Why It Matters

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  • Fishbone at Center for the Arts, Grass Valley, California, August 30, 2012

    The bad news:  I was unable to make it out to see Angelo and Norwood rock the house in this little mountain town, so I can’t delight you with what I’m sure would’ve been a glowing write-up full of clever observations (examples:  Fishbone rocks!  Angelo rocks!  Norwood rocks!  etc.). The good news:  Why It Matters…

  • From The Stacks: Red Hot Chili Peppers – Mother’s Milk

    I’ve lucked into very few situations in my life.  I haven’t won the lottery or been handed a wheelbarrow full  of start up stock  that’s later worth billions.  I found five bucks in front of a grocery story when I was a kid, so there’s that. Perhaps one of the luckiest cards I’ve drawn was…

  • Deep Cuts: Psychology Songs

    What song isn’t about human behavior?  Has any band not written a song about depression, madness, obsession, addiction, suicide, fear or anxiety?  But psychology is the topic this week, so let’s make this interesting.  Here are some cuts that you might not have explored:

  • 93. Face To Face and Back To Back

    Coach Parsons came to Boiling Springs High School directly from central casting.  He bore the square jaw, blue eyes and humped nose of a Roman centurion, but now in his late forties his mesomorph physique was less suited for Jesus beating than pie eating.  His soft belly lopped over those ridiculous mid-thigh, high waisted shorts…

  • From The Stacks: Video All Stars TV Jazz Themes

    I’ll be honest with you:  I haven’t listened to this album.  No, I saw the sexy honey in the red body stocking flashing her jazz hands and that was enough for me.  Bad Album Cover Hall Of Fame worthy?  I vote two jazz hands up.

  • The (Kind Of) Complete Woodstock: Richie Havens

    Twenty-eight year old Richie Havens had twelve years under his professional belt when he was shoved onto the Woodstock stage.  The date was Friday, August 15, 1969, opening day, and traffic already was so tangled that several bands — scheduled opener Sweetwater among them — were having trouble getting to Yasgur’s farm.  Havens agreed to…

  • From the Stacks: Best of Freddy Fender

    Freddy Fender: Musician, celebrity, inspiration for The Rabbit.  Oh, like you don’t know what I’m talking about.

  • What If God Wrote A Book On The Bible?

    What I Meant: A New Look at the Bible By God as told to James Stafford Introduction My name is God.  It isn’t really, but you people seem to like that handle so I’ll go with it.  If I thought you could roll with it I’d ask you to call me “Bandit,” like in the…

  • Deep Cuts: Songs To Confess By

    Okay, maybe in the great universe of things to confess “I’m struggling with this story” ranks just below “I didn’t refill the ice tray,” but it’s the hand I was dealt this week so what can I do. Confessing and confessors are recurring themes in music.  Are you ready to ‘fess up about your college…

  • 92. In the Eyes Of the Confessor You Can’t Tell A Lie

    I think it’s time to come clean with you.  I am struggling right now to keep this story afloat.  My notebook is littered with false starts and I am drowning in self doubt.  Am I burned out?  Have I run out of material?  Am I avoiding something? There’s no shortage of material, and burnout is…