Curt and Nani Nehring Bliss of the Dead Metaphor Cabaret come by to discuss their origins of the group, the process of setting poems to music, the relationship between music and poetry, and more!
About Dead Metaphor Cabaret:
Dead Metaphor Cabaret is a stripped down incarnation of the long-running Dead Metaphor literary music project featuring Curt and Nani Nehring Bliss as instigators, joined over the years by upwards of a dozen instrumental collaborators from FLCC’s student body, alumni, and faculty. A sporadic adventure spanning the past decade, Dead Metaphor Cabaret served as the house band for a celebrated monthly Open Mic at FLCC’s former Stage 13 and continues to convene now and again for themed performances at readings and small festivals.
The Dead Metaphor concept is bound up in the idea of revival. Named for the notion that our language is prolific with figurative utterances, all lost to their original denotations because of over-use, the Dead Metaphor project pursues the habituated expression, adapting and recontextualizing the familiar to make it new again. As poets are prime movers in this business of linguistic resurrection, Curt and Nani turn to poems by the likes of Mary Oliver, Elizabeth Bishop, Jane Kenyon, William Stafford, and Margaret Atwood for inspiration. Drawing from blues, cabaret and art song, Curt and Nani use original musical interpretation to explore the territory that straddles the fruitful borders of music and poetry.