Brianland

. “It’s Alright.  He’s Kerouac.” . I’m currently sitting in the dark in Kerouac Park writing what just happened . . . I came to Jack’s hometown of Lowell with lots of hopes and anticipation of magic sacred spots and moments.  The top dream I’ve always had was getting inside the Pawtucketville Social Club — […]

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Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Adventure 2015   The first time I came to Lowell in 1983 you couldn’t find any indication Jack ever lived here.  I asked all around and finally found a bartender who said the only guy in town who knew about him was his old Reverend.  The afternoon barkeep even looked up his […]

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. “Life is good.” . . A few years ago I became friends with this cool 70-year-old German woman who lived a few doors down. It was one of those:  recognizing each other from the moment we met — another member of the tribe — kindred travellers – explorers – pranksters – leprechaun twinklers. And […]

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. Shindig Sutra . aahhh — San Francisco — home of everything holy. Home of the Beats, home of The Dead, home of the wild.  The United States of San Francisco.  The city that makes its own rules . . . and that’s that. Of course we’re coming home.  To the Museum that Jerry built. […]

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The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jack Kerouac  . Reviews, feedback, and other buzzes over the transom . . . . Brian Hassett had the presence of mind to pack a good old cassette recorder in his rucksack back in 1982 when he was alerted to the Jack Kerouac Conference being staged in Boulder, Colorado.  The real […]

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  I saw the best minds of many generations, dancing, hysterical, naked … at the Farewell send-off of the Gratest live band in history. While The Grateful Dead were breaking the all-time attendance records for Soldier Field stadium in Chicago — I was seeing them in a small venue from about 5th row center.  I […]

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Getting My Phil at The Crossroads . . It’s the Father’s Day weekend, 2015, and my bassist bud Al Robinson tipped me that PhilZone.com had its countdown clock to the next Phil show indicating Sunday night.  That was the only lead I had. I was out in the Bay Area where, a few years ago, […]

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. Somewhere in America . . . Pranksters are gathering . . . and in this case it was Wonderland. A dozen acres of wilderness hills and valleys, with a sunken natural amphitheater on the highest point of land in sight. 150 or so Pranksters came from across the land, traveling by every mode there […]

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Then Along Comes Kesey . .  Excerpted from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jack Kerouac” available now.   I was well into Jack — and this whole conference kicked that up a few dozen notches — like it did everybody else — but The Chief and The Boys (the Grateful Dead) — those were the magic […]

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. With all the energy peaking over The Grateful Dead’s 50th anniversary shows, here’s a little excerpt from my upcoming book — “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Jack Kerouac” — that shows part of why we keep coming back. These shows at Red Rocks in ’82 were part of the largest gathering of Beats ever assembled, […]

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