He’s Boomin’ Baby!
Your first poem always holds a special place in your heart. Like your first kiss. Your first poem isn’t necessarily better than the poems that follow, but it’s where it all started.
For Lance Boomin’ Newman it started with a mechanical pencil, a notepad, and plenty of daydreaming in school. A self described stereotypical nerd, his talent for writing showed up as a young child when he would entertain his mother and younger brother by changing the words to popular songs. He soon began writing full verses in the form of rap songs and eventually morphed into a full-fledged poet.
At age 14, Lance was given the opportunity to share his written words on the mic. Thanks to his persistent mother and a fax machine, a late submission was read by the organizers of a poetry presentation held at Louisville’s Convention Center. Lance was asked to read his poem at the event hosted by Gerald Joiner.
Since then, the California born “military brat” has continued traveling the country and reppin’ the Ville with his poetry. Anything but a brat, Lance’s laid back personality and stage presence have made him a regular crowd fave in Louisville and beyond. He’s performed throughout Kentucky and blessed numerous mics in Florida, Indiana, Michigan, North and South Carolina, and Tennessee. His most recent features were in Cincinnati, OH and Charlotte, NC.
So many performances mixed with real world responsibilities, like those dreaded day jobs, could very easily lead to poetic burnout. But Lance’s passion for spoken word continues to grow. He looks back on previous experiences with a nostalgic type of reverence. He remembers a feature at Mellow Mondays in Miami feeling like something right out of a movie and he credits his first Southern Fried Regional Poetry Competition with exposing him to so much great poetry and introducing him to life long friends. He brings those experiences back to Louisville by encouraging other poets to step to the mic and make their own “movies.” He hosted the former Finally Doing Better Tuesdays open mic in Shively and is currently working with Expressions of You to revive Louisville’s longest running open mic. He welcomes you to get in touch with him on facebook.
A lot of things have made me smile since I’ve become involved in Louisville’s poetry community. One of those things is discovering that Lance and I have something in common. My first poem was a piece titled “Black Man,” written at age 38. It was a love letter of sorts to black men, in general, and specific men who have shaped my life through friendship, love, and heartbreak. Lance’s first poem was also titled “Black Man,” written when he was 13. His piece was a socially conscious poem directed toward his peers, both black and white, who treated him as an outcast. Though the subject matters and our ages differ, both “Black Man” pieces hold very special places in our respective poetic journeys. As I wrote my first poem, I felt I had tapped into something that would change my life. I suspect that Lance understands when he says he “never looked back from there.”
