Saturday Night Sage
SATURDAY NIGHT SAGE: A POETRY COLLECTION
Published by: Blind Owl
Release date: April 2019
Format: Paperback
Status: Out of print
Saturday Night Sage is the first full-length collection of poetry by writer, Noah C. Lekas. Hailed as a "punk séance for the beat spirit," the 42-poem collection examines mysticism and menial labor in modern America. The first literary release from San Diego record label, Blind Owl, Saturday Night Sage spans coast and country from post-industrial Wisconsin to the psychedelic rhythm of San Francisco and the poetic streets of New York City. Drawing inspiration from Jack Kerouac, Patti Smith, Bob Kaufman and Nick Cave, Lekas navigates whiskey-soaked revelation, contrarious theology and dwindling folklore with equal parts reverence and restlessness. In a time when spirituality is often confrontational and nuance is trivialized, Saturday Night Sage gives voice to an over-looked and undervalued experience, defining the poetic voice of blue-collar mysticism. The limited-edition paperback features original cover art by Rock 'n' Roll artist Alan Forbes.
SATURDAY NIGHT SAGE REVIEWS:
“There are rare poetry collections that make me feel like the beat aesthetic never went away but instead crawled into a corner in a dark bar and somehow refined itself into something new, something as spiritual and strange as the original incarnation but shorter, sharper, and tied to contemporary America in ways that cut to the heart of what the country is and has suffered. Noah C. Lekas’s Saturday Night Sage is one of those collections, and that becomes obvious from the start.” - Pank Magazine
“When you read Saturday Night Sage, you can hear glimmers of the Doors’ mysticism, Bob Dylan’s street-corner truth-telling and Patti Smith’s punk rhapsodies.” - San Diego Union Tribune
“It’s a brilliant work of art.” - Melodic Magazine
“Saturday Night Sage is an incandescent book of poetry.” - Please Kill Me
“In Saturday Night Sage, Lekas wields elements of Bukowski and of the Beat poets, to tell the tale of a bar-visiting, cigarette-rolling, whisky-slurping wayfarer who has come face to face with Dharma and lights up anyways. If you are looking for glamour or traditional romantic embellishment, it’s not here. What you’ll find instead is an honest, and often raw, look at a world that has a lot going for it, and a lot to learn.” - Independent Book Review
“In Noah Lekas’ new poetry collection, Saturday Night Sage, Buddha’s divine path is paved over with Wisconsin asphalt. Writing in “the shadow of the second shift,” Lekas tells of the struggles of working-class laborers through poems equally acerbic and transcendental.“ - Third Coast Review
“A poet who knows how to turn the world around him into vivid depictions that brings to mind Hubert Selby Jr. and darker figures of the literary world. ” - Glide Magazine
“The subtitle of the collection is “narrative poems of mysticism and menial labor,” and Lekas delivers powerful messages on both, sometimes simultaneously. A sage, after all, has wisdom to share.” - Trampset
“So many people love to romanticize the working class, while making it painfully obvious they don't understand it all. Lekas has that understanding, and has created a folk hero of sorts that's as much salt of the earth as he is stardust. I wholeheartedly recommend Saturday Night Sage to both poetry lovers, and those who have felt intimidated by poetry.” - Biblioculus Book Review
SOUNDS FROM THE SHADOW FACTORY: A SONIC POETRY COLLABORATION
Released by: Blind Owl Records
Release Date: February 2021
Format: Vinyl, CD, Digital
Status: Out of print
Tracklist:
1: Saturday Night Sage
2: The Word
3: Steamroll the Sky
4: Out of the Storm Drains
5: We Got a Problem with Groundwater
6: Empty Your Pockets
Sounds from the Shadow Factory is a collaboration of music and poetry that accompanies Lekas’ debut collection, Saturday Night Sage. Teaming up San Francisco psych luminaries Howlin’ Rain, label mates Mrs. Henry and along with Chad Lee (The Silent Comedy), Ben Ambrosini, Hafsa Fatima, and Pat Gubler (Garcia Peoples), the EP transforms six selected works into sonic poetry experiences.
A multimedia exploration of modern poetics, Sounds from the Shadow Factory successfully brings Lekas’ words from the page to the record player. Released on limited edition 10” vinyl and CD, the EP features original cover art by Alan Forbes.
SOUNDS FROM THE SHADOW FACTORY REVIEWS:
“Poetry and psychedelia, as if Tom Waits had hitched a ride on the Jefferson Airplane’s version of Wooden Ships.” - David Fricke
“It’s a brilliantly raw book and track and they both show just how amazing of an author Noah is… It’s a cohesive masterpiece that showcases both Noah’s and Howlin’ Rain’s abilities.“ - Melodic Magazine
“Ambitious, transcendent, boundless. A groundbreaking work of art.” - V13
“Comparisons to Bob Dylan, Charles Bukowski, Patti Smith and Nick Cave are unavoidable, but certainly warranted, as Lekas and company bring us on an inviting and unique journey through a very creative and eloquent mind.” - Take Effect Reviews
“Sounds From The Shadow Factory is my favorite album of the year. What Noah Lekas has done here is just so damn interesting that I find myself resetting the needle of the five song EP and trying to take in all the poetry and music. And to the credit of Noah and the musicians, I take away something different each time.” - Ink19
“This was the most impressive release of the past year in all respects.” - Add to Wantlist
Poetic Films
The recordings from Sounds of the Shadow Factory were adapted into a series of poetic short films by various directors. Bringing new vision to the Sage story, each filmmaker met the existing poems with their own vision, delivering a unique and deeply personal visual expression of each recording.