Scratching Below the Surface of Mary Bue's Latest Album: The World Is Your Lover

Have you ever tried to write an original tune? OK, maybe you can, but can you keep writing them month after month, year after year? And not just original, but something that connects with listeners and sticks with them?

Writing music, creating it out of nothing, is much like looking at a blank sheet of paper and combining batches of words into a poem or story or novel. It's done every day, but not always effectively.

I've spent a lot of years contemplating the variety of expressions Bob Dylan's muse has expressed itself through him as a conduit. In a similar manner, artists like Mary Bue likewise seem to capture something original and evocative--maybe even magical--in their songwriting. 

Her latest album--I believe this is her sixth--is titled The World Is Your Lover, and the tracks are rich with emotion and energy.  

In a story titled Transcendental Bue a Minneapolis Star Tribune music critic subtitled the story, Mary Bue’s journey from Duluth to Minneapolis, New Mexico and India culminated in her best album yet, “The World Is Your Lover.”

Her best? I thought her last -- Holy Bones --was pretty good. Now I have to compare so I can decide whether I agree or not.

* * * *

I like the album cover and overall design. On the album itself (if you have the vinyl) there's a photo of Mary Bue embracing the globe. Upon seeing this visual I couldn't help but think of Woody Allen in Sleeper and the scene involving the Orb. Whether this is an intentional play on imagery or not I wouldn't know. It is certainly intriguing.

* * * *

The opening track on the album, titled "Sh*t Storm," is one powerful song. The closest thing I can compare it to is John Lennon's "Cold Turkey." Both songs have a story, but end in a turbulent whirlwind instrumental that replicates the feel. In Lennon's case it captures the feelings associated with heroin withdrawal. In Bue's, it's the apocalyptic whirl of our time in history. 

I walked for miles

On this parched earth

Once flowed with lava

Then a river birthed

And now the snow

Falls on the sage

When that shit storm comes

The earth’s gotta rage

I had a vision

The Great Lakes were drained

Superior Desert

Was her new name

Eagles cry

Barn owls shriek 

When that shut storm comes

It’s not gonna be good

Chorus:

Oh my god

Have you forsaken me?

All the gods

Are laughing now

As the earth starts cracking

And her bones start snapping

And the walls come crashing down

Oh my love 

He’s a brutal force

You can hear him coming 

On his big black horse

And he’s got friends

High and low

But when that shit storm comes

They all gotta go

I pray to Ganesha 

To tear down the walls

I pray in Chimayo

Protect those I love

I bow to the East

I bow to the west 

When that shit storm comes

Nobody’s gonna be left

Copyright 2020 Mary Bue

You can listen to this song and Purchase Album Here:
https://marybue.bandcamp.com/album/the-world-is-your-lover

* * * *

I've been itching to write about Mary Bue's latest album since last month and today is as good a time as any. Why? Because this coming Friday night there will be a livestream show from the Hook & Ladder Theater with special guests Turn Turn Turn and Alan Sparhawk. Here are the details:

MARY BUE CELEBRATES NEW ALBUM WITH FULL-BAND LIVESTREAM

with special guests Turn Turn Turn & Low's Alan Sparhawk!

THE WORLD IS YOUR LOVER RELEASE SHOW

Friday, October 23, 8 pm CDT

Livestream from Hook & Ladder Theater

Tickets: $15 | Pre-Sale Tickets: $10 (through Oct. 16)

Tickets + Info Here

Ticket holders can watch the show live or any time over next week.

* * * *

Related Links

My August Interview with Mary Bue

Transcendental Bue

EdNote: There is some language on a couple songs that some people will find offensive, though no more so than a majority of cable television series offerings.

Catching Up with Singer/Songwriter Mary Bue

Singer/Songwriter Mary Bue (Photo Darin Back)

This weekend I noticed that Mary Bue was performing at Sacred Heart later this month to launch her newest album The World Is Your Lover. It seemed a good time to reach out and catch up. She produced her first album in 2000 and has been a productive songwriter and steady performer ever since.

Her cover of "Desolation Row" on the album Bringing It All Back Home to Duluth Does Dylan, a compilation by local musicians that should be in any Dylan fan's collection, never gets old. As a performer she has an impressive resume. She's gained a notable following wherever she goes.

EN: I last interviewed you when your album Holy Bones was released in 2015. Since then you moved to the Twin Cities, but you're still making original music. Bring us up to date on the past three years.

Mary Bue: Wonderful to connect with you again, Ed, and I greatly appreciate your love of music! The Holy Bones era was a very pivotal time. I switched genres from playing mostly piano-based tunes to more grungy electric guitar indie rock vibes -- and even had a symbolic funeral for my keyboard! Ha! Now I've (sort of) returned to center and have found room for both.

I moved to Minneapolis in 2016 to follow an opportunity to open a yoga studio. It truly just fell into my lap -- a small space near Powderhorn Park which I called Imbue Yoga Studio. This was the catalyst to move down here, although I had been feeling the itch to move for awhile (I'd been back in Duluth since 2011 after a four-ish year stint in Seattle). I signed the lease for the yoga studio in February 2016. In March I broke my shoulder attempting to snowboard for the first time. In April I acquired the studio and my ex-husband and our friend Bob Olson started remodeling. April 7th my band went down to Nashville to record The Majesty of Beasts on some studio time I won from a Battle of the Bands scenario. In May, I moved and ... filed for divorce. June 11th Imbue Yoga Studio had its grand opening. In three months, I broke a shoulder, recorded in Nashville, moved, divorced, and opened a yoga studio. It was a wild time. LOL.

The yoga studio kept me sane in the midst of a very intense and emotional whirlwind. I met, worked with, and practiced with wonderful, caring, spiritual friends and teachers. I cried on the floor a lot, pretty exhausting. Musically, my band had blown apart, but I decided to still release the EP we recorded, The Majesty of Beasts. In it I had (finally) shared a song-story about a sexual assault which happened to me in 2006. I announced the song was coming and then BAM, #MeToo movement took off shortly after. Zeitgeist. I'm not sure why I waited so long to tell that story, but damn, it was apparent that I surely was not the only one, of course. Unfortunately. Horrifyingly.

Magically, around the time that I opened my yoga studio, I was notified that I received a three month Artist in Residence award to spend three months at the Helene Wurtlitzer Foundation of New Mexico to work on my craft. Of course I accepted, even though that was only six months after opening the studio. But how could I not? Music is my heart... and that experience in New Mexico changed my life.

Musically, I moved through a number of sweet band incarnations during this time, met a lot of music heroes I'd been following (for example, I took a few guitar lessons with Adam Levy who I'd been listening to since I was 14 in the REV 105 era) and then I met my former manager, Mike Buenting. He heard me supporting Tina Schlieske's (Tina and the B Sides) show at Icehouse for the holidays and was very genuine and almost apologetic for not having ever heard of me since I'd been doing music for so long. We agreed to work together and then he set me up with a new band formation to record some new songs. I wasn't entirely sure how this project would go, but I had a lot of songs in the hopper that never really fit anywhere, and had just written the title track The World is Your Lover and the writing in Taos on artist residency provided quite a few downloads from the universe while hiking along the Rio Grande River gorge (like Shit Storm--video and single were just released in July).

Mary Bue with her Gibson. (Photo Darin Back)

I was introduced to and began working with producer and bassist Steve Price (The Suburbs, Rex Daisy, former instructor at IPR), Jeremy Ylvisaker (who has played guitar with Andrew Bird, Haley, Jenny Lewis, John Prine to name a few), Richard Medek on drums (who drummed on Kevin Costner's rock albums! And plays with Molly Maher, Erik Koskinen, Chris Koza). We knocked a fourteen song album out in 4 months. I did TWO kickstarters to pay for it (ughhhhh!). Brought in the stunning cello of Julia Floberg (Delphia Cello Quartet), Shannon Frid-Rubin of Cloud Cult, my first touring partner Crystal Meisinger sang harmonies on Shit Storm, Stephan Kung of the Suburbs played trumpet. Both Adam Levy and Alan Sparhawk were special guests. Essentially, this was the album of my life. My life's work. So much love and money poured into this beast.

During the recording, I decided to close my yoga studio. It was making "negative money" as I like to say (with a sad, wry smile). I had always said, "if I close the studio after three years, I'm going to Bali. If I stay open after three years, I'm going to Bali."

So, I booked a freaking trip to Bali. I've been wanting to go for 15 years. More about that later. (Oh, and India, too.)

For the last three years, to return to your question, I've been making the world even more of a lover. Really getting intimate with it. Failure. Success. Relational, business wise. Taking risks. Crying on the floor. Stopping to smell the flowers as much as my monkey mind will allow. And really, feeling pretty damn good, considering.

EN: Covid-19 has put unexpected restraints on musicians this year. Dylan's Never Ending Tour was put on hold for the first time. How have you adjusted? And how are other musicians you know dealing with it?

Empty airport, Osaka Japan.

MB: I was traveling from late December 2019 to March 21st 2020, to India and Bali. I had to come home from my travels two weeks early due to USA issuing a "level four travel advisory" which basically said get home by whatever means possible or prepare to stay. Part of me wishes I would have stayed in Bali! But there is much to love here. My last minute flight re-book took me through Osaka, Japan. NO ONE was in the airport. It was very, very end-of-times.

Since returning home, I've been okay. I actually had a really wonderful two year relationship that ended mutually upon my return. So not only was I back sooner, but really alone-alone. I had to self-quarantine for two weeks after my trip, and then the stay at home order was issued. I went EIGHTY days without really seeing anyone except my neighbors or people out walking. Then I finally eased up for social distance hangs.

I feel so grateful to my meditation, yoga, mantra, and running routines. While I was in India, I received a certificate in Nada Yoga--the Yoga of Sound--where we explored the power of vibration, cleansing techniques to deeper experience sound, and deep discipline with which to listen and also practice (instruments, and voice). I fell in love with the sitar. I took 28 days of sitar lessons, bought one, and brought it home. I found a teacher here in Minnesota and am still taking lessons.

I had a feeling there would be a shift for me musically before I left. I couldn't put my finger on what it would be, but it felt like I wanted to perform fewer shows for awhile. I got my wish... but it has been financially not so happy. I lost quite a few well-paying shows. Many of my friends are struggling. Performing is a huge part of our identity. I've been performing my songs since 1998. I feel okay though, with the shift, and again, grateful to have other practices to balance it out with.

I'm not a huge fan of the live stream home concerts, mostly because I am not sure how it sounds to the audience. I did a show with Gaelynn Lea (thanks SO MUCH FOR HAVING ME, friend!), but my sound was shit! So I don't like that possibility of mortification... although that is a vestige of prior performing humiliations from my youth. I am so excited about live streaming from Sacred Heart, though! Eric Swanson will be at the helm mixing for us and oh my GODDESS I am so looking forward to performing with my band again, even if only the tech crew are in the room and everyone at home watching from their couches.

I truly do not know what the future holds for performing musicians, but I so look forward to hearing live music in a room with other people again!!!

EN: City Pages awarded you with Best Songwriter for 2020, which is pretty high praise in a major city filled with musicians and songwriters. Was this based on your 2017 release The Majesty of Beasts?

MB: Thank you so much and I am deeply, deeply aware of the weight of this honor. In the write up, the author said that the Majesty EP was "near perfect" (jaw drop!!), however my publicist sent City Pages my new album which is releasing Aug 21, so I'm pretty sure it is based off of that, and perhaps a deep dive into my last twenty years of work? I can't really say. It was an absolute shock and surprise and it's been only a week now and I'm still reeling. So grateful. So floored. So delighted.

EN: What are some of the themes you've been addressing in your newest album The World Is Your Lover? Is your upcoming Sacred Heart concert essentially an album release?

MB: The album is bookended with two rather apocalyptic numbers, Shit Storm and The Riverman. Shit Storm was one of those downloads from New Mexico... this low-to-high grade anxiety that the Earth is OVER IT. Fleeing the disasters, both natural and human-made. Watching Lake Superior turn into a desert before my eyes (a true story vision ...). The Riverman talks about the River Styx ... how one must have a coin under their tongue to give to the Riverman to cross to the other side. In between these little ditties are a whole lot of drama. Complex love gone wrong. Tons of longing and hope. Some real desperation in there. I like to find solace in the Anne Lamott quote: "If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better." Ha! The title track is very positive, though. A forgiving realization; a letting go of shackles, a purging of the past.

The Sacred Heart show was purely serendipitous! I wasn't planning on having a release show until October 23rd (Hook & Ladder Theatre & Lounge in Minneapolis with Turn Turn Turn & Alan Sparhawk supporting). However Sacred reached out and the day they booked us for was the day after my album officially releases! So, yes. It is the Duluth album release. And very fitting, since that venue is so special to me.

EN: Briefly, how long have you been teaching yoga? Can you tell us more about the retreats in Bali, Taos and Grand Marais.

MB: I've been teaching yoga for 11 years now, since 2009. I received my training in Seattle at Whole Life Yoga Studio with Tracy Weber. Tracy sold the studio a few years ago, but I just heard one week ago that it is closing. Heartbreaking! Another casualty of COVID. Been grieving that. But yeah, the yoga community and my master teacher Tracy is still in my life. I got further training here in Minneapolis at Yoga Center Retreat (formerly Yoga Center of Minneapolis) and then an additional 200 hours at Nada Yoga School in Rishikesh, India this past January.

I launched a small "Creativity and Yoga" retreat side-hustle just last year in 2019. I have chosen these three locations because they are extremely dear to my heart. Grand Marais is in November, at Naniboujou Lodge (it is tentative if they are opening this year due to the virus). Taos will be in June 2021. The 2nd Bali, Indonesia retreat is coming up in late February 2021, fingers crossed they will let Americans enter Indonesia! I am 100% there if so. And you all are welcome to join!

I have a deep love of travel, yoga, exploring creative practices -- writing, painting, poetry, music. Why not combine them all? And my past experience in running a yoga studio, albeit briefly, and like hundreds of years in food service has really sharpened my skills and heart to serve and offer luxurious, hospitable, friendly travel adventures. This truly feels, also, like my life's work. Both Grand Marais and Bali sold out. But then, COVID ruins the party again and things have had to be postponed. It's all good. I trust that we'll get a handle on this and travel will, hopefully resume with new caution, and awareness, and a deep reverence for how precious life is and how much there is to explore, learn, and love. We cannot take anything for granted ...

EN: Where can people learn more about you and follow your career?

MB: So much lives on my website marybue.com. I also have a Patreon -- Patreon is a "membership" or "fan club" where people subscribe with a monthly rate for different rewards like vinyl, yoga classes, and exclusive posts (patreon.com/marybue). I'm also quite addicted to instagram (@marybuemusic).

My music lives on most major streaming platforms, YouTube, and bandcamp.

EN: Anything else you would like to add?

MB: It's been a pleasure. Thank you for taking the time to ask these questions. I could go on and on, but I'll spare you. The music is revealing enough!


Related Links
MaryBue.com
Five Minutes with Singers/Songwriter Mary Bue
Bringing It All Back To Duluth Does Dylan -- Inspired Local Musicians Step Up Their Game

Local Art News: September Happenings

It's September already. Labor Day weekend ahead, a time of beginnings and endings. Summer is ending, the school year beginning. Days are getting shorter, the leaves will soon be getting brighter. It's harvest season for gardens and fruit pickers, and soon a time to batten down the hatches for the approaching winter.

In the arts realm we have transitions taking place and plenty to look forward to.

North End Arts Gallery

The gallery located upstairs in the Red Mug Building is closing this month. There will be a closing reception September 9. The gallery space will be vacated afterwards.

I remember the very first event held in that room, a book release by Savage Press. The Superior oard of Trade building was seeking new residents, opening after a long hiatus. There was no furniture, there were no other occupants. I imagined it would be a really fun place to play hide and seek if you were kids. There was a carpet on the floor and we all sat cross-legged for a discussion about the book. A humble beginning.

These past many years the Superior Council For The Arts (SCFTA) used that upstairs room for their gallery. A lot of nice work has been shown over the years, though the irregular hours made it a problem for patrons who were not well-versed as regards when the space was open. You can follow their future permutations on their website at http://superiorcfta.org/


Duluth Art Institute

From the Basement: Brent Kusterman
Sept. 22 - Nov. 6, 2016
The work of Brent Kusterman is raw and immediate, layered and mythic. His paintings incorporate found objects and collage, and are focused on keeping the process of art making visible to the viewer. Kustermann is not afraid of a heavy line or rich colors and generates a constant tension throughout the work. A combination of abstract gesture mixed with figural quotations create a middle ground for mind wandering in his canvases.

Rust & Flow: David Everett
Sept. 22 - Nov. 16, 2016
Sculptor David Everett works primarily in iron, exploring the push and pull of pairing seemingly everyday objects with larger mythological traditions. Everett’s exhibit presents two main bodies of work. In the first he transforms trash reclaimed from the beaches of Lake Superior and its tributaries into aquatic creatures and landscapes. The second combines weapons of war and violence with food and sustenance. Everett’s explorations engage us in a dialogue about the unintended consequences of what we purchase, consume, utilize and discard.

Fragments/Memory: Adam McCauley
Sept. 22 - Nov. 16, 2016
Employing traditional mediums alongside craft paint, print screens, antique book covers and the universal grid, McCauley builds artwork that is purposefully based in the physical world, staunchly refusing the comforts of representation for his viewers. Built with layers and focused on the formal, McCauley’s work is at once mind bending and fresh, focused and free.

Duluth Quantum Computing Project: Storytelling in a Digital Age
Oct. 1, 2016
Kathy McTavish is offering free workshops and lectures exploring digital-based art throughout August and September, held at an off-site location (3 West Building on Superior Street.) A composer and media artist who has over 20 years of experience working at the intersection of art, science and technology, McTavish has exhibited multimedia installations at the Plains Art Museum in Fargo, ND and at the 2015 Northern Spark Festival in Minneapolis, MN. Under her guidance the workshop experience will culminate in a collaborative installation in the downtown storefront. This project and exhibition is made possible by the Arrowhead Regional Arts Council. This is an eight week project which I introduced here. This week's discussion theme is code / algorithms ::: the confluence of text & choreography (literary forms in action) ::: code as improvisation / orchestration

EdNote: Congrats to Catherine Meier who has been appointed to serve as the new Program Coordinator at the DAI with Amber White joining as Interim.

Best Bets
Recommendations from the DNT
Lakeside Gallery
Photographer Ryan Tischer is the featured artist for September in the newly opened gallery space at 4431 East Superior Street. Saturday there will be an opening reception from 1-3 p.m. It's Free & open to the public. The weather will be nice and if you are heading up the North Shore for a drive you might want to time it to make a stop here before you head out of town. The event is featured today in the DNT's Best Bets.

Saturday evening the Vista Cruise has a special entertainer on board for what promises to be a very special evening on the "high seas." Mary Bue is slated to perform as Bellisio's caters the meal, and there will be hearts a-thumpin' on a port city dinner cruise that is sure to be tinged with magic. Mary Bue's effusive energy and spirit create atmosphere wherever she goes and I'm certain that whether you're with friends or lovers, you will enjoy Saturday evening if you get on board.

There's much more happening than I have space or time for here. You can rustle up info in all the usual places to learn more about the music and theater scenery here.

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Dig it. 

Local Art Seen -- Duluth Art Institute Reception for the Tim White Exhibit In & Out of Focus

The current exhibition of photographs by Tim White now hangs in the John Steffl Gallery on the balcony level of the Great Hall in the Depot. The juxtaposition of photography and text created impressions that enhanced the power of the imagery, an almost chimerical sensation that at times produced an unexpected, beautiful melancholy.   A few photos taken during Thursday's opening, which also included a Family Art Night Out for the community.

You go round and round

Keep falling on the same hard ground

Brush the dirt off of your knees

Someone call the doctor please

And heal those deep bruises, deep

~Rachel Kilgour, from "Deep Bruises," 2015

The weak

the feel a growing ditance 

between themselves and what they love

Ryan Vine, from "Rule 19", Revolver, 11.13.2012

You are just under the surface

of my restless sleep.

I hear your ardent whispers

in these howling winds

that blow in my ears, 

tell me stories

I cannot repeat.

~Ellie Schoenfeld, from "The Equator is Only an Imaginary Line," the dark honey, 2009

the last word out of my mouth was "happy"

and we drifted off to sleep

two friends, wind chime nymphs

licking dry time, rhyme water and flame

~Mary Bue, from "Slander Stallion," Where the Monarchs Circle, 2000

Ever simple

but we often miss, 

all our chaos

can be pared down to this, 

pared down to this

moment of bliss.

~Gaelynn Lea, from "Moment of Bliss," Imperfecta, 2012

Note: the new Lakeside Gallery is opening this Saturday the 25th.
4431 East Superior Street, Lakeside
Look for Grand Opening details here on their Facebook Page.

Five Minutes with Singer/Songwriter Mary Bue

I recently noticed Mary Bue's Kickstarter campaign on Facebook and was impressed that she this is her sixth CD. As soon as I saw it I thought the cover art was pretty cool. I've a had a listen, actually several, and it's a very strong addition to her previous work.

She was born in Princeton, Minnesota. Her father is a physician and her mother taught piano, so her musical inclinations come naturally.

One thing you notice right off if you've met Mary Bue is her very positive vibe. She generates a good energy as soon as she enters a room. She's both talented and authentic, with something to say.

EN: When did you first become a musician who performed her own songs?

Mary Bue: I was "dared" by some college friends to take my originals out of my dorm room and down to an Open Stage when I was 17, in 1998. It was exhilarating.

EN: Your recorded your first CD when and how do you feel about that first effort today? 

MB: My first CD "Where the Monarchs Circled" was recorded in 2000. I feel that the songs are very RAW but have an ethereal, spiritual quality about them. The collection of songs have a same-ness about them, slightly long-winded, but the passion was there and I was certainly bearing my soul. It wouldn't be the first CD I would recommend to people wanting to learn about my music, but I value it as my first effort and feel proud that I put myself out there so young.

EN: You seem to have developed quite a following. To what do you attribute this?

MB: Thank you! I tour quite a bit -- I have hit almost every state in the US except Hawaii and Alaska -- and I keep a collection of email addresses to stay in contact with people who have liked my music. I share it on a variety of platforms as well. I've done digital distribution so you can find it on iTunes and various internet radio platforms as well as on my website. I have recently embarked on a college radio campaign to 300+ stations so I'm hoping it will reach a larger audience. Time will tell ...

EN: Your current album, Holy Bones, covers some different themes from your previous work. What prompted you to write about death, desire and materialism?

MB: It has been a wellspring of observations of my own mortal coils and watching my fellow humans grasping for "things." I heard an interview with woman very close to death and she mentioned putting "luggage tags on all the the furniture" to leave them to her family members. Something about the way she spoke struck a chord with me - you really can't take it with you. All of our material items will eventually disintegrate, as we will also turn to dust.

I struggle with watching people buy so much crap, such a throw-away society... I am not immune to this, certainly not perfect, but I try to value relationships and experiences over material things. I've also studied yoga philosophy and some Buddhist teachings that resonate. The seeds of desire, once sprouting in our minds, can take over our lives and blind us. And yet, thoughts and desires change moment to moment. With more awareness of the mind, we can come to grips with desire and perhaps reduce suffering. I also include in this new album a song called "Veal," anthropomorphizing a calf destined for slaughter in the veal industry. Factory farming and animal cruelty also spring out of this material desire. Desire for a taste, just a passing digestive fancy which seems so brutal and selfish to me... Again, I don't claim to be an expert or perfect, but just an observer (who tries not to add to the suffering of beings...)

EN: How long have you been performing and what are some of the things you've learned from you experiences as a musician and recording artist?

MB: I've been performing since a child in church Christmas programs & puppet shows for my parents but with my original music I began when I was 17. I have learned, gradually, to try and balance my sensitivity & vulnerability with strength. I have been criticized for being too vulnerable and too sensitive but over time I'm learning that this is not a bad thing that I should be ashamed of. We are taught to be so STRONG and "don't let them see you cry" but I think that as emotional beings, to stuff it all down will just lead to a midlife crisis, explosive rage or worse! So, I say FEEL IT! And so, I sing about it!

EN: Where can people go to support your Kickstarter campaign and/or purchase your music?

MB: My Kickstarter campaign runs until MIDNIGHT of Feb 1st so act fast ;) Kickstarter link is
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/marybue/holy-bones-new-recording-project-by-mary-bue

Music can be purchased via my website: www.marybue.com/shop

All photos by Jon Hain Photography

Happenings Today In North Country Art, Music and Literature

Tonight at the Prøve

Tonight is the gallery hop in Downtown Duluth. And for starters I recommend starting with Duluth artist AJ Atwater at Washington Gallery. Her exhibit, Manhattan Nightscapes, will be open from 6-9pm.

According to a media statement Atwater works in her Duluth studio and studies and paints at the Art Students League in New York City under abstract landscape artist, Ronnie Landfield. She says, “painting in the same studios and walking the same halls Jackson Pollock, Georgia O’Keeffe and Robert Rauschenberg did, is inspiring.”  No kidding.

I visited her website earlier this week and her work looks amazing. I can't wait to check it out in person.

There's also what looks to be a great show at the Prøve Collective called The Lost, the Discarded and the Beautiful featuring the work of Brent Erickson, Andy Mattern, David Bowen, and Kristina Estell. Visit their  Event Description for more details about this show. Looks exciting.

In the literary realm, the Featured eBook of the Day at N&L Publishing is The Breaking Point and Other Stories What this means is that you may download a free copy of my third volume of short stories Free till midnight. We're hoping that when you finish the book you'll write a review at Amazon.com and share this with your friends. Normally this book is $1.99... and worth every penny. (Emoticon here.)

With the exception of the light-hearted and wry "Liz Mills," the unifying theme in this collection is an exploration of the emotions, expectations, illusions and delusions of mundane characters. In the midst of their ordinary lives there is a decisive, extraordinary event. 

The title story in this collection won the Arrowhead Regional Arts Fiction Competition in 1991, an honor that put a few dollars in my wallet but more importantly served to reinforce my belief that my writing skills had been honed. It helps to know you're not just kidding yourself, whatever facet of the arts you labor in.

I say labor because though dabblers may enjoy therapeutic benefits from their art, truly great art requires discipline, sacrifice and work. No, I'm not suggesting this is great art or great literature, though it is what I aspire to, and what I encourage other writers and artists to aspire to. The world is a better place for it when to press on toward a higher call... toward higher standards for ourselves.

If music is your thing, there's a fabulous lineup at Clyde Iron Works tonight. The occasion is Snöbarn's Album Release Celebration. What a lineup! Mary Bue will be opening at 7:00. A pair of short films will follow and then the concert. Yester will take the nod before yielding to Snöbarn. And Charlie Parr will take it over the top.

Oh, and did I forget to say there's an art show simultaneously? Well... there are some tough decisions to make tonight. Make sure you download the book though. It's an easy read. And tell us what you think.

Meantime, life goes on all around you. Have a great, great evening.