The CBT Promo Machine Reves Up...

Sneaking up two quick Comic Book Tattoo items between lunch and a conference call…don’t tell the boss!

First, Ain’t It Cool News spoke with Rantz Hoseley about the anthology and posted a feature on the book earlier this morning (thank you CrushingKrisis.com). Second, Spinner interviewed several of the people involved with the project, including Tori, Rantz, Colleen Doran, David Mack, and Ted McKeever. The article also includes some additional artwork from the collection.

This week will be stacked with media promotion for the book so keep an eye out!

Publishers Weekly on CBT (July 14, 2008)

When I read the whole thing in order for the first time, I couldn’t stop myself. It was almost as if I became an addict for it. What surprised me is that there are so many different styles represented here, and each one is unique unto itself. There isn’t one story that reminds me of another. With so many people involved, that is highly unusual.

That’s how Tori describes Comic Book Tattoo in this Publishers Weekly article which appeared on their website yesterday and in their Comic Week e-mail newsletter today. Read on for the rest! Thanks to Elizabeth for the tip!

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Out Interview (July 15, 2008)

Joseph Campbell was always saying that the myths are always alive in us, but religion has repressed this. So the myth that we have been forced to adhere to is the Christian myth and where is the homosexuality in the Christian myth? And where — for women — is the woman who has her sexuality and has her spirituality in the Christian myth? The Gnostics believe that all this was in Christ’s teachings and yet, it got edited out when it was taken over by the patriarchy. So, therefore, mythology is something that we’re starving for. These are our stories — this is in our DNA.

Noah Michelson interviewed Tori for Out magazine and the piece was published on the Out.com today. In the article, Tori and Noah discuss The Light Princess musical in some detail, her family, archetypes and myth, and, as Perez was quick to point out, Perez Hilton.

Thanks to Shannon and Amanda and everyone else for the heads-up!

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Coupla Comic Book Tattoo Interviews

Rantz tells us there’s a new interview up on the Pulse.

He also added that Comic Shop News has a massive four page info packed article/interview with Tori and him, but he says it will only be in comic shops through today, so says people need to run get it NOW if they want to see it.

UPDATE The Pulse interview is below while scans of the CSN article have been posted separately.

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Spinner Confirms Montreux DVD, Talks ADP DVD (June 26, 2008)

In a posting on Spinner reporting on a recent chat with Tori about her forthcoming projects, Jessica Robertson confirms that the Live at Montreux DVD will be released this Fall, discusses the comic anthology Comic Book Tattoo and The Light Princess musical, and also gleans some scant details about the evolution of the American Doll Posse tour DVD — which now appears to “a story of what happened on that road, with the touring and what happened afterwards.”

Thanks to Deborah for sending us the link!

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It's Official: Epic Changes For Tori, Inc.!

After 22 years of being in the shackles of the major label system, Tori has chosen the path of independence for her next work. As with many of her contemporaries Tori is devising new and exciting ways of getting her music to the masses without the boundaries and limitations of the major music companies.

Last week, several people wrote in to say that Tori was no longer listed on Epic Records’ roster. Not knowing if it was the real deal, a big goof-up or an honest mistake, we weren’t really sure what to say about it. But, with those words in this week’s Ask Billboard, Tori’s manager John Witherspoon publicly opens the door on the latest significant development in Tori’s career. Whether this means free digital copies of albums like Issa (Jane Siberry), Radiohead and Nine Inch Nails or something else entirely different, only time will tell, but one thing is for sure: it means more freedom — something she’s been fighting for since Little Earthquakes — and that’s certainly a good thing for her and her artistry. (Interestingly, Tori touched on this subject in an interview broadcast on Polish radio last December. Foreshadowing much?)

Witherspoon also drops a few more juicy tidbits as well.

It seems that Tori will start working on a “project of new music and visuals” this Summer with an expected release in Spring 2009. Although a bit vague, we would guess this is not the American Doll Posse tour DVD since he indicates this is a new material. However, we don’t know any more about the status of the DVD than the rest of you and that’s only speculation.

Additionally, Witherspoon explains Matt Chamberlain’s recent sojourn to Cornwall: he was recording demos for The Light Princess, the musical that Tori is working on with Samuel Adamson for the United Kingdom’s National Theatre. (By the way, as he notes on his website, Matt’s back from Cornwall after spending “an amazing” two weeks at Martian Studios.)

Thanks to Fabrizio Leone for sending the original question to Ask Billboard and to Matthew for being the first of several people to let us know! No thanks to my employers for keeping me at work late on a Friday night so I couldn’t get this information posted sooner!

The New York Times Originals (May 18, 2008)

Joe Vallese was the first to alert us to a somewhat unexpected Tori sighting in the May 18th edition of the the New York Times Sunday Magazine: this striking photograph of Tori by Robert Maxwell which appears to be the latest in his series of photographs for The Times entitled “The Originals”. (Other photographs in this series can be viewed in The Originals gallery in his website.)

The photograph is accompanied by a brief write-up by Alex Hagwood about music being Tori’s gateway to travel — after all, this was the Summer Travel issue of the magazine!

Note that Maxwell has photographed Tori before — you can see one of those portraits in the Women gallery on this website.

Thanks also to booker and Fabz for the heads-up!

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Tori's Soundstage DVD Due For Re-Release

Good news: those of you who have been waiting for the DVD of Tori’s 2003 Soundstage performance in Chicago Ill., Liberator Music has acquired the rights to the Soundstage series and will be releasing (or re-releasing) everything, including Tori’s DVD, which has been out of print for some time.

Tori’s set includes “Black-Dove (January),” “Wednesday,” “Funny Day/China,” “Jackie’s Strength,” “Taxi Ride,” “Precious Things,” and “Cornflake Girl.” No release date has been set, but the Undercover article suggests it’ll be sometime in the next two years.

Other Soundstage recordings will emerge, including Aretha Franklin, Heart, Billy Idol, Chris Isaak, Cyndi Lauper, Counting Crows, Lucinda Williams, Alanis Morissette, and Joss Stone.

Thanks, Dylo and youremyenergy, for sending this in!

Tori In Geek Monthly (January 2008)

“It’s a blessing that I have to work within these constraints. I think that’s kind of…good for me,” she says, again laughing. “In no uncertain terms, when you work with the British National Theatre, you know what your gig is. I’m the composer. I write the songs. I’m not involved in the casting. I’m there to make sure that the singers and the actors have the best material they could possibly have.”

Thanks to an anonymous benefactor, we now have a full transcript of the Geek Monthly on Tori, including a bit of wordplay between writer David Michael Conner and Miz Amos.

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Tori In Geek Monthly's January 2008 Issue

Tori is featured in the January, 2008, issue of Geek Monthly (with Lost’s Jorge Garcia on the cover). David Michael Conner interviews Tori, who talks about why she loves geeks, what’s most geeky about her, and the process of writing the “Light Princess” musical. The mag hits newsstands next week — hopefully one of you will transcribe it. (Pretty please? With geeks on top?)