Archie Rocks Acoustic, Totally Rocked Half Price Books
Booking musicians to serenade customers at a bookstore has been pretty fun so far. Sure, it has ups and downs… a great musician, a no show musician, a nice musician, a quirky musician… but tonight it was all UP! Archie Parks had the tips flowing, the book buying happening, and customers tapping their toes while they shopped LP’s, and applauding from the DVD aisles. A couple came to find me to ask if he had cd’s for sale and why not. So after the show, I took some time to pour over the calendar with him and conduct an interview for my blog.
Who are your biggest influences?
Bush, Gavin Rossdale, Cobain. That dude from Seether, I can’t think of his name right now, but I’d know it when I see it. 90’s Grunge music mostly, you know STP. I could go all day… Pearl Jam, Smashing Pumpkins, Shoe.
When did you start playing and why?
Jr. High. My Dad had a guitar and a friend had a drum set. Started writing our own songs because if we messed up nobody knew. And then it snowballed. So I guess the answer is boredom.
Where else are booked to play?
I’m trying to set up a show at Bohemeos. It’s real chill there.
What made you decide playing in a bookstore would be right for you?
It’s chill. My new style is perfect for a chilling bookstore.
Since we’re in a bookstore, who are your favorite authors?
Asimov, he’s the shit. Herbert, I love science fiction, obviously. I heard a new Dark Tower came out, Stephen King, but not Stephen King, I like his alter ego Bachman. But Asimov is number one. I love robots, man. And those dudes that came out with new Dune books, they weren’t Herbert, but they were still pretty sweet. And I’m into Eastern Philosophy. But it’s fucking lame. I’m into it, but not to be a hipster.
Do you read much? Does your reading affect your lyric writing?
No, I don’t read much. It doesn’t affect my writing. What does is school, I’m taking Creative Works.
What messages do you wish to convey through your music?
My number one theme is love. I sing about it all the time because I love the ladies. But my goal is to help people find the right path for them. That’s why I like Eastern Philosophy and I’m not a hipster. Help people find themselves, and feel stuff.
When do you think you’ll have cds or downloadable songs ready for sale?
I have enough material for a seven track album. But I’m leery, I need moral support because I don’t want to rip people off just selling me and a guitar. I have higher standards. I don’t want to put my name on crap.
At which point, I had to tell him that I thought the idea of a cd with just him on a guitar wouldn’t be a rip off at all, it would actually be quite lovely. He’s very humble, but not in a self degrading well. He was genuinely pleased and surprised that customers were interested in buying his music if it was available.
Indie Blue Grass Rock With a Roll
Come on down for a unique Bluegrass sound. Humble hometown boy, Austin LeBlanc, will be performing at the Deerbrook Plaza Half Price Books on Thursday, April 12 from 7-9 pm. While you are there don’t forget to pick your way through HPB’s unique music section, and maybe pick up a book that suits the musical mood.
Buy Green, Save Green, Win Time on the Green!
Buy green, save green, win time on the green!
Starting Monday, March 12, buy anything “green” at our HPB store in Humble and enter to win a golf package that includes: 4 to 9 holes of golf at Humble Oil Patch Golf Center, a bucket of golf balls, a golf shirt and an HPB Gift Card. Drawing to be held on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17 at 7pm. Need not be present to win. Offer good at this location only. See store for details.
Books, Music, and mostly Nostalgia
My favorite things in the world are books, coffee, and music, in no particular order. So it goes without saying that in college I spent many a hour journaling or reading in coffee shops around the DFW area. Many times, my collegiate friends were on stage or tucked in a corner with a guitar serenading me. They were happy times in a time when my life was mostly hectic and stressful: full time student, part time employee to multiple employers, to date or not to date, and finding out where I fit in the world all rolled up into a girl who for many a semester suffered from insomnia.
So now, as an event coordinator for my favorite bookstore, it’s a pleasure to host musicians I have always enjoyed listening to at a time when I can hang out, read a book, have a coffee, and not be simultaneously thinking about what assignment is due next, how I did on that last test, and how am I going to make rent and feed myself without flunking for skipping class. It will be nice to enjoy a few hours of peace without worrying about whether I made the right choice when I chose not to date so and so, and if it was a bad idea to kiss whats-his-name, all while trying to decide if getting married one day is even something that matters to me. School is enough; worrying about the career you want or don’t want after the fact is just exhausting. Now, I am married, I’m done with school, I work about 20 hours a month or so from home, and I write.
That’s why, I’m pleased to share with the world, the first musician booked at Half Price Books Humble, is Christine Hand. Although Christine has been in the same pocket of friends and social circles as me since I was eighteen, the truth behind why I booked her his pure pleasure and nostalgia. Christine was the one who serenaded me the most often. When I think back on all those evenings at coffee shops, I hear two voices: Christine Hand and David Ramirez.
David Ramirez is booked elsewhere at larger venues right now, check out his site here: http://www.davidramirezmusic.com/. But Christine has taken time out of her busy schedule and life to appease my nostalgia, and play at the Half Price Books in Humble on February 24th, 7-9 pm. Come revel in my past life, I’d love for you to join me.
The Enrichment of Eric Carle (at Half Price)
Today is Wednesday. Wednesday has a new ring to it now that I’m hosting story time every week at 10:30 am on behalf of Half Price Books in the Humble location’s Half Pint section.
It was a quiet crowd today, only three children munching on the provided snack, listening to Duckie Duck by Kate Toms and Mister Seahorse by Eric Carle, to name a few. It is always a pleasure seeing the younger crowd fall in love with books and enjoy a calming sit down with the work of our favorite authors, but today I found myself doing what I used to love best about working in a bookstore again – I was educating.
Kids and parents alike enjoy someone guiding them in their discoveries, just as when I am shopping, I too love for retailers to point out their favorites, clerks to tell me what they’ve been reading lately. Today as I read Mister Seahorse, I got to share the fact that Eric Carle has a museum in Massachusetts, a fact few families seem to know down here in Texas, but almost all respond with wide eyes and dropped jaws. ‘That sounds amazing!’ I often hear people saying. I agree, and I plan to take my daughter there one day on a vacation.
The beauty of The Eric Carle Museum, which feeds my desire to take my child there, aside from the art itself, is their mission:
The mission of The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is to inspire, especially in children and their families, an appreciation for and an understanding of the art of the picture book. In fulfilling our mission, we aspire to build bridges to an appreciation of art of every kind and to provide an enriching, dynamic, and supportive context for the development of literacy. We deliver this mission by collecting, presenting and celebrating the art of the picture book from around the world and by providing interactive experiences and programs that are engaging and educational.
Humble HPB Half Pint Section
That same mission, building a bridge of art appreciation and developing literacy, is how I choose my child’s books in the first place. It’s not enough to have an amazing story but boring art, it’s also not enough to have amazing illustrations and a terrible story. The building blocks for enriching a child’s mind are in a smooth marriage of those two things and Eric Carle has always seemed to manage that joining.
I hope, by choosing books to read and presenting them to children each week as part of my Event Coordinating duties, Half Price Books can be a venue for which I can share these kinds of books with new minds, and this mission with other parents – at half the price.
A Lovely Event
Typically, I’m not a huge fan of Valentine’s Day. Its a day that is seemingly invented for sheer consumerism. Many people find this ironic, because I am very happily married to my soul mate and love. The thing is, though, usually I’d rather curl up with a good book as I snuggle my honey, and not worry about what’s going on in the outside world as everyone else worries about things like “Is she going to like this gift?” or “What can I do for him that wont say too much and scare him off?”
You're Invited!
But this year, its been put in perspective of things I love and things I can do to make it more fun. This year, I’m an Event Coordinator for a bookstore I love and I get to make it what I want. This year, its about celebrating some of my favorite stories of all time (books like The Scarlet Pimpernel and Time Traveler’s Wife will absolutely be featured, as well as biographies on people like Nicholas and Alexandra and so on) and celebrating a fabulous little Italian restaraunt in Humble that I’ve grown to love. This year, you can come to the Humble Half Price Bookstore, buy your favorite love story and upon purchase be entered to win a dinner for two to Italiano’s in Humble. How much fun is that?
What’s even better? We’re doing it on the 10th, not the 14th, so people who already have big plans, or have to work because they are in the retail or service industry, or just don’t want to fight Valentine’s Day traffic can have a low-key but intimate date night with us. On top of that, some lucky couple will get to do Valentine’s Day, or some other special day they choose, practically for free!
My hope is that if we get a lot of people in the door, next year more businesses will donate gift cards and the year after that even more people! We could maybe one day build Valentine’s Day up to a bookstore extravaganza so that even the most non-Valentine-date night people ever, like me, will look forward to the month of February.
So, if you’re in the Houston area, come celebrate Valentine’s on February 10th with me as we bask in the loveliness of books – our mutual true love.
Anakalian Whims 