New tunes – WE by Parsonsfield

It's no secret that Parsonsfield are among my favorite artists making music and performing today (I waxed rhapsodic about them here and here). I had the opportunity to give their new album, entitled WE, a listen prior to its release, and it was everything I've come to expect from them plus some. "Through sincere and…

From the archives – Arkells in Philly and DC

*The first of my ICYMI series. Seeing as how these guys have made the news recently for receiving a spur-of-the-moment invitation by Team Canada to fly to PyeongChang to perform at the Olympics, I thought it'd be appropriate to share this. I had the good fortune to cover Arkells' east coast shows in November with…

Content forthcoming. Standby.

I'm sure you've noticed that I've been a bit derelict in posting original content on here. Sorry about that...I haven't had much time alone with my thoughts of late. But it just occurred to me (because I'm super quick on the uptake like that) that I do have stuff to share, stuff that you might…

A butterfly trapped in a spider’s web

One of my co-workers died the night before Thanksgiving. That would have been sad enough. But what pushes this news into the tragic is that she wasn't some wizened old librarian. She wasn't someone who had been lucky enough to accumulate many decades. She wasn't someone who was at the end of a good, long…

371 days

According to Facebook, this song, and these lyrics in particular, were at the forefront of my mind a year ago today. Dave Hause's "Resolutions" is about vowing to change a bleak existence and looking for that glimmer of light, of hope, at the end of the tunnel. The song ends with these words repeated over…

The Eighth Loser

I originally submitted this to my friend Rich Chizmar of Cemetery Dance Publications to be included as a guest essay for his Stephen King Revisited project. But after talking to him and getting his blessing (and since he's still a long way from revisiting IT), I decided the timing was right to share it with you…

I can’t believe we even have to have this discussion

There’s an organization in the U.K. called Safe Gigs for Women founded with the primary goal of, kind of obviously, making gigs safe for women. Our neighbors across the pond have a real epidemic of women being harassed in one way or another at concerts and festivals, from physical assault to groping to outright rape.…

The last plot twist, I never saw it coming

"The chapters of your life might take you by surprise, and the last plot twist, you never saw it coming." Thanks, Arkells, for the perfect summation of my state of mind. Apparently I'm a music journalist now? Did NOT see that one coming. But to say that I'm thrilled wouldn't even come close to describing…

What I’m Spinning – Atlas Genius

"The future's not where it used to be." https://youtu.be/dq_u57WFqmE (This song is everything.) You guys know how I feel about opening acts - don't ever miss them and, if you've never heard of the band, listen to their set with an open mind. You might think you'll be bored and unimpressed, but I've found quite…

PSA

You all know by now that I go in fits & starts with this thing. Sometimes I'm super inspired & churn out a couple of posts a week for several months straight. Other (more frequent) times, I'll get busy or lazy & you won't hear from me at all for an entire season. So if you're…