Music to Read By

Artemis Records, a New York-based independent record label and home to artists such as Steve Earle and the late Warren Zevon, is expanding its selection of spoken word CDs to include authors Allen Ginsberg and Al Franken, among others. The literary CDs are, of course, a natural fit for independent booksellers, but so is music from Artemis, a Book Sense Publisher Partner.

"If you take our music and put it in front of the customers who seek out independent bookstores, they'd be excited to find out about it, especially since many of our records often aren't [aired] on the radio," said Artemis Executive Vice President Michael Krumper.

One particular music CD that Krumper believes will have significant crossover appeal is Steve Earle's The Revolution Starts ... Now, to be released August 24. Many of the songs are politically charged with Earle's damning commentary on world events. Earle is already known to many independent booksellers as the author of Doghouse Hoses (Mariner), a collection of short stories that appeared on the 2002 July/August Book Sense 76 and inspired John Evans of Lemuria's Bookstore in Jackson, Mississippi, to say, "Get a glass of bourbon and stay up late reading Earle's stories and listening to his music."

As an added incentive for bookstores carrying Artemis music CDs, Krumper explained, whenever possible the record company will work with booksellers to create an in-store event featuring one of its artists. (Interested booksellers should send an e-mail to Krumper at [email protected].)

On September 21, Artemis Records will release Al Franken's The O'Franken Factor Factor: The Very Best of the O'Franken Factor. Collected by Franken from his radio show on the Air America Radio Network, the album features approximately 80 minutes of social and political commentary, as well as skits from the first months of The O'Franken Factor or, as it is now called, The Al Franken Show. Krumper told BTW that he's certain the CD will do very well for bookstores given Franken's longstanding reign on the Book Sense Bestseller list with Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them, which in audio won the 2004 Grammy for Spoken Word.

The Ginsberg CD will be released October 19 and features a reading of his epic poem Wichita Vortex Sutra, written in 1966 about the Vietnam War. The piece was recorded at the Poetry Project at Saint Marks Church in New York City by Ginsberg and a few of his friends, who provided original music for the occasion. Among the guests were Philip Glass, Marc Ribot, and Arto Lindsay.

To learn more about Artemis Records, visit www.artemisrecords.com/.

Booksellers who would like to recommend other music CDs to their fellow booksellers should send an e-mail to [email protected]. -- Karen Schechner