Music Journalists and Musicians: Nobody Expects a Happy Ending

The proposition of having music writers share the stage with musicians can be a dicey prospect. At times, musicians and writers can share a very adversarial relationship since artists don’t want their art confined to labels and writers can’t get enough of labeling art.

Writer and all around creative juggernaut Amanda Stern eases the eternal tension by bringing both musicians and writers together for her Happy Ending Music and Reading Series, an irreverent night of readings and music, and by demanding that the readers commit to one “public risk.” Truth be told, it kind of sounds like code for “embarrass yourself” but hey, who doesn’t love to see that?

“I’m not sure what my risk is going to be,” says [Alec Hanley Bemis], featured reader and frequent LA Weekly and New York Times contributor and Brassland label head. "I think it will involve dressing up, but I don’t want to ruin the surprise. Maybe it will be about the narrative qualities of running a record label.” This seems on point for a music writer who describes his approach as “fictionalized non-fiction.”

[Read full "Happy Endings" here.]