Author : LaDonna Gatlin
Publisher : Health Communications, Inc.
Page : 266 pages
File Size : 49,78 MB
Release : 2012-11-06
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 0757316220
Shares the author's story of her choice to put her family before her singing career to encourage readers to follow their faith and connect with their inner voice to create a meaningful life.
Author : Bradley Rogers
Publisher : University of Iowa Press
Page : 295 pages
File Size : 25,28 MB
Release : 2020-10-15
Category : Performing Arts
ISBN : 1609387325
Musicals, it is often said, burst into song and dance when mere words can no longer convey the emotion. This book argues that musicals burst into song and dance when one body can no longer convey the emotion. Rogers shows how the musical’s episodes of burlesque and minstrelsy model the kinds of radical relationships that the genre works to create across the different bodies of its performers, spectators, and creators every time the musical bursts into song. These radical relationships—borne of the musical’s obsessions with “bad” performances of gender and race—are the root of the genre’s progressive play with identity, and thus the source of its subcultural power. However, this leads to an ethical dilemma: Are the musical’s progressive politics thus rooted in its embrace of regressive entertainments like burlesque and minstrelsy? The Song Is You shows how musicals return again and again to this question, and grapple with a guilt that its joyous pleasures are based on exploiting the laboring bodies of its performers. Rogers argues that the discourse of “integration”—which claims that songs should advance the plot—has functioned to deny the radical work that the musical undertakes every time it transitions into song and dance. Looking at musicals from The Black Crook to Hamilton, Rogers confronts the gendered and racial dynamics that have always under-girded the genre, and asks how we move forward.
Author : Laura Nowlin
Publisher : Sourcebooks, Inc.
Page : 218 pages
File Size : 20,51 MB
Release : 2024-12-31
Category : Young Adult Fiction
ISBN : 146421879X
"Music is the second most important thing," I say. That was something my mother would always say. We've stopped saying it out loud, but I think it all the same. The most important thing is love. From the author of the New York Times and USA Today Bestselling If He Had Been With Me comes a captivating novel about navigating—and protecting—the loves and friendships that sustain us. Ramona fell for Sam the moment she met him. It was like she had known him forever. He's one of the few constants in her life, and their friendship is just too important to risk for a kiss. Though she really wants to kiss him... Sam loves Ramona, but he would never expect her to feel the same way-she's too quirky and cool for someone like him. Still, they complement each other perfectly, both as best friends and as a band. Then they meet Tom. Tom makes music too, and he's the band's missing piece. The three quickly become inseparable. Except Ramona's falling in love with Tom. But she hasn't fallen out of love with Sam either. How can she be true to her feelings and herself without losing the very relationships that make her heart sing? This Song is (Not) for You is perfect for readers looking for: Contemporary teen romance books Unputdownable & bingeworthy novels Complex emotional YA stories Novels that explore monogamy, polyamory, and asexuality Characters with a passion for music Performance art
Author : Jeff Tweedy
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 178 pages
File Size : 23,32 MB
Release : 2020-10-13
Category : Music
ISBN : 0593183533
There are few creative acts more mysterious and magical than writing a song. But what if the goal wasn't so mysterious and was actually achievable for anyone who wants to experience more magic and creativity in their life? That's something that anyone will be inspired to do after reading Jeff Tweedy's How to Write One Song. Why one song? Because the difference between one song and many songs isn't a cute semantic trick—it's an important distinction that can simplify a notoriously confusing art form. The idea of becoming a capital-S songwriter can seem daunting, but approached as a focused, self-contained event, the mystery and fear subsides, and songwriting becomes an exciting pursuit. And then there is the energizing, nourishing creativity that can open up. How to Write One Song brings readers into the intimate process of writing one song—lyrics, music, and putting it all together—and accesses the deep sense of wonder that remains at the heart of this curious, yet incredibly fulfilling, artistic act. But it’s equally about the importance of making creativity part of your life every day, and of experiencing the hope, inspiration, and joy available to anyone who’s willing to get started.
Author : Mary Gauthier
Publisher : St. Martin's Essentials
Page : 190 pages
File Size : 32,28 MB
Release : 2021-07-06
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1250202124
"A handbook for compassion... a Must-Read Music Book.” —Rolling Stone Country "Generous and big-hearted, Gauthier has stories to tell and worthwhile advice to share." —Wally Lamb, author of I Know This Much Is True "Gauthier has an uncanny ability to combine songwriting craft with a seeker’s vulnerability and a sage’s wisdom.” —Amy Ray, Indigo Girls From the Grammy nominated folk singer and songwriter, an inspiring exploration of creativity and the redemptive power of song Mary Gauthier was twelve years old when she was given her Aunt Jenny’s old guitar and taught herself to play with a Mel Bay basic guitar workbook. Music offered her a window to a world where others felt the way she did. Songs became lifelines to her, and she longed to write her own, one day. Then, for a decade, while struggling with addiction, Gauthier put her dream away and her call to songwriting faded. It wasn’t until she got sober and went to an open mic with a friend did she realize that she not only still wanted to write songs, she needed to. Today, Gauthier is a decorated musical artist, with numerous awards and recognition for her songwriting, including a Grammy nomination. In Saved by a Song, Mary Gauthier pulls the curtain back on the artistry of songwriting. Part memoir, part philosophy of art, part nuts and bolts of songwriting, her book celebrates the redemptive power of song to inspire and bring seemingly different kinds of people together.
Author : Arthur Phillips
Publisher : Scribe Publications
Page : 273 pages
File Size : 48,10 MB
Release : 2009
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 1921640057
'He tapped at his iPod, feeling within a note or two whether each random offering could provide what he was craving . . . skip, skip, skip, his temper rising, and then he felt it, just the opening chords . . . He stopped punching his iPod's face, and he leaned back on the bench and wondered, marvelled, felt the world slowly reopening to him.' Julian Donahue is obsessed with his iPod. Each song that shuffles through 'that greatest of all human inventions' triggers a memory. There are songs for the girls from when he was single; there's the one for the day he met his wife-to-be, and another for the day his son was born. But when his family falls apart, even music loses its hold on him, and he has nothing. Until one snowy night in Brooklyn, when his life's soundtrack-and life itself-starts to play again. He stumbles into a bar and sees Cait O'Dwyer, a flame-haired Irish rock singer, performing with her band, and a strange and unlikely love affair is ignited. Over the next few months, Julian and Cait's passion for music and each other is played out, though they never meet. In cryptic emails, text messages, cell-phone videos, and lyrics posted on Cait's website, they find something in their bizarre friendship that they cannot find anywhere else. Cait's star is on the rise, and Julian gently guides her along her path to fame-but always from a distance-and she responds to the one voice who understands her, more than a fan but still less than a lover. As their feelings grow more feverish, keeping a safe distance becomes impossible. What follows is a love story and a uniquely heartbreaking dark comedy about obsession and loss. The Song Is You is a closely observed tale of love in the digital age that blurs the line between the longing for intimacy and the longing for oblivion. 'Phillips . . . hits a pitch-perfect note in this heartbreakingly lyrical novel of love, loss, and the almost mystical power of music.' Booklist 'Phillips blents wiht, erudition and eccentricity.' The Times 'Prodigiously gifted . . . reminiscent of Nabokov.' The Guardian
Author : Robyn Crawford
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 336 pages
File Size : 32,82 MB
Release : 2019-11-12
Category : Biography & Autobiography
ISBN : 1524742864
The New York Times Bestseller! After decades of silence, Robyn Crawford, close friend, collaborator, and confidante of Whitney Houston, shares her story. Whitney Houston is as big a superstar as the music business has ever known. She exploded on the scene in 1985 with her debut album and spent the next two decades dominating the charts and capturing the hearts of fans around the world. One person was there by her side through it all—her best friend, Robyn Crawford. Since Whitney’s death in 2012, Robyn has stayed out of the limelight and held the great joys, wild adventures, and hard truths of her life with Whitney close to her heart. Now, for the first time ever, Crawford opens up in her memoir, A Song for You. With warmth, candor, and an impressive recall of detail, Robyn describes the two meeting as teenagers in the 1980s, and how their lives and friendship evolved as Whitney recorded her first album and Robyn pursued her promising Division I basketball career. Together during countless sold-out world tours, behind the scenes as hit after hit was recorded, through Whitney’s marriage and the birth of her daughter, the two navigated often challenging families, great loves, and painful losses, always supporting each other with laughter and friendship. Deeply personal and heartfelt, A Song for You is the vital, honest, and previously untold story that provides an understanding of the complex life of Whitney Houston. Finally, the person who knew her best sets the record straight.
Author : Peter H. Reynolds
Publisher : Candlewick Press
Page : 33 pages
File Size : 35,47 MB
Release : 2022-05-31
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 153621809X
Vashti believes that she cannot draw, but her art teacher's encouragement leads her to change her mind and she goes on to encourage another student who feels the same as she had.
Author : Jory John
Publisher : HarperCollins
Page : 37 pages
File Size : 16,64 MB
Release : 2015-12-22
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 006245949X
From the award-winning creators of Goodnight Already!, Come Home Already!, and All Right Already! Bear can't wait to spend a pleasant day by himself. But his persistent next-door neighbor, Duck, wants to take a morning stroll . . . with Bear. He just wants Bear to like him already. . . Jory John, author of Penguin Problems and The Bad Seed, and Benji Davies, creator of The Storm Whale, join together again to bring us this standout hilarious story of unrequited admiration that will leave children laughing at every page. Perfect for Valentine’s Day or any story time!
Author : Megan Abbott
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 262 pages
File Size : 10,12 MB
Release : 2008-02-19
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 0743291727
A fictionalized account based on the mysterious 1949 disappearance of actress Jean Spangler, whose demise was linked to the Black Dahlia killings, is a darkly sensual tale that imagines what may have been her fate.
