Culture 2 Go

Words and music come together Tuesday night at Urban ReThink when former Orlandoan Deborah Reed returns from the Pacific Northwest (her current home base) to read from her new novel, Carry Yourself Back to Me. Floridian roots duo Jubal’s Kin will perform songs inspired by the book.

Reed also writes under the pen name Audrey Braun – in fact, she finds herself in the unusual position of having two “debut” novels out at the same time, as “Braun’s” A Small Fortune was released earlier this year. Local readers will appreciate the strong sense of Central Florida atmosphere in Carry Yourself Back to Me, Reed’s first so-called “literary novel,” a coming-of-age story of sorts about a sad songwriter, a citrus grove, a love story, a murder … (I guess you can take the author out of the genre, but you can’t take the genre out of the author). In fact, though they may share an acquaintance with death, A Small Fortune is as frothy as an issue of Hello! magazine, whereas Carry Yourself Back to Me has more in common with a back number of the old alt-country journal No Depression.

More than one reader has responded to the current of music running through CYBTM – Portland musician Zia McCabe (of the Dandy Warhols) loved the book so much she was moved to write a song by the same name. Jubal’s Kin will play that song and others at this event marking the book’s official release on new publishing imprint AmazonEncore. (7-10 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 20, at Urban ReThink, 625 E. Central Blvd.)

– Jessica Bryce Young

Also at Urban ReThink, as part of Thornton Park’s Third Thursday Art Walk, Demo-Graphic features art made from discarded U.S. census workers’ bags as well as “musical, dance and comedic performances throughout the evening.”

To aid in identification, all census bureau workers who went door-to-door were given messenger bags marked “United States Census 2010”; when the job was over, the workers were instructed to return the bags, which were then discarded. One local artist (who shall remain nameless, in case she ever needs government work again) didn’t appreciate the waste, so she did a bit of dumpster-diving to retrieve them. Demo-Graphic displays census bags reworked/repurposed by Jessica Early, Thomas Thorspecken, Ralph Giunta, Frankie Messina, Betsy Dye and more; work will be sold by silent auction. (show opens 7 p.m., performances begin 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, at Urban ReThink) – JBY

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