From: george drakoulias<\/p>\n
Subject: Re: Forever Young<\/p>\n
Date: November 2, 2025 at 5:55:22?PM PST<\/p>\n
Bob ever see this, spectacular<\/p>\n
<\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>_________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>From: Harvey Goldsmith<\/p>\n<p>Subject: Grateful Dead<\/p>\n<p>Date: November 15, 2025 at 2:20:12?AM PST<\/p>\n<p>Dear Bob<\/p>\n<p>Great piece on the Dead.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I first met them in 1968 when they played a free show in Golden Gate Park. I was on a Greyhound Bus enroute to the Y in downtown San Francisco when driving over Golden Gate Bridge I saw a large crowd in the park. I dumped my bags asked for directions and found myself at the concert. I made my way to the front of the stage and told the security guy that I was the biggest promoter in Europe. He told the tour manager who welcomed me backstage saying he loved my British accent. I met the band and was offered a drink. It was only later that I was told not to drink anything that had been opened. I woke up two days later not knowing where I was. They had spiked my drink with acid.<\/p>\n<p>The band took care of me and we became friends. They only came to Europe twice and I presented them at The Rainbow Theatre.<\/p>\n<p>Every year when they played a run at The Beacon they invited me over.<\/p>\n<p>No airs or graces but best band in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Harvey Goldsmith<\/p>\n<p>_________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Subject: Re: The Lilith Fair Movie<\/p>\n<p>Date: September 27, 2025 at 10:52:34?AM PDT<\/p>\n<p>Hi Bob<\/p>\n<p>Haven’t watched the doc yet, but planned to this weekend. I was a regional promotion man for Sony Nashville\/Monument Records, the year the (Dixie) Chicks were a part of Lilith Fair.\u00a0 I accompanied them on a few of the shows in the northeast. Your email this week brought back a flood of memories…riding rides after hours at Hershey Park with the cast and crew of the tour, losing my phone at Merriweather Post Pavillion – someone found it and rang my “Home” number in the address book, my wife answered as they said, “We have your ….” and the battery died! She thought I’d been kidnapped! Mostly I remember how sweet Sarah was to me when I arrived before the Chicks at one show with no place else to go on a Saturday afternoon, allowing me to hang in her air-conditioned dressing room, feeding me and chatting all afternoon. I’ve told almost anyone who’s ever asked me about my career and the artists I’ve worked with, when asked who was the nicest….the answer is easily Sarah McLaughlin. As good as many notable artists have been to me throughout the years, Sarah had no reason to acknowledge me, let alone be kind to me,\u00a0 yet went way out of her way to make feel comfortable and valuable.<\/p>\n<p>The shows of that year’s tour were unbelievable…Sheryl Crow, Liz Phair, The Indigo Girls, Emmylou Harris – all people I’d known, booked or worked with prior – plus Meredith Brooks, Erykah Badu, Bonnie Raitt & Queen Latifah…one killer set after another and the collabs were truly inspired! Every tour and\/or festival should aspire to be what Sarah built in those few summers! Nowadays, everything just feels like a money-grab. Those shows had SOUL … and they pissed off Jerry Falwell on top of it, so what’s not to LOVE??<\/p>\n<p>Can’t wait to see the film now, Bob -I’m gonna get that on right now!<\/p>\n<p>Bob Reeves<\/p>\n<p>Nashville, TN<\/p>\n<p>_________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>From: Jon Pleeter<\/p>\n<p>Subject: Re: The Dead<\/p>\n<p>Date: November 15, 2025 at 10:41:51?AM PST<\/p>\n<p>Bob, bullseye.<\/p>\n<p>I am a Deadhead of many years, and I have represented many K Pop artists over the course of my career. \u00a0I have attended many K Pop shows, Super M, Monsta X, Chung Ha, MCT, and others\u2026.and what struck me were the similarities between a K Pop show and a Dead show.<\/p>\n<p>Both instances, it\u2019s 50\/50, the fans and the band creating the magic in the building, equally. \u00a0The intimate relationship between the humans on stage and the humans in the chair.<\/p>\n<p>Have you seen the per\/head at the merch stand at K Pop shows?<\/p>\n<p>People thought I was nuts when I claimed there are numerous similarities between the two The Dead and K Pop.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019re correct, there is no way to plot this course, except to be authentic with your fans. \u00a0Whatever happens after that is up to natural course of things.<\/p>\n<p>To replicate what the Dead did, there is no way. \u00a0No matter if you are Phish, DMB, Widespread\u2026..as you said it\u2019s about the impact on culture. \u00a0It\u2019s deeper than the music. \u00a0It\u2019s a lifestyle, and when the masses jump on board, culture is impacted.<\/p>\n<p>We are still in the early stages of the impact K Pop will ultimately have. \u00a0K Culture runs deep, beyond the music. \u00a0There is K fashion, there is K food, there is K Pop. \u00a0It is indeed a wave.<\/p>\n<p>We could all learn a thing or two by taking a page out of the K Pop model. \u00a0How to value the fan, how to superserve the fan, and overdeliver. \u00a0When those seeds are sown, the fan will be with you for the long haul, and feel a part of it, having their hands in the clay, and taking ownership.<\/p>\n<p>That is the ultimate goal, but the work must be put in.<\/p>\n<p>These days, it seems transactional, the Artist wants the fan to buy the ticket, buy the merch, but what are they doing to invest in the fan? \u00a0Are they delivering? \u00a0Are they overdelivering? \u00a0Are they playing the long game?<\/p>\n<p>Jon Pleeter<\/p>\n<p>JPA<\/p>\n<p>_________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>From: John Dick<\/p>\n<p>Subject: Re: Gen Z Disillusionment<\/p>\n<p>Date: November 4, 2025 at 9:58:29?AM PST<\/p>\n<p>Spot on. This is a central theme of my stump speech over the last several months.<\/p>\n<p>Typically, when we survey people asking them “When was America at its greatest?” every age group overwhelmingly cites the decade during which they were a teenager. This is the first generation to more commonly answer a decade that happened before they were born. It explains, among many other things, the power of nostalgia in marketing among Gen Z – ie. the popularity of Stranger Things and why my daughters have stolen all my Nirvana and Sublime shirts. It has all sorts of broader implications on Gen Z’s mental health, media habits, consumerism, and political dispositions as you mentioned.<\/p>\n<p>Most people think it’s all very sad – which it is. But it also gives me hope that they’ll be the generation that actually changes things. They’re not so deluded or narcissistic to believe the world is the way it’s supposed to be.<\/p>\n<p>Great piece as always my friend.<\/p>\n<p>I hope you’re happy and healthy.<\/p>\n<p>John<\/p>\n<p>_________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Subject: Re: E-Mail Of The Day<\/p>\n<p>Date: October 1, 2025 at 4:24:33?PM PDT<\/p>\n<p>Democrats offer nothing to Republicans. Republicans offer no boys competing in girls sports. That my pet issue. Im not voting Democrat again. Im not sitting out of elections, im voting for my issue.<\/p>\n<p>Abortion doesn’t matter to me. Schools\/Colleges don’t mean anything to me. Pay your bills like I do. Health Care doesn’t matter to me. Prepare yourself to be desirable for employment. I dont care about illegal aliens. I really dont. Leave and come back correctly. I dont care about gun laws, they are all a joke.<\/p>\n<p>My vote is for men staying out of girls sports. Thats it. I don’t even care what you think about anything. Trump wins again. I win removing cheaters in school sports.<\/p>\n<p>This is reality.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Badynee<\/p>\n<p>_________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>From: Steve Berlin<\/p>\n<p>Subject: Re: Bondi In Congress<\/p>\n<p>Date: October 7, 2025 at 11:15:52?PM PDT<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s my question for all those MAGA\u2019s that for whatever reason still follow you and feel compelled to continually tell you how wrong your take on America is- explain in detail without bullsh*t MAGA tropes how Trump has improved any aspect of your life. Literally any aspect whatsoever. Unless they\u2019re a f*cking billionaire somehow paying less than the appalling pittance that 60 years of Republican mendacity has let them get away with, it\u2019s impossible for me to imagine a single aspect of our daily existence that is \u2018better\u2019 since the Republican coup. Health care with or without the Dem\u2019s sudden appearance of a spine is about to skyrocket. Every single thing in American life is exponentially more expensive and harder to acquire and for what? Let\u2019s get one of your MAGA bitches to answer how all of this insanity in service of billionaires paying less than nothing is somehow beneficial to their own lives. All I know is it’s precipitously impacted my life as a touring musician in the worst ways imaginable and I\u2019m one of the luckiest people on the planet with a working band that can still tour and survive for now. I shudder to think what happens when my and everyone else’s health care expenses quadruple at a minimum with no plan in place to ameliorate it and no one currently in power who could give two sh*ts about it whatsoever.<\/p>\n<p>_________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>Subject: Re: The Springsteen Flick<\/p>\n<p>Date: October 24, 2025 at 10:39:09?AM PDT<\/p>\n<p>Hi Bob, greetings from Turkey. So it will be a while before I see this film. Btw, this country is amazing and the people are the most beautiful and respectful I\u2019ve ever met.<\/p>\n<p>Like you, I have a problem with biopics while the artist or main character is still alive. We still have the real article, so it\u2019s odd to see even the greatest of actors try to become that person.<\/p>\n<p>When I first heard \u201cNebraska\u201d I felt that it was very strong and an important work, even if it was sparse on production. Bruce\u2019s singing made all of it so real, haunting, and authentic. Some of my favorite Bruce songs are from this album. Let\u2019s not forget, some of the most iconic Bob Dylan records are just a voice, guitar, and harmonica.<\/p>\n<p>Yes, rock radio and the consultants at the time were very skittish about playing it. But I felt that after all Bruce had accomplished up to this point with \u201cBorn To Run,\u201d \u201cDarkness, \u201cThe River,\u201d and over-the-top concerts boasting four encores a night, he\u2019d earned the right for the public to hear these tracks. So, to set the record straight, I didn\u2019t beg rock radio to play it, I got strong and insisted they do. As most people know, my usual promotion style was respectful and organic but on this project I had to summon the powers I had using all of Columbia\u2019s major acts as leverage. I actually told folks, including the big three consultants at the time if they didn\u2019t put this album in a strong rotation out of the box they could lose my phone number. Let the public decide, I said. Lots of people were shocked, this was the opposite of my usual personality. They all said the same thing to me. \u201cRap, this is not like you, are you going to hold me up?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As I write in my book, I had never seen an artist so driven and with such a work ethic like Bruce. So, I said, \u201cNot for just anyone. But for Bruce Springsteen at this height of his career I will. He\u2019s EARNED the right for you guys and rock radio to have his back on this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNebraska\u201d was heard quite clearly on 150 rock stations across the country for at least a month. We sold over one million albums.<\/p>\n<p>Paul Rappaport<\/p>\n<p>_________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>From: Dave Schools<\/p>\n<p>Subject: Re: John Lodge<\/p>\n<p>Date: October 12, 2025 at 12:48:01?AM GMT+9<\/p>\n<p>Hey Bob,<\/p>\n<p>I’m listening to Every Good Boy Deserves Favour after reading your piece about the passing of John Lodge – it was one of the first cassettes my encouraging parents bought me (the other was Exile on Main Street). And it was transportive to my young ears. Before this it had been a steady progression from Disney albums to CCR and Beatles 45s…but the Moody Blues were literally a trip: the opening track “Procession” was unlike anything I had ever heard before. 12 seconds of silence to 50 seconds of distant synth decay – thunder and rain – the band singing the words “desolation – creation” – piano playing the notes E\/G\/B\/D\/F – crickets w primal drumbeat – the band singing the word “communication” – drumbeat\/chanting – Gregorian monks – an Arabian melody – a bucolic flute melody – a harpsichord variation – a church organ resolving into a beautiful mellotron string progression – final button with electric guitar harmony statement – hard slam into “The Story In Your Eyes,” a song that remains in my opinion to be one of the tightest most melodic art\/prog\/pop rock songs with all the hallmarks of classic Moody Blues: love song lyrics, soaring background vocal pads, and the piano driven outro. I was hooked.<\/p>\n<p>I realize that what I wrote above was an overly detailed description of the first 4:40 of a 1971 record. Later I learned that the title Every Good Boy Deserves Favour was a mnemonic device to recall the notes of the treble clef. The theme is scattered throughout the record as is a return to the “desolation creation communication” lyrical theme. In the classic prog tradition the songs cross fade into one another from “Procession” across the entire album leading to the 6:30 opus “My Song,” which is a journey in and of itself recalling themes stated in “Procession.” Conceptual continuity. A listening experience.<\/p>\n<p>Included in the menu is John Lodge’s “Emily’s Song,” a beautiful ballad for his newborn daughter. And an indication of the beginning of a soul’s procession through life. Songs with themes about eyes and seeing return. A classic prog record bordering on the dreaded “C Word,” as Phil Walden called it: CONCEPT ALBUM. How dare they!<\/p>\n<p>As a child on the verge of becoming entirely immersed in contemporary music I didn’t know what to make of this album as a whole. After a steady diet of parentally approved happy pop singles and AM radio in the car on the way to elementary school this album was a challenge that became a fascination that became a search that became a journey that became the arc of my life. A search not for the lost chord but for a way to express myself musically and then to find a like minded group of friends who were also looking for something that we couldn’t put into words but rather into songs. Together.<\/p>\n<p>All of the era’s album oriented experiments gave us permission to think outside of the box and it had nothing to do with the actual craft and rules of creating hits but rather a group search for a way to forge something unique. Something that entertained us first and foremost. Something that satisfied a need to transport ourselves out of the milieu of the mid 80’s. I am grateful to still be on that journey with my friends (family to be sure) and that music is still being created by modern artists that can unite people in these dark divisive times. Or at least give them a break from the chaos sh*t that continually floods the zone.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>I’m grateful to my parents for encouraging my preoccupation with music and art. I am grateful for groups like The Moody Blues for giving me permission to let it fly. John Lodge was a distinct part of the Moody Blues although I don’t recall there being photos of the group on this record. I never knew what they looked like (until the “Moodies” somehow made the miraculous leap from 70’s FM radio to the 80’s and MTV). \u00a0Their personalities and looks weren’t the point – the music was the driving force. Many of my favorite records didn’t feature group shots: In The Court of the Crimson King, Dark Side of the Moon, Houses of the Holy. Because it was about the music. The music was the message. And the message was PERMISSION.<\/p>\n<p>May it ever continue to be so – at least in the minds of artists who simply want to create.<\/p>\n<p>Bonus content: One of the first songs Widespread Panic played was “Knights In White Satin.” I don’t even know why: it sure seemed cheesefrog in 1986. Nonetheless we occasionally performed the song. One night we played it at our regular Atlanta gig at Little Five Points Pub and unbeknownst to us the founder of indie label Landslide Records, the great Michael Rothschild, was in the audience.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>After he had signed us and we had finished recording Space Wrangler Michael Rothschild came to give us a pep talk about the release of the album and some expectations he had of us as far as doing press and extending our touring range. He only had one request – which was not to play the emphasis track every night. Nope. Rather his sole request was that we immediately cease and desist playing “Knights In White Satin.” In hindsight Michael taught us a great lesson: stop playing half-assed classic rock cover songs and replace them with our originals. A lesson we “kind of” learned. I guess.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>And then he gave us a cassette tape of Meters tunes to listen to in the van as we traversed what Phil Walden said was “a big country.” Transportive. Grateful.<span class=\"Apple-converted-space\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Cheers,<\/p>\n<p>das<\/p>\n<p>_________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>From: Joe Wilford<\/p>\n<p>Subject: Saul Zabar RIP<\/p>\n<p>Date: October 10, 2025 at 10:17:02?PM PDT<\/p>\n<p>Is Saul Zabar on your radar, Bob? He should be.<\/p>\n<p>In 1989, Saul Zabar gave me a job and rented me a studio apartment. I told him I was from Iowa and had a dream. I wanted to be a rock n roll star, be in a band, and be where the action was, Manhattan, and that I needed a job that paid enough to be able to afford to live there. I was young, full of piss and vinegar, very determined. To Saul\u2019s credit, he did not dismiss my desires as so much foolishness. Instead, he decided he would support me and my dream. But I would work for him. He made it happen. I worked hard. Nights and weekends. 60 hours sometimes. Still, my band rehearsed twice a week in the old music building on 8th Ave. We got gigs all over lower Manhattan. Saul even brought his wife Carol to a show at the Speakeasy. We were loud, he didn\u2019t enjoy it. But he didn\u2019t have to do that, and yet there he was. Maybe he thought it was part of the trade off.<\/p>\n<p>In a relatively short period of time\u00a0– Saul took me under his wing at the store, challenging me, teaching me and always giving me more responsibilities. He apprenticed me in the fine and delicate art of buying smoked fish for Zabar\u2019s. We\u2019d drive out to several Brooklyn smokehouses each week, placing orders for thousands of pounds of lox, smoked salmon, whitefish, sable and sturgeon. They pulled out racks of smoked salmon for Saul to inspect and taste. You really know the measure of a man by the way people treat them. The smoked fish vendors showed him an uncanny level of respect, as though a god was walking among them.<\/p>\n<p>Never mind my dream of being a\u00a0rock star, under the tutelage of Saul, eventually the inventory of the entire appetizing department was in my hands – an incredible honor. A farm boy from Iowa! A gentile!<\/p>\n<p>The studio apartment he rented me gave way to a proper, albeit modest one bedroom apartment. And my pay soon far eclipsed what I had ever before made in my life. I could afford more guitars, gear, and most of all, recording studio time. It was all happening.<\/p>\n<p>By the mid 90\u2019s my band had pressed 2 CD\u2019s of original material. We were shopping the labels. As it happened, a Sony records exec named Harvey Leeds had a birthday wish to spend one day working behind the scenes at Zabar\u2019s. An unusual wish, but he got it. The store\u2019s general manager, Scott Goldshine, knew the score. He sent Harvey to work with me. And as such, I spent several hours with Harvey. We packed containers of gefilte fish. Put labels on packages of whitefish salad and pickled herring. I asked for Harvey\u2019s information- and told him I would follow up with him. I wanted him to listen to my bands CD.<\/p>\n<p>Weeks later, when my calls to his office for a meeting went unreturned, I sent over a Zabar\u2019s platter of bagels w\/lox and cream cheese. Within an hour, my phone rang. It was Harvey. \u2018Now you\u2019ve got my attention,\u2019 he said. And following that an appointment at Sony records.<\/p>\n<p>To his credit, Harvey listened to my bands CD. He said he would pass it along, but Sony wasn\u2019t interested in alt country bands at that time. They were looking for jam bands, like Moe, or the next Rage Against the Machine.<\/p>\n<p>But none of that really matters. I was able to get an audience. A glimpse. A shot. And it was all because of Saul Zabar.<\/p>\n<p>I was continually intrigued by Saul himself, as he was truly unlike anyone I have ever met. He was difficult to please, meticulous and demanding and naturally he expected an exceedingly elevated level of hard work and dedication from his employees. You might expect that a man in his position wouldn\u2019t bother getting his hands dirty with the menial labor that is required to run a store which makes upwards of 60 million per year. But Saul was as much in the trenches and on the front lines as his employees were. He is not afraid to get his hands dirty – indeed he would work elbow to elbow with anyone\u00a0 – anywhere in the store. When a refrigeration unit broke down – he was the first one on his hands and knees on the floor, in the grime and grease with a flashlight and screwdriver taking apart the console to see what was wrong. Some of us joked about him being \u2018The Grey Ghost,\u2019 because he seemed to be everywhere in the store, omnipresent.<\/p>\n<p>Over time, I realized that the store was to Saul Zabar what music was to me. An art, an inspiration, a craft, an adventure to be explored, savored and cherished. His creative outlet. It doesn\u2019t matter what form it takes on – our art feeds our souls. The store was Saul\u2019s art, his canvas. He obsessed over it the way any mad, creative genius would.<\/p>\n<p>Saul Zabar\u2019s legacy will live on. A legend, an icon, a mentor, boss, friend, and father figure – not just to me, ask any of the employees at Zabar\u2019s. They will tell you. To me, he was all these things, but he was also a rock star.<\/p>\n<p>Joe Wilford<\/p>\n<p>_________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>From: John Brodey<\/p>\n<p>Subject: Re: Update<\/p>\n<p>Date: November 25, 2025 at 8:31:55?AM PST<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for the wonderful insight into Jimmy!\u00a0 You hit it spot on and to the late arrivals who think they know better…shut the hell up!\u00a0 If you weren’t there then you don’t know sh*t.\u00a0 I was.<\/p>\n<p>I started on the air at WBCN in the late sixties.\u00a0 In Jan. of 1972 I was told to take a vacation, which we never did because of FOMO.\u00a0 What great shows might we be missing? So needing to get out of town and working for peanuts, I asked a travel agent who advertised with us where could I go for a week where it’s warm and won’t cost more than $400.\u00a0 He said Jamaica.<\/p>\n<p>He had booked me in a strange hostel type hotel in Ocho Rios.\u00a0 I remember the ride there from Montego Bay and hearing these pounding beats coming out of the forest.\u00a0 The whole island pulsed.<\/p>\n<p>When I got there, I’m walking down the main drag and I hear these speakers in front of a store booming out the real sh*t.\u00a0 I walked right into The Super Star Record Shack and there was Rudy McFarland who I soon realized was one of the island’s greatest champions of Reggae.\u00a0 I started asking questions and we connected. 4 spliffs later I was sold.\u00a0 The next night Rudy said ‘we got to go to da moovies’.\u00a0 We met in front of this theater looking building.\u00a0 Inside it looked like the real thing, slanted floor and soft lights on the side walls to help you find your seat and the big screen.\u00a0 Then I look up and see stars… there was no roof!\u00a0 It was like a drive in.\u00a0 The wooden seats spoke to the fact that it often rained on the whole place.\u00a0 The movie was of course was The Harder They Come.\u00a0 I couldn’t believe it.\u00a0 The music was visceral and infectious. It consumed you.\u00a0 I couldn’t understand the dialogue but the plot wasn’t hard to figure out and the sound track emerged as the star.\u00a0 Rudy and I hit a lot of clubs and out door parties in Fern Gully.\u00a0 It was wild.<\/p>\n<p>When my week was up, I left for home with a trove of vinyl from Rudy.\u00a0 I made sure we started playing Toots, Melodians etc. on the air right away.\u00a0 I then went to the guys at the Orson Wells theater and said; you’ve got to get a hold of this film, here’s Chris Blackwell’s contact info, make it a midnight thing, we’ll pump it and people will have their minds blown. Chris tweaked the movie with subtitles and it only got better.\u00a0 It played there for years.<\/p>\n<p>We opened the door for Reggae and were the first station to give it a chance.\u00a0 I went back to Jamaica the following three years and Rudy took me to Tuff Gong studios in Kingston where we did a couple of 20 hours shifts and where most of the greats spent time i.e. Peter Tosh cut his first solo lp there.\u00a0 He took me to innumerable shows.\u00a0 In Feb of ’73 we brought Toots and the Maytals to Boston to play at the Orson Wells theater.\u00a0 They got off the plane that January afternoon wearing nothing but shorts and t-shirts.\u00a0 They had no idea where they were. We put the band up in our apartments and got donated sweatshirts\/parkas for survival purposes and so began the reggae invasion.\u00a0 It was one of the most powerful and meaningful experiences in my life of music and one of which I’m very proud to have played a small role.<\/p>\n<p>_________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>From: steve poltz<\/p>\n<p>Subject: Todd Snider<\/p>\n<p>Date: November 29, 2025 at 7:33:16?AM PST<\/p>\n<p>Hey Bob,<\/p>\n<p>Thanks for writing about my friend Todd Snider. We sure lost a good\u2019n.<\/p>\n<p>I go way back with Todd. In the nineties I was touring with my band The Rugburns and we were doing some dates with Todd and his band The Nervous Wrecks. It was an absolute blast being in Todd\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n<p>I remember one time we played a club in Indianapolis and we all arrived very early (what\u2019re the odds of that?). I\u2019m talking six hours early. The club\u2014The Patio?\u2014let us in, and we ended up playing whiffle ball. I remember thinking, \u201cYou can do this?\u201d It was completely chaotic. Barstools became bases and a pint glass was home plate. The game was nuts, and when the soundman showed up for soundcheck none of us cared. We didn\u2019t want to stop because we were in extra innings. Will Kimbrough\u2014the amazing guitarist in The Wrecks\u2014threw a mean whiffle curve. The whole thing was Todd\u2019s idea, and what is normally boring purgatory before soundcheck became one of the best days ever.<\/p>\n<p>Then there was the time at some street festival somewhere in Indiana\u2014also with The Rugburns and The Nervous Wrecks (why is it always Indiana?)\u2014I saw Todd and we had lots of time before our disrespec-tive sets. So, naturally, we decided to paint each other\u2019s toenails. It got very artsy and there were lots of joints and laughs. Another moment where I thought, \u201cYou can do this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Todd was chaotic, charismatic, cantankerous, and cool. I loved him. We kept in touch over the years and I was always happy when we\u2019d get a chance to catch up.<\/p>\n<p>The last time I saw Todd was about seven weeks ago on Oct. 10. We both played The Ryman for the John Prine \u201cYou Got Gold\u201d tribute show. There were heaps of artists on the bill\u2014Carlene Carter, Louis Cato, Phosphorescent, Courtney Marie Andrews, Margo Price, Fantastic Negrito, Margo Cilker, Tift Merritt, Maggie Rose, Ron Sexsmith, Bonnie Prince Billy, Drew Holcomb, Hiss Golden Messenger, Evan Dando, John Paul White, Todd Snider, and more I\u2019m forgetting.<\/p>\n<p>It was a blast. I walked backstage a few hours before showtime and Todd was already there. (Why are we always early? Aren\u2019t we supposed to be late?) Todd gave me a big hug and said, \u201cCome share my dressing room with me.\u201d Now this was a very organized event with assigned dressing rooms. I was supposed to share with Bonnie Prince Billy (Will Oldham) and John Paul White. But when you\u2019re in Todd\u2019s company, you just ride the wave. So I follow him to his room, and he\u2019s sharing with Evan Dando, who\u2019s there with John Strohm.<\/p>\n<p>Now\u2014making a long story longer\u2014Evan and Todd had never met. I found that fascinating. It just seemed like they would\u2019ve crossed paths. So the backstage hang is lively, and Evan and I get to reminiscing about that time in the 90s when we spent the night trying to score coke after a show at The Casbah.<\/p>\n<p>Evan sees Todd\u2019s decent-sized jar of weed and asks if he can have some. Of course Todd hands him the jar, a joint, and a pipe. There\u2019s also a bottle of celebratory John Prine bourbon on the table. I quit booze and coke back in 2004, but I\u2019m getting a full contact high because the room has become a hot box. Evan and Todd are riffing about Townes Van Zandt\u2014neither of them making sense, both talking at the same time\u2014but somehow I understood it all. It was amazing. We were cracking up.<\/p>\n<p>By now I\u2019ve lost all track of time. The stage manager comes up and says, \u201cSteve Poltz! You\u2019re on in 10 minutes.\u201d Todd says, \u201cI\u2019m gonna go out front and watch you sing. What\u2019re you singing?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIllegal Smile,\u201d I tell him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPerfect,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n<p>So I walk out on stage at The Ryman and say to the sold-out audience, \u201cI\u2019ve just been upstairs for the last couple hours sharing a dressing room with Evan Dando and Todd Snider, and I think I need to call my sponsor.\u201d The audience cracks up, and I break into my song, and it all goes off without a hitch.<\/p>\n<p>Afterwards Todd finds me, hugs me, and we laugh some more.<\/p>\n<p>Then Todd goes out at the end of the show and absolutely destroys \u201cLake Marie.\u201d I mean, he slays it. Stunning. I watched from side stage with tears in my eyes\u2014tears of joy. Everything was perfect. Todd was perfect. The world was perfect.<\/p>\n<p>The next morning I was talking with Bob Schneider on the phone telling him about the night before. I told him about Todd\u2019s new record High Lonesome, and Then Some. I said, \u201cI don\u2019t wanna tell you anything about this record. Just listen and let me know what you think.\u201d (I had listened a couple times and LOVED it, but didn\u2019t tell him that.) Now, Bob is the most honest person I know. If he hates something, he\u2019ll tell you. Well\u2026 an hour later he texted: \u201c9 outta 10. Loved it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When I ended the call I remember saying, \u201cMan, I\u2019m kinda worried about Todd. He doesn\u2019t look that healthy, and I have a weird feeling he\u2019s not gonna make it through this tour.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I didn\u2019t think he would die on tour. I just thought he\u2019d cancel dates due to health issues. But I had a premonition he wasn\u2019t going to be around much longer.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m so sad, Bob. I can\u2019t thank you enough for writing about Todd.<\/p>\n<p>The dude was a legend and left his mark. God bless him.<\/p>\n<p>Yer pal,<\/p>\n<p>Steve Poltz<\/p>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From: george drakoulias Subject: Re: Forever Young Date: November 2, 2025 at 5:55:22?PM PST Bob ever see this, spectacular _________________________________________ From: Harvey Goldsmith Subject: Grateful Dead Date: November 15, 2025 at 2:20:12?AM PST Dear Bob Great piece on the Dead.\u00a0 I first met them in 1968 when they played a free show in Golden Gate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,17,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-life","category-politics","category-the-music"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96vPs-5TU","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22686","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22686"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22686\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22688,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22686\/revisions\/22688"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22686"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22686"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lefsetz.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22686"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}