When I was 13, my mother asked if I wanted to learn to play a musical instrument. She no doubt hoped I’d take up…
October 2024 will mark the 21-year anniversary of singer/songwriter Elliott Smith’s…
Henry Rollins is a hardcore music legend. As lead singer for Black Flag (1981–86)…
In 1988, Australian rocker Nick Cave released the song “The Mercy Seat.” The five-minute dirge expresses…
“I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there’s something in us that is beyond the…
In 1981, 16-year old Frank Black (real name Charles Thompson, aka Black Francis) was vacationing in…
On August 16, 1956, Bela Lugosi laid down to take a nap in his Los Angeles apartment. Lugosi was a…
In 1967, American poet Larry Beckett wrote an elegiac poem titled “Song to the Siren.” He was inspired…
As a teenager, I suffered from depression. I woke most days with a sense of ennui and hopelessness. My dark moods…
Gary Calamar is a Los Angeles-based music supervisor and radio DJ. He hosted a Sunday night show on KCRW…