Sophia Spiegel from Dilly Dally Alley told me about the Vamp Slam at Turf Club on August 21. Between the name and the flier, I had to know more. The event sounds intriguing to me – with a bonus of a new song from Dilly Dally Alley, performances from three other bands: The Nunnery, Room3 and Fend and an introduction to four local poets. I will be there for sure!
I have been to poetry and story slams but please tell us more about a Vamp Slam.
Well we made up the term, “Vamp Slam,” so our authority is our own on this, but a vamp slam is poetry + an accompanying vamp. A vamp is a 8-32 bar repeated musical phrase that allows for spontaneous fills, melodies, and runs to occur overtop a planned set of chords and rhythms. A double improvisational event! The poet shares a work – part planned, perhaps improvised – while a group of musicians accompany the poem with an improvised repeated phrase – also half planned, half improvised. The hope is that an entirely new piece of collaborative art is created that will only exist at that exact time and place – à la Wednesday, Aug 21 at the Turf Club.
Where did the idea come from?
I befriended some poets this year and was sitting with them at an open mic in a cozy little coffee shop in Connecticut. Someone at this open mic shared some spoken word to some accompanying music, and I found it really enchanting! That performance seemed well-rehearsed, but it got us talking – what if there was some improvisation and spontaneity between musician and poet? Could it be entirely disastrous? Maybe! Is it worth trying? Totally! It always makes it a fun when there is a manageable amount of risk on stage. We’ve been careful to choose bands who are adept at improvising – a lot of jazz musicians, a looping extraordinaire, some folks who have been playing in the industry for over half of their lives.
How do you prepare for something like this? If you watch cooking shows (and I do!), I’m thinking about the Chopped contestant doing home challenges before the big show.
Haha! I think it depends on the band/poet/performer. We’ve asked each band to prepare an original “vamp”. Sarah of the Nunnery told me her plan was just to wing it, but she is the queen of vamps – much of her artistry is based on building lush, dense layers using a looping pedal. Poets likewise have been ask to prepare a collection of works, but to allow room for where those works will go. I imagine some poets may just plan it all out, and I know for a fact that a couple poets will improvise based on what the moment offers.
You have a single coming out two days after the event (This Just In), it is a wonderful amalgamation of genres. Might you play it at the Vamp Slam event? Can you tell us a little more about it?
We most definitely will share it at the Vamp Slam! A portion of it mayyy even be reappropriated into our vamp! We’re excited for folks to hear this tune – “This Just In” is about the funny feeling you get from being pursued and persuaded into getting together with someone. I wrote it at school out east, where I was feeling “a sharpness in the land, sharpness in the beat” (opening lyrics) from the grad school hubbub. I ran into someone I ended up dating for a little bit, but the initial encounter felt like this playfully explicit courtship I had never encountered in the midwest. Us Minnesotans are just too polite! It’s is definitely our most upbeat and driving tune yet, but still has that jazzy chromaticism going on that we can never shake off our sound.
Please give us the details of the Vamp Slam event.
The first edition of the “Vamp Slam” is being held at the Turf Club on Wednesday, August 21 from 7:30-10:30 featuring Dilly Dally Alley, the Nunnery, Room 3, and Fend. The end of each set will culminate in original works shared by 1 of 4 local poets that 1 of 4 bands would accompany (playing a vamp). At the end of each set, each poet will be selected by drawing names out of a hat. Spontaneity and excitement abound – be prepared!
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