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Heroes: the tour manager

On March 24th covering ,

This vignette of Amanda Palmer‘s tour manager, Katie Kay, gives a glimpse of the one of the unsung heroes of the performing universe. More power to you, Ms. Kay.

thanks for telling me

On March 20th covering

David Foster Wallace — chronicle of a death retold (Updated)

On March 19th 1 Comment covering

Reading D.T. Max’s New Yorker article on the writing life and bitterly sad death of David Foster Wallace, I cannot escape a nagging question: Through the years of pharmacotherapy, did anybody try to talk to the guy? By which I mean a sustained, serious, patient psychotherapy. As a marker of where we are as a culture — is it that the biological explanation of human nature has taken hold so throughly that a major cultural figure can suffer unto death without it apparently occurring (publicly) to anybody that a full-court press for depression includes deep psychotherapy? If only to maintain human connection while all the medical things are being tried, and perhaps for something much more. Read more »

Milton Babbitt and the Bad Plus

On March 18th

I have no excuse whatever for this, but it makes me happy. Via Alex Ross. UPDATE: The Bad Plus are playing at DC’s 9:30 club next Thursday. See you there.

Update: I love the Babbitt All Set for Jazz Ensemble. I’ve got it on vinyl, but the turntable is in the attic. Here it is:

Andrew Dubber and the Unconsultancy

On March 18th covering ,

Andrew Dubber is a smart fellow, a UK music-industry consultant and a source of keen insights. He’s been thinking about the problems of consulting to an industry where people are worried about putting gas in the van, as I have. He’s offering a model of consultation (in UK-Speak, “Consultancy”) modeled on the ramen-noodle-budget indie tour. He’s willing to travel like a student and couch-surf if he can put together a string of people who can pay him a bit here and there and feed him. Very much like a singer-songwriter doing a tour of house concerts and coffeeshops.He calls this “Unconsultancy” in the spirit of the UK “Unconventions” Read more »