Despite what artists like U2 would have you believe, the answer is yes–sorry to quell the suspense so soon.  And while I’m spoiling the conclusion, I might as well throw out a disclaimer: this piece is not intended to criticize any artists with solemn convictions, however joyless, pompous, and boring they may be; instead, this [...]

“In entertainment news, Michael Jackson is in the hospital…” He couldn’t be sick; he was on top of the world.  My Mom was talking to me while she pulled out of the K-Mart parking lot, but I didn’t hear.  I stared out the window, mouth slightly open, listening and not believing.  I had sung and [...]

I know a guy who bangs drums for a living—he’s a big guy, and he’s an intimidating guy.  He’s been playing loud and heavy modern rock professionally for over twenty years, and he’s seen it all.  His many nicknames include: a juxtaposition of his last name with the name of a natural disaster involving tremors [...]

Within four hours of deplaning, I completed my work for the week. This was a problem for me, because I’d had little experience with traveling to exotic places of leisure, and, as they say, idle hands are the devil’s workshop. But, what was done for playing music was done, and I was hell bent on [...]

He’s written tracks for Madonna, Mariah, and Mary J. He’s also written for Janet (Jackson), Jamie (Foxx), and Jesse (McCartney). With longtime friend and collaborator C. “Tricky” Stewart, he produced Rihanna’s “Umbrella” and Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)”—two songs famously likable by folks who don’t even like urban music. Given this already [...]

Charles Darwin recently turned 200 years old, and I could think of no album more fitting to discuss than Andrew Bird’s latest on Fat Possum Records, entitled Noble Beast. The classically trained violin virtuoso’s latest gives Darwin’s famous theory the high concept treatment, and, per usual of Bird’s previous efforts, the album proves a demonstrative [...]

“What does that mean, ‘the loudest album of all time?’ ” the young teen asked the college student behind the counter. The kid had just finished reading a blurb about a new rock group featured next to the cash register. The college student—glasses, beard, and flannel—paused and deliberated. A blank wave washed all expression from [...]

Before taxes, before beer, before girls, even… there was Christmas. Christmas danced over my head like a crazed marionette every year from the tummy ache hangover of Halloween until the morning when Santa Claus manifested as unknown treasures wrapped in red and green. Thanksgiving, man’s best holiday friend, was once a mere midpoint between the [...]

I’m sitting alone with my back against the wall in a large and dusty room, empty save some mic stands and a box full of baseball caps. It’s 1 am at the end of the worst day ever—no sleep, double flight, pick up a Penske truck, pack and clean two houses, fist fight with best [...]

As 2008 approaches its halfway point, signs of life and logic seem to pop out of every nook and cranny of our ever-changing pop culture. The times find our brightest artists embracing a number of musical styles, old and new, blurring the lines between genre definitions. The only sure thing: today’s music is alive and [...]