Jesse Sublett's Blog, page 12

YOUNG BLOOD + CHEAP GIRL = PHILANTHROPY

The legendary, mighty, notorious SKUNKS join a whole slew of bright fresh young sparkly rock bands at the Continental Club Saturday night for a very good cause, that is, to bring the hope of a music program to a struggling South Texas school district. The town is called San Perlita, and it’s way down South. MapQuest will show you. Read the article by young William Harries Graham, who will be playing, and so will his dad, the indestructible Jon Dee Graham (just back from a successful tour of Japan), plus another not-youngblood but bright musician, Nakia. The Skunks play at midnight, like 12:01 A.M., or something like tha. Read the Chronicle story, the band billing is below, Facebook event here, and the original poster, if you want to see it, is here. Tickets are $17 advance, $20 at the door, and it starts EARLY, because it’s an all-ages show. Doors open at 7:00 PM, show starts at 7:15.

 

And don’t forget, Grave Digger Blues, my surrealist detective novel featuring Hank Zzybnx, the last detective, is available at BookPeople, South Congress Books, and Yard Dog. Normally I sell copies at my gigs, but I sold out at my last gig and won’t have more until next week.

 

Grave Digger Blues is a surrealistic detective novel

CHAVEZ ON THE MOON

Most of the time if your cat disappears, you look in the closet, under the tables, etc. Chavez is more of a challenge.

“How the hell did you get up there?”

“It’s a long story. Parts of it you won’t believe, others you don’t want to know.”

“That’s the same reaction I had when I saw the vomit you left on the rug this morning.”

“It’s a small price to pay for saving your life. I discovered huge raccoon sabotaging your DVR programs and I kicked his ass.”

“You mean that stripy thing on the red space chair? That’s not even a small raccoon, that’s the Italian socks I bought at Neiman Marcus.”

“These things look a lot larger in the attack mode.”

Chavez with the carcass of his most recent kill.

“I suppose you were trying to waterboard that headless gecko I found last night.”

“That crocodile in the bathroom? I was just playing with him when his head came off. Some kind of design flaw, I suspect.”

“It’s a sad story when a cute furry little kitten you adopt grows up to be Dick Cheney.”

“If you want to see what Dick Cheney looks like in high heels and a push-up bra just go to the mall.”

“What are you talking about now?”

“He’s the new Estée Lauder girl. Doing makeovers for all his old Halliburton friends.”

“The image has a certain cosmic symmetry.”

“He applied for the job with Lancôme, but they turned him down.”

“I can’t imagine why.”

“Despite his new look, the Lancôme manager recognized him as a war criminal. But Estée Lauder, they’ll hire anybody.”

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Moe Chavez, spreading his bad reputation beyond Earth orbit.

“Speaking of jobs, you’re going to have to get one. I imagine the fire department will be sending a bill for hauling your little black butt down from the moon.”

“Don’t feel bad you’ve never been there. It’s like an outlet mall in West Texas, a whole lot of nothing. The whole place is like a giant litter box.”

“So you went all the way to the moon just to poop?”

“Let’s not get too personal. It’s nap time anyway. Prrrrrrr.”

NEXT GIG BY THE SKUNKS IS JUNE 29. JESSE SUBLETT, JON DEE GRAHAM, AND GUEST DRUMMER WILLIAM MANSELL. DETAILS HERE and HERE.

NEVER GIVE A CAT YOUR ATM PASSWORD

When Chavez was “escorted out” of Erdut Castle, somewhere in Croatia.

“Hello?”

“Sounds like I woke you up.”

“Not really. I mean, it’s four A.M. but I’m not doing anything. Just lying here.”

“I need a ride.”

“Where are you? Normally you wake me up meowing before dawn for your morning sardine, but yesterday I overslept. I thought maybe you were sitting on the black Eames chair and I just didn’t see you.”

“Very funny. Next thing you’ll be saying all black cats look alike. I’m somewhere over here in Eastern Europe. I forgot the name. It’s a castle.”

“Hmm. Must be cold and damp.”

“I’ve got a blankie, but the wifi is lousy. I just remembered, it’s called Erdut.”

“Erdut? That’s in Croatia. What are you doing there?”

“You said I’m self-absorbed, I’ve got no feelings. You said I must be from the planet where that cat-eared guy on Star Trek is from.”

“You mean Spock?”

“Yeah, that dude.”

“Listen, Chavez, you must have catnip in your ears. I said you must be Vulcan, not Balkan. You went to the wrong place.”

“Oh, whatever, but the beds are nice. You gotta come get me, though. The house security guard had me ‘escorted out,’ whatever that means.”

“I can’t imagine why they would do that.”

“It’s a long story. There’s a small dog and a few dead finches involved.”

“Right. At least with your black fur, no one can see the bruise from the boot print on your little butt.”

“Speaking of black, just have the limo pull around the back and have the driver text me when he gets here.”

“Right. Anything else?”

“You know what.”

“Have the sardine can open. I know how you hate to wait.”

“Cool. I’ve almost got you trained. By the time I’m 30 years old, you might be a professional caretaker.”

“Joy.”

“It’s important to have goals.”

“I gave up on that the day you showed up on the back wall.”

So that’s my story. Moe Chavez at Erdut Castle. He’s been thrown out of the best places on five continents and several of Austin’s most desirable addresses.

PS: My latest novel, Grave Digger Blues, is selling by the dozens at BookPeople and South Congress Avenue Books. Thanks for your support, noir fans. And The Skunks are playing again Saturday, June 29, at the Continental Club, at a benefit show, featuring a slew of U18 bands, at what is called Youngbloods Music Fest. The Skunks are at the bottom, and you may need a magnifying glass to see our name, with the wavy aroma lines around it, a joke that was stale in 1978, but whatever. We’re playing for a good cause, and art is its own reward, right? Come see my terrible self, the indestructible Jon Dee Graham, and our guest drummer, William Mansell, a fine musician whose been a pal of ours since before Attila the Hun stopped going barefoot every summer.

Cheers,

Jesse

The Skunks, May 12, 2013

NOIR AT THE BAR, DADDY-O

The author proofs his work.

Like I said already, somewhere, Sunday might be Fathers’ Day but this time here in Austin it’s Noir at the Bar, Daddy-o, so if you are cool, you will be there.

Next Austin edition of NOIR AT THE BAR is Sunday, June 16, 7 – 9 PM at Opal Divine Penn Field (3601 South Congress Ave). Scott Phillips, Jedidiah Ayres and me, My Terrible Self, a k a Jesse Sublett,are the featured authors. We will read from our books and I will play a few blues and murder ballads. I don’t know Jedidiah but I’ve known Scott Phillips since Jesus was in short pants and he’s a great damned writer. Hosted by BookPeople, see all the details here. Scott is one of the pioneers of Noir at the Bar, so we need to show the guy that Austin gets noir — and more important, that you appreciate it enough to buy books from the guys and gals who are good at it. In this case, I mean real good. Know what I mean? OK. See you there, pals.

BTW Jedidiah Ayres is the author of Fierce Bitches. Scott is the author of The Ice Harvest, The Rake, and many other great titles. Scott Montgomery, the ace bookseller at BookPeople, is working on a novel and will, I am told, give us a sample of his work-in-progress. More info on my own novels here and here. Ah, yes, one more book related item. There’s a pretty cool story on me in the June issue of Real South magazine. Below is a PDF of the story, not the whole magazine.

RS_June_Sublett

DEATH TOLL UNKNOWN IN FISH SHADOW LUNAR INCIDENT

PS, you may have heard, but my band, THE SKUNKS, will be playing at a special show with a truckload of young U18 bands at the Continental Club June 29. The show is called Music for Youngbloods. I’m still getting information on it, as it is a benefit for a school in way-south Texas, but it’s a good cause, and THE SKUNKS will be rocking hard.The benefit is being organized by William Harries Graham, son of Jon Dee Graham, so you know it’s got to be good.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY WOLF

Plugging Grave Digger Blues at SXSW

Chester Arthur “Howlin’ Wolf” Burnett, born June 10, 1910, died January 10, 1976. Not just the greatest of the blues singers and performers, he was one of the greatest of all American artists, period. He not only helped bring what we call “blues” into the mainstream, he helped invent rock ‘n roll. He laid down the standards for rock n’ roll excitement and professionalism. If you watch videos of the Wolf in performance at his peak, you are seeing the roots of punk rock, metal, funk… everything.

2009

2010

2011

2012

I started hosting an annual birthday tribute to the Wolf in 2009. Here is the series of posters, each one of them with the names of a good many of Austin’s best and brightest musicians who were all happy to pay tribute to the great man, and all these were designed by the fabulous artist / photographer / creative provocateur, Ricardo Acevedo.

The shows were at the Continental Club here in Austin. I didn’t feel like doing one this year. Basically I’ve been too busy with other projects. And last year was a great show, but it came in the middle of a stressful time and I decided that this year I’d just coast a little, recharge my batteries, do some painting, work on my books and other projects.

It’s not like I forgot about the man.

There’s been a lot of commenting on Facebook after someone posted the image below.

from a 1993 ad campaign featuring iconic figures who were known to wear khakis

It’s from a 1993 ad campaign by The Gap. Sure, you can bitch about it, but what the hell. Some of the other legendary figures whose images were used in the campaign included Pablo Picasso, Jack Kerouac, Hemingway, etc. So they were saying that the Wolf is an icon, an icon of cool. It’s true. There was a lot of handwringing — “Oh, my, and I bet the family isn’t getting any royalties off that, either.” Well, if the Burnett family were ripped off by The Gap, it wouldn’t be the first time an American icon’s image was appropriated by a corporation — or somebody on Tumblr or Facebook or Twitter — where no one seems to give much thought to copyright. And no one seemed to catch the fact that the ad is 20 years old. Well, whatever. I mean, once you’ve heard “Smokestack Lightning” used to sell Viagra, your sense of outrage over such things has already taken a beating.

Now, just for the hell of it, a couple of my recent visual projects.

DEATH TOLL UNKNOWN IN FISH SHADOW LUNAR INCIDENT

Moon Goddess, 16 x 24 print on metallic paper

Commercial notice: We’ll be doing NOIR AT THE BAR on Sunday, June 16, 7 – 9 PM at Opal Divine Penn Field (3601 South Congress Ave). Scott Phillips, Jedidiah Ayers and me, My Terrible Self, are the featured authors. We will read from our books and I will play a few blues and murder ballads. I don’t know Jedidiah but I’ve known Scott Phillips since Jesus was in short pants and he’s a great damned writer. Hosted by BookPeople, see all the details here. Scott is one of the pioneers of Noir at the Bar, so we need to show the guy that Austin gets noir — and more important, that you appreciate it enough to buy books from the guys and gals who are good at it. In this case, I mean real good. Know what I mean? OK. See you there, pals.

The author proofs his work.

Your pretty face is going to hell

Mata Hari, by Boyer, flesh tone tinted, one of my favorites

I still don’t feel like blogging, not text content, anyway. I’d post a political blog here but the right wing political goons have gone so far off the deep end, criticizing or even simply ridiculing Blowhards from the Stone Age is about as challenging as gawking at a horrific car wreck. Or laughing at a dying cockroach. Etc.

So I hope I’m not wasting your time by simply posting some of the favorite images I’ve discovered — or created — lately.

Here’s a few I like a lot from collections of “Victorian Photoshop” images, which one might also refer to as “trick photography.” These pictures really make me smile.

Here’s my most recent artwork, “Moon Goddess.” I like her a lot. The print is 16×24, on metallic paper. Soon to be imprisoned in a gilt frame, she will sell (framed & signed & numbered number 1) for about $420.

And another recent favorite, with a long title: “Her Parents Were Hippies & They Named Her Ampersand & She Loved All Creatures But Slimy & Scaly Ones Not So Much.” She’s about 16 x 20, acrylic on canvas, framed in a nice gilt frame, $400.

Then there’s “Katrina Has Seen It All,” about 16 x 20, acrylic on Bristol Board, about $250 unframed. This angle makes her butt look bigger than it is, and she’d kill me if she knew I told you this.

Finally, a big-big-big THANK YOU to all of you who came out to my LAST murder ballad show at The Buzz Mill on Monday night. I really appreciate it a lot. I hope you all enjoyed our Grave Digger Radio Theater performance of Chapter 3 of Grave Digger Blues, “You Can Run But You’ll Just Die Tired,” and special thank you to the terrific actor /readers who made it come to life, the ever lovely and talented Mona Pitts, the unbeatable David C. Fox, and the indestructible Jon Dee Graham. And if you were there, you’ll know what I mean when I say, “This bear dies hard.” Because he did. What a performance. Thanks everybody, and when we find a new venue (I love the Buzz Mill but I can’t play this show in July and August there because it’s outside) for the summer, I hope you will come back for my solo acoustic blues & murder ballad show, with more excerpts from Grave Digger Blues, done radio theater style.

Read about GRAVE DIGGER BLUES, the novel, here.

PS, David Fox took some cool photos of the gig, and posted them on Flicker.

Cheers,

Jesse

I haven’t been in a blogging mood lately. Hope you’ll co...

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I haven’t been in a blogging mood lately. Hope you’ll come by my gig next Monday at the Buzz Mill. It’s early, it’s free, it’s cool. My special guests are Jon Dee Graham, Ricardo Acevedo and Mona Pitts. I’ll be doing a set of murder ballads and blues, old and new, traditional and original, and we’ll be doing a reading of a condensed version of Chapter 3 of Grave Digger Blues. I’ll have copies for sale & signature, too. $20 for this wildly illustrated, crazy surrealistic detective novel. Much more info about the book on the Grave Digger Blues page.

As some of you probably know, Jon Dee Graham was a member of my famous band, The Skunks, starting in 1979. Our last cameo gig was at the Margaret Moser Birthday Bash at the Continental Club on May 12. We kicked some serious butt. Some other good bands played also. Some photos below.

An Excellent Monday Idea

Or, another shameless plug, whichever you prefer. At The Buzz Mill this evening, at 7:30 PM more or less sharp, a new edition of Murder Ballad Monday and Grave Digger Blues Radio Theater. We’ll be performing, along with new and old favorites from my repertoire of murder ballads, blues and tragic originals (see a sampling below), Chapter 2 of my novel Grave Digger Blues. Starring Mona Pitts as Francine Ray, Ricardo Acevedo as The Blues Cat, Walter Daniels as The White Haired Maniac, and my terrible self as Narrator. All these individuals join me tonight from their stellar and unique roles in the community of Austin artists, as photographers, artists, blues singers and general avant garde provocateurs, and I’m lucky to be able to present them to you on this lovely stage in South Austin tonight.

Walter Daniels will also be joining me on harmonica for a few songs.

The show runs for about 90 minutes so we’ll be finishing up by 9 PM. The Buzz Mill (1505 Town Creek Dr, off Riverside) has great coffee, snacks and a nice selection of beer, wine and hard booze. Lately I’ve been drinking Buffalo Trace whisky there, myself. There’s a cool beer garden with a friendly breeze coming in off the lake, since we’re situated just on the South Shore of Lady Bird Lake, down Riverside a few blocks East of I35, just before Walgreen’s and Antone’s.

One other note, or two: copies of the print edition of Grave Digger Blues will be for sale at the gig, and you may view three new paintings by my terrible self at the Continental Club Gallery for the rest of the month of May. Two of the paintings have already been sold. Those pictures are at the bottom of this page. Tonight’s set will include songs like Stagger Lee, Somebody Changed the Lock on My Door, See that My Grave is Kept Clean, and many others.

Grave Digger Blues is also available at BookPeople and South Congress Books.

 

Lila Explains What Happened to Your Car (RED), SOLD

Melba Lou Has Heard it All Before, by Jesse Sublett 8 x 10 acrylic

 

Hank Zzybnx, The Last Detective at the End of the World, 8 x 12, ink, SOLD

FYI, another versions of “Lila Explains What Happened to Your Car” can be ordered from the artist, here. These are metallic prints, and the other colors include blue, light blue, green, light green, and purple.

The limited edition signed, framed metallic prints, 16 x 24, are $350. I am offering unframed prints for $100. I can also do a smaller size for a slightly lower price, such as 11 x 17 for $75.

Another day, more idiotic right wing fantasy

Louie Gohmert, who never met a dumb, racist, crackpot idea he didn’t like

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, is still doing his damnedest to darken Texas’ reputation as the home of ignorant, paranoid racist nutcakes who never met a conspiracy theory they didn’t like.

When this latest moronic comment from Gohmert came to my attention, I felt compelled to provide an illustration, slightly altering Gohmert’s own official photo and an X-ray I found on Wikimedia Commons (which I should credit to “Local Xray”, and his credit should not imply that he condones my views.)

Here’s the story from Salon.com below, but first, a commercial announcement:

Grave Digger Blues, the print version, is in stock at South Congress Books and BookPeople. And people are buying it, oddly enough. I’ll be reading and exhibiting new art at the Tertulia event, Continental Club Gallery, May 2, 7-9PM, and playing my Murder Ballad Night at The Buzz Mill, Monday May 7, 7:30-9 PM. At the Buzz Mill, we’ll be doing a live reading of Chapter 2 (The Blues Cat), with special guests Mona Pitts, Ricardo Acevedo, and Walter Daniels, who’ll also be guesting on harmonica.

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, added to the list of conspiracy theories he’s had about Muslims by claiming that the President seeks advice from people who have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. “He has advisers around him that do not have the same goal as he does. He has people around him giving advice who support the Muslim Brotherhood and who steer him in wrong directions,” Gohmert said.

Gohmert was speaking with the Daily Caller, and laid out his full theory:

No, I will say based on the findings of the Dallas Federal Court and the Fifth Circuit of Appeals, the two largest front groups for the Muslim Brotherhood are ISNA, the Islamic Society of North America, and CAIR, Council on American-Islamic Relations. And people from ISNA, like the President Imam [Mohamed] Magid, has access to him. He had access in the State Department and Justice Department. And it appears that he is pretty much welcome most places. Helped the FBI supposedly with their redirection. So you have people like that who are actual members of organizations that federal courts have said are the largest Muslim Brotherhood front organizations in America. So it’s not me saying it, it’s the federal courts.

“I think it’s born out that this administration believes that the best advice they can get on how to deal with radical Islam is to listen to people who happen to be in or have ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. And it’s just not right,” Gohmert said.

Jillian Rayfield is an Assistant News Editor for Salon, focusing on politics. Follow her on Twitter at @jillrayfield or email her at jrayfield@salon.com.

 

GRAVE DIGGER BLUES HAS ‘EM ON THE ROPES

 

Here’s the latest review of Grave Digger Blues, the Kindle edition, by Chris Leek, a reviewer for the fabulous pulp fiction site OutoftheGutterOnline.com . Read it here or below.

 

Review: Grave Digger Blues by Jesse Sublett

Chris Leek
Independent Reviewer

Tuesday, April 09, 2013

Joe Clifford recently said in his introduction to Zelmer Pulp’s exciting new Sci-fi collection: “You think the world is a festering fuckstain today? Just wait until Thursday.” After reading Jesse Sublett’s dystopian noir novel Grave Digger Blues, I’m inclined to agree.

IPAD EDITION COVER BY RICARDO ACEVEDO

It’s the end of the world, or at least it soon will be. A failed coup by the Republican Party and the destruction of Washington by terrorist attacks has resulted in a society that barely functions. The cops may still come, assuming you can find a working phone to call them, but with gas prices at $100 a gallon the chances are it will take them days rather than minutes to respond.

Say hello to Hank ZzyBnx, hit man and private eye with a hard on for Marylyn Monroe. I would also like you to meet The Blues Cat, a musician and lover of easy woman, who never stands still long enough to shake the road dust from his boots. These two unlikely heroes will be your guides through this dying clusterfuck of a world.Welcome to the surreal and not too distant future, folks. Here larger than life statues of Ronald Regan and 30ft alligators roaming the streets are considered the norm in most towns. This is a time when red blooded men lust after Hedda, the headless supermodel and transsexual former vice president, Dick Cheney wears heels and hangs out in dive bars.

This is not your average eBook. In fact it is more of a multimedia event. Grave Digger Bluesis liberally adorned with some stunning photography and original artwork, which my bargain basement eReader failed miserably to do justice to. If you have an iPad or one of those highfultin kindles with audio, you also get some cool blues tracks played by the author.

It is fair to say there is a lot going on here and that is a large part of the charm, but it’s also part of the problem. This is a work that contains two novellas, a coffee table book and a blues album. While the end result is pretty darn good, the narrative has a mind of its own and tosses the reader around like a drunken juggler. Just as you settle into the storyline of one protagonist you find yourself whisked off somewhere else. If you are lucky you will be taken back to where you left the other guy, but there are no guarantees. You could end up in a different place entirely and be presented with some song lyrics or a painting of a top heavy woman. I get it, this is art, but it’s also bloody annoying.
Jesse Sublett is a talented cat and he can certainly lay down some solid, gritty prose; Grave Digger Blues has that in spades. I can safely say that it is also he weirdest thing I have ever read (and I’ve read stuff by Ryan Sayles). But the big question here is does this ambitious project work? My answer would have to be yes, well, sort of. Hell I don’t know. I’m still struggling with the mental image of Dick Cheney in a strapless evening gown. You had better buy the book and figure this one out for yourselves.

 

Thank you very much, Chris Leek, for your honest, head scratching assessment. I’ve posted a few additional images below for readers. I hope everyone knows by now that the book is also available in a brand new PRINT edition. It’s a 6 x 9 inch soft cover with nearly 100 new images, only a few of which were included in the eBook editions. It’s available at BookPeople in Austin, also South Congress Books, and can be ordered here, by sending me a message, and also it can be ordered directly from Blurb.com. AND IN CASE YOU’VE BEEN IN A COMA LATELY, info about the ebook editions is: Grave Digger Blues, Blues Deluxe Edition for iPad, on iTunes. The Blues Deluxe Edition has the novella plus over 100 color images, some video, and an hour of original blues soundtrack and audio chapters. The Kindle Edition has the novella plus over 100 color images, but no other additional media.

Much more info and reviews of Grave Digger Blues can be viewed HERE.

Cheers,

Jesse

Iris was great until you got to know her.

October Eve

A sound like a box of rocks at the bottom of the world.