 Heaven in the Distance Sweet Anne Marie New Music from Manic Pixie Indie Folk Songstress Sweet Anne Marie Self-Released September 1 2023 In between albums, some musicians like to release singles, and occasionally the "EP," which is usually short enough to fit on one side of a record, or just under twenty minutes. I like these little musical interludes, sort of a tease before the next big thing. Heaven in the Distance is an EP from Sweet Anne Marie, a self-described "Manic Pixie Indie Folk" artist, and a 2023 recipient of Best Solo/Acoustic Act by the Steamtown Music Awards in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Anne Marie has a sweet, breathy voice, and writes songs about the ups and downs of relationships, the uncertainness of possible futures, and life as a young woman in the 21st century. This EP features the new song "I'll Be Fine" along with demos, live tracks, and a reworked version of “Milk and Honey" from her previous album, Parking Lots, Bars, and Falling Stars. "I'll Be Fine" comes in both finished and demo versions, the demo with sprightly acoustic guitar, while the other version features bass and drums by Anne Marie's husband, Tyler Troutman, who also engineered and produced the album. "Milk and Honey" is more keyboard oriented here than in its earlier version on Parking Lots, Bars, and Falling Stars, with Anne Marie’s voice wrapped in lush reverb. "Somewhere in Time" and "Waiting" originally appeared on the album In Time, and here we get the demo tracks—well recorded, simple guitar and vocal, which is all these songs really need. We also get live versions of "Pine St." and "Signs,” the former of which appeared on Anne Marie’s album In Time. (I’m assuming these were recorded on a phone?) The vocals are a bit lost but you can definitely get a feel for the energy and passion in a live Sweet Anne Marie show. "Forget the Flowers" is a Wilco cover (available on Bandcamp only) and in my opinion Anne Marie’s version is more honest and less faux country bluegrass than the original. All in all, Heaven in the Distance is a fine EP, which I'm hoping this means that Sweet Anne Marie is leading up to another album of great songs. Check out Sweet Anne Marie live if you’re in Pennsylvania, and she'll also be at the Fest in Gainesville, Florida on October 27-29. A Selection of Sweet Anne Marie Links: https://sweetannemarie.bandcamp.com/album/heaven-in-the-distance https://spotify.link/U9cfUL6dtDb https://instagram.com/sweetannemariemusic?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==  Bio:
Roy Peak has played electric bass in more bands than he cares to remember for more years than he can remember. He wrote the theme song for the Utica, New York radio show "Hey You Kids, Get Off My Lawn" on WPNR-FM. His solo debut album, All Is Well, has been called "Loud, cacophonous, and beautiful by a truly unique artist." His short fiction has been published in The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature and he writes music reviews for the King Tut Vintage Album Museum of Jacksonville. Roy writes music reviews for the Rocking Magpie among others. Check him out on bandcamp.com
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 Periodic Boyfriends By Drew Pisarra Review by Julie Carpenter It’s a rare writer who can combine laughter and tragedy, light and darkness, not only in the same poem, but in the same sentence. Drew Pisarra is that writer. The poems in this collection – a look back at all the boyfriends and lovers in his life through the metaphor of the periodic table – are a kaleidoscope of beauty, sadness, boredom, love, and all things human. Life seen through the lens of memory. The author transforms love and loss and even bleary eyed moments of regret into poetry.  Turducken by Lindz McLeod Review by Julie Carpenter How shall I introduce this short story collection? As a literary high wire act – dangerous, exciting, with a touch of the bizarre? As a group of modern fables that feel both trippy and morally astute? As a compilation of character studies that make us emote with a turducken and feel the overwhelm of being stalked by the dead? As pure, unadulterated, experimental fun? It’s all these things and more.  Album cover for Afton Wolfe, Twenty-Three. Twenty-Three
Afton Wolfe Released February 3, 2023 Independent Review by Roy Peak This review is another crossover review with The Rocking Magpie. They have plenty more good stuff, so scoot on over there after you read this! More Music Magic From One of Americana's Most Prolific Artists To get the full meaning of the title of Afton Wolfe's latest release you have to go to the man himself: "The number 23 is Magic, and as such, it has been significant in my musical journey, so my delusional apophenia led me to release these 5 (2+3) songs together on 2.3.23 for the purpose of conjuring all the Magic I possibly could from this Music.” Is music magic? It most definitely can be and Wolfe conjures up five songs on this EP that fits the bill.  Cover Art from Floating Candle A girl with glasses reaching forward from a dark background Floating Candle Author: Sparrow Starfell Sardothian Review by Julie Carpenter Memoir is one of the most difficult forms of literature, if not the most difficult. Even if you have a tale to tell – and this author has an amazing one – it’s tough to move outside yourself to see your life as a story. But fortunately for the reader, Sparrow has a natural instinct for storytelling and an incredible life. These two threads come together to create Floating Candle – a memoir that’s gripping and painful, but also uplifting.  SCRUFFY LOOKING GIRAFFE IN CHARCOAL From the Sacred Script: Writing from Chaos by Julie Carpenter I’m taking a figure drawing class with my husband for fun. He’s quite good and I am – it’s safe to say – the worst sketch artist in the class. But it’s freeing. My expectations are low enough to allow me to meet or even exceed them with very little effort. Anyway, I think it’s good to try new ways of thinking and seeing as you get older, regardless of the results. In an effort to retrain my brain to see things in patterns of light and line, I’ve been watching videos about sketching. Below is one of the videos I found most fascinating.  Cartoon Chicken holding book - art by JPC Sacred Chickens Cult Anti-Festo and Personality Quiz Have you ever thought to yourself – wouldn’t it be nice if I had a guru or preacher or authoritarian leader to tell me how to behave, what to think, how to feel and what information I can consume? No? Then you are primed to join our cult. Find our criteria for joining below. This document will serve as both a personality quiz to see how you fit in and a sort of anti-fest to explain what we're all about. If you join, you can expect writing tips and tools, book recommendations, an advice column for those with existential or metaphysical crises and more! How do you access all this wonderful stuff? Just check in here on the blog or in our FB group. Watch this space for more ways to connect and our upcoming podcast, Party Bus To Hell.  Pale apricot rose with green leaves - photo by JPC The Unlovable Garden by Julie Carpenter I have had and loved many gardens, from my very first back yard in Memphis, where my boxer dug up the plum trees and ate half my climbing roses, to the haunted hillbilly house where we didn’t need curtains in spring because the wisteria draped itself in billows from the big oak tree out front. But I had one garden that, if I’m being honest, was hard to love.
 Graffiti seen from a train window in Belgium, 2015 Four Poems by Jeff Weddle We Could Be Heroes Just Your Standard Love Story Settled In Not John James Audubon, Actually We Could be Heroes After they murdered Kong, the flyboys went out for beer. “What a day,” Larry said to no one in particular. “Did you see that damned thing? Big as a damned department store.” “Can department stores really be damned?” asked Reggie, the twin brother of Larry’s ex-wife, Maud.  Tedd Hazard Destructive Criticism Self-released Review by Roy Peak The acoustic scene in Pennsylvania is crazy damn strong. There must be something in the seltzer. There's folk punk icons Apes of the State with their high energy acoustic emo songs of higher truths; the highly prolific and rocking A Day Without Love; Sweet Anne Marie who sings honest songs of relationships and moving on; and now we have Tedd Hazard, a gruff-voiced singer from Pennsylvania who released an album of 17 songs that clock in just under 49 minutes called Destructive Criticism. |
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