Boss_Tweedy

Today is the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall. The hurricane and the aftermath were very surreal experiences. I lived in New Orleans, and my parents lived on the Mississippi Coast. I didn't even know where they were until the Thursday after the hurricane passed. And I didn't know if I had a home to return to in NOLA for about two months. Today is also Charlie Parker's 100th birthday.

Such a great loss that will surely deprive the world of a lot of great music that would've come from him. I believe I only saw him perform once - at Jazz Fest in NOLA about 11 years ago. He played on a small stage and delivered the goods on that particular day. A few years ago I was asked to organize a small music festival for a friend in the Mississippi Delta. The caveat was that there was no budget. I researched artists who had some interest in or connect with the artist whose memory was the focus of the event, and JTE came up somehow. I sent a Hail Mary e-mail to his people, and although I

Happy birthday, Jeff! By my math your music has been a part of my life for 25 years. It's like a good friend who's stuck with me through different stages of my life: college, my wilder (wild for me anyway) 20s, my 30s, and the first half of my 40s. Thank you for that music and for sharing so much of yourself and your family with us. You da best!

It was a very good day for new releases.

I decided that I want to watch ever Best Picture Oscar winner, so I started with the first.

My first concert as a young adult was Screaming Trees, Spin Doctors, and Soul Asylum at the Municipal Auditorium in New Orleans. It was during the summer before I went to college, and I went with a group of my high school friends.

Over the years that album has risen in my rankings of favorite R.E.M. albums more than any other. Yesterday was the 35th anniversary of its release.

I've always liked Monster. Never understood why it was panned so much. Maybe the world wanted Automatic II.