Years active 1999–present Role Poet · buddywakefield.com Labels Righteous Babe Records Genres Spoken word | Website www.buddywakefield.com Name Buddy Wakefield | |
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Born June 4, 1974 (age 49)
Shreveport, Louisiana ( 1974-06-04 ) Albums Run On Anything, Live at the Typer Cannon Grand Similar People Taylor Mali, Sage Francis, Ani DiFranco, Beau Sia, Beth Lisick Profiles | ||
Record label Righteous Babe Records | ||
Buddy wakefield elephant engine high dive revival
Buddy Wakefield (born June 4, 1974) is an American performance poet/slam poet. He is a two-time Individual World Poetry Slam Champion (2004 and 2005) whose latest works have been released by Righteous Babe Records (CD) and Write Bloody Publishing (books).
Contents
- Buddy wakefield elephant engine high dive revival
- Buddy wakefield performs in landscape
- Biography
- Books and records
- Influence
- Discography
- References
Buddy wakefield performs in landscape
Biography
Buddy Wakefield was born in Shreveport, Louisiana and raised in Baytown, Texas. In 2001, he left his position as an executive assistant for a biomedical firm in Gig Harbor, Washington, sold or gave away everything he owned, and moved into a Honda Civic to tour North American poetry venues.
In 2004 and again in 2005, Buddy Wakefield won the Individual World Poetry Slam Championship title, becoming the first poet to win the title two consecutive years. Wakefield has been a member of several poetry slam teams, including Team Seattle in 2006 and 2007. When asked about his thoughts on the "Poetry Slam" and "Slam Poetry," Wakefield responded:
Wakefield continues to make his living through his poetry and performance. In addition to touring the world solo, Wakefield has also been a core member of several traveling poetry groups, including 2007's Solomon Sparrow's Electric Whale Revival, 2008's Junkyard Ghost Revival, 2009's Elephant Engine High Dive Revival and 2010's Night Kite Revival, where he shared the stage with poets such as Derrick Brown, Anis Mojgani, Andrea Gibson and Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, among others. As of April 2012, Wakefield has performed his poetry in every state in the U.S. except "Montana, Mississippi and North Dakota."
When asked in an interview why he made art, Wakefield responded:
Books and records
Wakefield has published three books of poetry: Some They Can't Contain (2004, originally The Wordsmith Press; reissued by Write Bloody Publishing), Live for a Living (2007, Write Bloody Publishing). and Gentleman Practice (2011, Write Bloody Publishing)
Wakefield and Stephen Snook have published an entertaining table book on chicken rearing: Henhouse: The International Book for Chickens and Their Lovers (2012, Write Bloody Publishing) ISBN 978-1-938912-05-4
Wakefield has also released three full-length spoken word albums with producers Jon Berardi and Levi Lyman: A Stretch of Presence (1999), Run On Anything (2006) which was released by Strange Famous Records, and Live at the Typer Cannon Grand (2009) which was released by Ani DiFranco's Righteous Babe Records. DiFranco first became aware of Wakefield when her mother saw him perform at an art gallery in Buffalo NY and gave DiFranco a print out of Wakefield's website, saying, “You have to do something with this guy.” The album contains recordings of live performances, including several from Wakefield's numerous times opening for DiFranco on her tour, as well as one studio-produced track.
Influence
Wakefield has had a profound impact on the contemporary Poetry Slam movement, both in his performance and writing style as well as how he has conducted his career. In her book, Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam, author Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz named Wakefield as "the modern poetry slam role model." She wrote,