Album Release Party Info, Target Center Performance, and Election Thoughts

Hello! Three quick updates:

"All Dressed Up, No Funeral" Release Show - 11/30/24

Join us for the first Guante & Big Cats live performance in over five years, the release show for our climate crisis concept album. It'll be Saturday, November 30, 2024 at the Hook & Ladder's Mission Room in Minneapolis. Get tickets early and save $5 off the door price.

I know not everyone reading this is in Minneapolis and/or able to attend, so I want to affirm that we have more video content coming up soon too - live performance videos and some very cool animated lyric videos; I'll share it here as it arrives.

I got to join Fred Again on stage at the Target Center

If you didn't already know, I'm on two songs by the Grammy-winning artist Fred Again, including his breakout single "Kyle (I found you)," in which I am "Kyle." As his tour came through Minneapolis, we finally got to perform together live.

I don't usually do recaps, since the thing already happened... but this was kind of special. As someone who thinks of himself as the undergroundiest of underground artists, it was surreal to be able to perform in front of so many thousand of people at the Target Center. The header image at the top of this post is from that (and I shared a few more photos here), and here's video too:

A Few Notes/Thoughts on the 2024 Election

One of my favorite things to do as a writer is build pieces not around my own opinions, but around the juxtaposition of quotes and perspectives from people I respect. While I do share some of my own thoughts on the 2024 Election, the real substance of this piece is those quotes: a range of left/progressive organizers and thinkers genuinely grappling with the question of voting as a tactic in the midst not only of the dangers of Trump and Project 2025, but also both parties' ongoing support for the genocide in Gaza.

I don't expect everyone to agree with every perspective in that post, but I tried to offer something a little different than the maximalist hot-takes currently flying around social media, an affirmation that multiple tactics/ways of understanding elections and the power of the vote can be valid... but the most important thing is that, even for those of us who believe (as I do) that voting is important, how we commit to the all-the-time work of movement building. Read it here.

...and Beyond

A few final notes/links:

• Aside from the release show next month, I'll also be sharing a poem or two at Neil Hilborn's release show for his new Button Poetry book! Sunday, 10/27/24 at Icehouse in Minneapolis. Ticket info here.
• Lots of good commentary in my ongoing #RecommendedReading list, from Noura Erakat marking one year of genocide, to a breathtaking poem from George Abraham, to the ED of the Haitian Bridge Alliance pushing back against racist lies, and more. You can also find it via my Instagram.
• I hope to take a little time off to focus on writing this winter, but I am currently still booking gigs (at schools, colleges, conferences, festivals, etc.) for spring and fall 2025. My work is about using poems as doorways into critical dialogue about a range of issues. Find all of my booking info here.

Beyond that, thanks for reading. Connect with me on Instagram or Bluesky, and/or feel free to reach out directly with any questions or thoughts. Thanks again.