Monthly Archives: April 2017

First Lines: Born to Run

It is taking me way too long to formulate some coherent thoughts on Bruce Springsteen’s auto-biography, Born to Run. And that is probably because I am still not sure what to make of it. Is it the definite, tell-all, hold-nothing-back account of Springsteen’s rise to Bossness? No. Is a fun read? In all its rambling,… Read more »

Seen Live: a balladeer

The 24th a balladeer gig I saw was in my brother’s living room. It was the smallest crowd I have been part of yet. Myself included, there were just fourteen people there. And yet, the concept of shutting up in such an intimate setting didn’t occur to some of them. A funny thing happened: I… Read more »

Paul O’Neill

Paul O’Neill, songwriter and producer for Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Savatage, has died. And even through I have bitched a bit here and there about TSO swallowing up my first-ever favorite band, this blows. O’Neill helped make Savatage what they were (theatrical, symphonical, over-the-top-rock-opera-metal awesomeness), he co-wrote all music and wrote most of the words, and… Read more »