Michael Perry's Blog, page 38

Northwind Book & Fiber is carrying Hunker

Independent bookstores (and their handselling) are a writer’s best friend and a reader’s best helper. A big thank you to Northwind Book & Fiber, who ordered up a batch of Hunker from us and put them on display in their beautiful store.

If you’re in the area, drop in and grab a copy from them at 205 Walnut street Spooner, WI 54801. Phone: 715-635-6811. They are open Monday thru Saturday: 9:30 to 5:30 and Sunday: (May thru December). 

You can also visit Northwind Book & Fiber at several locations online: 

https://www.northwindbook.com/https://www.facebook.com/Northwind-Book-Fiber-117003675042798https://www.instagram.com/northwindbook/

Indies, Hunker is available via Ingram. And if you are interested in placing a bulk wholesale order of signed copies of Hunker (or Million Billion, or Peaceful Persistence), please email booksellers@sneezingcow.com.

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This Week’s Tent Show Radio: Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Check out Mike (Twitter: @SneezingCow) hosting Tent Show Radio (Twitter: @tentshowradio).

This weekend on Tent Show Radio, savor the return of legendary country-rock group Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (Twitter: @GrittyDirt) with a look back on their 2021 performance at Big Top Chautauqua.

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

Michael Perry hosts episode 22-35.

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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This Week’s Tent Show Radio: Tin Can Gin & Molly and The Danger Band

Check out Mike (Twitter: @SneezingCow) hosting Tent Show Radio (Twitter: @tentshowradio).

This week on Tent Show Radio enjoy an hour featuring fast-paced upbeat tunes from alternative Bluegrass string band Tin Can Gin (Twitter: @TinCanGin). Then Molly & The Danger Band present a unique musical cocktail of American roots music.

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

Michael Perry hosts episode 22-34.

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: Tin Can Gin & Molly and The Danger Band appeared first on SneezingCow.com.

Valley Bookseller is carrying Hunker

Independent bookstores (and their handselling) are a writer’s best friend and a reader’s best helper. A big thank you to Valley Bookseller, who ordered up a batch of Hunker from us and put them on display in their beautiful store. If you’re in the area, drop in and grab a copy from them at 217 Main Street North Stillwater MN 55082. Ph: 651.430.3385. Open daily 10a-6p.

You can also visit Valley Bookseller in several locations online:

https://www.valleybookseller.comhttps://www.instagram.com/valleybookseller/https://www.facebook.com/Valley-Bookseller-176344518826/https://twitter.com/valleybkseller.

Indies, Hunker is available via Ingram. And if you are interested in placing a bulk wholesale order of signed copies of Hunker (or Million Billion, or Peaceful Persistence), please email booksellers@sneezingcow.com

The post Valley Bookseller is carrying Hunker appeared first on SneezingCow.com.

Two Friends, Ten Songs, Many Stories

c. Lee Butterworth

I love this photo. Me and my friend Evan backstage before a show. Low key, ready to go. We’ll see you this Saturday up there beneath the blue and pearl-gray canvas of the Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua for an evening of songs, the stories behind the songs, and the stories behind the stories. Just two friends with a tent full of friends. Tickets here.

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Ride On, Ozzie

Promised Ozzie when we got that ’51 Binder rolling he’d roll with us. This day we kept that promise. I drove, my brother-in-law Mark rode shotgun.Ozzie prepares to boardMark hits the boosters.Ozzie and Mike

R.I.P. Ozzie. His real name was Nick. He was a man of courage and patience who loved a good practical joke. I was recruited more than once as co-conspirator. It was a privilege and honor to serve as his nurse.

If you read Truck: A Love Story, you know the story. Sometime after Truck came out, I was asked to write a little update. At the visitation today a laminated poster of that story–along with photos of Nick’s ’68 Dodge Charger–was displayed along with photos from his life. With the family’s permission, I share it now. It’s the best way I know to send him on his way.

Nick’s Ride

Back in 1984, high-schooler Nick bought himself a ‘68 Dodge Charger. He was gonna fix it up and roar down the road.

Nick was born a gearhead. A hot rod. From the first time he drove, he drove hard. The redline was always at hand. When he joined the Army out of high school and shipped to Germany he got hooked on the autobahn, where you could ease over to the left lane, stomp the foot-feed flat, and shoot, they just let you go. “Fast,” Nick likes to say, “isn’t the same as reckless.”

All that racing around, and then life served up a grim little joke: The day Nick wrecked – the day his life changed forever, the last day he ever stood on his own two feet – he was going 35 miles per hour with his seatbelt on. He’d been married two weeks. He and his wife were on their way home from their Wisconsin honeymoon, making the run back to Texas in Nick’s Gran Prix. They were towing a rusted-out Ford Bronco – Nick always had his eye out for a cheap beater, and he had found one up north. On a rough stretch of road Nick crawled in the Bronco to keep it straight. The front tire hooked a pothole. The tie rod snapped. The seat belt broke. He landed in the ditch. The Bronco landed on his neck.

Nick says he remembers the sun in his eyes. Then the darkness closing in.

A lot of years, then. Hospitals. Home. Hospitals. The marriage ended. Back to Wisconsin. Rehab, and more hospitals. The speed demon, not going anywhere fast.

But eventually he had them drag that Charger out. Arranged to get it in the shop. Whenever he had a little money, he’d get some work done. “They whittled away at it,” he says. “I told my mom, if I die, dump my ashes in the fuel tank, and I’ll go down the drag strip one last time.”

Seventeen years. Seventeen years of learning how to live from the neck up. Seventeen years of whittling. He’d show you the latest pictures – a quarter panel here, a shot of primer there, a couple tires. He’d get down to the shop, supervise in person when he could. He couldn’t run the wrenches, but he could run the show. He’d sneak out for a little speed fix sometimes – once a paraplegic friend strapped Nick’s chair to a motorcycle sidecar and they blew down the road, one good pair of arms between’em. Nick says it was good to feel the wind on his face.

On a sunny day in October of 2006, Nick’s pals helped him slide from one set of wheels into another. They strapped him in the passenger side, and you could see the anticipation on his face, even behind the mirrored shades. The car cruised out of the lot, and then picked up speed, the blower making a Mad Max whine as the wheels warmed to the road. After a nice easy ride, the Charger pulled to a stop on an isolated little stretch of blacktop. There was a quiet moment, before the driver wound that 426 fuel-injected blown Hemi up tight. Then Nick gave the nod and went fishtailing down the blacktop on a journey that had never really ended.

Road’s wide open, Nick. Punch it.

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Sneezing Cow Mailing List – Facebook Foibles

Backstory in the video. Meanwhile: We enjoy (and benefit from) communicating with readers and listeners via Facebook and other social media outlets, but every now and then they tweak an algorithm or change the rules behind the scenes and we are reminded there is no better way to stay in touch than by good old fashioned mailing list, so if you haven’t signed up, please consider it. Info (plus what we will and won’t do with the info) right here: https://sneezingcow.com/mailinglist/

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This Week’s Tent Show Radio: Ani DiFranco

Check out Mike (Twitter: @SneezingCow) hosting Tent Show Radio (Twitter: @tentshowradio).

This week on Tent Show Radio, savor a transportive hour of soulful rock and roll and the boundary-pushing music of Grammy award winning singer-songwriter Ani DiFranco (Twitter: @anidifranco), recorded live at Big Top in August 2021.

Michael Perry shares humorors stories throughout on the Big Top stage (Twitter: @BigBlueTent). If you prefer to watch this and previous episodes, follow this link for all the available viewing options.

Michael Perry hosts episode 22-33.

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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Light and Magic

You come see the Long Beds, you get a light show. (photo credit and thanks to Mike Lee)

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This One’s Gonna Be Fun But We Gotta Get the Word Out

Hey folks, first things first, and I’ll lay it right out there: On Saturday, August 20, we’re subbing in up at the Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua for a much bigger name that had to cancel…as a result, this show isn’t listed in the brochure or any advance materials, meaning we gotta hustle extra hard to move tickets. We’ll work hard to make it worth your while. But then we always do.

Evan Middlesworth is a low-key fascinating fellow. Born in the same Indiana town as my mom, so maybe we oughta do one’a them are-we-cousins tests? Evan has toured all over the world as a musician and a sound engineer, and has run the live mix for names you’d recognize for sure. We met nearly a decade ago when I was looking for a guitar player. Now we’ve racked up thousands of miles and countless shows together, become good friends (and mortal ping-pong enemies), and when he isn’t playing lead guitar or grand piano or reminding me it’s one more song and then the break, Evan fires up the ol’ single prop and flies me to select gigs. In short, we enjoy each other’s company and we’ll strike that exact relaxed tone on stage up there at the Big Top as we play some songs, talk about where and how those songs came to be, share a bunch of stories from behind the scenes and the road, and generally needle each other as good friends do. Also gonna introduce a young backup singer for a couple…

We’d sure love it if you can join us. The Big Top is a wonderful venue. Ticket info here. See y’up there.

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