Tribute

When I was coming of age in a small one-horse town in the Deep South I idolized the actor of my generation, River Phoenix. No, wait; chalk that: I looked up to his portrayal of a troubled youth in Rob Reiner’s classic Stand By Me. I was…

‘You can’t miss someone you’ve never known.’ Perhaps. In music, we have heroes in head-spaces we can’t comprehend. We were recently rattled by the loss of Chris Cornell, and now, suddenly and just as tragically, the loss of Chester…

If I were to remember Adam West for one thing, then it is the strength of his selfhood.  An actor working in the business for over fifty years, West was best known for his tenure on the campy 1960s’ Batman.  Throughout the remainder of his…

Prince, the greatest musical artist to ever walk this planet, has passed away. The temptation when we lose such impossibly outstanding humans is to convince ourselves of their immortality. “He can never truly die.” “He’s one of those people…

Conor Walsh once wrote to me, “All I give a shit about is family and my music. I get lots of satisfaction from my music, but I have at least one day a week where I hate it.  Recently my mother has stopped suggesting I become a teacher, so…

Blackstar, David Bowie's final album, a curious mix of free jazz, Nadsat and Death Grips, had surprisingly little buzz surrounding it in the build up to its release. Had Neil Young or Bob Dylan or Tom Waits announced that they were…