Kevorkian Skull Poets: Difference between revisions
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[[File:Kevorkian Skull Poets at City Stages.jpg|right|thumb|450px|Kevorkian Skull Poets at City Stages in 1996]] | [[File:Kevorkian Skull Poets at City Stages.jpg|right|thumb|450px|Kevorkian Skull Poets at City Stages in 1996]] | ||
'''Kevorkian Skull Poets''' was a musical improvisation and spoken-word performance group known for their socially conscious and sometimes controversial content | '''Kevorkian Skull Poets''' was a musical improvisation and spoken-word performance group known for their socially conscious and sometimes controversial content. | ||
During [[Ned Mudd]]'s performance of "f.u.b.a.r. America" during [[1996 City Stages]] at [[1901 Sixth Avenue|AmSouth-Harbert Plaza]], [[Barry Thomas]] "got excited" and lit a U.S. flag on fire. Backlash from the demonstration prompted organizers to cancel a scheduled appearance by Kevorkian Skull Poets on the event's Spoken Word Stage. The incident was included in lists of "acts of desecration" read into the public record during U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on a proposed constitutional amendment to limit the freedom of speech. | The group included poets [[Charles Tortorici]] and [[Matt Layne]], composer [[Ned Mudd]], guitarists [[Matt Kimbrell]] and [[Davey Williams]], keyboardist [[Jim Willet]], washtub bassist [[Craig Legg]], and clarinetist [[Glenn Engstrom]]. It grew out of informal gatherings at Legg's bookstore, [[Books]], in the mid 1990s. The name of the group made reference to physician Jack Kevorkian who was notorious for assisting suicides, as well as (possibly) to the 1808 poem, "Lines Inscribed Upon a Cup Formed from a Skull," by Lord Byron. | ||
During [[Ned Mudd]]'s performance of "f.u.b.a.r. America" during [[1996 City Stages]] at [[1901 Sixth Avenue|AmSouth-Harbert Plaza]], [[Barry Thomas]] "got excited" and lit a small paper U.S. flag on fire. Backlash from the demonstration prompted organizers to cancel a scheduled appearance by Kevorkian Skull Poets on the event's Spoken Word Stage. The incident was included in lists of "acts of desecration" read into the public record during U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on a proposed constitutional amendment to limit the freedom of speech. | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Latest revision as of 22:23, 25 January 2022
Kevorkian Skull Poets was a musical improvisation and spoken-word performance group known for their socially conscious and sometimes controversial content.
The group included poets Charles Tortorici and Matt Layne, composer Ned Mudd, guitarists Matt Kimbrell and Davey Williams, keyboardist Jim Willet, washtub bassist Craig Legg, and clarinetist Glenn Engstrom. It grew out of informal gatherings at Legg's bookstore, Books, in the mid 1990s. The name of the group made reference to physician Jack Kevorkian who was notorious for assisting suicides, as well as (possibly) to the 1808 poem, "Lines Inscribed Upon a Cup Formed from a Skull," by Lord Byron.
During Ned Mudd's performance of "f.u.b.a.r. America" during 1996 City Stages at AmSouth-Harbert Plaza, Barry Thomas "got excited" and lit a small paper U.S. flag on fire. Backlash from the demonstration prompted organizers to cancel a scheduled appearance by Kevorkian Skull Poets on the event's Spoken Word Stage. The incident was included in lists of "acts of desecration" read into the public record during U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings on a proposed constitutional amendment to limit the freedom of speech.
References
- "Flag Desecration Acts" (April 20–28, 1999), quoted in "Hearing before the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 106th Congress".