I have to make a musical confession: Before I spent ten years in Texas, there were two genres where I had a deaf spot – or whatever you call the aural equivalent of a blind spot. One was jazz-rock fusion. The other was western swing. And though the hybrids were poles apart, I resisted both [...]

It’s significant that the criminally belated, career-spanning, six-disc Kinks box should be titled Picture Book. It would make more commercial sense to tag it with a hit: You Really Got Me, maybe. Till The End Of The Day. Well Respected Men. Even Dead End Street, minor and later but still fondly remembered. Instead, this comprehensive [...]

So where are the strong? And who are the trusted? And where is the harmony? Sweet harmony. – Nick Lowe, “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding)” Was there ever any doubt that Bruce Springsteen would rise to the occasion? Though I’m not one of the true believers who genuflects at the altar of [...]

It’s been a long Time comingBut I knowA changeIs gonna come – Sam Cooke When the esteemed NoDepression.com editor asked that our final columns of 2008 provide some sort of reflection on or summation of the year, I asked, “But won’t all of us want to write about Obama?” He replied that I was the [...]

One of the things I love about this site – about reading it regularly as well as writing for it occasionally – is the sort of dialogue it generates among a community of writers, musicians and kindred-spirit music fans. Even if that dialogue sometimes exists only in my head. As a one-sided conversation has since [...]