National Poetry Month Meets Howlin’ Wolf
Sean MurphyNational Poetry Month rolls on. Thanks again to Decolonial Passage for publishing "Howlin' Wolf's Harp" last summer. This one appears in Rhapsodies in Blue (and I read it last week…
Introducing “Rhapsodies in Blue”
Just in time to properly celebrate National Poetry Month, my second collection, Rhapsodies in Blue, is now available! You can pick up a paperback or Kindle version here. I'd love you to…
Original Poem: Howlin’ Wolf’s Harp
It was a huge thrill to have my poem "Billie Holiday's Deathbed" published (and nominated for a Pushcart Prize) by Decolonial Passage and I'm equally happy to see my new…
THE BLACKENED BLUES, One Poem at a Time: Howlin’ Wolf’s Arena
I’m happy to announce that my first poetry collection, The Blackened Blues, is available wherever you buy books (yes, *wherever*, so you don’t have to put more money in Rocket Man’s…
National Poetry Month #17-19
April, according to this poet, is the cruelest month. April, according to these lovers of poetry, is National Poetry Month, and the only cruelty is metaphorical (which isn’t to say T.S. Eliot was being…
Three Original Poems, published by Sequestrum Journal of Lit & Arts
Sequestrum, Issue 18 Of course you can, and sometimes should, judge a book (or, in this case, a literary magazine) by its cover. The latest issue of Sequestrum, a journal…
They Will Rock You, They Are The Champions: The Consummate American Bands (Revisited)
October ’08. In the spirit of two quintessentially American inventions (obsessions, really), baseball and rock and roll, it seemed like a swell idea to merge the two in a lighthearted…
O Captain! My Captain!: The Unique Magic of Don Van Vliet (Revisited)
As Ian Anderson said, “We’re getting a bit short on heroes lately.” And Ian, while he wasn’t speaking of Don Van Vliet, nevertheless would --and has— endorsed the man better…
The Howling or, 105 Years of the Big Bad Wolf
Who's afraid of the big, bad Wolf? Plenty of people, and for good reason. Fortunately for us, we are not sketchy record company executives or anyone else who may have…
Gary Clark, Jr.: Live Proves that Hearing is Believing
Over the years I’ve found myself defending bands who cover classic blues, ranging from the good (Yardbirds, Animals), to the occasionally good (Rolling Stones, Beatles), to the occasionally great (Led…