Today's newsletter is heavy on the arts and artists.  An interview with Peter Turchi on writing, followed by several stories about music and eccentric bands from the 70s, 80s, and 90s.  In the middle is a story about the most extensive online music equipment store that continues to grow in part by being good stewards of the work and the art.

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Author and Artist Austin Kleon interview another author Peter Turchi as part of a City Lights Live presentation.  In a Zoom interview, Kleon spent an hour discussing writing and the writer’s life with Turchi.  There is a link to the event page with background information.  Turchi's latest book is Don’t Stop Me If You’ve Heard This Before.  The book is a collection of essays on writing fiction.  Turchi is also a college professor, and the discussion goes into his experience with new writers and shows there is more than one way to teach writing. 

Turchi is well known for his concept of maps, writing maps, idea maps, and more ideas in an earlier book called The Writer as Cartographer.  During the interview, Turchi said a writer's job is often to be in charge of the arrangement of information. 

In dissecting writing that you like, Turchi gives us access to the idea that if we read something we admire from a writer's perspective, we can see how the structure takes shape.  Annotate the work you like, and write like it.

In addition to being a dreamer's musical candy store, Sweetwater relied on innovation to grow the business over the last few years.  In July 2022, Sweetwater launched a program called Sweetwater Gear Exchange.  This program allows people to trade and sell used musical gear within the Sweetwater ecosystem, which can improve transparency and reduce fraud.  Now go get some gear! 

Launched in 2021, Sweetwater Band & Orchestra online helps get the music gear into the hands of people who want to play but may need more financial means.  Instruments for school programs and other non-profits can work with Sweetwater to expand availability.

Implementing a new management development course for employees, increasing 401K company matching, and a new tuition reimbursement program was all a part of the 2022 plan.  Innovation like this is part of why Sweetwater is the #1 online music instrument provider in the U.S. and why it grew revenues north of $1 billion for the last 3 years.

Tom Verlaine, a recent highlight of the early N.Y.C. punk scene in the 70s, passed away.  If you have never heard of the band Television or haven't listened in a while, it's worth a visit.  Pulling up Television on Apple Music or Spotify will give you songs like Marquee Moon and See No Evil.  It is easy to hear how much television influenced later bands like Interpol and The Editors.  One guitar played a single rhythm, and Verlaine, who also played lead guitar, went in several directions. 

Several outlets have offered up stories about Verlaine.  Pitchfork writes a short piece on Verlaine and his influence on artists during his time, artists like Lou Reed and Patti Smith, as well as bands like R.E.M. and Wilco.  Another artist ahead of his time lost too soon.

The Guardian writes an interesting review of several My Bloody Valentine songs over the last 30 years.  Terms like wall of sound and sonic distortion follow this band.  In the bridge between the digital age of creating new sounds from libraries of other digital sounds, a band like My Bloody Valentine created unique sounds using instruments, amps, and more instruments.  Flutes that sounded like keyboards and vocals that sounded like someone forgot to wire the mic.  If exploring new sounds is on your to-do list this weekend, it's worth reading and listening.

An original sound.

Click on the Apple Music image to listen to the song on Apple Music or on the Spotify Image to listen to Spotify.

Thank you for spending a few minutes with us. Here’s one for the road!

With A Shout newsletter is written by Johnny Christian with the support of a thousand idea bits and the help of many people.

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