Susan Hwang

I’ll be joining fellow songwriters for Bushwick Book Club: Charlie Nieland, spiritchild, Patricia Santos and Thomas Teller in Indianapolis (not my first time!) 9/25-10/1 for an anti-censorship experiment at the Kurt Vonnegut Museum and Library. We’ll be living in the museum and writing songs all week in response to banned literature and performing the songs live at the end of the week. We talked with Chris LaFave of KVML in this interview that we’ve released as Episode 13 of The Bushwick Book Club Podcast. Take a listen! (It’s on iTunes too if you want.)

The next Bushwick Book Club show is for the work of Dame Darcy with an emphasis on Meat Cake Bible perhaps, but really it’s a celebration of all things Darcy, because she is a celebration of what it means to be all you are, whatever you want to be at the same time, when and how you like it. In her case, it means being an artist, musician, performer, animator, filmmaker, illustrator, painter, doll maker, world maker, storyteller, witch, mermaid, pirate.

December 15th, we’ll have our event with 15 different musicians, songwriters, comedians and one chef who will respond to Darcy’s work. Darcy herself will be there and performing with us. It’s the final BBC show of 2021 and also our first fundraiser. We just achieved 501(c)(3) status this year. It’s happening at one of my favorite places that happens to have the best Ukrainian food in the East Village – The Ukrainian National Home at 140 East 2nd Ave. between 9th St. and St. Marks.

Here’s the flyer designed by the stupendous Scott MX Turner. And I’ll also include a video that Darcy made of my performance of “Cutting” written in response to Meat Cake Bible from a few years ago. I’ll be performing the song again live on the 15th. Lusterlit released it on vinyl not too long ago. The single had “Cutting” on one side and Charlie’s rocking “Waxwolf” on the other. I think you can still order the ’45! But also listen to it digitally on Bandcamp.

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Related show

• Artist: Bushwick Book Club
• Date: 12/15/21
• Time: 7:00pm
• Venue: Ukrainian National Home
• City: NEW YORK , NY
• Address: 140 2nd Ave.
• Venue phone: 19177477502
• Country: United States
• Admission: by donation
• Age restrictions: No Minors
• More information
• Notes: It’s the end. It’s the beginning. Perhaps they’re joined at the hip à la Hindrance and Perfidia. Join us December 15th at the historic (and delicious) Ukrainian National Home (New Order played there!) for our final show of 2021 and our first BBC fundraiser. The featured literary work is by the multi-talented, multi-dimensional illustrator, animator, performer, banjo player, mermaid, witch, pirate, author Dame Darcy. She will of course perform, along with songs and performances from: Beth Bliss Charming Disaster Sea Griffin Susan Hwang Serena Jost Sung Uni Lee Dan Machlin Risa Mickenberg Charlie Nieland Henry Tenney Jason Trachtenburg *Short film by Lisa Barnstone* Bring your Dame Darcy books and parafernalia, and get them autographed at the show! Dame Darcy original tarot and books will be on sale to meet your holiday gifting needs. Glad you like book-inspired times. Hope you like vareniki.

You know, you write some songs about books, and they seem innocent enough, but then they gain life and become their own sentient beings, and they demand things like videos where all your friends jump naked into a pool.  Or they want to be played all the time and then recorded, and then they want other songs about books to hang out with and soon you have a whole album (or EP), and then that album wants to be released, so you’ve got to have art and a party.  And then they want keys to the car and they’re trying on your clothes.  It’s a spiral.. downward, upward, outward….

You’re invited to the party–the party that songs about books wanted–on Wednesday, September 28th at HiFi in the East Village.  Producer and musician/songwriter, Charlie Nieland and I are playing as our new, lit-based duo, Lusterlit.  He’s got an incredible album of songs written for Bushwick Book Club too that begged for this party.  And we’re partying with the awesome singer/songwriter, Jessie Kilguss, who is also releasing her recording of BBC songs.  AND we’re having special guest performances from BBC contributors Sweet Soubrette, Casey Holford, Pearl Rhein and John S. Hall.  That’s the thing about songs about books–they’re very social.  They’re like 20 year olds–they’re all about their friends and hanging out.  Everybody dates everybody; it gets incestuous.  I mean, if you’ve never hung out with songs about books, you’ll see what I mean Wednesday night.  We’re all backing each other up on our songs, switching instruments and harmonies all night!  And then we’ll get pizza… metaphorically.  I’m still actually in my forties, and I’m lactose intolerant.

Here’s the video for the book-inspired song party!

Here are the details again:

Wednesday, September 28th, 7:30-10:30pm
HiFi
169 Ave. A
NYC

Here’s the video made by Charlie Nieland for one of my frisky songs to be released on my Vonnegut-inspired EP EVERYTHING IS SATEEN.

EUPHIO – Noise from the Void

Related show

• Artist:
  Lusterlit
• Date:
  09/28/16
• Time:
  7:30pm
• Venue:
  HiFi
• City:
  New York , NY
• Address:
  196 Ave. A
• Venue phone:
  (212) 420-8392
• Country:
  United States
• Box office:
  (212) 420-8392
• Notes:
  It’s the Lusterlit (me and Charlie Nieland) and Jessie Kilguss release show! We’re releasing our recordings of songs written for BUSHWICK BOOK CLUB! Special guest performances by Sweet Soubrette, Casey Holdford, Pearl Rhein and John S. Hall! We’re playing songs about books. For about 3 hours.

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Okay, it’s on this time.  July 20th in Propect Park.  Join us in the southern end of the Big Lawn in Prospect Park under the tree on top of the hill with the Teddy Roosevelt Boy Scout Tablet.  We’ll be the ones playing songs inspired by Goodbye Columbus by Philip Roth.  

Sunday, July 20th, 3 pm
Prospect Park – Teddy Roosevelt Boy Scout Tablet

Performers: Pierre de Gaillande, Jessie Kilguss, Susan Hwang, Leslie Graves, Dave Voigt,Chris Rael, Don Rauf, Geoffrey Scott Diesel, Julie Lynn, Mark Lessereaux

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