Photo By Adam Weiss

​Will Hermes is currently a senior critic for Rolling Stone, as well as being a regular contributor to NPR's "All Things Considered," but he has a distinguished history with the Twin Cities music scene as well. Mr. Hermes began writing for the City Pages in the early '90s, and became the Arts & Music editor in '93, a position he still looks back on with deep affection. He is in town tonight to read from his illuminating new book, Love Goes To Buildings On Fire, which is a comprehensive and fascinating study of the New York music scene between the years 1973-77. We were able to ask Mr. Hermes a few questions about both his book and his long love affair with music in advance of his reading tonight at 7 p.m. at the Minneapolis Central Library.

 
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​(photo by cliff1066)

What does St. Paul have that Minneapolis doesn't? The capital city has its own almanac, for starters. Now in its fourth year, this annual publication features essays, poems, reviews, stories, and even a limerick or two. Come celebrate the Almanac tonight.

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Minnesota's literary event of the year, the Twin Cities Book Festival, will celebrate its ninth year in October, and the fair's organizers say you can expect to rub padded elbows with some heavy-hitters from the lit world.

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Fans of Doomtree's Dessa Darling would do well to check out the rapper's new book of poetry and prose, Spiral Bound. After reading the book over the weekend, I wholeheartedly agree with fellow Gimme Noise contributor David Hansen, who recently wrote that Spiral Bound is "a dominantly dazzling literary debut."

Dessa will officially release the book at the Guthrie Theater on February 7 at an event hosted by Mpls/St. Paul Magazine's Steve Marsh, who will lend his self-described "signature blend of careening intellectualism, dry humor, and earnest curiosity" to the event. In addition to a live Q&A between Marsh and Dessa, the night will include performances by acclaimed singer-songwriter Jeremy Messersmith and appearances by writers John Jodzio and Shane Hawley.More >>

There are many ways that St. Paul trumps Minneapolis. St. Paul is the capitol city, where the RNC wreaked (memorable and historic) havoc this year. It hosts the State Fair, home of the delicious fried products on a stick. And they have their own almanac. More >>

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Twin Cities hip-hop connoisseurs are most familiar with Dessa as the Doomtree collective's resident poet, so it should come as no surprise to her fans that her expressive ambitions run to the extraordinarily literary. Spiral Bound, her outstanding debut volume of prose and poetry, is due to release tomorrow through Doomtree Press, a brand new wing of the music collective that becomes more and more essential and diverse by the day. In anticipation of the chapbook's release, Dessa spoke with Gimme Noise about her literary life.

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Look. Stephen King actually does like it. He's got an accolade on the back of the book. We won't denigrate that. Bully for Mr. Adams.

But the lion's share of critical attention cited on the covers of "Infinity Blues," the debut volume of poetry from the alt country megastar, quite ominously comes from people who are neither writers, nor critics, but who simply seem to be buddies of Mr. Adams. "Like all his work," says filmmaker Cameron Crow on the banner accolade, "it's soul poetry of the highest order."

Yeah. Remember when Cameron Crowe made Vanilla Sky?
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Attention 'Mats fans: head down to Magers & Quinn Booksellers tonight for a book signing by Replacements drummer-turned-visual artist Chris Mars. Mars will be signing copies of Tolerance, a collection of essays and over 150 paintings created between 2000 and 2007. The signing starts at 8 p.m.

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