Back to the Vine Yard, and upcoming Grave Side. (Patreon)

Hello loves.

I have a longer post coming tomorrow, but for now….I’m deep in family time, and Ash’s best friend from New Zealand, Aya, is here for a concentrated three week visit. It’s all about the kids and my dad right now. I’m in the kitchen a lot, and I love it. I’ve been brewing a piece of writing but I’ve had a hard time finding time to get it out. Pray for me. I want it written.

The kiddos at sailing camp a few days ago.

Meanwhile - is anyone on Martha’s Vineyard?

I took this header picture of myself on El Vineyard in March 2018, when I was at a theater/writing workshop and leading an entirely different kind of life.

I had just had a miscarriage. I was feeling increasingly frightened and isolated by what was happening around me. The walls were closing in. I was trying desperately to get back to making art. Covid hadn’t happened.

I was scrambling, during the days there on the Vineyard (at an incubation space hosted by the Public Theater in New York), to try to get to the heart of a theater piece about a fictional venue where people cut onions and strive to cry within a culture that doesn’t allow them to feel openly.

The play was called “The Glass Violin”, based on the work I’d already done to translate a chapter called “The Onion Cellar” from Günter Grass’s novel “The Tin Drum”, and my soul sister - Ashms Godfather - Jason Webley and I even wrote a handful of musical numbers for it. they were astonishing. But the whole thing wasn’t quite working.

I wound up leaving that project unfinished and going on a non-fiction tour (There Will Be No Intermisson) instead; where I simply just cried every night about the truth, and I let people cry with me. The poetry, the irony, of that wasn’t lost on me.

So much of what I wonder about right now. How much fiction is necessary. How much truth is necessary. Which way when? How much decoration, how much story, how much stark truth?

I’m going to try to release some of those lost songs here to the patrons. The script is magnificent and just sitting there. I have a lot of unfinished work to start dusting off now that I’m coming back to life after years of triage.

I’m also going to go back to Martha’s Vineyard, to do some important emotional work of joy.

So here’s a question: Who’s there on the vineyard, what’s happening on the island in September, and does anyone have access or knowledge of a piano I can use for rehearsing for Riotfest (or a car I can borrow for a few days?)

I’m ready to plant new things.

It’s fertile ground.

Hit me in the comments. I’m reading.

.......

MEANWHILE, AT GRAVESIDE, if you’re in or near New York -

THIS THURSDAY 8/10!

Join Christopher and Sienna Sears for an evening of piano-centric opera-influenced music at Graveside Variety. 6PM Doors 7PM Show. I’m excited for this weirdo.

Christopher began writing music for his parents theatre company as a child. He has released 3 albums, Bread Boy, Ticking Man and his most recent collaboration with his sister Sienna, Mr. Robin. Together they are currently working w collaborators Sydney Shepherd and Adrian Enscoe on their first theatrical opus, Moonchildren the Opera. Sienna is also currently mixing her first solo EP. This show will be the centered around the brother and sisters second collaboration, Precious Things. The music is piano based, soulful, theatrical and immediate.

“had my head exploding with the urgency and snark of Bertolt Brecht , the wild eyed melodies and harmonies of Queen and the poetry and heartbreak of Leonard Cohen.”- -Jane Kaczmarek

tickets here:

https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/6104615

..

THIS SATURDAY 8/12 10am-7pm….

JOIN US FOR A VERY SPECIAL DAY FEATURING THE NOMADIC BOUTIQUE & A VINTAGE POP-UP

Free, and open to the public, featuring stunning collections from:

DHARMA BUMS VINTAGE - NEW Catskills-based vintage collective featuring clothing, accessories, and jewelry.

MICHELE SEDA - Handcrafted designs by Michele Anne Seda, made with love.

SEEDS OF REMEMBRANCE - Timeless Treasures. Power Pieces for Powerful People

WYLDSAGE - A Nomadic Boutique steeped in stories, lifestyle and beauty.

...

THEN, this Sunday 8/13:

Golly Presents : Zach Djanikian + Chris Maxwell + Amb. Parsley:

Join us for an evening of music from Zach Djanikian + Chris Maxwell + Amb. Parsley

6pm doors. 7pm show…

Zach Djanikian is a multi-instrumentalist and songwriter from Philadelphia, who now resides in Woodstock, NY: He has toured and recorded as singer, guitarist, pianist, mandolinist, bassist and saxophonist for a diverse group of artists, including Amos Lee, Donald Fagen, Neko Case, Janet Jackson, the New Pornographers, Amy Helm, Rachael Yamagata, and Chuck Prophet.

He is also a member of the Midnight Ramble Band, who play once a month at Levon Helm Studios in Woodstock, NY.

Amb. Parsley: The artist formerly known as Ambrosia Parsley, is best known for her work as the principal songwriter and front woman for pop noir adventurers Shivaree, much loved abroad, little seen at home. She's worked with Laurie Anderson, Joe Henry, Sex Mob, Dave Sitek, and Hal Wilner, while her songs have been featured in the films of Quentin Tarantino and David O Russell, licensed, as well, for television and advertising in more than a dozen countries around the globe.

Chris Maxwell: Chris Maxwell musically channels the heart of Americana-pop  Big Star, Freedy Johnston, Wilco and the like  in crafting a song-cycle as personal as home movies with X-rays included. A beautifully poised grown-up album in an age that still coughs one up from time to time.

Chris made his name playing perhaps the furthest thing from wistful Americana  in the 90s, he made catchy, jagged junkyard rock with the legendary New York band Skeleton Key. Before that, he was the principal songwriter and clever guitarist of Little Rock, Arkansas first band to be signed to a major label, the Gunbunnies, whose Southern Gothic jangle the L.A. Times characterized ...as 'if the Beatles met Faulkner on E Street'.

These days, Maxwell works out of his new Goat House Studio in Woodstock, where he composes and records music for hit TV shows like Bob's Burgers and Inside Amy Schumer, as well as having produced and written music for other artists (They Might Be Giants, Iggy Pop, Yoko Ono, the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion) as part of the celebrated production team The Elegant Too.

tickets here!!!!:

https://zachchrisamb.brownpapertickets.com/

...

AND and and and! Graveside's very own Gracie Coates and Holly Miranda are performing as 1/2 of THE RIGHTEOUS BABES at Colony across the street this Saturday at 8pm!!

I’ll be there as a special guest.

Here are the babes, rehearsing at my house tonight a few hours ago :

The Righteous Babes ARE Gracie and Rachel, Holly Miranda, Jocelyn Mackenzie, a supergroup of powerhouse female artists, banded together under Ani DiFranco's legacy label, Righteous Babe Records.

They are a supergroup of powerhouse female artists, banded together under Ani DiFranco's legacy label, Righteous Babe Records. Think boygenius meets Bonny Light Horseman with an air of Lilith Fair – currently the group is comprised of three independent groups; Gracie and Rachel, a chamber-pop piano-violin duo who have appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk, Holly Miranda, a sultry folk rock guitarist who has toured with Karen O, and Jocelyn Mackenzie, a percussionist, electric ukulele player, and former member of Pearl and the Beard. The artists perform one another's original songs in fresh, unique arrangements that highlight technical prowess and deliver a stage show that is acrobatic and heart-pounding. Their distinctive vocal blend and strong musicianship shine through as they support one another as fellow artists who delight in sharing the stage, righteously.

tickets HERE:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-righteous-babes-gracie-and-rachel-holly-miranda-jocelyn-mackenzie-tickets-630881121417?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

....

AUGUST 19th….

PARTY TIME.

AMANDA AND BRYANS POP ROCK CHOCOLATE PIANO FIREWORK PATY

6pm-10pm

THE WOODSTOCK FIREWORKS ARE 9pm on the 19th, and RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET!!! Bryan from Fruition and I decided to open up the doors for a party, why not? Bring your family, bring your freak flag, bring your own picnic & drinks, we'll have some snacks and drinks for donation....and POP ROCK CHOCOLATE from FRUITION!!! Bryan's gonna make it. We'll listen to Anti-Establishment freak flag music, have an "American Pie" and maybe "America Idiot?" singalong on the piano, and  then head to the lawn to ogle at the fireworks. BRING A BLANKET, CHAIR, ANYTHING YOU WANNA.

tickets here:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/amanda-and-bryans-pop-rock-chocolate-piano-fireworks-party-tickets-695662694847?aff=oddtdtcreator

.....

LASTLY - we have a bunch of DOLLS WEEK programming that we are starting to announce!!!

including John Coon's BLEAK! Songs for the not-quite end of the world.

We are kicking this off Wednesday August 30th at 9pm (8pm doors), and then continuing the party AFTER EACH ONE OF THE DOLLS SHOWS ACROSS THE STREET. Doors open 10pm (come hang!), on 8/30, 8/31, 9/1 & 9/2  show starts around 11:30 ish (basically once everyone comes from across the street and gets settled).   it's short powerhouse of a show and the perfect way to close the night.

John Coons along with Jack Lipson invite you to escape the barren hellscape of your life and join them on their journey through a jazzier, more-glitter-filled apocalyptic wasteland! A wickedly sharp and satirical song cycle, BLEAK! gleefully skewers the plethora of ways that we're all trying (and failing) to meet the present moment. Come find out just how much fun giving up all hope can be! (And wear something fun. It's the end of the world, after all.)

tickets here:

www.gravesidevariety.com

....

Phew.

More tomorrow, loves.

X

A

———THE STUFF I PASTE AT THE END OF THE POST———

1. if you are a patron and new to my work, don’t forget your patronage allows you access to ALL of my patreon releases to date. HERE is the link to download my latest big solo record, “There Will Be No Intermission”, and HERE is a link to download the PDF of the art/essay book that goes with it.

2. if you’re a patron reading this post via an email notification, please click through to comment on this post. at the very least, if you’ve read it, indicate that by using the heart symbol. that's always nice for me to see, so i know who's reading.

3. see All the Things (over 200 of them) i've made so far on patreon:

http://amandapalmer.net/things

4. JOIN THE SHADOWBOX COMMUNITY FORUM, find your people, and discuss everything: https://forum.theshadowbox.net/

5. are you new to my music and TOTALLY OVERWHELMED? TAKE A WALK THROUGH AMANDALANDA….we made a basic list of my greatest hits n stuff (at least up until a few years ago, this desperately needs updating) on this lovely page: http://amandalanda.amandapalmer.net/

6. general AFP/patreon-related questions? ask away, someone will answer: patronhelp@amandapalmer.net

2023 Tour Dates:

***THE DRESDEN DOLLS***

Aug 31, Sept 1 & 2 - Woodstock, NY - Colony - *SOLD OUT*

Oct 24, 25, 27, 28 - NYC - Bowery Ballroom - *SOLD OUT*

All tickets at: https://amandapalmer.net/events/