What kind of crazy, f*cked up world do we live in where we get a better description of, understanding of, delineation of, modern society, from Covid to Trump, in a book as opposed to any other entertainment medium, even the news!

Now at this point Elizabeth Strout is mostly known for “Olive Kitteridge,” an award-winning series on HBO, but an even better book.

And if you dive into Strout’s work you’ll see that she’s mined the life of Olive and those in her environs in a number of books, very well I must say.

But “The Things We Never Say” is different.

And it’s different from so much of what’s out there, Strout is truly in her own lane, what we are waiting for in music, someone who uses the same tools but comes up with something totally unique.

Strout knows the language, but she doesn’t have to let you know she does. It’s akin to a guitarist who knows it’s better to leave stuff out rather than overload you with notes to impress you with their talent. Strout disappears completely in this book, you’re enmeshed with the characters.

Although not really.

You see most people are jabbing hard, or pulling their punches. Can you talk about politics? Can you be friends with someone on the other side? And believe me, Strout takes sides, it’s very clear. She’s anti-Trump, she’s worried about antisemitism, and also worried about the death and destruction in Gaza.

So her beliefs are there, but the stunning thing is your beliefs are embedded inside you and most people rarely verbalize them, for fear of being labeled, misunderstood, ostracized.

That’s one of the main themes in “The Things We Never Say”…can anybody really know another? You can be happily married for decades, but what is truly going on inside of the other person’s brain…you don’t know.

All these human elements are in Strout’s book.

So it’s set on the north shore of Boston. It’s got that New England feel like the Olive Kitteridge books, but Maine is different from Massachusetts. Other than Portland, most of Maine is off the grid, whereas Boston and its environs may in some ways be provincial, but it’s an epicenter of education and research.

So Artie, who comes from nothing, is a teacher. And he’s married to Evie, who comes from something. Evie encounters Artie in a charitable environment and she’s drawn to him, she needs to marry him. And not much more is said about her falling in love in the book, but you get it. Other works go on for pages describing the infatuation, the feelings, but in truth, much love starts with a bolt of lightning, you get a feeling about somebody and…

There’s the tension of the different economic backgrounds, and the judgment that comes along with it.

Artie keeps asking the deep questions, but most people deflect them. Does anybody really want to talk about free will?

But the epigraph at the beginning of the book stunned me, it’s from Carl Jung:

“Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible.

When I read this my eyes bugged-out like in a Looney Tunes cartoon. Most of the stuff that’s important to me people don’t want to talk about, at least in the depth I want to. Can I tell you how much time I spend each day reading ski news? Everybody says they’re into skiing, but I’m REALLY into skiing. And I’m not judging others, but if I want to talk about ramp angle in one’s boots, if I say you really should have at least three pairs of skis…they judge me for those feelings/beliefs, even though World Cup skiers travel with a hundred pairs of skis.

Oh, but I’m not a World Cup skier, I know… But I can feel the difference with equipment, and that’s so important to me. You don’t want an under 100mm ski in deep powder and you certainly don’t want a 120, even a 110 on hard pack.

And now your eyes are rolling into the back of your head.

Or Tucker Carlson… I listened to his interview with the “New York Times” and you should see my inbox… People have gone wild on me, they’re still going wild on me, you’d think I was endorsing Tucker and his positions. But no, I listened to what he said and was analyzing…

It’s just like in the music business, when I want to split hairs and the response is always the same…it sold out, there’s nothing to say! Or it was stiff or…

So I shut up.

And then there’s the issue of secrets being held from you.

And like in that Paul Simon song, “Something So Right”:

“When something goes wrong

I’m the first to admit it

I’m the first to admit it

But the last one to know”

I’ve been doing this so long that I know the most off the wall responses come first. Hell, there was this guy telling me about Blue Dot Fever, about how Chris Stapleton had so many unsold seats for his stadium show in Nashville.

My first reaction was… Well, Chris has been on the road for a while, maybe he’s burned out the fans. But I go on Ticketmaster and every seat for sale was a RESALE seat, there were no primary tickets available, they’d all sold out. But this guy, he was convinced.

I never should have doubted myself.

I live my life on the surface, as in I’m not devious, and therefore I don’t expect it in return. I come from a family of outbursts and arguments, there were no Machiavellian plays made. But I’ve been the butt of covert plans throughout my life. And the weird thing is to a degree that’s how you get ahead. By having plans and doing what’s expedient to get to the destination. And it’s why so many truly successful people have no real friends. They know a lot of people, but someone who’ll come over in the middle of the night, take them to the ER or just listen to their tale of woe…

I’ve been victimized by secrets, by omissions of facts. It’s hard to trust people after that. I’ve gotten over the hump, but this book brings it back. You’ve got your life ordered in one way, and then the apple cart is upset and…

If you grew up in the northeast, there are all the tropes that will make you swoon, the changing of seasons, the color of the leaves, the brisk winter air that requires a heavy coat, the water, but one I’d completely forgotten about was the wrapping of the bushes. Oh, it’s such an effort to live there, unlike Southern California. It builds character, and its residents will tell you so, in many cases they feel superior.

So friendship and relationship arcs…

I had this good friend in college, and he drifted away. I said something to him, that was a mistake. It wasn’t a confrontation, it wasn’t ugly, it’s just that it became clear he’d moved on, it was uncomfortable.

Happened with a good friend just recently. Suddenly the texts and e-mails dropped dramatically. This time I knew not to say anything. We’re still friends, but it’s not the same.

I thought it was just me, but those experiences are right in this book.

Or really connecting with someone and finding out years later that the friendship no longer serves you, that you no longer want to reveal as much to them, be as close.

And Artie’s got feelings that he doesn’t share, but even worse is Evie is oftentimes oblivious, wrapped up in her own world. He wants her to see him, but is she incapable or is she working through her own problems or…

And the weak. Artie stands up for the derided. In truth, very few people do that. You know, the person people make fun of in class. And then there’s those who are troubled, what is really happening in their lives?

I started this book last night and just couldn’t put it down. I was drawn to these people and their lives.

Can you call someone an a**hole even after they’re dead?

What does it take to find a couple you can hang with, the four of you, and be happy.

What are your hopes and desires, can they come true? Will anybody support your vision if you verbalize it, will they not make fun of your dreams?

This is an astounding book. That is totally current. Were you anxious about the 2024 election, were you shocked by Musk and his actions with DOGE? Who are these people, where do they come from? Do we have to be wary of what we say…

And then there are those who just can’t take it anymore and take action…

This is America. “The Things We Never Say” has no answers, but the issues are there, they’re clear. We’re all wandering around, looking for connection, to be known. And we want to be left at peace, free from outside interference.

I mean we’re just living our lives…

They should probably change the name. Most people believe AI actually thinks, akin to a human being. It does not, and if it ever will…that ability is years off according to the experts.

No, what AI does is send out queries and assembles an answer from what comes back. So, when you hear about training… These companies are creating a database, as much information as they can, to which these queries can be sent. As for the process of assembling a final answer from what comes back from said queries…this is where you’ll famously hear that even those in the business don’t know exactly how it works.

But the concept of AI sitting there like you or me, thinking about a question, coming up with an answer, that’s not what is going on at all. And you’ll read all this if you study closely, but most people do not. Older people are caught up in AI hysteria, younger people have already embraced AI, and are using it in school to a degree that is both unknown and unfathomable to oldsters.

So, AI has existed for years and years. Those predictions on your iPhone, you know, when the app to use is suggested? That’s based on your previous behavior, the system has learned to predict what you might want. But you might not want what has been proffered.

Anyway, AI is like socialism. In that it’s already here, embedded deep in our society, the only question is whether we want more. Scratch that, whether there will BE more.

Further socialist inroads are probably at the behest of the government. Then again, when most people learn what socialism truly is they are supportive of its present uses, like Social Security, it’s just that the moniker is deceptive, just like with AI.

We want to have AI in our lives, there are many advantages, many of which you’re already using, like in the iPhone suggestions referenced above. Your phone seems to know that you want Safari or Instagram or TikTok or…

But should we be afraid of AI?

Well, how can we be afraid of it if most people don’t know what it is and how it works?

I’m far from an expert, but I follow this subject to a degree, and even I learned stuff from Joanna Stern’s book.

What you’ve got to know about Joanna Stern…

She was a tech reporter at the “Wall Street Journal” who just left her job to start her own business, you can check it all out at: https://thenewthings.com

But the thing about Joanna is…she’s the anti-Kara Swisher. She isn’t in-your-face confrontational, she’s warm and wry and friendly and honest. It’s an interesting combination.

In other words Joanna Stern is likable, I’d say even lovable!

Unlike seemingly every other media celebrity, when interacting online she is nice, she doesn’t have a hair trigger as a result of enduring so much hate, she always comes across like it’s her first time, bringing people together as opposed to creating division.

And her life story is well-known, in that she met her wife on Twitter and they have two kids and…

This book is the story of not only Joanna, but her family experiencing AI.

So a lot of the book is about using AI toys, the robots, the pets… And what we learn is as good as some of them are, they are not quite ready for prime time.

But as you get deeper into the book…

Joanna tries to have an AI relationship. All we hear is about how evil these are, with little information… Joanna is open-minded and her experience will cause you to think.

Even more so regarding AI in education. She returns to her alma mater, Union College, and takes a class and quizzes the students about their use of AI… What we get here is facts as opposed to hysteria, and we need that.

And then there’s her use of a bot she created to do research that obviates the need for the human help she previously employed…

And it’s all written with Joanna’s sense of humor.

Now if you know nothing about AI I’d say this is a must-read, in that it humanizes AI, brings it down to the level of the average person.

If you’re an expert?

Well, you’ll still learn stuff.

But we need more of this, AI use and analysis thereof in today’s society. Too many people view AI like social media, that it’s the devil and should be avoided before it is killed. But you’ve got to experience these platforms before you can render a worthy opinion.

Joanna helps you get there.

Whilst revealing personal information which makes the book almost an autobiography. Talking about her relationship with her high school and college boyfriend Evan, her interaction with Michele and her kids…

So far, this is the only book on this subject written from ground level by a user.

And for that reason it is valuable.

From: Dayna Goldfine Geller/Goldfine Productions

Subject: PETER ASHER: Everywhere Man — THANK YOU!

Date: May 14, 2026 at 10:13:37?PM PDT

Dear Bob,

WOW… I can’t tell you how much your piece on our Peter Asher film meant to two VERY indie filmmakers up here in San Francisco.

Thanks for taking a gamble and watching despite your initial reluctance.

EVERYWHERE MAN was a labor of love in every sense of the word. Ironically, it was inspired on a long-ago night back in 2012 when an old friend called me to say he had an extra ticket to see a new cabaret show starring his friend, Linda Ronstadt’s ex-manager and producer, Peter Asher. Truth be told, at the time I had absolutely no idea who Peter Asher was [2012 was four years before my husband and filmmaking partner, Dan Geller and I began work on our first music doc, HALLELUJAH: Leonard Cohen, a Journey, a Song.  So we weren’t yet immersed in that  world]. 

Nope… I didn’t grab that spare ticket to see Peter Asher, I went to the show with the much more mercenary goal of getting to meet Linda Ronstadt, who so generously provided the soundtrack of my high school years.

Long story short, I happily seated myself beside Linda, the lights went down, Peter and his small band took the stage, and within 5 minutes I was smitten by him, the music and the cultural moments incapsulated in his life story. I went home that night and told Dan that I’d just witnessed the perfect subject for a documentary.

Flash forward several years… Dan and I had become friends with Linda, and she mentioned that Peter was returning to SF with his Memoir show. This time Dan came too, Linda introduced us to Peter after the show and we floated the idea of this documentary. Peter being Peter, the first thing he said was, “But aren’t you making a film about Leonard Cohen? I’m certainly no Leonard Cohen!” 

Okay… that’s probably lots more than you wanted to know, but it’s all to say that your words mean the world to us!

With gratitude, Dayna Goldfine (and Dan Geller)

____________________________________________

From: Ed Trunk

Subject: Re: More Blue Dot Fever

Date: May 15, 2026 at 8:13:15?PM PDT

Hey Bob

In my view there is a huge part of this being overlooked; flex pricing. It was only going to be a matter of time before the public figured out to just wait till the day before or day of a show and they would get in way cheaper in many cases. It didn’t take long for people to start talking to others sitting next to them and find out they paid way more , or way less, than they did. It doesn’t feel great to find out the ticket you paid $400 for the person next to you got for $59 that day. 

There are now sites dedicated to showing the price drops. 

If more and more people wait it out, how will anyone really know how the show is ultimately going to do? People are figuring out most shows are going to drop , 4 for $100 deals, or in casinos and other settings free / papered tickets. Sure there’s a segment of people for a hot show that will have FOMO and buy 8 months out. But even many of those shows  drop close to the actual date. Especially if holds and unsold VIPs come available. I hear about it all the time on my radio show from fans. To me it’s a huge issue promoters are going to have to figure out. Because more and more fans are every day. 

Eddie Trunk

TrunkNation SiriusXM Radio:

M-F 3-5P ET Faction Talk 103

Monday’s 5-8P ET 39 Hair Nation

Eddie Trunk Rocks FM/Syndicated

The Eddie Trunk Podcast 

www.EddieTrunk.com 

@EddieTrunk X, IG, FB (page)

____________________________________________

Subject: Re: Blue Dot Fever

Date: May 13, 2026 at 10:16:24?PM PDT

I promoted a show with Bill Cosby 25 years ago that came out of the gate very slow. Agent called and said he wanted to cancel. Got Cosby on a conference all to discuss how we announce the cancellation. Do we say “Scheduling difficulties,” etc? “Tell them the truth!,” Cosby bellowed. “Tell them tickets didn’t sell!” So there you have it. For obvious reasons, Cosby may not be the best example to illustrate this, but it was actually refreshing to hear an artist be honest about it and when you actually tell the truth, the story goes away.

Brian Martin

Martin Media

____________________________________________

Subject: Re: More Blue Dot Fever

Date: May 15, 2026 at 5:40:20?PM PDT

Bob,

I remember waiting to get into a show at Winterland, and a guy was going down the line asking for a penny from each person hoping to get the 400 pennies he needed for a ticket. After the doors opened I saw him inside.

David Epstein

____________________________________________

From: Chip Lovitt

Subject: Re: More Blue Dot Fever

Date: May 16, 2026 at 6:49:48?AM PDT

Yeah everybody I know who saw Bruce Springsteen paid $500 for a seat. Or to stand for three hours. My son included.  I blame myself. I should have never let him hear the Tunnel of Love LP. 

Sent from my iPhone

____________________________________________

From: Don VanCleave

Subject: Re: TikTok

Date: May 11, 2026 at 12:18:11?PM PDT

Tik Tok is key for my bands. While you can’t engineer virality, you can use interesting content to boost songs and squeeze out more streaming. Especially album tracks that are not the single. Film a great 6 or 10 second piece of content. If it connects all of a sudden, the sound will mushroom into hundreds of user videos and the corresponding effect on Spotify is instant. You just can’t get that on any other platform. We love it!

Don VanCleave

____________________________________________

From: MICHAEL ROSS

Subject: Vince Gill

Date: May 8, 2026 at 12:52:13?PM PDT

Hi Bob

Great interview with Vince Gill. Met him and interviewed him a couple of times in Nashville where he is known to some as St Vince. He got that nickname for being such a great guy. He had what was known as as the Vince Gill pawnshop where down on their luck guitarists could sell him guitars for a fair price and then buy them back for the same price when they got back on their feet. 

____________________________________________

From: Pat O’Connor

Subject: Fwd: Sony Buys Recognition

Date: May 11, 2026 at 2:42:39?PM PDT

Hi Bob,

One note regarding Primary Wave and their new releases … they released Robert Randolph’s  “Preacher Kids” album last year and won a 2026 Grammy – Robert’s first Grammy win after 6 nominations with his prior major. The album was definitely amazing, but I also think Justin, Larry, and Dominic at Primary Wave, and Jason at Red Light, did an incredible job in making the release significant, probably more than a major might have been able to do. I’m sure it also helped to have Robert out there crushing it live … he’s as good as it gets.

It feels like Primary Wave has really established themselves as more than just a force as a rights-holder, and really more of a new paradigm for the music industry. Always refreshing to see good guys doing well.

Keep the faith Bob … Keep doing well, God bless, GOGETEM, and keep being YOU!

Pat

____________________________________________

From: tom werman

Subject: Re: Mailbag

Date: April 30, 2026 at 10:04:03?AM PDT

A brief addendum to the nice emails about Nick Lowe —

Gregg Geller brought us backstage to meet Nick following his show at Tanglewood; he remains the most courteous, hospitable, modest and accommodating artist I’d met in 30 years of introductions.

Tom Werman

____________________________________________

From: Jerry J. Sharell

Subject: Re: NYT 30 Greatest Living Songwritrers

Date: April 30, 2026 at 3:05:46?PM PDT

These lists always cause such controversy. Jimmy Webb? Stevie Nicks? Billy Joel? Pretty shocking omissions. And of course, I’ll always fight for the magnificent Barry Manilow. Even Now, Could It Be Magic, It’s A Miracle, Copa, This One’s for You, his 2AM Paradise Cafe album, his broadway musical, Harmony…? Is his schmaltz schmaltzier than a (brilliant) Diane Warren ballad? (Unbreak My Heart vs Even Now.) Is his kitsch kitschier than Newman? (I Love LA vs Copacabana.) I want to yell at critics to get off their high horse and for other “cool” artists to come out as “Fanilows” – and show their appreciation for the stellar music creator and insanely exceptional entertainer he is.

Jerry J. Sharell

____________________________________________

From: Wim Reijnen

Subject: Re: Buying Gas

Date: April 29, 2026 at 9:08:28?PM PDT

Hi Bob,

Thanks for your column on gas prices.Due to the war, the gas prices obviously are going through the roof globally too. At my place in Belgium I’m paying 1.829 euro a liter, which equals to USD 8.09 a gallon. Six miles down the road in The Netherlands it currently stands at USD 11.15 a gallon, causing traffic jams at the Belgian gas stations at the border with the Dutch swinging by for substantial savings.

Best regards,

Wim Reijnen

____________________________________________

From: Frazier Music Group

Subject: Long time my friend

Date: May 6, 2026 at 5:08:21?PM PDT

Bob

I’ll just let you know for the record that Bailey Zimmerman wasn’t found by “some guy”.  It was me and I brought to Chief as a strategic partner and Co-Managed him 50/50 with The Core and with 10th Street where I was a JV partner

I discovered him and it was me who got his record deal offer started with Jason Flom. We ultimately signed with Elektra / Warner after a bidding war.

Scott Frazier

____________________________________________

From: Steven Ehrlick

Subject: Herb Alpert tour at 91 years old!

Date: May 16, 2026 at 11:57:01?AM PDT

Hi Bob. Months ago you wrote about this show and encouraged your readers not to miss Her Alpert if he came to your town. Alpert played Massey Hall last night. I took my wife and step sons (17), a birthday present to myself. We were blown away. It was so good and the audience loved it. I think I remember you saying that Alpert wasn’t considered cool back then and I agree, he wasn’t. I didn’t buy his albums or singles. And yet, like you, I knew every one of his songs. Late to the party but I’m a converted fan.

Thanks for the tip.

Regards,

Steven Ehrlick

____________________________________________

From: randy badazz alpert

Subject: Re: Fwd: Herb Alpert tour at 91 years old!

Date: May 16, 2026 at 3:55:00?PM PDT

Thank You for this nice note Bob…  FYI, I spoke with Herb a couple months ago about winding down at the end of this year and he said, “What about Europe in 2027?  Herb are you sure?  Yes, let’s explore some other countries.   So, 10 days ago I confirmed Herb for a 5 city tour of the UK in May 2027 that includes Royal Albert Hall. Herbie will be 92.  Am now looking into Germany, France, The Netherlands and maybe in June, Japan and Australia.  Crazy. 

____________________________________________

Subject: Re: The Peter Asher Movie

The first rock concert I went to as a teeny-bopper was Peter & Gordon at the Alexandria Roller Rink in Virginia.  Decades later I was backstage at a Linda Ronstadt concert in Santa Barbara with my boyfriend (later husband) and Peter hit on me. My life had come full circle.

France Komoroske

How early did I have to get there to get a good seat?

Then again, how many people were going to show up to see a 78 year old act who never had a breakthrough hit?

A full house.

That was surprising.

But not as surprising as Willie Nile’s show.

I bought that first Willie Nile album, I know who he is, but I’d never seen him until last night.

Now I get it.

And I don’t think you can capture his act on wax.

It’s not that he doesn’t have the songs or the voice, it’s just the energy, the sheer emotion and joy of his performance, cannot be set and preserved in amber. You have to be there.

Has the entire script flipped?

It used to be all about getting a record deal. But now unless you’re a star, you earn bupkes making records. And the truth is you didn’t make much before, but at least the record company kept you alive for the length of the contract, could be up to five albums on Warner Brothers, even if you never had a hit.

But today you can’t even get signed if you don’t have a hit that you created by yourself, online. And the goal of the record company is to blow you and said hit up. And it pushes all these buttons that don’t have the same effect they used to. And if you don’t make music in defined categories, they don’t even want to know your name.

So supposedly Willie has a band, which he took on the Rock Legends Cruise, that he performs with elsewhere, but this was a solo performance. And to tell you the truth, I think last night’s show would have been hampered by a band, it would dilute the rawness which is part of Nile’s appeal. He’s right there with you.

Nile is a late exponent of the singer/songwriter movement of the seventies, his first album came out in 1980, at the dawn of the MTV era, he was a man out of time.

And speaking of time, listening to Willie I’m thinking more 1962 than 1972. Willie’s songs are usually not about quiet, internal feelings, they lean more towards anthems, they have a message, and that message resonates. Just like in the folk era of the pre-Beatle world.

Now ultimately those folk acts were wiped out if they didn’t have hit singles, most of them were gone by 1965, if not 1964, but that feeling, the emotion, the directness, people still yearn for that. And I don’t know if you can capture that in a recording, which is why SNL is live. When you’re doing it without a net, without the chance of a do-over, it amps up your performance, the audience can see you walking the wire.

Now I’d be lying if I said I knew Willie’s repertoire. But the mark of a good songwriter is the listener can get their songs the first time through, and that’s how it was last night. I caught the lyrics, they resonated.

So Willie hits the stage and…

He keeps strumming the guitar, there’s no downtime, no air, he just keeps that pick going down, never up, to the degree where he kept ripping up picks. But that meant the fever pitch never faded. Willie would be telling stories between numbers, but this ain’t “Alice’s Restaurant,” it’s not about the patter, but the stories, the intros, do add flavor.

So I’m sitting there getting it and I think the only thing standing between Willie Nile and stardom is people seeing and hearing him in performance. It’s a double-edged sword, without a hit no one will come, but just trying to write singles in the form of those in the hit parade doesn’t work either.

Not that Nile’s songs are obtuse, anything but. Most could be covered by anybody. But they’re not moon in June, they’ve got more substance than that.

So I guess you’d say Nile is a troubadour, the essence of that word, he travels from town to town, delivering his message. Not expecting a sudden conflagration, instant notice…

As a matter of fact, Willie got that, a review of his show at Kenny’s Castaways by Robert Palmer of the “New York Times” that got the record companies calling. And I’m sure what Palmer saw was amazing, but how long was Clive going to stay on board without a hit?

So Willie still lives in a fifth floor walkup in Greenwich Village. He used to lament the climb, but now he believes it’s contributing to his health. And his dad is the 19th oldest male in America, at age 108 1/2. So maybe Willie’s got a long road ahead of him.

But maybe not, you never know.

So you keep on keepin’ on.

Only most don’t. They go back to school, they go to work at daddy’s company, after all you’ve got to have a roof over your head and food on the table and…

Now because the means of production and distribution are readily accessible to all today, the world is littered with those who are ultimately wannabes, who would have been squeezed out of the system previously, who just aren’t good enough.

And I’m sitting there listening to Willie and thinking he’s definitely good enough.

And he’s got no airs. When asked to be on the Legends Cruise…he questioned himself, is he a legend? But he went over big, has been asked back at more money, because if you see this guy…

If you want to energize your affair, make it memorable, hire Willie Nile to play a few numbers. He’ll wake the crowd up, get them singing along, get them believing. Not by playing a star, but by playing music.

I’m not telling you to pull up his albums on Spotify. I’m telling you if Willie Nile is playing anywhere near you to go and see him.

You won’t be disappointed.

But more than that you’ll be inspired, you’ll marvel, you’ll say THIS IS IT!

And it is.