The alien landscape of Sturtevant, Wisconsin; America’s 250th was a dud; rapper listens to Beatles; ‘The Girl Can’t Help It’ and ‘Hoop Dreams.’
Another Week: Number 184
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music
Here is a list of content tagged “music” on MarkCz.com.
Another Week: Number 178
I paid $20 apiece for a couple of common milkweeds — then another $35 for Max Richter’s 8-hour ‘Sleep’ album. Also, Trump’s $1.776 billion slush fund, and ‘Send Help’ (2026)
Another Week: Number 172
Donald Trump’s insane Easter tweet about his Iran war, ‘Don’t Tell Anybody the Secrets I Told You,‘ by Lucinda Williams, and ‘The Big Country‘ (1958).
Another Week: Number 165
Replacing a battery on a waterproof watch can be expensive. Also: ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale,’ ‘About a Boy’ (2002), and Alysa Liu wins Olympic gold.
Another Week: Number 164
Disturbing things swirl without settling, Divi 5 Migrator is not ready for prime time, and ‘Song Sung Blue’: Thunder, Lightning, and Greg Kohs.
Another Week: Number 162
More Donald Trump chaos, Penn Jillette with Billy Corgan, ‘Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere,’ and ‘If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You.’
Another Week: Number 138
Whatever we thought “America” was, getting rid of it only took a few quick months. Also: ‘Song Exploder,’ ‘Adolescence,’ the Trump-Putin “summit,” and ‘Whirlybird.’
Another Week: Number 127
More perennials and mulch this gardening season — and maybe some moss. Elon Musk exits. NATURE: ‘Hummingbirds of Hollywood,’ ‘Bono: Stories of Surrender.’
Another Week: Number 121
Wind blasts a squirrel’s nest out of my juniper, Trump is finally a constitutional crisis, Jason Isbell on ‘Fresh Air’ with Terry Gross, ‘Rick Steves’ Poland,’ “The Last of the Mohicans’ (1992).
Another Week: Number 120
Trump plays with the levers of power, UConn and the Bucks bring basketball joy, ‘Jazz on a Summer’s Day,’ and the Liza Minnelli documentary.
Another Week: Number 119
A new purple pot for the parlor palm, Elon Musk loses Wisconsin’s Spring Election, Donald Trump drives America straight into a ditch, and ‘A Complete Unknown’ (2024).
Another Week: Number 117
Waiting to see what will emerge, baseball, basketball, snakes, the girl behind Keith Jarrett’s Köln Concert, ‘Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years,’ and ‘My Man Godfrey’ (1936).
Another Week: Number 114
Literal and emotional housecleaning, World of Books: Sell Your Books, Rick Beato: Why music is getting worse, and ‘Hoosiers’ (1986)
Another Week: Number 111
Living alone can make you nutty. My steam iron is right. That Salesforce commercial is stupid. Also: clapping on 1 & 3 and ‘The Lady Eve’ (1941)
Another Week: Number 110
Trump’s deranged plane crash press conference, ‘Ladies & Gentlemen… 50 Years of SNL Music,’ the Unrivaled Basketball League, and the new ‘CBS Evening News.’
Another Week: Number 104
Outerwear makes all the difference, neighborhood Trump compounds, new glasses are ordered, the Emirates NBA Cup 2024, and holiday pretzel cabins.
Another Week: Number 102
Hair and nails over 50, Cyber Monday deals, ‘My Effin’ Life,’ by Geddy Lee, ‘Cape Fear’ (1962), ‘Jim Gaffigan: The Skinny’ (2024)
Another Week: Number 101
My monk lifestyle, headlight variety, ‘Leonardo da Vinci’ (2024), ‘Road Diary: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band’ (2024), ‘Tender Mercies’ (1983), ‘The Story of Louis Pasteur’ (1936).
Another Week: Number 100
Disappointment awaits, Larry wants my Land’s End jacket, Wisconsin Badgers Women’s Volleyball, ‘The West’ (1996 documentary miniseries), ‘Joan Baez: I Am a Noise’ (2023)
Another Week: Number 99
Living with our choices, Jessica Lang on ‘WTF’ and in ‘The Great Lillian Hall,’ Johnny Cash: ‘Man in Black – Live in Denmark 1971’
Another Week: Number 98
Buy AirPods, people. Plus: ‘Cool Hand Luke’ (1967), ‘So Rugged and Mountainous,’ by Will Bagley, Election 2024: America’s cancer is back, ‘The Year of Magical Thinking,’ by Joan Didion.
Another Week: Number 91
Another Trump assassination attempt, cable news commercials, ‘Ol’ 55’ by Tom Waits, ‘State Fair’ (1933)
Another Week: Number 89
Crispy lawns, school and football return, ‘Impolitic with John Heilemann’: Nicholas Kristof, Jonny Lyons & the Pride at Paddock Lake, Chicago Bears on ‘Hard Knocks,’ ‘Faye’ (2024)
Another Week: Number 84
Crickets. Bears 21, Texans 17. The Killers at Lollapalooza. ‘Hard Knocks: Offseason with the New York Giants.‘ ‘As I Lay Dying,‘ by William Faulkner.
Another Week: Number 81
A steamy, sticky week: ‘Kinds of Kindness’ (2024), women’s tennis at Wimbledon, yard work, the St. Lucy Festival, shrimp cocktail, and Donald Trump shot in Pennsylvania.
Another Week: Number 77
Summer is already passing — a high school graduation, Harry’s memorial, live music from Ivy Ford in Kenosha, and ‘Billy Elliot’ (2000).
Another Week: Number 76
Birthday party for my mom — plus Mitchell School construction, walking in slippahs, WNBA, and John Hiatt’s “Dust Down a Country Road”
Another Week: Number 73
A bird looks in the rearview mirror. Plus: ‘One Life’ (2023), ‘Apple Music Live: Kacey Musgraves,’ Billy Strings and Mark Ruffalo on ‘WTF with Marc Maron.’
Another Week: Number 70
My backyard continues to occupy my mind. Plus: “How Fascism Works,’ by Jason Stanley, and ‘Deliver Me From Nowhere,’ by Warren Zanes.
Another Week: Number 69
Gardening decisions get finalized: I’ll plant salvias and petunias to attract hummingbirds. Also, Alejandro Escovedo on ‘WTF with Marc Maron’ and Bruce Springsteen night on my TV.
Another Week: Number 59
Walking is a metaphor. Moving forward trains you to move forward. 66th Grammy Awards, Immediate Family (2023), Apple Vision Pro review at The Verge.
Another Week: Number 57
Amy has vanished. The ever-tightening restraints have snapped. And a Jackie DeShannon hit is now an Instacart commercial.
Another Week: Number 54
A Mobile Stairlift gets Amy to her surgical procedure, ‘Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song’ (2021), ‘Lessons in Chemistry,’ ‘Fargo,’ Season 5
Another Week: Number 48
Thanksgiving week: Amy starts new Piqray chemo, Samsung Portable SSD T7 Shield, ‘The National Dog Show,’
‘Austin City Limits’: Foo Fighters
Another Week: Number 47
Amy’s anemia and a bedroom fall, ‘Austin City Limits’: Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, ‘Good Eats’ is streaming on Max, ‘JFK: One Day in America’
Another Week: Number 46
No chemo this week because Amy is anemic; ‘Quiz Lady’ (2023), ‘American Symphony’ trailer, ‘Austin City Limits’: Margo Price/Molly Tuttle & Golden Highway, ‘Albert Brooks: Defending My Life’ (2023)
Another Week: Number 45
Trying to balance all the effects and side effects of Amy’s cancer, ‘Now and Then — The Last Beatles Song,’ ‘Bosch: Legacy’ (Season 2), ‘Feud: Bette and Joan’
Another Week: Number 42
Amy in the hospital all week: low platelets and edema replace headaches and vomiting; Tracy Morgan: ‘Takin’ It Too Far,’ Neal Young: ‘Comes a Time.’
Another Week: Number 41
Cornered by cancer, ‘Children of Men’ (2006), Jason Isbell: ‘Southeastern,’ Live at the Bijou Theatre 2022, ‘Sleepy Hollow’ (1999), Chicago Bears 40, Washington Commanders 20
Another Week: Number 38
Our cancer Habitrail continues, Bears lose to Packers, ‘Ingrid Bergman: In Her Own Words (2015),’ ‘Shiva Baby’ (2020), ‘Randy Bachman’s Vinyl Tap: Every Song Tells a Story’ (2014), ‘By Design: The Joe Caroff Story’ (2022)
Another Week: Number 37
The beginning of fall, the Rolling Stones hype ‘Hackney Diamonds,’ Mehdi Hasan vs. Vivek Ramaswamy, ‘Under the Covers’ (2002)
Another Week: Number 25
Cancer treatment as Habitrail; ‘Of Human Hearts’ (1938): Abraham Lincoln berates James Stewart for not writing his mom; Tom Petty & Garry Shandling
Another Week: Number 24
Hospital rollercoaster leads to chemotherapy, Trump indicted in Mar-a-Lago-documents case, ‘Being Mary Tyler Moore’ (2023)
Another Week: Number 23
Bad Friday at the hospital, ‘SmartLess: On The Road,’ ‘Sarah Silverman: Someone You Love,’ ’WTF with Marc Maron’: Episode 1436 – Warren Zanes
Another Week: Number 22
‘The Secrets of Hillsong,’ ‘Bono & The Edge: A Sort of Homecoming With Dave Letterman,’ ‘Bama Rush,’ ‘Platonic,’ ‘Kathleen Madigan: Hunting Bigfoot,’ ‘Shutter Island,’ and one very sad robin.
Another Week: Number 21
‘The Way to Heaven’ in a McDonald’s bathroom, ‘Lewis Black: Tragically, I Need You,’ ‘The Great’ Season 3, FRONTLINE: Clarence & Ginny Thomas, Tears for Fears: KCRW Live from The Village Studios, ‘A World of Calm.’
Another Week: Number 20
The robin nesting in our backyard, ‘Clarkson’s Farm,’ Season 2, ‘White House Plumbers,’ debt ceiling, ‘Jimmy O. Yang: Guess How Much?,’ ‘Air’ (2023)
Another Week: Number 19
A week of personal ordeals, Bruce Springsteen’s ‘Nebraska’ on ‘CBS Sunday Morning,’ ‘Somebody Somewhere: Season 2,’ ‘This Boy’s Life (1993)’
Another Week: Number 18
‘Stutz,’ verification in reverse, ‘Judy Blume Forever,’ ‘In Session: Stevie Ray Vaughan & Albert King.’ And do birds really eat grass seed?
Another Week: Number 17
Old greeting cards and photos, ‘Alex Borstein: Corsets & Clown Suits,’ ‘Rye Lane,’ ‘Tiny Beautiful Things,’ ‘Boom! Boom! The World Vs Boris Becker,’ ‘Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed
Another Week: Number 13
Looney Tunes: ‘Porky’s Bear Facts,’ ‘Boston Strangler’ on Hulu, ‘Introducing Dorothy Dandridge,’ Jason Isbell in Garden & Gun and on HBO, ’The Sound and the Fury,’ by William Faulkner (Third Norton Critical Edition)
Another Week: Number 12
Woman finds husband’s mummified remains, ‘The Consultant,’ ‘Sin Eater: The Crimes of Anthony Pellicano,’ the best tortilla chips are Donkey Chips, COVID lockdown + 3 years, Jackson Browne and David Lindley.
Another Week: Number 11
More snow, another power outage, ‘The Midnight Special’ on YouTube, ‘Tár,’ ‘Hello Tomorrow!,’ ‘Fleishman Is in Trouble,’ ‘Kate Berlant: Cinnamon in the Wind.’
Another Week: Number 7
‘80 for Brady’ bad reviews, website spring cleaning, 65th Annual Grammy Awards, President Biden’s State of the Union Address, Hallie Jackson exits MSNBC, ChatGPT: artificial intelligence for what?
Another Week: Number 6
Shrimp Cocktail, NFL Conference Championships, Tyre Nichols killed by Memphis Police, ‘He Gets Us’: $100 million ad campaign for Jesus, Three Pines, Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers: Live at the Fillmore – 1997, Branson
Another Week: Number 4
Stable Diffusion art created by artificial intelligence, Super Wild Card Weekend, another shooting even closer to home, ‘Louis Armstrong’s Black & Blues,’ ‘Vengeance,’ 10 years sober
Fusion: Kenosha live music, performing arts venue
Live music in Kenosha is nothing new. The city has long supported a roster of bar bands that rock out on a small stage while patrons and bartenders shout over them to converse or place orders. What's new — over the past year or so — is a Kenosha venue called Fusion,...
‘Treme’ (HBO series in New Orleans, 3 1/2 seasons)
Treme is an HBO TV series about New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer, who previously collaborated on Homicide: Life on the Street and the masterpiece HBO series The Wire, Treme is named for the New Orleans neighborhood where...
‘Neil Young Journeys’ (2011 Jonathan Demme movie)
It helps if you're into Neil Young. Back in the mid-1970s there was this guy Brian, who wore his dirty blonde hair down to the shoulders of his Army surplus jacket. He would come around the park across from my house carrying albums, like After the Gold Rush. My mom...
Messages through the wall, heard on radio
You have probably heard the story of how, as a POW during the Vietnam War, Sen. John McCain tapped messages through his prison wall to his fellow American prisoner, Ernest Brace. The conversation started with McCain tapping out "Shave and a haircut," and Brace...
Open G guitar tuning: Keith Richards to Hawaiian Slack Key guitar
Above is a YouTube video Marty Schwartz did for Next Level Guitar demonstrating the Open G guitar tuning. Marty explains how to tune your guitar to Open G, and then shows off some of Open G's advantages. It's an easygoing, relaxed guitar lesson, and he takes his time...
‘Muscle Shoals’ (2013 music documentary movie)
Muscle Shoals is a 2013 documentary about a legendary recording studio in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, way up in the northwest corner of that state, a 150-mile drive from Memphis, Tennessee. Actually, it's a documentary about two legendary recording studios in that little...
‘Tiny Dancer,’ by Elton John and Bernie Taupin
The Elton John song "Tiny Dancer" (lyrics by Bernie Taupin) is in my iTunes library because of its use in the sing-along scene of Almost Famous, the Cameron Crowe movie from 2000 in which a touring rock band, its crew and entourage are touchingly reunited by the song...
Beatles cover band: My earliest Beatles memories were fake!
With all the nostalgia this past week over the 50th anniversary of the Beatles landing in America and appearing on The Ed Sullivan Show, I tried to reminisce about my own reaction to those first Beatles songs, only to recall that it was all a fraud. At age 3 and a...
TeraBrite: Music videos, daily YouTube vlog, Conan O’Brien
The YouTube video above is something I stumbled upon while researching the Canon PowerShot S100. It's a great little camera — but who are the kids in the video testing it? Their YouTube channel is called VleraBrite, and it is said to contain "TeraBrite daily vlogs!"...
‘George Harrison: Living in the Material World’ (2011 movie)
George Harrison, dead now almost eleven years, has remained relatively unstudied — compared with, say, fellow Beatle John Lennon — despite the richness and depth Harrison contributed to the Beatles' music, his significant post-Beatles work, and his generally...
‘Pink Floyd: The Story of Wish You Were Here’
Over the weekend, I was surprised to hear that another of our nephews is a huge Pink Floyd fan. Of course our nephew Elliot, 25, has been smitten with Dark Side of the Moon for years — to the point of buying import copies on vinyl, getting a Dark Side of the Moon...
‘Looking for a City’: YouTube videos of Southern Gospel song
It's funny how one random item on the Web can lead you through a tunnel of connections you never imagined yourself following. Today's rabbit hole was pointed out by my friend Phil Inzinga of the Inzinga and Spinozi Afternoon Show on 96.9 BOB FM in Oklahoma City....
Bob Dylan’s memoirs: ‘Chronicles: Volume One’
On my living room bookshelf, next to a few other books about the singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, was an autobiography from 2004 I had bought some time ago, but not yet read. Chronicles: Volume One is a hardback of moderate size, containing 293 rough, deckle edge pages...
Drive-By Truckers, Turner Hall Ballroom, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Milwaukee, Wisconsin — Guitarist/vocalists Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley and bassist/vocalist Shonna Tucker of the Drive-By Truckers perform at Turner Hall Ballroom, 1032 N. 4th St., during their 2011 Tour....
Dry Bones song: Ezekiel cried, ‘Dem dry bones!’
Dry Bones, the video above by Dan DiFelice, is something that showed up in my Vimeo inbox the other day and caught my eye. It does not use the Dry Bones song. However, both this short film and the Dry Bones song share the same inspiration: the Old Testament's Book of...
Kate Voegele music videos: ‘Heart in Chains,’ ‘Hallelujah’
Here's a video that showed up in my YouTube subscriptions stream, and now I can't stop playing it: "Heart in Chains," by Kate Voegele, from her latest album Gravity Happens. It may not be a groundbreaking pop song, but it has some very sturdy hooks, nice changes of...
Abandoned Haunted House Complex, I-94, Racine County
Sturtevant, Wisconsin — The former Vance's Bar along I-94/U.S. Route 41 at 2825 SE Frontage Road, which John D. Vance started as an auto repair garage after buying the land in 1948. An addition opened as a beer joint called...
Jackson Browne, ‘The Barricades of Heaven’
Above is a YouTube video of Jackson Browne performing "The Barricades of Heaven" at the Glastonbury Festival in southwest England in June of 2010. The song — originally released on Browne's 1996 album Looking East — has been my constant earworm for several days...
‘The Beatles Christmas Album’
Among all the John Lennon tributes yesterday, a friend of mine — Stripwax creator Jeff Moody — posted a link to a YouTube video featuring one of the Beatles' wackier departures, "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)". This, in turn,...
Online radio streaming: Good work music is hard to find
The hours spent in front of my computer are generally more enjoyable and productive with good work music playing. For this reason, I have a pair of inexpensive but decent little computer speakers sitting on my desk. Thanks to iTunes,...
Alejandro Escovedo’s songs of love at Turner Hall
My favorite radio station in the world is Milwaukee Public Radio WUWM, and liking WUWM on Facebook paid off nicely when I won one of their concert ticket contests to see Alejandro Escovedo at Milwaukee's Turner Hall Ballroom this past Thursday night. On the way up, my...
H&M ads: Erykah Badu covers Muddy Waters’ ‘Mannish Boy’
There was an H&M commercial for their fall 2010 fashion trends tonight during The Office, and its music was exactly what I thought it was: Erykah Badu covering the blues standard "Mannish Boy," first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1955. Here's another one. The model...
Hang On Little Tomato
Today's photo — after astonishing rains, with more on the way — is inspired by the song "Hang On Little Tomato" by Pink Martini: The sun has left and forgotten me It's dark, I cannot see Why does this rain pour down I'm gonna drown In a sea Of deep confusion...
Green tomatoes in the rain, Racine, Wisconsin
Racine, Wisconsin — Today's photo — after astonishing rains, with more on the way — is inspired by the song "Hang On Little Tomato" by Pink Martini: The sun has left and forgotten me It's dark, I cannot see Why does this...
Pomplamoose: Music duo going viral via social media
Early yesterday morning, I heard an interesting On The Media special about the future of the music industry. Long story short, it's floundering. Back then, I had never heard of Pomplamoose. Update: Pomplamoose show Beginning January 18, 2011, a live webcast show --Hey...
Halloween songs: Scary music playlist, spooky tunes
If you're looking to add some Halloween songs to your personal music library, here are a few suggestions. You can download these songs via Amazon.com and enjoy it at an upcoming costume party or hayride, use these scary songs as...
Drive-By Truckers: Austin City Limits CD/DVD combo
I love Drive-By Truckers, and I love this song, "The Righteous Path." The clip above is from their just-released CD/DVD combo Live from Austin, TX, recorded live at that legendary Texas PBS showcase, Austin City Limits. The package...
Michael Jackson, ‘Billie Jean’: How to create an icon
It has been one day since the world learned that Michael Jackson is dead. First there was a brief report on MSNBC that Jackson had been rushed to the hospital, then I glanced at Facebook and saw that Tim Cuprisin had posted the big TMZ.com scoop, and eventually the...
Regina Spektor on Letterman, NPR with new album ‘Far’
I wrote about getting turned on to Regina Spektor back in January, 2007. This morning, she was interviewed on NPR's Morning Edition: "Regina Spektor Hears Magic In The Inexplicable." It's interesting to hear how the Beatles...
‘A Dustland Fairytale’: The Killers on Letterman with orchestra
In case you missed it this past Monday (May 11), here are The Killers performing "A Dustland Fairytale," with orchestra, on the Late Show With David Letterman. We know nothing about The Killers, but apparently they're from Las Vegas. At any rate, it's certainly a...
‘Neil Young: Heart of Gold’ (movie, 2006)
Neil Young: Heart of Gold is not Jonathan Demme's first concert documentary. He made the Talking Heads film Stop Making Sense in 1984 and Swimming to Cambodia, which captured a monologue by Spalding Gray, in 1987. As in those two previous films, Demme again imposes a...
Billy Bob Thornton’s bizarre interview on CBC Radio’s Q / Qtv
Billy Bob Thronton and his band The Boxmasters were interviewed by Jian Ghomeshi on CBC Radio's Q yesterday. Their latest album is a 2-CD set called Modbilly. Here is last night's AP story: Joaquin Phoenix II? Billy Bob gives odd...
Easter traditions, like the movie ‘King of Kings’ (1961)
It is funny how a few random details, repeated together over time, can solidify into a ritual which becomes essential to your psychological comfort. This is one of mine — the 1961 movie King of Kings and its main theme music, written by Miklós Rózsa. I grew up...
Mardi Gras music playlist: New Orleans songs
With New Orleans Mardi Gras coming up, I thought I would post a few New Orleans song suggestions for your listening and partying enhancement. Here, in no particular order, is a treasury of New Orleans and Louisiana music gems. Some are Mardi Gras music classics,...
Roland Burris, Senate Trail Blazer
No matter what else I try to do today, my feeble little brain won't stop singing the song in the video above — "Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner" by Warren Zevon, shown here in his last public performance on The Late Show with David Letterman. [includeme...
‘Auld Lang Syne’ by Robert Burns: New Year’s song lyrics
As the sun sets here in southeastern Wisconsin, I thought I'd share a recording of the New Year's song, "Auld Lang Syne" (people often search for "Old Lang Syne," perhaps because "Same Old Lang Syne" was one of Dan Fogelberg's greatest hits). My favorite version of...
Lucinda Williams, Alejandro Escovedo, Drive-By Truckers at Summerfest
It's been a long time since I attended Summerfest. There are a lot of people close to my advanced age who whine about the crowds and the excessive drinking or the price of beer, but I generally enjoy festivals and music — humanity and all. I guess I've just had other...
Drive-By Truckers guitarist Mike Cooley, Summerfest, Milwaukee
Milwaukee, Wisconsin — Drive-By Truckers guitarist Mike Cooley plays a Telecaster-style guitar built by Scott Baxendale on the Harley-Davidson Roadhouse stage during the band's concert at Summerfest in Milwaukee. Baxendale...
Warren Zevon biography: ‘I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead’ by Crystal Zevon
I have been a Warren Zevon fan since "Lawyers, Guns and Money" and "Werewolves of London" first hit my radio in 1978, and I even had the honor of being mistaken for him at one of Jackson Browne's Summerfest appearances around that...
Rolling Stones movie: ‘Shine a Light’ (2008, Martin Scorsese)
I was bouncing around on the Web yesterday when I saw an ad for yet another Rolling Stones concert movie that's apparently coming out this Friday in IMAX theaters. Now, I have been a Rolling Stones fan since I received Goat's Head Soup as a Christmas present at age 13...
Back Door Slam: Young British band’s got the blues guitar
My brother-in-law Wayne, out there in Columbus, Ohio, is something of a music connoisseur. Wayne enjoys finding little-known talent. A couple of weeks ago, he gifted me with Mescalito, the major label debut from Ryan Bingham, a...
‘Bohemian Rhapsody’: Acoustic guitar, a capella, The Muppets
What spawned my Web wandering — and my tenacious earworm — was my friend Duwayne putting this "Bohemian Rhapsody acoustic" video on his MySpace page. It seemed harmless enough when I began to watch it yesterday morning. The guy sits down, reels off a darned skilled...
Summer 2007 update: Long time no post
Greetings from my air-conditioned bunker as summer 2007 clatters apart overhead like an unbalanced engine. Amy's at work, I'm on hiatus, and out in the backyard the heat and humidity are mounting over the soggy vegetation — a prelude to an afternoon forecast of...
‘In Spite of Ourselves,’ by John Prine and Iris DeMent
Here at the homestead, we've kinda considered this our theme song for about the last six years or so. The complete Sessions at West 54th Street show is on a VHS tape down in our basement somewhere, but I stumbled across this John Prine YouTube clip this morning, and...
Erik Mongrain: “AirTap!”
I just stumbled across this clip on YouTube while monkeying with stuff on my Google homepage. It's Erik Mongrain, from Montreal. I've never heard of him before, but I imagine we'll be seeing more of him from now on.
Hawaii dreaming on Wisconsin winter day
Saturday was when we really reached our limit. Sitting across the living room from each other, both flabby, both pasty, both exhausted by the worlds inside our laptops and the gloomy, windy, dead, and frozen terrain outside, we exchanged a glance that conceded the...
Regina Spektor
A little while back, I blogged about how hard it is for me to find new music and how I've been trying to use new technology like Last.fm and Pandora to seek out fresh songs and artists. Then, a couple of Sundays ago, I learned about a young songwriter from a source...
Where to find music?
It was simple when I was, say, 17. I could tune my radio to 93 XRT and just leave it there to hear my favorite music and some exciting new stuff at any time of the day or night. Now, it's been years since I listened to WXRT. If I look at what they're playing this...
Earworm infestation: ‘Danny’s Song’ by Kenny Loggins
Lately, I haven't been listening to music as much as I used to. The weather is perfect, all the windows are open, and I want to be a little considerate about inflicting my playlist on my neighbors. Also, sometimes it's just nice to enjoy the natural sounds of chirping...
Josh Rouse: ‘Quiet Town’ music video
The first time I heard Josh Rouse was when "Dressed Up Like Nebraska" was played on the TV show Ed a few years back. It impressed me enough that I Googled the lyrics, determined the artist's name, and bought the song via iTunes. I still love it. More recently, when I...
Cabo Wabo Cantina, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico — Sammy Hagar's original Cabo Wabo Cantina, one of four Cabo Wabo bar and nightclub locations. The others are in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, and Hollywood. Cabo Wabo is also the name of...
The New Mastersounds at Subterranean in Chicago
It's hard for me to find any new music to get excited about these days. The last band that really impressed me was The White Stripes, and they're venerable veterans now. Before that, Lucinda Williams' Car Wheels on a Gravel Road blew me away. That was seven years ago....
Siena, Italy: Four young women singing
Siena, Italy — An older couple listens to the beautiful harmonies of a quartet of young women singing for donations on the west entrance ramp into Piazza del Campo from Via dei Pellegrini....
Ukulele, Bishop Museum, Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii — A Hawaiian ukulele on exhibit at the Bishop Museum. Ukuleles are commonly associated with music from Hawaii where the name roughly translates as "jumping flea," perhaps due to the action of one's...
Ala Moana Center concert, Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu, Hawaii — Ala Moana shopping mall center court hosts the 2003 Pacific Basin Music Festival, with performances by schools from Canada, Australia, California, and Oregon....
‘Jesus Coming Soon’ neon sign, Lahaina, Hawaii
Lahaina, Hawaii — The Apostolic Faith Church, with its "Jesus Coming Soon" neon sign, at 1211 Front Street. This location is a branch of the mother church — the Apostolic Faith Church at 1043 Middle St. in Honolulu, on the...
Henry Kapono, Steve Dahl, Tom Thayer on Maui
Honokowai, Hawaii — Hawaiian music superstar Henry Kapono, Chicago radio personality Steve Dahl, and Chicago Bears analyst and former offensive lineman Tom Thayer chat during a break in a live Steve Dahl Show broadcast from...
Pearl drum set and Elliot
Kenosha, Wisconsin — Elliot in his bedroom, practicing his drumming on his Pearl drum set. $variable({"type":"content","value":{"name":"post_tags","settings":{"before":"Filed...
Lion dance drummer, Chicago Chinatown
Chicago Chinatown — A drummer for a lion dance plays outside Hong Min Restaurant at 221 W Cermak Road following the Chinese New Year parade. $variable({"type":"content","value":{"name":"post_tags","settings":{"before":"Filed...
Curie Marching Band: Chinese New Year parade
Chicago Chinatown — Drum major and sousaphone players from Curie High School marching in the Chinese New Year Parade on Wentworth Avenue. $variable({"type":"content","value":{"name":"post_tags","settings":{"before":"Filed...
Beginner’s drum set
Kenosha, Wisconsin — Drum kit and red school band jacket in Elliot's bedroom closet, where he practices. $variable({"type":"content","value":{"name":"post_tags","settings":{"before":"Filed...
Culture in Kenosha
Kenosha, Wisconsin — An album cover — Eugene Ormandy conducting The Philadelphia Orchestra in Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite — is seen with other debris across from taverns on 52nd Street....
Elvis Presley microphone, Sun Studio, Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee — Pictured above is the Shure 55 microphone said to have been used by Elvis Presley, and beyond it, the control room window at Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Service (now known as Sun Studio), the...
Sun Studio recording studio, Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee — The recording studio at Sam Phillips' Memphis Recording Service (now known as Sun Studio) where some of the greatest records in music history were recorded. Elvis Presley, B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny...
Sun Studio main room, acoustic tile ceiling
Memphis, Tennessee — The main room of Sam Phillips' Sun Studio (originally Memphis Recording Service), where many hit records by Elvis Presley, Howlin' Wolf, Johnny Cash, B.B. King, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee...
Sun Studio control room window, Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee — The control room at Sun Studio (Memphis Recording Service), the recording studio where Sam Phillips recorded some of the most famous records in music history — including hits by Elvis Presley, Johnny...
Johnny Cash dollar bill guitar trick at Sun Studio
Memphis, Tennessee — A Sun Studio tour guide demonstrates how Johnny Cash used a dollar bill slipped between his guitar strings to dampen them, producing a soft, rhythmic sound instead of harmonic chords....
Sun Studio: Sam Phillips’ Memphis Recording Service
Memphis, Tennessee — Sun Studio at 706 Union Avenue, opened by Sam Phillips as "Memphis Recording Service" on January 3, 1950. Sun Studio, a U.S. National Historic Landmark, is the birthplace of rock and roll music. Ike...
W. C. Handy statue, Handy Park in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee — Life-size bronze statue by sculptor Leone Tommasi honoring W. C. Handy stands facing Beale Street, just inside the entrance to Handy Park....
Handy Park in Memphis: July 4 crowd
Memphis, Tennessee-- A crowd awaits Independence Day festivities at Handy Park near the W.C. Handy statue by Leone Tommasi. $variable({"type":"content","value":{"name":"post_tags","settings":{"before":"Filed...
Al Green’s church: Full Gospel Tabernacle in Memphis
Memphis, Tennessee — Full Gospel Tabernacle at 787 Hale Road, the church where Rev. Al Green is pastor. $variable({"type":"content","value":{"name":"post_tags","settings":{"before":"Filed...
Al Green’s church: Posing outside Full Gospel Tabernacle
Memphis, Tennessee — Posing with a couple we met during Sunday services at Full Gospel Tabernacle, Rev. Al Green's church at 787 Hale Road. Pastor Green was out of town when we visited....
Al Green’s church: Amy outside Full Gospel Tabernacle
Memphis, Tennessee — Amy with a couple of churchgoers we met at Full Gospel Tabernacle, Rev. Al Green's church at 787 Hale Road. Pastor Green was not present this particular Sunday....