Good writing is good writing no matter what form you work in. A well-turned surprising lyric is par for the course for my friend Rykarda Parasol, who is a singer songwriter performer painter artist, you name it! The process of producing, releasing and promoting an album isn’t entirely unlike publishing a book, in that both mean its creator spends time on the road, schlepps theirs stuff, makes appearances and prays someone likes it. I asked Rykarda about two things that musicians share with debut authors: making fans and promotional tours.
- Rykarda Parasol will read song lyrics from her two albums during DEBUT LIT: Backstage Pass in San Francisco on Oct. 9 as part of LitQuake: San Francisco’s Literary Festival’s “LitCrawl” events
DL: What is life like on tour?
RP: I love being on the road. I just get in a mode and go with it. Here in the west, it takes forever to get to one place to another so there’s never time to be social. Overseas, I love it most. You’re only on the road for 3-4 hours and one can have a lot of time to dine, discover towns, write, and take everything in. It’s not always as crazy and rock and roll as one would imagine… well, actually yes it can be. For a girl, meeting guys is sketchy so that part isn’t as fun for me as say the boys… I like having something to do and doing what I love and feeling the work is appreciated. I like the towns and the people. I think I like watching the cement roll underneath the wheels.
DL: What’s the weirdest/coolest thing a fan has ever said to you?
RP: A fan once (umm, actually twice), asked if he could have a pair of tights that I’d worn in a photo. The coolest thing was someone telling me they only took 3 albums with them when they moved overseas and mine was one of them. The others were a Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen album.
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