Tiny Desk appearance, National Poetry Month performances, new video sampler, etc.

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I used to more frequently do “here’s what I’m up to” posts, but that feels like a relic of an earlier internet time. Still, there’s a lot happening, so I figured I’d share some info here so it can be in a central place rather than a bunch of random social media posts.

NPR Tiny Desk Concert as part of Fred Again’s set

Check it out! Fred sampled my poem “Love in the Time of Undeath” for the song “Kyle (I Found You)” and the result if gorgeous. It’s the first song in his set, and I even appear as a video ghost performing the poem.

While Kyle (i found you) uses a sample of my work, we did a proper collaboration for his song Berwyn (all that i got is you); my poem/voice comes in during the second half of that song.

Uhhh and hey check out this video of me up on the big screen at Lollapalooza!

National Poetry Month performances

Thanks to Jenna and the team from the Lake Agassiz Regional Library, I and a bunch of other MN poets will be traveling all over NW MN next week. Here are the gigs that I’m part of that are open to the public, but note that there are even others that I won’t be at, and more at schools and sites beyond these:

  • 4/25: 3pm Hendrum Civic Center
  • 4/25 6pm Ada Event Center
  • 4/26 6:30pm Fertile Public Library
  • 4/27: 4pm Gonvick Community Room
  • 4/28: 7pm at the Detroit Lakes Historic Holmes Theater

And then three more gigs unrelated to that specific “tour” back home in the metro:

  • 4/29: Storyfest at the Bloomington Center for the Arts (my set is at 11:15am-12:10pm)
  • 4/29: Teen Lit Con at Two Rivers High
  • 4/29: I’ll be a sacrificial poet at the Midwest Poetry Mash-Up at Strike Theater! It actually starts on Friday the 28th.
A photo of KTM/Guante performing (photo by Valerie Cameron) plus the text “National Poetry Month Minnesota plus a list of dates/locations: 4/12 Morris 4/19 Baxter 4/25 Hendrum 4/25 Ada 4/26 Ulen 4/26 Fertile 4/27 Gonvick 4/28 Crookston 4/28 Detroit Lakes 4/29 Bloomington (Storyfest) 4/29 Mendota Heights (Teen Lit Con) 4/29 MPLS (Midwest Poetry Mash-Up)
A photo of KTM/Guante wearing a black bucket hat and pink mask.
A promo image for the Midwest Poetry Mash-Up featuring photos of multiple performers plus the text “April 29th-29th, MPLS, MN” plus the logos of Button Poetry and Strike Theater, plus the text “get your tickets today! http://tinyurl.com/MidwestMashUp

Don’t ever let them tell you that being a “local artist” is a bad thing. So many of the artists I respect the most are not big, international superstars; they’re people who’ve put in work where they live, and invested in their home state, region, or even specific city. I’m not always as good at that as I should be, but it’s an aspiration.

Also: I can’t promote events without mentioning that I still wear a mask whenever I’m out and encourage others to as well. I know it feels like the whole country has “moved beyond” that very simple strategy for protecting one another, but if anyone else in the same boat, just want you to know that you’re not weird or paranoid; it makes perfect sense to keep wearing a mask, as people in other countries have been doing for decades.

New Video Sampler

Partly because of so many new followers and connections due to the Fred collaboration, I decided to put together a ten-video “sampler” that I feel like represents what I do pretty well. Some new stuff, some older stuff, some poems, some songs, etc. Watch it here:

More to come!