the markings of music: LINER NOTES (The 48 Record Bar Reading Series, hosted by Alina Pleskova) SERIES PREMIERE
Liner Notes is a new, music-oriented reading/listening/conversation series, held at 48 Record Bar in Philly. Each event will feature one visiting writer and one Philly-local writer.
When my pal Joey asked if I’d be into starting an event series at a record bar that he was opening, I wanted to try something new. Or at least, new for me as someone used to hosting, performing at, and attending poetry readings.
My vision for Liner Notes is to have the ‘reading’, ‘listening’, and ‘conversation’ be pretty equal. Readings invite sustained attention and active listening — that’s part of what I love about them — but I also want to try for a conversational and communal-feeling vibe.
Next to poetry, music is an enduring love of my life. Punk and hardcore scenes were a big part of my identity formation and, however indirectly, shaped my ethos about writing/publishing — affinity for countercultural and DIY spaces, disinterest in institutional approval or ways of doing things, disavowal of musty and exclusionary models of prestige, ephemerality and mess as a welcome part of making art. For this series, I’m also pulling from the punk house show model of charging a small door fee in order to pay the performers.
More elementally, and across many genres/styles: my relationship to music feels very sacred and specific. Sometimes it’s a personal, associative thing and sometimes purely aesthetic appreciation, but usually it’s a combination of those plus a secret third thing. Like my favorite poetry, my favorite music distinctly reveals or reflects some aspect of the experience of being alive. And I suspect that everyone has their own version of this sensation.
To that end, I’m super interested in hearing about what albums and artists have been formative, instrumental, or otherwise affecting for writers and why — and layering that with writers reading their work, and all of us listening to some songs in real time, so it feels like we’re sharing the experience. And some audience discussion/Q&A too, so it’s a bigger conversation.
I’m excited to learn from the guests, both in terms of writing and music insights. While I ask for their picks ahead of time so we can have the records ready (to play them during the event and so people can buy stuff that writers mention from the record bar), I don’t plan to do a ton of research if I have no pre-existing knowledge/awareness of a particular artist. I love learning about something from a person who’s really into it, and I especially love that kind of learning when sprinkled with personal anecdotes.
If you’re in or near Philly, join us for the first iteration of Liner Notes on December 13, with guests Rax Ring and Boston Gordon! And please reach out to me if you’d interested in being part of it.
