A long and needed update/love is revolutionary

So, fortunately, and I guess also unfortunately (as far as my online life goes) I have been incredinly busy since I have been back in Salt Lake and haven't had a whole lot of time to update my stuff. But alas! A window of time has been found and update I shall!

Where to start... where to start...

While traveling, particularly in Houston and Austin, but also in Minneapolis (which are cities that have a very integrated slam/performance poetry community) I saw/performed at cash prize poetry slams, where basically they advertised the slam like a show or concert, charged a cover charge at the door, and gave a cut of that to the winner/winners of the slam. There are quite literally poets in Houston Texas who pay rent off of winning poetry slams. Granted, there are like five cash slams a week, but none-the-less, it happens. And that's just three cities, this goes on everywhere! So, needless to say, I started thinking, "so, if this can happen in all these other cities, why the hell can't it happen in Salt Lake?"
As soon as I got back in to SLC, me and my friend Michael started brainstorming ideas. I told him about my ideas for the slam, he was totally down, and within a week of being home we had Salt Lake City's first cash prize poetry slam (Put Your Mouth Where The Word Is) booked at Mo's Neighborhood Grill (http://www.mosbarandgrill.com/) The next three weeks went alsmost entirely in to premoting the slam, working on different projects to prepare for it, and trying to get media coverage.
After a lot of social networking, mass texting, fliering, calling, rogue reading and postering, we raised five hundred and twenty five dollars at the door! That means we had one hundred and five paying audience members, and thats not even including the probability that people snuck in without paying because there was without a doubt more than one hundred and five people there.
In short, it was a great success, it was so much fun, and if the amount of people who approached us afterwards saying that they had a great time and were definitely coming back next month come through, then those numbers will be at very least doubled!

As for me individually, I'm doing great. I'm super broke and looking for ways to make money, relying on poetry and teaching as my only form of income, and living almost completely on the good graces of good people and friends, and man it is liberating. I'm homeless and broke, couch surfing and backpacking, walking everywhere I go, living as an artist relying on his passion and the good graces of other people and the universe for money, shelter, food, etc. Some day, possibly sooner rather than later, I'm going to get a job and an apartment and live as an alleged "functioning," member of society haha, but right now I'n enjoying and gaining so much living far below the poverty level. I have learned to appreciate so much more living like this. The smallest scrap of food, the smallest donations of money, purchasing my art, offering a couch to crash on and a roof over my head, a hot shower and a dry towel, it means so much more to me now, I see gifts and small conviniences through different eyes and it's wonderful.
So for now I shall remain a vagrant, a vagabond, a poet, an artist, a musician, a lover, a friend. Fuck the system man. Active disobedience! They have perfected violence for centuries, what they do not know is peace.

Love is revolutionary

-Cody Winger

My Final Baited Fingertip

You almost forgot how to breathe

If your lungs are machines with minds of their own
Then call society the rust building up on your hinges
You once saw the corroded gears of your grandfather’s emaciated body
Spitting up dust and grime and blackened oil phlegm
If his vocal chords were exhaust pipes
Then call his breathing the final puttering
Of that good old American Muscle on its last bend
My boy there is more than metal and oil

Over the past twenty years
I have baited my fingertips with opportunities
That your skepticism continuously refused to accept
Like offering a feast to a starving person
Who is terrified of food
I must express my thanks
For my fingers grew blistered and raw
I did not know how long they would have lasted

My boy your blood has changed colors
It no longer courses through your veins
With the black self loathing of mislead dreams
Your heart is a goat skinned hand drum
You have learned the tribal intricacy of carving bone
Fashioned two hands from your breast plate
Set them to the frequency of riotous
So now as they play
Your heart beats with the untamed rhythms of freedom

I must tell you
When god designed the heavens
Like everything else he made them flawed
                Imperfect
Like everything else the master plan of such
Was that of a genius architect
Then came you
Baby boy wrapped in a blanket of uneasy first impressions
You fell through the cracks of heaven
At the ripe age of fourteen
When your skepticism continuously refused to accept that life
Was not what the people in charge made it out to be

Some will call you a demon

Others a messenger from god

I will call you a fallen angel suspended in mid decent

If pawn shops can be the recipient of a junkies lost soul
Then call your broken angel wings golden redemption
For you have traded their weight in gold for words
You do not need wings
To engrave your accomplishments
On a tomb stone that one day you will rest under

Only stories

They will hate you for it

But it is time

Wash the corrosion away from minds of masses

Carve trenches with your vocal chords in the floors of heaven

Open up a drum circle and play
Until the world can hear your untamed rhythms

Because you
My boy

Are the embodiment of an unbreakable idea
Whistled through the organic throat of a megaphone

A word perpetually stuck in motion

A scatter bomb mental guerilla warfare explosion

If bullets can govern the world
Then call your ammunition of superiority
Seeds

For I know you would use shotgun shells as incubators to grow food
And not a medium to steal life with

They have perfected violence for centuries
What they do not know is peace

This is my final baited fingertip
You know what you must do
Tell the people stories

Inform them that freedom is free
It’s as natural as breathing
As simple as a drum circle
And as easy as falling

To be free is to love
Unconditionally

I love you

Sincerely,
            Life

The news

I, after alotting eno!ugh time and making it a point not to prematurely expose myself onlne, am ready and have come to terms with it. I, infact, am back in SLC. I got in Saturday night and have been floating around suprising the shit out of people for a few days now. It's damn good to be home!

Last show in Austin

Tonight is our last show in Austin, it will be at Club Illusions for the Neo Soul event, of which I am very excited about! After that I don't exactly know what we are doing, but there is a possibility that we will be coming home sooner than expected... Not entirely sure yet, but I will know within the next week...

Poetry in Houston and the continuation of wordsmoke

So we have been in Houston for almost a week now and it has been totally awesome! The first thing I've got to say about Houston is this, there is a lot of love in Houston man. Crazy amounts of love and respect haha. Second is that they sure know how to pack the house! There have only been two spots that we have been to so far that had small crowds, and even at those spots either the venue payed us decently or we made decent tips. We have been very well received in Houston and have made a good deal of money since being here. As far as culture is concerned, Houston is far too large to really experience the artistic culture outside of the poetry community, unlike Austin where we experienced quite a bit of it. But so far we have made way more money than we did in Austin and been shown a lot of love so I am quite alright with that.
So, the wordsmoke tour is actually back in action! Me and Lauren Begent (a friend of mine from SLC who met up with us in Nebraska before the original tour split up) are continuing the last of the tour in Texas as wordsmoke for marketing reasons and to protect Deann's name and reputation. Lauren is an amazing musician and an up and coming poet. She plays music at the shows and I do poetry and it actually adds a really awesome and refreshing dynamic to the shows.
We've got one last show in Houston, which is today actually (and will be broad casted on a local TV station here in Houston) and then I'm going to be competing in a slam on Saturday and then we are making our way back up to Austin either by means of craigs list ride shares or hitch hiking for another weeks worth of shows and then we are flying out to California to do another months worth of traveling and shows in Cali and then we are coming home! Much love ya'll... it's funny because I'm in Texas.... he ... he...

- Cody Winger

Houston

I got in to Houston late last night. I am staying with Mr. Seth Walker (http://www.sethwalkerpoetry.com/) and will be here doing shows for a week before cruising back to Austin for a week to do shows there, and then off to California!

- Cody Winger

Me? Cell phone?

Thats right ladies and germs, I'm getting a cell phone today. My good friend Joe is paying for it, and against his will, once I get home I'm going to be sending money to pay him back. But I will have a new phone today, so I will be sending out text messages when I get it with my new number!

Austin Texas, and the follow up on our first hitch hiking trip

Our friend Nick, from http://www.couchsurfing.org/, told us good spots to hitch from, and dropped us off about an hour outside of Dallas next to an on-ramp. I pulled out my guitar and played happy diddies while Lauren waved our AUSTIN sign wildly and with much gusto, and literally no more than ten minutes went by until someone stopped. We got picked up by a friendly old gentelman by the name of Les, who sold unregulated electricity to people with previously regulated electricity. Needless to say, the ride was rather dull, but very much appreciated, and still quite exhilerating just because the simple fact that we were hitch hiking.
Anyways, he dropped us off in a city called Round Rock (which is about half an hour outside of Austin) at a Taco Bell. My good friend Joseph Winters (http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/profile.php?id=664289800&ref=ts) from SLC who happened to move to Austin the day before I left for the road, came and picked us up from the Taco Bell. We went to the largest Whole Foods store in the world, literally, because apparently Whole Foods started in Austin, and got sushi, and then me and Laurn went and walked around downtown Austin for a bit. There is a road here called 6th, and apparently every weekend they shut down like four blocks of this road and people just roam from bar to bar to bar, but there were hundreds of people... drunk!... wandering!... In the middle of the street!... It was crazy and wonderful and foreign all at the same time! Next weekend we are going to go street perform there and, hopefully, but without much doubt in mind, make a good sum of money.
Unless something arises, we are going to be in Austin for about a week, and head to Houston his next Saturday or Sunday for my first show there!

- Cody Winger

First hitch hiking trip!

Me and Lauren are preparing for our first hitch hiking trip! We are going to be hitching from Dallas, Texas to Austin. Austin is about three hours away from here, so it's not too long of a ride. We are texting a close friend the liscence plate numbers and makes of the car. I think we are going to be hitting the free way in about an hour or less, and I will post as soon as we get in to Austin. Send good vibes!

- Cody Winger

My thoughts after one day in Dallas

We arrived in Dallas, Texas last night and stayed with this really cool cat from http://www.couchsurfing.org/, and as for not even being in Dallas for twenty four hours, the only thing I have to say about it right now, is this place is fucking huge!! Holy hell this city is big! Haha anyways. Me and Lauren are really hurting on money right now, so if there is anyone reading this that is sick of carrying that pesky cyber change, simply push the paypay button, and you can place all that obnoxious computerized money right into the donation box, where it will be put to much better use than taking up precious space in your bank's computers! Such as: eating lunch today, providing gas money for whomever drives us to Austin, eating dinner tonight, providing gas money for whomever drives us to Austin, and mouthwash... Ha.... Ha... Seriously though, mouthwash. Im going to stop writing now, it's far too early, and I have not had nearly enough coffee or mental stimulation. Goodbye all...

- Cody Winger

Wordsmoke is breaking up

Ah, atlast the time has come... After a few days time, we have all decided that our wants and needs out of traveling vary, and so alas we are parting ways, peacefully, happily, and on probably better terms then we have been the entire duration of the trip haha.
Deann and Sonja are going to travel back up to North Dakota, while me and Lauren are still heading down to Texas.
Once I get more time I am going to turn this site into my personal blog site for the road, but it will still be being updated by me no matter what.

- Cody Winger

Omaha/Lincoln Nebraska and the happenings of such

So yeah we have spent few days in Omaha/Lincoln, Nebraska. Lincoln is about an hour or so outside of Omaha, so we have been kind of bouncing back and forth between the two cities.
Our first show we did in Omaha was at a public library in this little designated area called The Spot. We were their first feature they had ever had which was really cool, and for probably the ten people that came out we made like 30 bucks which was also very very cool, as well as heard some great poetry by the local writers attending the event.
Our next show was at a coffee shop in Omaha called the Benson Grind. It was a great open mic, but a very different crowd than i'm used to haha. The entire crowd, including the host, were older folks, I would say probably 40's and up, which by no means is a bad thing, it was just interesting and actually really cool that an older crowd was enjoying and interested in reading and listening to peotry, and on top of that, we were very well recieved by them (which is certainly different than most older poets in SLC who generally tend to avoid performance poetry)
Our last show was at a bar in Omaha called The Hidout, the open mic reserving its own name as Shoot Your Mouth Off. This was by far, the most fun I have had at just an open mic since being on the road. The crowd was rowdy, loud, and generally intoxicated, we were heckled, people laughed and cheered, and we were very well recieved! Needless to say it was a really fun show, and we made like 60 bucks to top it all off!
Now we are in Lincoln, Nebraska, staying with an awesome person we found on http://www.couchsurfing.org/. We will be here for a day or two before we head south, with no shows booked for two weeks, and looking forward to a break from poetry and traveling just to travel for a little while.

- Cody Winger

The Song the Cloud's Sing - Cody Winger

I have always followed the clouds

In school they tell you to follow your dreams
But most children don’t exactly dream of being lawyers
People usually pick up that you can’t actually be Superman
So I follow the clouds

In my early teenage years
My nose picked up the scent of rain
At a Lars Frederiksen and the Bastards show
The loud fast music pummeled my brain like the mosh pit did my body
I found myself loving bruises

So I fashioned a battle shield
Made of a sleeveless denim jacket
Patches and studs
Started reading about anarchy
Fascism
Active disobedience

Thought it would be a good idea
To put porno in the school books
To forcefully enlighten the nerdy Mormon kids who hung out in the library

Shaved my hair into a mohawk
Spiked it up daily
Wore it proudly
Like it was wedding ring
A birth right
A statement to the world

Like fuck the system
No matter what we have each other and our anger
That will never change

We built up unbreakable fists on the insides of our eardrums
That beat back the pressures of adolescence
We were young and punk rock

Did things to piss off security guards just so they would chase us
Vandalized red neck’s cars for being ignorant
Refused to stand for the pledge of allegiance at school
Because America sucked and we weren’t exactly sure why

We just knew that at the show
When the music fired everyone up
Like the guitarist’s fingers were Mount Olympus
And Zeus stood atop their finger tips
Shooting lightning bolts like shrapnel
Into the crowd

Nothing else mattered

The day I shaved my mohawk
Was the day I stopped following the clouds
It’s hard to get a job
When people call you freak for being who you are

Have you ever heard your identity fall betrayed to the bathroom floor?

It sounds like this:

You are now obedient
You are now permitted
We can now acknowledge your personality
To be a word spelled with person

In my early adult life
My nose picked up the scent of rain at a poetry reading
The smell so foreign I almost didn’t recognize it
Bringing back fond memories of bruises
The poetry pummeling my brain like the performances did my body
I found myself loving metaphor

So I fashioned a battle shield
Made of pens and paper

Found that after a reading
The sun shone a bit brighter
Things got a little easier
Life seemed a whole lot better

Starting reading about revolution
Governments
Effective activism

Thought it was a good idea
To read poetry with profanity in it
To forcefully enlighten the nerdy scene kids who hung out at the coffee shop

Got laid off from my job and hit the road
Starting reading the brail birthed from the earth
Like every bump on the asphalt is a new letter
I have pieced together the word freedom
Super glued it on the cover page of my long and unfinished journey
Met people who shared the same conscious understanding
That we are actively disobedient shooting stars
In a sky that chooses complacency

Like fuck the system
No matter what we have each other and our voice
That will never change

The day I hit the road
Was the day I started following the clouds again
It’s kind of hard to get a job
When people call you freak and you completely agree

Have you ever heard the song the clouds sing
On a seemingly endless road pointing directly to the center of the setting sun?

It sounds like this:

My boy

Welcome home

Mineapolis/St.Paul

When we arrived in the twin cities, we first went to St. Paul. There was an open mic at this place called The Artist's Quarters, which was this really cool little jazz bar that they held open mic's and poetry slams at. They allowd you a seven minute set to do whatever you wanted. Me and Deann split our time for the set, she did My Muse, I did Faceless. It was a really cool open mic, we met some really amazing people and had a great time. After the open mic we crashed at these musician kids houses who were all really cool and great hosts!
The next day we hung out in Minneapolis for a while, and then went to our feature at Kireans Irish Pub in Minneapolis. They were having a slam there, so we featured after the first round of their slam. The feature went quite well, it was a pretty big crowd which was cool I havent performed in front of a large crowd like that in a while. During the entire thing we met so many amazing people, and it was really good to be around so many poets again haha! After the show we crashed at these poets house in Minneapolis, woke up in the morning and hung out in Minneapolis for a while.
We have aquired more art on the van! We met this graffiti artists/painter kid in Minneapolis who painted a very abstract girl on the side of the van who lookes kind of like a hawaiin girl, with flowers in her hair and stuff its really really cool.
Anyways, we are now in South Dakota, hosting a slam and featuring tonight, and then we are off to Omaha tomorrow morning!

- Cody Winger

On the road again...

We are spending our last night in Bismarck, North Dakota, and heading out early tomorrow morning to Minneapolis, of which I am very excited for.
North Dakota has been great to us, thanks to everyone out here!
Minot was really cool, we met a lot of really cool people out there, but I had a more intimate connection with Bismarck, hosting the slam, teaching the workshop, and just hanging out with the people out here has been fantastic! There is a lot of heart and desire for artistic expression and an underlying drive to achieve that which I think is fucking awesome. I will be sad to leave here, but am quite excited to be traveling again and meeting more people!

-Cody Winger

The first poem I've written since being on the road -Cody Winger

Friday, September 18, 2009
Star Light City

The first thing I noticed about Bismarck
Was the stars
Out here you can still see them
Shining like outcasts
Of a world that prefers electric
Your white lights smile in the sky
As if your poetry has crafted light house satellites
And dotted them across the blackened heavens
In a Morse Code that reads passion

I was born of electric light
Raised in a place where stars
Are a distant mythology
Because the pressure of shining
Becomes so difficult at times
It is much easier to be a black hole than a super nova
But there is still star light
When it illuminates through constellations

Bismarck
You have painted the heavens
Intricately hollowed blow guns out of pencils
To hunt for a beast that brews expression in its bones
Tattooing PERSISTANCE across your chest like a mantra
Your victory has been a long time coming
You can see it
With every step you take
On ladder rungs woven from bits of inspiration
Keep climbing
The open armed canvas of the galaxy is not far off

I am a shooting star
Going from constellation to constellation
The sky is not as big as we think it is
My time here dwindles away with my tail
But my faith for you stands strong and hopeful like a light house

You are my star light city
No matter how far I’ve gone
I will always look back and see your constellation beaming
Your stars smiling brightly against the blackened heavens in a Morse Code that reads
Passion
You are not of electric light

You are of blood and trees

Bones and rock

Tongue and fire

Bismarck
Though you did not know it
You have intricately carved a notch in my blow gun
Hollowed from pencils
Since my time being a shooting star
I have killed my first beast
Here
I took its bones and carefully laid them out in front of me
This is what came from them
The fruit of my labor

Now I leave it with you

Use it as fiber for your ladder rungs

You have painted the heavens
Keep climbing
The open armed canvas of the galaxy is not far off

Bismarck's first poetry slam

Last night we hosted Bismarck's first poetry slam, which was an absolute success! I would say there was about twenty plus people that came out, of that number, 95% of them were high school kids, including all seven who competed, and all of them were amazing writers. Most if not everyone there loved it and are very excited to have their next slam, I have a good feeling that this will sweep over Bismarck, and in the next few years they will be sending teams to nationals.
Also, our feature last night went incredibly well. We made something like 75 bucks, had an awesome feedback from the crowd, and were very well recieved. The owner of Project Noise, Matt, walked around for us before the show and asked for donations without us even asking him to do so, which was so so cool of him. He is also hooking us up with another gig there on Friday with some hip hop groups, so all in all we will have done three shows in Bismarck, have had a great time and met a ton of amazing people!

-Cody Winger

Bismarck

Last night we spit our first show in Bismarck at Project Noise which was pretty cool. The crowd was rather small, but the poeple were really cool and we made a bit of money so yeah definitely wasn't a bad out come at all!
Tonight we are teaching a writing/performance/slam workshop which im really really excited for, and then tomorrow we are hosting Bismarck's frist poetry slam!

-Cody Winger

Last day(ish) in Minot

Yeah, I've decided that I really like North Dakota. Except when it's wet and cold, haha. Anyhow, Minot has been great and very receptive at shows and also for letting us into their homes. We've had a lot of fun hanging out with and meeting local artists such as Tru Soul Brothas and Gypsyfoot and all of Sonja's friends.

The van is running like a champ, I feel fully confident that it will get us from points A-Z, knock on wood.

We are about to eat at our friend Dyana's house, she is going to bbq. w00t!

Have fun ya'll, sorry it's so short, I'll write more soon!

-DeAnn Emett

Day 4 on the road

So far the road has been totally awesome! We have already had a lot of fun and met a lot of really cool people in North Dakota. Last night we did our first gig in Minot, North Dakota at a venue called the Pangea House, which was this really cool little laid back venue that actually resembled more of a house than a concert venue. There was a pretty decent turn out, I would say a fluctuating twenty - thirty people. Before us, there was a duo of local poets that went by The True Soul Brothers, who had a very lyrical, smooth, laid back style of poetry which was awesome, and not only that, they as individuals, aside from their poetry, were totally awesome people. I (Cody) can not speak for Deann, but I learned my first valuable lesson on the road that night, not only from the amazing people we met, but also for the actual venue itsefl.
I had made up in my head the entire day and especially on the way to the venue, this dramatic assumption of the venue being a big, concrete floored, large elevated stage, big scary place that would definately not dig on poetry and blah blah blah. But when we got there, is was this cool little joint, and the poeple running the gig where way awesome and down with poetry, and there were other local poets performing, and it was completley 100% opposite of what I had assumed it to be. So, my first big valuable lesson on the road... NO ASSUMPTIONS!
We have our next gig tonight at The Bagel Stop, a small little bagel/coffee shop in Minot, North Dakota. More posts coming soon!

-Cody Winger

Leaving Salt Lake, arriving in North Dakota

There is something rather stasifying and liberating at the same time about driving to the grocery store at 9:00 in the morning (still in SLC) to do some last minute grocery shopping for the road, and noticing, that almost everyone who is awake and driving around you, is up and heading for work. I had a pretty intense realization at that point, that I was really, truly about to embark on a three month adventure, not having a steady home or a steady income, to travel the country doing poetry.

We left SLC at about 11 am, Monday, September 7th. Shot straight up through Idaho into Montana. Our original plan was to camp out in Yellow Stone National Park, but when we got there they wanted 25$ just to drive through it, so obviously, we decided otherwise. We drove around the park, while still heading east, and found another camp sight, but they wanted 30$, so once again, obviously, we decided otherwise. We headed further North East, into a beautiful mountain range, where we found a camp site for like ten bucks. It was a good site, we made a fire and ate mexican beans and rice, I (Cody) being the genious that I am HAHA slept in the van instead of in the tent, and, to no suprise, was regaled with horror stories of how horribly cold it was.

The next morning, we didnt even bother making breakfast because of the temperature, and headed straight for North Dakota, it took us about eight or so hours, we pulled into Minot last night, and now I am here, still too early to be awake but children and loud dogs dont really help someone trying to get a beauty sleep haha. Anyways, more posts coming soon...

Upcoming Performance Venues

• Kieran's Irish Pub/8pm/Minneapolis, Minnesota/September 22
• The Spot/4pm/Omaha, Nebraska/September 26
• Shoot Your Mouth Off/Omaha, Nebraska/September 27
• Naked Words/7pm/Omaha, Nebraska/September 28
• Cucoos Nest/Killeen, Texas/October 16
• Shadow Bar/Houston, Texas/October 18
• Mid Town Lounge/Houston, Texas/October 21
• Neo Soul/Austin Texas/October 29
• Cafe Madrid/Dallas, Texas/ October 30

(We have way more shows booked, I just dont have the exact info with me)

---

Previous Performance Venues

• Baxter’s Coffee - Salt Lake City, UT
• Mestizo Coffeehouse- Salt Lake City, UT
• Greenhouse Effect- Salt Lake City, UT
• Alchemy Coffee- Salt Lake City, UT
• Utah Arts Festival 2009 -Salt Lake City, UT
• National Poetry Slam 2009 -West Palm Beach, FL
• First Night Festival -Gallivan Center, Salt Lake City, UT
• Southwest Shootout 2009- Albuquerque, NM (Cody Winger)
• Workshop and performance at East High School- Salt Lake City, UT
• Café Casa -Berkley, CA 2008 (DeAnn Emett)
• The Bistro- Hayward, CA 2008 (DeAnn Emett)
• Earth Dance Festival 2008, Salt Lake City ,UT
• Café Marmalade, Salt Lake City,UT
• Win and You’re In, Albuquerque, NM(Cody Winger)
• Cup of Joe, Salt Lake City, UT

Media Reviews and Features

Individual Features on Cody Winger

http://rebelgrrrl.wordpress.com/2009/08/04/slam-tuesday-spittin-poetry-with-the-slc-slam-team/

“The poetry of Cody Winger is not easy to define. Dark, yet beautiful, with hope mixed in. It’s the kind of poetry that can really dig into your skin, and at the same time, inspire.”

---

“Equipped with the ability to captivate audiences, Cody Winger exudes an inspiring rush with his emotionally provoked poetry.” “Deann performs with a unique brand of passion weaved into cleverness, thus leaving spectators pleasantly affected.”

- David Alberti, SLC/NJ Poet

---

Radio show appearances:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/search/salt-lake-city/
(Finding your genius with Megan Sillito)-Cody

---

Mention by their future coach Michael Dimitri in City Weekly 3/25/09:

“Name some local poetry slammers that are on the rise. "
"A few poets other than myself would be Cody Winger, Jesse Parent, and [a poet known only as] DeAnn.”

---

“Cody and DeAnn represent the future of the Salt Lake slam poetry scene. They are committed not only to their craft, but to their community. They are both great examples of what talent combined with a great work ethic can do for artists.”- Jesse Parent, Salt Lake City Slam Master

---

“What struck me was their writing. Wordsmoke was a great duet; one I’d love to have at my venue.”

- Seth Walker

Bios

Cody Winger

Accomplishments:

• Salt Lake City Grand Slam champ 2009
• Competed in the 2009 National Poetry Slam
• Performed on group piece final stage at the 2009 NPS
• 3 first place wins in monthly local poetry slams from August 2008-April 2009
• Invited to and participated in two radio shows
• Hosted several open mics throughout the city and currently hosting Salt Lake City’s certified slam venue Baxter’s Coffee.
• Member of Salt City Indie Arts committee
• Taught East High School performance poetry workshop for creative writing class

Involvement:
Cody first became involved in the Salt Lake City performance/slam poetry scene in late June of 2008. From there he was immediately engulfed in everything he could get his hands on, performing and participating in art festivals, regional and local poetry slams, open mics, high school poetry workshops, concerts, and features.

Through constant participation in slams and open mics, winning three of the local monthly slams, in April 2009 he won a spot to compete in the Salt Lake City Grand Slam, where he took 1st place, winning a place on the 2009 Salt City Slam team, as well as becoming the IWPS representative for Salt Lake City. However due to the route of his tour this year, as well as financial issues, he willingly surrendered that position to a different poet in Salt Lake with the proper means of attending.

During the time period of April-August 2009, Cody became very heavily involved with the community, helping to expand and enrich the performance poetry scene in Salt Lake City, doing so mostly by promoting local art, work shopping poets, and hosting the open mics and poetry slams at SLC’s certified slam venue, as well as helping with hosting and promotion at other venues as well. He has been invited, and participated, in two local radio shows, one with the Salt City Slam team, one individually.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/search/salt-lake-city/
(Finding your genius with Megan Sillito)

In August 2009, he went with the Salt City Slam team to West Palm Beach, Florida, to compete at the National Poetry Slam. There, he and his team made it on to the group piece final stage, where he performed in a five person group piece called Sound and Fury.

He is still heavily involved in the community, still participating in open mics and slams, and still working on expanding the scene, as well as others and himself.

Cody was born and raised in Utah, however growing up in a city south of Salt Lake called West Jordan (an oppressive, predominantly religious community), he moved to downtown Salt Lake City to get involved in the performance/slam poetry scene.

His first introduction to performance poetry was through Sage Francis and then Buddy Wakefield. However, some of his other great influences include: Shae Sveniker, DeAnn Emmett, Pablo Neruda, Seth Walker, Bob Kaufman, Harold Norse, Counting Crows, Modest Mouse, Aesop Rock, and his close friends and family.

His style stems a lot from the styles and influences of the local scene, as well as being very centered around language, due to the poetry he reads. He strives to be as well heard on stage as he is read on paper, however, carries and intensely expressive presence when performing. Performing poetry is very therapeutic for him, in that taking a piece of art that is very close to him and performing it, while assessing the interest of the audience, he exhibit’s a display of raw emotion, humor, sorrow, and joy that are in tune with the listeners however entirely expressive and heartfelt to him.

It is through this passion and love for what he does that has got him to where he is today. He has a large fan base in Salt Lake City who tend to gravitate around his ability to simply express himself and become vulnerable and enveloped in his poetry. He is very dedicated to the art, as well as other artists and community, and loves to share and listen. He is also a very social person, and often goes out of his way to meet new people and experience new ideas and cultures, on small or large scales.