Three Imaginary Girls April 2024
Check, check, check… is this thing on?
Greetings, music fans, and welcome to the inaugural Three Imaginary Girls newsletter!
We’re glad you’re here.
And we’re glad we’re here on Medium.
For those of you who missed it, Three Imaginary Girls is a longstanding Seattle-based website, with a focus on sharing our love of local indie, Brit-pop, indie-pop, and really, any other genre of music that strikes our fancy. We launched on Medium late last summer, and it’s been the best time, sharing and reading stories with all of you.
We want to take a moment to thank each of you for making us feel welcome here, and also to share some of the amazing stories we’ve read, written, boosted, and relished these past few months.
March writing prompt: My musical journey
I wrote a story about how my love of Journey sent me on a path of musical discovery and righteousness, and it was such fun, we decided to launch the theme as our first-ever writing prompt. Check out these delightful stories we received about the songs and artists who helped grow us into lifelong music fans…
The First Time I Heard a Hard Rock Song, It Was a Record I Stole
Well, I took it from my Dad, if that counts.
By Jen D. Clark
Cover Songs, Betrayal, and Me
How Shaun Cassidy and David Bowie laid my musical foundation
By Sarah Lazarz
“Dr. Robert” and the Sad Men and Women of Revolver
For me, the Beatles captured ninth grade
By M. J. Carson
We Used To Be Friends
As I’ve grown older, one of my favorite bands lost its luster.
By Bill Cooper
(Some of) the Women on My Musical Journey
Thank you friends, wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you…
By Stewart Mason
Loud, Proud, and Female: How Punk Bands Inspired My Courage
Girls hating on girls was not an issue in my music scene.
By Mad Midori
On Being 12 and Witnessing Adam Ant Perform For the First Time
How an 80s legend awakened me to sex, new wave pop, and being joyfully outrageous.
By Jen D. Clark
Rhapsody: Discovering My Love of Music by Singing Along to Queen
My favorite way to experience music is to sing it.
By Cammila Collar
In 1996, I Got Dumped. Good Thing I Had The Wedding Present to Comfort Me.
Celebrating a pop-tastic year for music (even if there were a few implosions).
By Imaginary Liz
I Slept with Bjork and Lunched with Michael Stipe
Thanks to my own personal “Penny Lane,” I got to meet many of my music heroes in the 1980s.
By Simply Sophia
My Very First Rock Concert Experience (Because The Christian Rock One in Youth Group Does Not Count)
A classic rock first experience with the music and (cough) much more
By Jen D. Clark
There’s Always Mom
When force and justice are gone: “O Superman” and Art
By Terry Barr
Don’t Stop Believin’: My Musical Coming-of-Age Was a Journey
From Journey to R.E.M. to the Long Winters to Mitski — how I evolved into a lifelong music fan and writer.
By Dana DuBois
Some favorite band highlights
Three Imaginary Girls loves live shows and discovering new music. Check out a few of our recent stories and perhaps find your next musical obsession?
Topping our recent crushes we’ve got… megacat, the Umbrellas, Middle Kids, Noah Kahan, Ethel Cain, Death Cab & the Postal Service, Phoebe Bridgers, Du Blonde, and the Lemons.
More featured stories…
1984: The Year in Top 40 Hits
Have you been following Stewart Mason’s weekly 1984: The Year in Top 40 Hits? If not, you must start, post-haste! I’d like to consider myself an aficionado of the era but each week, Stewart amazes us with his fun facts, his backstories, and his laugh-out-loud analysis of what made the Top 40 tick 40 years ago.
Week 12 | Week 11 | Week 10 | Week 9 | Week 8 | Week 7 | Week 6 | Week 5 | Week 4 | Week 3 | Week 2 | Week 1
Everyone Deserves a Dianne
A story for my rock ’n roll mother-in-law
By Ellie Cottrell Writes
I Admire Ben Folds’ Faith in Love
I will always root for the five time divorcee whose broken heart helped put mine back together.
By Steffany Ritchie
Just Clap Your F***ing Hands
Keeping live music alive
By Oscar Rhea
My Love for Okkervil River Is Now Old Enough to Drink
It’s been 21 years since we saw them live for the first time — and I’ve loved them ever since.
By Imaginary Liz
Art Is Not a Luxury, it’s a Necessity
And how music, writing, and reading helped me regain my sense of self.
By Matilda C.
Windows Wound Down, Subwoofer Up to Eleven
The driving songs that turn me into a teenage tearaway
By Matthew Clapham
April writing prompt: Best. Concert. Ever.
We here at Three Imaginary Girls love live shows and musical memoir. So we figured, why not combine the two and have this month’s writing prompt as Best. Concert. Ever.
I know for some of us, we have a clear winner, an artist who stands out among all the rest. For others, it’s a continuum, a series of amazing shows it’s too hard to rank. So we don’t mind if your story is about a single show, or multiple shows by the same artist.
We don’t mind if it’s a top 10 list of all your favorite shows, and why.
We don’t mind if it’s a stadium show or an intimate rock venue show.
We just want to revel in the experience of live shows with all of you.
If you have photos from the event you can share, even better.
Please tag your stories with “Best Concert Ever” so we can discover and share them. If you’re not yet a writer for Three Imaginary Girls and would like to be, please leave us a comment here and we’ll be sure to add you.
Are you going to see any shows in the next month or so? If so, let us know which ones in the comments section!
XOXOXOXO,
Imaginary Liz and Dana DuBois
