Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on tacos, music, and the future of America

Morning Petrichor

Anechoic Chamber Music · Petrichor

Cherry Blossom Rain - Kyoto

by Gregg Chadwick

24"x18" oil on wood 2023

We Are All The Hold Steady

by Gregg Chadwick

Review: The Gospel of The Hold Steady: How a Resurrection Really Feels 

by Michael Hann and The Hold Steady 

Craig Finn and The Hold Steady

The Hold Steady, described by many as the world’s best bar band outside of E Street, releases a new book on July 25, 2023 that delves deeply into the stories behind the band and its loyal fans. The physical book is gorgeous. The story of the band and their passionate fans blazes across the volume from the first page to the last. Over two hundred expertly composed photographs capture The Hold Steady on stage and off with a proper smattering of confetti strewn floors.  

The history of The Hold Steady is told through interviews with the band members and those who were there behind the scenes. From their Midwest roots to their adopted Brooklyn home, the members of The Hold Steady open up about the struggles and triumphs of creating, performing, and promoting their music. Lead singer and lyricist Craig Finn opens the book with a heartfelt introduction. “The Hold Steady didn’t change my life, it is my life.”, Craig writes. And then says, “And if you’ve read this far, it’s likely yours too. Our songs are mainly fiction, but they try to be very honest at the same time. So, at the end of each show, we say and scream and shout all together a benediction: “We Are All The Hold Steady!” 

The Hold Steady

In The Gospel of The Hold Steady, we hear from the members of the group as they describe the birth of the band. The Hold Steady’s origin story is built on the ashes of Craig Finn’s earlier band Lifter Puller and the Minneapolis, Minnesota indie music scene. After Lifter Puller broke up, Craig moved to New York. Bassist Galen Polivka, whose old band had played with Craig’s band in Minneapolis, had also moved to New York and sowed some early seeds for The Hold Steady by exclaiming to Craig at a club in NYC that “If you want to start something musically, I’m in, and I’d love to play bass for you.” Drummer Judd Counsell joined the early phase of The Hold Steady along with guitarist Tad Kubler. Craig writes that the music they had in common was Thin Lizzy, AC/DC, and Zeppelin. Craig explains that “Being Midwestern was something that made us unique.”  After gigging in Brooklyn and NYC, The Hold Steady was ready to record their first album Almost Killed Me and keyboardist, writer, and university lecturer Franz Nicolay joined the band. Their inaugural album was released in March 2004 and the word began to spread. Drummer Bobby Drake flew out from Minnesota to replace Judd Counsell on the upcoming tour. The Hold Steady brought their mix of beautiful loser Midwest tales, infused with Brooklyn Indie, and garnished with Classic Rock riffs to the “not so wholesome heartland” of America.  

The voices of the fans – The Unified Scene – are also found in the book. The last chapter gathers a collection of personal stories from fans that describe what The Hold Steady means to them. 

Rob Sheffield writes that “Every fan has their own stories, their own songs, the favorites we cling to like patron saints.”

Craig writes in The Gospel of The Hold Steady, “that a rock band is in a race against time.” We  join Craig and the band on their existential quest as they struggle to find meaning and joy through their insightful lyrics and raucous music. The Gospel of The Hold Steady is the perfect companion volume for this quest. 

Highly Recommended!

The Hold Steady is Craig Finn, Tad Kubler, Galen Polivka, Bobby Drake, Franz Nicolay, and Steve Selvidge. Since forming in Brooklyn in 2003, they have released eight studio albums. Their debut album, The Hold Steady Almost Killed Me, was named one of the 100 best albums of the century by Rolling Stone.

Michael Hann is a writer and editor based in London who contributes to the Guardian, the Economist, and Uncut. He also wrote Denim and Leather: The Rise and Fall of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. 

Sparks - The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte (Official Video)

Music video for The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte by Sparks, from the new album of the same title.

 Starring Cate Blanchett

Trina: Tiny Desk Concert

From NPR: "As a rapper, Trina has been pushing P since before her successors were even sitting up in Pampers and her wild ride of a Tiny Desk concert, 25 years after making her rap debut, only further proves why she is the blueprint.

Decked out in leather, diamonds and a wavy jet-black bussdown, the vet got comfortable behind the Desk quickly, ready to give fans the best of her sprawling discography. Trina temporarily fought back tears as she recited "Mama," a dedication to her late mother who died of cancer in 2019. The crew made the breakup anthem "Here We Go" feel even more aching. The energy in the space made a seismic shift when the band took on the bass-bumpin' classic "Da Baddest Bitch," infusing the live arrangement with nimble guitar, charismatic drums and background vocalists so entertaining, their delivery felt like epic narration from the chorus of an ancient Greek play or, just as epically, a group homegirls hyping up their friend at the function. In the middle of it all was the 305 Queen herself, killing her verses with breath control, authority and bougie hair flips.

"I believe in who I am. The game didn't make me; I made the game. I made it," the Diamond Princess declared in her Louder Than A Riot interview before recording this Tiny Desk concert. "I already came in with a motive and an initiative to know who I am from. That's why I breed a whole universe of bad bitches." To hear Trina's full interview, subscribe to NPR Music's Louder Than A Riot podcast."

SET LIST

"Mama"

"Da Baddest Bitch"

"Single Again"

"Here We Go" 

"Nann N****"

MUSICIANS

Trina: vocals

Bigg D: guitar

Alton Coley: bass

Jon Anderson: drums

Cory Irvin: keys

Asher Makeba Williams: vocals

Nia McClain: vocals

Shannon McClain: vocals

Corey "C.O." Evans: vocals

TINY DESK TEAM

Producers: Bobby Carter, Sidney Madden

Director: Maia Stern

Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin 

Editor: Joshua Bryant

Creative Director: Bob Boilen 

Videographers: Maia Stern, Joshua Bryant, Kara Frame, Sofia Seidel

Audio Assistant: Neil Tevault 

Production Assistants: Jill Britton, Alanté Serene

Tiny Desk Team: Suraya Mohamed, Maia Stern, Marissa Lorusso, Hazel Cills, Ashley Pointer, Pilar Galván

VP, Visuals and Music: Keith Jenkins

Senior VP, Programming: Anya Grundmann

#NPRMusic #TinyDesk #Trina

New York Comeback by Lucinda Williams

“New York Comeback” (Feat. Bruce Springsteen & Patti Scialfa)

Gregg Chadwick

New York Minute
74"x44" oil on linen 2013
Private Collection, Orinda, California

Changes - David Bowie

Gregg Chadwick
Changes - David Bowie
41.5"x25.5"pastel on paper 2016

On January 8, 1935 Elvis Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi and in Brixton, London on January 8, 1947, David Bowie was born.

Bowie's decades of groundbreaking music and his shapeshifting persona inspired so many of us little aliens in suburbia to fight against conformity and become our true selves.
My artwork looks back on Bowie when he released his haunting song "Where Are We Now?", which is as much a painting in soft greys as it is a song. A quiet rhythm of drums and synth warp and weft with minor key piano chords and Bowie's plaintive, elegiac voice.
Set in a Berlin of memory and dream, Bowie's voice and lyrics question the themes of human bondage, release, freedom, doubt, ageing, and death. Bowie lived in West Berlin between 1976 and 1979 in the Schöneberg district in a house with Iggy Pop while Brian Eno and Tony Visconti were helping record Bowie's Berlin trilogy of albums Low, Heroes, and Lodger in the now legendary Hansa Studios. Years later, Bowie looks back in "Where Are We Now?" and echoes his words about Low, "Berlin has the strange ability to make you write only the important things. Anything else you don't mention."

The political and the personal merge in my pastel painting of Bowie. We are left with existential questions and are reminded that bodies age, marriages end, friendships dissolve and memories fade. But Bowie's quietly defiant voice does not give in to any dying of the light.

For a couple of moments in the immensity of time, we were one.#EternalLove #BowieForever pic.twitter.com/eUK4sjWFc2

— Iman Abdulmajid (@The_Real_IMAN) January 10, 2023

#Art #DavidBowie #HappyBirthday #InMemory #Portrait #ContemporaryArt #Music 

#Inspiration #RIP #Pastel @saatchiart @theotherartfair

Do You Remember the 21st Night of September?

by Gregg Chadwick

I do remember the 21st night of September. September is one of my favorite Earth, Wind & Fire songs and of course resonates with me on this date every year. Seeing Earth, Wind & Fire at the Capitol Center in Landover, Maryland was one of the most memorable musical events during my high school years in the Virginia suburbs of Washington DC. A friend's father had season tickets for the venue and graciously let his daughter take a group of friends along to the concert. It was the Bicentennial Summer of '76. A sense of possibility and freedom filled the arena that August night and mixed with the funky smell of parsley cut weed. The Emotions, a soulful sister trio from Chicago opened the night with songs from their album Flowers. Their huge hit Best of My Love would arrive the next year. But that night belonged to Earth, Wind & Fire. They opened their show with their band name spelled out in lights above the stage. A synthesizer riff offset with mock explosions and cymbal crashes called us together. Lead singer Maurice White sang out the word "Party" as if it were the meaning of life. And then the horn section roared in. Funk, fusion, jazz and film scores seemed to flood into the musical mix. The propulsive horn section, known as the Phenix Horns was a key element in the band's sound. Saxophonist Don Myrick, trombonist Louis Satterfield, trumpeters Rahmlee Davis and Michael Harris led us on our musical adventure. 

Reasons sung by Philip Bailey was the song of the night for me. Something about being 16 and a young artist embracing life. I was taking a pre-college series of classes at the Corcoran School of Art a few miles away in  DC and that song that night felt like the romance of the city.

"May love be one in all of your hearts" Bailey said near the close of the concert as he asked us in the audience to close our eyes and follow along with him into a fusion filled romp of guitar, vocals, keyboards, and horns. Then the band segued into "That's the Way of the World" with Maurice White back on vocals. "This song can set you free" declared Maurice. Bailey joined Maurice on vocals and they soared into the night. The song finished with a Johnny Graham guitar solo that brought echoes of Jimi Hendrix into the arena. Earth, Wind & Fire embraced an inclusive sound of possibility and joy on August 1, 1976.  The band members played off each other like a well oiled machine. Earth, Wind & Fire's deft mix of jazzlike improvisation, funk bass grooves, and aspirational lyrics spoke to me deeply. I was hooked.  

I was such a fan, that I wrote a short piece about Earth, Wind & Fire bassist Verdine White in an English composition class my first year at UCLA. The professor wasn't impressed with my essay but I did get him to listen to the group. In my English assignment I pointed out that Verdine's deep. sonorous and funky bass lines provided a bedrock for the band. Each musician would then add elements on top of Verdine's groove to build something bigger and richer. As an artist you have to let go and believe in the bigger composition. This was a form of faith in action. The next year Earth, Wind & Fire's song September was released on November 18, 1978.  I inspired a group of friends to get tickets and we would see Earth, Wind & Fire in concert twice on that tour. September was a highlight in those shows. 

 

Dan Charnas wrote a Morning Edition piece for NPR on Earth, Wind & Fire's September. 

Dan asked Jeffrey Peretz, professor of music theory at New York University's Clive Davis Institute, what makes September's feel good groove so powerful. Peretz says "a lot of it has to do with how the music unfolds. The song's very structure is an endless cycle that keeps us dancing and wanting more. There's four chords in the chorus that just keep moving forward and never seem to land anywhere — much like the four seasons. It's the end of summer, it's the beginning of fall, it's that Indian summertime, it's the transition from warm to cool."

I agree with Professor Peretz - Earth, Wind & Fire's music keeps us dancing and wanting more. 

Earth, Wind & Fire live at the Capitol Centre in Landover, MD on August 1, 1976. I was there. 

Video was originally provided by the Official Earth, Wind & Fire Legacy Facebook page.

Gregg Chadwick
Revolutions 
48”x36” oil on linen 2018

This email from a student, when I taught remote, lives rent free in my head 😂 pic.twitter.com/BYd7I7cKcB

— André K Isaacs (@drdre4000) September 22, 2022

Happy Birthday Robert Johnson

Favorite Robert Johnson Song - "Love In Vain"
Created a painting with the same title in honor of Johnson.
Favorite cover - Cassandra Wilson – “Come On In My Kitchen” pic.twitter.com/1Xm8GUDX47

— Gregg Chadwick (@greggchadwick) May 9, 2022

What Bruce Springsteen Lost And Found - Interview with NPR

 

My Opera loving Dad will appreciate this quote from Bruce: 

 "And I had an interesting moment — I got to know Luciano Pavarotti a little bit before he died. I went to his apartment one night and he made me and my wife spaghetti. And so we're sitting and eating and he invites me to the opera. So I go to the opera, which I've never been to in my life, and I watch him perform. And after the opera, we're out having a drink and he says, "What do you think, Bruce? What did you really think of the opera?" I said, "Well, it was incredible." You know, there's no mic; he came out, his voice was, to me, still in fantastic shape. And he says, "Well, yes, but the popular singer has it over the opera singer." I said, "Really? Why is that?" "The popular singer sings the way people speak." I thought about Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett, and I thought: Yeah, that's true; they sing colloquially, the way people speak to one another. That had been what I'd been pursuing in my own songs for quite a few years at that point, but he made it all make sense to me."

 

Full Interview at: What Bruce Springsteen Lost And Found

https://www.npr.org/2020/10/22/925358745/what-bruce-springsteen-lost-and-found?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social

Chavis Flagg!!!

Let’s Goooo ! Rock + Roll https://t.co/nc0JEaKldX

— Chavis Flagg (@chavisflagg) July 11, 2020

I love and appreciate all of you all https://t.co/N1NFNAk9Hs

— Chavis Flagg (@chavisflagg) July 11, 2020

The Chicks - March March

Don't Forget to Dance!

pic.twitter.com/36UFw26jJG

— Calling All Astronauts (@CAA_Official) April 27, 2020

Over the Rainbow

Bravo! ❤️👏🏾

This school district's annual Choral Festival was canceled, so the students all sang their individual a cappella portion of "Over the Rainbow" in their separate homes, and put them together to create this masterpiece.

pic.twitter.com/ch58d819uw

— FierceWarriorNStilettos (@InactionNever) March 20, 2020

Chino Valley Unified School District's annual Choral Festival was canceled, so the students all sang their individual a cappella portion of "Over the Rainbow" in their separate homes, and put them together to create this masterpiece.

When a French Opera Goes On Strike

When French opera singers go on strike
(Turn volume up) https://t.co/3zpRId5vRj

— Sophie Pedder (@PedderSophie) December 17, 2019

St. Vincent & Dua Lipa | Masseduction / One Kiss | 2019 GRAMMYs

St. Vincent & Dua Lipa share the stage for mashup performance of their respective songs, 'Masseduction' and 'One Kiss.'

Michael McDermott - Tell Tale Heart

The Amazing Michael McDermott Gets Honest With Himself In 'Tell Tale Heart': Video Premiere.  https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/rock/8494905/michael-mcdermott-tell-tale-heart-video via @billboard

Hear Barack Obama take the mic on Lin-Manuel Miranda's 'Hamilton' remix

We’re coming at you one last time with our final #Hamildrop and it’s one for the books. Listen to “One Last Time (44 Remix)” featuring Christopher Jackson, Bebe Winans, and Barack Obama.

Stream it: https://Atlantic.lnk.to/OneLastTime44...

Barack Obama reads George Washington's lines reflecting on his own administration:

“Though, in reviewing the incidents of my administration

I am unconscious of intentional error

I am nevertheless too sensible of my defects

Not to think it probable that I may have committed many errors

I shall also carry with me the hope

That my country will view them with indulgence

And that after forty-five years of my life dedicated to its service with an upright zeal

The faults of incompetent abilities will be consigned to oblivion

As I myself must soon be to the mansions of rest

I anticipate with pleasing expectation that retreat

In which I promise myself to realize the sweet enjoyment of partaking

In the midst of my fellow citizens, the benign influence of good laws

Under a free government, the ever-favorite object of my heart

And the happy reward, as I trust

Of our mutual cares, labors and dangers”

Thank You Taylor Swift!

View this post on Instagram

I’m writing this post about the upcoming midterm elections on November 6th, in which I’ll be voting in the state of Tennessee. In the past I’ve been reluctant to publicly voice my political opinions, but due to several events in my life and in the world in the past two years, I feel very differently about that now. I always have and always will cast my vote based on which candidate will protect and fight for the human rights I believe we all deserve in this country. I believe in the fight for LGBTQ rights, and that any form of discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender is WRONG. I believe that the systemic racism we still see in this country towards people of color is terrifying, sickening and prevalent. I cannot vote for someone who will not be willing to fight for dignity for ALL Americans, no matter their skin color, gender or who they love. Running for Senate in the state of Tennessee is a woman named Marsha Blackburn. As much as I have in the past and would like to continue voting for women in office, I cannot support Marsha Blackburn. Her voting record in Congress appalls and terrifies me. She voted against equal pay for women. She voted against the Reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act, which attempts to protect women from domestic violence, stalking, and date rape. She believes businesses have a right to refuse service to gay couples. She also believes they should not have the right to marry. These are not MY Tennessee values. I will be voting for Phil Bredesen for Senate and Jim Cooper for House of Representatives. Please, please educate yourself on the candidates running in your state and vote based on who most closely represents your values. For a lot of us, we may never find a candidate or party with whom we agree 100% on every issue, but we have to vote anyway. So many intelligent, thoughtful, self-possessed people have turned 18 in the past two years and now have the right and privilege to make their vote count. But first you need to register, which is quick and easy to do. October 9th is the LAST DAY to register to vote in the state of TN. Go to vote.org and you can find all the info. Happy Voting! 🗳😃🌈

A post shared by Taylor Swift (@taylorswift) on Oct 7, 2018 at 4:33pm PDT

It's September 21st Again. Did You Remember?

Do you remember the
21st night of September?
Love was changing the minds of pretenders
While chasing the clouds away