It’s been days since I last heard from Jefre Cantu. After keeping in regular contact over a span of two months, here I was on perhaps my final morning in San Francisco…

I had a feeling that sending my initial inquiry to Beulah’s e-mail account with the subject: “an inquiry (from a male fan!)” would not yield desirable results. Considering the amount of null…

[[[[VVRSSNN]]] – “Comeouttoshowdem” MP3] The drive up US-101—the Pacific Coast Highway—was the most surreal drive yet. It took a while for the visuals to kick-in, but once they did, I was convinced…

“I’m driving along Sunset Boulevard, past CBS News and…lots of other buildings. The Metropolitan Hotel and Plaza. This is Los Angeles, there are lots of things here. Lots of coffee shops and…

“I had a dream last night that a woman placed her old, worn hand around the back of my neck. Her bracelet hung cold and limp against my skin. I still felt…

[Calexico – “Frontera/Trigger” live MP3] Joey Burns of Calexico is out on tour in Europe when I arrive in Tucson. He knows a thing or two about road weariness, too. When I…

I have just left Joe’s Boots and Hats in Clovis, New Mexico, where I conversed with Joe’s nephew as he fitted me for a Stetson. He grew up in Austin and moved…

[Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – “Henry Lee” MP3] Just over the New Mexico border, in a town called Texaco, I stopped for gas. Across the street from the station was…

“I saw my first armadillo on the road to Abilene, but it was on it’s back, viscera spread across double-yellow lines.” [Talk Talk – “The Rainbow” MP3] A man drove his wagon…

“When you were in Chicago in ’97, is that how you initially met Steve Albini?” I ask Bubba. “Well, actually, I met him at a show in Minneapolis in ’95, or something.…