Duende is:
Tony Brown, poetry;
Steve Cafaro, electric bass and nylon string guitar.
Faro's Myspace is myspace/downtheroadRI . Check it out for all of his myriad projects.
Influences
Poetic: Rilke, Whitman, Dickinson, and many others. In the contemporary slam world, I'd have to say Regie Gibson, Patricia Smith, Rachel McKibbens, Jack McCarthy, and my buddies Bill and Sou MacMillan, Victor Infante, and Lea Deschenes. Among non-slammers of the modern day, gotta go with Li-Young Lee, Robert Bly, Adrienne Rich, and Russell Edson.
Musically, the biggest influence on my poetry is without question the whole universe of punk rock and associated DIY bands and art collectives. I won't even try to name them all -- I was a punk back in 1977 and I think I've never been the same since. I'm also into Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, Rashaan Roland Kirk, Thelonius Monk; many folk and world music performers; and other assorted Musicks of Great Integrity.
Sounds Like
Kiefer Sutherland, according to someone I know and trust. Me, I don't see that. I think I sound like the bastard son of Tom Waits and Kathleen Turner, myself. Go listen to the recordings and decide for yourself, I guess.
I'm a performance/slam poet based in Worcester, MA. I've got ten chapbooks out and have recently released the second CD/chapbook of my work with Steven Cafaro, a talented electric bass player, in our performance duo, "Duende." I've read and performed all over the country, and my work has won awards and been anthologized and published many times.
I've been writing since I was in my early teens, and have a long history in poetry...too long, I think, sometimes. I'm proud to have been there among the earliest waves of slam poets and to have had the opportunity to perform with some of the greats, like Patricia Smith, Regie Gibson, Roger Bonair-Agard, and many more. In 2006, I was honored to be among folks like these when I was asked to perform at the "Legends of Slam" showcase in Austin, TX at the National Poetry Slam.
(God, this stuff sounds pretentious sometimes. I SO dislike blowing my own horn.)
In concert with friend and fellow poet Ryk McIntyre, I host a weekly poetry reading in Providence, RI called "GotPoetry Live!" We are at the fabulous Blue State Coffee at 300 Thayer Street, and there's an open night every Tuesday from 8-10, along with all kindsa good feature poets pretty much weekly. Come on down.
I'm also a musician. If I get brave enough, there may be a song up here now and again, too.
I'll be posting my gig schedule here, some sample poems, and all sorts of whatnot. Drop me a line with comments and questions, or to discuss booking me for a show (now, that would be a nice thing, eh?)
My monthly column appears at: http://www.gotpoetry.com ...
... and my personal blog, where I post a lot of my new work, is at http://radioactiveart.wordpress.com .
Hi Tony, Thanks for the add! Awesome feature the other night! I hadn't heard you with the bass player before, I really enjoyed that. Kick-ass work as usual :)
Stomp The Stage, Inc. wants to invite all performing artists to join us in our efforts. We are an organization that wishes to do community outreach with performing art as the focal point. Please add us to your friends & let's build something beautiful together.
hello lovely. i didnt know you had a show last night. i so would have been there. im sorry i missed it. im sure you were fantastic. big love and hugs -s.
Well, I’m reading on the Moe Green Poetry Hour (www.blogtalkradio.com/onword) tomorrow at High Noon (CST). If you can’t catch it live, it’ll be available on the show’s archives.
All thanks to you, Mistah Brown.
D.R.
P.S. Don't miss Yusef Komunyakaa on Moe Green later this month....
Hey Tony- love the new stuff- its holding me over until the return of GotPoetry Live- Sing Before Seven is helping me maintain my sanity, and save money by skipping therapy- I love it See you soon Words and Rhythm Chris
hey tony. never said thank you for the add. much respect to what you're doing with your writing. gives the rest of us hope that are just fumbling around wondering what to do with this gift of verse. thanks again. wish i could come to your party. peace
