Music

Remembering Dolly Parton

Thank You, Dolly Dolly Parton always seemed like a beloved aunt to me growing up. That is the odd miracle of her life. A girl from a cabin in the Tennessee hills, so poor her father paid the doctor who delivered her with a sack of cornmeal, became someone the whole country claimed as kin. Singers, presidents, ballplayers, rock stars, and people who never bought a country record all said the same thing when she left us: there will never be another. The Opry Girl She was a teenager when she walked onto the Grand Ole Opry stage. Johnny Cash introduced…

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A Gen X Kid’s Musical Childhood

The Rhythms of My '70s Music World Whether you’re a Gen Xer like me, part of the sprawling tapestry of Millennials, one of the lively Zoomers, or even among the budding Alphas just beginning to lend an ear to my tales, gather ‘round. I’m a raconteur at heart, and today I’m spinning a story for you, drawing you into the vivid, nostalgic realm of my ‘70s music world-a time before CDs, before the Walkman, before MTV, when music was a tangible, analog treasure captured on vinyl and 8-track tapes, offering a physical connection that went beyond sound. Picture us settling in…

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A Saturday Evening Story

A Liminal Odyssey My Dance with Hypnagogic States, Lucid Dreaming, and Sleep Paralysis In the quiet twilight of my bedroom, as the world fades, I slip into a realm where consciousness frays into a tapestry of hypnagogic states, lucid dreaming, and sleep paralysis. As a musician and songwriter, this liminal space is my sanctuary-a place to relieve anxiety, recharge my soul, heal old wounds, and weave the threads of creativity into songs that echo the human heart. Guided by the ethereal strains of Bill Evans’ The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961, especially the haunting “My Foolish Heart,” or the familiar cadence…

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The Tony Bennett and Bill Evans Recordings

Tony Bennett & Bill Evans: Together Forever A Milestone Anniversary In the mid-1970s, two titans of American music, Tony Bennett and Bill Evans, stood at personal and professional crossroads. Their paths converged to create two timeless albums, The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album (1975) and Together Again (1976), and a rare live television performance that captured their artistry in a fleeting moment. This is the story of their struggles and triumphs, the alchemy of their collaboration, the intimate studio recordings, a pivotal promotional broadcast, and the divergent roads they traveled afterward. Tony Bennett’s Path to 1975 Tony Bennett, born Anthony Dominick Benedetto…

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