Wednesday marked the end of an era in West Lafayette, as the Neon Cactus announced it has closed its doors permanently...

This evening I learned of the unexpected news that Justin Townes Earle had died. The news was unexpected, as Justin was only 38. He definitely had some demons with substance abuse over the years, same as his father Steve and his namesake, the late (great) Townes Van Zandt...

If you listened to county radio in the late 1980s, Rodney Crowell was pretty much inescapable. Rightly so. Crowell’s 1988 effort “Diamonds and Dirt” produced five consecutive No. 1 hits — “It’s Such a Small World” (a duet with then-wife Rosanne Cash), “I Couldn’t Leave You If I Tried,” “She’s Crazy for Leavin’,” “After All This Time” and “Above and Beyond.”...

While I consider Greencastle my home, I know there are things that separate me from people my age who grew up here. I see evidence of this in the way I address certain people. I know you're a native — or at least a longtime resident — if you address Tom Graffis as "Dr. Graffis."...

Most of my favorite songs were written by people in their 20s or early 30s. Having put those years behind me a while back, I feel a sense of awe at the old souls who managed to write such profound things at a young age...

In the early 1990s, rock fans were looking for something new and different. As the youth of the nation grew tired of the way music had looked and sounded for the past 20 years, we looked underground to find a new sound that would define us...

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...