Category Blog

Porter — This Red Mountain

Today, my students broke my heart. Not only did they accuse me of looking like a tourist, but they asked me who Paul McCartney was. And Ella Fitzgerald. Of the three, I’m not sure which cuts the most. Anyway. It’s…

American Aquarium — Wolves

Like many people, American Aquarium entered my radar with Burn. Flicker. Die. I recently had a loss in my family, and that’s the album that got me through it. Not because it’s sad, but because it’s about rejecting where you’ve…

Nick Shaheen — Sauvignon

Behold the singer-songwriter: an individual and their guitar, maybe with a backing band. What makes one stand out from the pack? In Nick Shaheen’s case, it’s his subtle subversion of all the genre’s standbys: sweet love songs, the road song,…