The Pearlsong Letter: Music

November 2008

June 18, 2006

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Size & life positive music CD added to Pearlsong Press catalog

Kristie Agee has just released a wonderful size (and life) positive music CD called Use What You've Got. It's recorded with her band Big Potential, which also stars her husband, trombone player Roy Agee.

You can hear clips from the CD (and order it if you wish) here at the Pearlsong Press website.

Songs on the CD include "Big Fat Mamas Are Back in Style," "Fat Meat is Good Meat," (she ain't talking about hamburgers here :-), "Meat on Their Bones," and "Built for Comfort." Kristie also sings a lovely version of "My Funny Valentine," pointing out in the liner notes that this famous song's lyricist, Lorenz Hart,

"was a very short man who happened to be gay. He continuously struggled with both of these qualities while living in a time when homosexuality wasn't as accepted as it is today. The story goes that Mr. Hart wrote the lyrics to this song while looking in a mirror, hoping and praying that someday someone would say these words to him. I hope that someday we can all learn to love others and ourselves with the unconditional love expressed so beautifully in this song."

ALso from the CD package:

Webster's Dictionary defines beauty as "the quality that gives pleasure to the mind or senses...through truthfulness." In other words, true beauty is being real, natural and accepting all of our imperfections. Isn't that refreshing! The only things we have to do to be beautiful are to let go and to enjoy being ourselves. Unfortunately in our society these tasks are not easily accomplished. Rarely does a day go by that we are not bombarded with unrealistic images of beauty. Flipping through television channels or turning the pages of popular magazines can overwhelm even the most self-confident. But take heart, because change is on the way. More and more companies are using real-sized individuals in their ad campaigns and are positively featuring people of all ages, encouraging us to embrace our differences. One of my goals in making this record is to encourage people of all shapes, sizes, ages and abilities to consider self-acceptance. Consider loving yourself wherever you happen to be on your journey through life. For wherever you are, you are in the right place. Enjoy this record. Enjoy dancing to it, thinking about it and sharing it with others.

Big Hugs, Kristie Agee & Big Potential

The first song on the CD is Kristie's version of "Big Long Slidin' Thing," which was originally recorded by "Queen of the Blues" Dinah Washingon in 1954. In the liner notes, Kristie writes,

"Ms. Washington died tragically at the age of 39 from an overdose of diet pills and alcohol. How sad it is that such a talented woman felt it was necessary to take dangerous drugs in order to be accepted and loved. Ms. Washington's death and the numerous deaths every year from eating disorders are evidence to me that by changing our standard of beauty, we will actually save lives."

June 18, 2006 in Music | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

Pearlsong Press books

Frannie Zellman: FatLand
In the near future the Pro-Health Laws of the United States of America have become so oppressive that people seeking freedom over their bodies have established a new country. In FatLand, life is good and scales are forbidden. Free from the hatred and discrimination of the Other Side, FatLanders have built happy, productive lives. But not everyone is flourishing.
Pat Ballard: 10 Steps to Loving Your Body (No Matter What Size You Are)
The Queen of Rubenesque Romances shares the steps she created -- and used -- to heal the damage of years of dieting. Join her in celebrating size diversity, self esteem, positive body image, and health at every size.
Charlie Lovett: The Program
A new weight loss clinic in New York City has an offer for you -- given them $5,000 and they'll make you as thin as a supermodel. You can eat whatever you want and never gain an ounce. Tempted? Fledgling journalist Karen Sumner would be -- if only she had $5,000. When Karen finally walks through the blue and gold doors of The Program, however, she's on the trail of the hottest story of her career. If she and her friends are right, The Program is doing something even worse than creating an army of unnaturally thin women. Library Journal calls The Program "a lively first novel. Highly recommended."
Linda C Wisniewski: Off Kilter: A Woman's Journey to Peace with Scoliosis, Her Mother, and Her Polish Heritage
Even before she was diagnosed with scoliosis at 13, Linda Wisniewski felt off kilter. Born to a cruel father in the insulated Polish Catholic community of Amsterdam, New York, she learned martyrdom as a way of life. Off Kilter shows her learning to stretch her Self as well as her spine as she comes to terms with her mentally deteriorating, widowed mother and her culture. Only by accepting her physical deformity, her emotionally unavailable mother, and her Polish American heritage does she finally find balance and a life that fits. Maureen Murdock, author of Unreliable Truth: On Memoir & Memory, calls Off Kilter "a courageous, insightful book, particularly relevant for anyone who grew up feeling physically 'different.'"
Pat, Ballard: The Best Man
Sparks fly the night Lana Clarke meets to plan her sister's wedding -- and not just because curvaceous Lana announces she's stopped dieting and doesn't care if she's fat as maid of honor. The strong-willed sister of the bride attracts the attention of the groom's devastatingly handsome best man, Anthony Angelino. But when the sparks become flames, Lana's in trouble. Tony's first wife died mysteriously. Will Lana be next?
Judy Bagshaw: At Long Last, Love
Big beautiful --and in some cases slightly more mature -- heroines grace the pages of this collection of romantic short stories by Judy Bagshaw.
Jack Adler: Splendid Seniors
An inspiring ensemble of 52 people whose accomplishments after age 65 remind us that creativity, passion & influence can not only flower in later years, but bear delicious fruit.
Mary Saracino: The Singing of Swans
"The Singing of Swans is a remarkable narrative calling--even compelling--us to connect with our own ancestral roots, to seek our own inner wisdom, and to reclaim our own inner voices!" --Margaret Starbird, author of The Woman With the Alabaster Jar & Mary Magdalene: Bride in Exile
Ellen Frankel: Beyond Measure: A Memoir About Short Stature and Inner Growth
"If you have ever measured your height or your weight and felt good or bad about yourself as a result, you need this book. In its pages, Ellen Frankel makes an important contribution to human liberation by telling the most fabulous story that can be told, the story of a person coming fully into her own. This book is thought-provoking, heart-rending, and a genuine solace for people of all sizes." --Marilyn Wann, author of FAT!SO?
Pat Ballard: Abigail's Revenge
Injustice, romance and suspense smolder in a small Southern town. Romantic suspense from the Queen of Rubenesque Romances, Pat Ballard.
Pattie Thomas, Ph.D.: Taking Up Space
"Thomas's incisive blend of sociological inquiry and personal narrative amounts to a provocative treatise on fat oppression in our culture. Taking Up Space is a kind of roadmap through the minefield of the 'war on obesity,' and it offers protection to the reader ready to fight for cultural change surrounding the meaning of fatness." --Kathleen LeBesco, Ph.D., author of Revotling Bodies: The Struggle to Redefine Fat Identity.
Anne Richardson Williams: Unconventional Means: The Dream Down Under
Shattered by family tragedy in the early 1960s, an upper-middle-class Southern teenager finds solace in art and literature. Decades later she is called to the continent whose literature once comforted her, and to a magical connection with an Aboriginal woman transcending race and half a world.
Pat Ballard: A Worthy Heir
When Pam Spencer sees the newspaper ad seeking "a worthy heir" to Fiona Bainbridge's millions, she jumps at the chance to get her brother the medical care he needs after a job-related accident. But Reese Bainbridge, Fiona's handsome grandson--and jilted heir--rushes home in anger when he hears his grandmother has moved Pam and her brother into the family mansion. Sparks fly--and Pam is up to the challenge.
Pat Ballard: His Brother's Child
One party, one silver-tongued, double-talking stranger intent on winning a bet, and Faith Carr ends up betrayed, alone, and pregnant. When Edward Brenner shows up on her doorstep intending to right his brother's wrongs, she's scared and vulnerable. But she agrees to marry this stranger to give the baby a father, although keeping him at a distance. She doesn't realize that Edward fell in love with her the moment he saw her. Will her battered self-esteem allow her to see the truth--and her own beauty?
Pat Ballard: Wanted: One Groom
Wealthy Hanna Rockwell will lose her home and her inheritance unless she marries by her 30th birthday. She's stunned when Matt Corbett, the faded rock start she worshipped in her teens, accepts her brother's offer to bail him out of financial trouble if he'll marry her. Her teenaged fantasies come to life--bringing a few surprises with them.
Pat Ballard: Nobody's Perfect
Nella Covington can't believe she's agreed to marry arrogant Samuel du Cannon, even if it IS only a marriage of convenience. He needs a mother for his young son, and she needs to keep her childhood home. If Sam's work keeps him on the road enough, she won't have to deal with him much. Sam's never been attracted to plus-size women, so they won't be tempted to have a real relationship. At least, that's what they keep telling themselves--
Pat Ballard: Dangerous Curves Ahead: Short Stories
Ten romantic tales pack suspense and sizzle into this collection of short stories featuring amply curved women.