The Felice Brothers, a brawling quintet of whiskeybreath folk-rockers from upstate New York, are all about reckless energy on stage. But the band members also have a literary streak, said James Felice, the band’s hefty, hirsute keyboardist/accordionist, when I interviewed him last year. “Faulkner, Hemingway, McCarthy, Thomas Pyncheon, Russian literature… Just anything we can get our hands on,” James told me. (Click here to read the full piece, in which Felice holds forth on why country music and hip-hop are actually the same thing.)
So you have to think the band would approve of the the method one Craigslist user has set up to figure out who should get a ticket to the Felice Brothers’ sold-out show Friday night at the Rock & Roll Hotel: an essay contest.
Here’s the posting that went up last Sunday:
Felice brothers ticket for Essay – $1 (DC)
________________________________________
Date: 2010-10-17, 12:12PM EDT
Reply to: sale-n2epd-2010699961@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
________________________________________I have one extra ticket to the Felice Brothers show. Instead of selling it I’d rather hold a essay contest.
Please send me a short
Who you are
Why you deserve this ticket
Why you love the Felice brothers
Whats your favorite food and why
and if you could meet anyone in the world who would it be and why.
I will accept essays until fri. Winner will be announced Friday Afternoon.
I look forward to reading them!! I will be at a bar near the concert and I will call you and we can meet so I can give you your ticket.
• Location: DC
• it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interestsPostingID: 2010699961
I’ve e-mailed the person who posted the ad to see if there have been any submissions—so far with no reply. I will update if I hear back, and with luck there will be essays to post. Names redacted, of course.
In the meantime: