I’ve been writing, editing, revising, and reviewing. Now that work on my book is all but complete — and safely in the hands of my publisher — I can move on to the next big project, which has been eagerly awaiting my attention.
Three months ago, I had the pleasure of spending a weekend at Reggie’s Music Club in Chicago, where I took in 37 of the 38 bands performing at Progtoberfest 2017. (*) I wrote a paragraph or two on each band over four articles for Proglodytes. But I knew that would never be enough.
How could I possibly say all I wanted to say about these bands in one or two paragraphs? That’s impossible! These bands deserve better, and I’m going to do my best to deliver.
Over that weekend, I frantically handed out business cards to many of the bands and their managers, hoping I could catch up with them later to talk more about the music I was enjoying. To my delight, each band I’ve reached out to has been very receptive.
So on top of everything else I’ve been doing, I’ve been conducting interviews with these musicians, compiling their words and my notes for a series of more expansive articles. I’m really looking forward to putting all this material together and presenting it to you.
I also took nearly 1,600 photos over those three days. I’ve only published about 40 of them. It would be a real shame to see those shots go to waste. So to accompany these articles, I hope to compile a series of photos from the festival. Some of the pictures will accompany the articles. Others will be part of a visual essay I’m still working on.
It feels like I’ll finish these articles just in time to make the next Progtoberfest trip. I’ll do my best to speed things up. In any case, this should be a lot of fun!
It’s almost time to get the ball rolling. Stay tuned.
(*) — I had to sacrifice hearing one band in order to conduct an interview. That band — which I learned about after I got home — is brilliant, and will get their own article in the very near future.
#cirdecsongs
CirdecSongs 