Willy Vlautin & Paul Brainard performing songs from Northline May 21, 2008

Green Apple Books Presents
Books and Music at the Edinburgh Castle

Willy Vlautin, author of The Motel Life, which was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice last year (see the high praise below), will be reading and playing songs from his new novel, Northline, on Wed. May 21 at 7 p.m. at The Edinburgh Castle Pub, 950 Geary Street in San Francisco. Willy Vlautin is the frontman for the alt country band Richmond Fontaine. Appearing with Willy will be Paul Brainard, the pedal steel player with Richmond Fontaine. Brainard has toured with Alejandro Escovedo and The Sadies among others, and has played on records by M. Ward, The Decemberists and The Dandy Warhols. Together Willy and Paul will be perfoming songs from the acoustic soundtrack that was written and recorded to accompany the novel Northline (the CD is included with each copy of the book).

What: Willy Vlautin & Paul Brainard reading and performing songs from Northline
Where: The Edinburgh Castle Pub, 950 Geary Street San Francisco
When: Wednesday May 21 at 7 p.m.

Praise for Northline:

From the New York Times Book Review:

It’s a cliché to compare a novel to a story overheard in a bar, but The Motel Life insists on the comparison. Willy Vlautin is the singer and songwriter for Richmond Fontaine, a band based in Portland, Ore., and the music he makes is very much like his writing: mournful, understated and proudly steeped in menthol smoke and bourbon. Slighter than Carver, less puerile than Bukowski, Vlautin nevertheless manages to lay claim to the same bleary-eyed territory, and surprisingly — perhaps even unintentionally — to make it new.

George Pelecanos: Northline shines with naked honesty and unsentimental humanity. Vlautin has written the American novel that I’ve been hoping to find.

Mojo: All around Vlautin is becoming one of America’s most fundamental artists in words and music.

Official Website: http://www.castlenews.com/