Black Sparrow Music Parlor creates local zine
Black Sparrow Music Parlor owner Shannon Bagent wants to inspire the community beyond the walls of the popular watering hole, which is why she launched the fourth release of her community fanmade magazine.
Known as a zine, “Bum Fodder” has 20 pages filled with writing, art, collages and more from Taylor creatives.
“(I hope to) inspire the feeling of purpose and help people to feel appreciated for their contributions,” Bagent said. “I think ‘community’ says it all.”
October’s cover, designed by local masseuse Cindy Chapter, features a stork-like bird holding a banner that reads “Bum Fodder,” and the banner’s resemblance to a roll of toilet paper is not a coincidence, Bagent said Bagent’s inspiration for the zine arises from chapbooks — small, handmade magazines — which originated in the 15th century as a poor man’s way to share writing when books were too expensive. As people finished reading the chapbooks, they recycled them and used the pages as toilet paper, or “bum fodder.”
The back cover, drawn by Rachel Martin, is a portrait of Chapter, highlighting her cat-rescue work.
For June’s issue, the featured cover was Martin’s portrait of Bagent.
“It’s a great honor to be included,” said Martin, a former assistant dean of the College of Fine Arts at the University of Texas-Austin who moved to Taylor in 2020 after retirement. “Shannon is a wonderful creative person who gives so much to the community. … I also like the fact that I could make art about two members of the community that are real people.”
Martin was drawn to the zine upon seeing flyers from Bagent calling for submissions from the Taylor community and was reminded of the 1980s, when she contributed to many zines, even creating one herself.
“It just seems like a really nostalgic and great idea to resurrect that now in 2024 because it’s not very common,” she said. “The arts are a good way for people to get to know the viewpoints of people in the community. So, I think it’s important because it reflects a diversity of views and opinions and outlooks.”
Like Martin, Bagent’s history with zines didn’t begin with “Bum Fodder.” Bagent began making her own zines in 2013 when she worked in the music industry. She would anonymously place her handmade publications filled with her own writing in green rooms for artists to flip through before a performance.
“That’s how it started, just as a way to, you know, secretly, get my own words out there,” Bagent said.
Other featured works in the October zine include poems, comics from local artist Dennis Gustav Levitin and even a handwritten movie review.
Bagent accepts any submissions that can be delivered to her on paper. She cuts and pastes together the zine herself and then prints 15 copies to sell.
Each copy is $5 to cover the printing costs and is hand-stamped as a product of the Black Sparrow Library and numbered by Bagent, which is her favorite part of the process.
“(Submissions can be) just people expressing their true, authentic self,” she said. “I really love when people bring in stories, but, I mean, I love it all. … I’m just open to everything.”
Bagent wants to release the next issue in January. Those interested in being published can drop their work off at the Black Sparrow mailbox, located at 113 W. Second St., or hand it directly to Bagent.
