Good Grief on sale September 25th

My 13th (!) solo album, Good Grief will be available as a download and on CD this Friday, September 25th! This long-in-the-works project started back in 2008 and after a number of pauses for reflection, personal crises, wranglings with various schedules, and intensive work periods, it's finally being unleashed. You can read about the whole enterprise, from its inception to conclusion, here, but manifold heartfelt thanks to the truly international cast of contributors, including Eric Block, Lee Bloom, Jimmy De Lauriea, Ned Doherty, George Friend, Mike Hagler, Lance Helgeson, Howie Kantoff, Lupe Martinez, Paul Morbeck, Wim Oudijk, Brian Stout, Chris Stamey, and Bobby Sutliff for making it happen.

Some reviews have already appeared in Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio, babysue, Broken Hearted Toy, and Listen Here, as well as airplay -- sometimes multiple spins -- via This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio, Pure Pop Radio, The Razor and Die Show, Snap, Crackle, POP!, Plastico Elastico, UIC Radio, Radio JJ, Zero Hour, Radio One Chicago, CHIRP, and Radio Free Americana, with (hopefully!) more to come. I'll keep posting them regularly once the album is officially "live."

Thanks, as always, for your support, and wish me luck on the launch of Good Grief!

Good Grief review in Broken Hearted Toy

Thanks to Terry Flamm for his review of Good Grief in Broken Hearted Toy!

Good Grief airplay!

Good Grief has been getting lots of airplay in advance of its September 25th launch. Radio Free Americana recently added it, and the album is currently #12 on the RFA charts!

Other supporters include Zero Hour on WMSE 91.7 FM; The Razor and Die Show on WLUW 88.7 FM; Hidden Treasures of Rock 'n' Roll on UIC Radio; Plástico Elástico; Radio JJ; Snap, Crackle, POP! on KWVA 88.1 FM; Alan Haber's Pure Pop Radio; and This Is Rock 'n' Roll Radio.

Thanks for listening/spinning! More to come in the next few weeks and beyond. Stay tuned!

Good Grief Review in babysue

The first of (hopefully) a torrent of reviews for Good Grief (out September 25th) is in the latest issue of babysue!

Americans for Prosperity single now available!

My new single, "Americans for Prosperity" is now available to download from iTunes, Bandcamp, and Amazon, among other e-tailers. Check it out, and hope you enjoy!

Americans for Prosperity single is out August 28th

In anticipation of my 13th (!) solo album, Good Grief, out September 25th, and considering the current political zeitgeist, comes this timely standalone single. 

“Americans for Prosperity” is narrated from the dual perspectives of the put-upon citizen-worker, trying to keep their head above water and fighting for monetary scraps in the “trickle-dumb economy,” and bosses-followers of the Koch Brothers' “zero sum” ideology. "AFP" was recorded last summer with backing from George Friend (guitar), Lance Helgeson (drums), Dann Morr (bass), and Amy Russell (backing vocals), and it will be available as a digital download August 28th via iTunes, Bandcamp, Amazon, et al.

The official release event is here. Hope you enjoy!

Ketchup, No Mustard

While I no longer eat encased meats, any bona fide hot dog aficionado knows you don't put ketchup on your wiener. However, the title of this post is presented more as a pun on "catching up" than as condiment endorsement.

When I last wrote, both my semester at Indiana University Northwest and my Poetry Center residency at Skinner West were recently over, and I was still in the process of regaining my composure. The advent of 'summer' -- and a fuller swathe of free time than normal -- always requires a mental readjustment period. (A brief period: in less than two weeks I'll once again be co-teaching Northeastern Illinois University's Creative Writing Institute with Christine Simokaitis.) Since then, I hosted and read for the spring edition of my reading series, Excited Utterance (along with co-poets Hannah Gamble and Kristin LaTour); hosted and performed for monthly songwriter round-robin Folk You! (along with Dalice Malice, Simeon Peebler, and Sugar Still); and read for Blotterature magazine's "50 Shades of Lies" print-raiser (joined by Michele McDannold, Rick Kubic, and Bill Yarrow, with music from James Neary).

I also recorded some overdubs for The Injured Parties' sophomore album, as well as mastered my forthcoming 13th (!) solo album, Good Grief with Mike Hagler at Kingsize Sound Labs. Good Grief has been long-gestating, and I'll have more news on the Chris Stamey-produced effort later, as well as a standalone single launching about a month ahead of the album.

I also anticipate having some big news very soon on my next full-length book of poems, Activities of Daily Living. Stay tuned!

Consider yourselves down with the update. Yo.

Poems in Seeds

I have three poems in the Spring 2015 edition of Seeds! You can access the whole issue right here.

New Poem in Defenestration

I have a new poem in the latest edition of Defenestration, "a literary magazine dedicated to humor." Check it out, and thanks to the Def crew for including me!