UPCOMING SHOWS

Sunday, April 18, 2010: MMAC Festival, Hollywood, CA

More West Coast dates on the way. For updates, visit myspace.com/genamason.

OTHER RECENT NEWS

For immediate release, 1-14-10:

GENA MASON RELEASES ROUGH CUT OF MUSIC VIDEO FOR "BOOK 49"

New Yorker / globetrotter / rocker Gena Mason has released a rough cut of the music video for "Book 49," a song from her forthcoming album, Exile.

Her first music video, "Book 49" is one of several Mason currently has in production. Actually, both the video and the recorded song are still in progress -- the version of the song heard in the video's rough cut is a demo version of the track (a studio version is being recorded at an undisclosed location). Helping with the camerawork and post-production is Sean Martinez, whom Mason met while both were living and working at a Tibetan Buddhist monastery atop Mead's Mountain in Woodstock, New York. Gena filmed much of the footage on Christmas Day, 2009, in an abandoned chapel just steps away from the monastery.

"Book 49" was largely inspired by the occultist and rocket scientist Jack Parsons. In 1946 Parsons (a colleague of black magician Aleister Crowley) conducted a series of rituals that invoked a mysterious force identified as the goddess Babalon. Parsons, later described by a colleague as a "dangerous man," has been credited with helping to usher in the space age.

Similarly, Gena (who has been told that she is a "dangerous woman") describes "Book 49" as "the soundtrack to a revolution." She notes that images in her video showing the destruction of a church are not meant as hostile to any religion, but instead portray the end of an old era and the birth of a new aeon. "Since we're currently experiencing a cultural revolution," she explains, "it's time to create new myths for the new spirit that is awakening."

Mason, herself an occultist, further elaborates that the lyrics to "Book 49" were also inspired by her own personal, intimate encounter with an entity "not of this world."

Descended from a line of preachers, Gena has practiced numerous religious systems, including Christianity, Buddhism, Witchcraft, and other occult sciences. During the summer of 2009, she sang every Sunday in a gospel choir at services for All Nations Baptist Church in Washington, D.C. Currently on a leave of absence from Columbia University, where she is a law student, Gena Mason is scheduled to perform several dates in upstate New York early this year. Starting in March, she will embark on a tour of California and the Southwest. Catch her if you can.

"Book 49" can be seen at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rsu6IsybBw

and http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=102197739

THE QUEEN'S IN YOUR AREA

Yes, Gena has finally joined the rest of her generation and started a blog. The first entry is a tribute to the late Jim Carroll, a former hero and acquaintance of Gena's. Visit genamason.wordpress.com and share stories about your own personal heroes.

ZINE

The much-anticipated third edition of Gena's publicly and critically acclaimed political zine, The CIA Makes Science Fiction Unexciting, Vol. 3, is now on sale. (Microcosm Publishing) The zine's second edition spent months on display at Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art, as part of the museum's USA Today exhibition. Other artists' books in the exhibition included works by Yoko Ono, Joseph Beuys, and Jenny Holzer. The first two printings having sold out across the country, Gena's updated zine contains new sections on human microchipping and current mind control technology. Read an excerpt here.

ALIEN NATION TV/VLOG

Episode #3 of Gena's cable access show, Alien Nation, recently aired on Manhattan Neighborhood Network TV. Focusing on secret societies, Episode 3 can be seen (along with past episodes) at Gena's new vlog.

MUGS

In April, Gena had a brief but productive photo shoot with fashion photog Pranav Sharma. Check out some of the new pics at myspace.com/genamason.

MISC.

Gena has almost finished demoing tracks for her next record. She spent the past summer in Washington, D.C., where she sang in a gospel choir for weekly services and performed a Gregorian chant at a forum in support of President Obama's health care plan. As part of her coursework at Columbia Law School, last year Gena interned for artist Alex Grey at his gallery, CoSM. Grey is popularly known for his album art for such bands as Tool and Nirvana.