Selling Out, Again.

Originally published in Seattle Weekly One of the most prevalent misconceptions about music, and the music business, is that the truly talented musicians don’t need to, or shouldn’t have to, promote or publicize themselves. Publicity is naively thought of as the… » More inside

Collaboration is Hard for Anyone

Originally published in Seattle Weekly It’s not a simple thing to collaborate, let me tell you. Songwriting, unlike painting or novel-writing (or meditating) lends itself easily to team effort because there are two distinct halves to a pop song — music… » More inside

Competition Among Bands

Originally published in Seattle Weekly There is, of course, a lot of competition between bands. It’s an obvious thing to say—like saying there are a lot of Skoal Bandits at a Kenny Chesney show. But the competition between bands seldom looks… » More inside

Sasquatch Poker Skills

Originally published in Seattle Weekly A few years ago I was invited to join a small, friendly poker game that was just starting up among a group of Seattle music people. I knew most of the players already, or knew them… » More inside

Coyotes, Bears, Jonathan Coulton and Duran Duran.

Originally published in Seattle Weekly A friend and I were riding our Vespas over in West Seattle a couple of weeks ago when we rounded a corner and came face to face with a full-grown coyote standing in the street. His… » More inside

My Rock Story Pt. Three

Originally published in Seattle Weekly I’ve talked a little bit about rock and roll lifers, but there are many different types and I should probably define my terms. The rock lifers of song and story, the ones we admire the most,… » More inside