Amaranth-An Xtreme Rock and Roll Rockumentary Circa 2099 - The New Age Of Dystopian Rock
Amaranth is for everyone who grows up dreaming of being a rock star...
It's 2099, and live music is dead. Only a few obscure bands have still survived the corporate takeover of FM radio, the internet, and all of "manufactured" music by corporations and conglomerates. Touring bands don't exist any longer due to the outrageous prices TicketFaster are charging. Only small club and garage bands still play just for the love of the music. (Original music is outlawed. Therefore these bands must hide to play live) Close to the color of raspberry, (the band's favorite group, The Raspberries) Amaranth is the 'synthetic' story of the world's most successful "all-girl" rock band in the wake of this corruption. The story of their rise and inevitable downfall is told from the POV of the only surviving radio DJ, Alethia Ulima, brave enough to battle the corporations. This DJ must be on the move 24/7 staying one step ahead of assassins) The main character, Alesha "Thunder" Justice, the lead singer, is rushed to the emergency room for an "apparent" overdose. Does she live or die? Does the band continue on in the wake of a tragedy that seems to be the end of the group? Join us in a wild ride sure to knock your socks off and kick out the jams. Can they revive the music as it was once heard around the world? Original songs and story are only available in the ninth Pseudoverse novel. Batteries, circuits, and molds not included...
This novel stars our main character, Alesha Justice, and a cast so rockin that it will take your ears days to recover from the decibels...
This is Amaranth...
"Dad, did you ever play music?”
Hesitating for a moment, he stopped the spoon dead in its tracks halfway between his bowl of soup and his mouth not expecting this question to come from his seven-year-old daughter, Alesha. Putting his index finger up to his mouth, he “shushed” her smiling. They continued eating their dinner staring at one another.
Bright eyed, intelligent, and very ambitious, Alesha would never take silence as an answer for very long and he knew it. After all, she was just a kid who knew nothing about days past when freedom of speech was taken for granted. Both knew that speaking in front of Robota would be the end for either one of them so she waited out this game of mental tug-of-war with her father, Jim.
The Deal
The massive claw-like tips of his fingers extended out to touch her face. The razor-sharp talons of one hand were clutching something small, and it was dripping as the other hand stroked her young face. Looking up at the object Alesha reached out her seven-year-old fingers to grasp at the worn-out wooden quill pen. As quickly as it appeared, it was snatched away from her sight. His gruesome face appeared in front of her snarling wet black smoke from his nostrils. She jumped back, startled at the sight of his repulsive skeletal-like features stitched from a patchwork quilt of blood-soaked skin patches.
“Do you understand what I am asking of you?” His baritone voice reverberated in her head as the misty black fog rolled around her body.
“Yes,” she replied, shaking, staring at the wrinkled and burnt skin flaps hanging off his bones.
“What is your desire?”
“I want to be the best rock and roll artist in the world,” she replied with confidence.
“So it is written so it shall be done,” he told her, handing her the pen.
Clutching onto it, Alesha could feel the flesh in her palm getting hotter. She began to sweat profusely as a smoking piece of parchment paper was held up within an inch of her face. Trying to read the writing was impossible, as ancient Babylonian script was not one of her strong suits. The pen dripped crimson liquid as the smell of burning flesh wafted through her nostrils. “What does this say?” she asked with curiosity and fear in her voice.
“It says that you will be the greatest guitarist and singer in a world where music no longer exists. Now sign the paper I have another appointment with Mr. Johnson in fifteen minutes.”
The paper floated in midair in front of her face as she scribbled her name the best she could. The pen became so hot it dropped out of her hand. Clutching her burnt right palm with her left hand, he spoke one more time before disappearing.
“I will see you in twenty years, my dear―”
Standing in the middle of two intersecting dirt roads, she screamed a blood-curdling raspy shrill “help!” that echoed throughout the humid cotton fields. Alesha woke up sitting up in bed, sweating as if she had just caught the worst fever from unknown influenza within seconds.
A minute later, her father plowed into the room illuminating the lights kicking over a small trash can on his way to her bed. “What is going on?!” he asked, confused and upset. He searched the room for an intruder. An awful smell filled his olfactory senses as she held her hand crying. He sat down on the bed next to her and held onto her. Gripping him tightly, she rested her head on his shoulders as her salty tears dripped down her cheeks into her mouth.
“Dad, please don’t let go of me,” she begged.
“I would never leave you,” he told her, stroking her damp hair, “Did you have a nightmare?”
“Yes―something like that,” she told him as she stared at the five-pointed star sitting inside of a circle burnt into the palm of her right hand.
“We have done it before, and we will do it again.”
“Done what before?”
“We have taken care of business when the sales begin to drop off.”
“First of all what the hell are you talking about and who is “we”?”
“For over the last century, we have made sure that sales increase and continue to rise after an “accidental” death in a band. Particularly a lead singer is nice to get rid of when the shit hits the fan. We can stage a death, the fans mourn, and sales go up. Now we always like to wait until they are twenty-seven, or Saturn revolves around the Earth, but if we have to, we can do it around that age more or less. This keeps the conspiracy theorists swarming and the sales go up.”
“Are you crazy?”
“I didn’t start this trend. It has been going on ever since the rumors of Robert Johnson and the Crossroads. Shaking hands with the devil my ass. We have a lot of stock and money tied up in these bands. They are a product, nothing more.”
“So, you are telling me that you would kill off Amaranth to make a few bucks? They are the hottest thing to hit the music scene in over 150 years. They’re at the peak of their success. Are you nuts?”
“Like I said, we have been doing this since August 16th, 1938 and we will continue to do this for the sake of our stockholders.”
“Morrison, Joplin, Cornell, and all of the rest were—“
“—unfortunate accidents that happened because they were losing control of themselves. We put them out of their misery, and the company gets rich. It is just business. No one ever reads the fine print on the contracts—no one.”
"This is insane."
"You are either with us or against us. If you choose not to participate, well, I cannot be responsible for what happens next."
The Introduction to Amaranth will include a researched history of Rock and Roll told from the perspective of the last DJ left in America, Alethia Ulima. It all starts in the southern United States at the infamous "Crossroads" with Robert Johnson...
The New Age Of Music – Women Who Can Rock, Roll, And Sing The Blues With A Helluva Lot Of Soul…
If you know anything about me, you know I love my music. Without it, I am nothing. I meld music into my novels because it is such a big part of our lives and it influences my writing. I had decided early on that I would ‘incorporate’ music, lyrics, songs, and bands into my stories. With the advent of eBooks, you can now pay tribute to these great groups with hyperlinks and videos. The combination of books and music has begun to take a fantastic turn for the better and it cannot come quick enough.
Music Cycles
Music is cyclic. It always has been. Why? What drives this cycle? Think back to where it all started. Elvis and The Beatles. Once again, what drives this cycle? Is it the outside influences of society? Is it the inside influences of the songwriters and the lyricists? Like the entire planet, music changes with time, and time drives a new religion of music, a new society and a new breed of great rock bands. As writers are influenced by past writers, singers and musicians are are influenced by the music they grew up with, listened to, and tried to repeat to the best of their ability. Many lonely but driven hours sitting in a room with worn out borrowed instruments Razing Cain with their siblings and worried parents wondering what went wrong. But sometimes in life, dreams do come true. A cosmic intervention, a Big Bang of music in the universe drives some of these great songwriters and talented bands to finally come together at a split second in time to convene upon us like a gift from the Godz themselves.
The 'List'
You may not agree with this list, but here are my picks for the cyclic renewal of rock music in my lifetime, ‘before’ and during my lifetime, that is:
ALL Blues artists/Gospel southern music/Ragtime/Soul
Elvis Presley
The Beatles
Black Sabbath
The Doors
Pink Floyd
KISS
Guns and Roses
Nirvana/Pearl Jam
Evanescence
Halestorm/The Pretty Reckless/Jasmine Cain
Please remember I am not putting together a top ten list per sea, just what I believe to be the cycle that has changed the direction or is currently changing musical style, gender, and influences. The groups listed in number eleven are why I began writing this blog. They are the new renewal and revival of rock and it is a welcomed breath of fresh air.
The ‘Why’
As a child of the 70’s, I have had a chance to ‘witness’ some of the greatest music the world will ever know. I have stood in the front row of a ‘not quite well-known’ KISS concert, outlasted the greatest rock circus that ever took place, The World Series of Rock held at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. From Pink Floyd, to Starz, to Heart, I have seen all of it, and I have seen it live. Before VHS, DVD, Blu-Rays, and MP3 players, we had no other choice but to discuss it the next day, in person, face-to-face. You can probably guess which direction this paragraph is heading. That’s right, Facebook, Twitter, and the almighty hashtag. Now in a matter of milliseconds, you can reach thousands of people with your posts. But, isn’t that also a bad thing you ask? Yes, yes it is. Now you have every wannabe rock star and YouTube idiot trying desperately to become rich and famous. Corporate giants and advertisers are now on the lookout for anyone who will give their body, their life, and their tainted soul, getting paid for these products that I often block on Twitter. (Reference: See Cobalt, Crimson, and Emerald’s satirical commercials. Sold at fine retailers and book establishments)
I could go on and on about how The Runaways, Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and Heart, have paved the way for the insurgence of great women in music. But this is now, and it is time to start looking at the present. There are currently three bands in this millennium that will influence the direction of rock for years to come. They have changed the rocky river of ugly Pop-Stars, Teen (Corporate model influenced) Boy-Bands, and YouTube “watch me play these three chords” Garage bands through years of torturous hard work, pounding touring, great lyrics, genius songwriting, and collaborating with band members. Without actually ever talking to the members of Halestorm, The Pretty Reckless, and Jasmine Cain, I can only assume that some or all of their influences are listed above. Why? Because if I go so far as to make sure they are a part of the inside of my life’s work, my novels, you can almost surely bet that we have had the same musical influences. Listening to their music on a daily basis while I write has changed the way I write. It has to. You do not listen to great hard pounding rock music to write a mushy soft love story. You listen to the music that coincides with your style of writing. Mine just happens to be hard science fiction with a lot of action, and twists thrown in.
The 'Kicker'
Here is the kicker. All of my novels are a tribute to these bands and great women, my wife included, and how strong they can be in the face of adversity. These three bands, and all of these strong women in my life, are the reason I continue writing this series. The next novel, Onyx, will be a Jasmine Cain influenced novel with fantastical twists and turns. A story that will take your breath away and wake you up inside. Fade…
Halestorm, The Pretty Reckless, and Jasmine Cain are three of the voices that have used the past to influence the future of music as we know it, and more importantly for me personally, my writing. If you are like me and have grown up in the greatest era of music, give them a real listen to. I don’t mean the ‘fifteen-seconds’ of sample on Amazon. Take a shot and actually buy it. They have so much fantastic vocal range, great lyrics, and band members, who like myself, ‘accentuate’ their genius and creativity. There has never been so much female soul in music as there is right here, right now. I never push any type of music for any reason other than this:
“Waking first thing in the morning the only thought I have besides pain and agony is a song in my head that I cannot get rid of unless I listen to it immediately. This would involve me slowly stumbling to my Smartphone to bring up the song “Highway Prophet", "Mz. Hyde", or "Take Me Down".
"Now that I have purged that song out of my head, I am in need of the entire album.”
Nuff said…Robotic Love, CG
http://www.jasminecain.com/
http://theprettyreckless.com/
http://www.halestormrocks.com/
Remember, anyone who produces digital books, music, artwork, or poems needs your voice to stop pirating. You cannot expect anyone to continue to give you great material if they do not get paid for it. It costs Pseudosynth Press approximately $250.00 to $500.00 to put out a 70K novel. We cannot imagine what cost it takes to produce eleven songs, go out on tour, and keep writing great material. Just think about it before you click.
