That's right, this blog has not fallen off the face of the Earth. I've just been a little ... well ... busy these last two-and-a-half months. As I drove across the DePauw campus Friday morning, I saw the familiar sight of freshmen (I refused to use the term "first-years") on campus for orientation. They were in groups walking around campus, while others lugged boxes to their dorm rooms for the coming nine months...

With all of the music icons of the 1960s now in their 70s, I've sort of prepared myself for being sad pretty often as the news comes down of who we've lost. There are certain musicians, whose names I'm too superstitious to mention here, who are going to hit me pretty hard when they go...

I spent a long weekend in New England -- my first visit to the region. While I have lots to say about the visit, I don't have a lot of time at the moment. Instead, here's a song from my favorite Boston band, the Pixies. I don't have a lot of deeper thoughts on the song, just a memory. ...

On the 25th anniversary of his death, I'm not here to speak in reverential tones about Kurt Cobain. As important as Nirvana's music and the larger movement of alternative music to the forefront of popular music was to me, I don't necessarily revere the man or the band...

Twenty years ago today, Wilco released its third album, "Summerteeth." It didn't go well, at least not by the record company's standards. While critics dug it, the record sold a modest number compared to 1997's "Being There."...

Legendary singer Dusty Springfield died 20 years ago tomorrow on March 2, 1999. I can’t claim to be an expert on Dusty’s work, though I certainly know a lot more about it than I did back then, as a senior in high school who preferred my music a bit more ... um ... aggressive...

Let's get this out of the way first: The Flying Burrito Brothers is a terrible band name. I mean, it's like Strawberry Alarm Clock bad. They were a very good, bordering on great, band but I would propose that a stupid band name helped keep them from realizing their full potential. Gram Parson's drug use and wanderlust were also major problems...

I recently won tickets to see The Who when they come to Indianapolis in May. Even with two members deceased and the living members in their 70s, I'm pretty excited. Still, I can't help but wonder how epic songs like "Baba O'Riley" and "Won't Get Fooled Again" will sound. I guess I'll find out and I think I'll enjoy the experience regardless...

In my experience, Christmas morning as a dad leaves little reason for excitement -- at least not for myself. Sure, I'm excited to see how the new Lego set will work out for Miles or how the new dolly might light up Hannah's eyes. But for me? There's not much in it besides several sensible gifts -- a new dress shirt, some dress pants and underwear, socks and undershirts to replace the ones I got in the year before...

Most of you don’t know the name Pete Shelley. Unless you’re well acquainted with punk rock or the British music scene of a certain era, that actually makes sense. Shelley, who died yesterday at age 63, was the lead singer, lead guitarist and chief songwriter of the Buzzcocks, a band that was commercially successful in its time, but that’s criminally under-appreciated when compared to contemporaries like the Sex Pistols, The Clash or The Jam...

I thought it would be appropriate today to feature a song that expresses some level of thankfulness. I briefly considered both Led Zeppelin's "Thank You" and Ian Dury and the Blockheads' "Reasons to Be Cheerful Part 3" (which is, literally, a six-minute list of reasons to be cheerful set to a background of late '70s funk-soul-disco-punk), but neither one seemed quite right...

I spent years mixing up Boz Scaggs and Ry Cooder. In fact, I still have trouble deciding which one is which. (They really aren't all that similar.) In the weird associations of my mind, they are "those dudes from the '70s with nonsense syllables for first names."...

Jackson Browne is 70 years old today. Does that seem right? Think about it. We've all heard him say at least 1,000 times that in '65 he was 17 then in '69 he was 21. You do the math...

Healthy dietary choices don’t exactly come naturally to me. (Full disclosure: I’m writing this while happily digesting a delicious late-night bacon sandwich.) If not for the fear of heart disease and diabetes, every meal might feature beef, potatoes and a delicious helping of ice cream...

It's the weekend, which means that many of you are going to be hearing a lot of '80s music as some nostalgia-driven station does the obligatory "All '80s Weekend." As a man who draws much of his favorite music from the decades on either side of the '80s, I think I'm supposed to speak ill of the decade of Madonna and Reagan and Mötley Crüe and Rubik's Cube...

The world lost Aretha Franklin Thursday morning at age 76. I won't claim to be an Aretha expert, but I've long found her voice to be beautiful and timeless, the songs deeply touching. The 1960s were the golden era for soul as well as rock 'n' roll music. That was longer ago than many of us probably care to admit, and I'm afraid we're going to be losing more and more of our music luminaries in the coming years...

Is this a good song? No. Does Rick James' involvement somehow give the project some legitimacy?...

I grew up on classic country music but I have to confess that I've never been overly fond of George Jones. That comes with a caveat, as "He Stopped Loving Her Today" was one of the staples of Country Gold Saturday Night and if I didn't hear it on a given Saturday evening as a kid, I was unhappy. The same could be said of "I Will Always Love You" or "Eastbound and Down" or a half dozen other songs...

Robert Palmer was cooler than most of us can imagine being. That’s right, the guy from the '80s with the suits and the all the girls in his videos. That Robert Palmer might be the coolest rock star ever...

I'm not necessarily a big show tunes guy, and I have to admit that I've never actually seen "Carousel," but it's Friday, it's June and it sure as heck feels like summer. In celebration, I'm feeling playful...