As the reliability of the U.S. dollar as a store of value continues to erode, it becomes increasingly important to understand where value actually holds. Currency now functions more as a temporary measuring device than as something stable enough to carry meaning across time. In contrast, certain forms of fine art have demonstrated, again and again, that they not only retain value but often improve it—especially during periods of monetary uncertainty. Continue reading
Verse 1
Minneapolis is under siege
No tanks yet, but the day is still young
All is calm, the streets look calm
Everybody’s trying to get along Continue reading
I have a lot of photos that have never seen the light of day, and I’m processing them now. Some are going to need slight restoration, most won’t, but could stand colorization to make them easier to see (read). Continue reading
Electric Ghost did not “form” in the usual sense. There were no flyers, no ads for a drummer, no accidental garage rehearsals that turned into destiny. Instead, the band was assembled deliberately, with intent, inside a space that most artists still pretend doesn’t exist.
Electric Ghost was designed. Not fabricated — designed. Continue reading
A Conversation with Rob Zillon, E.J. Gold, & Rolling Stone
The kitchen is quiet except for the rustle of a newspaper and the soft click of a coffee cup being set down. Rob Zillon sits at the table, his guitar leaning against the wall within easy reach. E.J. Gold is sitting nearby, not so much participating as occupying the room the way a tuning fork occupies air. Nothing feels staged.
Rolling Stone: You’ve been described as a protest singer, a folk revivalist, and lately as “troubling.” Which one bothers you the least?
Rob Zillon: Troubling is fine. It means something’s working. Continue reading
“The Songs Never Left” — Janice Returns to the Road
A backstage conversation with Janice of Janice & Lost Horizons, on the current comeback tour
When Janice walks into the room, there’s no announcement. No entourage drama. Just a calm, warm presence — like someone who knows exactly who she is and no longer feels the need to defend it. The stage lights may still burn bright, but offstage she radiates something steadier: confidence without urgency. Continue reading
LINER NOTES
There are some voices that don’t belong to a person. They belong to a room. Sister Sara Simmons is one of those voices.
No one can quite agree when she first sang in public. Some say it was in a borrowed church with folding chairs and a piano missing three keys. Others insist it happened outdoors, under a stormy sky that wouldn’t make up its mind, with people gathering because they heard something before they saw anything. What is agreed upon is this: when Sister Sara opened her mouth, the room leaned in. Continue reading
Winestock began, according to every reliable source, by accident.
It started as a small end-of-season grape harvest gathering at a Northern California vineyard whose owners believed—incorrectly—that inviting a few friends, a few musicians, and a few cases of unfinished wine would result in a quiet afternoon. Someone hung a handwritten sign that said “Music Later”. Someone else added “Bring a Bottle.” No one remembers who added “Free.”
By mid-afternoon, the parking problem had become purely philosophical. Continue reading
Polly Barton was born already late for chores.
That’s how she tells it, anyway. According to family legend, she arrived one humid morning in eastern Tennessee while her mother was halfway through hanging laundry and her father was fixing something that didn’t need fixing yet. From day one, Polly had a way of appearing right when work was underway, smiling as if to say, “Don’t stop on my account.” Continue reading
The Minkeez did not form the way bands are supposed to form. Continue reading