Font size options
Increase or decrease the font size for this website by clicking on the 'A's.
Contrast options
Choose a color combination to give the most comfortable
contrast.
The legendary guitarist and founding member of Patti Smith Group discusses the evolution and enduring legacy of the music that rocked the 20th century with a veteran arts journalist.
REGISTER HERE TO ATTEND ONLINE. To attend in person, check our events calendar for the separate listing. The event is free but registration is required.
Open Book / Open Mind is sponsored by Montclair Public Library Foundation, Watchung Booksellers, Josh Weston, Rosemary Iverson and an anonymous donor. We are also grateful for the generous support of our in-kind sponsors, First Congregational Church of Montclair, The George, and Amanti Vino. To support Open Book / Open Mind and other library programs, click here to donate.
Co-presented by NJArts.net.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lenny Kaye is an American guitarist, composer, record producer, and writer, and is a founding member of Patti Smith and Her Band. He has worked with such artists as Suzanne Vega, Waylon Jennings, Jim Carroll, Allen Ginsberg, Jessi Colter, Soul Asylum, and many others. His other books include "Waylon: An Autobiography; You Call It Madness: The Sensuous Song of the Croon." His seminal anthology of garage rock, "Nuggets: Original Artifacts from the First Psychedelic Era," is regarded as defining a genre and is currently celebrating its golden anniversary. Kaye was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2021.
ABOUT THE BOOK
"Memphis 1954. New Orleans 1957. Philadelphia 1959. Liverpool 1962. San Francisco 1967. Detroit 1969. New York, 1975. London 1977. Los Angeles 1984 / Norway 1993. Seattle 1991.
Rock and roll was birthed in basements and garages, radio stations and dance halls, in cities where unexpected gatherings of artists and audience changed and charged the way music is heard and celebrated, capturing lightning in a bottle. Musician and writer Lenny Kaye explores ten crossroads of time and place that define rock and roll, its unforgettable flashpoints, characters, and visionaries; how each generation came to be; how it was discovered by the world. Whether describing Elvis Presley’s Memphis, the Beatles’ Liverpool, Patti Smith’s New York, or Kurt Cobain’s Seattle, Lightning Striking reveals the communal energy that creates a scene, a guided tour inside style and performance, to see who’s on stage, along with the movers and shakers, the hustlers and hangers-on--and why everybody is listening.
Grandly sweeping and minutely detailed, informed by Kaye’s acclaimed knowledge and experience as a working musician, Lightning Striking is an ear-opening insight into our shared musical and cultural history, a magic carpet ride of rock and roll’s most influential movements and moments."—Ecco Press
“We have performed side-by-side on the global stage through half a century….In ‘Lightning Striking,’ Lenny Kaye has illuminated ten facets of the jewel called rock and roll from a uniquely personal and knowledgeable perspective.” —Patti Smith
ABOUT THE CONVERSATION PARTNER
Cindy Stagoff currently serves as a writer and Vice President of NJArts.net, a New Jersey non-profit organization that offers independent arts journalism and supports the cultural vibrancy of New Jersey. She has over 25 years of experience performing legal, fundraising,public relations, and community outreach services for a variety of not-for-profit organizations and mission-driven businesses. She began her career working as an attorney in New York City, focusing on housing issues. She founded Montclair’s Concert for Haiti and co-founded Montclair’s first “MLK Day” of service in our public schools. Cindy is a member of the board of trustees of Outpost in the Burbs.
