About 45

On Tuesday, November 8, 2016, Donald Trump, a New York television personality, was declared President of the United States of America. This declaration was despite losing the popular vote, and also despite an alleged pattern of problematic racist and misogynist behaviors. Since his inauguration as the 45th President Trump and his administration have been riddled with accusations of corruption.

On Tuesday, November 6, 2018, in the middle of Republican President Donald Trump's first term, the United States will host elections contesting all 435 seats in the United States House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the United States Senate. 39 state and territorial governorships and numerous other state and local elections will also be contested. 

As Americans consider how to vote, “45” provides a timely reminder of the character of the President and the party that he leads and represents. Additionally, it shows how art can beautify what is ugly and empower marginalized populations, whose words are often ignored, to find an audience. 

"As a song, “45” is a tremendous accomplishment--a simple, catchy tune that merges a complex set of vocal harmonies and guitar that float over the studied, aching pluck of banjo and a deep melancholy of cello. This is true of most of the Purdies’ work--the only way in which the song differs is that the lyrics are awful. This isn’t the fault of the Purdies, though, as they are simply putting a famous quote to song. The words are verbatim comments from Donald Trump based on a transcription from a recording taken before he appeared on “Days of Our Lives” in a conversation with Billy Bush. The grotesque childishness of the comments create a tension with the beauty of the song: it is unsettling. The words are horrifying, the sounds are lovely, and one cannot unpeel the one from the other. The net result is an invitation to hear how a man’s words sound after being processed by artists, by women, by humans. Once the song is stuck in your head--and it probably will be--you continue to hear the words repeated, over and over again. You process through a range of emotions: anger, humor, disgust, shame, horror. In the end, hopefully, you end up where Awful Purdies guide you: to a place where strength and beauty can co-exist with the cruelty of misogyny." - Daniel Boscaljon, Little Village Magazine

Introducing Awful Purdies Instagram

Introducing our Awful Purdies Instagram with our first Instagram Post! We hope you find us and follow us (hint: we are @awfulpurdies) Our lovely and purdy friend Miriam Alarcon Avila crafted this video of our trek to Sugar Maple Music Festivalin Madison, WI. We kicks off tomorrow with Musical Yoga (a new and exciting experience for us), followed by a Main Stage set, and ending with a collaborative Song Writing Workshop with Music con Brio.

Iowa City Band Joins Writer on Urban Planning Stage "An Evening the Ecopolis" road show takes "regenerative city" vision around Iowa

Iowa City Band Joins Writer on Urban Planning Stage

"An Evening the Ecopolis" road show takes "regenerative city" vision around Iowa 

Revamping an original multi-media show blending music and stories, the Iowa City-based Awful Purdies band will join American Book Award-winning author Jeff Biggers on a tour with their show, "An Evening at the Ecopolis," unfurling their vision for a "regenerative city" based on renewable energy, local food, reconnecting our cities to biodiversity and prairie restoration, and laying out strategic urban planning in an age of climate change.  
 

Shows are scheduled for Dubuque on Feb, 22, Iowa City on March 25, and Cedar Falls on April 14th.   Originally staged in Iowa City in the spring of 2014, the "Ecopolis" show (eco-polis meaning eco-city) has also been performed in Cedar Rapids, and at the historic Jane Adams Hull House in Chicago.  
 

In a time when cities in Iowa and across the nation deal with the fallout of extreme weather, drought, flooding and increasing environmental uncertainties, "Ecopolis" is a unique and unabashed musical and storytelling experience that asks cities to consider a new urban agenda as a regenerative city.

"Working with the Purdies is a perfect match," says Biggers, the Writer-in-Residence in Sustainability at the University of Iowa. "Their songs are rooted in the land and people, spring from personal stories and challenges, and inspire us with beautiful harmonies and irresistible music grooves." 
 

The Purdies latest album, All Recipes Are Home, emerged from a yearlong project with Sean Lewis of Working Group Theater in Iowa City.  Collecting stories from people and farmers around Iowa, as part of an Iowa Arts Council grant, thethe Purdies' also performed in a musical by the same name.  More info on the Purdies: www.awfulpurdies.com

Biggers has written extensively on regenerative city efforts in Iowa and beyond for The New York Times, Huffington Post and Solutions journal. More info on Biggers at: www.jeffbiggers.com 

Based on an original story developed by Biggers, "Ecopolis" weaves a futuristic vision of the first "regenerative city" in the heartland, leading the nation in rethinking the ways urban centers outsource their electricity, food, waste and transportation.  (Still today, Iowa imports 86% of its food; and while it leads the nation with 30% wind production, it continues to rely on 60% dirty coal for electricity.) Through a blend of songs and personal narrative stories, "Ecopolis" walks the audience through an Iowa city's response to an historic flood and a dramatic shift toward an urban design that showcases walking, biking and low carbon transport, develops renewable energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal, ramps up a local food economy and zero waste initiatives; the show presents a timely challenge to Iowans to take the lead in restoration, biodiversity, food, inclusionary and just urban designs, energy and transportation initiatives that positively enhance rather than undermine our environment. 
 

After the first show of Ecopolis in 2014, an "Ecopolis" movement was launched in Iowa City and hosted a year of forums and initiatives, including solar energy, pesticide-free campaigns, and local food.  An anthology based on the Ecopolis movement is currently in production at the University of Iowa Press. 

Show Details: 
 

Monday, February 22, 6:30pm
University of Dubuque
Blades Chapel

Friday, March 25, 7:30pm
Old Capitol Senate Chamber
Iowa City

Thursday, April 14, 7pm
Octopus College Hill

Cedar Falls