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.

Gena Mason can be seen at:
genamason.com