Posts by admin
Some Sort Of A Homecoming
On Ben Kieffer’s legendary radio performance series, Live From The Java House, Jason described performing for 17,000 screaming fans at the Wells Fargo Arena thusly. “You know how you feel when you standing on the edge of a tall building or a cliff?” he said. “You’re head is spinning, your stomach feels kind of swimmy,…
Read MoreThis Moment
Josh Davis just saved my life. Well, my voice, anyway. A week on the road in the bitter, bone-dry cold of the Midwest has been brutal on my voice. Radio interviews and a rock show a day add up to one sore throat. So I’m in Des Moines right now. I’m backstage at this amazing…
Read MoreLet Me Sleep
I’m sitting in the front lounge of Meat Loaf’s tour bus. We are idling in a parking lot on the edge of the Cedar River in Cedar Falls, Iowa. It’s well after noon on a weekday. Still, my brain is not even close to functional. Meat Loaf’s former tour bus — a forty-two foot, slate…
Read MoreWaterloo Bar Invites Iowa Native For Performance
Though Benjamin Wagner has no idea what he’ll face in Waterloo Saturday, he knows he’ll be coming full circle. When Wagner, a singer-songwriter who was born in Iowa and now lives in New York City, performs at Smitty’s Bar, he’ll fulfill his end of a bargain made months ago. Looking for some funding for his…
Read MoreHere’s To You
It was in the middle of rehearsal tonight when I thought to myself, ‘I am so fucking lucky.’ I landed in Des Moines at noon. Mike and Jason pulled up just as I walked out of baggage claim. They whisked me straight to lunch with the band at Royal Mile. Jason’s wife, Stephanie, and sometimes…
Read MoreFever To Tell
My grandmother can die now. I mean, not that I’d want her to, but… well, you know. I just did an interview with Kelsey Holm of The Waterloo Courier. I talked her ear off for damn near an hour. Despite the countless interviews I’ve conducted, or the few I’ve been the subject of, I still…
Read MoreA Better Son/Daughter
I feel a little like Greg hiding out from Mike and Carol. I’ve spent the balance of Thanksgiving Weekend in the basement of my father’s Indianapolis home. I was bumped from the premiere rooms at the inn by my brother, his wife and son, Ethan, who took top priority. Which is fair. And fine with…
Read MoreHappier
Note to self: Never Go To Target Drunk. It’s actually something a bad habit of mine here in the Midwest. Somehow, I always end up at a Target, or a Wal-Mart, or a Sam’s Club, with a few beers in me. Of course, there’s a super-store of some sort on just about every corner, so…
Read MorePlease, Thank You
In New York City, the world really is just outside your window. This was especially so last night. The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade musters on 81st Street. All of the floats — Dora The Explorer, Garfield The Cat, Kermit The Frog, Chicken Little, Mr. Potato Head — begin their trip to 34th Street just across…
Read MoreSick Of Myself
This is how sick I am. I released “Heartland” last week. I released “The Rivington Sessions EP” in July. I released Nadas frontman and
Read More