Defiant Pawns is a collaboration between poet/storyteller Blake Sugarman and guitarist Tyler Stahl. It's a "musical memoir" which blends storytelling, social commentary, and original music to explore the role that work plays in our lives and how "the market" often fails to support things that really matter.
Stories tend to have a beginning, middle, and end. But in life things just continue. Chapter 8 is about finding peace in the middle of a story - even as Defiant Pawns comes to a close.
The COVID chapter is here! "Divine Right" connects the themes of Defiant Pawns to the current moment as the chess metaphor at the heart of the piece comes into full view.
Imagine a world in which the things nobody wants to do somehow or another get done. That's the type of world that we might be getting close to. If we do it right it could be fun.
Chapter 5 takes us from 6th century India to the dial-up internet age to "the second half of the chessboard." Don't miss Tyler playing an operatic king! We're on the verge of a whole new phase of Defiant Pawns...
Is Shakespeare and Co coming to a strip mall near you? Chapter 4 investigates! And it takes you to places you might not expect. Places that may or may not involve robots.
Chapter 3 is about chasing a dream even when it leads to precarious places. It wouldn't be a leap of faith without some chance of falling.
Chapter Two involves skiing with no health insurance and the realization that other animals don’t have jobs.
Chapter One takes us back to a pre-covid time. Blake reminisces about a Big Lebowski themed store in Greenwich Village and recounts a late night encounter he had with the owner of a chess shop next door who asked, “how long until this whole city becomes a Starbucks?”
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