Wayne Shorter 1933-2023

It’s been nearly two weeks now since the great and legendary jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter passed away at 89-years old. I hadn’t yet sat down to write something about the man I consider to be one of the greatest jazz saxophonists and composers to ever blow a note. Why? Well, Mr. Shorter passed away on […]

Jeff Beck : 1944-2023

It took till I was 30-years old before I truly discovered Jeff Beck. As a kid I listened to enough classic rock stations to be familiar with his work in The Yardbirds, his solo albums with Rod Stewart(thanks to Scorsese’s Casino “I Ain’t Superstitious” will ring forever in my brain), as well as receiving this […]

Vangelis : 1943-2022

I’m sure most people my age had their first experience with Greek musician/composer Evángelos Odysséas Papathanassíou, aka Vangelis, when they watched Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner. I didn’t see the unedited version of the film till I was 18 when I rented it from Video World. Before that I’d only seen the edited version that played […]

Left Side, Right Side : Rush’ Masterpiece ‘Hemispheres’

It’s been one year to the day that one of the greatest drummers to beat the toms passed away from cancer. The wizard, the professor, and the all around thoughtful thinker Neil Peart moved on to the next phase of existence. For a guy that had gone through so much heartache and sickness of his […]

EVH 1955-2020

Everyone has their “entry” Van Halen album, at least those of us that grew up in the late-70s and 80s. Oddly enough it wasn’t an older brother or that dude at the record shop that always looked tired and smelled like incense that got me into Van Halen at the age of 5. It was […]

“The Innovator, The Originator, and The Architect of Rock and Roll”: RIP Little Richard

I remember being pretty young, maybe 4 or 5 years old, when my mom took tap dance lessons. Her and a few other stay-at-home moms would get together once a week in the basement of a downtown Warsaw, Indiana home. It had been renovated into a dance studio, complete with a wall of mirrors, wood […]

John Prine 1946-2020

I have never been a fan of country music. I’m just not wired for it. Much like how some people aren’t wired for jazz, David Lynch, or TLC shows. And even though I may not be down with outlaw country or Little People, Big World, I do appreciate a great songwriter. Guys like Kris Kristofferson, […]

RIP Lil Bub

Lil Bub, the little cat with dwarfism from Bloomington, Indiana that captured the attention of many(including Robert DeNiro) died on December 1st fighting a bone infection. Born as a runt and with many medical issues, the tiny cat was adopted by recording studio owner Mike Bridavsky, who then turned her unique appearance into an internet […]

Dick Dale : 1937-2019

I suppose I owe Quentin Tarantino for exposing me to Dick Dale. Sure, I’d catch an earful of his swanky surf guitar playing as a kid sitting in my room listening to oldies 97.7 out of Elkhart, Indiana. But my first slap in the face from Dick Dale was “Miserlou” in Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction. Hearing […]

A Song For All Of Us

Election week was a bit rough. Not only did we end up electing in, well, you know who, but we lost Leonard Cohen. A guy that I never truly explored but felt his reverberations through Jeff Buckley and his breathtaking cover of “Hallelujah”. Of course, I loved “Everybody Knows”, “If It Be Your Will”, “Suzanne”, […]