The first of these collaborations took place in April 2008, when I produced a DVD of an event at Paperbacks Plus entitled "Fusion." This event featured local poetry luminaries M.H. Clay and Chris Zimmerly with live instrumentation provided by fusion jazz group Swirve. Involving the recording of sound and video, as well as post-production work, this was one of my first ever attempts at creating an entire multimedia project from the ground up. Fusion was followed shortly thereafter by a second, similar event in May of the same year known as "ROAR!!!" Featuring Desmene Statum, Opalina Salas, and Jolee Davis, this collaboration also resulted in a DVD (see the PAO Productions Video Page for clips from these first two projects). Associations with WordSpace, Mad Swirl, Knife Six Productions, and open mics at Bill's Records, Poets on X+, and the Mochalux Coffee House followed.
My association with the local literary and spoken word community
My association with the local literary and spoken word community goes back to 2002, when I received my first exposure to the scene by way of a "Tantric Valentine's Day" reading at Paperbacks Plus. This introduction was followed by a few visits to the open mics at Deep Ellum's Insomnia coffee house, which, upon their demise, led directly to the series at Bill's Records from 2002-2004. A sporadic series of readings back at Paperbacks Plus (some sponsored by WordSpace or The Writer's Garret) came next, and ultimately came Johnny O's Mad Swirl gatherings and my creation of the Open Mic Project. From inauspicious beginnings, my relationship with the poetry/literary community has morphed from little more than that of performer/spectator into a series of much more involved collaborations with purveyors of the spoken word.