Columns

In an industry as opinion-based as music, it’s hard for people to agree on anything. However, many do agree on this: The Beatles are the greatest band ever. But why? What makes these guys from Liverpool stand above everyone else? The answer is influence. The Beatles didn’t just dominate music in the 1960s and early […]

I love gardening. You might not guess that if you were to walk by while I’m cursing the weeds or momentarily blacking out as I stand up from the garden beds (low blood pressure), but despite the back-breaking spring cleanups and landscaping projects, it brings me joy and balance. Except on days when I find […]

In his little old town of Riddle, that’s where scruffy vagabond Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes earned his southern Americana charm. His bluesman aptitude to carry a tune. His folksy witticisms. No, Riddle does not really exist. It’s more of a composite, or, rather, a compost heap, he says. Still, it runs deep through his very veins, […]

As I passed through the US border in March, I was terrified. Having recently changed my gender on my passport to X, during a period of a new “president” law-maker, there is a potential to ban me from entering with the accusation of fraudulent paperwork. All for a little alphabetical letter. I don’t think I […]

A lot has been made in recent years about the concept of toxic masculinity and its harmful effects on society. In this piece, I am going to attempt to cut through some of the noise surrounding this topic to get to the core of the discussion: what differentiates the two. First, I want to establish […]