Literature, Music,
& the Study of Culture are my passions
Michael Kuelker’s Books & Works
New Book on the Ozark Mountain Daredevils!
Published in Sept. 2022, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils on Record: A Narrative Discography has sold nearly 1000 copies and is finding readers all over North America and beyond. The book draws on more than 50 hours of oral history that I conducted with all of the OMD’s founding members as well as other Daredevils and insiders between 2014 and 2022.
The OMD on Record documents all of the official and many of the unofficial recordings in the band’s 50-years-and-counting career, from their origins at the New Bijou Theatre in Springfield in late 1971 through the heady A&M years to the present day. The book is 532 pages (16 in color), and I am proud to include 1970s photos by Jim Mayfield and Mike Odell.
I have given multimedia presentations on the history and songwriting of the Ozark Mountain Daredevils for the St. Louis County Library, at The Library Center in Springfield, MO, and at an OMD VIP event. I’m ready for more in ’24!
See omdonrecord.com
Book of Memory:
A Rastafari Testimony
I am currently searching for a publisher for Book of Memory, the oral history of Rastafarian elder Prince Elijah Williams. I published Book of Memory in 2005 after years of work with Prince Williams on his “testimony” of Rastafari. The nineties and early 00’s were my immersion years in Jamaica. I spent a great deal of time with Prince and moved about in Jamaica widely because I wanted the book to have a strong connection to Prince’s life in Trelawny and Westmoreland parishes. I self-published the book under the imprint CaribSound Ltd.
Book of Memory earned a four-star review from historian David Katz in MOJO magazine (June 2005) and positive notices in the Caribbean Review of Books, Zinc Fence, RIDDIM and other publications. Prince Williams weaves his own compelling story with a narrative of Rastafari and Jamaica for a blend of history and Rastafari spirituality.
There are now many works on Rastafari but still none quite like Prince-man’s Book. of Memory. High time for a newly revised reissue edition!
Holocaust Literature
Teaching Holocaust literature is an intensely challenging and rewarding dimension of my work as an educator. My course is deeply grounded in history as my students explore literary accounts including memoir, fiction, and poetry. It has been rewarding largely because students innately see the relevance of the subject and, as a result, they engage actively and give their best efforts.
Studying the Holocaust spurred me in the mid-1990s into human rights activism and into formal oral history. From 1994-97, I was an interviewer for the USC Shoah Foundation. Then I became a volunteer at the St. Louis Holocaust Museum and have served, from 2002 to present on the Yom HaShoah [Holocaust Commemoration Day] Planning Committee. Yom HaShoah is an act of living memory that involves eyewitness testimony, music, candle-lighting by survivors and family, prayers, and a palpable sense of commitment and community among attendees. My annual work for the committee informs my teaching.
Democracy Days
One of my proudest achievements: For 22 years, I was the lead organizer for an annual educational forum at St. Charles Community College called Democracy Days, whose mission is “Examining the history, health and functioning of democracy in America and abroad.” We practice democracy by having presentations and panels led by students, faculty, staff, administrators, and guest speakers. The event regularly had input from speakers representing eight or ten (or more) academic disciplines.
The event, which spans four days in September, carries on with new leadership. See stchas.edu/democracydays.
Democracy education has never been more vital.
PotBangerz
In the photo is Dr. Cathy “MamaCat” Daniels, founder and CEO of PotBangerz–Feed the Body Mission, a 501(c)3 organization whose mission is food outreach and other services for the unhoused in St. Louis.
I was a PotBangerz volunteer from January 2018 to summer 2023, serving as Secretary on the Board of Directors from December 2019 to June 2023. I left only because life circumstances intervened and I was unable to devote the proper time to the tasks. My love and regard for MamaCat and PotBangerz is unabated!
See PotBangerz.org or check out PotBangerz Feed the Body Mission on social media.
Reggae DJ
Deejaying reggae, dancehall, and dub is one of my life’s joys. I do intermittent club and special event gigs, playing classics and rarities and adhering to my motto, No chatter just a lotta platter. In recent years I have DJ’d at The Big Top, Utopia Studios, Club Viva, and Milque Toast.
I’ve emceed reggae shows ranging from the Murder City Players to Capleton. The St. Louis reggae scene is, by many standards, small, but there is a long and rich history here, and on Facebook, I manage a page called Reggae St Louis with history and current events. Come visit!
From 1997 to 2023, I co-hosted “Positive Vibrations” on Saturday nights (alternating with Professor Skank) on KDHX 88.1 FM in St. Louis, Missouri.
MK in the OMD doc
A still from THE OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS: BACKSTAGE, a documentary film by Ozarks Public Television (2022)
Pictured at left are John Dillon, Supe Granda, and Michael Kuelker. Dillon and Granda are founding members of the OMD, and they signed books with me. Supe Granda had a new book of his own, and the band has a boutique label OMD gin. The Justin Larkin Band performed. All told, it was an elevating experience and a great launch for The Ozark Mountain Daredevils on Record.
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