Poetry Concert: Poetry and Music with Carl Reisman and M.J. Walker

Celebrate National Poetry Month with an evening of poetry and music that speaks to the heart of the adult experience. Performers Carl Reisman and M.J. Walker are storytellers in verse and song, exploring emotions and dilemmas we hesitate to discuss. The program will feature M.J. Walker’s musical interpretations of poems by former U.S. Poet Laureate and National Book Award winner Philip Levine, as well as original songs and poetry by Carl Reisman.

Philip Levine’s (1928-2015) poetic work continues to give us glimpses and truths of Industrial and post-Industrial America, via his own, his friends’ and family’s work within the massive car production industry in Detroit Michigan. He was able to use his factory work to help others see what American life was like for men and women working in factories in factory towns in Twentieth-century, Midwest America. Following his younger years in Detroit, Levine lived, worked and wrote his poetry in Chicago and elsewhere, and in his later years, in California, where his poems also consider work there, including wildfire fighters’ experiences. Philip Levine’s poetry continues to be relevant because in each poem he brings together very large forces like a massive industry or wildfire disasters with very individual experiences of specific people like his brother (his twin), his son, childhood friends, or a woman co-worker — all of whom continue to live rich and thoughtful lives as they navigate work and life.

MJ says, “This essential combination of specific personal lives within big endeavors, events and changes is what drew me to Philip Levine’s poetry, and also inspired me to put some of his poems to music. In my own life, I have loved playing guitar and singing since I was a child and have used my music to ponder my experiences, and to share them with others. I have one CD of my own songs, Gold Mill (2000) and have performed solo and with Carl Reisman in Shy Folk and many other musicians in the Champaign-Urbana area, including Amasong Women’s Chorus and The Coneflowers. Philip Levine’s poetry in the collection What Work Is (1991) transported me into the lives of his subjects so that I felt I could ‘live a little of their lives’, which is what all good storytelling can do. I was moved to use my musical ideas to attempt to, hopefully, deepen my own and others’ experiences of some of Levine’s poetic work. That said, his poems stand alone quite strongly and with much integrity to this day. One of the things I have found so hard in this project is how songs differ from poems, in both rhythm and structure, which is part of the challenge of putting poetry to any song form. Regardless, I hope to continue to encourage interest in his work and for new readers to seek it out, in order to get to know it in their own ways.”

For adults. No registration required.

About the Performers:

Carl Reisman is a singer-songwriter, poet, and retired lawyer who lives in rural Mahomet with his wife, veterinarian Robin Hadley, three horses, and their dog, Friday. He’s the founder, lead singer, and song writer for the Americana group, Ticketless Traveler, which has produced one CD and is currently finishing a second album of songs recorded at studios in New Orleans and Urbana.  Carl has published two collections of poetry, Kettle (Hot Lead Press, 2005) and Home Geography (Stone City Press, 2007), as well as essays and poems in various very sweet and very obscure literary journals.  Ticketless Traveler’s songs and videos can be streamed on Spotify and YouTube. Carl most recently played the singer songwriter listening room showcase at Yellow and Co. in Mahomet.

Carl and M.J. Walker began collaborating a decade ago in the group that they started, Shy Folk. They continue to collaborate. M.J. has provided back up vocals on Ticketless Traveler’s recordings and Carl has provided M.J. with occasional backup vocals and percussion for her Phillip Levine songs, including a typewriter.