| Paul Zarzyski(.com)— Newsflashes & Fast Dashes | ||||||||
ENTRIES: © Paul Zarzyski. All rights reserved. These words may not be reprinted or reposted without the author's written permission. |
Newsflash 3/5/2010 (Happy Birthday, Tom Russell!): Although a number of you may have already read, via an earlier link, the New West Interview conducted in 2005 by my friend Allen Jones, we offer it here as somewhat of a preview to (or forewarning of) my forthcoming collection 51:30 poems, 20 Lyrics, 1 Self-Interview, scheduled for publication hopefully sometime this year. I credit Allen Jones on two counts: 1) for rendering five of the most intriguing questions I've been asked to field in three decades of entertaining such endeavors, and 2) for affording me the opportunity to develop my responses on the page, rather than of the cuff into a tape recorder or, far worse, subjected to the interviewer’s capacities (or lack thereof) for shorthand/speed-hand accuracy. I recall distinctly having more fun than I’ve had with prose for years, as I jack-hammered on the steel keys my answers—bullet-hole periods punctuating, and puncturing, each completed backlit page I rollered out of the Smith-Corona’s carriage and held up to the light. My fervor—unfortunately, for those preferring a more reflective, or controlled, voice—is exposed in the hyperbolic tone, the grandiloquent commotion in many of the sentences. I’ve made a concerted effort to back way off this foible in the fairly prodigious Self-Interview (which tips heavily toward memoir) but I make no guarantees that I succeeded. Preferably readers will not mistake moxie, panache, gusto, dash, ebullience, chispa, ardor, verve for conceit or elitism. In any case, if you enjoy what you read here, then there’s a strong chance, I believe, that you’ll embrace the Self-Interview, which offers numerous anecdotes and/or autobiographical narratives. On the other hand, if you do not appreciate the voice, the demeanor, of my exchange with Allen Jones, please remember that 51:... delivers two additional focuses as, dare I say, “backup”?—30 Poems, none of which have been printed in previous full collections or non-limited edition chapbooks, as well as 20 (song) Lyrics. Odds are better than even that you’ll favor at least one—more likely two—features of this tri-faceted compilation. |
Speaking of interviews, I recommend the January 2010 issue of the U.K. music publication, Maverick, which celebrates as its feature article the venerable Renaissance-man songwriter, Tom Russell, fielding questions concerning primarily his masterful recent recording, Blood And Candle Smoke. Along with an elegant cover photo of Tom—looking, not so incidentally, closer in age to 30 than 60—a quintet of large equally revealing Kodachromes inside the magazine are wrapped in a most profound piece of journalism. It’s orchestrated by one Arthur Wood, and trust me ladies and gentlemen when I tell you this reporter is a kindred spirit of Charlie Rose, Bill Moyers, Tavis Smiley, the late great Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes, and other virtuosos of the Q-‘n’-A. I encourage you to check out the Maverick website http://www.maverick-country.com. Moreover, if you’ve not yet tuned your heart to Blood And Candle Smoke, you’re missing what Mr. Arthur Wood declares “Album Of The year (so far) hands down! Very possibly Album Of The Decade!” I agree. Need we say more? We do? Okay, then I will: the phenomenal film, Crazy Heart, with Best Actor Oscar nominee favorite Jeff Bridges, would've been well-served by the inclusion of Tom Russell's song “Guadalupe,” especially in light of the film’s southwestern setting. Amen. |
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| © Paul Zarzyski, 2010/created 03.05.10 | ||||||||