Of Note 022: Bowie's Blackstar anniversary, Marisa Dubice interview, Justin Townes Earle biography
Howdy folks! The new year has kicked off with a wealth of great music writing. This month’s selections have put me in a time machine or some kind of liminal,...
Of Note 021: Farewell Letters, Podcast Themes, and Why Sound Matters
Howdy folks! Happy New Year! Wishing you and yours all the best as we enter the second half of the 2020s. December is always a month filled with reflection...
Of Note 020: John Darnielle, Hallogallo, and John Prine
Howdy folks! I’ll keep this short this time around since I’m already running behind. From November, I loved a supersized magazine feature (Grayson Haver...
Of Note 019: Getting Vulnerable with Amanda Shires, Sudan Archives, and Jeff Tweedy
Howdy folks! October featured a glut of great music writing, far too much to ever include here. The pieces that resonated with me highlighted how musicians...
Of Note 018: An Interview with Chris DeVille, author of Such Great Heights
Howdy folks! I’ve got an Of Note first for you this month: Chris DeVille, author Such Great Heights: The Complete Cultural History of the Indie Rock...
Of Note 017: Quick Reads Inspired by Ben Ratliff's Run The Song
Howdy folks! Typically, I highlight a couple of feature length stories each month, but not this time. This month, I read Ben Ratliff’s Run The Song: Writing...
Of Note 016: Tyler Childers, Brian Eno, and Sly Stone as Themselves
Howdy folks! For many of us, life is a long lesson in being ourselves. For some lucky folks, it just comes naturally. And it just so happens that many of...
Of Note 015: On the road with Waxahatchee, on the water with Water From Your Eyes, and behind the mask of MF DOOM
Howdy folks! Thanks for your patience as I took some time off. I’m currently at Schuba’s in Chicago, on the corner of Belmont and Southport, enjoying CHIRP...
Of Note 014: The Grief of Sufjan and Ben Kweller, Coming Out Set To Dad Rock
Howdy folks, Welcome back! We’re still waiting for summer to arrive here in Chicago, but I hope warm weather greets you where ever you are. We’ve all heard...
Of Note 013: Learning to Listen, Sunset Tree at 20, Small Town Bob Dylan, and More
Howdy folks, Of Note has officially made it through one whole year. I told myself when I started this, I had to do it for at least a year and then see how I...
Of Note 012: On Doug Shaw, Macie Stewart Interview, Wisconsin Indie Media Roundtable, and Neko Case on Neko Case
Howdy folks, Community is a vital party of music. Recorded music, the music industry, and the ways we engage with music are, in sum, a very small and recent...
Corrected: Of Note 011: Sleng Teng origins, Deep listening on "Subterranean Homesick Blues", A Ghost is Born, and The Kinks plus a history of cassettes (copy)
CORRECTION: The original email mistakenly did not include a link to Steven Hyden’s piece on The Kinks. Apologies for sending this email twice. Howdy folks,...
Of Note 011: Sleng Teng origins, Deep listening on "Subterranean Homesick Blues", A Ghost is Born, and The Kinks plus a history of cassettes
Howdy folks, Great writing often starts with great listening and I think you’ll see that in the pieces I’ll share from the past month. Whether it’s tracking...
Of Note 010: Wu Tang, Ethel Cain, Lost Wave, and Mood Machine
Howdy folks, I hope you’re hanging in there. They can’t kill us ‘til they kill us. I hope you can take a break and read some wonderful music writing. I...
Of Note 009: Year's End, DIY Champs King Gizz, Ghost Music, and More
Welcome to 2025! Allow me to reintroduce myself to the many new subscribers since last month: This is Of Note, a monthly newsletter highlighting music...
December 2024: Kendrick's GNX Polarizes, Indie Rock Goes Bust, Pops Scavenger Hunts, and More
Howdy folks! November contained an absurd amount of good music writing. I’ve got 3x more bookmarks this month than any other month I’ve been writing this...
November 2024: Hearing Things Launches, MJ Lenderman Saturation, Stellar Laura Marling Review
Howdy folks! A wonderful thing happened this past month: Andy Cush, Dylan Green, Jill Mapes, Ryan Dombal, and Julianne Escobedo Shepherd - five extensively...
October 2024: Deep dives on Phish, Dylan and the Band, and The Softies
Howdy folks! One of my favorite things to read it when an author goes really deep into something. September hit the mark with an embedded perspective on what...
September 2024: The best take on Welch and Rawlings, the rise of Chappell Roan, and more
Howdy! Back when I worked in college radio, the end of summer and beginning of fall typically marked the richest time of the year for new music, or at least...
August 2024: Emotional Drumming, Deciphering Childish Gambino, see/saw
Howdy! As August approaches, we’re officially in the “Dog Days,” a phrase I’ve loved for a long time. Some words are just full of sweat and humidity and the...