Whitefish Review Celebrates the ‘Music Issue’ with Launch-party and Live Music
Having published the work of more than 1,000 artists and writers, the local literary journal will host a Sept. 13 event featuring singer and songwriter Rob Quist
By Beacon Staff
Whitefish Review will celebrate the publication of its 29th volume, “The Music Issue,” on Friday, Sept. 13, with an event featuring singer and songwriter Rob Quist and readings from the writers featured in the issue. The event will be held at The Lodge at Whitefish Lake’s tent pavilion.
Rob Quist, the local troubadour whose bluegrass roots stretch back more than 50 years to the formation of the Mission Mountain Wood Band in Missoula, will perform with Dave Griffith and the Black Ram guitar, an instrument fashioned from a 315-year-old spruce destroyed by a logging road in Montana’s Yaak Valley. The guitar was created by The Montana Project and commissioned by actor Jeff Bridges as part of his “All in This Together” sustainability campaign with Breedlove Guitars.
“This Black Ram guitar has spoken to me and told me her story, as well as the plight of the entirety of the Black Ram Forest,” according to Quist. “In light of our discovery of how trees communicate and send nutrients via mycelium to keep neighboring trees from perishing, we must understand that they are sentient beings vital to the health and survival of all living inhabitants of our Mother Earth. I am deeply honored and committed to contributing to the preservation of the Black Ram forest, and I will use my voice to bring its attention to my audiences whenever and wherever I perform.”
The Music Issue features 33 writers and artists, including The Montana Prize for Fiction winner, awarded to Jeff Guay by author Rick Bass. The cover image is a custom screen print by Mike Tallman, a graphic artist and printmaker known for creating famous rock-and-roll posters for iconic bands like the Rolling Stones, Paul McCartney and The Allman Brothers Band.
“The Music Issue is a concert created by our team inside our journal pages,” Brian Schott, founding editor of Whitefish Review, said. “It sings both of the celebration of life even during the hardest of times, as well as the protection of our ancient forests that can hold carbon in defense of a warming planet.”
Live music begins during cocktail hour at 6:30 p.m., with readings and discussion starting at 8 p.m. Whitefish High School student Bjorn Bungener will read from an essay about the physics of music, and Glenn Schiffman will read from his essay about Janis Joplin and his time on the road as a rock and roll sound equipment truck driver. Jeff Guay will read from his prize-winning story, and Natalie Storey will read fiction about dreams of a rock and roll star. Editors will talk with Toby Scott about his life as a sound engineer for Bruce Springsteen for over 35 years and a gift he gave Springsteen. After the speakers, Quist will perform a new song he wrote in honor of the Black Ram. The event will also be live streamed on the Review’s YouTube page.
The issue contains special features, including interviews with Raven Chacon, the first Native American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Music; singer-songwriter Jerry Joseph, who has over 30 studio records, 400 songs, and countless live performances around the globe to his name; and Mark A. Rodriguez, who has created sculptures from a collection of more than 27,000 Grateful Dead live tapes.
Additional features include art by Pearl Jam bass guitarist Jeff Ament and Italian artist Mario Loprete; short interviews with musician Huey Lewis and climate scholar Bill McKibben; and poetry by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón.
Photography features include fan photography by Nirvana photographer Charles Peterson, guitars made from salvaged wood by Dan Strack, a portrait project by Mike Hipple of famous ’80s musicians, music-related photos by Robert Millis from India, and anonymous found music and snapshot photography by Mark Sullo.
Also featured are essays by Chrysti “the Wordsmith” Smith and Ellen Sollinger Walker, excerpts from Diane K. Boyd’s new book, “A Woman Among Wolves,” and poetry by Rebecca A. Durham, Mary Beth Hines, Rebecca Ramsden, Shyla Ann Shehan, John Miltimore Wolff, and songwriting by Deidre Corson, David Noftsinger, and Rob Quist.
Whitefish Review is a literary journal that explores the landscapes of the human condition and our connection to the natural world. It illuminates the confluence of art, storytelling, society, and science. As a recognized nonprofit corporation created for the public good, it is supported by generous donations and grants. Since its founding in 2007, Whitefish Review has published over 1,000 artists and writers from 46 states and 25 countries. Copies of Whitefish Review are available by subscription or in bookstores and can be ordered online.
The evening is sponsored by The Whitefish Community Foundation, Glacier Bank, and The Lodge at Whitefish Lake. A $20 entry donation is suggested to support the non-profit journal. The Lodge is offering a 20% discount for guests of the Whitefish Review launch party on the nights of Sept. 12-14. For more information, visit www.whitefishreview.org.
On Sept. 28, Whitefish Review will join The Montana Project for Climate Aid at the Wilma in Missoula to celebrate the Breedlove Black Ram guitar and the forest that made her. The evening features music legend James McMurtry; writers Rick Bass and Bill McKibben; violinist Pico Alt; singer-songwriter Jeffrey Foucault; musicians Nate Biehl, Caroline Keys, and Gibson Hartwell; award-winning singer-songwriter Siri Sæteren; poet Beth Ann Fennelly; Native leaders and representatives from Our Children’s Trust. Visit www.blackramguitarfest.org for tickets.