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I am some 20 miles northeast of Philadelphia on Amtrak #138. I am going home. For 12 hours. And I will admit straight up: I have some beers in me. Three, to be exact. And a turkey sandwhich. Here’s the back story. Michael Penn is playing the Point in Bryn Mawr tonight. (In 28 minutes,…

When I say I played a blistering two hour set last night, I really mean it. My hands are shredded. Because I don’t have enough else going on (launching MTV Overdrive, closing the chapter on The Smith Family, three solo shows, a new record, marathon training), I decided it was hight time to get back…

Rain is in the air. I can smell it. Oddly enough, it smells like the desert: warm, and dusty. I’m in my bedroom on the sixth floor above West 80th Street. The windows are all open. The sliding door is thrown wide. A strong breeze is blowing in from the west, scattering the Post-It notes,…

Michael Penn asked me out tonight. I don’t have a ton of heroes. You know all about Mr. Rogers. The rest of them are musical: Michael Stipe, Jeff Tweedy, Aimee Mann and Michael Penn. One of the perks of my day job is the opportunity to meet some of them. I’m drawn to these opportunities…

It came to me like a vision: fresh-baked, still-warm chocolate chip cookies and vanilla ice cream. It’s the little things, really, the simple things, that sustain me. I’ve been meaning to integrate digital blips and beats with my acoustic guutar for ages. It’s the impetus that led me to Kevin’s studio to remix “Summer’s Gone”…

I’ve been a Michael Penn fan for years. It was a performance of “Long Way Down” on a KCRW live album that hooked me. His word play was clever, intelligent and, well, adult. He may have been garnering some radio airplay (at the time), but his singer/songwriter fare — like wife Aimee Mann’s — was…