Greetings, everyone. I thought I would step back from daily activities for a moment and catch you all up on my recent and upcoming publications, writing projects, what’s up for this blog, etc.
Ugly Things #65 is out now and ready for purchase. I’ve got TEN (!!!) different pieces in it, covering a wide variety of subjects. Mike Stax’s article on the west coast group THE MOON and their various activities was very informative and well-written, connecting many dots for the reader/listener. I have always been a huge fan of Buzz Clifford’s 1969 Dot Records LP SEE YOUR WAY CLEAR, so it’s great to see that album championed and its backstory revealed (I actually contacted Mr. Clifford about it ten or fifteen years ago and got a friendly communication back from him). Presently, I’m working on another ten reviews for UT #66, and today I’ll be continuing on my coverage of JOHN MAYALL LIVE IN FRANCE 1967-73, a wonderful out-of-the-blue 2 CD/1 DVD set from Repertoire that will be a revelation to the Mayall fan and could surely win over people who’ve heard his name but don’t know his work.
I’m honored to have had a piece of mine published in the acclaimed Dutch ELVIS DAY BY DAY series of books, this time in the 2023 volume, on the recent FTD three-concert box AUGUST SEASON IN VEGAS. Though a Dutch publication, it’s now available easily in the United States via A-zon. Just do a search there for ELVIS DAY BY DAY 2023. You can always check out the daily updates on everything happening in the Elvis World by going to the Elvis Day by Day website (run by the indefatigable Kees Mouwen) at
The music-and-poetry album I did last year with Rambutan, BRIDGE ON THE BAYOU (on the Tape Drift label) is still available, though physical copies are running low (get yours now). It’s available via Bandcamp: https://rambutan.bandcamp.com/album/bridge-on-the-bayou
January saw the publication of my newest book-length poem STATIC STRUT (see post here in January about that book). Available for only $6.99…
The coming months will see two new poetry releases, a book and a chapbook.
++The chapbook is a brand-new piece (it even includes the Solar Eclipse the other day!) called STANZAS FOR KRISHNAMURTI, one section of a multi-part sequence of STANZAS FOR… poems (each 16 pages) which I’m working on in between other projects. Future poems in this sequence will be dedicated to/inspired by Kate Chopin and Fletcher Henderson (and others), but the one for J. Krishnamurti is done, and I wanted to get it out quickly as a taste of what’s to come. The poem is 16 pages and the book about 24 pages (perfect-bound paperback), in a new-for-KSE “Pocket” size of 4″ x 6″. It will be $3.95 US, as cheap as I can make it and still break even. That will be available on A-zon on May 1. If you are a local, I should have a few extra copies here, so look me up if you want a copy directly from me in the San Antonio area.
++The book is PROJECT BLUE, mostly consisting of pieces from old limited-run chapbooks from the 2006-2008 period in editions of 25 or so, only available briefly from Volcanic Tongue or if you caught me at a local reading in SA or in Austin. It also features a newly written 40-page open-field poem PROJECT BLUE, so the collection spans nearly 20 years of material. This collection of (mostly) older material should be more accessible to the general reader than some of my more-recent longer pieces, so I’ll be putting a bit more effort than usual into promoting PROJECT BLUE. Will let you know when that’s available…
Re: content on this blog in the coming months, I plan to publish here the introductory essay I did a few years back for the book collection WHEN THE TOPIC IS SEX of Ed Wood’s non-fiction prose writing from the early 1970s. Also, two pieces from the 80s and 90s that I still sometimes get requests for: the article about my dealings with Sky Sunlight Saxon in the 1980s, and the article about my conversation with John Cage when he visited SW Virginia circa 1989.
I was not able to take a summer “writing vacation” in 2023, but I will be this year (2024) in the very late summer, hitting SW Louisiana (of course) for 3 days and winding up in Natchez and Vicksburg, Mississippi for 11 days, staying one block from the river in the former, and right on the bank of the river in the latter. Should be the perfect environment to get some atmospheric work done!
Mary Anne and I spent two weeks in Oklahoma and SW Arkansas last month, finally getting to the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, visiting my old alma mater and workplace Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, spending a long weekend in the unique mountain town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and catching a few days of horse racing at Will Rogers Downs in Claremore, Oklahoma, a fine town on Rt. 66 where we stayed. The trip allowed me to push my personal “reset” button from everyday life, and also allowed the two of us to discover and rediscover together some of the wonderful things that the state of Oklahoma and the Ozarks have to offer.
Wishing you all an enjoyable late spring/early summer. Remember, new content is featured here EVERY WEDNESDAY as well as special/irregular pieces such as this one. See you soon…
Oh, a quick shout-out to the Hammett House restaurant in Claremore, Oklahoma, for the finest lamb fries I’ve ever tasted (see above).
Kendra Steiner Editions (Bill Shute) 
Looking Good Bill!!
Comment by Paul C Mcgarry — April 15, 2024 @ 5:49 pm |