I was 19, in the front row at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago, and I had no idea what I was about to see. Back then, everything you heard about Fiona Apple on MTV News or in little blurbs from…
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Apr 26, 2026
Apr 2, 2026
The Coolest!
There are certain people in music who don’t just exist in a scene. They define it quietly, without trying. Jennifer Baron has always been one of those people for me.
In the 90's you couldn't really find photos of indie…
Apr 1, 2026
FREAK OUT TURNS 60
Growing up in small town Iowa in the late 90s, being a music fan was pretty hard. There was no internet to look things up, no YouTube to fall down some endless rabbit hole. It felt more like trying to…
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Mar 24, 2026
She Lived Through This
What I found so powerful about Melissa Auf book is the tenderness of her memory. Maybe it comes from looking through a lens for so long, capturing thousands of moments, learning how to truly see people. She doesn’t soften the…
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Mar 5, 2026
It Doesn’t Just Belong To The Night
Buckle Up. The brand new episode of Don’t Bother Wearing Seatbelts features one of the most fascinating characters in the extended Elephant 6 universe, R Sloan Simpson, whose new Ep, by Sloan Brothers Love and Diagnosis continues the story…
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Mar 1, 2026
Spent It On A Dream
They spent it on a dream.
On this week's episode of the Discograffiti Soldiers of Sound podcast, Adem Kerimofski told Rudy Fischmann and I this amazing story. He was backstage with the Australian band Custard, listening to Wowee Zowee…
Feb 22, 2026
They Are The Lucky Ones
A few mornings ago, I was sitting on the couch with a cup of coffee, watching the movie Rushmore. The house was quiet in that sweet way it only is before your ten year old child wakes up. Then you…
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Feb 19, 2026
Love And Music Can Travel Any Distance.
Songs About the Ocean by The High Water Marks is built on a love story that feels almost too cinematic to be real. Per Ole Bratset and Hilarie Bratset met at a music festival in Norway and sparked an instant…
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Feb 17, 2026
Mystery Come Cover Us Again - Help Us Find The Cloud Boxes
HELP US FIND THE CLOUD BOXES
I love how some of my favorite artists used to go so far to make something feel special. Not just the music. The whole world around it. While working on the Elephant Six podcast…
Feb 14, 2026
I Will Wait Right Here
Right Here by Joanna Sternberg is that fragile emotional space where nothing is broken out loud…
but everything is quietly breaking underneath... type of song.
The slow ticking awareness. The feeling of love leaving the room and never looking back. … Read more
Feb 7, 2026
Minneapolis - Your Resilience & Community Continues To Inspire Us. & Your Songs Do Too.
Oh Minnesota. Maybe it’s the cold winters that push people inward, toward creativity. Maybe it’s the hustle, the honesty, the blue-collar poetry. Or maybe it’s just the way this state keeps finding new ways to turn hardship into beauty.
When…
Feb 5, 2026
This Is Supposed To Be Fun
This week’s episode of Don’t Bother Wearing Seatbelts is extra special to me. Our guest is Tammy Shine, the heart and soul of Dressy Bessy, who is about to release her debut solo album OK Shine OK.
I…
Jan 19, 2026
Take Comfort In Your Friends
I love being a parent. Truly. It’s the greatest job in the world. But it's also at times pretty difficult. One of the hardest parts of it is deciding what to protect our kids from and what to gently let…
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Jan 8, 2026
I Find Love Making Music With My Friends
Some of the most meaningful music never begins with an audience in mind.
It starts in a basement or a room. With friends. With time to kill and something to chase. Recording not because anyone is asking for it, but…
Jan 4, 2026
Both Sides Now
We all have had moments in life when the world suddenly feels very small. Moments when everything grows quiet and heavy and you don’t know if you can really go on. We have all been there in one way or…
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Jan 2, 2026
I WANT MY MTV
When I left home for college in the summer of 1999, I had no clue but the timing was perfect.
I didn’t know it then, but I was slipping out the side door of something that was already ending. I…
Dec 14, 2025
The More Space, The Closer We Feel.
There is a strange and beautiful truth hidden inside the best music ever made
The more space the artist leaves, the closer we all feel.
It is something I have been thinking about ever since I first heard Stephen Malkmus…
Dec 11, 2025
Heard About Your Fame
If there is one band I could write a book about it might be The Apples in Stereo.
For me, The Apples in Stereo have been one of my ride or die bands since I was 16 years old…
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Dec 2, 2025
The Beautiful Weight of Mentorship
I was talking with a friend recently who’s stepping away from a collegiate teaching role in the arts. They told me, quietly and honestly, that the reason they felt stuck was because they didn’t have any mentors left around them…
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