Cant Be Faded

The Stooges Brass Band always had big dreams. From playing in the streets of New Orleans in the mid-1990s to playing stages the world over, they have held fast to their goal of raising brass band music and musicians to new heights—professionally and musically. In the intervening years, the band’s members have become family, courted controversy, and trained a new generation of musicians, becoming one of the city’s top brass bands along the way. Two decades after their founding, they have decided to tell their story. Can’t Be Faded: Twenty Years in the New Orleans Brass Band Game is a collaboration between musician and ethnomusicologist Kyle DeCoste and more than a dozen members of the Stooges Brass Band, past and present. It is the culmination of five years of interviews, research, and writing. Told with humor and candor, it’s as much a personal account of the Stooges’ careers as it is a story of the city’s musicians and, even more generally, a coming-of-age tale about black men in the United States at the turn of the twenty-first century. DeCoste and the band members take readers into the barrooms, practice rooms, studios, tour vans, and streets where the music is made and brotherhoods are shaped and strengthened. Comprised of lively firsthand accounts and honest dialogue, Can’t Be Faded is a dynamic approach to collaborative research that offers a sensitive portrait of the humans behind the horns.

The Stooges Brass Band always had big dreams. From playing in the streets of New Orleans in the mid-1990s to playing stages the world over, they have held fast to their goal of raising brass band music and musicians to new heights—professionally and musically. In the intervening years, the band’s members have become family, courted controversy, and trained a new generation of musicians, becoming one of the city’s top brass bands along the way. Two decades after their founding, they have decided to tell their story. Can’t Be Faded: Twenty Years in the New Orleans Brass Band Game is a collaboration between musician and ethnomusicologist Kyle DeCoste and more than a dozen members of the Stooges Brass Band, past and present. It is the culmination of five years of interviews, research, and writing. Told with humor and candor, it’s as much a personal account of the Stooges’ careers as it is a story of the city’s musicians and, even more generally, a coming-of-age tale about black men in the United States at the turn of the twenty-first century. DeCoste and the band members take readers into the barrooms, practice rooms, studios, tour vans, and streets where the music is made and brotherhoods are shaped and strengthened. Comprised of lively firsthand accounts and honest dialogue, Can’t Be Faded is a dynamic approach to collaborative research that offers a sensitive portrait of the humans behind the horns.

Warm, lyrical, cantabile melodies and rich harmonic structures are found in this expressive series.

"Potent. Soulful. Ensnares you right from the beginning and doesn’t let its grip go for a moment." - 5 star review Felicity Wilde was never looking for fame. It found her anyway. And, with it, a boatload of broken promises and painful goodbyes. Since she walked out of the spotlight — and away from Ryder Woods — she’s carved out a new life for herself. Quiet. Simple. Drama-free. Music-free. It’s everything she thought she wanted. So why does it feel so empty? She told herself she’d never go back. Not to music. Not to Los Angeles. Not to him. But when outside forces compel her to fulfill her contractual obligations, Felicity will once again find herself facing the life she thought she’d left behind for good… as well as the man who broke her heart into pieces… They say lightning never strikes twice… But what if your love is a perfect storm? FADED: Part Two is the second installment of an angsty, addictive new contemporary romance duet about two star-crossed musicians. From dark tour bus bunk beds to blinding stadium lights, follow Ryder, Felicity, and the whole Wildwood crew as they set the world on fire… one arena at a time. Due to sex, drugs, and rock & roll, it is recommended for readers ages 16 and up.

Samiq “Shooter” Young learned at an early age that love doesn’t make you responsible. His parents chose their vices over him, and although they were there, they fell short when it came to providing him with the things he needed. That deficit forced him into the streets and into a different type of family where he had to do whatever necessary to survive. Years passed, and he built a one-man operation that was just enough to provide him with a good life but kept him under the radar. However, as a man, he once again learns that love doesn’t make you responsible. When one of his transactions are interrupted by his ex, who chose her vices over raising the daughter that the two of them created—a daughter that Shooter wasn’t aware existed—he’s left once again to pick up where someone else fell short. Refusing to be a mirror image of his parents, he had some tough choices to make, which meant rearranging his priorities enough to be a father to his daughter. He walks away from everything and grinds in any way possible to make sure they both have what they need. That left little to no room in his life for anything other than being on his grind and raising his daughter, until her... Unfortunately, Shooter finds himself stuck between what his heart is being pulled to and what his mind is fighting against. Once you’re faded off of love, you no longer have control, no matter how hard you fight to maintain it.

What's behind the real Peace Corps? This novel, the first of three is set in lawless, post cold-war Eastern Europe where the U.S. government, ill-prepared to deal with a broken iron curtain, had placed hundreds of eager volunteers. One, Grayson Palmer, confronts and submits to the darkest elements of Eurasian crime. Isolated in Estonia, he discovers secrets that change his life forever.

Even the best intentions have consequences. Biz didn’t think life could get worse after the tragic events that surrounded her last flicker, but when she accidentally flickers on her eighteenth birthday after a pre-party celebration—she’s forced to face the consequences of her actions in a way she never imagined. As her life falls apart, she turns to the one person who promised to protect her, only to have her trust shattered—again. And when an anonymous email threatens to reveal her secret, Biz must decide if flickering is worth the permanent damage it could cause her body or if she needs to stay in this timeline. Forever.