And then there were three: Yep, three. There are only a trio of books arriving in the next seven days, and unless you’re a fan of Arkells’ Max Kernan, Prince of whatever the hell the ‘punk explosion’ is, maybe it’s a good week to binge all those TV shows in your PVR. Just sayin.’
Try Hard: Creative Work In Progress
By Max Kerman
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Let’s say you see a familiar musician from a globe-trotting, touring band hanging out at your local coffee shop, reading the newspaper and typing away on his laptop. This doesn’t look like a musician at work. He seems approachable enough, so you ask him what exactly he does all day. With a grin on his face, he admits the job might not be what you think. So you take a seat, and ask him every question you’ve ever had about how it all works: The nuts and bolts of writing a song, preparing for a show, marketing a band, and the day-to-day business of a creative life. With each answer — none of it about talent — you realize this musician is a bit of a… try hard. And the mystery of being a creative person isn’t actually mysterious at all: it’s just exploring ideas with an enthusiastic and determined curiosity. Over and over. Max is that musician in the coffee shop, and this is what reading Try Hard feels like: One-of-a-kind tales from a dynamic frontman, and a companion to your own creative work in progress. With a brick-by-brick attitude, Max explores his own growth in the craft of storytelling and performance, the pleasure to be found in collaboration, and the creative spirit required in sharing your art.”
Dearly Beloved: Prince, Spirituality, & This Thing Called Life
By Pamela Ayo Yetunde
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.” When Prince spoke those words over celestial organ sounds in the opening moments of Let’s Go Crazy, he wasn’t just inaugurating yet another Billboard Hot 100 hit — one of 47 in his career; he was also giving voice to the deep-seated and richly complex spiritual underpinning of his art. Prince is beloved by millions worldwide, and a true legend of the pop genre. Yet most of his fans don’t recognize the spiritual messages coded within his work, nor understand the connections between Prince’s own religious devotion — which evolved over time — and the sexualized messages of his music. Prince was beguiling and used his seductive and mysterious charm to draw his fans into his spiritual and cosmic worldviews, often without their knowledge. In Dearly Beloved, Pamela Ayo Yetunde, a lifelong Prince fan and founder of the Theology of Prince project when she taught at United Theological Seminary in Prince’s own Minneapolis, decodes the spiritual and sexual messages behind Prince’s work, from For You to Graffiti Bridge to The Rainbow Children and beyond. Exploring more than 40 years of his music and art, you will discover Prince as a spiritual giant. He might not have always gotten it right, but nonetheless he cast a powerful vision for what it means to be dearly beloved, what it takes to gather intentionally, the opportunities presented by being in the present, and how to engage with the complexities of human experience. For anyone who loves Prince, is inspired by him, is confused by his lyrics, or is curious about what his music means — and for all who live in search of deeper meaning and tools for cultivating resilience in difficult times — Dearly Beloved is an essential spiritual guide.”
When Reading Really Rocked, Vol. 2: The Punk Explosion & Beyond
By Adrian Moulton
THE EDITED PRESS RELEASE: “In his inimitable and entertaining style, Adrian Moulton tells the story of Reading’s local music scene in the aftermath of the infamous Bill Grundy interview with The Sex Pistols which led to the explosion of punk and its DIY attitude. In the late 1970s and early ’80s, hundreds of local bands were formed, new venues opened (and closed), record labels and recording studios sprang up, a network of behind-the-scenes technicians and promoters emerged, fanzines proliferated, and radio stations broadcast unmissable local music programmes. All this and more is covered in this second volume of When Reading Really Rocked!”
