A Mile of Music, a measure of joy

Grammy winners and grandmas shared VIP status during Appleton's Mile of Music, a four-day festival that celebrated both music and the Midwest, elevated new talent and encouraged Nashville's stars to feel like one of us. Molly and I saw 29 bands in four days; we sang along with old friends, discovered new favorites and expanded [...]

Tips from a not-so-starving artist (A guest post from Katherine)

Tips from a not-so-starving artist (A guest post from Katherine)

I first started budgeting when I was five-years-old, courtesy of a heavy metal lockbox hidden under my bed -- a tad dramatic perhaps, since the safe held 12 two dollar bills and a Barnes and Noble gift card, but it was my start. I have always loved math and budgeting, possibly because I knew early on I wanted [...]

Baby I’m amazed at the way you pulled me out of time

The temperature, which hovered in the high 90s Tuesday night, had nothing to do with our three-generational swoon. The racing hearts? The weak knees? The goofy gazes? Blame them all on Sir Paul McCartney, who held all 45,000 of us (including my mother, my sister Kathy, Molly and me) in his gifted, frenetic hands during [...]

Saturday night’s alright (for fighting stage fright)

We wandered into a music and poetry slam Saturday night, a couple of trendy hipsters out on the town. Packing some choice quotes from his favorite philosopher, Yogi Berra, on a folded piece of typing paper, Vince immediately made his way to a corner chair. Similarly armed with a blog post print out, I joined [...]