David Byrne: Coming to Portland, will release bike book this fall
Posted by Jonathan Maus (Editor-in-Chief) on April 9th, 2009 at 1:17 pm
advocate Noah Budnick.
(Photo: Streetfilms)
David Byrne, NYC resident, former Talking Heads front man and biking’s coolest celebrity endorser/advocate, will be in Portland this summer and he’s got a bike book set to be published in September.
Byrne — a daily bike commuter for 30 years — has made a big name for himself in biking circles for (among other things) his advocacy and involvement in the New York City bike scene. He collaborated with the NYC Dept. of Transportation to design a series of art racks, and in February 2007 Byrne joined carfree advocate Gil Penalosa and staffers from NYC’s Transportation Alternatives for a bike ride that was captured by Streetfilms.
(Photo: DavidByrne.com)
On June 23rd, smack dab in the middle of Portland’s Pedalpalooza bike-fest, Byrne will be in town for a tour stop at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. That news has local bike-funnists scheming about how to wrangle Byrne into enjoying the Pedalpalooza festivities.
Now comes word from PR folks at Viking/Penguin that Byrne has written “Bicycle Diaries”, a new book set to hit stores in September. The book will be, “a travelogue that chronicles Byrne’s journeys in cities around the world from the perspective of a bicycle.” (We’ve got an advance review copy on the way.)
Any David Byrne fans out there?
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April 9th, 2009 13:25
Best Pedalpalooza Dance Party EVER!
April 9th, 2009 13:26
super stoked for the book and the show!
April 9th, 2009 13:39
Huge fan. I wish I knew how to get in touch with him. It would be super cool to get him on a Pedalpalooza ride. Doesn't look like he'll have a lot of time based on his tour schedule. Actually, he has a week off after his stop in Berkeley...maybe we could get him to come to MCBF? Who knows him?
April 9th, 2009 13:46
I can't think of anything better than a Pedalpalooza dance party with David Byrne as our guest of honor.
April 9th, 2009 13:47
This year's WNBR could benefit from some music to accompany the merry riders...maybe there could be a bike-towed float with Mr. Byrne as parade leader.
Tell the Viking/Penguin PR rep that it would be an unbeatable way to celebrate and raise awareness around the impending book launch, not to mention an unprecedented kind of PR/marketing opportunity to leverage world-wide. I know from past art business experience that Mr. Byrne is supportive of creative acts of performance art...hmmm
;-)
April 9th, 2009 14:06
Any fans... Is there another bike shop out there streaming his playlist every month, whose site has a long-standing link to his journal, a blog with two posts featuring his music, and who snapped up 2nd-row seats for the whole family? Whose kid's favorite is Stay Up Late?... I can go on.
April 9th, 2009 14:29
i challenge byrne to a race on my bike commute.
April 9th, 2009 14:57
How'd I know Todd would be commenting on this one... :)
April 9th, 2009 15:04
what ever could you mean, dave?
April 9th, 2009 15:12
I don't know, I must have had a momentary lapse of reason :) I can't imagine how I would have gotten that idea...
April 9th, 2009 15:14
Starts making sense!
April 9th, 2009 16:36
Incase anyone does find a way to get the ear of his publishers...what do you think of this idea: Just like for the Harry Potter books, people could sign up to pay in advance. First sign up for a copy could be at the multnomah county bike fair booth staffed by Mr. Byrne!
April 9th, 2009 16:59
huge fan - I'ver many a quote in my books from Byrne and his previous bands- especially when my middle son quotes him to a war vet about to sic his dog on me - "This Ain't No F--King Party," announces the vet. Enzo replies with "This ain't No Disco, this ain't no fooling around. " my son's quote stops the vet and dog in their tracks. other personal favorites include Nothing But Flowers, Lifetime Filling Up, And She Was.. hell, all of it from his solo stuff to the worldbeat - can't wait for the summer of Byrne. saw him a few summers back - at the zoo - he performed in an auto mechanic's jumpsuit.
April 9th, 2009 17:22
Maybe we could recruit Mr Byrne to help us defeat the CRC!
April 9th, 2009 18:00
meh. he hasn't released a good album in years and he rides a hybrid.
April 9th, 2009 19:41
He's been a regular bike commuter for 30 years. What difference does the bike make?
April 9th, 2009 22:33
His Portland stop will be the third of four shows I will have seen on this tour (heading to Seattle for the following night's performance), so yes, thank you, I am a fan. My wife and I love reading about his biking exploits and grooving to his tunes - new and old.
Let's hope he gets a taste of our excellent bike culture - maybe a group ride with the bikeportland faithful?
April 10th, 2009 09:12
Jonathan, what are you waiting for?! Call his publicist and see if we can get him in on a ride....
April 10th, 2009 09:13
...and he rides a hybrid.
Scathing! The utter derision of that line cracked me up.
Some people get a pass, Christopher Lee, because they created seminal albums and have influenced countless others in the music and art worlds.
Who cares if David Byrne rides a hybrid and his bike rack designs are a bit goofy; he's still David Byrne! He's aging gracefully AND he's creating dialog around bikes -that's pretty cool.
April 10th, 2009 10:44
Bowie vs. Prince vs. David Byrne...live! Who's got a bike-towable stage for him?
April 10th, 2009 11:52
ha! i hung out with david byrne when he played the ZOO a few years back, and was going to bring him ZooBombing, but he had to leave early a.m. the next morning. however, if he's got the same bike, be on the lookout for some ZOOBOMB stickers on it!
April 10th, 2009 13:20
@Jordan: we do.
precedent: http://www.bakfiets-en-meer.nl/2009/03/16/de-bakfietsband/
April 10th, 2009 13:31
David Byrne giving an acoustic concert on a Nijland while being pedaled around downtown... if it happens, make sure we all know about it :)
Man, public music is just way too rare in the US. I'm getting weepy remembering street concerts (even though they weren't very good) and pedaling beer bars (basically a conference bike type of thing set up as a mini bar) and such from Lithuania.
April 13th, 2009 16:16
I've got 2nd row seats too! re June 23 show
Re-listening to Catherine Wheel circa 1982 recently, I can hear some of the new album in it...
May 5th, 2009 12:44
[...] threat of motor traffic, I put in some earbuds and enjoyed the latest David Byrne & Brian Eno [coming to Portland!] collaboration for the 1,234th time approximately, slapping the bars giddily in time as we shuttled [...]