Stefan Lorenzutti is an American poet living with his family in a small house in the mountains of Poland, from which he and his wife run their Bored Wolves publishing imprint. From my first encounter, I was enchanted with their books– simple, beautiful, elegant, with none of the ponderous opacity that makes up so much contemporary poetry. A few years ago, Stefan and I collaborated on a print called “Whiz,” in which I adapted a short poem of his into comics form. It worked so well, we decided to do it twelve more times! The Stoneware Jug collects 13 comics-poems (including Whiz), that focus on the seasonal, mundane-but-transcendent experiences of domestic life: baking, laundry, ice. Fans of King-Cat will, I think, enjoy this very much. 28 pages, black ink on lovely soft paper, saddle-stitched, 7.875″ x 5.5″ (Co-Published by Nieves Books/Bored Wolves/Spit and a Half)
To order ONE copy directly, please send the following, via PayPal to johnp_kingcat AT hotmail DOT com:
USA: $9.40
CANADA: $10.00 USD
REST OF WORLD: $11.35 USD
These prices include shipping in a plain manila envelope! If you prefer shipping with a cardboard backer in a padded envelope/box, please order from www.spitandahalf.com
A few months ago I spoke to a class at Beloit College, and afterwards, the instructor, Chris Fink, turned me on to the work of Lorine Niedecker.
Niedecker was a semi-obscure poet who lived most of her life in relative seclusion on a rural spit of land, Blackhawk Island, where the Rock River empties into Lake Koshkonong, outside Fort Atkinson, WI. This is just a few short miles up the road from Beloit. (She was a student at Beloit College for two years, until her money ran out.) Though she was a beloved poet amongst her colleagues (the Objectivist poets), her Midwestern isolation, and no doubt her sex, kept her from receiving the acclaim she deserved during her lifetime.
This is the exact kind of story that pushes all my buttons: an artist forgoing fame and acknowledgement to remain where planted, writing with depth of her plain, forgotten surroundings, locating the beauty and power in events and interactions that most would simply rush past.
We took a drive awhile back to Blackhawk Island, where the tiny cabin in which she lived and worked is still standing, flood after flood. In more recent years, scholars and readers have rediscovered Niedecker's work, and it's begun to find its proper place in anthologies, biographies, and collections.
Fish
fowl
flood
Water lily mud
My life
Effort lay in us
before religions
at pond bottom
All things move toward
the light
ruined
by the flood
Leave the new unbought --
all one in the end --
water
"My brain feels like a saxophone; it's all downhill from here..."
-- Patrick Porter
Some of you who know me well, or who have been following my online chattering for awhile, will have heard me go on and on about my friend Partick Porter. Patrick is an artist-- writing novels and poetry, painting, and making music. In this post, I wanted to share some of Patrick's art with you, cuz it's some of my favorite stuff ever.
I met Patrick sometime in 1993 or so, when he was 15 years old. I was at Wax Trax one day (legendary Denver underground nexus), and picked up a copy of his zine, Our Comics Suck. In it he expressed his wishes to buy an old Fender guitar, and I had a Duo-Sonic that I never used anymore, so I wrote him a letter telling him about it.
A few days later Patrick came over to my apartment to look at the guitar. It was a piece of junk, to tell the truth. It'd been stripped and "refinished" with a sticky, gloppy dark brown stain, and the neck was jerryrigged onto the body with ugly bolts. Didn't sound too good either. But it was cheap. Patrick agreed to buy the guitar for $125 (a rip-off, looking back), but he only had $75 on him. I took the money and said pay me the rest when you can.
(You can read another version of this event in the story "Lost and Found," in King-Cat Classix.)
Turns out Patrick loved that guitar, and used it in his band Neglected Lawn, up in Bailey, in the mountains, where he lived. But he never got back to me with the remaining payment. I kind of figured he never would, but then one day that fall he called me up and said he was in town, and he had the money.
I drove down to DU and he came out of the apartment, with, no shit, a plastic bag with $50 in change in it. Pennies and everything. That's when I knew I was dealing with a special person.
Years passed. Patrick learned jazz guitar, and began making his own music. I moved back to Chicago, Patrick shifted all over the country. We had some kind of weird bond, and many 2 AM phone calls ensued. We became really good friends. I never had one in real life, but in many ways Patrick is the closest thing I've ever had to a brother.
The stuff Patrick makes is messy and brilliant, and deeply beautiful and sad, to me. His music is some of my favorite music in the world. One day Patrick decided to start painting, and lo and behold he was good at that too. He likes to paint because he doesn't know how.
Over the years his music has grown from funny punk noise to hushed shoegazery pop, to his current style, which is a splattery mix of crazy/delicate singing, smart lyrics, trashcan/luminous guitar, drums, piano, reverb, and haunting beauty. Real beauty, like looking out at the real world. Even before Patrick started making canvases, I felt like his songs were paintings. They have that feel to me. People looking for the latest "indie rock" car commercial are going to be confused and knocked back by this kind of thing. It's real art by a real artist.
Without going into details, Patrick has lived an oftentimes rough life. Of all my many poor friends, Patrick is the only one who, to my knowledge, has ever spent nights on park benches. To me this is a crime. But that's America™ for you, right?
I'm including here some videos, images, and poems, plus links where you can find more of his work. I hope you enjoy it.
Patrick has released over ten full length albums, on various small labels. His 2007 recording, A Swan at Smiley's, is, I think, a masterpiece. His latest album, the achingly warm, crazy, and funny Bachelor Pad Blue; Bent Pants and Stray Cats, has not yet been "officially" released, but is available for download from bandcamp.com.
Recommended tracks for first time listeners:
"Bond Funeral Home"
"Wait For Another"
"Hee Haw"
"Feed From a Holy Lite"
"Fogelburg"
"Hollywood is a Word on a Wall"
Video for "Wait for Another," from A Swan at Smiley's:
"When The Summer's On" live in NYC
Patrick Porter Plays "Hee Haw" Live Behind The TV Set:
* * *
ART
Coconut Soop (2007)
Ten Million Mules (2008)
Freeway (2008)
Band (2009)
Quiet Girl (2009)
Schdy 1 (2009)
Video: Patrick Porter Paints Live From His Horse Pillow:
Video: Patrick Porter-- District Attorney Painting, In Progress:
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