Rhythm and the Blue Line continues, although I confess it’s at a halt right now. Working on it, though! Wrote up some note, send them to the beta reader, and looking forward to a little brainstorming which I hope will set things in motion again.
Until then, I thought I’d review the music in R&B again, since we last left our heroes. Nothing was mentioned in Chapter 5, so let’s move on to Chapter 6 — in which Ryan’s band, Imaginary Grace, headlines at the 9:30 Club in Washington, DC, for the first time.
First off, we meet friends of Ryan’s, such as Annette Kochanski, a member of the all-girl band Trouser Minnows. (Anybody recognize the name Kochanski? I got it from here.) “Trouser Minnow” is a song by the group Rapeman, a noise rock band founded by Steve Albini. Prior to my beta reader telling me about this when we were trying to come up with names for the opening acts, I’d never heard of any of this. Still, let’s face it, Trouser Minnows is a great name for a rock band.
Next there’s No More Trees on the Potomac. My DC-affinity is showing. I lived there for fifteen years; the first year I was there, the Redskins won their last Super Bowl, and what a night it was. Although I was never a rabid ‘Skins fan, they are the team to follow down there (the Capitals are giving them a run for the money the last few seasons, though), and Jack Kent Cooke, the previous owner, was a character. Then Dan Snyder bought the team, and unfortunately it was a huge downhill slide that they haven’t corrected. Snyder has also made other missteps, including when he cut down trees on his property to improve his view of the Potomac. Federally protected trees, I might add. (It’s covered to some extent here.) Anyway, I thought the name sounded good for a band.
At last we move on to Imaginary Grace. Most of their songs are, of course, originals. 🙂 But they do a coule of covers, and this is where I indulged myself. One cover is Modern English’s “I Melt With You.” Another is Bad Company’s “Rock and Roll Fantasy.” (My indulgence; this is a live version, I believe from their Merchants of Cool CD.)
Chapter 7 has no specific citings, but then we move on to Chapter 8 and the rocky patches. Lara warns Brody that Ryan’s listening to “angry music.” This posed a challenge for me, as I’m a pop culture fan but don’t keep up on everything. When I am (or was) angry, my music of choice was Queensyrche’s Operation: Mindcrime, or The Crow Soundtrack. Henry Rollins’s Ghostrider sounds angry even if it isn’t.
Those are pretty 80s and 90s, though, and Ryan’s more current, so again with my beta reader, we decided to use The Dillinger Escape Plan and Converge as examples of artists Ryan might turn to when she’s pissed. Disclaimer: I have yet to listen to anything by either group, I’m going by recommendations here.
So I hope you enjoy those. I am working on the next chapter(s) of R&B — thanks to everyone who’s been reading, voting, commenting, etc.
Eve's Blog 