What was the first concert you ever saw?
Run DMC, Beacon Theater, New York City.
What CDs are in your changer right now?
PJ Harvey, Uh Huh Her; Arvo Part, Tabula Rasa (ECM Production); Richard Buckner, S/T Bongwater, The Power of Pussy; Marah, 20,000 Streets Under the Sky.
How many total albums do you own (CDs, vinyl, cassettes, 8-tracks)?
Ummm ... 600? 700?
Do you download music, and if so, legally?
I have a rule: If the artist is either dead or on a corporate label, yar!
What was the first album you owned?
Well, my parents met at a fat camp, and Burl Ives was a fellow inmate, so Burl was a pretty crucial part of my childhood. The album was the one with "Little White Duck."
What song would you like played at your funeral?
Leadbelly's "Goodnight Irene"; Pixies' "Monkey Gone to Heaven."
Musically speaking, what do you love that your friends don't know about? What are your guilty pleasures?
I'm embarrassed to say that I have an enduring crush on wimpster assholes like Ryan Adams and Jeff Tweedy.
What band or artist has changed your life, and how?
Before I discovered Patti Smith or Leonard Cohen, I was completely floored by the work of Kristin Hersh of Throwing Muses. On her label (4AD), there was so much proto-goth primping and preening, and here comes this unique, uncompromising, literate yet wholly harrowing sound from this real and complicated woman. House Tornado is still staggering.
Figurative gun to your head, what is your favorite album of all time?
In summer, it's Rolling Stones' Sticky Fingers. But also The Velvet Underground & Nico, Dylan's Blonde on Blonde.
