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As the bassist and multi-instrumentalist of Led Zeppelin, John Paul Jones earned a reputation as one of rock’s most versatile musicians. His bass lines combined technical precision, creativity, and musical intelligence, influencing generations of players. Because of his stature, fans pay close attention whenever he praises another bassist. Among the many great musicians Jones has … Read more
The Eagles dominated American rock throughout the 1970s. With record-breaking album sales, timeless songwriting, and unmatched vocal harmonies, they became one of the most successful bands in music history. Yet according to Eagles co-founder Don Henley, there was one group the Eagles could never truly match: The Beatles. Henley has often spoken about the enormous … Read more
For more than five decades, Rush built one of the most respected catalogs in rock history. From progressive epics to radio-friendly classics, the Canadian trio continually reinvented itself while maintaining an unmatched level of musicianship. Fans often debate which Rush album stands above the rest, but guitarist Alex Lifeson once offered a surprisingly definitive answer. … Read more
The small funeral home in Maple Grove smelled of wilting lilies, lemon polish, and quiet heartbreak. Sunlight slanted through half-closed blinds, striping the faded carpet in gold and shadow. In the far corner, as far from the two closed caskets as a child could get, sat five-year-old Tommy Walker. He wore a black suit two … Read more
My brother Marcus and I used to be the same person in two bodies. That’s not something I say lightly or romantically. I mean it in the literal, functional sense that people who grow up poor and close in age understand — we shared clothes, we shared a bedroom for seventeen years, we shared a … Read more
My grandfather Walter Emmett Briggs was, to my understanding for the first thirty-four years of my life, three things: a veteran, a quiet man, and a biker. The order in which I understood these things was reversed from the order in which they actually mattered, which is something I think about now when I think … Read more
The Sunday my congregation left me was the second Sunday in April, which I remember because the dogwoods were flowering outside the windows of Calvary Road Community Church and I had taken that as a hopeful sign that morning, which teaches you something about the reliability of dogwoods as omens. I had been the pastor … Read more
I spent twenty-six years as a law enforcement officer in a county that had, during most of those years, a significant and complicated relationship with the Copper Saints Motorcycle Club. I made a lot of arrests in those twenty-six years. I made one arrest that I think about more than most. His name was Eddie … Read more
My son Caleb is small for his age. Always has been. At twelve, he was the height of an average nine-year-old, which was in his genes — I’m five-four, his father is five-seven — and which had been mostly fine in elementary school, where size differentials are manageable and the social cruelties are still relatively … Read more
I was seventeen years old and I had been driving for exactly eleven months when my front left tire blew out on Highway 12 at nine-thirty on a Friday night. The blow-out was so sudden and violent that I screamed before I’d processed what was happening — one second the car was moving normally and … Read more