Notebook
(BOOK)
Ditto's Memoir
Gossip frontwoman Beth Ditto has just released her first
book, Coal to Diamonds. Though her band’s recently re-
leased album, A Joyful Noise, debuted in Billboard’s top
100 in the U.S. and managed to reach the top five in four
European countries, life wasn’t always so great for the
singer. She recounts some of the tougher moments in her
memoir with help from writer Michelle Tea.
Ditto talks about her early life in Judsonia, Arkansas — a
place where indoor plumbing was a luxury, squirrel was
a meal, and sex ed was taught during senior year in high
school (long after many girls had gotten pregnant and
dropped out) and her move to Olympia and Portland, includ-
ing the life, loves and successes she found there.
She also opens up about her battle with sarcoidosis, a rare
immune-system disorder that attacks the internal organs
(and killed comedian Bernie Mac in 2008), and her help from
Portland and other communities at a time when she had no
health insurance and was not yet a celebrity.
With her usual blunt and unapologetic storytelling, Coal
is still a poetic journey of a talented woman coming into
her own.
(MUSIC)
Congratulations James
Komoro, Just Out's
lastest iPad giveaway
winner! James was
randomly drawn from
thousands of
entrants in our
second iPad
giveaway this
year! Follow
us on
Facebook and
Twitter —
JustOutPortland
— for more fabulous
giveaways!
Logan Lynn
Portland indie-popster, Q Center PR Manager, and Just Out Columnist
Logan Lynn has just released his seventh studio album, Tramp Stamps
and Birthmarks. His danceable beats are often upbeat tunes with serious
subject matter — good gay club anthems that have landed him praise
such as “the new Golden boy of electro-pop.” The first single from the
album, “Turn Me Out,” released in early fall, is a naughty on-the-floor
track in more ways than one, and features a video about both the desire
to be loved and the darker side of sexuality.
loganlynnmusic.com
(HOME)
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