A.S. Coomer's Blog, page 22
February 26, 2018
“The Artist (Vitiated)” Out Now at Winedrunk Sidewalk
Afternoon,
A new poem of mine, The Artist (Vitiated), was published today at Winedrunk Sidewalk. The poem is personal, dealing with life in this dystopian Trump-era, where ties of kin are strained, frayed. How many of our friends and family have become deluded, blinded by blighted ideology? How many have found their closeted hatreds? How many bullies are being born under this hateful regime?
Too many.
We’re all Shipwrecked in Trumpland.
http://winedrunksidewalk.blogspot.com/2018/02/day-four-hundred-and-three.html
Thanks to John Grochalski, Editor/Publisher of Winedrunk Sidewalk, for publishing this poem and all the other dispatches from all of us Shipwrecked in Trumpland.
-A.S. Coomer
February 16, 2018
goddamn it anyway but the CD is out!
Happy goddamn Friday, y’all!
Today’s the day. The goddamn it anyway CD is officially out. It’s been a long time coming & I think I’m finally ready to share these tunes with the world.
goddamn it anyway consists of twelves songs. I wrote all of them. I played guitar and sang on all of them. I even played harmonica on “A Miner”. I designed the layout (including the sweet typo—happy hunting, y’all) & made lyric zines for the first 150 copies. I put my blood, sweat, tears, and time into this record. I believe in it. There. I said it. goddamn it anyway.
I’m lucky enough to be able to call some of the finest musicians in the Midwest my friends. The record is worlds better for their contributions. Sara Gibson made her cello sing. Oh Hell Sam Dell found all the right spots for his mandolin. Jake & the Venom Pilewski came up with some of the sweetest “tank-a-ling” on the piano. Jess Kuohn about broke my heart with her harmonies. Patrick McGee laid down some tasty guitar licks. Michael Joseph Peters made that lap steel swell and cry.
I’ve got some excellent photographer friends too. Big thanks to Michelle Elson (Twin Owls Photography) & Sunny Neuenschwander (Rising Sun Photography) for their great shots of such an ugly mug. If ever you need a photographer, look no further than those two.
You can buy ($15) the CD from me at shows. You can order the physical copy and/or digital files from my Bandcamp page. You can stream the record from Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, Google Play, Amazon Music, Bandcamp, etc.
If you’re in the vicinity of northwest Ohio this evening, come on down to the Art & Performance Center of West Toledo. I’m having a big ol’ party/show to celebrate the release of this thing. We’ll kick it off around 8pm. My good buddies, Vester Frey, Craig James, & Ryan Roth, will be playing sets of their tunes too. Pizza Cat will be in the house slinging pizzas. BYOB & some to share if ya wouldn’t care. Come party! goddamn it anyway!
Big thanks to Miriam Wagoner & Art and Performance Center of West Toledo for hosting this shindig (& for all she does for the arts community of Toledo).
If you dig it, support it. Share a song with a friend (or an enemy).
-A.S. Coomer
[image error]CDs are $15
[image error]Front cover photo by Rising Sun Photography
[image error]Back cover photo by Twin Owls Photography
February 12, 2018
“A Miner” Out Now
The third single off goddamn it anyway is a song I wrote a few years back called “A Miner”. It’s the story of love loss and hopelessness in eastern Kentucky.
My good friends helped give it life. The recording features Sam Dell on mandolin, Sara Gibson on cello, Michael Joseph Peters on lap steel, and Jess Kuohn singing harmonies. I made the record with Michael Pierce at Sixtyten.
You can find the song on Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, Google Play, YouTube, Bandcamp (where you can order yourself and all of your friends and family a copy or three), etc.
If you’re in the area, you should definitely stop by for the record release show/party on 2/16/18 at the Art & Performance Center of West Toledo.
I made the last of the lyric zines for goddamn it anyway this morning. He’s a little time lapse of the cutting, folding, and gluing action from my Instagram.
A.S. Coomer
February 8, 2018
Preorder goddamn it anyway Now
Afternoon, y’all.
You can preorder my new record, goddamn it anyway, today. Head on over to my Bandcamp page. You can preorder the digital or physical copy, which includes a handmade lyric zine as well as the download to all twelve songs. All preorders get you instant access to I Am Your Man, a not-quite-traditional “love” song.
[image error]The CD comes with a demonic cat. Don’t listen to Bob Barker. If you get anywhere near this thing with a blade you will immediately burst into flames.
The record comes out 2/16/18. All preorders will ship within five days of 2/16/18 or, as I’ve come to think of it, goddamnitanywayfriday. I’m having a record release show/party at the Art & Performance Center of West Toledo that very evening with some of the best musicians I know. Ryan Roth & the Sideshow, Craig James, & Vester Frey. It’ll be a hell of an evening. Pizza Cat will be there slinging pies too, if you’re still not convinced it’ll be the best way to spend your Friday evening.
I had the great fortune to bring some of my talented friends into the studio to help me make goddamn it anyway. The record features Sam Dell on mandolin, Sara Gibson on cello, Jake Pilewski on piano, Michael Joseph Peters on lap steel, and Jess Kuohn singing harmonies.
-A.S. Coomer
January 31, 2018
“Behind the Trees” Out Now
The second single from goddamn it anyway is out. It’s a dark narrative called: Behind the Trees. I wrote this song on a family getaway near Sleeping Bear Dunes in a little cabin on Little Platte Lake.
The song features Sara Gibson on cello, Jake Pilewski on piano, Michael Joseph Peters on lap steel, and Jess Kuohn singing harmonies.
Behind the Trees
Just like the night
You took the light
And stole away
Behind the trees
Such a little fight
For such a frenzied flight
You stole away
Behind the trees
Behind the trees is where they found you
Behind the trees is where you lay
Behind the trees in the heather
Your hair scattered like some torn bird feathers, Mae
Behind the trees and off into the night
With the morning light
Came such an awful sight
You torn and twisted
Behind the trees
Like a wayward kite
Came the sheriff’s lights
And you torn and twisted
Behind the trees
Through his deputy
The sheriff, he told me,
“Hey, boy, you’re looking at life.”
I said, “Oh, god, man.
You got the wrong man.
I never touched a hair on the head of my wife.”
He said, “I guess we’ll have to wait and see
Leave it to the people of Harlan County
Let them decided if you’re to be free.”
I said, “I ain’t got the money
For no high-class attorney, buddy
We’ll just have to wait and see.”
Links:
goddamn it anyway will be released on 2/16/18 with an accompanying party/show at the Art & Performance Center of West Toledo.
-A.S. Coomer
January 12, 2018
“A Ghost in the Folds” Out Now
Good morning,
The first single off my forthcoming album, goddamn it anyway, is out and making its way around the interwebs. You can stream or download it from wherever you normally do that: Spotify, Apple Music/iTunes, Google Play Music, Amazon Music, etc.
The song features Sara Gibson on cello, Jake Pilewski on piano, and Jess Kuohn singing harmony. I recorded the record with Michael Pierce at Sixtyten in Toledo, Ohio (Northwood in actuality but it’s all Toledo to me). I’m thankful I have such talented and generous friends.
https://open.spotify.com/embed/album/5APEML4iIopgVu9CEntsbm
A Ghost in the Folds
William was a man that did some walking
He tramped the land, far and wide
He made his home in Old Widow’s Grove
& never gave his love to another
Lay your head down
You can stick around
Or you can go to Old Widow’s Grove
& be like William there
William, as a young man,
Never could understand
That you gotta reach out
& let others in
Or you’ll never find much use in nothing
Lay your head down
You can stick around
Or you can go to Old Widow’s Grove
& be like William there
Now that William’s gotten old
He finds the sun has grown cold
He hides himself in the thickest of clothes
But he feels like a ghost in the folds
Lay your head down
You can stick around
Or you can go to Old Widow’s Grove
& be like William there
[image error]Cover Photo by Sunny Neuenschwander, Rising Sun Photography
[image error]Back Cover Photo by Michelle Elson, Lunatic Owl Imaging
The record is finished. It will be released in digital and physical formats in the very near future. Until then, feel free to share and listen or ignore and smirk, because goddamn it anyway.
-A.S. Coomer
January 8, 2018
“I Wrote This Sober” Published by Meow Meow Pow Pow
Afternoon,
Meow Meow Pow Pow, one of the coolest literary things happening right now, just published by poem, I Wrote This Sober, featuring art by Cassandra Panek.
Check it out!
[image error]
Big thanks to Jane-Rebecca Cannarella and the good folks at MMPP.
-A.S. Coomer
