Go See This Show!
So, geeky ones. If you remember last issue’s installment of “Gay Geeks,” you probably know that I was raving about my friend author Catherynne M. Valente’s sexy new urban/steampunky fantasy novel Palimpsest.
In this issue, I will rave about Quartered, the sexy folk/industrial/acoustic/rock Palimpsest companion album by chanteuse extrordinaire S.J. Tucker. You may remember her from such Salt Lake City engagements as Magpie House Concerts in 2007 and 2008. If you missed those, damn, you missed a fan-freaking-tastic show. S.J. sings like Joni Mitchell after a night romping through the Brothers Grimm.
But if you weren’t lucky enough to see her the first time, be of good cheer. S.J. will return to Salt Lake City on March 30 with Catherynne for a Palimpsest reading and concert at Bevalo, a nifty coffee shop on 123 E. 200 S.
I spoke with S.J. over instant message on one of her breaks between Palimpsest concerts.
JoSelle Vanderhooft: OK, first came the albums for the Orphans’ Tales, Catherynne’s duology of original, Arabian Nights-inspired fairy tales, and now a companion for Palimpsest. How did a third album based on Cat’s work come about?
S.J. Tucker: It snuck up on me. Cat had already let me read Palimpsest in full, for which I love her. She emailed me and said that it felt very strange, planning a book tour without me. She followed that with the lament that she couldn’t just ask me for an album every time she released a new novel. My response was basically, “yes you can.”
JV: Aww.
SJT: Shortly thereafter, she asked me if she could use my song “We Are Shangri-La” in the trailer for Palimpsest on YouTube. That sort of set the theme for a lot of the music I’ve been composing to go along with the book and to be part of our shared show. “We Are Shangri-La” is one of the few songs I’ve recorded to date that is electronically-focused, as opposed to being made out of my usual acoustic magic. Palimpsest lends itself beautifully to both acoustic and electronic music.
JV: So in total, there are now six tracks, and two acoustic songs and an acapella piece are yet to be released, yes?
SJT: The acapella piece is the aria written for the scene at Thulium House, the opera house [in Palimpsest]. November is the first acoustic song. The other acoustic song will be for the characters Ludovico and Lucia, and I’m still writing that one. I’m going to keep writing new songs as Catherynne and I tour together. I have no idea what I’m going to get! It’s very exciting. (I love my job)
JV: This is an unusual album for you, in that you are recording songs as you go, yes?
SJT: I know that I wouldn’t have approached the album this way at all if I hadn’t gotten sick [with appendicitis] in my pre-scheduled time frame when I was planning to get the album done. If everything had gone the way I’d planned, I wouldn’t have this opportunity to keep on making new music for the book. I would have created a tidy little album of 8-10 songs and called it good.
JV: It sounds like that was the good part of getting sick
SJT: Yeah! There’s always a sunny side.
JV: How did you and Cat decide to try for a SLC show? I know you’re in Denver right before, so was it proximity?
SJT: Basically. I hate having to skip towns on a tour. I want to sing to everybody I can if at all possible. Also, I’m making an effort, in booking my own tours (no small feat), to create a show schedule, and a driving schedule, that makes sense. Stopping in SLC allows us to have short driving days between Denver and Seattle, it allows me to sing for folks that don’t see me but once a year, at best, and it allows Cat to tap into a fresh crowd for herself. All this is to the good.
JV: Tell me a little bit about the show. It’s gonna be the Cat and S.J. show, yes?
SJT: I want it to be, very much. I’ve told Cat we can wait and decide when we get there, because this will be our first attempt at doing the Palimpsest show in a coffee shop.The Palimpsest show has evolved from the same formula as the Orphan’s Tales shows, but the nature of the music lends it further gravitas. Also the nature of the book, of course. This is not Young Adult literature. This is not fairy tales. We may have to adapt at the last minute at Bevalo. Iif a flock of moms and kindergartners comes in, we will pull the sex scene readings.
JV: [laughs]
SJT: At any rate, we’ve had huge success at our first three shows–NYC, Philadelphia, and Boston were all very amazing nights. They were each different, too. I know that our SLC show will have its very own flavor. I love that we get to bring a different view of Palimpsest to each different town.
JV: I promise you it won’t be vanilla.
SJT: Ha!
Want to learn more about Palimpsest? Check out the book trailer (featuring S.J.’s “We are Shangri-La”) here: tinyurl.com/sjtucker. And watch S.J.’s Web site skinnywhitechick.com for updates on the March 30 concert. For more information call Bevalo at (801) 364-3991. And remember: Palimpsest is a steamy book, so don’t bring the little ones.