Phantom Moon by Casey Cyr

After his show he was loading up his van. I asked him if he got the poetry I’d sent and he lit up, “Yeah, thanks.” He said “I better get outta NYC soon cause it's gettin cold, and I don’t wear socks or underwear!” We all laughed.

Or when Iggy Pop and his then wife passed my by on the sidewalk going towards Sorcerer Sound to record, me with my heavy Gibson Les Paul on my back, and he smiled at me. I had a great day recording blessed by my rock & roll fairy godfather. At Sorcer Sound where Tom Verlaine used to hang out with his buddy Vera. We'd laugh about the spiders, some legless glued to various lighting fixtures and talk guitars and New York.

It’s natural to try to connect with other poets & musicians. You need to find your tribe. But I learned that the music business can be harsh. Hardly anybody’s as cool as Mike Watt. Tread lightly with your emerging creative force, young ones. Your best times and biggest supporters are all right there in the underground that you make.

The irony that the only people who won’t take your free CD are in the music business isn’t soon lost on us indi artists. If there’s a producer in the room, don’t bother. PR people, even worse. If you even tell them you’re a musician they’ll act like their hair is on fire.

OK, maybe you should give your CD to a producer if you meet one. To not would be kinda stupid. But if they don't respond, ignore them and go on. People are unreliable, your heart is not.

The underground was my home. The underbelly, where magic is available at every turn. So many brilliant flashes all over place. I can say truly that the best stuff I’ve ever heard, you’ll never hear. Sometimes it happens that way, the gorgeous firefly just appears and then, gone.

My favorite moments, in the underground. A place no one can assemble or explain. That’s why this internet is so wild, a place where you can expose the dream that you’ve captured. In a million places, in bits and bytes.

And David Amram, musical genius, champion of all, the salt of the earth. It was some time before I knew how well-known David is. I was introduced by another poet at a reading, and he acted like he was one of us. Har, har. Now he’s my model of how to be in the creative underground, where these thousands of fragile faces would dare put their hearts out in their words, their music.

For now, if you see me sittin on my steps, you know I’m busy. And if you have my little record in your hand I’ll never think you’re nobody, because that’s the biggest lie. We’re all the same, and there’s no reason to create except to show others what they can do, too. I couldn’t get to that for a long time. In a higher existence I would have been a school teacher. They’re real heroes.

–Casey Cyr

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Biography:

Casey Cyr transcends genre with these lush offerings. Her music spans the gritty realms of man's conflicts and expands upward, toward the limitless magic of imagination.

When not writing, Casey organizes events and for such worthy causes as Hozomeen Press and underground musicians and poets. She co-founded the New York Underground Music & Poetry festival, with Honorary Chairperson, David Amram, Mike McHugh, and Nora Edison.

Casey has been working with David Amram since 1994 on music and poetry collaborations, both live and in the studio, sharing their appreciation of literature and spontaneous jams. They have performed together at Knitting Factory with Steve Earle, Wetlands, C-Note, Nuyorican Poet's Cafe, The Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans. David appears courtesy New Chamber Music Inc., BMI on the full Shiva track, only availabe online at http://www.myspace.com/caseycyrmusic

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Reviews:

Quite simply, Casey's work is breathtaking. Her CD is hypnotic and flowing. The generally slow-tempo tunes, showcase Casey's whisper-soft, low, sensual vocals, occasionally dropping to a gritty moan. Her voice is languid, inviting and warm - Phantom Moon and Summer of Love are two perfect examples. Shiva with its wonderful coffeehouse beat, is stark and haunting. The lyrics and vocal quality, along with the engineering, make this one great CD!

- Les Reynolds, Indie-Music.com

I've been singing your praises so many places in the last two months that if I were normal I'd have laryngitis, but since I'm not, I feel GREAT!!!

- David Amram, composer

I was floored by your CD. IT grew and grew on me, and I soon realized that you have a true gift. You have a unique sound, indentifiable. Not many people have that! Many can recreate, but not truly create, so god bless you, and you have my deepest repect.

- Kevin Twigg, musician

Once again, GREAT SHOW!!!! You sort of remind me of a modern day Bob Dylan - similar to your media kit that contains writings and visual, Dylan has a book called Writings and Drawings.

- Greg Maniha, CMJ Network

Casey Cyr...WOW WOW WOW WOW and I'll say it once more just for good measure...WOW. Favourite cuts are Phantom Moon, Mystery (a number 1 if ever I heard one) and Little Flower (another No 1). She would be HUGE in Europe and Australia.

- Alex D'Savioa, Blue Moon Productions, London, England

"Casey ascends from other visionary renaissance non-specialist multi-artists like William Blake, Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Patti Smith... View From The Launch Pad, graphically depicts the sacred and the profane. It is astute in its poetic analysis of history. It is austere in its hawk's eye view of the present world. It is lyric in its undaunted hope for our possible future... Casey's music has a minor-keyed mountain resonance that travels faster than light into heart and soul. Her songs are lament and celebration. They are joy incarnate. Listen."

- Ron Whitehead, writer and publisher

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