Michael Perry's Blog, page 25

This Week’s Tent Show Radio: Lake Street Dive

Check out Mike (Twitter: @SneezingCow) hosting Tent Show Radio (Twitter: @BigBlueTent). This week’s episode features Lake Street Dive (Twitter: @lakestreetdive).

Since forming in 2004, Lake Street Dive have matched their sophisticated musicianship with a fearless refusal to limit their sound. As shown on their most recent album, 2021’s critically acclaimed Obviously, the Boston-bred band also possess a keen talent for combining socio-political commentary with immediately catchy pop gems. Over the years, they’ve captivated massive audiences at such esteemed festivals as Newport Folk Festival, Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and Toronto Jazz Festival, in addition to headlining tours all across the globe and sharing stages with acts like Brandi Carlile and Sheryl Crow. And through their fierce commitment to constantly elevating their artistry, Lake Street Dive have ultimately emerged as one of the most compelling voices in alternative music today, both reliably sublime and thrillingly unpredictable. With their current lineup comprised of founding members Rachael Price (vocals), Bridget Kearney (bass), and Michael Calabrese (drums)—as well as keyboardist/vocalist Akie Bermiss and touring guitarist James Cornelison—Lake Street Dive continue to create joyously soulful rock & roll with equal parts ingenuity, intelligence, and irresistible abandon.

Michael Perry shares humorous stories throughout on the Big Top stage. If you prefer to watch this and previous episodes, follow this link for all the available viewing options. 

Stream it here along with other Tent Show Radio episodes.

Tent show Radio is broadcast each week on many fine independent stations, which can be found here: https://sneezingcow.com/ten-show-radio-stations/.

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The Local Store in Eau Claire, WI 12th Anniversary sale

For over a decade, The Local Store in Eau Claire has been stocking their shelves with Mike’s books. This Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (June 23–25) they’re celebrating their 12th Anniversary. In addition to 12% OFF everything storewide, 20% off select items, and free snacks/samples/refreshments from local vendors all day, giveaways & prizes, PLUS you’ll receive a $5 gift card when you spend $100 or more.

**Use promo code ANNIVERSARY12 for 12% off SITEWIDE 6/23-6/25 (thelocalstore.org)

HOURS: 9am-9pm Fri/Sat + 9am-6pm Sunday

Copies of Mike’s newest, Forty Acres Deep, will be included in a few prize giveaways.

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Sneezing Cow Mailing List

Howdy folks, quick note from Mike to say that while we enjoy communicating with you via social media, one of the reasons our “DIY” books (like Hunker and Forty Acres Deep and Million Billion) have been doing so well is because we are able to reach out and spread the word via plain old-fashioned email.

This is also how we let you know if I’m loading up the 2002 Toyota van (retrofit with cargo net so I don’t get killed by a box of my own books) and heading your way with my stories or the band or both.

Social media’s great, but email is still the best, so please consider signing up here: https://sneezingcow.com/mailinglist/

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This Week’s Tent Show Radio: Take Me Home – The Music of John Denver

Check out Mike (Twitter: @SneezingCow) hosting Tent Show Radio (Twitter: @BigBlueTent). This week’s episode features Jim Curry performing the music of John Denver (Twitter: @JohnDenverMusic).

Since 2002 the combined talents of Jim Curry and his band have brought John Denver’s Music back to thousands upon thousands of people. As a life-long fan, Curry has dedicated himself to continuing John Denver’s legacy of songs and his message of love and caring for our planet to future generations. Take Me Home: The Music of John Denver is the ultimate tribute experience. Curry’s heartfelt delivery envelops the crowd as multi-platinum hits such as “Rocky Mountain High,” “Annie’s Song” and “Country Roads” fill the atmosphere. Superimposed with multi- media images of wildlife photos and videos, this show truly fills up your senses.

Michael Perry shares humorous stories throughout on the Big Top stage. If you prefer to watch this and previous episodes, follow this link for all the available viewing options. 

Stream it here along with other Tent Show Radio episodes.

Tent show Radio is broadcast each week on many fine independent stations, which can be found here: https://sneezingcow.com/ten-show-radio-stations/.

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Baby Wrens and Baby Book

[image error]Journalist’s Post-It summary of my novella.

Was digging around in the Voice Mail archives for a recording of some baby wrens to use in next week’s episode, and when I found it, was surprised to find I’d included worried thoughts and rough drafts about a novel I was working on, which of course now–like those baby birds–is out in the world. (Forty Acres Deep.)

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Free episode of Michael Perry’s Voice Mail: Neil Gaiman and Weird TV

Howdy folks:

Welcome to Michael Perry’s Voice Mail, episode 162. (Ignore Mike saying it’s episode #161, he’s off by one week, which is better than average, and we’re not gonna tell him for at least another week.)

This episode is available to subscribers and non-subscribers alike. Click HERE to listen.

NOTE: The Neil Gaiman story anchoring this episode originally appeared in a subscribers-only episode back in January of 2022, but Mike wished to revisit and share it more widely as a memorial to his late friend “ALR.” Also, the original episode did not include the bit about Mike chasing a cat-abusing red fox in his underwear.

Included in today’s installment: Mike revisits two of the oddest television-related coincidences of his life, as described in his book Peaceful Persistence.

After you listen, you may be interested in this note Mike wrote when his friend Al (mentioned in this episode) died.

In the Tweet above, Neil Gaiman was referring to this book.

The book Mike mentions at the end of this episode is Forty Acres Deep. More info here.

P.S. They’re popular, so we keep printing more Peaceful Persistence shirts…and there’s this book/shirt combo deal.

For “Voice Mail” subscription options, click on the following link to the sign up page. Once on the sign up page, click the button which says, “Subscribe Now.” You won’t actually be subscribed until you review your options and confirm). There are four options:

Monthly for $6.50/monthAnnual for $70/year ($5.83/month)Founding Member for $100/year which includes: a handwritten thank-you note and personalized book plates for Michael Perry book you own (limit 10/year)Free.

 

 

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Writing With Scissors

Because someone emailed and asked, I’m re-upping these pics.

Here’s how I explained myself:

After 30 years and all sorts of apps and WordPerfect and Word and Scrivener and digital whiteboards and whatnot and so on, I STILL revert to printing things out and cutting things up. I just can’t “see” the work as a whole when I look at a screen. I cannot recommend this method, but it is the only thing that works for me. There’s something about the physical nature of it. I say it’s like playing a game of desperate literary solitaire. By moving around and through the work I happen upon fresh threads and connections I miss when I scroll. I see shapes rather than endlessly scrolling rough drafts. Is the the “best” way? Nope. Is it the “best” way for me? Apparently.

In fairness to me, this process has yielded up a book or two.

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This Week’s Tent Show Radio: Tanya Tucker and Molly & The Danger Band

Check out Mike (Twitter: @SneezingCow) hosting Tent Show Radio (Twitter: @BigBlueTent). This week’s episode features Tanya Tucker (Twitter: @tanyatucker) and Molly & The Danger Band.

Edgy. Classic. Country. A defining voice of music and a modern-day legend, GRAMMY award winner, Tanya Tucker is known for some of country music’s biggest hits such as” “Soon,” “Two Sparrows in a Hurricane,” “It’s a Little Too Late,” “Trouble,” “Texas (When I Die),” “If It Don’t Come Easy” and “Strong Enough To Bend,” Tanya has cemented herself as one the most admired and influential performers in country music. Since the auspicious start of her career at the age of 13, when released the classic country hit, “Delta Dawn,” in 1972, Tucker has amassed 23 Top 40 albums, 56 Top 40 singles, 10 No. 1 songs on the Billboard country charts, numerous accolades including two CMA’s, two ACM’s, three CMT awards, and in 2020 she won her first two GRAMMY Awards for Best Country Album.

Molly & The Danger Band started in 2006 when Molly Otis crawled onto a three foot wide ledge, hovering eight feet above a glass top bar at the Pavilion in downtown Hayward WI. You probably had heard or seen Molly Otis as the front person for Warner recording artists Molly and the Heymakers. She is a powerful vocalist and plays multiple instruments including fiddle, mandolin and guitar. Randy Wydra sings, lays down the bass lines, adds acoustic guitar and even plays drums with his feet. You could call them a rock/country/jazz/bluegrass band, but they are really an Americana band. The blending of different American roots music creates a unique musical cocktail, with a twist of Irish. From classic covers, traditional and original music, no matter what you call it, you’re bound to have a good time.

Michael Perry shares humorous stories throughout on the Big Top stage. If you prefer to watch this and previous episodes, follow this link for all the available viewing options. 

Stream it here along with other Tent Show Radio episodes.

Tent show Radio is broadcast each week on many fine independent stations, which can be found here: https://sneezingcow.com/ten-show-radio-stations/.

The post This Week’s Tent Show Radio: Tanya Tucker and Molly & The Danger Band appeared first on SneezingCow.com.

Packers Essay in Italian

Thank you to neighbor Nickolas Butler and Edizioni Black Coffee for offering me the chance to write an essay about them Packers for those of you who speak and read Italian. Joined here by a slew of other Wisconsin writers and mentors–over on Instagram we’ve linked to as many of the writers as we can.

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Forty Acres Deep and Farmer’s Mental Health

NOTE FROM MIKE: “Since the publication of Forty Acres Deep–the story of a farmer struggling to hang on–I’ve been asked to speak for several farming/agriculture/rural life conventions and events as part of a growing awareness of mental health needs in these areas. I’m not an expert in this regard. Just a writer who was raised in–and still travels in–these circles. Although I include humor in my talks (as you’d expect from a guy who supplements his kids’ college fund by selling “Never Stand Behind A Sneezing Cow” T-shirts), the material from the book itself is unsparing. I don’t avoid that. And I also remember, as I look out toward the audience, that my book is fiction. Their experience is not.”

Mike will be discussing these issues as well as the inspiration for the novella and his decision to self-publish it as part of the Morrill Lecture series at the Octagon Barn on Tuesday July 18, 2023 at 6:30 PM. The evening will include a panel of farmers, moderated by Joy Kirkpatrick, responding to the story and sharing their experiences about what it means to farm today. The event is free. Details available here.

Quotes from readers/listeners of Forty Acres Deep:

The opening chapter of this book hits you like a 300-pound defensive lineman. A literary decleater. If you grew up on a farm in west-central Wisconsin, you’ll feel it even more.
– reader Isaac

Even though it’s fiction it’s spot on and almost too real…I told a pastor friend this morning to read it as a means to help better understand some of the rural folks he’s trying to minister to…I’ve had to work through a lot and war against the desire to bury it all. I say all this not as a means of looking for sympathy but as an encouragement to keep shining a light on these things. There’s not a lot of people that can communicate these hard issues in a practical means…
– reader “N” (rural ag business owner)

This mighty little book is deep & heavy. It’s a fast read, but you’ll probably need to pause & mull a poignant truth, consider an all-too-familiar pattern… Read it, but warn your heart first – especially if you know rural life, isolation, or depression…I finished the book about a week ago & it took me this long to talk about it outside of my family & the few farmers that I know have read it. Consider this a hearty endorsement & that “big sign” you needed to pop this little novel to the top of your bedside reading pile.
– Reader “X”

Your book dredged up a lot of sleeping anger and angst and things I can’t explain. But it was a great book. A great read. And I thank you for this… This book also opened my eyes to the pain of others…I hope it makes me a better person for having read it. A kinder, gentler person. Someone who can reach out to someone in real life and make a difference.
– Reader Gwen

This book really helped me through some “stuff” in a way that no other book (or person) has. It’s nice to know that Harold is out there and that more than one of us has this sort of thought process.
– portion of handwritten note from reader

I literally have had the instinct to and want to screenshot like every page, every paragraph and send it to someone in my family “This! This!” I wanna say to them… I’ve started over again like 3 times cause I want to memorize every word and phrase and someday be able to say to a friend or politician or coworker or city muckity-muck or family member who pretends to not know or ignores things or doesn’t speak about shut but feels it all deeply… I want to be able to say to them exactly how I feel and have felt about farm life then versus now and how it’s effected my life in every waking moment, from how I eat to how I work… This is a book I wish all of us who struggle with putting these experiences and feelings into words and conversations could read.
– reader F

The book.

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