He kept a loaded gun in the closet
It starts with the screen door slam. Not in a sun's going down, the kids coming inside, summer fun kind of way. No, there are no visions...
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- Apr 22, 2013
It always starts with a song.
I recall sitting in my mother's bedroom at the far end of my childhood home. Big picture windows flooded sunlight down on a cardboard...
- Apr 8, 2013
Hey hey hey, we're all gonna die
The intimate concert hall was mostly dark. The first performer, Erland (amazing, check them out), was lighting the room from the front...
- Apr 1, 2013
Love writes a letter and sends it to Hate...
The Avett Brothers have a way with lyrics, always managing to achieve something poetic and emotionally impacting without coming off as...
- Mar 29, 2013
Don't Be a Hater & Other Condemnations Of The Cynic # 725
"You never know these days." An often uttered, rarely accurate line indicating that, indeed, the entire world is going to hell. That no...
- Mar 27, 2013
Activate!
Who has the time to stay involved, what with the kids and the work and the new season of Game of Thrones (Sunday SUNDAY SUNDAY!)? It can...
- Mar 25, 2013
His two-handed handshake says he's so glad to meet you...
November 14th, 2008 I admit, going into the show, to having little interest in The Hold Steady. In spite of years of discovering...
- Mar 6, 2013
Things I Learned From A Mexican Dance Hall
The entire affair was my responsibility. As of late, it had occurred, there had not been enough nights out. Enough letting loose....
- Mar 4, 2013
The Colour & The Shape
It was the era of sitting on the floor of my childhood bedroom, a room covered in movie posters and concert bills, an ancient laptop...
- Feb 25, 2013
Monday Music- Japandroids- The House That Heaven Built
Japandroids. Let's put aside that they've got the best band name ever (though, really, why would you?). The House The Heaven Built is an...
- Feb 17, 2013
I Remember The Music At The Woodfire.
Author's note: this piece was originally written in July of 2009. I'm posting this here for the first time in Anywhere The Needle Drops...
- Jan 22, 2013
Don't Be A Hater & Other Condemnations Of The Cynic #678
678. To make negative statements about an individual for attempting to expand their profession (for example, an actor giving a try to...
- Jan 7, 2013
Of Fields & Hills & Snow
"I want to climb that hill." We left the restaurant, after enjoying an evening of food and drink in a send off to Kyle, who was leaving...
- Dec 8, 2012
Lesson Number 1
I'm reading Tim Wise's recently updated edition of White Like Me: Reflections On Race From A Privileged Son. Within, Wise recounts a...
- Oct 27, 2012
Remembering Sabrina
We are not getting a rabbit. Why do we need a rabbit? We have two cats. We're busy. And our apartment is tiny. Where would we put a...
- Oct 14, 2012
Five Reasons Why You Should Be Listening To Macklemore & Lewis’ “The Heist”
A skinny white guy from rural Michigan reviews a hip-hop album. I haven't enjoyed one this much since Kanye's My Beautiful Dark Twisted...
- Sep 8, 2012
The roar held. The tears fell. And then we sang and danced again.
With three hours, thirty minutes and a handful of seconds past, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band wrapped up the first of two...
- Aug 11, 2012
Rules for the Punk/Ska Parent
Last night, with ten years since I last saw their show, I stood before the Mighty Mighty Bosstones performing live. I made the two-hour...
- Aug 7, 2012
It would be stupid to try and tell you that this is like nothing you’ve ever heard before
It would be stupid to try and tell you that the music you’re listening to is like nothing you’ve ever heard before. The songs on the...