Blog Posts

I spent this afternoon tracking vocals on my cover of The Nadas “Feels Like Home” for the band’s forthcoming tribute record. I don’t know what I was thinking. Mike Butterworth hits a superhuman high note in the chorus, one I can only nail consistently in falsetto. I’ve seen him hit higher notes on a radio…

I’m pretty sure it’s the oldest thing I own: a tattered, No. 80, nine-inch, horsehide-covered, cork and rubber-centered regulation baseball with with seven faded words written in capital letters: 1981 Pinto North All-Star Ben Wagner. I hit the first RBI in that all-star game, a triple. It was a scorching-hot July Fourth at Ridgeland Common…

Who needs the self help section at Barnes & Noble? I have an iPod. I don’t need to tell you that last week was a motherf*cker. I’m sure I’m not alone in that. Ask John Edwards, Manny Ramirez, or Allison Iraheta. They all had tough weeks. Heck, ask anyone on Earth these days: economic meltdown,…

Sunday afternoon, long after the hangover recovery run, the ham, egg and cheese sandwich, the last cup of coffee and final page of The Sunday New York Times, Abbi and I sat on the couch channel surfing. In my experience, asking my wife if she wants to watch a documentary tends towards a gentle “No…

One never knows how a four o’clock rock show is going to turn out. We’re not talking the Iowa State Fair here. We’re talking New York City on a sunny Saturday afternoon. Ends up it’s one heck of a time to rock. Chris Abad and I booked the show months ago not because four o’clock…

Used to be, I thought that rock bands solely made records like The Rolling Stones, Warren Zevon or Guns ‘N Roses: late at night, loaded with gin, and stuffed with amphetamines. And maybe some still do. What’s more, I held some sort of anxious romance for the studio, like the magic there is intangible, elusive…