Here is my article for the September edition of Eleven on the local band Union Tree Review. Union Tree Review like to keep things local. By local, I don’t simply mean to the city of St. Louis, but to the very neighborhood they live and play music. Union Tree Review describe themselves as a Cherokee [...]

On Wednesday I finished my response mixtape to my friend Travis. The mix was a two parter, as I felt like I needed to give him one mix of “hardcore” stuff and a second of non-aggressive/heavy/screamy music so to more fully show my tastes. The first mix proved a bit difficult. I realized while putting [...]

Much thanks to new found friend Travis Bursik for so sweetly making me a mixtape last week. It contains these tracks, or “blams” as T-Rav would say: 1.) I’m In A Bad Way by Satisfact 2.) Put All Your Eggs In One Basket by Marnie Stern 3.) Grass by Animal Collective 4.) Atlas by Battles [...]

Just got back home from Nashville. Caitlin and I (plus the wonderful Steph Plant) spent an extended weekend down there with several of our great friends. Let me just say that it was so good for us to see you all: Katie, Kate, JB, Matt, Kristin, Ian, Mandy, Anna, Jon, the E-Bergers, Seth and Andrew. [...]

A few of my friends posted a very serious list of 25 things about themselves on Facebook last week. After seeing the thoughtfulness they put into their own, I decided to replicate: 1. While I have a few good ideas, I am very much without a clue as to what I’m going to do with [...]

My New Years was pretty great.  I had the chance to see all of my old college friends for 2-4 days and it was wonderful.  I love those people.  They are my second family.  We spent our time in Norway, IL, about an hour and a half outside of Chicago.  Norway, believe it or not, [...]

Mark! Thanks for your email.  Justin has been on my mind almost every day in the past few months.  I am so grateful to have known him and the rest of you, Chesnuts.  I have two things to share.  The first is an article I wrote for the Papyrus that was printed a week after [...]

This is too funny.  There’s a couple pretty sweet lines, but it’s mostly ridiculous.  The sweet ones are bolded.  This is a piece I wrote for the Papyrus on April Fools’ Day, April 5th, 2006: These pretzels are making me thirsty… You wouldn’t believe just how much I’ve eaten in the past two hours, just [...]

The film Lars and the Real Girl is one of the strongest proponents of the need for community I have seen in quite a while. For those who have yet to see it, Lars suffers from the delusion that his mail order, custom assembled, plastic doll is his girlfriend whom he’s in love with. Through [...]

Today I spent some time with Steph Plant recording. We put down 14 demos of her songs plus three covers (Joanna Newsom, a song from the Lion King musical, and a Bjork cover) in about 3 hours. We did very good on time and made some decent demos (except for a clock on the wall [...]