Summary
The Poet Chronicles is a character-driven comedy about a group of Bellingham, Washington, misfits known as The Cosmic Poets. Band leader Angus Keegan, desperate to win back his girlfriend, hires a couple of shady music agents who promise stardom. Buckling under the pressure to get gigs, Angus books a "tour" that mostly doesn't exist, save one big show, a benefit concert to save the Redwoods that holds the key to the band's success…if they can only get there. Disaster strikes even before leaving town: the band mascot, a pygmy goat, bloats and dies. Things worsen when the prima donna singer is left behind at a rest area in Oregon. The great unraveling accelerates until The Cosmic Poet's sole mission becomes simply getting back to the Northwest with a shred of dignity. Even that goal looks questionable until a Native American saxophone player sparks a spiritual awakening, paving their way for one last big shot-the biggest gig of their lives at a used car lot in Reno where they weren't even scheduled to play...
Reviews
"The Poet Chronicles is a wry, hilarious description of life in a band. This book should be wrapped in dishonored contracts, put in a guitar case and entombed in the cornerstone of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."
Sam Andrew, Big Brother and the Holding Company
"What a road trip! Tim McHugh's Cosmic Poets take us on a whirlwind tour of demented managers, drunken groupies, cancelled gigs, dwindling cash, and crazy dreams. Hilarious, gritty, and surreal by turns, the story finally returns to the redemptive heart of simply making music together."
Sara Stamey, Islands
"An aborted mission into the cosmos of fame on a rock-&-roll rocket shot from the latitude of Bellingham. Wry, funny and absorbing from the first page."
Tim Johnson, Executive Editor, The Bellingham Weekly
