was clear they were to play the beloved "Thirteen", Stephens admitted, "I remember being 13, don't you? I was really uncomfortable with myself, but it makes for a great song!" Here was the last remaining connection to one of the greatest bands in American history, still vulnerable, reminding you that no matter how old you get or how long certain songs and records have been around, the emotions never die.

Sansone

Lydia Loveless

Oh, I'll throw in a bonus weekend standout: the great Lydia Loveless, less than a year removed from their sixth LP, Nothing's Gonna Stand in My Way Again (Bloodshot). The record is classic Loveless, heartbroken, all while dealing with the trials and tribulations of life both regular ("Toothache") and time-specific (pandemic isolation). Their high and lonesome twang pervaded each song, save for Nothing's "Poor Boy", during which Loveless belted, showing off their vocal chops. "Sex and Money" proved to be the cheeky live anthem you knew it was going to be the first time you heard it. At the same time, Loveless continued to give their previous album Daughter its due. (Introducing "Wringer", Loveless quipped that it was "from Daughter, which came out in 2020, which means it was very successful...everybody was out doing stuff, money burning holes in their pockets.") From the prickly guitar strums of "Say My Name" to the deliberate drum beats of "Don't Bother Mountain", the latter of which saw Loveless switch to synth, their performance of the Daughter songs showcased that it's Loveless' most thematic and instrumentally diverse album to date. That's not a small feat, with a catalog as deep as theirs.

Loveless

Loveless

[b4r3-ur-f4ngz]

Vivisy stood at the center of the stage.

He had spent the last hour preparing for this show, he always spent a long time getting ready. This wasn’t including actually setting up for the show itself, this was mental preparation. Getting into the mindset of a performer wasn’t hard for him- it never was. Though that doesn’t mean it didn’t need preparation regardless.

People were already milling in while he was testing mics for the last time, making sure the vocalizers were functioning, excited butterflies filling his stomach- they always did. His bandmates worked around him, chatting between eachother and sharing lighthearted laughs and jokes. When the clock ticked over to five minutes before it began Vivisy hopped on the balls of his feet, exhaling and shaking out any anxieties he could have. He rolled his shoulders, he cleared his throat, he patted himself down.

The past hour went by fast, he had eyes burning into him and scarring his flesh with their imprints, it was thrilling. It was show time. He rolled his head once last time before he stepped back off stage momentarily and slung his guitar over his shoulder. It was a heavy piece of shit, but it was his heavy piece of shit. He checked with a yellowblood poised at a synth if everything was okay one last time, his question just above a whisper. He nodded shortly, his thousand yard stare going straight through the mutant. There was always something that could go wrong, but Vivisy’s hips swayed while he stepped up to the mic, a hand delicately draping over it and he audibly inhaled to speak before the lights went out.

The lights remained off before a set of hot pink lasers dipped over the crowd, bathing the audience in light and giving the band a silhouette. A set of green lasers joining in and illuminating the band somewhat. The venue was just a nightclub, so it wasn’t anything too insane. Just as the lights came on they were off, and a lone bass chord rung out through the venue, drumming out a few alternating lines before it *dived* straight into the song. The percussionist belted out a few lines before Vivisy took over, his voice ringing out as he snatched the microphone off the stand, leaning down off the stage and getting into the faces with the crowd as much as possible as he sang. Accusatory fingers pointing at random crowd members, all of his movements calculated yet having the presence of being jerky, snapping his teeth in a predatory smile when the vocals were taken over by one of his bandmates. 

It was aggressive, but artistic in a way. He made it a point to make every audience member feel singled out in a way, Vivisy gripped his guitar in a way that made it seem like his life depended on it. None of the instruments sounded right, they all sounded like they were put through some sort of nightcore generator. It seemed like their sound was being changed as they were playing, their soundguy in the back clearly putting their individual tracks through the gutter. At some point flames started to crawl up sheets of plastic behind them that had their band name shoddily painted on it, melting and dripping down onto the ground behind the band as they borderline abused their instruments.

At some point it seemed to calm down and resemble pop rock more closely, however it picked back up straight back into the brain-melting sound they had before. Screaming borderline into microphones and cranking the bass so hard that it made the ground shake and drinks fall off of tables. One of the amps even began to smoke a little bit from the strain (granted most of their hardware was outdated and barely functioning as is) before all of the lazers and lights shut off again- nothing but silence for at most two minutes, something similar to a heart monitor beeping as one of the lasers came back on to mimic a heart monitor on the wall where the plastic once was, then all of a sudden a singular spotlight remained on Vivisy. His tripp pants were gone, replaced by a stained pair of red pants with a hole torn down the side on the right leg that exposed fishnets underneath. His arm wraps gone and replaced with rows and rows of spiked bracelets. The heart monitor flatlined and he lifted up his arms, his hip cocked to the side as fake blood dripped down from under his shirt, bringing his arms back down and holding the mic into its stand while he sung a song that sounded akin to an anthem of death, his other hand coming up covered in blood and smearing his makeup across his face with fake blood, intense eyes staring out into the crowd as he turned around and rocked out on his guitar on a momentary guitar riff, blood smearing across the strings and across the body of the guitar. His gaze never faltered as he turned back again, baring his teeth as the song increased in intensity. The band bounced almost as the rock ballad turned into an alternative shriek about death. Vivisy seemed to be playing a ploy that he was getting weaker, stumbling over himself and his knees buckling, but sitting up straight while bobbed with the music, eventually movign onto the ploy of hanging onto the mic to keep himself up, almost looking desperate to keep singing as his legs slowly gave out. His guitar hung over his chest, his gaze intense and his smile persistent. As that last chord dropped everything stopped, Vivisy dropped and pulled the mic down with him, the lights cutting before he hit the ground and only the sound of the wailing mic filled the venue.

Then the lights came back on and he was standing up with his arms outstretched as if he was offering everyone in the room a hug, a wide friendly grin on his face accented his features. He dipped his head before he bowed, picking up the mic and speaking into it while gesturing at his bandmatesz

“THANK YOU ALL FOR COMING I’M NEO AND THESE ARE MY XENON ANGELS!” 

[jakekiszkasleftnutsack]

Fan Service - Chapter 2

Josh Kiszka x f!reader

. . . . . . .

Read Chapter 1 here

Summary: After a passionate night in Josh’s dressing room it’s time to camp for another round of DIG. What could the universe possibly have on deck to ruin the third concert in the Michigan lineup?

Warnings: 18+ content minors DNI, swearing, feelings, pining, fingering, dom!Josh, unprotected sex (advised against), oral sex (m and f receiving), praise kink, general roughness, etc.

W/c: 7.5k

A/n: Here it is. It’s been a minute since I’ve been this motivated to write so the timeline is a little wonky, just pretend it makes sense ok. I appreciate everyone who sent me requests and suggestions for this series, and special thanks as always to my gresties for cheering me on. Again, apologies for my shameless self insert. Hopefully we like where this story goes, let me know your thoughts! Thank you for the continued support, i love you all!

Edited by the lovely @gretasamfeettt

Vibes: Something About You - Level 42 and golden hour - JVKE

. . . . . . .

Being born and raised in the Midwest has made you mostly impartial to the cold. You’d spent many a chilly night around dying campfires, many afternoons skiing down powdered hills, and even more mornings trudging through snowbanks just to get to school. Spending ten hours trying to sleep on cold concrete with only a tent to protect you from the early March wind and snow, however, is turning out to be a little out of your comfort zone.

You don’t really mind though, you’d happily suffer through any amount of discomfort to see your favorite band, and having your two best friends with you does dull the pain somewhat. It had been their idea originally to camp out for the slew of shows happening in your area, so you all bought your tickets months in advance and spent the days leading up meticulously preparing. The vibe has been a bit off ever since you rejoined your group the night before, haphazardly dressed after a romp with a rockstar, but they seem excited for you all the same.

Now that you’ve had time to register the events of the night before, you’re scared shitless. You were living in the moment, but when time resumed its normal pace, the reality that Josh Kiszka picked you is almost too much to bear. You were hesitant to give up too many details when they tried to poke and prod them out of you, even if it meant they would believe you to be mildly full of shit. Hell, you can hardly believe it yourself, but there’s no part of you that’s willing to risk breaking his confidence. The experience you shared with Josh was special to you, and you will not be souring it by any means.

You look down at your phone and reread the last text he sent you, ‘I better see you there.

Josh does own a cell phone and uses it quite often, to your complete surprise. After you rejoined your friends the previous night and began the drive to the next city on your roster, you texted your name to the number he gave you. He texted back immediately to wish you a good night, and when morning came and you wished him good luck he returned with that little crumb.

He wants to see me again… Of all people…

He’s probably just being polite…

“Smile for Joshy!” You extend your arm to snap a selfie, posing in line outside the venue to send him in return. The bundled faces of you and your friends are doing their best to smile through clenched teeth and not look frigid in the Michigan winter air.

The caption reads ‘Camping out just to be sure you do’, and you send it off after gaining an approving nod from everyone.

“I’m not convinced this isn’t some sort of elaborate ruse,” your best friend, Quinn, jests after dropping the smile she forced for the picture. “If you’re Josh Kiszka’s sneaky link now then how come we don’t have backstage passes?”

“Ohh my god. I’m not some clout chaser, I can’t just ask him for things ‘cause he paid attention to me once.” You scoff slightly at the insinuation. How could you possibly ask that man for anything after he already gave you the time of day?

Your answer must not be satisfactory, prompting a retort back. “Okay, but he gave you his phone number, and he’s still texting you? If he didn’t like you he would’ve just let you leave. I saw the way he watched you get whisked away, it was like a fucking romance movie.”

He did give me his number, some random one-night stands I’ve had haven’t even given me their phone numbers afterward. Maybe there’s a point there..

The thought feels so ridiculous in your mind you barely want to let it take root. He’s already taking up so much of your headspace, letting the idea that you might have a chance with him seems much too dangerous of a concept.

“Would you stop getting my hopes up? Everybody knows they don’t have groupies… plus he just slept with me the one time, it didn’t mean anything.” You trail off, suddenly disappointed with yourself for remembering that small fact.

Disappointed about what? Getting attached already? Pitiful.

“Who said anything about being a groupie? I’m sure that’s not the reason he doesn’t show all his fuck buddies off to the masses.” Nina, the third part of your little trio, chimes in. “If I had known that getting beat up in the pit was the way to bag a Kiszka I would’ve knocked my own ass out in front of them a long time ago.”

“Why does everyone keep saying I got beat up?!”

. . .

Not too much later, your phone lights up, his name is on the screen accompanied by a silly picture of him you had saved. Highway Tune plays loud and clear through the speaker, but all you can do is stare as your fight or flight response kicks into gear. Beyond unprepared for an event like this, you turn your hand to show your friends the screen with a deer in headlights look on your face.

“Speakerphone, bitch. Now!” Nina screams at you frantically as the opportunity slips away.

Fuck.

With an appropriate sense of urgency, you clear your throat and swipe across the glass to answer with a cute but casual “Hey!”

“I’m sorry, you’re doing what?” In your experience, no introduction means business. Even when separated by the phone and however many miles, his slightly acidic tone gives you chills.

“Camping! Ya know, for the barricade!”

“You mean you’re outside the damn arena right now?” He sounds relatively calm in contrast to the intensity of his words, it’s hard to tell if he’s really angry or not.

“Well yeah! It’s how you get to be up front… you do know what goes down at your shows, right?” you giggle in an attempt to lighten the mood.

“Y/n… How long have you been out there?”

“I don’t know… some hours…” You dart your eyes to the girls, silently begging them to not say a word about how you drove through the night on no sleep from the previous show to get right back in line for another.

“It’s freezing fucking cold outside, absolutely not, I won’t have it.”

What the fuck does that mean?

“You won’t have it? It’s what everybody does, honestly, it’s fine I have my friends with me. It’s part of the whole experience.”

A contemplative sigh comes from his end of the line followed by a long pause.

“Josh?” You hear some distant voices and shuffling around coming from whoever he’s taken a second to speak to.

“Your friends can come too.” He finally answers.

“Josh, what are you…you’re not sending another goon to kidnap me again, are you?”

“Yeah Peach, stay put for me alright?” The line beeps dead, leaving everyone's jaws dropped at the audacity.

After a moment passes, Quinn is the first to say something. “So. Peach, huh?”

. . .

Faster than you had expected, a wide guy in a baseball cap with a scruffy beard approaches you and your friends in line. You instantly recognize him to be the same guy that rescued you from the pit and kept you like a present for Josh backstage the night before.

“Hey, it’s you!” You exclaim, relieved to be seeing a somewhat familiar face.

“Nice to see you again, Miss y/n. Mr. Kiszka asked me to show you and your friends inside.”

Slightly panicked glances are being shot all around amongst yourselves as you pack up your stuff, unsure of the unorthodox situation that won’t stop unfolding. Gossipy murmurs and glares are shot your way from those in line who may have been snooping, but once your blankets and chairs are picked up he leads you around the side of the building to a door out of sight from the other campers.

“What’s your name?” You ask him as you follow his lead close behind. “Since you know my name I don’t wanna keep calling you security boy.”

He chuckles and shoots a smile over his shoulder. “I’m Trevor, but security boy is fine if you like it.”

“Okay, security boy. How long have you worked for Josh?”

“I’ve been head security for the band for a couple months now.”

“I thought they just used venue security, I never see them out and about with bodyguards.”

“You’re half right. I mostly oversee the local security teams at the concerts and events, but they’ve been needing personal security more than usual lately. Besides, I’m pretty much an assistant at this point with how much they have me run errands like this.”

“Oh, so I’m just another errand, huh?”

“I’m more like your babysitter at this point, don’t you think?” You share a laugh, and instantly tension begins to ease.

You arrive at a small dressing room, which he unlocks and opens up for your group to drop your coats. One by one he hands you each a lanyard with a badge attached, indicating your new security clearance.

“You can warm up and get changed in here, I’ll come to get you when it’s time to head on out. I’ll leave ya to it.”

Josh has him ‘run errands’ a lot, I hope this isn’t something he’s used to…

“Wait…” Standing in the doorway once your group has started unpacking, you fight with yourself for a moment about whether you should ask the million-dollar question. “Is Josh… does he do this a lot? I mean…”

It rolls out with the most pathetically apprehensive voice you’ve ever had the displeasure of speaking, upon hearing it you wish you could take it back. He looks at you for a moment but ultimately seems to take pity on you and places a hand on your shoulder. “No ma’am, he doesn’t.”

He seems earnest enough, and you believe him as much as two strangers can trust each other in these kinds of circumstances. His gesture is enough to soothe a bit of the self-doubt that hasn’t left you alone for about 24 hours.

“Thank you, Trevor.” He touches the bill of his hat and tips it with a gentlemanly nod and half a smile before turning away, leaving you to close the door behind him.

. . .

As the lot of you are getting ready, putting makeup on, and doing your hair, you hear a knock on the door followed by Trevor’s voice. “You ladies decent?”

“Yeah, come in”. You answer without looking up from the flick of eyeliner you’re expertly applying in the mirror.

The door clicks open and the honey-smooth voice floats in before the man himself. “How’s everything coming along in here?,” he says, casual as can be. You flicker your attention up to catch his cocky smile when he enters still in his street clothes. You can’t help but chuckle a little to yourself as you watch your friends attempt to stifle their reactions, but ultimately fail while tripping over each other to meet him.

He greets them politely, asking their names and apologizing for any discomfort in rooting you from your spots in line. As any good fangirl would, they decline his apology and thank him for the opportunity to be inside instead.

“The guys and I were all really worried about everyone out there in the cold, but we know you’re all so dedicated, we couldn’t stop you if we tried.” They agree with him, giggling shamelessly at the charm that seems to come so naturally to him. Watching him interact with fans after knowing how he acts in private is almost comical.

“We really do appreciate you setting aside a spot for us, we know you’re really busy.” You pipe up for the first time.

Gross. You really couldn’t think of anything better to say? Idiot.

He locks eyes with you from where you’re standing against the mirror at the back of the room but says nothing, apart from the way his lips twitch when he takes in the sight of you. Even the blind would be able to notice the instantaneous effect you have on him.

“We didn’t think you guys really knew each other” Nina blurts out while the two odd girls out watch something unspoken bounce back and forth between you.

“Oh no, we definitely know each other. Isn’t that right y/n?” You know the question is rhetorical, but you tip your chin slightly in agreement anyway, a blistering heat behind your eyes. “Would I be able to get a few minutes alone with your friend here, if you guys don’t mind? She’ll join you in a moment, Trevor is just out in the hall to show you to some snacks.”

They nod and scurry out of the room, offering supportive glances, a suggestive wink, and a pair of smiles from behind his back as they file out quicker than you can protest.

His entire demeanor changes when the two of you are left standing alone in the confines of the dressing room, free from anything that could act as a buffer. He was gracious and polite with your friends, clearly putting on a little bit, but you’re with a different person once he shuts and locks the door behind them. Just like the other night, the tension in the surrounding air is palpable.

Don’t make a fool of yourself. Don’t be desperate and weird. You can do this y/n, be confident and breathe.

“You didn’t have to go out of your way to do all this, Josh.” You set down your eyeliner on the counter behind you, doing your best to appear nonchalant despite your heart doing its very best to pound its way out of your chest. As exciting as being in his presence is, you’re also terrified to your core. The energy shift is so seamless you have no room to be rattled by his next move.

Josh shakes his head as he strides towards you, as if hearing the silliest words ever spoken into existence. He closes the gap between you in a few short paces, trapping you in place against the counter. There are barely a few inches between your bodies but you’re steadfast in your cool as a cucumber facade, no matter how unconvincing it may be.

“As much as I appreciate the time you’re willing to put in, I wish you had told me you were gonna wait out in the cold. I could’ve saved you so much earlier.”

“I didn’t really think that was an option. I don’t expect any special treatment.” You long to reach out and touch him, to tear down the invisible barrier holding you back. It’s scary, like there’s some sort of rule you’d be breaking if you did. You’re just trying to be respectful, when in reality that’s the last thing you want to do.

“You should. I can’t give it to everybody but I can give it to you.” Your cheeks flush red forcing you to look down and away from him to avoid getting too flustered, only for him to raise your chin again with one finger to keep your eyes on him, ensuring you really hear what he has to say. “You’re not part of the general population anymore mama, you’re my sweet peach, remember?”

In the wake of his genuinely sweet albeit loaded comment, a wave of emotion returns to blindside you, shattering your smoke screen of indifference like a freight train.

Does he crave me in the same way I crave him?

Could he ever feel anything close to what I feel?

I idolize and ache for him, but what does he think of me?

He’s already been inside me. He’s already had more of me than most other men ever have.

I’ve earned his favor and attention, why am I so quick to reject it?

Does he pity me?

What if he just pities me…

“I’m scared.” You choke out. Without a high to hide behind there’s nothing to stop your bleeding heart from exploding right here in his hands. He catches up with your train of thought though and is so quick to reassure you it might as well be second nature.

“Y/n, what are you scared of?” his eyes flicker back and forth as he searches yours.

“That none of this is real.” you feel you should elaborate but you can’t. Any attempt at trying to explain the thoughts that have been gnawing at you would come out like word vomit. Some preconceived notion you cooked up in your paralyzing anxiety is telling you not to act like his stardom has any effect on you. You’ve wrapped yourself in a cage of barbed wire made of your own cowardice, only to be cut open if a single wrong move is made. He probably goes out of his way to avoid girls like that, so you exercise the minimal restraint you feel capable of to keep it short. Out of fear, of course.

Ever so delicately he takes your hand, brings it to his lips, and ghosts your knuckles along the baby soft skin that rests there. In a breath he leaves a kiss, focusing on the spot for a moment before returning focus to your wet eyes.

“Last night I asked you to trust me and you did, and I took good care of you. Do you still trust me?”

You nod your head.

“Then trust that I’ll continue to take care of you, okay? This is real, I’m real. Look…” he bares his teeth over the back of your hand and play bites it, making you gasp mostly in surprise but you laugh it off crudely, your heart flutters. “See? You’re real too, Peach.”

Of course, Josh would never miss a beat. Of course, all it would take is a teaspoon of vulnerability to prompt him to keep the floodgates from giving way completely to whatever bullshit mess you could concoct.

Stop being so foolish.

You sniffle away the remnants of what could have been a colossal breakdown and crack a smile at him through batted lashes. “Peach.. Is that my name now?”

He nods, moving his lips against your skin again. “I like it, think it’s cute, don’t you?”

“Mhm, it is… I could’ve braved through the cold ya know, hands down.”

“Would you stop complaining every time I try to rescue you?” he snorts in a teasing way that makes you giggle and bite your lip like a little kid with a crush. You try not to get distracted by his chestnut brown eyes, shining bright.

“Anything for you.” For good measure, you toss in a flirty wink with your same line from the night before.

“Again with that shit, babygirl.. I oughta spank you for getting me worked up before a performance. God, you are relentless!”

Finally, you decide to stop fighting the magnetic energy pulling you toward him and lean into his frame. “And I don’t even have to say please?”

A choked moan barely escapes him, and he plays it off with a fake as hell cough that only serves to make you giggle.

“Fuck…” he gives you another quick once over in your concert outfit, smoothing over where he’s wrinkled it in a few spots and breaks out in a smirk, still holding your chin in place to keep you from looking elsewhere, “You look delicious, Peach. Are you me this time?”

The outfit in question just so happens to be a top modeled after the jumpsuit he wore in Los Angeles during the Strange Horizons tour paired with a miniskirt. Pure groupie behavior, yet again. You do your best not to roll your eyes at yourself.

“So, I didn’t plan on meeting you when I picked out my-“ in very Joshua fashion, he just can’t wait until the end of your sentence to swoop in for a bruising, searing hot open mouthed kiss that almost makes you stumble. Your lips mash together sloppily but you don’t care. You just want to feel like he has to have you, maybe he really does.

“How’s that bruised peach doing?” His words are barely intelligible at the lowest end of his register and doesn’t wait for an answer before reaching for the hem of your skirt. “Show me.”

You let him spin you around and hike up your skirt around your hips so he has full access to the panties adorning the purple blotches on your skin. There hasn’t been quite enough time for you to inspect the damage made by your fall, but he’s careful to avoid it.

“I know they’re pretty ugly.” you try to avoid thinking about it, instead focusing on his hand that’s made its way between your legs and is exploring the lacy edge of your panties. Another part of you is hoping the edge of the counter won’t crack under your iron-clad grip on it, purely keeping your knees from losing their integrity.

“Hush, sweetness. Look.” his free hand wraps around you to grab your chin, forcing your gaze upon the mirror you’ve found yourself facing. “See how beautiful you are? Nothing could taint that.”

Right then, he slips his hand under the lace and dives into your slit, already wet to the touch. You’re not sure why watching his hand move obscenely against you has you feeling so embarrassed, but when you see your own cheeks turning rosy you try to turn and protest the position. “Josh..”

“Don’t look away. Watch me.” he holds you still, pressing two of his fingers into you with a squelch. Watching yourself was one thing, but seeing the look on his face when he makes contact with that heavenly gummy texture is something that will be seared into your mind forever. It’s close to a look of pain, like he can’t stand just how unreal you feel to him.

“Good God, y/n.” he stays tucked inside for a few pumps of his wrist before leaving your warmth to press those drenched fingers to your lips. You don’t need a command this time to open up and lick them clean.

“How can I possibly focus on putting on a good show when you’re out here distracting me? Saboteur, that’s what you are!”

“And how am I supposed to enjoy the music I paid good money to see if you’re just gonna be making me horny? Are you going to repay me?”

“Well… you got me there. Maybe if you behave.”

. . .

Now, typically when one has backstage passes to a concert, that usually grants access to back stage. It’s right there in the name. However, you camped with your friends for however long before Joshua stepped in, and your hopes have been set on snagging a spot at the barricade. It’s not something you’re all too fond of giving up on.

Once Josh had released you from his grasp and excused himself to get ready, leaving you with a kiss on the cheek as you part ways, your friends returned with the news that the doors were about to open. It took some light convincing on your part, but Trevor agreed to let you into the pit early so you can secure a spot up front. Watching from backstage the night before was really cool, of course it was, but this is an experience you’d been dreaming of for just as long. Josh Kiszka is not going to be the reason you miss it.

Standing where you are now, directly in front of where he’ll be standing shortly with the gardens gate key hanging high above you, your stomach is firmly planted in your ass. The openers were amazing, adding to the intense build up of the curtain dropping any minute now. You feel almost more nervous now than you did the first time around, but this time it’s a different breed.

When the curtain finally falls and the shrieks of the girls around you dampen your senses, he’s right where he’s supposed to be and instant relief washes over you. Chest puffed out, wide stance, head held high, utterly ecstatic. You can trace his eyes scanning the audience, taking in the sheer mass of the crowd and every face that he can make out. Until they land on you. It’s subtle, but you can tell he wasn’t expecting to see you there, cheering for him as he so deserves.

“Give me my money’s worth, baby!” you don’t care if he can hear you or not, you’re not even sure of the words that spewed out. Everybody knows the most unhinged thoughts sometimes slip in the presence of these men anyway.

He lingers on you with the smuggest expression, a hint of deviance mixed in as well, and licks his lips before diving into the lyrics of their first song.

Yeah, he heard me, that little fucker.

Song after song you hype him up, screaming his name and blowing him kisses, singing along to every single word. Each and every time he lands in front of you he does something ridiculously out of pocket and slutty. Whether it be thrusting his hips, licking his lips, or growling into the damn microphone, he makes eye contact with you every single time.

Every. Single. Time. Without fail.

Oh my god. He’s actually taunting me…

“Who’s misbehaving now, Joshy!?” you scream when he lets a particularly moan-like cry sound out through the arena. It’s your last straw when he sticks his tongue out at you in response. All you can think about is how badly you want to see that tongue somewhere else, and how you want to make him pay for his actions when you finally can.

He’s incorrigible

As the end of Safari Song dawns you recognize the familiar rhythm that marks the beginning of Danny’s drum solo. A fluttering feeling returns to your chest with the realization, because the drum solo also happens to be when Josh rides the shoulders of a security guard to pass out roses.

When he reaches you, he places a rose purposefully in your hand and you try not to swoon when he winks at you from his high horse. He’ll be coming back around shortly to have some face-to-face time with his adoring fans, but with how hard he’s been throwing his sexuality around the stage for the whole world to see you quickly try to think of something that will make him swoon back.

Like a wave, the screaming and shuffling of young women starts to crawl back in your direction, and you’ve finally settled on your move as he appears in your line of sight once again. Instead of blindly reaching for him hoping for just a touch of attention like everyone else, you make eye contact with him as he approaches and hold out your hand open faced. He seems to think nothing of the out of the ordinary gesture and reaches out. In a split second, you fake him out as he’s about to grab your hand, surpassing his grasp to reach up as far as you can.

“Hi baby” is all you can think to say, but it’s more than enough. You can make out the words ‘Hi Peach’ move across his lips with no accompanying sound. Somewhere in the process he catches on and bends just slightly to close the gap for you, never once breaking the eye contact you’re trying so hard to hold. As you reach his face you caress his cheek, using your thumb to slightly grace his bottom lip until he’s pulled out of range.

The exchange barely lasted more than a few heartbeats, but the impact is profound. You didn’t believe it was possible to actually see stars in someone’s eyes until the whole universe manifested in Josh’s. There’s remnants of a blush on the apples of his cheeks when he hops back on stage, and you do your best to vacate the butterflies from your stomach as the show carries on oblivious to your secret.

. . .

After the show ends and the house lights come up, you take your pictures and exchange socials with the girls around you that had bonded with you between sets. Then, once everything has substantially died down, you exchange quick glances at your friends before hopping over the barricade and flashing your security badges at the men who immediately try to stop you.

It’s a funny feeling, floating around backstage aimlessly. You eventually are able to latch onto the sound of Trevor’s voice and follow it until you see the boys huddled around talking, already changed out of their concert attire. Sam and Jake notice you before he does, but you tap Josh on the shoulder anyway. When he turns he smiles like the sunshine boy he is, rushes to you without hesitation and wraps his arms around you, picks you up, and spins you around like you’re old friends in an airport who haven’t seen each other in years.

“Holyyy shit, Peach! Did you get your money’s worth?” he cries gleefully as he sets you down and squishes your cheeks between his palms, knocking loose a few rhinestones you had placed there.

“And more! You acted like a proper slut out there!”

“Thank you, thank you, I try my best. I didn’t expect you to be right in front! You almost had me for a minute there, mama.”

“Yeah, well you deserved it.”

“Ahem,” Jake slaps a hand down on Josh’s shoulder and turns his attention to you. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything. Dear brother, why don’t you introduce us to your friend?”

You take matters into your own hands and thrust yours out to him, which he shakes warmly smiling a devilish grin to match. “Hello Jacob, I’m y/n.”

“Ahhh so this is the dreamboat that kept you so preoccupied last night!?” Sam interjects, pulling you away from the twins and into a hug that you were not prepared for but accept happily anyway.

“Hi Sammy, sorry for keeping him from his important frontman duties.”

“Well shit, he’s not that important.” he laughs, jabbing a playful shove at his eldest brother's shoulder, prompting a scuffle to ensue that you carefully step away from. In taking a step back you bump into Danny, who was standing off to the side with his arms crossed watching the encounter unfold.

“Oops, sorry.” he catches and steadies you, keeping you from taking a tumble when you try to correct yourself but instead misstep.

I just cannot stop being clumsy for two seconds, can I?

“You sweet, sweet angel. You never have to apologize to me Danny,” already being in close proximity, you wrap him in the biggest hug you can manage. “That was my bad anyway.”

“Oh, wow. You’re so sweet, it’s so nice to meet you.”

“Ditto, my friend.” you try not to think about how that was the best hug anyone has ever given you.

You introduce your friends to the rest of the band one at a time and return to Josh’s side, allowing everyone to get their hugs in, some lingering a bit longer than they should. Everyone mingles with each other discussing the events of the night, laughing about things that were thrown on stage and signs that were made until you notice Josh’s arm snaking its way around your waist to pull you flush against him.

“Do you wanna get out of here?” he whispers in your ear, “To the hotel this time?”

If smiles were contagious the one that splits your face in that moment would have everyone infected.

“Love to.” you nod to emphasize your point then turn to say your goodbyes to Quinn and Nina, who are probably just fine being left in their present company. The last thing you need is a thousand missed texts and calls from them if you were to just disappear into the night. Josh does no such thing and makes his move to whisk you away rather hastily.

Trevor, who was standing close by, escorts the two of you outside, blocking you from the view of a small huddle of girls waiting for a glimpse of the boys. You must have stood around talking for too long based on how many of them have accumulated. You make your way to a blacked out car waiting with a driver ready to go, and slide in as quickly as possible. It’s a short drive to the hotel but Josh insists on taking a moment to pick a song for the journey before taking off.

“Come on, Joshua” you roll your eyes playfully as he scrolls through an endless playlist.  

“Shut up and hear me out, okay? The song choice is important!”

The first couple notes of Your Love play through the speakers, but he turns to you slowly to see your reaction like he just told you he knows your deepest darkest secrets.

“I thought you guys were supposed to have pretentious music taste?” you tease. 

“What?! You don’t like this song? Who doesn’t like this song?!”

He breaks into song in the middle of the lyrics at the top of his lungs just for you, clearly to annoy you, but little does he know that everything he’s ever done is endearing beyond comprehension.  You might have even been disappointed if he didn’t pull something that gave you just a tinge of secondhand embarrassment.  His charisma and silliness are becoming and the way he’s singing, waiting for you to give in and humor him has you jumping in at the chorus, matching his energy.  It’s the power ballad to end all power ballads.

I’m singing with Josh Kiszka.  Josh is singing to me.  What the fuck is my life becoming? 

As the music fades out of the chorus and you’re left giggling at the antics, you look out your open window to feel the wind on your face and revel in the ambiance of the next song paired with passing street lights against a black sky.  If you were paying attention you’d see Josh’s stare never left you.  He’s watching you, fawning over you, taken by your beauty as you admire the night.

. . .

Josh lets you into the room first to venture in on your own, you look around briefly at nothing in particular until you hear the door close and lock. When he doesn’t immediately come to you, you turn to catch him subtly admiring you. He meets your gaze and reaches a hand out to you, his eyes are soft but set ablaze with determination.

“I don’t think you know how magnetic you are.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.” You take his hand, and once they’ve met he pulls you towards him, only to be turned and pressed against the wall at your back. He kisses you passionately just like earlier, you can feel the adrenaline thumping his heart against his ribcage so hard you think you could see it beneath his supple skin if you weren’t so occupied.

He grabs your ass with both hands and slides them down the backs of your thighs, guiding each one with an effortless lift to rest around his waist. You didn’t expect him to be so strong, but he cradles you with such care despite how ravenously his mouth moves down your chin to lap at your throat. In the darkest depths of your mind, you wish he would take a bite.

You grind your hips against the nearest thing you can, which happens to be his stomach, it heaves at the motion causing you to groan. Every little move you make elicits a clear visceral reaction, making the pit in your stomach tunnel deeper by the minute.

You want to tell him to tear you apart.  You want to tell him to bury himself inside you and stay there until he’s contemplated his own existence, twice.  All that you’re able to form into a coherent thought is “Joshy, more…” 

“Making demands already?” he mumbles into the crook of your neck.

You take no notice of his taunt and start pulling at his clothes blindly, making no real progress towards getting them off, to his amusement. An unmistakable poke makes itself known against your panties, which happen to be exposed to the air by the shortness of your skirt in your current position.

“Don’t ignore me, princess.” he runs his teeth along your collarbone as he digs into the meat of your thigh with his fingers, and a tortured moan vibrates out of you in return. “What do you say when you want something?”

“Please!” you practically scream “Dear God, please. Please just fuck me already!” The last of your self respect flies out the window, but to be fair it’s mostly been absent since he stepped out on stage to fuck the entire stadium.

One of his hands leaves your body, awkwardly and desperately reaching to unbuckle his pants, your faces pressed together cheek to cheek. You hold onto his shoulders on instinct to keep from falling to the floor, though he has you pinned so tightly between the wall and his own body you could let go of him entirely and remain in place. Your cunt pulses in anticipation when he ruts his freed cock against the thin material covering you. The wetness of your panties must be ridiculous, as the shaky breath coming from him feels beyond depraved.

“Y/n, oh my.. Fuck.” he slides it against the material once more while holding you still, using you in a sense, taking what he needs, and you wait patiently while he does.

Because that’s what good girls do.

He praises you while he reaches to pull your panties to the side and nuzzles his tip against your entrance. His head rolls back when he thrusts inside, leaving you huffing quick and shallow breaths against his ear, wisps of his hair tickling your nose as they’re blown around. He hums a sound of delight and settles into a comfortable yet delicious rhythm of bucking his hips up to meet your core.

“Who’s good girl are you? Say it.” he sounds like he might be close to his climax, so you humor him and fist your hand into his hair just how he likes it.

“I’m yours, Josh. I’m your good girl.”

I belong to you.  I always will.

He whines at your response and his pace changes, speeding up but stuttering. He claws at your delicate top, tearing it at the neckline to rip down the middle, exposing your bouncing breasts to him in a way that would ignite the most perverted parts of any man’s brain.

“Are you gonna cum in me, baby?” you tighten your walls around him, approaching your own feeling of ecstasy.

He just nods fervently and adjusts his grip on your ass, his fingers wandering as far as they can to grab a handful until they’re almost touching in the middle. You’re not sure what you were expecting, but it wasn’t for him to use his grip to spread your cheeks, parting your folds to allow him an unobstructed reach into your depths. “I can’t fucking wait, I’m gonna…” he strains to speak, fucking into you to the hilt as he twitches inside you and cum overflows from your meeting point as he completely loses himself in you.

Carefully, he steps back with you still in his arms, retreating to take a seat on the edge of the bed. Still straddling him, you settle onto his cock which has yet to soften.

“I’m sorry, Peach. I got too excited.” his head rests on your shoulder as he catches his breath.

“No, don’t be sorry. I wanted you to cum, it feels good.”

“You can feel it?” the genuine surprise on his face when he looks up at you in pleased shock makes you giggle, and the sight of your delight makes him laugh along with you as he moves his hands to rub little circles over your hardened nipples.

“Yeah I can, I feel it right here… deep inside.” you place one finger between his hips in the center of his abdomen and press down, making him giggle uncontrollably and lurch to swat at your hand.

“No no no no, I’m ticklish!”

You hold your hands up in surrender, and after the laughing subsides, he lays back on the bed, sprawling out under your weight. “Well, I’m not gonna let you leave empty handed. Get up here.” he gestures for you to follow him by curling his finger at you and licks his lips.

You slide him out of you and shift your weight to move up his body until his head is between your legs.

“Other way, mama. Turn around.” you quirk an eyebrow at him but do as he says, carefully avoiding kneeing him in the face as you turn to face his feet. As you get into position, he rests his hands on the tops of your legs. “All the way down.”

You resist the urge to laugh. “I’ll crush you.”

“No you won’t, it’s ‘kay, I got you.” he wraps his arms all the way around your legs and lowers you until his extended tongue makes contact. Immediately he goes for the motions that spark pleasure in you the most, it makes you suspect that he’s learning your body quicker than any mediocre fuckboy ever has.

How his cock is still hard as a rock is beyond you, seemingly impossible, but makes for something to keep your hands busy with while he eats you like a last meal.  You’ve spent an unreasonable amount of time on your own imagining what his cock looks like, having access to it this way feels like such a privilege.  

Taking him in your hand, you lazily work your fist over him and lean just enough to leave kitten licks on the head of his cock, teasing it and coaxing flustered noises out of him that reverberate through your whole body. You rotate your hips the slightest bit, adjusting his position without breaking his concentration as he consumes you, sucking up the juices that leak out and lapping at your clit every time you let out a broken sigh.

“Josh.. don’t stop.”. That familiar building feeling begins its ascent when he sucks your clit into his mouth, leaving you mewling as you suckle on him helplessly.

Light muffled moans just cascade out of his chest with little words of affirmation peppered in, you swear you think you heard him say ‘so perfect’ under his breath, but you can’t be sure of his incoherent ramblings. After a few moments of enjoying the perfect pressure on your most sensitive parts, you let your orgasm wash over you, and you cum on his tongue that’s ventured back to your opening to dip inside and scoop out the spoils of his efforts. You almost stop him when he continues backward to spread your own cum around your other entrance, but the warm sticky feeling he swirls around with long languid strokes paralyzes you into a fucked out stupor.

“Feel better?” he sprinkles little kisses across your thighs, craning his neck to leave more and more as you swing your leg over to relieve him of his fleshy prison and collapse onto your back.

You manage a happy sounding ‘mmm’ when he climbs on top of you to kiss each of your cheeks and retreats to your side once you reciprocate with a peck on the tip of his nose and a smile. He relaxes into the bed with you, letting one hand fall into your hair, and you just lie together in your shared bliss.

. . .

You chat about nonsense for an unknown amount of time until the chill of the room forces you to finally stand up.

“Where are you going?”

“Just to the bathroom, gonna freshen up.” On the way there you grab your purse and your clothes, and thank your past self for having the foresight to pack a few toiletries in your bag the day before. As you’re about to close the door behind you, his voice stops you.

“Hey, Peach?”

“Yeah?” you poke your head back out into the room, he’s sitting up in bed and looking at you but you can’t quite place the look on his face.

“Will you… stay with me tonight? You can wear some of my clothes or I can grab some from Danny…” the concern in his voice could melt you, but you can’t tell if he’s scared of asking the question or what the answer might be. In a weird way though, it’s the cutest thing you’ve ever heard.

Be still my heart, he’s down bad. 

“Oh, sweet boy. Without question.”

. . .

Josh has to be the handsiest person you’ve ever met. Not that you’re complaining. As you climb back into bed with him he executes no self-control and pulls you into his lap by your waist. If you’re being honest though, you’d let him manhandle you when and where he pleases. Especially now, when he seems unmotivated by sex and just holds you close, but still intimate since you’ve both opted out of pajamas for the night.

You’re absentmindedly wrapping his curly locks around your fingers in the comfortable stillness of his hotel room, surrounded by smoke from the joint he lit up, and listening to him tell you all about life on the road. A quick prompt of ‘what’s the next city on the roster?’ launched a rant that you have no plans on stopping. You really should be sleeping but to silence his perfect lips would be a crime.

Except for…

“Josh?” you accidentally interrupt at the arrival of an intrusive thought.

“Yes, sweetness?”

“When you said earlier that Im not part of the general population anymore, what did you mean?”

“I don’t know. I’m kind of… infatuated with you.”

Infatuated with me? Why?

He reads the puzzled look on your face and continues.

“The way you speak about things and carry yourself. I can tell you’re special. Not only that, but from the first time I saw you I was drawn to you. It’s almost like the universe brought you to my feet. Your face was all tear-stained and your eyes were puffy but you stopped and saw me, you really saw me. I thought ‘this girl is looking into my soul’. ” too stunned to speak, you stay silent and let him carry on. “Ever since then you’ve just kept on astounding me. So when I said that I guess it was me letting you know I want you around, I want you with me.”

Holy shit. What?

. . . . . . .

thank you for reading

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[ericdeggans]

The fun and fear of guest hosting All Things Considered

As a longtime NPR nerd, I have often listened to the smooth, smart anchors leading broadcasts of our newsmagazines and wondered: Could I do that?

Last Saturday and Sunday, I found out, when I got the chance to fill in for Michel Martin as guest anchor on Weekend All Things Considered.

I knew from a stint guest hosting CNN’s late, lamented media analysis show Reliable Sources years ago, that even a temporary host can have lots of influence over a show. The key is to assemble a lineup of interviews and stories which are informative and newsy, but also show off the host’s strengths by speaking to their expertise, enthusiasms and abilities.

For me, it was also an opportunity to pull together some dreamed-about interviews, backed by the appeal to the subject of appearing on a newsmagazine which reaches millions of listeners over a weekend. My biggest fear: breaking news which would require lots of live anchoring; fortunately, the news gods smiled down and people seemed to chill out for the holiday weekend.

Here's links to some of the stories we offered over those two days. Their quality is a real testament to the staff at Weekend All Things Considered, who were supportive, understanding of a newbie’s nerves and so good at their jobs, it made speaking to an audience of millions exhilarating and fun – and only a little bit scary.

This is one of my favorite interviews: blerding out on comic book lore with Ryan Coogler, director of Wakanda Forever, which stands at the top of the box office. We talk about the death of Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, making longtime antihero Namor a Mayan (and those ankle wings!) and how two guys wrote a female centered, big budget Marvel movie. Click here to listen.

I’m a late-night TV nerd. So it was beyond fulfilling to get two of the smartest comics in late night to spend a little time talking about the future of late night TV and whether it makes sense to call out comics out for monologues which seem, for some, to encourage and/or minimize antisemitism or prejudice. The Daily Show’s Roy Wood Jr. and The Amber Ruffin Show’s Jenny Hagel were super smart, super funny and super thoughtful in this discussion, which you can hear by clicking here. Another version can be found in our podcast Consider This.

Flying to Washington DC on Thanksgiving night, I was astonished to see tech journalist Kara Swisher taking apart Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk in a series of tweets where she called him her biggest disappointment in 25 years as a tech reporter. During a staff a meeting the next day, I asked the team: Do you think we could get Swisher to talk with us about what happened? Turns out, they could, and we talked about Elon, whether we’re seeing the twilight of the tech bro and the future of Black Twitter. Listen here.

One thing NPR does well is spotlight up and coming artists before they become household names. So I was proud and honored to feature a revealing interview with Elegance Bratton, director/writer of the new film The Inspection, a movie based on his own life about a Black, gay homeless man -- rejected by his homophobic mother – who seeks refuge in the Marines. After the interview was done, Elegance told us he had dreamed of being interview by NPR about one of his films for years. We were happy to make that one come true – click here to listen.

A talk with Stephen Fowler of Georgia Public Radio on the start of voting in the state’ contentious Senate runoff election between Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker.

A conversation with expert Manuel Zamarripa on how to process the trauma from media coverage of mass shootings.

Discussion of the podcast White Hats, which dissects the complex and often bloody history of a group typically lionized in film and TV shows: The Texas Rangers.

Words with Senator Amy Klobuchar on her plans to convene a hearing on Ticketmaster’s dominance of the concert ticketing industry after their massive failure to sell tickets to Taylor Swift’s new concert tour.

[dippedanddripped]

Debbie Harry doesn’t believe in harbouring regrets. “I have made many, many errors, but nobody leads a perfect life,” she reflects down the telephone from New York. “So, should I regret anything? No. It is a waste of time. It really is a waste of time.”

Dial back to the turn of the 70s and the life that Harry led before fronting Blondie – prior to her image being burned onto the retina of popular culture – was colourful to say the least. “I was so desperate to live life,” she says of her time spent hanging with the outcasts and artists of downtown New York. “I was jamming in as much experience as I possibly could and I don’t know if I could have done anything differently. I learned a lot.”

The old Bowery music venue CBGBs has long passed into music folklore as the place that called the likes of Television, Patti Smith, and the Ramones their house bands. It was also where punk and new wave progenitors Blondie cut their teeth before they sashayed into the wider world with the protean panache that would make them a household name. Classic singles such as “Heart of Glass”, “Call Me”, “Atomic”, and “Rapture” have been responsible for more worldwide rug-cutting than an industrial carpet tool. To imply that they were merely a solid singles band is to do them a cardinal disservice, however.

And although they’ve always cocked their attention to the things ahead of them, Harry and her Blondie cohorts have spent a lot of time looking back just lately. Harry’s long-awaited autobiography, Face It, hit the shelves last year, and Blondie co-founder and one-time partner Chris Stein published Point of View: Me, New York City, and the Punk Scene, a photography book featuring personal snaps taken during the band’s pomp in the 70s and early 80s. “We can’t keep on touring and doing club dates the way that we used to. It would be physically impossible,” Harry concedes. “Living through this pandemic has certainly made us take a long look at the value of what we’ve got with our body of work.” Asked if it is a process of attempting to frame their legacy, she admits it’s something that they “have to do”.

This deep-dive into their canon has culminated in a mouth-watering archive set, Blondie: Against the Odds 1974-1982, slated for release next year. Coming in four formats, it promises to include extensive liner notes, “track by track” commentary by the entire band, a photographic history plus rare and unreleased bonus material. The group will also go out on the road – coronavirus permitting – for an autumn Against the Odds UK tour with Garbage.

The artist born Angela Trimble was put up for adoption only a few months after she was ushered into the world in the summer of 1945. A loving New Jersey couple took her in, rechristened her Deborah Harry, and raised her as their own. She grew up in a suburb that she “never left”,  was voted best-looking girl in her high school yearbook, and oscillated within a social circle that consisted of “many of the same people” throughout her childhood. “I was somehow shy within that,” she recalls, “(but) somebody once said to me that being shy was an ego trip and a light went on in my head. I thought, ‘Oh, uh-huh, let’s have none of that!’”

Harry travelled by bus as a curious teen to nearby Greenwich Village, imbibing the febrile inner-city atmosphere. In 1965, she graduated from junior college with an associate of arts degree and New York’s allure became too enticing to resist. She decamped to the bright lights of the city and made ends meet with a succession of odd jobs, including secretarial work for the BBC, waiting tables and an infamous nine-month stint as a Playboy Bunny.

The period was a traumatic one, too, with Harry enduring an ex-lover-turned-violent-stalker and a near-miss with serial killer Ted Bundy (although Bundy’s identity is contested by others). In her memoir, she writes candidly of the time she was raped by a man wielding a knife while on her way home from a concert with Stein. Music offered a vessel for her creativity, and she spent time as part of girl group The Stilettoes and folk ensemble Wind in the Willows before her meeting with guitarist Stein which set the foundations for Blondie. Their classic lineup was completed by Gary Valentine (bass), Jimmy Destri (keys), and Clem Burke (drums).

“Somebody once said to me that being shy was an ego trip and a light went on in my head. I thought, ‘Oh, uh-huh, let’s have none of that’” – Debbie Harry

Although they self-identified as punks, the parochial and nihilistic mandate as promulgated by the genre’s militant diehards never fit Blondie comfortably. The group looked outwards from the moment they started, drawing inspiration from their cosmopolitan city. Their sound was a melting pot pulling at the seams of culture’s fabric, and they would weave their own patterns from it.

Harry agrees that their eclecticism was down to good fortune in coming from the “metropolitan area of New York” where they ingested “a lot of musical influences”. Taken as a whole, their catalogue bears this out. Blondie never stood still musically – yet never sounded like anyone else – and they loaded their songs with more hooks than a fisherman’s trawler. 1976’s punchy, eponymous debut married surf-rock textures with 50s girl-group sensibilities, and their palette had expanded exponentially by the time of seminal third album, Parallel Lines (1978). Eat to the Beat and Autoamerican followed, by which point they could boast flirtations with disco, rocksteady, funk, hip hop, and more within their enviable output.

When asked to pick one track that encapsulates the essence of Blondie, Harry opts for their 1981 US number one single “Rapture”. “What happens in ‘Rapture’ is very comprehensive,” she says. “It took a form of music that was, or still is, very modern and can be very political. Rap and hip-hop songs back then didn’t have their own songs. Rappers would just rap on somebody else’s music. (‘Rapture’) was crafted specifically for that rap. Until then that hadn’t been done. It was a breath of fresh air.” It stands as one of the things in her career that she feels “very good about”.

Blessed with the sort of features that could sell sand to the Saharans, Harry’s appearance caused a stir from the band’s earliest days. “That’s part of showbiz,” she says to me, trying to downplay it. “We always had an eye for that, the entire band. We always had an idea of making a look that represented our sensibilities and links to British pop and mod.” Maybe so, but it was Harry alone who was immortalised by Andy Warhol in one of his iconic silkscreen prints, and who posed for era-defining photographers including Robert Mapplethorpe and Anne Leibowitz.

Did the disproportionate attention she attracted ruffle feathers within the Blondie camp at the time? “Yes and no,” Harry remembers. “We were all happy that it was working. I suppose there was a certain amount of competition or jealousy but ultimately, no. I think that’s a better question for Clem or one of the other members in the band. Of course my relationship with Chris was so close that he was very happy about everything.”

The band’s wheels eventually came off after their muddy and unfocused sixth album, The Hunter, dashed against the commercial rocks in 1982. They had to abandon their subsequent tour after Stein became gravely ill with a rare autoimmune disorder, pemphigus vulgaris, that proved extremely difficult to diagnose. Blondie had no option but to bow out of the public eye, and they broke up quietly.

15 years later, with Stein fully recovered, the group reconvened and released a critically acclaimed and commercially successful comeback album, No Exit. They even topped the UK charts with lead single “Maria”, but faced tussles with erstwhile members at the time too. Former bassist and co-writer on “One Way or Another”, Nigel Harrison, and guitarist Frank Infante attempted to sue the rest of the band over their omission from the reformed lineup. And when Blondie were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, Infante grabbed the microphone to express his ire publicly.

Fast-forward to 2020 and the settled iteration of the band are working on a new album with John Congleton, who produced 2017’s Pollinator. Does Harry have a formula when it comes to songwriting these days? No, as it happens. “When a phrase or a sentiment makes me respond emotionally or physically, I write it down and I save it,” she explains. “At a certain point, I’ll sort of review things. A lot of times I like to just work with a rhythm track. Just a drumbeat or some kind of drone-y rhythm, a groove. Other times people will give me a rough sketch of some chord changes – an idea that they’ve got. I seem to work in a lot of different ways.”

Thanks to her effortless chic and timeless looks, Harry’s relationship with the fashion industry has been a mutual love-in since forever, and she recently announced a revival of her partnership with ethical fashion designers Vin + Omi – the duo responsible for her profane ‘STOP FUCKING THE PLANET’ cape worn at the Q Awards in 2016 and throughout Blondie’s Pollinator tour. They have teamed up for a new sustainable clothing line entitled HOPE, and her enthusiasm for the project is palpable. “I love Vin + Omi,” she says. “They are so creative and adventurous. They have this desire to prevail and do things that are smart and modern in terms of recycling and making energy count. I think that is brilliant.”

As a fledgling bee-keeper, the plight of the bees is also something close to Harry’s heart. It was one of the reasons why 2017’s Pollinator was, well, named exactly that. “You’re either being stung by a bee or you’re going to eat its honey,” she chuckles softly, marvelling at the absurdity of the contrast. “But bees and water are two issues we cannot escape from. We should be concerned with finding better ways of living, using our resources in the best way possible.”

Help is coming, she hopes, through the election of Joe Biden, who is “firmly attached” to the idea of helping the environmental cause – and she believes his ideas can help the economy, too. “I’ve been saying for quite a long time that solar and wind power are renewable (energies) that can create jobs,” she says. It’s a far cry from her feelings towards outgoing President Trump and his “daily infusion of bullshit” and “thunderstorm of endless diatribes”.

“One of the most exciting things about rock’n’roll was that it was about breaking the rules, and (‘WAP”) is certainly a part of that. It’s titillating and aggressive and it is part of what is exciting about popular music. The nature of what we try to do is to shock and entertain at the same time” – Debbie Harry

What strikes you when you speak to Harry for an extended period is not only her warmth, but her unexpected humility for someone so staggeringly famous. I reference a Bob Dylan BBC interview from the 80s in which he observed with sadness how his fame had the ability to change a room’s energy and how he missed seeing people act naturally around him. She paws the comparison away, saying she’s nowhere near famous “to the degree of Bob Dylan”, whom she calls “such a megastar”. This could sound like false modesty coming second-hand, but in person it feels like a sincere statement, even if it is a little bewildering coming from an international icon. She will concede, however, that she has “definitely noticed and felt something like that” and has often wished she could simply be “a fly on the wall”.

There is also an inquisitiveness that makes the conversation a more two-way affair than your quote-unquote typical ‘interview’. She fires questions back at you, not as a deflection tactic, but to expand and explore a topic further. This happens when conversation turns to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion’s ubiquitous “WAP”. A recent interview had her fangirling over the track, but Harry’s feelings no longer appear to be as clear-cut and she wishes to discuss the song further. “I love it and hate it at the same time,” she now shares. “One of the most exciting things about rock’n’roll was that it was about breaking the rules, and (‘WAP’) is certainly a part of that. It’s titillating and aggressive and it is part of what is exciting about popular music. The nature of what we try to do is to shock and entertain at the same time.” She pauses. “I don’t know. Everything is revealed and maybe sexual explicitness has come of age.”

Pushed about what she dislikes about “WAP”, she says she would “hate it” if any young girl or woman was hurt by the song’s message. “I think that, in a way, men have to know that women think like this, and that there is this component,” she says, “but I would hate it to mean that everyone should be treated like this. I don’t think anybody should be hurt by sex”.

Harry has long championed the LGBTQ+ communities. When she refers to her dearly departed friend and Hairspray co-star Divine as a ‘drag queen’ in Face It, she acknowledges the term in some instances is no longer accurate or politically correct. I suggest that it can often seem as though the evolution of our language is speeding up in the digital age – by necessity, of course – and ask her if online culture fills her with concern when it comes to using the right terms. “Yeah, (because) in many cases it can be a slip of the tongue, especially for an old dog like me! Things do move so very, very quickly. It is hard to keep up,” she observes. “Fortunately, I have a lot of godchildren!”

Speaking of younger generations, Harry likes to think she’d have coped with social media if she were coming up today, but is thankful that she had her “dark cocoon” in which to “bloom out of”, a place where she was able to “ripen”. “When you’re under the harsh glare of constantly being analysed, that shapes you whether you want it to or not,” she says. “It’s a germ or a seed that’s planted in your mind. It can take surprising turns and it can affect your growth. For good or for worse, who knows?”

“When you’re under the harsh glare of constantly being analysed, that shapes you whether you want it to or not. It’s a germ or a seed that’s planted in your mind. It can take surprising turns and it can affect your growth” – Debbie Harry

One thing that remains is her fierce level of self-criticism. “I always want to do better,” she declares matter-of-factly. “I’ve always been very critical of everything. I hear things or look at them and say, ‘Oh God, it should have been that (instead).” Maybe this hypercritical inclination is what still drives her forward. “I honestly don’t like resting on my laurels. I like working and I like creating. I always beat myself up about not being more creative or more prolific.”

When looking at the bounty of projects she has lined up, no one in their right mind could put Debbie Harry and laurel-resting in the same sentence. Aside from the new album, archival set and fashion project, the paperback edition of her autobiography will be released with a brand-new epilogue in April of next year. (Just don’t ask her what’s in it – “I don’t remember what I wrote. I’ll have to look it up!” she says with a laugh.)

The signs are that the musician is done looking into the rear-view mirror, though. Time may be passing, the tide may be higher, but Debbie Harry is doing more than merely holding on. Her eyes are locked to the future and she’s positively thriving.

Blondie: Against the Odds 1974-1982 will be released next year; Face It is out now via Harper Collins

[theliterateape]

Hell in a Handbasket

By David Himmel

SHE TAKES ONE LAST LONG DRAG FROM HER CIGARETTE. She pushes the smoke past her gleaming teeth and full lips and crushes the thing beneath her boot. Her black coffee has finally cooled to a barely drinkable temperature. She takes a sip as she enters the radio station. Another fucking morning show. This one in San Francisco. It’s still dark out and, between the cigarette and the coffee and all of the whiskey she drank last night, she has the worst morning breath in recorded human history.

She didn’t have time to brush her teeth. She overslept and was rushed out of her hotel room by Gavin the tour manager. The clothes she had worn at last night’s show were strewn across the floor. Gavin threw the jeans and Superman t-shirt at her as she struggled to get her naked body out of bed. She didn’t have to fuss with makeup or her hair; she looks the same at five in the morning in the grips of a hangover as she does at eleven at night when she’s in the grips of stage lights and adoring fans.

Way back before she was famous and had dreams of being interviewed by radio deejays, it didn’t matter what you looked like as much. The listeners couldn’t see you and the deejays looked just barely put together themselves. But today, everything is visual, and if this show is anything like all of the others, they’ll be recording the interview for the radio station’s YouTube page. She hates the beautification and objectification of women in the entertainment industry. However, she sees nothing wrong with not wanting to look like hammered rat shit, which is exactly how she feels. This morning, as she has been most mornings this past year, she’s self-aware enough to be thankful for her easy-to-manage looks.

Gavin makes the introductions in the studio. She smiles her big, brilliant smile—the one that makes men and women fall in love with her—and begins to charm the three morning show hosts.

“Good morning. I’m really happy to be here,” she says into the microphone. Her mouth is dry and it tastes like a circus floor. She reaches for the bottle of water one of the hosts handed her when she walked in. She thinks she should have had a piece of gum instead of that cigarette.

“You’re wearing a Superman t-shirt,” the fatter of the hosts says. “Are you a fan of the comics?”

“This isn’t a Superman t-shirt,” she says. “It’s a Supergirl t-shirt.”

“Hear, hear, sister!” says the woman host.

“And yes, I’m a fan of the comics.”

“For those of you just tuning in, we’ve got Jane Hadley in the studio with us this morning,” the thin host says in a well-rehearsed broadcaster’s voice. “If you’re not familiar with Jane Hadley then you’ve likely been in a coma trapped in a mine shaft for the past year. Her debut album, Hell in a Handbasket, is this year’s runaway hit and iTunes’ most downloaded album ever. Right now, Jane Hadley is a bigger deal than Taylor, Adele and Beyoncé.”

“Combined,” Fat Host says.

“And she’s performing a sold-out show at Decker Hall tonight,” Thin Host continues.

“But don’t worry,” Lady Host says, “if you didn’t get tickets for the show, we’ll be giving a pair away a little later on this morning. And I think—Jane, correct me if I’m wrong—that these tickets also include a backstage meet and greet.”

“They do,” Jane says. “I’ve even got my Selfie-Stick for photos.”

“Did you bring that Selfie-Stick with you this morning?” Fat Host asks. “I’d love to get a photo with you. You have to be the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen this early in the morning.”

Jane smiles and laughs a hearty laugh that not even the most high-tech lie detector test could determine its authenticity one way or the other. “I didn’t bring it but I’m sure we’ll find a way to take a photo without it.”

“And you’re going to play a few songs for us this morning, too, right?” Lady Host asks.

“I brought my guitar and will even take requests.”

The three hosts celebrate over this surprise. Thin Host says, “You hear that, K–POP listeners? The beautiful and talented, Goddess of Rock Jane Hadley will be taking your requests for a live, in-studio acoustic session! Don’t go anywhere. You’re listening to the Manic Morning Show on 97.1, K–POP.”

Thin Hosts glances at Fat Host who taps a series of buttons on the control board and clicks a wireless mouse linked to the monitors. A station bump plays followed by a commercial break beginning with an ad for a local diamond dealer. The hosts take their headphones off.

“Do people actually listen this early?” Jane asks as she also removes her headphones.

“Not anymore,” Thin Host says.

“We’ll replay everything with you in the eight o’clock hour,” Lady Host says.

This is not how Jane saw her life. For one thing, she never thought she’d be a smoker. But divorce can promote bad habits as diversions from the heartache. And for another thing, she never thought she’d be divorced at thirty-seven years old, though she was only thirty-five when it all happened, which only makes it worse. She is too young to be divorced and too old to only now find herself at rockstar status. Unfortunately, without the divorce, the fame and fortune—and morning radio show interviews—would have continued to elude her.

Before she was Jane Hadley, the rock ’n’ roll singer/songwriter—the Goddess of Rock, bigger than Taylor, Adele, and Beyoncé combined, she was Jane Hadley, the folk ’n’ roll singer/songwriter who never sold more than a thousand albums and a few hundred t-shirts. Before she had a #1 album flying off the shelves and being downloaded to the Cloud by millions, and an entire merchandising department, she was just a girl who played in a few bands: the Stargazers, Rosie’s Dream Catcher, Jane and the Jaded Cowboys.

None of these were good band names and she knew it. But she liked the music they made. Sweet, folky, only as loud as the all-acoustic gear would allow. All her bands looked the same. Jane played rhythm guitar and sang lead. The lead guitar, keyboard, upright bass and percussion were played by men. This wasn’t intentional, it’s just how things played out. They sounded similar, too, although each incarnation sounded more practiced than the last, a byproduct of age and gig experience.

The Stargazers was her high school band. It lasted long enough to play mostly Simon & Garfunkel covers at a few garage shows and the school’s Battle of the Bands. She formed Rosie’s Dream Catcher in college with her then boyfriend, keyboardist Matt. They recorded one CD of ten original songs. They sold all one hundred copies for two bucks a piece by the time the band, and Jane and Matt, split three years later.

She wonders why they are waxing intellectual about Kurt Cobain and the meaning of “Smells Like Teen Spirit?” She just wants to plug tonight’s show, play a few songs, maybe answer a call and give vague, recycled answers about what inspired her to write the album. Instead, she’s bemoaning about the trappings of fame and denying any intention of making an album that will last the test of time. How Gen X of her. How Fiona Apple of her. How awful of her.

Jane always figured that if success in the music business was ever going to come to her it would have been with Jane and the Jaded Cowboys. It took her a little while to become comfortable with her name being segregated from the band name. She didn’t want to be a Diana Ross or Gloria Estefan but Adam, the guitarist, thought they should capitalize on the gender difference and put their radiant leader out front while her boys backed her up. Adam was a marketing major in college and while he was a gifted guitarist, his real talent was in hype.

Jane and the Jaded Cowboys were prolific. Their songwriting was a science. Jane would come to practice with lyrics ripped from her many tattered Moleskin journals and a tune she thought worked with the words. From there, all five would flesh the thing out until they had a nice little folky pop song. They were a good team and their musical tastes and abilities complemented each other well.

With the freedom provided by quarter-life adulthood, they toured a lot in the sixteen years they were together. They earned fans but none who would bleed for them, really. They played the festivals and a few of the storied concert halls spread throughout the country. They headlined some shows and shared the bill with acts that would go on to the kind of fame and success that Jane and the Jaded Cowboys were chasing but never caught up to.

Because being in the band didn’t pay a livable wage, everyone had real jobs. Jane tended bar at Queen Lizzie, a hipster hotspot in Chicago where the drinks are overpriced and the customers happily overpay. She hated the place and the customers but the money was too good to walk away from. She was able to afford the necessities: instruments, rent, food, clothes, tour van, gas money for the tour van and Moleskin journals. She even managed to save a fair amount and really hack away at her student loans. Not that her degree in art history was worth more than the paper the degree was printed on.

The songs she wrote reflected her life. They featured themes of loneliness, desire, road trips and regret. The songs weren’t bad. But they weren’t great either. Their most popular song among their few loyal fans is called “Photographic Art History.” It’s about wasting time and energy. One critic, writing for an online publication about the lineup of a summer festival in Chicago, described Jane and the Jaded Cowboys as, “a band that makes perfect background music for the perfect lazy day of napping.” On the band’s Facebook page, Adam spun the opinion by posting the review and writing, “IndieRock.com says ‘Jane and the Jaded Cowboys makes perfect music for the perfect day!’”

Jane hated the hype. But it was the best her band ever got.

And speaking of hype…

“Rolling Stone called you the voice of women of this generation,” Thin Host says. They are back from commercial break. “That seems like it could come with a lot of responsibility. Do you feel responsible to speak for your generation?”

Since Hell in a Handbasket dropped, many critics had echoed Rolling Stone’s claim. Jane used to see herself as a Joni Mitchell type, or Carole King or Carly Simon. Women from a very different generation. And one that isn’t hers. She isn’t even sure which generation the critics are talking about. At thirty-seven years old, she’s no longer part of the youth culture but she’s too young, still, and new to fame, to be a music veteran. And in the entertainment industry, the young and the old were the major markets. Everyone in the middle is white noise. Jane feels that if she’s the voice of any generation right now, it’s the White Noise Generation. But she can’t say that.

“First of all, it’s an insanely flattering thing to say about someone,” Jane answers. “But it’s also an insanely broad generalization and a little presumptuous. I didn’t make this record to be a statement about women or for all women or anything like that. And if we look at music history, we don’t ever really know how representative a musician was or wasn’t to her generation—or his—until the music has had time to mature and that generation, or whatever, has adapted from it in some way.”

“Well, take Kurt Cobain. In a way, your situation is similar to Cobain’s,” Thin Host says. “He was considered the voice of Generation X right out of the gate. And he was dead before his music and his generation really even had a chance to—what did you call it?—mature. But everyone was right. Kurt Cobain was, and still is considered to be, the voice of his generation.”

“So if you don’t already have a heroin addiction, you better get on that,” Fat Host says.

“No, then she’d just be compared to Courtney Love. And no woman wants to be compared to Courtney Love,” Lady Host says.

“Yikes. God no. That’s even worse than being compared to Yoko Ono,” Jane says.

“There are so many awful women in rock ’n’ roll,” Fat Host says.

“You named two,” Jane says. “The awful men in rock ’n’ roll still outweigh us twenty-to-one.”

“And that’s why she wears that t-shirt,” Lady Host says.

They all have a laugh as Jane glances at the clock on the studio wall. She’s booked for an hour. It’s only been eleven minutes. She wants to go back to sleep. The coffee isn’t working. She considers what it would be like if she did start using heroin. It’s cheaper than booze, cigarettes and even coffee. And on the road, it’s often easier to get.

“Okay, I understand that you’re reluctant to accept your influential role in today’s culture,” Thin Host says.

“It’s not a reluctance,” she says.

“A rejection then,” he says.

“No. I mean, they’re just songs.”

“But don’t you want your songs to mean something? Isn’t that what every artist wants?”

“Sure. In a way. This album means what it means to me. I can’t control what it means to anyone else. It’s nice that it’s been so well received. I’m touched that people are finding their own meanings in the songs.”

“So you’re saying that the song, the first single, ‘Onward,’ isn’t symbolic of the woman’s place in today’s society.”

“I think Hemingway said something about the foolishness of trying to include symbols in your work on purpose,” Jane says.

“So no.”

“‘Onward’ is a song about my ex-husband moving out of our apartment and me, a woman, having to make sense of what he, a man, had left behind. If that is perceived as anything other than that—”

“I understood it as a break-up song,” Lady Host says.

“But things can be perceived by any number of people in any number of ways. That’s the great thing about art. Let me ask you guys a question. Since you brought him up, what does ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ mean to you? What’s that song about?”

“Making trouble,” Thin Host says.

“Cheerleaders,” Fat Host says.

“Disaffected youth,” Lady Host says.

“All I ever think about when I hear that song is deodorant. That song is a deodorant jingle to me. Because when that song came out, I was eleven years old and Teen Spirit was the brand of deodorant I used.”

“Commerce,” Fat Host says. “Cobain is rolling over in his grave.”

“Nah,” Jane says. “He knew damn well what he was doing when he titled that song. He was being funny—Oh crap, can I say the ‘D’ word?”

The hosts laugh. “Yes, ‘damn’ is allowed. ‘Crap,’ is not,” Thin Host says. They laugh some more then he presses on. “Symbols or not, this album is incredible.”

“Thank you.”

“I doubt that you’d call it a concept album.”

“Not in the traditional meaning of concept album, no. I mean, it’s not The Wall. But it was conceived by specific events. There’s a theme.”

“It’s a break up album,” Lady Host says.

“It is indeed a break up album. A break up and all of the, um, crap, that comes with it.”

She knows she sounds like a pedantic blowhard. They are baiting her into it and she is too strung out on exhaustion and weak coffee to resist. She wonders why they are waxing intellectual about Kurt Cobain and the meaning of “Smells Like Teen Spirit?” She just wants to plug tonight’s show, play a few songs, maybe answer a call and give vague, recycled answers about what inspired her to write the album. Instead, she’s bemoaning about the trappings of fame and denying any intention of making an album that will last the test of time. How Gen X of her. How Fiona Apple of her. How awful of her.

But after two weeks of horrendous heartbreak, isolation, and alcoholism, Jane had come to one conclusion: right or not, fuck Keith.

She is saved from falling deeper into these asinine rock critic musings when the hosts go to break again. They’ve cued listeners to call in with questions and requests. The first three callers request “Onward,” to no one’s surprise. Jane pulls her guitar from its case and gives it a gentle tuning. She gets the familiar sinking knot in her stomach as she does.

Her departure from acoustic folk to electric rock was the best way for her to get through the pain of her divorce. It allowed her to turn the deafening sadness into rollicking anger. And every time she plays these songs with an electric guitar and her banging, thrumming, clanging tour band alongside her, she becomes more and more removed from the origin of the source material. She’s healed each night. And in quieter moments in between cities on the bus, when she finds herself descending toward that sadness and regret, she can listen to the album at top volume through her headphones and relive the anger and gravitate toward getting over the goddamn thing.

But there’s no escaping the raw bones of truth when she plays the songs acoustically on radio shows like this. She wanted to bring the band with her and at least have a bigger sound so the songs weren’t so stripped down and she didn’t feel so naked. But her management vetoed it. The fans wanted Jane Hadley naked. And that’s what they were getting. And every time she tunes the guitar to play “Onward,” she is rocketed into a wretched reverie of when she first tuned the guitar to write the song.

Keith had just closed the door of the apartment with his last box of stuff under his arm. It had been the first time they’d seen each other since he asked for a divorce two weeks before and fled to wherever he had been staying. Jane spent those two weeks crying, substituting alcohol and cigarettes for meals, sleeping on the living room floor because she couldn’t bear the thought of sleeping alone in their bed and didn’t feel that she deserved the comfort of the couch. She was emotionally destroyed and she thought it best to destroy herself physically, too.

He said some pretty nasty things when he left. There were accusations of infidelity because she played songs that weren’t about him. He blamed her for his inability to secure a steady and well-paying gig because she was not supportive enough. He called her a manipulator and a user and chastised her for having more friends than he had.

None of these accusations were true and he was clearly taking his own self-loathing out on her. How could someone’s likability make her unlikable? Keith had found a way. The two therapists they had seen every week since getting married eight months before, called it projecting. Keith denied it and Jane believed everything he said.

But after two weeks of horrendous heartbreak, isolation, and alcoholism, Jane had come to one conclusion: right or not, fuck Keith. Watching him leave with a box of his mother’s old stained Tupperware was enough to pull her off of the floor and begin writing music again. “Onward” became Jane’s life’s statement of purpose. And as the first single and the album’s first track, it became the album’s statement of purpose, too. And thus, it became a generation of women’s statement of purpose.

She didn’t even have to write the lyrics down and work them out in her notebook like usual. She just played and sang and it all came together. She scribbled it down once she was done and the song, at first, resembled every other song she had written. Soft, slow, melancholy. She didn’t want that. She wanted something different. Because the same old song hadn’t done her much good for her career or her internal struggle. She didn’t feel soft, slow or melancholy. She felt hard, fast and fucking pissed. She dusted off her electric Gibson and amp and played the song faster and louder. She felt alive again. She felt angry. She felt inspired.

She lit a cigarette and played it again. She recorded it and upon listening back, she heard a voice she didn’t recognize but loved. The chorus made her smile, even though it felt strange on her face.

You took my love And let it burn Scorched and ashen I move onward

✶

SHE MET KEITH LESTINGHOUSE AT A SHOW IN PEORIA, ILLINOIS. He was a videographer and had been hired to document the headlining band, the Dandelions, who a year later would win the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Keith’s art direction in the documentary was lauded for its grit, the way it “captured the essence of budding rock ’n’ roll success,” according to some well-respected blogger somewhere online.

She found Keith smart and funny, and thought his patchy beard and thin, lanky body made him handsome. He seemed to genuinely like Jane’s music and her band. And he seemed to like her. By the end of their first date, they realized that they had been a match on each other’s online dating profiles.

“Why didn’t you ever send me a message?” she asked him.

“Why didn’t you ever send me one?” he replied.

He was a feminist and she liked that about him, too.

Six months in, they were engaged. Two months after that, they were married. It was a small ceremony held in her parents’ barn at their farm in Dowagiac, Michigan. She wore cowboy boots with her consignment wedding dress, he wore black Chuck Taylor sneakers with his new suit from an online custom clothier. An hour before the wedding, Jane cried all of her makeup away when Keith requested that her father not walk her down the aisle. Well, he didn’t have any family at the wedding, therefore, her father’s obvious presence was her way of rubbing it in that he was an estranged son. Jane conceded. Then Keith decided that it was okay for her dad to walk her down the aisle after all. This was the first crack in the façade of perfection Jane had placed Keith behind. Then, at the reception, Jane and the Jaded Cowboys played a song she wrote just for Keith, just for their wedding. Drunk, he mistook it for a song about some other guy and stormed off into the Dowagiac fields. Jane—the consummate professional—finished the song then ran into the fields after her husband. When she found him, he continued accusing her of infidelity until she managed to convince him otherwise and they screwed right there in rows of soybeans.

He moved into her place. His video equipment crowded and nearly ousted her music equipment. Space in the small Chicago apartment was the crux of their Cold War—Keith acting like Reagan with his finger constantly on he Button and Jane acting as Gorbachev, desperate for some kind of peaceful and reasonable resolution.

Two weeks later, they were in therapy. The only discussion they could have without Keith’s demanding a therapist’s intervention was about what they’d have for dinner. It helped that Keith’s veganism limited their dining options. Keith was a volunteer for Greenpeace and convinced Jane to sell her 1967 Pontiac GTO. It was left to her in her grandfather’s will. It was her grandfather who taught her to play guitar and encouraged her to pursue a career in music. He was a sound tech for bands like the Byrds, Leslie Gore, the Lovin’ Spoonful and even the Beatles once. Anywhere she had to be, Keith told her, she could ride a bike, walk, run or use public transportation, if she must. And that inspired the second song on the album, “Red Meat Wishes and Gasoline Car Dreams.”

You’re sidewalk stalking Good people on God’s green earth I honk and rev my motor And slide back a Quarter Pounder

Still, Jane loved him. But what Jane loved more than Keith was love itself. Though she was never far from her friends or family and had an incredible bond and unwavering trust with her bandmates, Jane feared being alone. Alone in that romantic sense. It was that fear that empowered her to stay with Keith, which left her otherwise powerless. And that’s where “Distracted by Loneliness,” the album’s third song, came from.

Covered in hearts Well wishes from friends and family Their undying love can’t compare to the misery you give to me I’d rather be lonely with you than never alone again

✶

WHEN THEY RETURN FROM THE BREAK, JANE PLAYS “ONWARD.” Fat Host cues up another recorded caller and the conversation they had with her during the break.

“Hi, Jane. I’m Claire. I think you are so talented.”

“Hi, Claire. Thank you.”

“I just broke up with my boyfriend of three years.”

“This ought to be good,” Fat Host says.

“I’m sorry to hear that, Claire,” Jane says.

“No, please, it’s for the best. I was miserable. We both were. Your album inspired me to leave him. Funny thing was, it was his record. He bought the album.”

“Men love her, too,” Thin Host says. “Is there a song you’d like Jane Hadley to play?”

“I’d love to hear ‘Two Week’s Notice,’” says Claire. “I quit my job last week, too. This song inspired me to do that.”

“This song isn’t about quitting a job,” Jane says. “It’s about the abortion I had.” The studio goes quiet—never a good thing in radio. Jane recognizes the silence and quickly readjusts her response. “But, uh, sure thing, Claire. Let me know if you need a reference or anything.”

The recording ends and Lady Host throws her finger at Jane like a stage manager would on the set of a live news show. Jane plays the first chord and sings “Two Week’s Notice.”

It’s not something I am ready for I’m sure neither are you I’ve already got a child I can’t raise two It makes no sense to drag this out It’s the right thing to do I’ve already got a child That child is you

“I’m not really sure how that song would inspire someone to quit their job,” Thin Host says when Jane is done playing. “I bet you get a lot of that. You know, people mistaking the intentions of your songs for something else.”

“Like we were saying earlier, that’s what happens with music and art,” Jane says. “People listen to music in different ways. Claire, I guess, doesn’t listen to the lyrics all that closely. And that’s fine. I just hope she find a new job soon and lands on her feet.”

“Guess you can’t judge a song by its title,” Fat Host says.

“We’re going to take another quick break and we’ll be right back with more music by request from our in-studio guest Jane Hadley, who is performing at Decker Hall tonight and we’ll be giving away that pair of tickets to see her. You’re listening to the Manic Morning Show on 97.1 K–WOW.”

There it is, the missing piece to Jane and Keith’s old fight, his calm condescension. Finding herself in familiar territory, she habitually lights a cigarette in her mouth.

They never take calls live on-air. It’s a recipe for disaster. You could get a Baba Booey or a suicide or someone who just wants to yell “Fuck” on the radio. Answering calls off-air lets the hosts screen and edit the calls for the best possible radio. Fat Host takes the next caller.

“Hi, Jane. Since you’re single, maybe we can hook up after your show tonight. I’m hung.”

Fat Host immediately hangs up on the caller.

“Hey, wait a minute,” Jane says. “Maybe he was cute.”

She’s joking but only a little bit. Among the whiskey and cigarettes, her after-show parties have been filled with men. Lots of men. At least one every night. The show in L.A. had two, the one in Salt Lake had three.

Two more calls, both women, both requesting “Onward.” The third call is a man.

“97.1, Manic Morning Show,” Lady Host says.

“Jane?” the caller asks like he was calling Jane directly and not a San Francisco morning radio show.

“Hi, do you have a request for Jane Hadley?” Lady Host tries again.

“Jane. Are you there?”

“Okay, weirdo, goodbye,” Lady Host says as she signals Fat Host to drop the call.

“Wait,” Jane says. Lady Host looks at Thin Host who nods as a sign to let Jane play this one out. “Keith?”

The three hosts look at each other with confusion before Thin Host chimes in, “Jane, you’ve got a friend here in San Francisco. And a K-WOW listener to boot!”

“Keith is my ex-husband.” The three hosts drop their jaws and sit back in their chairs like they’re ready to watch the unbelievable, certain shit show commence. “Keith, what are you doing?”

“I was listening to the radio and heard you.”

“What are you doing in San Francisco?”

“I’m living with my brother.”

“You have a brother?”

 “I have three brothers.”

“Three!? Why didn’t you ever say anything? Why weren’t they at the wedding?”

“My family is complicated.”

Jane is stunned. She, too, is now sitting with her mouth agape in disbelief. “So you’re living here now?”

“For the moment. There was a job, so…”

“What’s the job?”

“It’s a documentary about San Francisco suicides that don’t take place on the Golden Gate. There’s a large population of suicidals that is overlooked because of the attention that the Bridge gets. It’s tragic. And these people aren’t even polluting the bay when they kill themselves. It’s an important topic.”

Thin Host jumps in again. “So, Keith—Keith, right?—would you like to hear a song by Jane Hadley?” Jane shoots Thin Host a look that says, “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

“Let’s hear that one about abortion again.”

Jane cringes. She is no longer stunned, now she’s pissed. Of course she never told him about the pregnancy. By their third date, it was clear that he had baby fever. Because Keith had such a foul and complicated relationship with his own family, he was desperate to build a new one. And though Jane wasn’t opposed to being a parent someday, she was in no immediate rush, but also knew, deep in her gut, that Keith would make a terrible father. That having a child would provide him with another person to manipulate and break down until nothing was left but a desiccated husk of a human. He would do to his child what his parents did to him and what he had nearly done to Jane.

Jane and the hosts are frozen but the digital phone recorder rolls along.

“Can I hear it? Can I hear the song about you killing my child?”

 “Whoa!” Thin Host says as Fat Host laughs in shock.

“She didn’t kill your child,” Lady Host says. “She’s the mother and she has the right to make any decision she wants related to her body.”

“I agree,” Keith says. “But in the interest of true sexual and gender fairness and whatever, doesn’t the father have a right to know and at least be part of the discussion? When were you pregnant, Jane? Were we married? Because if so, then you absolutely owed me that.”

Lady Host defends her. “She doesn’t owe you anything.”

“No, he’s right,” Jane says. “I probably should have said something. I agonized over telling you about it for two weeks before.”

“Oh, you agonized, did you? That was my child.”

She can hear his special brand of angry panic in his voice. She knows she should have the deejays hang up. But that anger and panic of his was always delicious bait to her. She can’t help herself from engaging. “It wasn’t a child, Keith. And if it had been, it would have been ours. And that, that right there is why I didn’t tell you. I mean, I knew I couldn’t keep it because of your selfishness and controlling impulses. I would have had the abortion twenty minutes after I peed on the stick but I held off, debating if you should be there with me. But I knew that you’d never agree to it and that the idea of it would only lead to this.”

“And what’s this?”

“You accusing me of killing your child.”

Thin Host speaks up. “So Keith, what do you think about the rest of the album?”

“I didn’t know she could play electric guitar.”

There it is, the missing piece to Jane and Keith’s old fight, his calm condescension. Finding herself in familiar territory, she habitually lights a cigarette in her mouth.

“Uh, Jane, you can’t smoke that in here,” Fat Host says.

She exhales a large cloud of smoke emphasizing it with two small rings at the end. “I’ll make you a deal,” she says, “you promise not to air this and I’ll put it out.”

“It’s just that, well, it’s a federal regulation that you can’t smoke inside of buildings. It’s nothing personal. Hell, we all smoke,” Fat Host says.

“Promise me.”

Fat Host looks at Lady Host and Thin Host. Thin Host nods and fat Host says, “Promise.” Jane snuffs the cigarette out on the bottom of her boot. She walks to the small trashcan across the studio, drops the cigarette in and pours a few ounces of coffee on it for safety. She returns back to her microphone and puts her headphones back on.

“What do you want, Keith?” she asks.

Silence.

“Keith? Are you still with us, Keith?” Thin Host asks.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“What is it you want, Keith?” Thin Host asks again as if Jane’s voice was the problem the first time.

“I want you back,” Keith says.

Jane bursts out in laughter. “Are you fucking kidding me!?” The hosts are shocked. “Sorry,” she says to them.

“It’s okay, we’re not live,” Lady Host says. She leans over to Fat Host and whispers, “Bleep it out.”

“Duh,” Fat Host whispers back.

“I’ve missed you and I have a new therapist out here who says that I’m ready to be in a relationship with you again.”

“Then sue your therapist for malpractice,” Jane says, “because he’s a fucking quack.”

Fat Host holds up his arm to grab attention and says, “We are coming out of break.” He turns on his microphone, does a quick station I.D. and lets the audience know that Jane Hadley is in the studio and that they’ll be back with more from her, then plays music. As he finishes and the red ON-AIR light outside of the studio door turns off, Gavin, Jane’s tour manager storms in.

“I think we’re done here,” he says. Everyone ignores him. This is something he’s used to so he shrinks back out of the studio.

“Jane, I—”

“Shut up, Keith. It’s not happening. But I’ll put your name on the will call list at the door tonight if you want to come see the show.” She looks at Fat Host. “Hang up on him.”

Fat Host again looks around at his co-hosts for a confirmation. They both deny her request. Jane sees this and as Keith begins pleading to her in a breathy panic, she stands up, throws her headphones on the console, walks around to the control board where Fat Host is sitting and rummages around with her eyes for the phone. “Hang up. Where is it? Hang up on him. There’s nothing more to say.” Fat Host uses his bulk to keep her away. “Okay then, I guess you don’t want those backstage tickets to my sold out show tonight for your listeners. I guess you’d rather fuck with me than keep a promise to your listeners. Fine then.”

She walks back around to her guitar and coffee, puts the guitar in its case, throws the nearly empty coffee cup into the trashcan. She lights another cigarette before storming out of the studio, the station, and into the parking lot where Gavin is waiting.

“I need a drink,” she says.

It’s barely past six-thirty in the morning so Gavin suggests hotel room service. Jane agrees. She admits that after a few mini bottles of Dewar’s and Tanqueray she’ll be ready for a nap.

✶         

IN THE HOTEL ROOM, GAVIN SLEEPS IN THE DESK CHAIR WITH HIS FEET PROPPED UP ON THE DESK, a small bottle of gin delicately rests in his curved fingers of his dangling arm. It’s eight-thirty and Jane lays drunk in bed. She’s tuned the nightstand clock radio to 97.1 FM, K–WOW. The idiots are playing the phone call with Keith. They’ve bleeped out her cursing. They’ve edited it to make her seem more erratic than she thought she had been. She’s pissed about it but she knows that this is only going to help her reputation and lead to more album and concert ticket sales.

She fumbles for her phone and calls Keith. After recording Hell in a Handbasket, Jane set out to remove any traces of him from her life. She built a fire in the alley behind her apartment next to the dumpster burning anything associated with their time together. Photos, a pair of his socks she loved to sleep in, the Dandelions t-shirt she bought at the show the night they met, that stupid crystal duck he gave to her on their first Christmas together. She never understood the significance of it. He was so excited to give it to her, so proud of himself that she never bothered to ask him why he thought she might like it. Of course, the crystal duck didn’t burn, so Jane smashed it to pieces with a hammer. The one thing she didn’t do during her Keith purge was delete his contact information from her phone. He answered her call before the first ring finished.

“Come to the show tonight,” she says to him.

“Do you want to get back together?”

“No. But I want to see you. Actually, if you can, come to my hotel right now. I’ll text you the address.”

She hangs up before he can respond and sends the text. She knows she has made a destructive decision and that there is no way any of this will end well. But that’s not what Jane wants. Keith has reopened her wounds as easily as if they’d never healed at all. Jane wants to bask in the familiarity of the disrespect and jealousy and anger that defined their relationship. One more chug of the poison, she tells herself, then she’ll be done. She’ll even delete him from her phone.

Keith texts back that he’s on his way. Jane wakes Gavin up and kicks him out of her room.

“You called Keith, didn’t you?” Gavin asks.

“I’ll see you later,” she says, closing the door in his face.

She picks up her guitar and writes a new song. It comes to her as easily as “Onward” did. Maybe even easier. She realizes that Keith is her muse. The thought of that is a good reason to open another mini bottle of whiskey. Maybe she won’t delete him from her phone. Just in case her creativity ever runs dry.

This is not the type of musician or person she thought she’d be but it’s the one the music industry needs, the one her generation needs—whatever generation that is. And certainly, it is the one she needs to be in order to remain being anything at all.

[sagehaleyofficial]

HERE’S WHAT YOU MISSED THIS WEEK (11.27-12.3.19):

NEW MUSIC:

·         Former Black Veil Brides bassist Ashley Purdy broke his silence on Twitter by announcing he has new music in the works. The musician began teasing the new songs last Tuesday, following it shortly with an Instagram link.

·         A Day to Remember revealed the reasoning behind delay of the release of their seventh record You’re Welcome. Guitarist Kevin Skaff went on to state the reasoning for the album delay, saying they want every aspect of the LP to be just right.

·         Following the release of I Don’t Know How but They Found Me’s Christmas Drag EP earlier this month, “Oh Noel” marks the second offering after “Merry Christmas Everybody.” Just like its jolly predecessor, “Oh Noel” is filmed in purposefully low-res quality. 

·         YouTube icons Rhett & Link, Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal, performed a Christmas collaboration on their show Good Mythical Morning over the weekend. They gave Blink-182’s “All the Small Things” a new meaning with their holiday-themed lyrics.

TOUR ANNOUNCEMENTS:    

·         Hey Monday’s Cassadee Pope held her much-anticipated #HeyItsMonday pop-punk night in Nashville. The night had several appearances from members of Mae, the Bigger Lights, the Audition, Brighten, A Rocket to the Moon, Lit, and the All-American Rejects.

·         Motion City Soundtrack revealed their main support for their upcoming reunion tour, as well as a slew of other opening bands. Currently, the main support consists of The Sidekicks, Mat Kerekes (Citizen), Mom Jeans., White Reaper and Treaty of Paris.

·         YUNGBLUD was set to perform a private concert at Hanford High School in California, but the show has since been canceled due to request. The singer took to Instagram today to ask people not to judge others, and to assure his fans at Hanford High School that he will still be there.

·         Blink-182 performed a new song with the Chainsmokers when the duo invited them onstage at their stop in Los Angeles at The Forum for the World War Joy Tour. The set comes months after the electronic duo revealed on Twitter that both bands were working on a new song together.

·         Following their first show announcement in September, WhoHurtYou took to the stage for the first time last Tuesday in Los Angeles at the Moroccan Lounge. Their live debut was supported by FRND (aka producer Andrew Goldstein).

·         Slam Dunk announced the third wave of artists joining the lineup for next year’s festival, including Movements, Reel Big Fish, Comeback Kid and more. Fit for a King, Deez Nuts, Refused, Young Guns, Free Throw, Mom Jeans. and more also round out the lineup.

·         Gwen Stefani appeared on last week’s episode of The Voice, where she was tearing through three of the big hits off her debut solo record. Stefani kicked off the performance with the intro to “What You Waiting For?” before sliding into “Hollaback Girl” and “Rich Girl.”

·         Derek Sanders and Alex Garcia of Mayday Parade performed some classic hits with former member, Jason Lancaster, at a Defining Moment and Kid Named Chicago charity show. Recently, Lancaster’s band Go Radio announced their reunion and released a new track.

·         Five Finger Death Punch kicked off a new era with the release of a new song “Inside Out.” With the new track comes an epic spring tour with Ice Nine Kills, I Prevail and Papa Roach supporting.

OTHER NEWS:  

·         Twenty One Pilots drummer Josh Dun is approaching one year since proposing to longtime girlfriend and actress, Debby Ryan. One of the drummer’s guests won’t be able to make it, as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson hit him back with some advice on Twitter.

·         Fall Out Boy lead singer Patrick Stump and bassist Pete Wentz will be making an appearance on the popular morning game show The Price is Right on CBS in 2020. Starting in 2019, the show featured a different music genre every day for Music Week with guests leading up the Grammys.

·         Vans threw it back to the days of Volkswagen Buses, flair jeans and 8-track tapes with the all-new tie-dye pattern for their Old Skool and Style 53 slip-on styles. The shoe features re-enforced toecaps, padded collars for flexible support and signature rubber waffle outsoles.

·         My Chemical Romance guitarist Frank Iero is participating in a charity auction to win a signed, smashed guitar that he played at some point in the early to mid-2000s. Donated to the Innocent Lives Foundation, the bidding ends this Saturday night.

·         SWMRS shared new photos and an update on guitarist Max Becker, following the accident back in October. The band account shared a photo of Becker on Instagram, along with the countless get well letters and cards hanging on the wall.

·         Emo Nite LA are dropping a holiday collection of merchandise with a portion of proceeds being donated to the American Society for Suicide Prevention. The new limited-edition line includes a holiday sweater, mug and Christmas ornament with their “Holidays are Emotional” tag.

·         Fall Out Boy fans are in for quite the holiday treat as the band unveiled a limited edition Pete Wentz bass. Featured as part of their holiday merch drop, the bass comes in two epic color options and is limited to 50 units each.

___

Check in next Tuesday for more “Posi Talk with Sage Haley,” only at @sagehaleyofficial!

[dailyexo]

[INTERVIEW] Baekhyun, Kai - 200128 Time: “Meet SuperM, the K-Pop Supergroup That Skyrocketed to the Top of the Billboard Charts”

"A palette of hair colors — aquamarine, silver, shades of gold — popped against monochrome clothing as the seven members of SuperM filed into a backstage room at Madison Square Garden. In a matter of minutes, the group from South Korea would take the stage for the first time at one of the biggest venues in the biggest city in the U.S. Outside on this Tuesday evening in November, enthusiasm buzzed for the newly formed K-pop supergroup, comprised of artists considered to be some of the best performers in the industry. Within two months of their debut, they had already hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart — the only K-pop act other than BTS to have topped the list — and attracted thousands at their shows from Forth Worth to Chicago.

The group’s ongoing North American tour, “We Are the Future,” began in November and continues through February, hitting 10 cities. In the moments before the group’s concert at the Garden, SuperM sat down with TIME to discuss, via a translator, their experience since the group’s launch in October.

“I feel like how we’re assembled itself is a very futuristic step that K-pop hasn’t ever seen before,” says Mark, the rapper from Canada and youngest member of SuperM. “Who knows what kind of road this may pave, but we just wanted to show how we can bring different elements together in one — and have that be expressed onstage in a powerful way.”

Assembling the “Avengers of K-pop”

Last summer, SM Entertainment, one of South Korea’s largest entertainment companies, and Capitol Records joined forces to announce the formation of what they referred to as “the Avengers of K-pop,” a group named SuperM. The act would feature members from SM’s boy groups SHINee, EXO, NCT 127 and WayV — each of which boasts a legion of fans that have powered them to the top of Asia’s music scene. “We keep describing them as ‘Avengers’ because I think that’s the best conceptual analogy that will immediately be understood by others,” SM’s A&R executive Chris Lee told Billboard at the time of the group’s launch. “Each Avenger has their own group and Iron Man has his own movie and Thor has his own but together they have an even greater synergy.”

The founder of SM, Lee Soo-man, selected the seven members himself. Taemin is a seasoned artist who debuted in his original group, SHINee, 11 years ago at the age of 14. Baekhyun and Kai hail from EXO — the first, a vocalist with an extensive range and a warm falsetto, and the second, an idol with tantalizing dance moves and even more tantalizing facial expressions. NCT 127’s leader Taeyong is joined by groupmate Mark, both of whom are powerhouse rappers with a knack for performing complex choreography. The lineup also includes two members from Chinese group WayV: Ten, the quadrilingual Thai artist with a honeyed tone, and Lucas, the deep-voiced rapper born in Hong Kong.

The seven artists hold one or more of the positions of “main dancer,” “main vocalist” or “main rapper” — terms used in K-pop to signal members with a central role in their respective specialties. As one team, they bring not only a vast armory of technical skills but distinctly charismatic personas honed through years of performing onstage — a major advantage for a “rookie” group.

Landing a No. 1 Album

The merging of fanbases played a substantial role in driving SuperM: The 1st Mini Album to the top of the Billboard 200. “All of us come from different teams that are already established and we already have our own careers, but us coming together on this album created this new synergy that was that much more attractive to not only our fans but also fans outside of our regular fanbases,” group leader Baekhyun explains. “They all came together in support of this album.”

The initial announcement of SuperM’s formation drew mixed reactions — some fans of individual acts expressed concern that this new project would lead to fewer resources dedicated to the existing groups. But those concerns were soon dwarfed by the significant wave of K-pop listeners across the fandoms of SHINee, EXO, NCT 127 and WayV whose enthusiasm was on display as they attended the tour and purchased the album in droves.

SM and Capitol released eight versions of the EP — one with each artist on the cover, plus one with the group — a packaging strategy often used in K-pop to incentivize album collection in the era of streaming. Besides the EP, a collection of merchandise was designed, each item with seven individualized versions. Each of the products was bundled with a digital album which fans could redeem, a move that would contribute to album sales counted toward Billboard charts. In total, more than 60 SuperM merchandise and album bundles were available. Bundling is nothing new in the American music scene — artists from Taylor Swift to Kanye West have taken the approach in past releases. But the high number of SuperM products that were offered was unusual, reflecting the marketing savvy of labels intent on getting their artists to the top.

Growing as Artists Through ‘We Are the Future’ Tour

The “We Are the Future” concert is a testament to SuperM’s ability to deliver cohesive performances as a new team, while holding their own as individual players. “In addition to our group stages as SuperM, we also showcase our solo stages,” says Baekhyun. “That’s when each member’s distinct music styles and performance aspects shine.” Later in the evening, for the group leader’s individual stage, he sang the groovy tracks “UN Village” and “Betcha” from his solo album. A smooth flick of the jacket and snapping of the fingers every few measures accentuated the vocalist’s relaxed gait, as Baekhyun found the groove in the rhythms of the R&B melodies.

“When I watch him sing and how he vocalizes, his breathing patterns — I feel like I’m taking a vocal lesson,” says Taemin of his bandmate. Mark nods enthusiastically. “Vocal instructor,” he chimes in, gesturing toward Baekhyun with his arm as the singer timidly mouths “thank you.” But it’s not just the SuperM leader’s individual performance that offers instructional value. As the seven artists prepared for the “We Are the Future” concert, a teacher-student relationship was layered onto their brotherhood.

“Me, Taemin hyung and everyone here have different styles of dancing and how we represent ourselves on stage, so when I look at them on stage, I get the tips and tricks,” Ten says, referring to Taemin with the term for “older brother” in Korean. SuperM includes some of the dancers widely acknowledged to be the best in K-pop, but each has a distinct way of executing choreography and freestyling, as displayed through their individual performances. Ten, in a mostly white ensemble, elegantly spun and glided onto the floor while dancing to his songs “Dream in a Dream” and “New Heroes.” Meanwhile, Taemin, dressed in all black with a mesh button-down shirt , sharply hit and twisted his body to the electronic beats of “Danger” and “Goodbye.” Kai, another highly skilled dancer, delivered a combination of soft body rolls and hard pops as animated flames lit up in the backdrop during the rapper-vocalist’s hip-hop solo “Confession.”

“I’ve learned a variety of traits from them and I combine them to create new techniques,” Lucas says, in Chinese, of the group’s senior members. For his solo performance, the Hong-Kong born artist confidently swayed to the drumbeats of the whimsical track “Bass Go Boom.” Although his speciality is rap, Lucas is simultaneously sharpening his vocal skills. “Baekhyun hyung sometimes teaches me to sing,” he says. Mark, grinning from ear to ear as he watched Lucas communicate in Chinese, jumps in and repeats “chang ge!” the Chinese word for “sing.”

On stage, Mark shed his youthful energy in favor of a more mature persona as he performed his solo rap “Talk About.” With whoops and claps, the rapper engaged the crowd and displayed the poise of someone who, at just 20 years old, has spent years making the stage his home. The other main rapper, Taeyong, exhibited his captivating stage presence in the track “GTA.” Wearing a glittery mask for the first segment, Taeyong showcased his ability to pack drama in his rap with vocal intonations and body movements alone.

Their Future as a Supergroup

In the months between the two legs of the tour, the seven members traveled globally for activities outside of SuperM. Baekhyun and Kai returned to Seoul for the release of their group EXO’s new album. Taeyong and Mark left New York after the November concert, only to fly back the next week to perform in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade as NCT 127. Ten and Lucas visited cities from Bangkok, Thailand to Shenzhen, China for WayV’s “fan meetings.” Taemin, whose SHINee bandmates are in the military, is working on a solo album scheduled to drop in March.

On Jan. 30, the artists will come together once again as SuperM and tour cities from San Diego to Vancouver. All eyes, no doubt, will remain on the act as it strives to become a major player in the music scene beyond South Korea.

Photo links: 1

Credit: Time.

[allyreactions]

My Jenkai Theory

Okay, you guys asked for it, so I shall deliver. 

Also credits to @jisooxukun for helping me find evidence and building this theory with me 

 IMPORTANT NOTICE :  This is just a theory. I mean absolutely no harm to Jennie or Kai. I am not trying to force anyone to believe this, this is just my thoughts on the situation. 

So I don’t believe Jenkai is real, I think it’s a publicity stunt. And here’s my reasons why : 

Just some background before we start : So we all know that last year, Jennie was under fire from not only Blinks but other Kpop fans for half-assing the choreography during one of Blackpink’s concerts. There were several fancams that were released and everybody and their mom was talking about it for days. That really hurt Blackpink’s reputation, which lead to YG planning this whole “dating scandal” with SM to boost back their status. 

Why do I think SM had a part in this? : Well, EXO didn’t release anything until the end of last year. And even though “Tempo” and “Love Shot” did well, they needed something else to drive some traffic towards them. SM is also experienced with dating scandals before (cue Kai and Krystal and Baekhyun and Taeyeon), so they know how to handle these things. 

Why Kai? : Kai has been in public relationships before, and he’s also one of the “more popular” members of EXO (think of him as the Korean Harry Styles), so if SM used Kai for this stunt, it was sure to be successful. 

The Dispatch photos are shady : (credit : @klessyy - here’s a link to her post with pictures and further explanation) She mentioned that the photos taken by the Dispatch were taken on Nov. 25, the day of the supposed date. However, when you look back on what actually went on that day, nothing adds up. Kai went to Haneul Park and posted a picture on his instagram on Nov. 25. But Jennie wasn’t there. She had a performance on Inkigayo that night and then a fan meet and greet afterwards. 

Literally no one saw this coming pt.1 : Under the forums on allkpop.com (read their post for more details, I’m just summarizing) there was a user that made a comment about the saesangs, and how they weren’t even aware of the situation. We all know that there are some fans out there, saesangs, that tend to stalk and invade idol’s personal lives. The user mentioned that it seemed odd that Blink and EXO-L saesangs didn’t seem to notice that Jennie and Kai had a car date and a date on Paris. 

Literally no one saw this coming pt. 2 : Okay so I’m not 100% sure on this one, but I’m pretty sure that there isn’t any EXO and Blackpink interaction at least documented. I don’t really know how to explain this other than there’s some groups that just haven’t interacted with each other. Like we know Seventeen and Astro are friends and GOT7 and BTS are friends, but we haven’t seen Red Velvet and Weki Meki interact or NCT and SF9. It’s just weird because we haven’t seen any interaction between the two groups before and the relationship just seemed out of the blue. 

Blackpink is a rookie group and YG has a dating ban on the girls : Dating bans aren’t uncommon, especially on rookie groups. I know Pledis placed a dating ban on Pristin (where’s the comeback?!). Anyway, apparently since the supposed Paris date in early October, Jennie and Kai have been “dating” for 3 months. And if Jennie really was going behind YG’s back and secretly dating Kai, wouldn’t that be kinda hard? Even if YG knew about them dating, there was still a potential for a dating scandal ta-da! and therefore would make them break it off. 

Blackpink was announced as part of Coachella’s lineup for this year, just days after the news broke : I find this not so coincidental. Just think about it for a second. So the news about Jenkai gets released, everyone is following Blackpink news to find out more info on the couple, and they see that they’re part of Coachella’s lineup. It not only gets Blink’s more hyped for the news, but everyone else too. 

The confirmation statements from YG and SM were wack : I don’t think much needs to be said about this one. SM was the first to comment on the news (and they responded quite quickly) saying “They have good feelings towards each other”. Like that just sounds odd to me. And YG’s omg don’t even get me started “He was just her uber driver, she had no idea it would be him”. I just.. Im done explaining this. I just can’t it’s too dumb. 

The Paris date is fake : Okay so I haven’t been able to find the post with the exact dates for this one, but it basically states that Jennie and Kai weren’t actually in Paris at the same time. They used evidence from their instagram post dates to prove this one. (I’m sorry I can’t really remember what was in the post)  

Again, please don’t take this too seriously. I mean absolutely no harm to Jennie, Kai, and their supporters. This is simply just my thoughts. If you want to discuss further with me, please do so in a respectful manner. Thanks! 

~ Admin Ally 

Update : They broke up at the end of January after not even a full month of being public. The statement SM released was that “they wanted to focus on their music and fans” (or something along those lines).

[skateofministry]

ProMedica Summer Concert Series 2021 Kool & Gang

Listen to their leading tracks and discover ticket and parking details in this story prior to the group goes on phase at Promenade Park.

Toledo, Ohio-Opening Ceremony Fanfest fills Promenade Park from Friday to start the Solheim Cup event in downtown. Grammy Award-winning artist Gwen Stefani concludes the opening event with a foolproof memorable show. Saturday

Stephanie has actually accomplished around the world success as an entertainer, songwriter, renowned rock band frontwoman and multi-platinum solo artist. In addition to being a routine judge on NBC’s The Voice, she has actually likewise won 4 MTV Video Music Awards, 2 Billboard Awards, an American Music Award, and a Brit Award.

Young is a multi-platinum nation singer-songwriter. In 2006, he was stated to Nashville Star, the winner of Season 4 of the tv program. Nashville Star was a tune contest aired on U.S.A. Network. He just recently exceeded the 4 billion stream mark in brochures all over the world, consisting of 11 No. 1 songs. His present hit is “Famous Friends”.

Tickets and cashless show details

These are cashless occasions. That is, all deals are finished with a credit or debit card. If you have money, you can utilize the reverse ATM to transform the money into a card and utilize it free of charge.

All Friday tickets consist of:

2:00 pm – Gates open with regional bands and activities throughout basic admission

5 pm – Opening Ceremony Livestreamed Throughout the Event Footprint

6 pm – More regional bands and activities throughout basic admission

8:30 pm – Main phase, Gwen Stefani will carry out and the program will be livestreamed throughout the occasion’s footprint

10 pm – Fireworks screen

Gwen Stefani’s basic admission tickets begin at $ 30 and VIP tickets vary from $ 110 to $ 199.ticket is Purchased at this link At this link by Gwen Stefani and Chris Young

Parking details

Park-and-ride lots open at 1 pm. The shuttle bus ranges from Lot to the occasion at 1:30 pm and runs around every 15 minutes throughout the day. The last shuttle bus from the downtown Toledo occasion location to lots of locations at midnight.

Opportunities to buy park-and-ride tickets are readily available by buying or utilizing occasion tickets. This Ticketmaster link..

Clear bag policy

Participants are recommended not to bring any type of bag. However, there is a clear bag policy in location.. Items that are clinically needed are an exception after being appropriately checked at eviction designated for this function. The less you bring, the much easier it will be to pass the security checkpoint.

What would you do if it drizzled?

All programs are rain or shine. There are no refunds or exchanges unless the program is cancelled.

Changes in what you can bring

Unlike other occasions in the Promedica Summer Concert series, you cannot bring chairs to these shows as seats are currently established. Tables and coolers are not permitted. Eating out and generating beverages is restricted.

What is not permitted?

Weapons of all kinds

No blanket

Food and beverage

Cans, bottles, coolers or other comparable containers

Video cam, audio recorder or other comparable electronic devices

Camera (omitting smart phones)

iPad

Laser pens, tips or other laser items

Air horn or sound maker

cooler

firework

Glow stick

Beach ball

Aerosol spray can

Tools (box cutter, Leatherman or any multi-tool, screwdriver, etc.)

Pets (omitting caretakers)

Umbrellas and parasols are not permitted to obstruct the view of others.

No chairs are allowed the VIP PIT location (chairs are offered other than in standing spaces in the location designated by the artist).

Plastic tarpaulin, camping tent, or stake.

skateboard.

Solicitations, brochures, posters, or deceptive sales.

Other products that management considers inappropriate

Full Promedica Summer Concert Series Lineup

Stephanie and Young Concert Previously revealed as part of Solheim Cup Opening Ceremony Festival..

You can discover basic ticket details here..

Popular shows Canceled in 2015 Due to a coronavirus pandemic.

The series highlights some sort of revival of the city as the occasion restores, companies start, and individuals remove their masks completely.

“We’ve been working hard to bring music back to the riverfront,” Kathleen Merrill, Vice President of Marketing and Communications at ProMedica, stated in a spring show statement.

Bands and playlists prior to summertime

August. 26 & 27 | Third Eye Blind, Old Crow Medicine Show

The Promedica Summer Concert Series at Promenade Park uses 2 nights of home entertainment rather of one night.

The to begin with is the Third Eye Blind on Thursday, August 26th. The band was a success when their very first single, “Semi-Charmed Life,” reached 4th put on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1997. Other songs such as “Jumper” and “Howes” followed. “It Going to Be” and “Never Going to Let You Go”.

Old Crow Medicine Show including Morita Tor and Oliver Hazard on Friday, August 27th. A bluegrass artist found by Doc Watson throughout bread managing welcomed the band to the celebration and began his profession.

August. 13 | I enjoy 90’s shows: VANILLA ICE, COLOR ME BADD, C + C MUSIC FACTORY

Was the 90’s actually thirty years earlier? Look at your calendar, and your mind will be puzzled as you recognize they were-at least in the early 90’s. The ProMedica show series is happy to provide a few of the best acts of its time.

Promenade Park in downtown Toledo will be filled with I Love ’90s Tour this Friday. Joining the headliner vanilla ice cream are Color Me Badd and C + C Music Factory. All-for-one was set to play, however it won’t be on this leg of the trip.

Vanilla Ice’s hits consist of “Ice Ice Baby,” “Play That Funky Music,” and “Rollin’in My 5.0.” He likewise released a bleached pompadour appearance that took control of lots of high school passages with his remarkable dance relocations.

Formed in Oklahoma City in 1985, Color Me Badd is best understood for its hits.Want to make love“,”I enjoy Mia Mall” When “All four love“”

Bring a towel when the C + C Music Factory goes on phase. The hits “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)”, “Here We Go (Rock & Roll)”, “Things That Make You Go Hmmm …” will sweat you well!

“Fans need this. Everything that was thrown at people in 2020, it was a time of hell. People need good old parties as they did in high school,” stated the trip co-tour. The developer, Jeff Epstein, stated. “Undoubtedly, this is a show that fans are enthusiastic about when dusting cross collars. Again in 1995.”

August. 6 | Josh Turner and Lauren Aligna

The Promedica Summer Concert Series at Promenade Park will bring nation artists Josh Turner and Lauren Alaina to a huge phase on Friday.

Turner is a Grammy-chosen entertainer and has actually won an inspiring c and w award. The early impressive “Long Black Train” was his playlist hits “Your Man”, “Would You Go with Me”, “Firecracker”, “Why Don’t We Just Dance”, “All Over Me”, I take part in “Time is Love”. ..

You might understand the “American Idol” liner who won 2nd location in 10 seasons. She was likewise an individual in “Dancing with the Stars” and completed in fourth location.

Alaina’s primary nationwide hits consist of “Road Less Traveled,” “What Ifs,” and “One Beer.”

So delight in another beer (or your preferred beverage) at a series of downtown shows this weekend.

July 30 | Winger’s Warrant

From the late 80’s to the early 90’s, glam metal band Warrant and Winger collaborate to bet Toledo.

Do you keep in mind striking your head on the automobile radio? Is your hair and makeup flying all over? These bands understand where you are originating from. In truth, their hair might have been longer than yours.

The warrant is understood for the hits “Heaven,” “Down Boys,” and “Cherry Pie.” In truth, this is a cherry pie 30th anniversary trip.

Winger has actually succeeded with “Seventeen,” “Miles Away,” and “Heading for a Heartbreak.”

Winger was likewise infamous for the unpopular kid’s t-shirt that admired Bevis and Butthead on the MTV program.

As part of the Promedica Summer Concert series at Promenade Park, 38 Special’s “Melody and Muscle” sounds will go back to Toledo with unique visitor Pat Travers.

The band, understood for its hits “Hold on Loosely,” “Caught Up in You,” “Teacher, Teacher,” “Second Chance,” and “If I’d been the One,” is truthfully affected by the Southern design. boost. It was co-founded by Donnie Van Zant, the more youthful bro of Lynyrd Skynyrd’s creator, Ronnie Van Zant. Eventually, the band moved far from it and preferred more “arena rock” sounds.

Their name originates from an event in their wedding rehearsal space-a storage facility in the middle of where. They lost the essential and utilized a ladder to get in and out of the window.

One night, residents grumbled that loud music was playing from the structure, and a law was enacted. The band attempted to describe that they couldn’t go out right away since of the padlock on the door. One of the law enforcement officer switches off the lock, stating, “It’s okay. Let’s talk to this .38 Special.”

The band picked it for a “temporary” name, and it got stuck.

July 16 | Cool & The Gang

Almost every wedding party you’ve ever been to starts with a “celebration” of Cool & The Gang. If not, you have the incorrect pal!

The group controlled the charts in the 80’s. By 1986, Cool & The Gang had more than Michael Jackson and won 14 Top 40 songs in ten years. Hits consist of “Jungle Boogie,” “Ladies Night,” “Too Hot,” “Get Down On It,” and “Fresh.”

The band was formed in 1964 in Jersey City, New Jersey. Seven high school pals joined with their love for jazz. According to a mini-documentary called Kool TELEVISION, the band was “anti-Motown”, swearing to never ever play rock-and-roll. After all, they state they “played everything.” The brochure is filled with aspects of soul, jazz, funk, rock and pop.

By the method, Robert “Cool” Bell is not a diva. He plays the bass. He is likewise from Youngstown.

Downtown Toledo had a specific “brilliance” when Atlanta rock band Collective Soul went on phase as the very first act of the summertime. ProMedica Summer Concert Series At Promenade Park on July 9th.

The bands that added to the meaning of alternative rock in the 1990s are understood for their hits such as “Shine” and “December”., “” The location where the river streams “and” The world I understand “. Collective Soul has actually launched their 10th studio album. blood, June 21, 2019. The album peaked at # 4 on the Billboard Top Independent Album Chart.

Collective Soul assured an exciting live set that blended traditional hits and shared brand-new music. A regional rocker, Arctic Clam, moved the night as a huge phase opener.

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[winterolympicssports2018-blog]

(LEAD) Two Koreas' art troupes to perform together in Pyongyang

Click here for More Olympics Updates https://www.winterolympian.com/lead-two-koreas-art-troupes-to-perform-together-in-pyongyang/

(LEAD) Two Koreas' art troupes to perform together in Pyongyang

(ATTN: UPDATES with change of schedule and plan to attend a dinner hosted by North’s culture minister)

PYONGYANG/SEOUL, April 3 (Joint Press Corps-Yonhap) — South Korean musicians will hold their second and last performance in Pyongyang on Tuesday, this time jointly with North Korean artists, amid thawing tension on the Korean Peninsula.

The 160-member troupe will start the two-hour-long concert titled “Spring Comes” at 3:30 p.m. (South Korean time), about an hour earlier than originally planned, at the 12,000-seat Ryugyong Jong Ju Yong Gymnasium.

The group, including celebrated Korean pop singers, arrived in Pyongyang on Saturday. They held a concert on Sunday, becoming the first South Korean artistic group to perform in the isolated country in more than a decade. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his wife and aides attended the event.

Who will emcee the concert, as well as the playlist of music to be performed, remain unknown. There could be changes to the repertoire up until the last minute, according to Seoul officials.

During the first performance, 11 Korean acts were in the lineup: Cho Yong-pil, Lee Sun-hee, Choi Jin-hee, Yoon Do-hyun, Baek Ji-young, Red Velvet, Jungin, Seohyun, Ali, Kang San-eh and Kim Kwang-min. They performed 26 popular old and new songs of South and North Korea.

“The North Korean side reduced its performance time and offered inclusion of as many South Korean songs as possible,” a Seoul official traveling with the art troupe told reporters after the show. “The two sides agreed to show ‘something that will have the hearts of all Koreans beat,’ as Hyon Song-wol, head of the North’s Samjiyon Orchestra, put it.”

   After the performance, the South Korean artists and a taekwondo demonstration team will attend a dinner hosted by North Korean culture minister Pak Chun-nam. They are scheduled to leave for Incheon International Airport at midnight but the departure could be delayed, according to Seoul officials.

The artists’ visit follows a thawing of relations between South and North Korea driven by North Korea’s participation in the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in the South in February.

The North sent not only athletes and cheerleaders but also an art troupe and a taekwondo demonstration team in celebration of the Olympics. The art troupe, called the Samjiyon Orchestra, staged a concert in Gangneung, on South Korea’s east coast, and another one in Seoul.

The Pyongyang visit comes weeks ahead of a historic inter-Korean summit. South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim will sit together for what would be the third inter-Korean summit, following meetings in 2000 and 2007, at the border village of Panmunjom on April 27.

sshim@yna.co.kr

(END)

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[biofunmy]

Grammys 2020: Kobe Bryant’s Death Stuns Before the Ceremony

Lady Gaga and Beyoncé are early winners.

All but about eight of the Grammys’ 84 awards are given out before the television broadcast, in a separate “premiere” ceremony that is plagued by celebrity absences — but also features non-stars celebrating how a Grammy win can be a career-defining moment.

In the early awards, Lady Gaga surprisingly pulled ahead with two wins connected to her 2018 film “A Star Is Born.” It won best compilation soundtrack, and “I’ll Never Love Again” — written by Lady Gaga and three others — took best song written for visual media.

Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” took best music video, Beyoncé concert special “Homecoming” won best music film, and Michelle Obama won best spoken word album for the audio version of her book “Becoming.” Obama was not present to accept the honor; the jazz bassist Esperanza Spalding, a presenter, said, “I will proudly accept this on her behalf.”

News of Kobe Bryant’s death stuns the Grammys.

In the lead-up to the televised show Sunday afternoon, the news that Kobe Bryant died in a helicopter crash at 41 led to gasps in the press room. The Grammys take place at the Staples Center, where Bryant played his entire career with the Los Angeles Lakers; championship banners he helped the team win hang from the building’s rafters.

“In Staples Arena, where Kobe created so many memories for all of us, preparing to pay tribute to another brilliant man we lost too soon, Nipsey Hussle,” John Legend wrote on Twitter. “Life can be so brutal and senseless sometimes.”

Flags outside the arena were lowered to half-staff as preparations for the event continued, and lights shined on Bryant’s jerseys inside. Harvey Mason Jr., the chairman and interim chief of the Recording Academy, called for a moment of silence.

“Since we are in his house, I would ask you to join me in a moment of silence,” Mason said, The Associated Press reported.

Beyond the Grammy glitz, a battle is raging behind the scenes.

Intense drama hangs over the 62nd annual Grammy Awards ceremony on Sunday night, but not in ways that the Recording Academy, the nonprofit behind the show, would like.

This year’s event, which will be broadcast live on CBS at 8 p.m. Eastern, features a fresh crop of stars like Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Lil Nas X and Ariana Grande competing for the top awards. It was supposed to represent “a new era for the Recording Academy,” one that would be more attuned to pop’s current pulse after years of bruising criticism over the Grammys’ poor record in recognizing women and artists of color in the major categories.

That “new era” statement was made just two months ago, when nominations were announced, by Deborah Dugan, the academy’s new chief executive. She had been telegraphed as the bold new leader the Grammys needed, and came armed with an unsparing critique of the academy’s record on diversity by Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff, the Time’s Up leader Tina Tchen.

But just 10 days ago, Dugan was removed from her position, stunning the industry and plunging the normally cheery pre-Grammy week into mudslinging and chaos that has threatened to overshadow the event itself.

Dugan claimed in a 44-page complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that she had been retaliated against for uncovering misconduct including sexual harassment, vote rigging and rampant conflicts of interest. The academy, in turn, said that an assistant had complained about a toxic and bullying work environment, and that Dugan had demanded a $22 million payoff to leave quietly, a charge Dugan has denied.

Their battle may stretch on for months. For the academy itself — and the artists now rehearsing their performances and acceptance speech shout-outs — the show must go on. But the entire music industry will be watching closely for any sign of artist dissent or any crack in the academy’s facade of celebratory glitz.

While artists have largely remained silent, one of the few public comments from a major industry figure came Saturday night from the hip-hop mogul Diddy.

Accepting an award at Clive Davis’s glamorous annual pre-Grammys party, Diddy avoided mentioning Dugan by name but held the academy’s feet to the fire over its failure to recognize hip-hop artists of color in the top categories. Over the last decade, for example, just one nonwhite artist — Bruno Mars — has won album of the year.

“Truth be told, hip-hop has never been respected by the Grammys; black music has never been respected by the Grammys to the point that it should be,” Diddy said. “For years, we have allowed institutions that have never had our best interests at heart to judge us. And that stops right now.”

He added: “You’ve got 365 days’ notice to get this [expletive] together.”

Lizzo leads a crop of young nominees.

For music fans, the Grammys are a television show about splashy performances and, oh yes, a handful of awards scattered across three and a half hours. There may be no mention at all of the academy’s behind-the-scenes crisis.

The biggest contests this year feature some of pop’s most dynamic young faces, many of whom went from obscurity to mega-stardom over the past year.

Lizzo, a charismatic and outspoken pop and R&B singer who has fascinated fans and critics alike, is this year’s most nominated artist, with eight nods. She and the 18-year-old alternative dynamo Billie Eilish, who has a total of six nominations, are each up in all four top categories — album, record and song of the year, and best new artist.

Lil Nas X, the internet meme virtuoso whose “country-trap” hybrid “Old Town Road” became a cultural phenomenon last year, is also up for six awards, including record and album of the year, and best new artist. If he wins big, it could be a statement by the academy’s voters that they want to shed their conservative reputation and fully embrace the most up-to-the-minute trends. That does not seem super likely.

Other big contenders include Ariana Grande, Lana Del Rey, Bon Iver and Vampire Weekend. Taylor Swift is up for just one major award: song of the year for “Lover.”

Big names will perform, but Taylor Swift is no longer one of them.

At the music industry’s schmoozy pre-Grammy parties last week in Los Angeles, the insider chatter has all been about Dugan versus the academy. But, for the most part, the events have been business as usual. Few people expect the show to be affected.

Still, a top musician signaling a position on Dugan’s claims could change the conversation entirely. Label executives and publicists have been wringing their hands over what their artists might be asked — and what they might say — on the red carpet or onstage.

And while the lineup of performers appears to be steady, the industry was riveted on Friday with reports that Swift would not appear. But why? Was Swift — always an outspoken backer of women — dropping out in protest, or was she simply unprepared or uninterested? Everyone, including fans and the most powerful people in music, was left to guess.

The performances planned for the show include tributes to Prince and the rapper Nipsey Hussle; an “Old Town Road All-Stars” segment with Lil Nas X, Billy Ray Cyrus, BTS, Diplo and Mason Ramsey, the so-called Walmart yodeling kid; and appearances by Grande, Eilish, Lizzo, Rosalía, Aerosmith, the Jonas Brothers and Tyler, the Creator.

The producer who shaped 40 years of Grammy shows says farewell.

This year’s show will be the last for Ken Ehrlich, who has produced the Grammys telecast since 1980 and is largely responsible for the show’s signature presentation style — the “Grammy moments” strategy of pairing artists together for special appearances, going back to Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand doing “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers” 40 years ago.

Ehrlich has lived — and scrambled — through some of the Grammys’ most bizarre moments, like the “soy bomb” dancer crashing Bob Dylan’s performance in 1998. He has also frequently been the target of criticism that the show is out of touch and too often favors late-career stars at the expense of younger faces and more current nominees. Exhibit A: the 2018 show’s preponderance of Sting and absence of Lorde, who had been up for album of the year.

Ehrlich has always said that his mandate is to put on a varied and imaginative show, not simply to parade the current nominees. Viewers may consider that this year when he presents his swan song, a recreation of the ensemble performance of “I Sing the Body Electric” from the 1980 film “Fame,” featuring performances by Joshua Bell, Camila Cabello, Gary Clark Jr., Common, Misty Copeland, Lang Lang, Cyndi Lauper, John Legend and others.

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[katiecad]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NF HOPE CONCERT HITS A NEW STAGE AND EMBRACES AN INTIMATE VIBE FOR THE 9th ANNUAL CELEBRATION TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR NEUROFIBROMATOSIS Former “Jersey Boys” Star Jeff Leibow Moves Annual Event to Myron’s Cabaret Jazz at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, Oct. 6

                               LAS VEGAS – Aug. 28, 2019 – Las Vegas’ most prominent entertainers, music lovers and philanthropists will join forces against neurofibromatosis at the 9th Annual NF Hope Concert.  In store for 2019, benefit organizers Jeff Leibow, formerly of “Jersey Boys,” and his wife Melody, have decided to embrace a more intimate vibe for the 9th year of the annual Vegas tradition.  For the first time ever, the 2019 NF Hope Concert makes its home at the prestigious Myron’s Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday Oct. 6.  The lobby opens at 12:30 p.m. for silent auction viewing, with the entertainment portion of the afternoon beginning at 2 p.m.  Tickets start at $49 and can be purchased at The Smith Center box office or online at www.thesmithcenter.com.   A limited number of VIP tickets are available by emailing info@nfhope.org. The event benefits Neurofibromatosis Network, an organization dedicated to families and individuals suffering from Neurofibromatosis (NF).

Since the inaugural event in 2011, the “NF Hope Concert” has grown by leaps and bounds, with more than $750,000 raised for Neurofibromatosis research and advocacy and growing to three cities – Las Vegas, New York City and Chicago. “Sometimes you feel helpless as a parent because you can’t take this away from your child, so we created a concert that could give back to her and all the other Neurofibromatosis warriors,” said Melody Leibow.  This year’s all-star lineup includes Chadwick Johnson, Ashley Fuller, Heidi Webster and Vegas newcomer Jimmy Kilduff, along with Jeff and Melody Leibow with a special guest appearance by daughter Emma, as well as some surprise guests. The 10th anniversary of NF Hope Concert will take place in October 2020 with a bigger, bolder and brighter event to celebrate passing the $1 million mark in fundraising for the organization.

Neurofibromatosis (NF) is a genetic disorder of the nervous system characterized by tumors that can grow on any nerve in the body without warning. Leibow’s young daughter, Emma, was diagnosed with this condition in 2010 when she was just nine months old. As Leibow and his wife, Melody, learned more about the disorder’s devastating effects, they conceived the idea for the concert with the realization that they had an obligation to both their family and the 128,000 people living with NF to educate others about the disorder. 2019 has been a difficult year for the family with Emma undergoing the second of what will likely be five surgeries necessitated by a tumor in her leg.  Although it is a common genetic disorder, most people are not aware that one in 2,500 people are born with it making it more common than cystic fibrosis, hereditary muscular dystrophy, Huntington’s disease, and Tay Sachs combined.

Every year, Emma supplies endless optimism and encouragement for Leibow and his wife, filling them with the inspiration needed to make this event a success. “Knowing that there’s nothing we can do to take this away from Emma is the most challenging part of this journey,” said Jeff Leibow.  “This challenge, however, makes the generosity and kindness from friends and patrons all the more poignant and sweet.”   Later this year, Emma will have to face two more MRIs (No. 18 &  No. 19 in only 10 years of life) to monitor the growth of the massive tumor in her leg and the new brain tumor doctors discovered late last year. “Watching NF affect Emma like this is heartbreaking,” said Leibow, “and it is why we will continue fighting for her and the NF community and won’t stop until there is a cure.”

Tickets start at $49 and can be purchased at any box office at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, online at www.thesmithcenter.com, or by calling 702-749-2000 (TTY 800-326-6868). A select number of sponsorships are available.  Sponsors include ad space in the annual Tribute Journal, sponsor recognition and prime seating at the October 6 concert. For more information about becoming a sponsor, email info@nfhope.org. The NF Hope Concert also features a lavish silent auction including priceless experiences, ticket packages to the top shows on the Strip, hotel stay packages, celebrity experiences, Broadway experiences, restaurant gift certificates, spa certificates, and more. Access to the silent auction begins Monday, September 30 via http://nfhopelv19.givesmart.com. The auction will open for viewing 12:30. on the day of the event. For more information on NF Hope, visit www.nfhope.org. You can follow NF hope on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The 2019 NF Hope Concert is sponsored by All Western Mortgage, Las Vegas Sans Corporation/Sands Cares, Mondays Dark, and Findlay Toyota.

Photos are available upon request, video links include: The NF Hope® Concert: Seven Years Later: https://youtu.be/AkdxkXpiWyE All-4-One at Las Vegas’ 4th Annual NF Hope® Concert: https://youtu.be/UCOapoY3lJE NF Hope® Concert: A Touching Moment: https://youtu.be/WNSkcFOeFYw

About Jeff Leibow: Jeff Leibow landed in Las Vegas in 2008 as one of the stars in the Tony Award-Winning musical, “Jersey Boys.”  Before that, he worked in professional theaters all over the country garnishing award nominations for many of his performances.  Immediately after his arrival in Vegas, he made giving back to the community a priority, involving himself with every charity event and benefit concert he could fit into his schedule.  In 2009, his daughter became his top priority as did raising awareness for Neurofibromatosis, the disorder she is afflicted with.  He and his wife founded the annual NF Hope Concert in 2011, which has raised more than $750,000 for Neurofibromatosis research and advocacy so far.  In 2014, after more than 7 years and 2,700 performances in JERSEY BOYS, he stepped down to dedicate more of his time to the cause that means so much to him and his family.   For additional information, visit www.jeffleibow.com or follow on Twitter/Instagram: @jeffleibow

About NF Network: The NF Network (formerly NF, Inc.) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and was founded in 1988 by a group of people who were in some way affected by neurofibromatosis. We are the leading national organization advocating for federal funding for NF research and building and supporting NF communities. The NF Network’s goal is to eradicate the health issues, pain, isolation and uncertainty that the diagnosis of NF inflicts. The NF Network provides opportunities for local NF organizations to share experiences. The network is a dynamic and growing open space for shared resources, development of new tools, and creation of innovative programs. It brings together groups from around the country to speak as one voice on national issues. You can find more information about Neurofibromatosis Network at www.nfnetwork.org or by calling the office at 630-627-1115.

The post NF Hope Concert Mixes Entertainment and Neurofibromatosis Awareness at 9th Annual Event on October 6 appeared first on PR Plus.

[hootywhom]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NF HOPE CONCERT HITS A NEW STAGE AND EMBRACES AN INTIMATE VIBE FOR THE 9th ANNUAL CELEBRATION TO RAISE AWARENESS FOR NEUROFIBROMATOSIS Former “Jersey Boys” Star Jeff Leibow Moves Annual Event to Myron’s Cabaret Jazz at the Smith Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday, Oct. 6

                               LAS VEGAS – Aug. 28, 2019 – Las Vegas’ most prominent entertainers, music lovers and philanthropists will join forces against neurofibromatosis at the 9th Annual NF Hope Concert.  In store for 2019, benefit organizers Jeff Leibow, formerly of “Jersey Boys,” and his wife Melody, have decided to embrace a more intimate vibe for the 9th year of the annual Vegas tradition.  For the first time ever, the 2019 NF Hope Concert makes its home at the prestigious Myron’s Cabaret Jazz at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts on Sunday Oct. 6.  The lobby opens at 12:30 p.m. for silent auction viewing, with the entertainment portion of the afternoon beginning at 2 p.m.  Tickets start at $49 and can be purchased at The Smith Center box office or online at www.thesmithcenter.com.   A limited number of VIP tickets are available by emailing info@nfhope.org. The event benefits Neurofibromatosis Network, an organization dedicated to families and individuals suffering from Neurofibromatosis (NF).

Since the inaugural event in 2011, the “NF Hope Concert” has grown by leaps and bounds, with more than $750,000 raised for Neurofibromatosis research and advocacy and growing to three cities – Las Vegas, New York City and Chicago. “Sometimes you feel helpless as a parent because you can’t take this away from your child, so we created a concert that could give back to her and all the other Neurofibromatosis warriors,” said Melody Leibow.  This year’s all-star lineup includes Chadwick Johnson, Ashley Fuller, Heidi Webster and Vegas newcomer Jimmy Kilduff, along with Jeff and Melody Leibow with a special guest appearance by daughter Emma, as well as some surprise guests. The 10th anniversary of NF Hope Concert will take place in October 2020 with a bigger, bolder and brighter event to celebrate passing the $1 million mark in fundraising for the organization.

Neurofibromatosis (NF) is a genetic disorder of the nervous system characterized by tumors that can grow on any nerve in the body without warning. Leibow’s young daughter, Emma, was diagnosed with this condition in 2010 when she was just nine months old. As Leibow and his wife, Melody, learned more about the disorder’s devastating effects, they conceived the idea for the concert with the realization that they had an obligation to both their family and the 128,000 people living with NF to educate others about the disorder. 2019 has been a difficult year for the family with Emma undergoing the second of what will likely be five surgeries necessitated by a tumor in her leg.  Although it is a common genetic disorder, most people are not aware that one in 2,500 people are born with it making it more common than cystic fibrosis, hereditary muscular dystrophy, Huntington’s disease, and Tay Sachs combined.

Every year, Emma supplies endless optimism and encouragement for Leibow and his wife, filling them with the inspiration needed to make this event a success. “Knowing that there’s nothing we can do to take this away from Emma is the most challenging part of this journey,” said Jeff Leibow.  “This challenge, however, makes the generosity and kindness from friends and patrons all the more poignant and sweet.”   Later this year, Emma will have to face two more MRIs (No. 18 &  No. 19 in only 10 years of life) to monitor the growth of the massive tumor in her leg and the new brain tumor doctors discovered late last year. “Watching NF affect Emma like this is heartbreaking,” said Leibow, “and it is why we will continue fighting for her and the NF community and won’t stop until there is a cure.”

Tickets start at $49 and can be purchased at any box office at The Smith Center for the Performing Arts, online at www.thesmithcenter.com, or by calling 702-749-2000 (TTY 800-326-6868). A select number of sponsorships are available.  Sponsors include ad space in the annual Tribute Journal, sponsor recognition and prime seating at the October 6 concert. For more information about becoming a sponsor, email info@nfhope.org. The NF Hope Concert also features a lavish silent auction including priceless experiences, ticket packages to the top shows on the Strip, hotel stay packages, celebrity experiences, Broadway experiences, restaurant gift certificates, spa certificates, and more. Access to the silent auction begins Monday, September 30 via http://nfhopelv19.givesmart.com. The auction will open for viewing 12:30. on the day of the event. For more information on NF Hope, visit www.nfhope.org. You can follow NF hope on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

The 2019 NF Hope Concert is sponsored by All Western Mortgage, Las Vegas Sans Corporation/Sands Cares, Mondays Dark, and Findlay Toyota.

Photos are available upon request, video links include: The NF Hope® Concert: Seven Years Later: https://youtu.be/AkdxkXpiWyE All-4-One at Las Vegas’ 4th Annual NF Hope® Concert: https://youtu.be/UCOapoY3lJE NF Hope® Concert: A Touching Moment: https://youtu.be/WNSkcFOeFYw

About Jeff Leibow: Jeff Leibow landed in Las Vegas in 2008 as one of the stars in the Tony Award-Winning musical, “Jersey Boys.”  Before that, he worked in professional theaters all over the country garnishing award nominations for many of his performances.  Immediately after his arrival in Vegas, he made giving back to the community a priority, involving himself with every charity event and benefit concert he could fit into his schedule.�� In 2009, his daughter became his top priority as did raising awareness for Neurofibromatosis, the disorder she is afflicted with.  He and his wife founded the annual NF Hope Concert in 2011, which has raised more than $750,000 for Neurofibromatosis research and advocacy so far.  In 2014, after more than 7 years and 2,700 performances in JERSEY BOYS, he stepped down to dedicate more of his time to the cause that means so much to him and his family.   For additional information, visit www.jeffleibow.com or follow on Twitter/Instagram: @jeffleibow

About NF Network: The NF Network (formerly NF, Inc.) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization and was founded in 1988 by a group of people who were in some way affected by neurofibromatosis. We are the leading national organization advocating for federal funding for NF research and building and supporting NF communities. The NF Network’s goal is to eradicate the health issues, pain, isolation and uncertainty that the diagnosis of NF inflicts. The NF Network provides opportunities for local NF organizations to share experiences. The network is a dynamic and growing open space for shared resources, development of new tools, and creation of innovative programs. It brings together groups from around the country to speak as one voice on national issues. You can find more information about Neurofibromatosis Network at www.nfnetwork.org or by calling the office at 630-627-1115.

The post NF Hope Concert Mixes Entertainment and Neurofibromatosis Awareness at 9th Annual Event on October 6 appeared first on PR Plus.

[jazzworldquest-blog]

USA: PRESS RELEASE: Ancient Future Performs at the SF International Arts Festival May 26, 2019

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                                         3/15/2019Contact: Ancient-Future.Com Records1-415-459-1892info@ancient-future.com View Press Release Online with Photos and Video: http://www.ancient-future.com/pr_5_26_19.html Celebrating 40 Years of World Fusion Ancient Future 'World Without Walls' Reunion Concert World Jazz Featuring Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Jim Hurley (violin), Doug McKeehan (keyboards, piano), and Ian Dogole (percussion) Sunday, May 26, 2019, 5 PM San Francisco International Arts Festival Gallery 308, Fort Mason San Francisco, CA 94109 Tix: $25 general. $30 reserved table, $35 reserved front table, $15 youth 17 and under. $15 general admission early bird tickets available through March 31 while supplies last. Ticket URL: https://fortmasonsfiaf.vbotickets.com/event/Ancient_Future_World_Without_Walls_Reunion/33356 Box office: 415-345-7575 Facebook Event URL: https://www.facebook.com/events/2229487270444373/ Poster URL (1.1 MB .pdf): http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/5_26_19sfiaf.pdf Sepia Photo for Print (14.7" x 9.7" sepia jpg, 7.2 MB): http://www.ancient-future.com/images/1990ancientfuture300dpi15x10sepia.jpg Sepia Photo for Web (864 x 570 sepia jpg, 176 k): http://www.ancient-future.com/images/1990ancientfuture864x570sep.jpg Photo Caption: Ancient Future circa 1990 photo by Irene Young. Pictured: Matthew Montfort (guitars), Jim Hurley (violin), Doug McKeehan (keys), Ian Dogole (percussion).  YouTube Video URL: http://youtu.be/IlYfQ50MGDw  Video Caption: YouTube Video of Ancient Future Performing Bookenka at 'World Without Walls' Reunion. Shown: Matthew Montfort (scalloped fretboard guitar), Jim Hurley (violin), Doug McKeehan (keyboards, piano), Ian Dogole (percussion), Kash Killion (bass), and Mariah Parker (santur).  In celebratrion of Ancient Future's 40th season of world fusion music, the exact lineup of Ancient Future that performed on the band's influential World Without Walls and Asian Fusion recordings will reunite to perform at the San Francisco International Arts Festival. The reunion show features the original lineup of Matthew Montfort on scalloped fretboard guitar, Jim Hurley on violin, Doug McKeehan on keyboards, Ian Dogole on percussion. Their uptempo virtuoso world fusion music is an exhilarating mix of jazz improvisation with the exciting rhythms, exotic sounds, and enchanting melodies of world music. This lineup of Ancient Future played over a hundred concerts together from 1988 to 1995. In 2011, they reunited for the first time in 15 years to perform concerts at Todos Santos Plaza in Concord and Yoshi's in San Francisco. In honor of the reunion concerts, World Without Walls was released digitally by Capitol Records for the first time ever at major digital retailers such as iTunes. Twenty two years after its initial release in 1990, broadcasters worldwide voted the record as one of the top 5 world music releases of 2012. In September 2012 they performed at the Frick Museum in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and then at the Freight and Salvage in October 2013. This show at the San Francisco International Arts Festival will be their fifth reunion concert. They have headlined such venues as San Francisco's Great American Music Hall and Eugene's Hult Center for the Performing Arts, appeared at numerous jazz festivals such as the Sacramento River Jazz Festival, Cotati Jazz Festival, Valhalla Jazz Festival, and Sand Harbor, and shared bills with other leading jazz and contemporary music artists including Fourth World with Flora Purim and Airto, Tower of Power, Craig Chaquico, Acoustic Alchemy, and Ottmar Liebert. Ancient Future was the subject of numerous features in publications such as JAZZIZ and MÚSICA GLOBAL. A selection of these articles have been uploaded to the archives of Ancient Future history, providing an interesting perspective on a period of growth in the world music movement. Band Bio "Ancient Future is a rare kind of band that might simultaneously aggravate purists, confound New Age dilettantes, seduce skeptics, and dazzle just about everybody else. Delicious compositions, intricate arrangements, crisp playing and impeccable production put these ambitious voyagers in a league of their own." -Derk Richardson, SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN Formed in late 1978, Ancient Future is the first and longest running musical organization dedicated exclusively to the mission of creating world fusion music. The term was coined by bandleader Matthew Montfort to describe Ancient Future’s unusual blend of musical traditions from around the world. BILLBOARD calls the group "trendsetters" for their early contributions to the movement, which seeks to show how people from different cultures can grow by learning from each other. Ancient Future has released seven full length studio CDs selling over 150,000 units: Visions of a Peaceful Planet, Natural Rhythms, Quiet Fire, Dreamchaser, World Without Walls, Asian Fusion, and Planet Passion. Over one million legal mp3 files from three of these releases on Ancient-Future.Com Records have been distributed commercially. Ancient Future is also featured on samplers selling millions of units on labels such as Putumayo and Narada. They are currently working on recordings for their fan funded Archive of Future Ancient Recordings. Over an hour of music in the archive is already available exclusively to supporters, with more to come as funds are raised. Over the years, Ancient Future has expanded its musical vision through collaborations with master musicians from more than two dozen countries, cultures, and musical traditions who are now an integral part of what is today more than just a band. Ancient Future has grown to become a large multinational music ensemble with many smaller ensembles within it, enabling Ancient Future to realize its core mission of creating world fusion music. Through cross cultural exchange, Ancient Future has created a musical world without borders. Matthew Montfort (bandleader, scalloped fretboard guitar) Matthew Montfort is the leader of the world fusion music ensemble Ancient Future. He is a pioneer of the scalloped fretboard guitar (an instrument combining qualities of the South Indian vina and the steel string guitar). Montfort spent three months in intensive study with vina master K.S. Subramanian in order to fully apply the South Indian gamaka (note-bending) techniques to the guitar. In 2009, he released his first solo guitar recording, Seven Serenades for Scalloped Fretboard Guitar, which debuted at #8 on Zone Music Reporter's Top 100 February 2009 World Radio Chart, and held the #34 spot on the Top 100 of 2009. He has performed concerts worldwide, including at the Festival Internacional de la Guitarra on the golden coast of Spain near Barcelona and the Mumbai Festival at the Gateway of India in Bombay. He has performed live on national radio and TV shows such as the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC. Montfort wrote the book Ancient Traditions - Future Possibilities: Rhythmic Training Through the Traditions of Africa, Bali, and India, which has been used by many musicians to improve their rhythm skills.  Jim Hurley (violin) Jim Hurley has been playing violin since 1969. He holds a B.A. in Music from Humboldt State University. Influenced profoundly by South Indian violinist L. Shankar, he incorporates styles from bebop to zydeco, European classical to Zairean soukous. He is well known for his performances with Ritchie Blackmore and Blackmore's Night (rock legend turned Celtic and Renaissance musician), American roots music leaders such as Grammy winners Queen Ida and Al Rapone, and swing legend Dan Hicks' Acoustic Warriors. He has toured Europe and Japan and performed at numerous major music festivals, including the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Philadelphia Folk Festival, and the Monterey Jazz Festival. Jim Hurley has released two solo recordings, Primary Colors, and Finger Painting. Doug McKeehan (keys) Doug McKeehan started his piano studies at age five, and began his first professional work at the age of twelve. He studied music at the Oberlin Conservatory, Kent State University, and the University of Otago (New Zealand). He has toured Europe twice and spent considerable time in India studying with notable Indian music teachers such as Pandit Ram Narayan, Ustad Kursheed Khan and Pandit A.G. Bhattacharya. He has composed original music for stage and T.V. productions in San Francisco and Los Angeles and has been musical director of two original musical comedy productions. He cofounded Air Craft with violinist Bruce Bowers, which released a highly acclaimed progressive jazz album, So Near, So Far (Crafted Air CA 30100). He is a first call jazz pianist in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Ian Dogole (percussion) Ian Dogole holds a B.A. in Ethnomusicology from Brown University and an M.A. in Classics from Villanova University. He began his musical studies with the piano at the age of five, later switching to jazz guitar which was to be his primary focus until taking up percussion during his ethnomusicology studies. He has released numerous albums as a bandleader, including Along the Route (Dr. Unit), Dangerous Ground (Café), Ionospherses (C.E.I.), Night Harvest (Global Fusion Music), Convergence (Jazzheads), and Outside the Box – Jazz Journeys & Worlds Beyond (Global Fusion Music), all pioneering works in the field of world fusion music. He has received numerous prestigious grants and fellowships, including a Jazz Performance Fellowship from the N.E.A in 1991; Marin Arts Council grants in 1994, 1995, and 2008; San Francisco Friends of Chamber Music performance grants in 2009, 2011, and 2015; and an InterMusic SF grant in 2018 to present the music of saxophone giant Pharoah Sanders.  Recordings Featuring Reunion Lineup World Without Walls by Ancient Future (Sona Gaia/MCA 163): CD - $24.98 (collectable signed copy): Buy Link: http://www.ancient-future.com/world.html Press Audio Downloads: Lakshmi Rocks Me (Jim Hurley) MP3 (excerpt, 976 K): http://www.ancient-future.com/audio/lakshmi.mp3  14 Steps (Matthew Montfort) MP3 (excerpt, 1 MB): http://www.ancient-future.com/audio/14steps.mp3 As its name suggests, World Without Walls depicts a musical world without borders. Released in 1990, it features performances by such world music luminaries as Zakir Hussain, the master of the North Indian tabla. The inviting melodies and ingenious use of ethnic textures make this recording one of Ancient Future's most accessible and broadly appealing releases ever. World Without Walls Media Report (6.4 MB .pdf): http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/mediaworldwithoutwalls.pdf "World Without Walls speaks to a cultural enrichment, a melding of world culture with Ancient Future's own lush sense of melody and rhythmic drive." - John Diliberto, JAZZIZ Asian Fusion by Ancient Future (Narada Equinox ND-63023): CD - $24.98 (collectable signed copy): Buy Link: http://www.ancient-future.com/asian.html Press Audio Download: Mezgoof (Ian Dogole) MP3 (excerpt, 800K): http://www.ancient-future.com/audio/mezgoof.mp3 Asian Fusion is a musical travelogue spanning the vast geographic and cultural expanse of Asia showcasing some of the top performers in the Asian music field, including Zhao Hui, China's preeminent master of the gu zheng (Chinese zither) and Bui Huu Nhut, a leading performer of the Vietnamese dan bau (a one-string Vietnamese instrument with an indigenous version of a whammy bar). Asian Fusion received much critical acclaim. It made the Tower Pulse! Top 10 Best Contemporary Instrumental Releases of 1993 List (#4) and was Guitar Player magazine's "Pick" for April 1994. Asian Fusion Media Report (11.4 MB .pdf): http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/mediaasianfusion.pdf "This compilation of 12 songs influenced by the Far East has all the sweeping impact of epic movies such as 'The Last Emperor.'" - CHICAGO TRIBUNE  Planet Passion by Ancient Future (Ancient-Future.Com AF 2010): CD - $17.98: Buy Link: http://www.ancient-future.com/planetpassion.html Press Audio Download: Socha Socha (Khan/Montfort) MP3 (short version, 3.6 MB): http://www.ancient-future.com/audio/sochasocha.mp3 The classic lineup of Ancient Future performing these special reunion concerts also was featured on one cut on the Planet Passion CD: the song Socha Socha on which they accompanied sitar master Pandit Habib Khan. Originally released in 2002, it was remastered and re-issued in 2009 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the first Ancient Future concert. Planet Passion Media Report (3 MB .pdf): http://www.ancient-future.com/pdf/MediaAncientFuture.pdf "If the members of the United Nations formed a world-fusion band, it might look and sound a little something like Ancient Future’s re-issue of their seventh recording. At its best, Planet Passion strives to preserve the world's vast musical heritage via international collaboration: the idea that one protects the old by creating something new. This is at the heart of fusion music and the heart of Ancient Future's global aesthetics, too: a diverse, unified world without borders, a multicultural community, a new, reconstituted sonic reality." - Ryan Allen, LEO WEEKLY, Louisville, Kentucky 115 Word Radio Announcement The exact lineup of the pioneering world music group Ancient Future that performed on their influential World Without Walls and Asian Fusion recordings is reuniting to perform at the 2019 San Francisco International Arts Festival on Sunday, May 26, at 5 PM at  Gallery 308 in Fort Mason in San Francisco. The reunion show features Matthew Montfort on scalloped fretboard guitar, Jim Hurley on violin, Doug McKeehan on keyboards, Ian Dogole on percussion. For more information, visit sfiaf.org or call the box office at 415-345-7575. Tickets are $25 general, $12.50 under 18, $30 reserved table, and $35 reserved front table. Discounted early bird tickets are on sale through March 31 for $15 online at sfiaf.org.  via Blogger http://bit.ly/2GSRqyD