Posts by author
Max Gray
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Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, Brandon Hicks exercises his satirical muscle in “The Cartoonists: Profiles.” Then, in the Saturday Essay, Steven D. Howe bravely exposes his relationship with his father to the light, a relationship bruised by alcoholism and Howe’s own fear of perpetuating the cycle of…
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Song of the Day: “Clean Up Woman”
Sometimes the energy in a song is so palpable that you can tell the musicians have hit gold. That’s the case with the 1971 single by Betty Wright, “Clean Up Woman,” a soul song whose popularity at the time signified its…
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Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, poet Christina Stoddard discusses her debut collection, Hive, with Renee Sims in the Saturday Interview. Violence and brutality in the Pacific Northwest is the topic of this sometimes-startling book. Stoddard faces the reality of violence with an unblinking gaze. She…
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Song of the Day: “Up From The Skies”
In February of 1968, Jimi Hendrix’s album Axis: Bold As Love hit #3 on the charts in the United States. While still dominated by experimentation, both in terms of the music and in studio production, the album highlighted Hendrix’s lyrics…
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Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, Brandon Hicks mocks the electoral process in his illustrated narrative, “God Is Dead: Campaign Coverage.” Then, in the Saturday Essay, Kade Walker remembers her grandmother, a private woman of Jamaican descent who is too proud to tell her family she…
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Song of the Day: “White Shoes”
You can get your hair all wet sleeping on the riverbed Kiss a frog and then dissect, gotta find out what’s inside And you can have my bad side too, anything you wanna do Sure anything you wanna do …Conor…
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Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, National Book Award finalist Angela Flournoy talks with Deesha Philyaw in the Saturday Interview. They discuss themes pertinent to Detroit, the setting of Flournoy’s book, The Turner House. Some include housing discrimination, hip-hop, respectability politics, and the challenges of writing truthfully…
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Song of the Day: “Hard To Tell”
The genre of bluegrass receives its fair share of criticism. Considered by some to be a backwater of the teeming estuary of American music known as country, bluegrass, characterized by a decidedly twangier sound, gets unfairly stereotyped as the redneck’s music…
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Weekend Rumpus Roundup
First, Brandon Hicks unveils a triptych of “Quick-Takes” illustrating his irreverent views on nature, famous trees, and the rapture. Then, in the Saturday Essay, Ashley Inguanta mourns for her best friend who passed away years ago. The two of them met as children and…
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Song of the Day: “Ramblin’ Man”
The Allman Brothers have had a long and tumultuous run since their formation in 1971 around a core group including Duane and Gregg Allman. The death of Duane in a motorcycle accident that very year could have broken up the…
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Song of the Day: “Come On Back”
From 1962 to 1987, producer Bobby Robinson headed the independent record publisher Enjoy Music. Robinson nurtured and and supported heavy-hitting early R&B, blues, and soul artists of the latter half of the 20th century, including Gladys Knight and the Pips, Elmore James, and Grandmaster Flash.…
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Song of the Day: “Don’t Mention My Name”
The Shepherd Sisters were a “rock n’ roll” group that reached prominence during the late 50s and early 60s. The Sheps, as they were sometimes called, typified the bright and squeaky-clean persona of many vocal groups of the time. One…