Joe Oestreich

In June, Lyons Press will publish my memoir, HITLESS WONDER, and Watershed will release a new full length album. So this summer the band and I are going to pile into the Econoline and eat up big, long roads and little, white lines–doing readings by day, rock shows by night.

More shows and readings will be announced soon, but here are the confirmed dates so far:

Rock Shows

• Friday, 6/8/12. Columbus, OH. The Bluestone.
• Sunday, 6/10/12. Cleveland, OH. The Beachland Ballroom (in the Tavern).
• Monday, 6/25/12. New York, NY. The Mercury Lounge.
• Tuesday, 6/26/12. Washington, DC. DC9.
• Wednesday, 6/27/12. Pittsburgh, PA. Club Cafe.
• Thursday, 6/28/12. Detroit, MI. Small’s Bar.

Readings

• Wednesday, 6/6/12. Columbus, OH. The Wexner Center for the Arts.
• Monday, 6/25/12. New York, NY. The Half King.

Again: Watch this space for more dates and cities. Hope to see you out there.

The brand spankin’ literary journal, White Space, is featuring a new essay of mine in their nifty debut issue. “This Machine No Longer Kills Fascists (Did It Ever?)” weighs the ever-eroding connection between music and politics.

As much as we want to believe that pop music influences political discourse, the sad fact is that it just plain doesn’t. At least not anymore. Shoot, maybe it never did.

Enough of my yakking. Check out the full essay HERE.

Gather ’round ye computer screens, friends. Here’s the just-released video for Watershed’s “American Muscle.”

Directed by Tim Hodge, this mini-masterpiece features a cavalcade of stars, including Ryan Gosling as “Chief Economist,” Elizabeth Banks as “Girl Reading on Couch,” Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as “Bungling Cops,” and Steven Spielberg’s War Horse as “Cows in Pasture.” Also note the breathtaking cameo by Alec Baldwin, playing the Minuteman III warhead. Enjoy!

Greetings from Dixie, where 2011 is coming to a close with a flurry of good news:

• storySouth recently nominated my story, “Towing and Recovery,” for a Pushcart Prize. Thanks, gents!
• Shortly after the new year, the super cool (and cool-looking) literary journal, White Space, will publish my essay, “This Machine No Longer Kills Fascists (Did it Ever?),” in which I lament the fact that pop music doesn’t even try to bring about social change. It does, however, insist that we 1.) Party! and 2.) Buy Shit!
• Also in early 2012, I’ll be getting all Dickensian on your asses when the Victorians Institute Journal publishes my academic paper, “Knights of the Napkin: Waiters as Class-Enforcers in David Copperfield.” Seriously.
• Later in 2012, the hepcats at The Normal School will publish my essay, “The Mercy Kill,” which is about murder in the suburbs. Plus, it’s got dogs! (Friendly Warning: If you liked MARLEY AND ME, you’ll hate this piece.)
• 2012 will see a new, full-length Watershed album.
• And in June, of course, my memoir, HITLESS WONDER, will arrive on bookstore shelves, but remember it’s available for pre-order now at Amazon and other sites. Look: You’re going to Amazon anyway. Why not click that sucker into your cart? It makes a swell gift.

Here’s hoping 2012 treats you well.

HITLESS WONDER won’t be released until June 2012, but for those of you who want to get an early start on your summer reading list, the book is available for pre-order now. I know that June seems like a long way off, but this is America, dammit. Shopping is always in season.

Be a good citizen. Click the links below.

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

To Bruce Springsteen, for permission to quote from his lyrics in my book, Hitless Wonder.

Without Springsteen, there’d be no book about Watershed. There’s be no Watershed period. Without Springsteen, I’d probably be twenty pounds heavier. I’d certainly be a whole lot dumber. I’d know much less about life and love and how hard and beautiful both can be. But most of all I want to thank Springsteen for teaching me the difference between the guys that die little by little, piece by piece–and the guys that come home from work and wash up. And go racing in the street.

Go ahead and start judging, friends. The book now has a cover.

Many thanks to the great Jayna Wallace for taking the jacket photograph. She captured this shot after a Watershed show at Little Brothers in Columbus, February 2005.

The book and a new, full-length Watershed album will arrive in stores in June. Check this space for more news and updates.