A short post today, first up being my newest rendition of a very old song called “Jack of Diamonds.”
In case the embed below doesn’t work, here’s the youtube link.
Now here’s a piece of art by my pal the actor Gary Warner Kent. It’s called “Tusitala,” and starts with the line: “I Thought I Saw Jesus This Morning.” I love this and I think you’ll love it too.
Here’s the youtube link in case the embed below doesn’t work.
Next you should check out the film project on Gary Kent called “Love & Other Stunts” which is in the fundraising mode now on indieGoGo.com. Check it out here and I think you will be glad you did. It’s a real worthy artistic-type cause.
Gary Kent, tough guy, cool cat
The pitch starts off thusly:
The most interesting man in the world
I was at a writing conference in the late ’90s when I met a white-haired hustler with a Burt Reynolds mustache and a knowing grin. He introduced himself as Gary Kent and told me about a cult biker film he’d starred in called Satan’s Sadists. That night I tracked down a copy of the film and watched it, then I tracked down Gary and wrote a couple of articles about his unique film career doubling Jack Nicholson and Robert Vaughan, and staging stunts and special effects sequences for notable directors Peter Bogdanovich, Monte Hellman, Richard Rush, Al Adamson and Don Coscarelli for movies including Hell’s Angels On Wheels, Psych-out, Targets, Bubba Ho-tep, and the noir Westerns The Shooting and Ride in the Whirlwind.
Also check out Gary’s blog. I happened to meet Gary Kent at a screening of “The Cockfighter,” a Monte Hellman film starring Warren Oates and also the late Charles Willeford, who wrote the book and the screenplay, and is one of my favorite writers. This screening also included a showing of one of Hellman’s other films, I forget which one, but it was fabulous. So, anyway, if you meet a real hip guy at a real hip film with all these other associations of cool, you remember. But Gary is a memorable guy who has led an interesting life anyway.
By the way, I hope you viewed yesterday’s post. It includes a video of another blues song I’ve been working on (“High Water Everywhere Part 2″ by Charley Patton) and an admonition for all of you not to buy GRAVE DIGGER BLUES if you feel that you are not hip enough for it, because in fact, it might be TOO WEIRD for you. I’m always looking out for you, see?
GRAVE DIGGER BLUES may in fact be too weird for you. Maybe you’d rather listen to Celine Dion and wear elephant plaid to your high school reunion.
“Jesse Sublett dazzles in his latest offering, a surreal noir escapade for the Kindle and iPad called The Gravedigger’s Blues. Sublett composed the work using iAuthor which enabled him to embed paintings, collages, photographs and several songs in the iPad version. It makes for a rich, multi-media, multi-sensory experience.
When you open the book you come face to face with a video of the bluesman in dark glasses and a houndstooth coat, singing a mysterious, melancholic tune. The video adds an element of intimacy to the reading experience. We’re all familiar with the standard author photo. Now imagine the photo come to life, and set to music. It’s very cool. There are several other audio-only jazzy-blues songs included in the book which help to set the mood. I particularly liked The Headless Supermodel, a humorous, hip skewering of L.A. vacuity.
Sublett is a gifted visual artist. He includes several photo collages in this work. They are strange, unsettling compositions. I may never recover from the gothic horror of Dick Cheney in drag. Sublett’s paintings have a modernist feel. They are bright, intense things heavy on the boobs.
This e-book is a goody-bag of delights. I found it hard to read the book straight through, but perhaps it isn’t meant to be read that way. Dip into the book, here and there. Hear some songs, see some art and read the book, in sections, to enjoy this wonderful prose stylist, letting loose, experimenting with and stretching the bounds of this exciting new medium- the enhanced e-book.” — Kate Walker, writer, book & music reviews blog
President of the Ex Girlfriends Club.
She’s too good for you.
Why do we dream what we dream?
The above blurb is from an advance copy of Kate Walker’s review of GRAVE DIGGER BLUES for her wordpress blog, and I’m delighted not only by her comments but by the notion of being written about on the same site which writes seriously about Katy Perry (I’ve been a fan ever since the first dose of ear candy from her reached out from the radio and grabbed me) and Daniel Woodrell, the acknowledged master of that sub-genre of crime fiction called country noir.
Things she does to drive me crazy
She said sex was like pizza.
BIG DEAL, XMAS STEAL: To encourage readers to check out GRAVE DIGGER BLUES, all 3 of my Martin Fender novels, plus the short story Moral Hazard, are free in the Amazon Kindle Store through December 26. Alternately, of course, you could do whatever you want to do a Amazon and then quickly go to the Apple iBookstore and get a free sample of the Blues Deluxe Edition for iPad of GRAVE DIGGER BLUES, with music, video and audio chapters, which, sadly, Kindle does not have the technical capacity to deliver. Nor, sadly, do over 99% of my rival authors.
October Eve.
Delfina next morning.
Jade Honey.
Due to an epic case of Apple OS X corruption on my trusty-not-rusty MacBook Pro, the past week has been one of rebuild-and-restore here at Grave Digger Blues, Incorporated, and I have not been able to finish a new political blog post for my Secession Chronicle page or our cousin, the mighty OpEdNews.com site.
Obviously, as a blatant attempt to keep you returning to this page, I’m offering a selection of original images here, including a few of the aforementioned “heavy on the boobs” original images from moi, your favorite noir author and surrealist blues troubadour. Also this recently discovered video link on Hulu, by which you can enjoy the Biography episode: ATTILA, SCOURGE OF GOD, which I wrote for Biography A&E a few years back. It’s a fairly low budget piece of nonfiction television, but quite informative, I think, and the show was well-received. I’ll write a few notes about it later, in this same space.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS from Jesse Sublett, your faithful blues & noir correspondent
Your faithful Blue Xmas correspondent, a k a, the Author & Musician, Jesse Sublett
My 4th Annual Howlin Wolf Birthday Tribute is Sat. June 9, Continental Club. The bands will be rocking! My Terrible Self + Denny Freeman, Eve Monsees, Sonny James & Mark Evans will be joined by Big Foot Chester & a dozen super special guests. See the poster for the full roster. All Howlin Wolf, All night, celebrating the 102nd year since the birth of the greatest American blues singer of them all.
7 PM Thurs. June 6, NOIR AT THE BAR at Opal Devine’s. What is Noir at the Bar? OK, it’s like this: Hardboiled crime fiction in a place where people go to drink booze at night. Simple version. Started in Philadelphia a couple years ago. Cool. OK, I’ll be playing and reading with other great authors. Come check out new crime fiction from Peter Farris, Jonathan Woods, and Barry Graham. Also, singer/songwriter Chris Hoyt. Books will be available for defacing by dese authors, and thanks to Scott Montgomery at BookPeople for setting this up.
Here’s the lineup:
Chris Hoyt (music)
Reading by Barry Graham
Reading by Jonathan Woods
Reading by Peter Farris
Reading and Music by Jesse Sublett
Q&A & book signing + drinking
Remember: You can always find a hardbound copy of my true crime and music memoir, NEVER THE SAME AGAIN at BookPeople. My Martin Fender crime novels Rock Critic Murders and Tough Baby are now available on the Amazon Kindle site. Rock Critic Murders is available for your iPad in an enhanced version with lots of music, video and pictures, supercool, go to the iBookstore and check it out now.
The THIRD Martin Fender Novel, Boiled in Concrete, will be available as an eBook in late June or July. Other works are coming soon. Keep rocking!!
