Documenting a Classic Album
The “write what you know” adage still has its place. My three decades of enthusiasm for Pearl Jam (and other Seattle-area acts of the late 1980s/early 1990s) led me to pitch Vs. for the Bloomsbury Academic 33 1/3 series.
To craft this mini tome on Pearl Jam’s second record (itself titled Vs.), I combined personal knowledge, input from band members, and copious research during spare hours over many months. I am extremely proud of the end result, and hope readers feel it’s worthy of both the book series and the band’s career-defining effort.
Curious? Get your copy on Bookshop, Bloomsbury, or Amazon.
Remembering Chris Cornell
Chris Cornell's passing was an existential punch in the gut, a celebrity death that profoundly impacted me. He’d sat and talked with me at length years earlier, so it was more than his vocal and guitar talents that had left an impression.
When Seattle Weekly asked me to write 2,500 words of remembrance about the man, I had to accept. My draft was 3,500 words, and they made the entire thing their cover story.
Though the experience was bittersweet, writing about Cornell in the past tense ultimately helped me deal with losing one of the music figures I admired most. It helped others, too. Cornell’s wife, and many other readers, reached out to say so.
Honoring Pearl Jam
I took a unique angle on Seattle's biggest rock act, Pearl Jam, as it was enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: demonstrating how its five drummers made the band such an enduring success.
Check out the digital version (pages 19–20).
Previewing a Mark Lanegan Appearance
Learning that legendary vocalist Mark Lanegan was to play the island I call home, I jumped at the chance to preview the show via the local paper. No question that it was front-page news.
(Side note for other “grunge”-era nerds: I don’t typically use that word without quotation marks. This headline was written by the paper’s editor, who chose to lead with the trigger word. And I don’t blame her.)
I was thrilled, of course, when Lanegan himself shared my story on Twitter.
Looking Back at "Ten" with Eddie Vedder
I talked with Eddie Vedder about Pearl Jam’s formation and recording of their iconic debut Ten for Sound Magazine. Though he was fighting a cold and I was fighting nerves—I’ve been a fan of the band since high school—our conversation brought to light more than enough for an enlightening piece. (Rolling Stone would later reference a minor revelation in my story.)
Talking Unpredictability with Chris Cornell
Around the time of Chris Cornell’s Scream record (a curve-ball collaboration with hip-hop producer Timbaland), I met with him to talk about his new direction. I had a tough time getting him interested in conversation—until I noted his history of stretching beyond expectations. I ended up talking with the man well beyond our allotted time, and his sparked interest saved what I was worried would be a dull story. I’ll never forget the experience.
Read the whole story. (Excuse the terrible images; I had to turn photos into PDFs.)
