Living the Dream

I’ve been away from the blogosphere for a little while now, but I promise you that I’ve not been slacking! Let me take you through what’s been going down on my end.

On Tuesday, I had the distinct honor and privilege of performing a rendition of Ishmael Reed’s Chattanooga with my dear friend and mentor Shane Morrow (pictured below). This happened right in front of Mr. Reed and his daughter, which was hard enough to wrap my head around. However, during his reading, Ishmael blew my mind by offering a HUGE compliment. He said that he’d initially intended on reading the poem, but didn’t think he could follow it after our take on the piece. Gah!!!

 

It was such a great night. I had the opportunity to meet the man and have him sign an old Black Arts Movement anthology he was featured in for me. By the way, he totally didn’t remember writing the poem in it. Mua ha ha!

 

This Saturday night, I’ll be performing in the Tunnel Arts Festival on Brainerd Rd. I’ll be doing a little something something with a few incredibly talented peers, friends, and MANIFEST collaborators from 2 to 2:30, and then I’ll be performing poetry in an event called The Muse Project after 8 inside the Mocha Restaurant. Admission is $5, so come on out for jazz, poetry, and good times.

The poem I’m doing is called Indigo. It won an award last year through the Origami Poetry Project and pays homage to the incomparable Nina Simone. I have a special guest helping me out on it, and the challenge has been to try to make the poem (which is a page piece) more of a live entity. I’m still tinkering with it in my mind and, more than likely, will be even on the stage. I’m almost certain there’s going to be some improvisational riffing going on, but how fitting for Jazz Appreciation Month, eh?

 

Switching gears, we’re getting closer and closer to April 20^th and the RAW Presents MARVEL show in Atlanta! I’m very excited about it. I’m happy to announce that I’m halfway to meeting my ticket quota, and they’re going fast, so if you’d like to purchase one to catch the show or just to support Your Friendly Neighborhood Christian, you can do so here: http://www.rawartists.org/atlanta/marvel/?artist=128773

In other news, I’ve got brand new chapbooks because I was dangerously close to selling out again. So, I’m fully stocked and hoping to get rid of a good number in the near future. Literary hustle, boys and girls!

Tomorrow, the mixing for my EP Between Beauty & Bedlam will begin. I’m very excited to be entering into this stage, and I can’t wait to get the first mix back! I have to stay patient though. What can I say though? I’m anxious!!! I’m really looking forward to welcoming you fine folks into the project, too. We’re getting there though.

Lastly, I’ve thrown a few things on my Soundcloud page. I remixed a poem by Mr. Ian Dougherty last year, and was finally able to send it to him. He loves it, and it will be appearing on his upcoming record, so definitely keep your eyes and ears open for it. You can check it out here: https://soundcloud.com/christian-j-collier/ian-dougherty-diotima

 

Also, I went on a mini-tour in mid-December and managed to record my feature set from Augusta, GA’s M.A.D. Studios. You get jokes, apocalyptic humor, poems, a plug for W. Kamau Bell’s show (which you should all be watching), etc. You can also check that out here: https://soundcloud.com/christian-j-collier/live-at-m-a-d-studios

Well, that’s all I’ve got time for right now. Be good, don’t be afraid to add me on Soundcloud if you’re making noise on there, and I hope to see you out in the near future. Peace!

Blessings