Gadfly: A Lifetime of Writings

Sherry Cothren has wielded a pen since her youth, recording her thoughts and feelings, her "writings" as she calls them, in reams of yellow legal pads. A longtime musician, Cothren's words have often been used as song lyrics in her various bands, from the Germans and Beat Temptation through the Windbreakers and beyond. Beyond sharing them with friends and bandmates, though, her prose has largely just existed as ink on lined paper.

Now, Cool Dog Sound is proud to announce the publication of Gadfly: A Lifetime of Writings, a collection of Sherry Cothren's musings.

"I have always just called my notebooks my 'writings, '" Cothren explained. "And after using them as lyrics for songs, I called them lyrics. A few friends called them 'poems, ' which i am completely fine with.

"I never set out to write [with] a label of any kind, I just wrote my feelings and observations, and judgements, as it were. Being extremely shy and awkward and quiet as a mouse, my writings were my voice ... my release."

Poet-singer-songwriter Amelia White says, "You may mistake [Cothren] for meek and self effacing, when in fact she's wearing a coat of many colors and wielding a loaded AR-15."

We are now privileged to be allowed access to Sherry Cothren's inner world, a place that may not always be the warmest of most welcoming, but one well worth delving into.

Sherry Cothren's is a rare voice, hard wrought and raw and yet refined. A powerful and savvy and learned voice that holds its tongue until it unloads in private. She has a steady rock pulse of assurance in her proclamations and can musically wind out into rhyme or tempo or phonetic wizardry without any pretense or apparent forethought. Much of Gadfly is masterful. I'm so glad she decided to share it, and that Cool Dog Sound is publishing it. Some of these 'writings' should be in modern anthologies.

Cothren's pen reveals a volatility and unease with surprising powers of insight. You may mistake her for meek and self effacing, when in fact she's wearing a coat of many colors and wielding a loaded AR-15."

What a treat this is! With nods toward Philip Larkin and Eileen Myles and even the poetic prose of Cookie Mueller, Sherry's riffing here is both playful and passionate and, at the same time, dark and anxious, too. There's a thrilling, edgy sensuousness at the core of these pieces ... and, frankly, it's pretty intoxicating. After all these years hearing her bring bold lyrics and deep bottom to a whole bunch of great rock and roll, it's a profound pleasure to be granted entrée into Sherry's beautiful, private poetic world. Dig in!