Tales Of Love And Horror
“THE punchline comes first!” Will Oldham exclaims to the small crowd that has gathered in Morehead, Kentucky, to hear him read and sing from a new book of lyrics, Songs Of Love And Horror, and perhaps drop some hints about his new album, I Made A Place. “What’s the biggest problem with time travel jokes?”
It takes a few beats for the audience to respond, but he gets a few chuckles. “I told that joke to my wife a few days ago, and she still hasn’t laughed. But the benefit of time travel is one day she will laugh, and it will have been a successful joke.” Oldham is on stage at Coffee Tree Books, an unusual space that suits the artist known to many fans as Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Built inside a renovated cinema, it features a coffeeshop in the lobby and rows of bookshelves lining the sloping floor leading up to the stage.
As he opens his dog-eared copy of Songs Of Love And Horror, which contains lyrics from throughout his nearly 30-year career, Oldham admits with no small trace of glee that he has no idea what to expect tonight. He doesn’t know which songs he’ll perform or which stories he’ll tell. Everything is left to chance. From his back pocket he removes his smartphone, which he displays to the audience the way a magician might show a handsaw or a top hat. “On this magic device that so many of us carry around, I found a random number generator, which I will use to determine what I will present to you tonight. Some of these songs I know backwards and forwards and can play them on guitar. Some I’ve never, ever been able to play on guitar. I don’t know what this device will make me sing. I don’t know what will happen.”
He presses a button and waits for the magic number. “291!” Oldham flips some
