Monday, July 8, 2013

In Case We Die by Danny Bland


For those of you completists out there that must have every recording of Mike McCready, you won't want to miss the novel In Case We Die by former Cat Butt bassist, Danny Bland, and illustrated by Pearl Jam's favorite photographer, Lance Mercer.  Mike McCready is reading a chapter, If You Have Have Ghosts, for the audiobook, which you can receive free when you pre-order the book.  For that matter, the audiobook is read by a who's who list of Seattle musicians and artists (Mark Lanegan, Duff McKagan, Mark Arm, John Doe, Aimee Mann, and West Memphis 3 defendant, Damien Echols)

McCready donated his time for the reading and proceeds go to the Musicares organization.  Below is the description from the publisher.  Learn more or pre-order here.
"It wasn’t the pounding headache or the all too familiar taste of blood in my mouth that woke me that morning, but the stink of cat piss. They all have cats. Cats and bad tattoos and mops of dyed black hair that reek of cigarettes and watermelon Bubblicious." This debut novel by veteran Seattle musician Danny Bland follows a pair of outsiders who find themselves locked in the palpable, dizzy grunge-rock scene of early-'90s Seattle.

Vulnerable to the high relief of heroin addiction, Bland’s characters — Charlie Hyatt and Carrie Finch — are unapologetic protagonists whose epiphanies are as blinding as their weaknesses. Finch, 21, beautiful and dangerous, drowns out the voices in her head and the consequences of a misled life with electric guitars, booze and petulant misbehavior. Her single abiding faith takes the form of an unlikely savior — '60s psychedelic musician Roky Erikson.

At the ripe old age of 28, Hyatt attempts to make sense of the cards he has been dealt: a miserable job in a porn shop, a drug habit he cannot afford and the wildly unstable woman he had chosen to love.

Two damaged people can balance a seesaw for a long time, even finding the illusion of safety; but when one gets off unannounced, the other will fall. As Finch finds sobriety, her sanity and her relationship with Hyatt falter until an inevitable event brings the two back together a decade later.