Howdy!
Just a few several dozen words from the trenches. Well, actually, it’s just one trench, looks more like a ditch on the side of the Trans-Canada Highway….
Books — Sales of Fire And Fame have been good but they could always be better, especially considering the positive feedback it’s been getting. Simply put, it’s a book for anyone who is sick as fuck at seeing American Idol and it’s festering “talent” show ilk making headlines. So if you’re smart enough to know that network-fed bullshit is just that, pick up Fire And Fame and you will be entertained. It’s a great story, and I had lots of great material to turn out a solid read (if I do say so myself). Check out the background info, some of the press quotes, and order it here.
I’ll see if I can get the Evil Minion (webmaster to the gods and lower life forms such as myself) to add 5 cents on the subject. He’s read the book, and the day he kisses my ass for any reason is the day George Dubyah is re-instated as POTUS.
Music — On June 7th I’ll be launching a four part showcase on Scarlet Sins as part of a press blitz designed to generate enough of a buzz to get the ladies over to Europe to tour. A couple European publications have already confirmed coverage over the course of the summer and a respected booking agency has expressed interest in putting them on the road. This feature will offer a look at the personalities that make up Scarlet Sins and some insight on their forthcoming second album, due out later this year.
More stuff on the way including a short story or two… once I’ve dealt with my inability to use Spellcheck and thus prevent typos as they happen. Where’s my Liquid Paper…
And on that note I leave you with the greatest song in the world:
Cool video!
Carl is certainly right about one thing, I’m not the kind of person to kiss ass. So while Carl’s a good friend, I’m not likely to tell him, or anybody else, that I think his book is definitely worth a read if I didn’t really mean it.
I like to read, I own several hundred books (if not more), but only three of them are memoirs, and none of them are related to music. I’m just not into books about bands or artists. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of music, especially metal, and I certainly read about music. It’s just that most of the music memoirs I’ve taken a look at are either a self-aggrandizing act of mental masturbation or a blatant act of self-promotion. If your career is over and you really want to get into the Rock’n Roll Hall of Fame, you write a book telling everybody how great you were. If your career isn’t advancing as fast as you’d like, you write a book in an attempt to increase CD, DVD, and concert ticket sales. But “Fire and Fame” isn’t either one of those. It’s something different. To be honest, I really didn’t expect to enjoy this book. While Carl’s a talented writer, I’m not a Bonfire fan, and I didn’t know anything about Joerg Deisinger, I didn’t even know his name. So because I wasn’t a fan, I didn’t think I’d find a book about Joerg’s experience as a musician all that interesting. Turns out I was wrong. The fact that I didn’t know anything about Joerg and wasn’t a Bonfire fan didn’t matter; I really enjoyed this book.
At it’s heart, “Fire and Fame” is a compellingly written and often humorous story about a young metal fan who loved music, and dreamed about playing in a band like the ones he idolized. It’s a story about what it took to make the dream become a reality, and what it was like to live that dream. But it’s not a Hollywood story, it’s a real life story that shows both the good and the bad sides of the dream, and what it was like when the dream started to fall apart. Not to say that “Fire and Fame” isn’t Joerg’s story, for it certainly is, but it’s also a story about the music industry, covering everything from getting signed, to recording, to promoting, and touring. The book gives readers a very interesting look at how success is actually measured in the music industry, and how different people, from the artists, to the managers, to the record executives, judge success and what kinds of risks each of those people are willing to take to achieve the success they’re seeking.
One of the great things about this book is that different people will get different things out of it. I’ve talked to several different people who’ve enjoyed the book, and each of them found different parts of the story appealing. One of the most provoking aspects of the book for me was the obvious disconnect between Joerg’s feeling that he was living the dream, and the fact that he really wasn’t living the same life or enjoying the same success as the bands he idolized, even while opening for, and sometimes even playing with those same bands.
So while I certainly don’t want to give Carl’s over-inflated ego any excuse to get even bigger, I have to say that “Fire and Fame” is a great book that any metal fan will enjoy.
– Even though the copy-editing could have been better :).