Blog Posts

Whether as touring guitarist for the avant garde rockers, Psychic TV, or producer for artists like Boy George, Lenny Kaye, Pharoahe Monch, Jeff Berner makes a safe, creative space for those around him to make great art.  “Unless you’re the most self-assured, confident person in your own artistic capability, at some point, you’re going to…

It wasn’t until Friday morning, some 35 years after writing my first song and scarcely eight hours prior to the first on-stage performance of my new album, Constellations, that it occurred to me that songwriting is (for me, anyway) pure alchemy.  What begins in and is typically an expression of sadness and isolation, becomes, with…

In college, my favorite rock shows were blurry, buzzy, glorified keggers with three-dollar Solo cups, a rickety attic and a winning lineup of bands. By the end of the night, we were all playing together, the audience was onstage, and the bands were in the audience. Singer/songwriter Lily McKown grew up not far from me…

“Tyler, Texas” was born on the outdoor patio of Pinewood Social, a trendy cocktails and bowling hangout overlooking the Cumberland River, just southeast of downtown Nashville.  It was August, hot, muggy. Maybe 9pm or so. My friend, country music journalist, Annie Reuter, and I were just sitting down after catching a few songs at the…

Real transformation – the kind of shift that inextricably alters the very DNA of a person, organization, or culture – takes years. This is a lesson hard fought and well-learned by the Associated Press’ Global Business Editor, Noreen Gillespie. When Noreen walked through the Media Transformation Challenge at Poynter Institute‘s front door as AP’s Deputy…

At some point during Chris Bullard’s first stay in the psych ward, the musician and entrepreneur picked up a guitar and began strumming. Soon, patients emerged from their rooms and began to sing along. “A homeless guy off the street as well as an executive type,” he remembers. “And I was just like, ‘Wow! This music thing…