WE’VE ALL FELT IT! The pounding beat, the thrill of guitars, the legendary lives we can only wonder at!
Rock music, in its power and promise, has been a myth for our times since it first blazed its trail across the sky. This show, combining spoken storytelling with live rock band, recasts rock legends as figures from mythology and folktale, celebrating the heroes and anti-heroes as the myths they always were. A must for anyone who ever had posters on their walls, played guitar in the mirror, thrilled to the noise and dreamed of freedom!
Here you will find:
- FREE bonus songs for download!
- More info about the show
- A list of sources, should you wish to read more!
And should you wish to book the show for your venue or event, please do get in touch! We’re always glad to share it.
FREE DOWNLOADS!
For the studio album, we recorded all the songs that appear in the live show – but not all of them fitted onto the CD release…! Not wanting anyone to miss out, please feel free to download the extra songs FREE by clicking this link. Any problems, please contact me to let me know.
And if you want to buy the album on CD or download, go to Shop!
About Promised Land
In May 2024, we blazed a trail through the history of rock legends by way of world mythology. The ninety minutes of live storytelling-plus-rock-band had audiences dancing in the aisles. And of course the recorded version became an instant collector’s item.
That’s the legend, anyway.
Promised Land is a 90min show (plus interval), featuring spoken-word storytelling and live music. It’s available for any suitable venue for a 4- or 5-piece rock band (bass, drums, two guitars and sometimes keyboards) – or we can also do a stripped-down version, such as just storyteller and accompanying guitarist. It’s a celebration of, and meditation on, the joy of rock music as something that gives meaning and magic to our modern lives.
This show was a long labour of love, born of a lifetime of intense music fandom, and years puzzling over why it’s meant so much to me (and to others) even when you can see the cracks in the cold light of day. It was given a much-appreciated boost when it was shortlisted for the Get A Word In Edgeways/House of the West Wind Step Up Commission 2023 – leading to a GLORIOUS weekend in beautiful Much Wenlock, workshopping and making friends with a whole crowd of fabulous storytellers, poets and performers. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t commissioned – I had such a fantastic time, and now the bit was between my teeth. I set my sights on Brighton Fringe 2024, and went for it.
But the show genuinely could not have happened without several immensely generous and talented friends. First of all, Amelia Armande and Joshua Crisp contacted me straight after the Step Up weekend to offer advice and guidance in getting the show off the ground. Not only was this wonderful encouragement, it was immeasurably valuable in getting from my initial idea to a Finished Story – it wouldn’t have been anything close to how it turned out without their help. Thanks always.
Secondly, the band! I knew from the word go that I wanted songs in the show, and, being lucky enough to have lots of musical friends, I knew just who to call. They were cracking collaborators and made it so much fun. So hats off to: Robb Johnson on guitar, Roger Stevens on piano, Mark Wilson on bass and Al Fransham on drums – plus Ali Gavan who recorded and mixed the CD with his usual superb skill and patience.
And what’s more…! Simon Russell had been inspired when I first mentioned the idea to him years ago, and offered to create pictures of the characters from the stories. Once it became a potential reality, he not only produced a gallery of images in no time at all, but the promo pic above (which still makes me grin my head off). I’m immensely grateful for the help and encouragement.
Sources
There’s the traditional folk saying that “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” If, like me, you love that phrase but also love music writing anyway, have a look through some of the texts below that gave me inspiration for this show! (And marvel at how many were published in 2012/2013. Even several just about Bruce Springsteen. Clearly a good year for music writing.)
And most of all, go and listen to songs by the artists whose stories I tell: Little Richard, Elvis, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Patti Smith, Tina Turner, Nirvana, Bruce Springsteen… and any other musicians too. All of them. Do it, now. You won’t be disappointed.
Core texts:
Marc Dolan, Bruce Springsteen and the Promise of Rock ‘n’ Roll (Norton, 2013 [2012])
Simon Frith, Music for Pleasure: Essays in the Sociology of Pop (Routledge, 1988)
David Hepworth, Uncommon People: The Rise and Fall of the Rock Stars (Black Swan, 2018 [2017])
Bruce Springsteen, Born to Run (Simon & Schuster, 2016)
Other great reads that are also in there:
Lester Bangs (Greil Marcus ed), Psychotic Reactions & Carburetor Dung (Minerva, 1990 [1988])
Lester Bangs (John Morthland ed), Mainlines, Blood Feasts, and Bad Taste: A Lester Bangs Reader (Anchor, 2003)
Peter Ames Carlin, Bruce (Simon & Schuster, 2013 [2012])
Barney Hoskyns, Ragged Glories: City Lights, Country Funk, American Music (Pimlico, 2003)
Lenny Kaye, Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments in Rock & Roll (White Rabbit, 2021)
Nick Kent, The Dark Stuff: Selected Writings on Rock Music 1972-1993 (Faber & Faber, 2007)
Carole King, A Natural Woman (Virago, 2013 [2012])
Christopher Phillips and Louis P. Masur (eds), Talk About a Dream: The Essential Interviews of Bruce Springsteen (Bloomsbury, 2013)
Mark Radcliffe, Showbusiness: The Diary of a Rock ‘N’ Roll Nobody (Hodder & Stoughton, 1998) – which, okay, might not have influenced this show that directly; but, along with Simon Frith and the Lester Bangs reader, is one of my favourite books about music EVER, and so I had to include it.
Jon the Storyteller 