ok gang, we’ve got some local music-adjacent news that i am really excited to tell you about. two local musicians have written books, and you can go on amazon right this second and order them.
the first book i’ll tell you about is Conor Ryan’s book of poetry. i’ve written about his music (as Woozles) several times on this blog, and i know you’ve read everything i’ve posted on this site, so the two of you are already fast friends. nice. anyways, he’s been posting poetry on instagram as @itypedumbthings for quite some time, if you didn’t know. he’s collected 100 poems in this volume, titled Sad and Spooky. you can order it from bezos right here: https://www.amazon.com/Sad-Spooky-Conor-Ryan/dp/1688818812/, or you can probably just ask him very nicely, and he’ll send you one if you cover shipping. Conor’s poetry is very good, but i have not read Sad and Spooky yet! i’ve posed with my copy on instagram, so that’s basically the same thing as reading it these days, right? (also cover art is illustrated by Logan Grosclaude, who has taken a lot of great concert photography recently too.)
the second book is Dan Bogosian’s Red Hot Chili Peppers FAQ. Bogosian played bass with Spillway until they dissolved late last year, and he’s currently working on material for an upcoming release as The Odds. and he played bass with Fat Randy on one of their recent tours, too*. you can pre-order the book now (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1617137227), but it’s set for an official release next year on may 15th. i’ve already pre-ordered my copy; the Chili Peppers aren’t my favorite band, but Bogosian is a great writer, and it’s hard to think of a modern band that could use an FAQ more, given their peculiar misadventures, long history, and weird personalities. Bogosian has written for a number of the very best music blogs, but one of my favorite features of his was this mammoth countdown: “Ranking: Every Red Hot Chili Peppers Song From Worst to Best“.
i am hoping that the book touches on the events that led to this:
*i don’t know the story behind this, but i imagine that their normal beefy hunk of a bass player couldn’t tour with them, so they found another beefy hunk of a bass player. wanted: handsome dude who can tear it up on bass and deadlift 400 lbs.
