Joe Oestreich

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.

The spankin’ new Watershed single, “American Muscle” b/w “Sticky Bomb,” is now posted here and at the spankin’ new Watershed website. Dig the lyrics and credits at bandcamp.

Is “American Muscle” a sympathetic portrayal of an unfairly maligned international banker (read: job creator) or a critique of capitalistic bravado and Friedmanite Economics? That probably depends on whether or not you own stock in LVMH.

The song and its b-side, “Sticky Bomb,” were recorded in Columbus this summer with Mike Landolt (Maroon 5, O.A.R.) producing, and they, along with a batch of other tunes from the sessions, will be featured on a new, full-length (as yet untitled) album that will be released in June 2012.

The Louisville Review has just published my play, “Los Camioneros” (“The Truckers”). It’s the story of three immigrant smugglers in Galveston, TX, told from the point of view of the smugglers themselves. Click HERE to go to the journal’s homepage, where you’ll find a link to a PDF of the excellent new issue.

Don’t call it a comeback, kids, but November is shaping up to be a big month for the mighty Watersheds.

First, in early November, the band will release a new single, “American Muscle,” about which, more later.

Second, on Wednesday, November 23, the day before Thanksgiving, Watershed will perform at the 2nd Annual Andyman-a-Thon Benefit Concert, at the LC Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio. Nick Tolford and Company, Lydia Loveless, and The Phantods will join Watershed on the bill. Get your tickets now.

Also, to coincide with this year’s Andyman-a-Thon, a film is being released of last year’s historic show. This One’s For Andy will make its world premier at Studio 35 in Columbus on 11/11/11.

Here’s the trailer:

Watch this space for more Watershed news in the coming weeks.