Gigmentia

Gig, a slang word coined in the 1920s by jazz musicians, short for engagement or live musical performance, combined with the latin based suffix -mentia, meaning, condition of the mind, the invented word gigmentia might be defined as engagement of the mind. Or, perhaps, that confusing state of too many shows, too many late nights, too many repetitions to remember accurately—the struggle to recount the long performance that is our life. Gigmentia is a reflection on the raw, challenging, and gritty vocation of a blue-collar musician living in the Pacific Northwest, and the varied adventures of a hard working, day-in day-out rock band. Introspective, insightful, and eloquently observed, Koep chronicles a summer season of fifty rock shows performed in small clubs, huge bars, and on outdoor festival stages, in barns, backyards, and the middle of the woods. Between gigs, Koep writes of sword fights on the lawn with his young son, the challenges of building a household, of world travel, pop music, poetry, and of the fascinating pursuit of the writer’s craft as he works toward completing his third novel. As the summer wanes and he balances the rigors and joys of live performance, promoting his books, and being a father and partner, his mother descends into dementia and forgets the world around her, including her son. Gigmentia is an intimate tableau of an artist’s life; a love song to drums, fatherhood, writing, and to the passing of a beloved mom.