Levon Helm: So Real It Makes You Believe
Sean MurphyThere are probably countless ways to talk about what makes a particular artist compelling, and all of them are true. There are not that many ways to articulate how or…
Rebellion*
i. Question: What are you rebelling against? Answer: Whaddya got? The thing most adjusted adults eventually understand is that everyone who marches to that proverbial different beat does so not…
R.I.P., Bert Jansch
Sad new from the wire: guitar legend Bert Jansch has passed away (another casualty of The Big C). Story here. My introduction to his work was, presumably like many punks my…
If I Could Wave My Magic Wand…(Revisited)
It was twenty years ago today... No, seriously. Twenty years. Fall semester (because the world was still measured in summers and semesters), sophomore year. Out of all the indelible memories…
Marlon Brando, Pocahontas and Me
And the Oscar goes to... Who cares? Okay, okay: I'll resist the urge to be a sourpuss and let it suffice that I express my indifference to the pompous…
Sungha Jung or, Have You Ever Wondered What You’re Doing With Your Life?
Major hat tip to my man JC for making me aware of this wunderkind named Sungha Jung (check out his official site here). It's both remarkable and refreshing that in…
Ten Songs For Myself
Eight years ago today. I'm sure anyone who has lost a parent (or heaven forbid, a child) can understand that when this happens it becomes a line of demarcation: your…
Two Poems for Father’s Day
Those Winter Sundays Sundays too my father got up early and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold, then with cracked hands that ached from labor in the weekday…
Four Poems For Four Decades
You’ve Seen Me Before (1989) I am the nimble sparrow who is surprised By eager claws that approach without a sound. Security lies in lofty branches, overhead But I feel…
This Was The Life*
When I first took this job I got in the habit of referring to the time—admittedly too long—spent in the service industry as the bad old days. It wasn’t because…