When we last caught up with Brett Newski (July 2023 issue), it was for a deep dive into what makes the DIY musician a singular sort of fellow. A guy living in a Bay View Polish flat who sings, records and tours, but also draws, paints, blogs, podcasts — and had recently authored It’s Hard to Be a Person, his whimsical but practical take on living with anxiety. “I prolly got too-personal,” he tweeted at the time about our profile on him.
Tell us who you’d pick to be a Betty this year!
But Newski, the ingredient pool of his mind ever overflowing, is never one to stop sharing. He’s out now with another book, Piss in the Wind: Misadventures of an Indie Troubadour. It builds on the blogging he’s done about the largely self-funded concert tours he’s done on six continents.
It’s not going too far when Newski writes: “Everything in this book is true.”
One story is more mind-blowing and semi-terrifying than the next.
Buenos Aires: “I’ve only been peed on once in my life…by a few hundred Argentine men.”
Manila, when wouldn’t-take-no-for-an-answer Pimp Lady, joined later by two henchmen, told Newski, “I’ll cut you up right now”: “I dove into the cab….Grateful to avoid a kidnapping. Gonna be a great tour.”
On a night bus to Bangkok: “My feet are in a long, coffin-style bed, and my head and shoulders poke out the other end….No one on the planet knows where I am. I feel like a ghost floating through the afterlife.”
We all die a little more slowly when we’re enjoying Newski, whether it’s reading, watching or listening.
So, here’s hoping his adventures continue.
But maybe in fewer places where he has to sleep with one eye open.
