Hey all. I just wanted to take a moment to let everyone know about my book Southeast of Heaven: A Metalhead’s Journey. This book was a labor of love for me and I am excited to share it with everyone. The book is a collection of essays documenting my life as a Metalhead from the early ’80s to now. It’s a story that I think and hope that everyone can relate to and even connect with.
Former Nuclear Blast PR goddess Loana Valencia wrote an amazing press release for the book and here it is:
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Two years in the making, Southeast Of Heaven (SEOH) is a memoir comprised of forty-two essays – some very personal – capturing over thirty years of a life in love with not only music, but metal specifically. Meet the author’s Styx and Iron Butterfly-loving father (whom the book is dedicated to), who tells his young son to punch his bully in the face. Relive how a local New Orleans radio DJ at WRNO FM gave a 13 year-old Catholic school boy the chance to discover a musical meaning of “communion” in the 1980s. Recall your own experience of lining up four hours early to enter a General Admission show and run to the correct side of the stage with “the weight of 300 to 1,000 people pushing into you as you brace yourself against the barricades, praying you won’t crack or break a rib.” This book documents a life lived with, in, and through music.
Website editor for the past eleven years, singer-songwriter, gigging musician, and now newly minted print author, De Leaumont casually admits from his home in Georgia:
“I’m 46 years old and I ain’t getting any younger. The older I get, the harder these stories are going to be to remember, so I wanted to write them down while I could still remember them, just for posterity’s sake. As I was compiling them, my friend and mentor Katherine Turman told me she thought I should write a book, so I did.”
A print book in a digital world? De Leaumont laughs.“I’m old-school and I love physical media… I like being able to hold something. Old-school book readers still love to have a book to hold the same way vinyl collectors like staring at album artwork and getting lost in the credits and liner notes. I want readers to search for little mysteries in the book’s cover, connect the people in the stories with the pictures they see on the book’s pages, and even trigger a memory from an event in their own lives. That’s all part of the experience. And part of my experience making this book a reality was working with some great people: My wife, Lizzi; Katherine Turner – my editor; Victoria Basnuevo – my proofreader; artist Tommy Smith… they all worked really hard to make this book as good as it could be. I couldn’t have done this without them.”
As a lifelong devotee to music & a truth-telling music journalist, the soundtrack to De Leaumont‘s life experiences has as much range as his varied (and sometimes surreal) life encounters & relationships with a carousel of monumental artists including: ALICE COOPER, IRON MAIDEN, KISS, JUDAS PRIEST, DIO, TWISTED SISTER, SCORPIONS, KING CRIMSON, RUSH, W.A.S.P., PINK FLOYD, CAPTAIN BEYOND, THE RAMONES, TESLA, and RATT, among others.
A proud music nerd & believer in the entertainment factor of random music knowledge (“Did you know Black Sabbath had a vocalist named David Donato after Ian Gillan who only recorded a handful of demos with the band but never joined?”), De Leaumont has also curated a Spotify playlist to allow readers to hear the songs as they read about them in SEOH.
Readers are encouraged to post photos of SEOH among the books, magazines, and graphic novels in their own personal libraries using the hashtag #MetalheadsRead on De Leaumont’s Instagram page. Participants will be eligible to be chosen at random for the chance to be interviewed by him for his “Talkin’ The Talk” podcast.
SEOH will soon be available digitally for the Kindle on April 20th and paperback copies of the book are available at Amazon by clicking HERE. Bonus book content will also be posted on SOUTHEAST OF HEAVEN’S WEBSITE.
Southeast of Heaven Playlist on Spotify:
Website:
Instagram:
Twitter:
About The Author
I have been running this blog since 2009. AKA as the Great Southern Brainfart, Southeast of Heaven is my baby now and forever. I’ve had my ups and downs with bands over the years but they are all great experiences and memories. My Swedish friend Charlie said once, “Don is known for being one of the meanest bastards in American rock journalism.” It’s nice to be loved.
I also once took a shit in Anthrax’s dressing room toilet and didn’t flush.
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