The freeways were designed in the fifties.  As they were overrun by cars in the decades that followed, glaring design flaws were revealed.  If I’m getting off and you’re getting on, and we’re supposed to cross, don’t you expect this to create problems? But that’s the way it is on the eastbound 10 at La […]

In the town where I was raisedThe clock ticks and the cattle grazeTime passed with amazing graceBack where I come from "Back Where I Come From"Mac McAnally I got an e-mail from Scott Borchetta, proprietor of Big Machine and Valory Records, singing the praises of both his indie labels and one of his charges, Justin […]

Music used to be regional.  And despite being featured in all the Warner Brothers hype, nowhere I lived ever played Montrose on the radio. But now the satellite’s got a national footprint. Which is how I ended up hearing "Good Rockin’ Tonight". I was driving up a leafy boulevard, the kind upon which XM maintains […]

Usually, they die during Christmas.  The axiom is, if you make it through the holidays, all the way to January 1st, you’re golden, you’re safe. How great was Willie Mitchell? Let’s just say without him, Al Green was never able to ascend to the same height.  And that was positively stratospheric. Thank god there have […]