Coming Unstuck – A Year in the Life of a Failed Funk Band

‘Coming Unstuck’ is a ‘faction’. Part memoir. Part discourse on why people get stuck. And why forming a band is not necessarily the best way to get unstuck. Based on true events, the book’s front-story follows a year in the life of a London band’s attempts to claw its way up the greasy pole of the music business. Its backstory involves a journey into the dark heart of stuckness, taking in genetic theory, memetics, the history of the Border Reivers, the Liverpool Police Strike, dodgy Lourdes miracles, a Nigerian Nose-Band, and the refurbishment of the boilers in the Houses of Parliament.

Take a front-stage seat as Cyrus, Brendan, Pete, Duff, Max, Flimsy and The Guv’nor overcome unscrupulous promoters, bogus A&R reps, death-wired amplifiers, catatonic audiences, and the music critic of the Borehamwood Times in pursuit of that elusive recording contract. Only to do a Devon Loch with the winning post in sight.

Joe Cullen, aka ‘Bard of Dalston’, is a Liverpool-born poet and jobbing social scientist who has been living in the East End of London for the past twenty-odd years. His work has appeared in a range of poetry magazines and journals including ‘South Poetry, ‘South Bank Poetry’, ‘Other Poetry’, ‘Long Poem Magazine’, ‘Decanto’, ‘The North’, ‘Stand’, ‘The Delinquent’, and ‘Footballpoets.org’.

Poetry awards and commendations include: ‘Poetry Pulse’, 2012; ‘Rhyme & Reason’, 2012; ‘Sportswriters Awards’, 2012; ‘Four Counties Poets’, 2015. He has given poetry readings at Torriano, London; Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA), Salisbury Arts Centre, Barbican Arts Centre, the Crystal Palace Festival and the Kentish Town Festival. He was nominated for the Forward Prize, 2011. This is his first venture into the world of prose.