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Day Three Hundred Sixty

Late dinner with R. tonight.  We traded things we had stashed away for each other.  She got her copy of the Trio record from me, and in return I was handed a copy of Out Of The Vinyl Deeps.  A book of rock & roll essays and criticism by Ellen Willis.  Not only was she the first rock critic to write for the New Yorker, she was also an editor and columnist at the Village Voice.  Can't wait to read this book. 

During dinner, talk turned (as it always does with us) to music.  She posed a few interesting questions, all of which center around the same general subject.  The biggest one is this:

1) Which musician, living or dead, would you like to sit and have a cup of coffee with?

This one is tough for me.  It makes me feel better that it was tough for both of us.  It's very tempting to list off the idols (Adam Duritz, Jeff Tweedy, Matt Skiba, Any of the Fab Four, etc.), but it's hard to discern whether meeting someone you truly admire, especially one who has been around the interview circuit for quite some time, would take the shine off of their music.  It just seems that veterans of the industry would look at it with more skepticism.  It's less possible with younger artists, we thought (Brandi Carlile was a solid example here, as was Mikel Jollett from The Airborne Toxic Event).  In the end, we both thought that Jakob Dylan might be a good choice.  He's well spoken, comes across as personable in interviews, makes superb music (both on his own and with the Wallflowers), and might be able to offer insight into a certain other Dylan.

She also wondered out loud about the possibility of talking with an artist who has made an entire album (or a string of albums) where all of the music is centered on a single person/relationship, etc.  This idea came up due to a mention of Adele's 21 being about a relationship that she struggled mightily to get over.  That notion got me thinking.  As a musician, are there any people in my life who have made such a significant indentation on my heart that I could write a whole record of songs about them/that situation? 

The answer, or so I think at this point, is yes... there are 3.  Hmmm... maybe my power pop record will take that turn, if I ever get around to making it.  Other projects on the front burner right now, though.  Got to get back to them tomorrow.

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