Willie Vlautin: Alcoholic for the Holidays

Oregonian Willie Vlautin has multiple talents. He's the frontman for the alt country band Richmond Fontaine. He's a published author of excellent, Raymond Carver-esque stories about down on their luck, working class drinkers struggling to get out of their downward spirals. And now he's the narrator of a spoken word holiday CD, A Jockey's Christmas. It's the tale of an "alcoholic overweight misfit jockey going home for the holidays" featuring Vlautin's reading accompanied by his bandmates, who provide a soundtrack and sound effects "like an old time radio show." If it's anything like Vlautin's recent reading here at the Edinburgh Castle a couple months back, the performance should be a great earful for the cynical literate types looking for a bit of hope in their hard-bitten tales. Plus, hey, who doesn't love songs about horse racing? -- Jennifer Maerz