I was briefly at my wife's office this morning, dropping something off in the fridge while she watered the flowers out front. As she started to water, she let out an exclamation and handed me a cigarette butt from the flower pot. "Who puts out a cigarette in a flower pot?" she asked...

Perhaps the strangest thing in thinking back to musicians who died young is to think of them actually getting old. Think about Buddy Holly. To me, he was a true visionary of late-'50s rock 'n' roll. Less popular than Elvis, but a superior guitarist and man who wrote his own songs. ...

Ever notice how when your’re heartbroken, every song is about a broken heart? Or when you’re in love, every song is a love song? It’s no coincidence. Really good songs are a sort of mirror -- specific enough to be genuine, but general enough for us to feel them as our own...

Remember going to concerts? I loved going to concerts. Perhaps I'll do that again someday. When I go to live shows, I'm a sucker for a good opening act. Throw two or three good songs in your opening set and there's a good chance I'll wind up at the merch table before the headliner comes on, as records in my collection from Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers, Griffin House, the Henry Clay People, Andrew Ripp, Raul Malo and the Diplomats of Solid Sound will attest...

I don't think I've ever tried to make a big deal about losing my mom almost nine years ago. I've written about it a few times here. I've never really made a big deal of it on social media. It's just rarely been the way I've chosen to remember her...

I grew up in a very white family, surrounded by very white music, save some Run DMC, Michael Jackson, Prince, Billy Ocean and a few others that crept in on MTV. There was not much funky going on at 102 Fall St. In fact, a few weeks ago, I found a playlist on Spotify called Jazz Funk. I loved it! But the deepest connections I had with some of the songs was thinking, "Hey, this sounds like the songs on Sesame Street."...

Over the years, I’ve loved a lot of music. I’m talking deep, emotional connections to albums that remain a deep-seeded part of who I am as a music fan — Pearl Jam’s “Vs.” or The Clash’s “London Calling” or The Replacements’ “Tim” all come to mind...

A couple of weeks ago, my son had the idea to put together a quarantine playlist. I think it was mostly an excuse for him to walk around the house for a day or two singing "All By Myself." I wasn't happy...

I don't think I can say much about John Prine that I didn't say last week. But I can say this: I'm about as upset about his death as I've ever been about anyone I didn't know personally. Tom Petty's death comes to mind as something that rivals it...

Does this song really need an introduction or an explanation? I'm actually bummed for my kids and so many others that their school years came to such an abrupt end. No one wanted this for them and it's tough to know what next fall and even the coming years are going to be like to make up for the missed time...

I've been thinking a lot about John Prine lately. Prine is in my top three living songwriters and one of my two favorite graduates of Proviso East High School in Maywood, Ill. (Bonus points for if you get that inside joke. Tell me who my favorite is below.)...

My daughter turns five today, so I'm taking a break from the COVID-19 songs. Instead, I turn to her favorite song. Well, a protest blues song from Neil Young's 1974 gem "On the Beach" is almost certainly not a five-year-old girl's favorite...

On Sunday, Joe Diffie became the first musician on my radar to succumb to COVID-19. It makes me sad for Mr. Diffie himself and those who loved and knew him best. With him also goes a small piece of my childhood. For a time in the early-to-mid-'90s, you couldn't turn on country radio without hearing a Joe Diffie tune in the first half hour...

I've never really used this forum to express my faith. But these aren't normal times. As I sat in my living room Sunday morning, taking in the new normal of watching our Sunday morning message from Greencastle Christian Church via internet, our minister John Tischer covered a lot of ground that I won't try to recap here...

It's been a long week. I've written a lot of words. I'm not planning to write too many more tonight. Here's Dr. Hook & the Medicine Show performing "Rolling in My Sweet Baby's Arms." It's a fun song no matter who performs it, but these guys always seemed to have a little more fun than everyone else...

The Weight, my very favorite song by The Band, can lift my spirits every darn time I hear it, even now, in The Age of Quarantine. In fact, a new (to me) version of The Weight came to my attention this week that's extremely appropriate to our current era...

Before the tune, first a story. On Wednesday, I heard the news that I knew was coming but didn't really want to have to face -- Putnam County had suffered its first death in the COVID-19 pandemic. And so I got to work, pulling out my computer right were I was and starting to craft the story for our website and paper...

Tonight we get words of wisdom from two of my favorite Britons ever -- Winston Churchill and George Harrison. (Others in contention for favorite, in no particular order: John Cleese, Elvis Costello, Emma Thompson, William Shakespeare, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Sean Connery, Brian May’s hair and Laurel or Hardy -- whichever one was British.)...

As if I needed something else to do in these weird times, I've hatched a bit of a project for myself. Coronavirus, and the insane changes to society that have come with it, has had a lot of songs popping into my head. Some are touching, some are irreverent, some are downright sad...

When I sat down to write about Kenny Rogers upon learning of his death this week, my mind ran through some possibilities. "The Gambler," "Lady" and "Islands in the Stream" were immediately out, condemned for being too obvious and probably talked about elsewhere. "Ruby, Don't Take Your Love to Town" also makes this list...