Exciting Things in the Mail, II

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This week, I received at least TWO exciting things in the mail.

First came a Vinyl full-length album "Songs of Praise & Scorn" by Christopher Paul Stelling, whose music is hauntingly fabulous. There were some songs on here I recognized as ones I love: "Never Been There" has given me chills live, and as I was baking strawberry banana muffins, warm in my kitchen, last evening, it did the same as a recording. In addition, there are some songs that I felt I was hearing for the first time. I've known Chris for more than a few years at this point, and I'm truly glad to have purchased his album not only to put some cash in his hypothetical gas tank but because it's something I will listen to over and over again. Something about Chris's voice is familiar to me-- I can hear other people I know in his voice, and this leads me to believe that he is someone who speaks for our generation. Check him out. Here is the nice message that came with my vinyl, and for anyone in NYC, it lists the date of his release show. You should go.


The other exciting thing that came in the mail this past week was a package containing my contributors copies of Barrelhouse ten! I am excited to read through the whole thing, especially pieces by fellow poets Christie Ann Reynolds (about whom I wrote a piece for Art Faccia) and Kimberly Grey (who is a contributor to Gigantic Sequins 3.1). My bio says that I take "too make phones with my iPhone", which is true-- and also how I took the two photos for this blog. 



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