An Evening of Steamphunk

On the night after Christmas in downtown Denver, I had the delightful opportunity to experience an evening of music and dance with a decidedly Steampunk flavor called "The Con: A Steamphunk Reverie." The theatrical performance was a collaboration between a three-piece string group called The Gristle Gals and the Ascential Dance Theater Colorado.

The performance took place at Lannie's Clocktower Cabaret on the lower level of the historic Clocktower building on the 16th Street Mall. The Gristle Gals opened the evening with an acoustic set, then provided the musical accompaniment during the play, and finally closed out the evening with an electric set.

The Gristle Gals are a talented trio consisting of Gretchen Kunz, the lead vocalist and guitar player, who also writes songs for the group, Mandi Malone, violinist and accordion player, and Nicki Handi, the bass player. The Gals describe their sound as "gypsy grass," a delicious concoction that Westward Magazine called, "modern and edgy, but with an old-timey feel." That is a pretty astute definition of the emerging genre of steampunk music as a whole.

The playbill defines "steamphunk" as a subgenre of Steampunk that is “characterized by a prevalence of bluegrass, rock, Americana, jazz and funk music as well as themes of roof tearing, thrill, bass, race, sex, and parliamentary democracy.” Not sure what that means, but I can say with certainty that this group would delight the heart of any steampunk enthusiast and they will get several opportunities to experience this music soon. 

The Gristle Gals are already booked to perform at two Steampunk conventions in 2011--Wild, Wild, West Con in Tuscon, AZ, on the first weekend in March, and at Denver’s Anomalycon, the last weekend of that same month. They will again be joined by the modern dance troupe, Ascential, who provide the theatrical portion of the work, performing in steampunk-inspired costumes, as the story of con artists and their demimonde unfolds in "The Con: A Steamphunk Reverie."

Highly recommended.

The Steampunk Heart of Victorian Spirit Photography

The cover image for SÉANCE IN SEPIA 

Spirit photography embodies the ultimate Steampunk conceit: it represents the nexus of two of the biggest Victorian obsessions--technology and the occult.


What was spirit photography? 


The first commercial spirit photographer set up shop in Boston in the early 1860's. His name was William Mumler and his photographs were an instant sensation. He soon moved to New York to further his reputation and success. The massive loss of life during the Civil War spurred interest in making contact with the departed. Séances were more than a popular parlor entertainment. A large percentage of the population sincerely believed they could contact spirits of deceased loved ones using the services of a medium.

Mumler began to conduct séances in his photographic studio and, because the technology represented by the new invention of photography, his spirit photographs had added credibility.  Technology was scientific and science couldn't lie, right? 


His most famous sitter was the recently widowed Mary Todd Lincoln whose portrait seems to show a spectral Abraham Lincoln standing behind her.

Harper's couldn't resist lampooning the Mumler trial in the cartoon

There were doubters, of course. P.T. Barnum and others charged Mumler with fraud, claiming that some of his ghost images belonged to living persons. The May 8th, 1869, issue of Harper's Weekly Magazine reported, "If there is a trick in Mr. Mumler's process it has certainly not been detected as yet. To all appearances spiritual photography rests just where the rappings  and table-turnings have rested for some years. Those who believe in it at all will respect no opposing arguments, and disbelievers will reject every favorable hypothesis or explanation. " 

Mumler was acquitted, but his reputation was damaged by the charges. Spirit photography's most famous proponent was Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the creator of Sherlock Holmes. In 1925, he wrote "The Case for Spirit Photography." 


A fascinating website is available from avid spirit photography collectors, Jack and Beverly of the BrightBytes Studio. They not only own an impressive collection of original spirit photographs, but offer a wealth of information and links to other sites on the subject.

In 2005, the Metropolitan Museum of Art created an exhibit on the subject of Spirit Photography.  A beautiful coffee table-sized book called "The Perfect Medium" was produced from the exhibition and is still available on Amazon.


My forthcoming novel, SÉANCE IN SEPIA, is a Victorian mystery delving into the world of spirit photography. Real life feminist Victoria Woodhull is featured as the protagonist in that, before she was the first female presidential candidate and the foremost proponent of Free Love and other radical causes, she was a spiritualist and even served as the president of the American Association of Spiritualists in the mid-1870's. (for more information on Victoria, please see my previous post here.)

Absinthe Superieure

Last night, I took my absinthe drinking to a new plane entirely by sampling Jade's Nouvelle Orleans. This absinthe cost roughly twice as much as I am used to paying, so I wondered if it would be worth the added expense.


Oh, my--yes, it was. I have never tasted an absinthe so light, so smooth, so delicious and seductive. From the first delicate scent to the last sip, the experience was nothing short of divine.


This absinthe is created in France by New Orleans native T.A. Breaux who pioneered research into creating a true absinthe similar to those produced prior to the banning of absinthe in France, the U. S., and numerous other countries, in the early part of the Twentieth Century.


Breaux was a chemist who purchased a pre-ban bottle of absinthe from an estate sale in Europe. He subjected it to intense chemical analysis in order to re-create the original flavor in a modern product.

Nouvelle Orleans Absinthe Superieure

He claims this method is superior to those of other distillers who simply use the 19th-century recipes in that the types of herbs called for in those recipes may have changed over the intervening hundred years. The distillation method uses grapes as its alcohol base and, according to the Jade website: "Jade Liqueurs' absinthes are crafted entirely by hand, and enjoy the unique privilege of being distilled in original 1,150L copper bain marie alembics that were acquired directly from perhaps the most famous original absinthe distillery in Pontarlier, France approximately one hundred years ago." 

Available on Amazon

Jade produces several absinthes, but the"Nouvelle Orleans" was created to celebrate absinthe's American heritage in New Orleans, specifically at the Old Absinthe House, which was built in 1806 and had an "Absinthe room" at least by the 1870's. "L'esprit du Vieux Carré" is well-served by this delicious absinthe.

And, yes, I had a second glass. 
Without regret...I am happy to report.