Bradley’s Almanac

[A Special Giveaway] KRISTIN HERSH books, music, + tee

Posted on April 24, 2011 at 11:01 pm | 4 Comments

Here’s a giveaway that’s been very long in the posting… since Autumn, in fact, when Kristin Hersh‘s debut memoir, “Rat Girl” was published in the U.S. and I started putting together this little contest to mark the occasion. Life got in the way, Kristin kept planning more cool stuff I thought I’d wait for, and I kept saying “next week”. Well, next week is now – time to get this very special package in the mail to one of you. Read on (and on) for details on what you could win and how to enter, as I recall my reaction to reading K’s book over a few long-since-passed Fall days…


Sitting here on a barstool trying to write, but I’ve got Kristin Hersh‘s very first book, a recollection of her tumultuous 18th year on Earth entitled “Rat Girl”, sitting on the bar next to me. So I’m torn. Torn because I need to come up with words to accompany this giveaway, but I mostly just want to finish this mind-sparking book. I’m almost finished with it, and it’s the very definition of a “painful-to-put-down” read; not because it’s a suspenseful action-thriller, or course (although there is action – and thrills!) but because you want to know the next thoughts and bits of life-history that will tumble out of her once-upon-a-brain. Pages full of striking words, perfectly-insightful little mineral deposits that start as small piles and build towards major claims. Infinitely rewarding when you cash in.

Anyone who knows me in real life, or knows me from the over-sharing I’ve done on this site, knows of my deep appreciation for the songwriter, guitarist, and human being that is Kristin Hersh. I could gush, though I’ve done plenty of that. I could share stories of how she has both directly and indirectly impacted my own lifestory, but I’ll refrain. Simply said, she means an awful lot to me, and so does the art she’s been sending into the world for the last 25-or-so years. I’ve been listening to what she has to say, mostly in lyrics backed by exceptional music, for a couple decades now, half of my own life. Her words rarely fail to reach me, even when near-indecipherable or too obtuse to decode. Even her between-song-banter at live shows strikes a chord in me, revealing someone with a remarkable ability to toss thought-provoking gems into a crowd.

It’s much more recently that I’ve felt the power of those words when they stand on their own, through her own blog posts or when guesting on other sites around the web. I always thought she might have one hell of a good book inside of her, and whaddya know, she damn well did. It exists in “Rat Girl”, and for example, here’s one of my favorite parts so far, about Betty Hutton, a one-time bonafide Hollywood Movie Star ™, who Kristin befriended in college…

“Betty grew up in the golden age of Hollywood, back when movies were Broadway on film, so her idea of music is ‘singing as entertainment,’ and you can’t call what I do singing or entertainment. I hiss and yell and wail. Sometimes I make seagull noises, unfortunately. Music is something I have almost no control over. Like well-rehearsed Tourette’s.

When Betty sings, she sits at a piano and says lovely things about hope and broken hearts. I often sing phonetically, as if I don’t speak English. The words climb out of my throat and into my mouth. Then I have to spit them out.

Betty sings about starlight and champagne. I sing about dead rabbits and blow jobs. When I say playing music is owning violence, she says it’s owning love; when I say it’s math, she says it’s tap dancing; when I say it’s my gun, she says it’s her dance card.

I’ve also noticed that she sings notes that go with the chords in her songs. I have yet to do that. It sounds pretty when Betty does it; it sounds boring and goofy when I do it. So I make up new notes, ones that don’t belong anywhere near the chords I’m playing, and I sing those. People must think, It’s so nice of them to let that deaf girl sing.”

Kristin’s relationship with Betty is perhaps the heart of the book, and it’s got a very strong beat. Betty comes and goes during that long year, but mostly she stays, with Kristin and with you, and with me long after the you’re done reading. It’s a life-altering connection between to very different souls, and it speaks fiercely. There’s so much simply beauty in it to be found…

Betty: “Aren’t movies wonderful? Beautiful people living beautiful lives.”

Kristin: “For seven bucks? They’re just pretending. I’d rather watching real people living real lives for free.”

That’s what this book gives you. Real Lives. And for longtime fans of Kristin’s first band, Throwing Muses, there are little easter eggs – not-so-hidden surprises that pop-up during Kristin’s story – that will no doubt make you smile. Within the memoir’s very first paragraph, she writes about a cross hanging the wall of an apartment she used to crash in, and a Jesus nailed to it with fish-like scales. A song will come into your head…

“I have a fish nailed to a cross on my apartment wall.”

For Muses fans, that’s a seminal line, from the band’s “Fish“. It immediately reveals that Kristin lyrics, as unearthly as they often felt, were very much grounded in her own very surreal world.

Later in the book, a sidewalk talk with a mohawk-sporting, tie-wearing, pamphlet-wielding kid on a Providence street corner. As their conversation, and Kristin’s recounting of it, starts to include phrases like “smack freak” and “blame society” and “the holocaust”, you’re suddenly inside the beautiful genesis of a major piece of Muses history – the birthplace of the disturbingly anthemic “Hate My Way“. Reading that page gave me chills.

It’s not just the Throwing Muses ephemera that connects, though. If you’re not yet a fan, but a fan of music, there’s much more to be found. Little pearls of wisdom within…

“I don’t listen to much music. The more you love music, the less music you love, ’cause you get picky — we take our religion seriously. Bad music is angrifying and good music is so painfully intense.”


Last July, I wrote about Kristin’s wonderful art-book/album combo, “Crooked”, previewed the arrival of “Rat Girl”, and mentioned a bunch of other recorded projects she had in the works. I also said something to the effect of “2010 is a great year to be a Kristin Hersh fan”, not knowing that 2011 would be equally rewarding, maybe moreso.

And so, in honor of the remarkably productive phase that Kristin finds herself in, I’m pulled together a bundle of greatness to pass along to one reader…

What you see above is a copy of the “Crooked” album/book, along with copy of “Rat Girl” that Kristin signed, the debut disc from her rock trio 50 Foot Wave, and a limited-edition (and long-since unavailable) t-shirt commemorating Kristin’s 2007 live appearance at the Brattle Theatre with her longtime bandmate, step-sister, solo artist, and former Belly frontwoman, Tanya Donelly.

If you want a shot at having all that merch in your mailbox, send an message to giveaways [at] bradleysalmanac [dot] com with “KH” in the subject line. Include your full name and city of residence (North American residents only, unfortunately), and get it to my inbox before next Monday evening, May 2nd, at 5pm. That’s when I’ll pick the winner and contact them for a mailing address. Simple as that.

For more on Kristin, “Rat Girl”, and her ongoing musical output, here’s a wealth of links…

  • Kristin has been doing multimedia performances for “Rat Girl” (titled “Paradoxical Undressing in the UK), and you can watch an 8-minute trailer / short-film that gives you a taste of both the performance and the book. The U.S. premiere of this spoken word/music/video took place earlier this month at The Getty Center in Los Angeles, so I’m hoping an East Coast / Boston edition is in the works (Brattle? ICA?).
  • If you remain unconvinced that you should be reading “Rat Girl”, this might do the trick: Read the book’s introduction and first 3 chapters thanks to Penguin, Kristin’s U.S. publisher. Order it straight from them while you’re there, or pick it up from Amazon.
  • Yes, there’s a Throwing Muses album in the works, and you can download a whole bunch of K solo demos at the Throwing Muses’ CASH Music site. The album is entirely fan-funded, and you can make a donation while you’re over there. Here’s one of my favorites – can’t wait to hear what drummer Dave Narcizo and bassist Bernard Georges add to this track…

  • Kristin and Throwing Muses have been releasing, for free, very special aural accompaniments to “Rat Girl” entitled The Season Sessions. These are old Muses songs, entirely re-recorded as acoustic versions, released in batches each season. Fall, Winter, and Spring so far, one remaining. Something this unique probably deserves a ‘Nac post all its own, and it speaks to how much K has going on that it has become just a footnote to this one.
  • Pick up the gorgeous artbook/CD edition of her most recent solo album, “Crooked”, from the Book Depository, or get the disc alone straight from her Throwing Music site. Here’s a track from it…

  • K’s trio 50 Foot Wave has been rolling along as well, and lucky us, they’ve decided share their most recent work, “With Love From The Men’s Room”, via CASH Music as well. The album is being released track-by-track on their site, with the first two (“Radiant Addict” and “Grey“) already up and ready to grab. Here’s Part 1…

  • New online literary magazine User Furniture Review posted an excellent interview with Kristin last month, so take a read and have a look around the rest of the site while you’re there. Well worth exploring.
  • More Rat Girl-related press / interviews / reviews at the Huffington Post, KEXP (which focuses on the book’s fantastic Gilbert Hernandez cover), the Boston Globe (review / interview), NPR (which has audio and another excerpt from “Rat Girl”).
  • Last August, Kristin visited the Manhattan Barnes & Noble for their Upstairs on the Square series, and you can watch the entire hour-long reading / performance / interview.
  • And finally, check out a very recent video interview with Kristin courtesy of the just-launched Rock Book Show website.
  • Alright, get with the emailing – this present needs a happy home.

    Comments

    4 Responses to “[A Special Giveaway] KRISTIN HERSH books, music, + tee”

    1. Andy
      April 25th, 2011 @ 4:23 am

      Awesome giveaway Brad, I feel sadly left out on this side of the pond

    2. tine
      April 25th, 2011 @ 4:54 am

      This is an incredible review, Brad. It’s hard to do that book justice but I think you just did. Thank you.

    3. David
      April 25th, 2011 @ 5:11 am

      Rat Girl is every bit as compelling as her music.

      You can also read the playlist Kristin put together for Rat Girl for my blog’s Book Notes series:

      http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2010/08/book_notes_kris_2.html

    4. Heather
      April 25th, 2011 @ 1:09 pm

      Great give away, and as always your article is full with magnificent detail.

    Leave a Reply





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    @ Leader Bank Pavilion

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    (record release party!)
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    @ the Pavilion

    Wednesday, July 30th
    TV on the Radio
    @ Roadrunner

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    The "Happy Together" Tour
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    and more
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    Sharpie Smile
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    Saturday, August 2nd
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    Thursday, Friday, & Saturday
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    Wednesday, August 13th
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    Thursday, August 14th
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    Wednesday, August 20th
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    9million
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    @ the Sinclair

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    @ Bellforge Arts Center

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    @ MGM Music Hall

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    @ Suffolk Downs

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    @ MGM Music Hall

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    @ Roadrunner

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    Ekko Astral
    @ Roadrunner

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    Steve Winwood
    @ The Cabot

    Tuesday, September 16th
    Molly Tuttle
    Cecelia Castleman
    @ the Royale

    Wednesday, September 17th
    Alison Krauss & Union Station
    Willie Watson
    @ the Pavilion

    Thursday, September 18th
    The Bouncing Souls
    H2O
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    Jer
    @ the Royale

    Thursday, September 18th
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    Drew & Finley Do O'Doherty
    @ the Old Fire Station
    in Woods Hole, MA

    Thursday, September 18th
    Garbage
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    @ Roadrunner

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    Soccer Mommy
    Dummy
    @ House of Blues

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    George Thorogood
    & the Destroyers
    @ Lynn Auditorium

    Saturday, September 20th
    Weakened Friends
    @ the Sinclair

    Saturday, September 20th
    Turnstile
    Mannequin Pussy
    SPEED
    Jane Remover
    @ Suffolk Downs

    Saturday, September 20th
    Morrissey
    @ MGM Music Hall

    Saturday, September 20th
    Wolf Alice
    @ House of Blues

    Sunday, September 21st
    Sebadoh
    @ the Middle East Downstairs

    Sunday, September 21st
    Laura Stevenson
    @ the Sinclair

    Sunday, September 21st
    Marina
    Mallrat
    @ Roadrunner

    Sunday, September 21st
    Múm
    @ Crystal Ballroom

    Sunday, September 21st
    Nation of Language
    Greet Death
    @ the Royale

    Sunday, September 21st
    Shonen Knife
    @ Sonia

    Monday, September 22nd
    Elvis Costello & the Imposters
    "Radio Soul!" tour
    with Charlie Sexton
    @ MGM Music Hall

    Tuesday, September 23rd
    The Minus 5
    The Baseball Project
    @ the Crystal Ballroom

    Tuesday, September 23rd
    Viagra Boys
    @ Roadrunner

    Wednesday, September 24th
    The Beaches
    Debbii Dawson
    @ Roadrunner

    Thursday, September 25th
    Cowboy Junkies
    @ the Shubert Theatre

    Thursday, September 25th
    Junior Varsity
    @ the Rockwell

    Thursday, September 25th
    Iggy Pop
    Sex Pistols
    The Molotovs
    @ Suffolk Downs

    Thursday through Sunday
    Sept. 25th, 26th, 27th, & 28th
    John Mulaney
    "Mister Whatever" tour
    @ the Wang Theatre

    Friday, September 26th
    The Front Bottoms
    Sincere Engineer
    @ Roadrunner

    Friday, September 26th
    Lorde
    Blood Orange
    The Japanese House
    @ TD Garden

    Friday, September 26th
    Stereolab
    The Memorials
    @ the Royale

    Saturday, September 27th
    Car Seat Headrest
    @ MGM Music Hall

    Saturday, September 27th
    Rolo Tomassi
    @ the Rockwell

    Saturday, September 27th
    X
    Los Lobos
    @ the Shubert Theatre

    Sunday, September 28th
    An Evening with author
    Samin Nosrat discussing
    her cookbook "Good Things"
    with Hrishikesh Hirway
    @ Emerson Colonial Theatre

    Sunday, September 28th
    The Tubs
    @ Deep Cuts

    Monday, September 29th
    Melvins
    Red Kross
    @ Fete in Providence

    Wednesday, October 1st
    Tropical F*ck Storm
    Mark Robinson
    @ Crystal Ballroom

    Wednesday, October 1st
    Bad Suns
    Yot Club
    @ the Royale

    Thursday, October 2nd
    Amy Millan (Stars/BSS)
    @ the Middle East

    Thursday, October 2nd
    DEVO
    The B-52s
    Lene Lovich Band
    @ the Xfinity Center

    Thursday, October 2nd
    Elbow
    @ Roadrunner

    Friday, October 3rd
    Home Is Where
    Forests
    @ the Sinclair

    Thursday, Friday, & Saturday
    October 2nd, 3rd, & 4th
    David Byrne
    @ the Wang

    Saturday & Sunday
    October 4th & 5th
    An Inconceivable Evening
    with Cary Elwes
    & a screening of
    The Princess Bride
    @ the Wilbur

    Monday, October 6th
    Swans
    Little Annie
    Paul Wallfisch
    @ the Paradise

    Monday, October 6th
    Yusuf/Cat Stevens
    "An Evening Of Tales,
    Tunes And Other Mysteries"
    Book Tour show
    @ the Wang Theatre

    Wednesday, October 8th
    Anamanaguchi
    Ovlov
    @ the Royale

    Wednesday, October 8th
    Queens of the Stone Age
    (acoustic show)
    @ the Wang

    Wednesday, October 8th
    Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
    'Howl' 20th Anniversary Tour
    with Humanist
    @ House of Blues

    Wednesday, October 8th
    Water From Your Eyes
    Her New Knife
    Editrix
    @ the Sinclair

    Wednesday, October 8th
    The Murder Capital
    @ Sonia

    Thursday, October 9th
    Team Dresch
    Vitapup
    @ Crystal Ballroom

    Thursday, October 9th
    Violent Femmes
    @ the Chevalier Theatre

    Friday, October 10th
    AFI
    TR/ST @ the House of Blues

    Friday, October 10th
    Jukebox the Ghost
    Boys Go To Jupiter
    @ the Royale

    Friday, October 10th
    Destroyer
    @ the Paradise

    Saturday, October 11th
    Pile
    Nnamdï
    @ the Sinclair

    Saturday, October 11th
    Kneecap
    @ the House of Blues

    Sunday, October 12th
    The Miki Berenyi Trio
    (that's Miki from Lush)
    Gina Birch
    The Unreasonables
    @ the Sinclair

    Monday, October 13th
    My Morning Jacket
    @ MGM Music Hall

    Tuesday, October 14th
    Grandaddy
    celebrating the 25th anniversary
    of "The Sophtware Slump"
    with Greg Freeman
    @ the Royale

    Wednesday, October 15th
    Modest Mouse
    Built to Spill
    @ MGM Music Hall

    Wednesday, October 15th
    Disclosure (Live)
    Fcukers
    Villager
    @ Roadrunner

    Thursday, October 16th
    Moving Targets
    Billy Batts & the Made Men
    Spiller
    @ Faces Brewing

    Friday, October 17th
    The Psychedelic Furs
    Gary Numan
    @ MGM Musis Hall

    Saturday, October 18th
    Patty Griffin &
    Rickie Lee Jones
    @ the Chevalier

    Sunday, October 19th
    Guerilla Toss
    @ Crystal Ballroom

    Sunday, October 19th
    Ruston Kelly
    Sam MacPherson
    @ the Sinclair

    Monday, October 20th
    Leisure
    @ the Royale

    Tuesday, October 21st
    Big Thief
    @ MGM Music Hall

    Tuesday, October 21st
    Everclear
    Local H
    Sponge
    @ Big Night Live

    Thursday, October 23rd
    Neko Case
    Des Demonas
    @ The Wilbur

    Thursday, October 23rd
    Belly
    "King" 30th Anniversary Tour!
    @ the Paradise

    Thursday & Friday
    October 23rd & 24th
    Ali McGuirk
    "Watertop" Release Shows
    @ the Lizard Lounge

    Friday, Saturday, & Sunday
    October 24th, 25th, & 26th
    Jonathan Richman
    with Tommy Larkins
    @ the Somerville Theatre

    Saturday, October 25th
    Rufus Wainwright
    @ City Winery

    Saturday, October 25th
    Ezra Furman
    The Golden Dregs
    @ the Sinclair

    Saturday, October 25th
    Minus The Bear
    @ the House of Blues

    Monday, October 27th
    Laufey
    Suki Waterhouse
    @ TD Garden

    Monday, October 27th
    Autechre
    Mark Broom
    @ Brighton Music Hall

    Wednesday, October 29th
    Herbie Hancock
    @ the Wang Theatre

    Wednesday, October 29th
    The Beta Band
    @ the Royale

    Thursday, October 30th
    Cage the Elephant
    Hey, Nothing
    Common People
    @ MGM Music Hall

    Friday, October 31st
    Fleshwater
    Chat Pile
    @ the Paradise

    Sunday, November 2nd
    Fruit Bats (solo)
    @ the Sinclair

    Wednesday, November 5th
    Boris
    "Pink" 20th Anniversary Tour
    with Uniform
    @ the Paradise

    Thursday, November 6th
    Colin Hay (Men at Work)
    @ the Chevalier Theatre

    Thursday, Friday, & Saturday
    November 6th, 7th, & 8th
    Buffalo Tom's 2nd annual
    "Please Come to Boston" fest
    with special live performances
    & guests each night
    @ the Somerville Armory

    Thursday & Friday
    November 6th & 7th
    The Lone Bellow
    @ the Sinclair

    Friday & Saturday
    November 7th & 8th
    Steve Martin & Martin Short
    three shows @ the Wang

    Saturday, November 8th
    The Mars Volta
    @ House of Blues

    Tuesday & Wednesday
    November 11th & 12th
    Micky Dolenz (the Monkees)
    Songs & Stories
    @ City Winery

    Thursday, November 13th
    Janeane Garofalo
    @ the Somerville Armory

    Friday, November 14th
    Geese
    @ the Paradise

    Saturday, November 15th
    Beach Fossils
    @ the Paradise

    Thursday, November 20th
    Weakened Friends
    @ the Sinclair

    Saturday, November 22nd
    Couch
    @ Roadrunner

    Monday, November 24th
    Bar Italia
    @ the Paradise

    Monday, November 24th
    Patti Smith
    Horses 50th Anniversary Tour
    @ the Orpheum

    Wednesday, November 26th
    The Lemonheads
    @ The Wilbur

    Saturday, November 29th
    Portugal. The Man
    @ Roadrunner

    Monday, December 1st
    (second show added)
    The Beths
    Phoebe Rings
    @ the Royale

    Saturday, December 13th
    A John Waters Christmas
    @ Berklee Performance Center

    Thursday, January 15th, 2026
    Cate Le Bon
    @ the Sinclair

    Wednesday, June 26th, 2026
    The Church
    The Singles Tour
    (rescheduled from 8/1/25)
    @ Somerville Theatre