Sep
19
11:30pm
Drive All Day (Because I'm Too Old to Drive All Night): Jamie Anderson in conversation with Bucky Motter
By Charis Books and More/Charis Circle
Charis welcomes Jamie Anderson in conversation with Bucky Motter for a discussion of Drive All Day (Because I'm Too Old to Drive All Night), a dive into a musician's life, and if you learn anything, remember to stay off the roller coasters at Dollywood, unless you have a jumbo bottle of Ibuprofen.
Jamie rants about everything from Spotify, who paid her ten cents one quarter, to sharing the road with clueless truckers who don't pull over even when they're dragging a curtain of sparks behind them. Read about a trip to Hawaii where she hardly noticed the beaches, (Because: Ukuleles), a gig at a hospice where they didn't want soothing instrumentals and candlelight, and a Canadian winter that saw her walking to class every day, even when the Real Canadians were driving. There's also the trip to Dollywood where her mom was the oldest person in line for a bone-rattling roller coaster but, then again, this is the same woman who jumped out of a plane in her seventies.
Jamie's a guitar teacher too, even if any search engine would have you believe guitar teachers are all young guys leaning over smiling women who can't possibly learn how to form a G chord without manly instruction. She's had several students from the Chinese embassy who pepper her with questions about Beatles songs, such as, "Did Eleanor Rigby really exist?" or "Why are these songs so sad?" There are pupils with creative excuses for not practicing like, "We couldn't find her guitar." She's had students who aren't neurotypical, such as her student who communicates using their favorite lines from vintage cartoons. On her popular YouTube channel, viewers ask about lesson details, but they also want to know if she's married and if she's lost weight. There are thousands of men who teach online and not one of them is told that the blue in his shirt matches his eyes.
You'll find out that one publisher refused her last book because they were afraid men wouldn't buy it; cloaked in so much academic-speak she needed a professor friend to translate. There are reviews of women's music festivals, a chapter about lesbian folk singer Alix Dobkin, and stories from the road, like the gig where a disheveled woman got up on stage and threw pennies at Jamie's guitar. Read about what it's like to teach at a girls' rock camp even though she's never owned an electric guitar.
It's not all music related, like the chapter about being an administrator for a neighborhood group where threads sometimes end up with writers hurling expletives at each other. Very un-Canadian, eh? She also writes about living between two cemeteries (the neighbors are really quiet), and the Uber ride from a New York City airport wherein her driver decided not to kill her and throw her body along the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Get a glimpse of 1970s lesbian bar life with characters like Big Jan in "Definitely a Habit" and a more recent chapter about why barbecued chicken is what makes a festival better.
Jamie Anderson is the author of three books including the memoir Drive All Night and An Army of Lovers, about women's music of the eighties and nineties; both were finalists for GCLS Goldie awards. She's a music journalist, writing for a plethora of publications and websites. Her favorite word is plethora. Jamie is a performing musician with twelve albums. A winner of dozens of music awards, she has yet to win a Grammy or a Juno although she can play the ukulele behind her head while hula hooping. Jamie did her first tour in 1987 because she needed to earn money to get to a music festival. Thousands of gigs later she's still collecting tiny motel soaps. Also, a music teacher with a popular YouTube channel, she lives with two cats and her long-suffering wife in Ottawa, Canada, when she isn't busy escaping the cold in Tucson, Arizona.
Bucky Motter is a gender queer performing songwriter and rocker. He is a veteran of the Atlanta music scene and has opened for such artists as BB King, Indigo Girls, Melissa Ferrick, Doria Roberts, Sonia Leigh, and the Manhattan Transfer. He has two critically acclaimed CD’s: Outta Control and Pleasure and Pain on his own Hey MISTER! Records label. Currently he is playing his own music with his beloved bassist Jerry Peek and playing bass and co-writing with the Atlanta power pop band Flat Cat.
This event is free and open to all people, especially to those who have no income or low income right now, but we encourage and appreciate a solidarity donation in support of the work of Charis Circle, our programming non-profit. Charis Circle's mission is to foster sustainable feminist communities, work for social justice, and encourage the expression of diverse and marginalized voices. https://donatenow.networkforgood.org/CharisCircle?code=chariscirclepage
In-person event guidelines:
- All attendees must wear a face mask at all times inside the building
- We will begin seating people at 7:00 PM ET.
- This event will be live-streamed via crowdcast. Click here to register to attend virtually.
- As a reminder: If you are not feeling well, please do not come to the event.
- If you have any questions regarding these guidelines or to request specific accessibility accommodations, please contact [email protected] or call the store at 404-524-0304
If you would like to watch the virtual event with computer-generated captions, please watch in Google Chrome and enable captions. If you have other accessibility needs or if you are someone who has skills in making digital events more accessible please don't hesitate to reach out to [email protected]. We are actively learning the best practices for this technology and we welcome your feedback as we continue to connect across distances.
By attending our event you agree to our Code of Conduct: Our event seeks to provide a harassment-free experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, ethnicity, religion (or lack thereof), class, or technology choices. We do not tolerate harassment in any form. Sexual language and imagery are not appropriate. Anyone violating these rules will be expelled from this event and all future events at the discretion of the organizers. Please report all harassment to [email protected] immediately.
hosted by
Charis Books and More/Charis Circle
share