Christmas feels heavy this year. It’s been hard to see the joy and light of the season the last few years, but this year feels especially dark. It’s not really a surprise, given the state of things both here in the US and around the world, but the lack of shock value doesn’t take the... Continue Reading →
I was desultorily flipping through Instagram reels earlier this evening. It had been a long day filled with a fair amount of frustration and worry. I was tired and burned out and lacking any motivation to accomplish even the smallest useful thing. After probably 30 minutes of swiping up on my phone and watching 10... Continue Reading →
The first time I listened to Trapper Schoepp's latest album, "Osborne," I was driving from Macedonia, Ohio, to Traverse City, Michigan, with a long stop in Moline for some emergency auto repairs. It was a long day traveling through unfamiliar country, going from sunshine in the morning to swirling snow in the evening. The combination... Continue Reading →
I don’t remember how old I was when my brother told me our grandfather had passed away. I could look it up, I have the paperwork in a lockbox in a room downstairs. There’s all kinds of paperwork in there. Birth certificates, marriage licenses, and death certificates. The cliff notes version of the story of... Continue Reading →
Driving home today I randomly got some lines from “Isis” by Bob Dylan stuck in my head. I wasn’t listening to Dylan at the time, and hadn’t heard the song in a while, but nonetheless there it was. Specifically it was the 5th verse. I was thinkin' about turquoise, I was thinkin' about gold I... Continue Reading →
Better Man by Pearl Jam starts slowly. It opens with a single guitar playing long, almost sinister notes with a few bass notes scattered around. It’s reminiscent of “Once” from their debut album, “Ten.” It sets you up for a burst of energy, but instead, there is a quick beat of silence, and then a... Continue Reading →
My best friend passed away suddenly two days after Christmas. This piece isn't really about that, but it should probably start there because otherwise, it's going to come in the middle, and that doesn't feel right. It would sound like a twist in the plot. His sudden death was the impetus for the whole story,... Continue Reading →
When I first heard Paul Simon’s Graceland, it was in my father's car. I don't remember the date of course, just that I was young. If I had to guess, I was probably 11 or 12. Just on the cusp of being a teenager, but still going to my father's house on the weekends. The... Continue Reading →
A few years back, I was at a punk rock festival out in Ohio. One of the groups in the lineup was a band called 'The Street Dogs.' They were an outfit out of Boston made up of guys from other, possibly more well-known, bands like Dark Buster and the Dropkick Murphys. I had gotten... Continue Reading →
Every city and town has a distinct sound if you have the ears to hear it. Some are subtle and delicate; some are angry and bombastic; some are coated in grime and desperation. The sound that comes from New Jersey is a kind of primal scream that leaves your throat raw and bloody. The lineage... Continue Reading →
SHOUTING STREET 