#quincy troupe

[daweyt]

Quincy Troupe, from “A Mind Apart: Poems of Melancholy, Madness, and Addiction; ‘River Town Packin House Blues’”, edited by Mark S. Bauer.

[tamsoj]

Quincy Troupe, "River Town Packin House Blues," from A Mind Apart: Poems of Melancholy, Madness, and Addiction

[chantssecrets]

Born July 22, 1939, in St. Louis, Missouri, Quincy Troupe is an awarding-winning author of 12 volumes of poetry, three children’s books, and six non-fiction works. In 2010 Troupe received the American Book Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement.

When, in the fall of 1987, he travelled to the south of France to interview a critically ill James Baldwin, they knew it was his last chance to speak at length about his life and work. The result is one of the most eloquent and revelatory interviews of Baldwin's career, ranging widely over his youth in Harlem, his friendship with Miles Davis and Toni Morrison and his thoughts on race.

[mordere-diem]

"the sound we hear is real when we know it coming from the terrifying mystery of a hip shaman's horn, we see the music form in the shape of the hot tongue of a bic flame lighter tonguing out gushed heat,                     flames as sounds, as words inside the scorched flow of lava, inside a tongue that is red, white, & blue, laced with dues paid in philadelphia, in hamlet, north carolina, where a language was fractured there,"

Quincy Troupe, Words that build Bridges Toward a New Tongue

[dustedmagazine]

Listed: Arthur King

Arthur King is the creative alias of multidisciplinary artist Peter Walker, whose works span film, music, photography, painting, and sculpture. His latest album, Changing Landscapes, centers around a Latin American insect known as the Zompopa, or leaf-cutter ant, building improvised soundscapes over the tropical insect noises. In her review, Jennifer Kelly wrote, “Changing Landscapes (Zompopa) is, indeed, a deeply affecting listening experience, melding the twittering, chittering serenity of the tropical wild with angelic vocals (Mia Doi Todd in particularly lovely form), electronics and other instruments.“ Here Walker lists some books and films that have inspired him.

5 books:

The Spell of the Sensuous (David Abram)

This book is gorgeously insightful. He touches on the tenets of ecopsychology, which posits all things in the natural world as having a soul, the anima mundi. He suggests, as do countless other wise teachers, that all things are connected in an intricate webwork, and that our individual well-being is undoubtedly connected to the well-being of all things.

Pagan Grace (Ginette Paris)

A mythological book with an in-depth psychological perspective. Basically, the gods of old can be seen as representing different parts of the psyche, because they were born from deep human needs that were otherwise unexplainable. Dionysus and Hermes are of particular interest to those dabbling in the creative arts. Paris was also one of my favorite professors in grad school.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections (C.G. Jung)

In this insightful memoir, Jung writes about a listening exercise he did in his home, basically active listening, when the sounds he heard, once he became still, filled the air like a natural sort of symphony. With a little attention, the background became the foreground. Brian Eno later elaborated on this concept with his production of (and coining of the phrase) ambient music. Jung also reflects on his intensive engagement with his unconscious when he was middle aged, a process that took him more than a decade and ultimately produced his seminal The Red Book. That period of his life, he says, came to define all that happened before it and all that happened after it. He is an inspiration to dive deep.

Miles: The Autobiography (Miles Davis and Quincy Troupe)

I’ve read more music biographies than I’d probably admit to, but this one is special. Released just a few years before Miles’ death, I read it in my early twenties and remember loving it. What a story he had! I’m still a huge fan, and am looking forward to re-reading this one when I have a nice long break from whatever else it is that I occupy my time with.

Dream and the Underworld (James Hillman)

Hillman is just a force unto himself. The way his brain works is almost too hard to follow sometimes, the way he loves to turn phrases around on themselves to propose another viewpoint. One of my favorite concepts of his relates to the dream world, or the unconscious, and the task of trying to understand its contents. Hillman explains that in order to understand something irrational, we must irrationally understand, or more simply, try to move away from our logical, intellectual processes, and enter a more creative realm.

5 movies:

Three Thousand Years of Longing (d. George Miller)

I’m a big fan, it turns out, of recent George Miller movies. Mad Max: Fury Road being one of them. This latest film of his is wonderfully mythological, and the editing and sound design is a joy to experience. It’s also refreshing to see Middle Eastern/Muslim mythology at work.

The Red Turtle (d. Michaël Dudok de Wit)

We (Arthur King) have an ongoing live scoring event called “Unknown Movie Night,” where both the audience and band find out what film we’re scoring the moment it plays. The Red Turtle was the most recent selection, just a few weeks ago now. It’s a beautifully simple animated tale from the stupendous Studio Ghibli, and is both heart wrenching and eye opening. I can say this after watching the film, not listening to it! As far as I know, it has very little dialogue, so we all enjoyed this one, with its newly-minted improvised score, very much.

Children of Men (d. Alfonso Cuarón)

Another director-to-be-a-fan-of, this is a masterpiece by Cuarón, in my opinion. Easter eggs aplenty in this one — lots of ripe and symbolic imagery about the fall of humans. Maybe we won’t be too far off in the real-world 2027? The story is so rich and the film making is both otherworldly and familiar.

Hereditary(d. Ari Aster)

I don’t like horror films. I tend to avoid them. But this one is just so well done, it’s perhaps worth being scared out of your gourd for a little while. It’s the kind of psychological thrill ride that goes way beyond the jump scares and into a deeper realm of unfolding realities and supernatural phenomena. Maybe watch this one during the day, with other people around.

Inception (d. Christopher Nolan)

OK so maybe we’re ending with an easy one, but I needed it after just remembering Hereditary. I love the metaphors in this film associated with the different layers of one’s psyche. As we enter deeper and deeper into the subject’s mind, we find not only more irrationality, but also more barriers of entry. The last stronghold in this case, the deepest nook of the psyche, is pictured as a military-style fort in a secluded frozen land, armed to the nines and just about impossible to penetrate. Sound familiar?

[yokelfelonking]

With a hammer named Death?

[l0uterstella]

❄️ FUYUGUMI "A Song for the Yearning Angel / Yearn for the Angel" SYNOPSIS

Michael, a medical student in college, appears detached from the world and acts aloof. Uriel tells Raphael, who is worried about Michael, that the souls of former angels are aliens to the human world, therefore it is inevitable that he would be shunned. So Raphael descends down to Earth... Michael climbs over the rooftop fence, and Raphael immediately reaches his hand out. It felt as if he had met Raphael long ago.

CAST: Tsumugi Tsukioka - Michael Tasuku Takato - Raphael Hisoka Mikage - Uriel Homare Arisugawa - Metatron Azuma Yukishiro - Fred Guy - Derick

[heyitsnyixie]

My first mistake was thinking ANY of these men were neurotypical.

[soulsforscrapbooks]

How the Dracula Stage Play Influenced Future Adaptations

So I wanted to let people know about the stage adaptation of Dracula, because it established a lot of tropes that have come to define the novel as well as vampire fiction in general, despite the fact that large changes were made when bringing the book to the stage. Sometimes, honestly, it seems like more adaptations pull from the play than the book. Okay:

The original stage adaptation of Dracula was written in 1897 by Stoker himself! Here you can see the manuscript in his own hand:

Apparently he hated how it turned out, because he called it “dreadful” and it was performed only once and then never again. The role of Mina was played by Edith Craig, a well-known figure in the suffragist movement and the daughter of Ellen Terry, Stoker's friend, whom he mentions in the book. The next attempt at adapting the novel would not be until the 1920s, after Stoker had died.

The 1924 adaptation by Hamilton Deane stays fairly close to the events of the novel. Some key points:

The entirety of the action takes place in the Harkers' house

Mina and Jonathan are already married

Dracula is already in England, and the storyline involving Jonathan as a prisoner of the Count has been omitted

To accommodate the female members of his theater troupe, Quincy is now a woman! Her name is still Quincy, and she is described as “feisty,” and is a close friend of Jonathan and Mina. (There don’t seem to be any photos from the 1924 play, sadly.)

It is in this first major adaptation that the idea of the Count as suave and debonair is brought into existence. This change is to allow Dracula to interact more easily onstage with the other characters, whereas in the book he stays an offscreen threat for large amounts of time. This is also the first instance of Dracula wearing a high-collared pointy cape, which was originally done to hide the actor better whenever Dracula had to “disappear” through trapdoors. 

Here is Raymond Huntley as Dracula in the 1924 stage adaptation:

The play was a success, and quickly moved to Broadway:

This version, adapted by John Balderston, was a complete revision not just from the book but from the 1924 stage play, and a LOT of changes were made:

Quincy, Arthur, and MINA have been removed from the story. Mina is mentioned as having died mysteriously before the play takes place.

Jonathan’s relationship to Dracula has been completely removed. He is not involved with bringing the Count to England at all. He is also now wealthy, and has traveled Europe extensively, where he has heard folktales about vampires.

Lucy is now engaged to Jonathan, and her last name is now Lucy Seward. This is because……..

John Seward has been aged up and is now Lucy’s father. 

The action takes place at Seward’s house/asylum.  

Renfield is allowed to just sort of…wander around Seward’s house when the plot requires him to be there. He gets dragged away by attendants whenever he needs to be offstage. He also survives. 

The Broadway version also made large changes in characterization:

Lucy is weak and feeble when we meet her in the play. She is helplessly preyed upon by Dracula, and yet is sexually tempted by him when under a trance. She and Dracula share a passionate kiss at the end of Act II, right before she willingly exposes her neck for him to bite. 

Jonathan is still concerned for Lucy as she is slowly turned, but he is more wary of her and goes along willingly with Van Helsing’s ideas regardless of how Lucy feels.

Renfield is portrayed as actively malicious, through fearful and subservient to the Count. 

Seward is seen as a strong-willed father who leads his asylum with a firm and confident hand. He believes Van Helsing more readily when confronted with the existence of vampires.

Dracula himself is once again depicted as charming and suave, and he spends time during the first act as a mysterious but pleasant dinner guest of the Sewards.

Despite these massive revisions, the Broadway version was a hit, partially to due the charisma of Bela Lugosi, who originated the role. (Below is Bela Lugosi as Dracula along with Seward, Van Helsing, Jonathan Harker, and Renfield on the floor:)

Bela Lugosi, of course would go on to star in the 1931 film adaptation. Other famous stage Draculas include Jeremy Brett and Frank Langella (Langella's revival would also give us this amazing Edward Gorey art:)

So we can see that the stage plays influenced many versions that would later come, as well as the idea of vampires in pop culture at large. It’s interesting how the motifs and themes we expect when we hear the word “Dracula” were actually the creation of people besides the author, and these differences don't seem to have been majorly disputed in the last 100 years. Has this happened with other classic novels? I'm not sure, but I'd love to see an accurate adaptation of Dracula in stage or film form, and see how it might influence filmmakers and directors for the future.

[alldancersaretalented]

Dancers attending P21 Intensive

??

Olivia Elise Victoria Nikolovva

AM Dance

Aurora Monroe

Ale Mancillas Dance Studio

Balbina Cueva

Allegro Performing Arts Academy

Arina Bryzgunova Bella Verbera-Hernandez

Aspirations Dance Company

Lola Nelms

Avanti Dance Company

Hayden Goren Eva Graziano Mia Menji Kaylee Randeniya Rosie Zahoul Sans Blair Tennant

Capitol Dance Company

Malia ?

Center Stage Performing Arts

Tommie Milazzo

Club Dance Studio

Brooklyn Besch Emma Kleve Claire Pistor

Dance Alliance of Camarillo

Shiloh Lark Farrah ?

Dance Dimensions Performic Arts Center

Victoria Safahi Serena Wilcox

DanceDynamicsLV

Lyla Haider

Dance Collective DC

Janelle Liu

Dance Edge Studios

Antonia Zanin

Dance Magic Performic Company

Savannah Lee

Dance Makers of Atlanta

Nola Paulina

Danceology

Ella Bustillos Hudson Hensley Ella Nani Knight Ella Koehnen Soleil Lynch Aria McCrea Cheyenne Ringerman Sydney Swinehart

Dance Republic

Graisyn Clare

Dansé Escuela de Danza

Alexa Ahumada Marielisa Portillo Isabella Trabucco

DC Dance Factory

Pay Lynch

Dolce Dance Studio

Brixtyn Cappo

École de dance Louise

Léonie Macorig

Edge Studios

Sienna ? Aria Giusti

Encore ELite

Leona Zariel

Epic Motion Dance Studio

Maria Sofia Rodríguez Mia Sofia Covarrubias Tinoco

Essence of Dance

Ava Killam Makena Killam Briar ?

Eternal Dance Company

Maddie Kronenberg

Evoke Dance Movement

Emmy Claire

Evolution Dance

Scarlett O'Neil

Evolve Dance Center

Maria Belen Salido

Evolve Dance Centre

Izabella Modarresi

Excel Performing Arts

Emma Sheff

Fusion Dance Omaha

Gigi Murray

Glass House Dance

Eden Cui

Groove Studios WA

Kaiden Koths Abby Mae

Hart Academy of Dance

Lydon Thach

Havilah Dance Company

Caitlyn Marie Malea Jade Moore

Inferno Dance Co

Maizie Smith

Instyle Dance Company

Jacilynn Mar

Janet Dunstans Dance Academy

Adeline Glenn

K2 Studios

Neriah Karmann Lennon Reign Jessica Sutton

Larkin Dance Studio

Matinly Conrad Palmer Petier

Legacy Dance Productions

Sophie Boonstra Paisley Clarke

Legacy Studio of Performing Arts

Brynne Smith

McKinley School of Dance

Teodora Narancic

Murrieta Dance Project

Khloe Cabrera Gracie Gilroy

N10 Dance Studio

Claire Avonne Kingston Madison Ng

No Limits Dance Academy

Ayanna Voulgaris

Nor Cal Dance Arts

Aria Davi Aubrey Paz Olyvia Reza

North Calgary Dance Centre

Ellie Blakley Georgia Blakley

OCPAA

Libby Haye

Onstage Dance Center - Los Alamitos

Adalyn Nicole

Pave San Diego

Eleanor Bullock Aryanna La Fontaine Cooper

Pave School of the Arts

Sofia Cuevas Stella Fisk Livi Matson

Perception Dance

Mabel James

Project 21

Ellie Anbarden Olivia Armstrong Lilly Barajas Sienna Carlston Kami Couch Katie Couch Kenzie Couch Airi Dela Cruz Stella Eberts Gracyn French Regan Gerena Richie Granese Mady Kim Brooklyn Ladia Leilani Lawlor Chloe Mirabel Savanna Musman Madelyn Nasu Avery Reyes Berkeley Scifres Bristyn Scifres Sara Von Rotz Leighton Werner

Project 520 Dance Studio

Adelynn ? Karli Heim Sasha Muratalieva

Queen City Dance

Annabel Speck

Seattle Storm Dance Troupe

Claire Clark

Shooting Stars Dance Studio

Karsyn Hernandez Malani Maliya

Stars Dance Studio

Hannah Burak Catherine Clayton Fabiana Pierleoni Elie Rabin

Starstruck Performing Arts Center KS

Kinley Winn

Steps Dance Center

Emmie Pitt

Studio Fusion

Harley Gross Juliet Anne Wydo

The Collaborative

Addison Cullather

The Company Space

Piper Perusse Stella Marcordes Vivian Marcordes

TheCREW

Isabella Tamayo

The Dance Collective DC

Eva Rogachevsky Quincy Thomas

The Dance Collective MD

Lyla Urban

The Dance Company of Los Gatos

Scarlett Blu Chloe Rose

The Vision Dance Alliance

Emily Polis

Utah Ballet Festival

Ruby Taylor

West Coast Dance Complex

Mila Barnett

Xtreme Dance Studio

Jocelyn Longroy

YYC Dance Project

Kinsley Oykhman

[alivesoul]

Poet, playwright, activist, educator, and essayist June Jordan was born in Harlem, New York City, in 1936. An only child, she was raised by her Jamaican immigrant parents in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood. She began writing poetry at only seven years old. Jordan attended high school at the Northfield School for Girls in Massachusetts and university at Barnard College, which she left without a final degree due to her alienation from the strictly white and male literary curriculum there. She married and later divorced Columbia student Michael Meyer, with whom she had one child. Despite anti-LGTBQ+ stigma at the time, Jordan’s writing openly acknowledged her bisexuality.

The author of 27 books—including essay collections, libretti, and children’s books as well as volumes of poetry—Jordan was also a lifelong activist who fought fiercely for civil rights, women’s rights, LGBTQ+ rights, and anti-war causes. She taught at CUNY’s City College, Yale University, Sarah Lawrence College, and SUNY Stony Brook before being appointed professor of African-American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, where she founded Poetry for the People. Jordan’s many accolades include grants and awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, PEN America, the National Association of Black Journalists, and numerous other institutions. She died of breast cancer in 2002. A widely influential poet who worked in accessible language to convey deep truths around identity, Jordan is celebrated today for both her literary writing and her dedicated advocacy for social justice and historically excluded groups.

Why are you posting this @alivesoul?

Because June Jordan taught a class at the University of California Berkeley called Poetry for the People and that class has been permanently cancelled. A shame. Teacher/Poets are essential to any higher learning experience as poetry informs us in every way of the world around us. I can't imagine my college experience without the poetry of Nikki Giovanni, Quincy Troupe and so many others. Beyond that, June is a truth hunter, a truth gatherer, and a truth provider---a modern day griot. I truly hope she finds a safe space within the diaspora to continue her work as she represents the very best of what it means to be Black in this country. The attack on Black intellectuals from Ta-Nehisi Coates to Claudine Gay is truly one of the great academic and cultural crimes of my lifetime and cannot continue to go ignored. Never have I seen so many highly educated and accomplished black men and women so unfairly attacked and discredited. These men and women are literally trying to save the soul of country by shining a light on the FACTS of our history, present AND on those who would profit from lies, greed and violence. If there is one thing I would implore those who read this blog to do, it is to read, study and protect not only our history but those who make it their business to make sure it is never forgotten.

We are excellence.

Peace.

[hatchetburiied]

FLEUR LA VIE TROUPE

In short, they're basically a traveling group of quincies during the time of Yhwach's rise to power in the Wandenreich/Europe founded by Florence Wheth (A Gemischt quincy) and the proper name of it is Fleur La Vie troupe [Flower of Life Troupe]. They usually performed very anti-wandenreich/anti-yhwach music but it wasn't the forefront of their music. [They normally performed Bluegrass/Country type of music (As well as Folk)!] They weren't just a performance troupe but they were also a form of a traveling speakeasy so to speak, various members would perform music while others would serve food and drinks to entertain their patrons. This was their way of earning money to survive and with how charismatic their front lady was….it was pretty easy. They were all basically wiped out (save for a few members) due to how blatant their propaganda was against Yhwach's rule- their music still lives on to this day even if few people remember the origins of the songs.

The Members so far are:

Florence Wheth [Founder]

Sabirah Wheth

James 'Jay' Darcy

Gale March, Lenore Lee (rebellenlied)

Nova & Tamara Buckley (they belong to magiclcss)

Noah Gringoire

Rose Homna, Leanne Robinson (Hxbiris)

[rebellenlied]

hi im at work but a tidbit of gale lore-

the patriarch of the march clan is her grandfather (who i envision to sound like thurl ravenscroft. deep and booming, holds great authority, yanno?)

the march family is a clan of high standing in the wandenreich, and because gale was the only daughter between her parents, it was suggested she be married off to continue the lineage of echt quincies.

gale, as softspoken as she is, left in the dead of night, and joined the fleur la vie troupe. this resulted in her meeting james darcy, florence wheth's son (both belong to @/reiiishii).

she carried with her a hammered dulcimer (one of those that could be taken on the go!), and helped sew/repair clothes for other troupe members, along with caring for the younger members.

gale was killed alongside the rest of the troupe (barring lenore, noah (@/reiiishii), rose (@/hxbiris), the buckley sisters (@/magiclcss) and sabirah (@/reiiishii)), and lenore made sure she was laid to rest besides james when she went to bury those who didn't survive the massacre.

and yes, james and gale did have a happy few years and got married some time before the wandenreich found and destroyed the troupe - think finnick and annie's wedding in mockingjay!

[reiiishii]

What is the troupe?? Lore pls?

CRASHES THROUGH THE WINDOW LIKE A BAT OUTTA HELL

I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!!!

Ok so!!! It's pretty old lore on my blog (like you have to DIG for it) but in short, they're basically a traveling group of quincies during the time of Yhwach's rise to power in the Wandenreich/Europe founded by Florence Wheth (A Gemischt quincy) and the proper name of it is Fleur La Vie troupe [Flower of Life Troupe]. They usually performed *very* anti-wandenreich/anti-yhwach music but it wasn't the forefront of their music. [They normally performed Bluegrass/Country type of music!] They weren't just a performance troupe but they were also a form of a traveling speakeasy so to speak, various members would perform music while others would serve food and drinks to entertain their patrons. This was their way of earning money to survive and with how charismatic their front lady was....it was pretty easy. They were all basically wiped out (save for a few members) due to how blatant their propaganda was against Yhwach's rule- their music still lives on to this day even if few people remember the origins of the songs.

The Members so far are: - Florence Wheth [Founder] - Sabirah Wheth - James 'Jay' Darcy - Gale March (rebellenlied) - Nova & Tamara Buckley (they belong to magiclcss) - Noah Gringoire - Rose Homna (Hxbiris) - Lenore Lee (rebellenlied)

[dustedmagazine]

James Kaplan — 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool (Penguin Press)

There are two or three jazz albums almost everyone seems to have: Dave Brubeck’s Time Out, John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, and Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue. The first two records were well received on release, but not so much Davis’s. It wasn’t only a departure from the kind of music he played at the time, but seemed out of step with what everyone else was doing, too. And yet it’s taken on a life of its own, becoming if not the most talked about jazz record ever, then certainly the best-selling.

Enter James Kaplan, a biographer best known for his two-volume book on Frank Sinatra. In 3 Shades of Blue: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, and the Lost Empire of Cool he turns his focus onto Kind of Blue and the confluence of three jazz icons: Miles Davis, John Coltrane, and Bill Evans. However 3 Shades of Blue doesn’t live up to its potential and ultimately feels like an unnecessary retread of familiar material.

Kaplan opens the book in the 1980s, with Miles Davis playing auditoriums and ordering Wynton Marsalis off his stage. Kaplan himself enters, a young journalist for Vanity Fair, who lands an interview with the trumpeter, and two hit it off. From there he goes back in time to Davis’s early years and then mixes in Coltrane and Evans — but it’s Miles who is the book’s center. This has its benefits and drawbacks: he’s a more compelling figure than Evans and he lived longer than the book’s other two principals. But he’s also the most written about, too, and Kaplan has a hard time bringing anything new to light. So instead we get the familiar stories about him gigging with Charlie Parker, getting in trouble with the law and spending the late 1970s getting high in his brownstone. Same with Coltrane’s obsessive practicing and dental woes, and Evans’s heroin addiction.

Possibly the only new information comes from Kaplan’s suppositions about his subject’s inner feelings. For example, Kaplan suggests that Davis was sexually interested in Evans: “his all-American good looks and professional intensity were attractive to women — and to Miles Davis.” Why? Because Davis once put his arms around Evans while he played piano, a move Davis also pulled on Red Garland. Kaplan doesn’t think Davis felt similarly with Garland.

Indeed, 3 Shades is sloppy. It could useanother once-over by an attentive editor. Kaplan occasionally derails his narrative with odd asides about Frank Sinatra or by repeating points he made earlier in the book. At one point he goes off on a tangent about a 1980s photo of Davis in a section set some 30 years previous. Elsewhere he’s careless about sourcing quotes: on one page he quotes pianist Jon Batiste on Evans’s use of touch, then inserts a lengthy block quote about Evans’s playing. But the second quote isn’t Batiste. It’s from a biography of Evans by Peter Pettinger, a fact readers would only notice if they search Kaplan’s endnotes.

In some ways, 3 Shades feels like a rush job but one without a specific anniversary in mind. In others, it feels overlong and rambling: one doesn’t need a garish description of Davis in the late 1970s in a book nominally about a record from 1959. In others it feels more like him remembering his encounters with Davis, both on record and in person, than a proper biography of any of these three musicians.

But it’s not so much that the book doesn’t know what it wants to be, it’s that it doesn’t need to be here at all. People new to Davis, Coltrane or Evans will find a lot of information here, but those who already know them won’t find anything not already in other biographies by Ben Ratliff, Pettinger or Quincy Troupe. And newcomers will find those a more linear, less convoluted read to boot.

Roz Milner

[ifuckinglovestvincent]

St. Vincent on How Her Love of Podcasts Led to Narrating Audible’s Rock History Series — and Why She Relates to Skynyrd’s Episode as Much as Bowie’s

By Chris Willman

Annie Clark, better known to most as recording artist St. Vincent, first took a step out of rock ‘n’ roll and into “voice work,” as it were, when she wrote and recorded a compelling original audiobook, “Words + Music,” for Audible in 2020. Now she’s taking a step further into the realm of pure narration as the host of a new six-episode podcast series, “History Listen: Rock,” which premiered on the Audible service in January. She didn’t write the series, which produced by Double Elvis, creators of the lauded “Disgraceland” podcast, among others. But f you’re a fan of St. Vincent’s through material like “Daddy’s Home,” there’s a good chance you’ll take to her intonations as she speaks into life some well-crafted mini-histories of rock, from the R&B of the ’40s and ’50s through folk, psychedelia, punk, metal and (the arena where she’s picked up her three Grammys) alternative rock.

Variety spoke with her about her love for the medium and some of the genres and artists covered in the new series, which can be found here.

Was doing the autobiographical audiobook a few years ago the thing that was a gateway drug into narrating something that’s not about yourself?

No. I mean, honestly, I probably listen to more podcasts than music, so it’s just a genre and a medium that I am intimately involved with and intimately familiar with. So, you know, there’s certain things I’m aware of that, if I’m listening to a podcast, I cannot abide — like a dry mouth. I stay very hydrated. You’ve gotta have that Poland Spring, just right there at the ready.

No, really, I listen to so many podcasts, and I was also a fan of “Disgraceland” and some of the other Double Elvis things — that brand, shall we say, of podcasters. And I love narrating, and I’d love to do more of it. I was excited when they asked me to do it, and I learned things too, definitely, doing the podcast, so for sure that’s a two-thumbs-up for me.

It is a medium that I’m kind of obsessed with. I mean, I just consume an insane amount of them. But not the murder ones anymore. I’m good on on female pain as entertainment for a minute. That’s stopped feeling OK, personally.

Does developing a speaking style differ from the work any singer does to find his or her own voice?

It’s a bit more like acting. The only tool you have at your disposal is the tone of your voice, is the inflection, is the cadence. So in that way, it was a discovery, a little bit, using my voice just.as a different kind of instrument. I found it really informative. I think everybody remembers the first time they heard their own voice back, on an answering machine or something, and went, “Ooh, I sound like that?” In terms of the actual narration part, I had a couple hiccups there. I was like, “Oh, no, just go a little lower.” The podcast voice is a little lower than my, natural chit-chat. It’s interesting to discover that. I was lucky enough that I was able to record it by myself in my studio, so I got to experiment and play and not worry if I messed up on some of the tongue twisters, and to make sure that the meaning of the words was never lost in my inflection.

I didn’t know if you were the kind of person who reads a lot of music biographies or just picks things up through other means.

I’m more of a person who has the kind of stories that you swap in the studio. And of course those are stories that don’t necessarily have a journalistic rigor that these do. But I definitely liked reading the Miles Davis autobiography by Quincy Troupe — I know thst sounds funny, to say that his autobiography was by Quincy Troupe. I found that very, very fascinating, and I recently read the Sammy Davis Jr. autobiography. But for the most part I kind of like to engage with it in a more organic way than necessarily reading autobiographies.

I’m not a historian. I am obviously very knowledgeable about what I know. But this is, I think, a nice overview for people who are fans of rock music, from a very casual fan to someone even more invested. Because you get the real stories and kind of the guts and the glory of the different scenes, and also so much of the roots of rock and roll. There’s so many things that it’s sort of crazy that they were even able to distill it down to what they were able to distill it down to. I think it’s a good, fun listenand overview for people who really care or are just casual listeners and just want to have a little bit more context.

Did some of the episodes appeal to you more than others? People would think, well, of course, she has a gravitation toward punk or alternative or glam, and maybe less so, say, Southern rock…

No — I mean, hey, I learned “Sweet Home Alabama” on the guitar when I was 12! I know it well. I’m well-versed in the classic rock staples.

Is there anyone that jumps out at you from the early days of rock ‘n’ roll as someone especially interesting or a kindred spirit?

Of the stories that we covered, I’d say there is no Prince and there is no Bowie without Little Richard. I mean, he was so slick, and such an incredible performer, and to be playing with gender and sexuality and all of those things at that time was just pretty staggering. You don’t have rock ‘n’ roll without Little Richard, that’s for sure.

How about the folk era?

I’m more a fan of the politics of that man-on-the-street style of songwriting than I am necessarily aching to put on an Arlo Guthrie record. But I appreciate its point in history.

There is an episode on what is described as psych-rock, and having seen your “Daddy’s Home” tour, where it feels like you mixed in some of that along with the soul-revue aspects, it seemed like you might have some affinity for those late-’60s sounds of early Pink Floyd and such.

I think harmonically, it really started to just blow wide open in the ’60s, whether it’s the Beatles or the Beach Boys, and then add a healthy dose of acid into that, and people were like, “I want to see colors that don’t exist yet,” you know? To me that music is very visual. I mean, you go, like, “This guitar’s melting, and then those drums are dripping, and then the bass is all swirling around with it…” I’m sorry, I’m going poetic with it.

Since you mentioned the Beach Boys, you just performed one of their songs at the taping for a “Grammy Salute” special (airing later in the year). How was that?

It was really sweet. Brian Wilson looks great, he really does. “You Still Believe In Me” was the song I sang, and I’ve always loved that song so much. It’s amazing to get to sing the song for the person who wrote it, to say thank you. I mean, I’m not supposing that’s some big gift. [Laughs.] “You’re welcome, Brian Wilson!” But just to honor and get to kind of do your best in front of the people who made it is very special. I did one last year when I got to sing “Court and Spark” for Joni Mitchell [at the MusiCares person of the year dinner]. It’s very moving personally.

Going back to the episodes of the podcast: You mentioned earlier that Southern rock is in your wheelhouse, or at least was part of the wheelhouse of growing up.

Yeah, it totally is. I mean, I’m a kid from Texas. I know the Skynyrd catalog. I’m a guitar player — you know what I mean? I know “Free Bird.” So of course that was just part of the canon. And Duane Allman, I always loved his playing. So I know it, yeah. To me, the sort of current Duane Allman is Derek Trucks. Jesus Christ, what a beautiful player. You see the sort of Allman to-Trucks kind of line. I’m a guitar player who doesn’t care that much about guitar, but I’m just truly just like, what a transcendental player, Derek Trucks. Such a voice. Oh man, what a stunning player.

Glam is something that people automatically assume is part of your background and what informed you. Did anything from that episode bring up any particular love of yours?

Yeah, I mean, I think I always have just thought of Mark Bolan as cool. I didn’t realize that there was such a major kind of backlash against him where the British press really kind of went after him. It’s Mark Bolan — what’s the problem? And I know he died young anyway, but it made me quite sad for Mark Bolan. As far as the Bowie glam era, obviously that is unbelievable and iconic. For me, I’m a kind of Berlin Bowie gal, if I had a gun to my head. I’m kind of a “Low” gal… or a “Station to Station” gal, shall we say.

But I mean, just the theatricality of it… it’s the age-old question of: What are you selling? Some people are selling you authenticity, and then some people are selling you a dream, selling you magic. And I’d rather be kind of in the latter camp. We’ve talked about this with “The Nowhere Inn” [her satirical film that deals with issues of authenticity]… So, I sell the magic.

Finding authenticity in showmanship is one of rock ‘and’n’ roll’s great tricks. And certainly something you’ve been able to do is write emotionally meaningful songs, presented in a way that takes you somewhere else other than basic street reality all the time.

I mean, that’s the call, to just absolutely go for the heart and go for the jugular. But with some acid dust kind of sprinkled on top, it’s more fun, you know?

Anything about punk, metal or alternative, as explored in this podcast, you would want to speak to?

Yeah, one thing from punk that I will say… You know, again, it’s not a complete history of anything. It’s really entertaining, bitesize chunks of a trajectory. But I wish we could have talked more about bands like the Slits or Siouxie and the Banshees or the Raincoats. So if anybody sees this article, also go check out the Slits, Siouxsie and the Raincoats, et cetera, et cetera, forever and ever.

Last summer you finally wrapped up several rounds of touring behind the “Daddy’s Home” album. Any quick promises you would want to make anyone for 2023?

It’s gonna be a great year. Gonna be a great year. I’m in my studio right now.