I am counting down my top 100 90s songs, because obviously it needs to be done. The first batch of songs includes Paula, Phil, Heavy, and Jade. lostsongs.substack.com/p/my-top-100...

William Joel has engrossed us again! @sarahdbunting.bsky.social and I team up with our good pal Dan Rogge to rank the songs on Billy Joel's album THE STRANGER. bleav.com/shows/mark-a...

Turns out I can still recite this entire monologue. youtu.be/7jQ0SbWYdgQ?...

At various points in my life, I had both of these phones, so you know my conversations were COOL.

Print media alert! I was fortunate to write the companion book for the vinyl cast album of the GYPSY revival. Available now!

I wrote about why this is the most exciting song of 2025: lostsongs.substack.com/p/the-subway...

Throughout my life, I've had such a complex relationship with mayonnaise. Currently, it's a love affair, but I've been through this cycle enough times to know it could end at any second.

I just saw Final Destination: Bloodlines. My favorite thing is how the film is supposedly set in America, but half the cast sounds more Canadian than the cashier at Ottawa's second-largest Tim Horton's.

Hi. Hello. I will never stop writing text messages in complete sentences with punctuation. Thank you for loving me as I am.

I am delighted to be back on Extra Hot Great, especially for an episode that involves so much music.

Remembering that brief period when Dutch pop acts stormed the US charts with songs that sounded like they came from a German beerhall. lostsongs.substack.com/p/how-do-you...?

A couple of times in the last week, I've seen a suggestion that "Chicago" was somehow a poor choice for Best Picture, and I cannot let this madness stand. The entire internet is grounded.

This song ISN'T by Donna Lewis, and I wrote about why. lostsongs.substack.com/p/mouth-merr...

Let's talk about the surprisingly large number of European dance tracks that goof on the idea of American cowboys and such. lostsongs.substack.com/p/i-wanna-be...

A print-only newspaper! We just published Issue 7 of Modern Vintage News (modernvintagenews.com), where I'm proud to be Senior Editor. Join us for 40 pages of original reporting and essays about appreciating what we already have and rediscovering the supposedly familiar world around us.

This is the godmother of pretty songs that became creepy because of a horror movie. lostsongs.substack.com/p/hush-hush-...

Unsung heroes: The people who communicate clearly with freelancers about payment and help them get their money promptly.

Here's proof that Aerosmith wasn't the first act to sing about romance in a stuck elevator. lostsongs.substack.com/p/heaven-on-...

This is a fantastic performance of my favorite song from DEAD OUTLAW, which is my favorite new musical of this Broadway season. It's from the POV of a frontier woman whose boyfriend was killed while robbing a train. youtu.be/vpdVOQJBeYQ?...

Warning: If you read this essay, then the chorus of this song WILL be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. lostsongs.substack.com/p/i-do-toya-...

In Nashville, fruit tea inspires legends, secrets, and scandals. I'm covering all the juicy beverage stories over at The Food Section. thefoodsection.com/fruit-tea-go...

I wrote about this song because it helped in invent a genre. Back in 1994, I just knew it had a sweet groove. lostsongs.substack.com/p/dream-on-d...

Did you know a Maggie Smith movie inspired a massive hit ballad that references sheep in a meadow? Here's the scoop! lostsongs.substack.com/p/jean-olive...

Sarah and I realized we needed (yes *needed*) to rank every song on a Billy Joel album. So we did!

I just wrote about one of the most unusual and delicious places to eat lunch in Nashville. Tucked inside the Scarritt Bennett Center is a meat-and-three that's only open 90 minutes a day, four days a week. The food is great and the atmosphere is literally heavenly. thefoodsection.com/change-at-th...

I'm writing about Michelle Branch's brief (yet remarkably successful) run in country music. lostsongs.substack.com/p/my-oh-my-t...

This one was also new to me, and I've had the Zen Buddhist chorus in my head for days now. lostsongs.substack.com/p/there-is-a...

This one of my favorite "new to me" songs that I've covered on The Lost Songs Project. I had never heard it until about two weeks ago, and now I can't get enough. lostsongs.substack.com/p/party-ligh...

Cliff Richard is one of the biggest rock stars in history… but he never quite made it in America. Today I’m writing about one of his rare Stateside hits and digging into the mystery of why we left so many of his records by the wayside. lostsongs.substack.com/p/dreamin-cl...

This story is spectacular. A must-read exploration of how being American means being more than one thing, always.

There's an actor on The Pitt that I've been thinking of as a "handsome older man," and I just learned he's six days younger than me.

"Is it possible these songs weren’t always sincere? Is it possible that some of these artists were just gesturing at social causes because it was on trend? I’ll admit it’s possible. But I’m fine with it." lostsongs.substack.com/p/this-house...

Y'all! The Food Section, where I am Nashville Bureau Chief, is nominated for a Webby Award. Vote for us as the best independent newsletter. We're competing with some upstart called The Onion. vote.webbyawards.com/PublicVoting...

On Tracie Spencer and the period in the 90s when every dance artist was required to record at least one socially conscious track. We're in the club, but we're also changing the world! lostsongs.substack.com/p/this-house...

I'm delighted to debut in Edible Nashville with my story on Screen Door Kitchen, a restaurant in Dayton, TN that contains practically the entire religious history of the region. ediblenashville.ediblecommunities.com#flipbook-df_...

Writing this review forced me to understand my complicated response to the book. If you've read it, I'd love to know how it struck you.

Thoughts on one of the best "live" singles I've ever heard. lostsongs.substack.com/p/the-in-cro...

Today is Ibsen’s birthday. In celebration, please consider whether your so-called “realistic” life is actually a reflection of the cosmic struggle to tame the human soul.

A song like this doesn't seem rebellious until you pay attention to the lyrics. lostsongs.substack.com/p/hey-little...

Yes, I WILL listen to this on repeat today. youtu.be/DubtPdXXjew?...

Friends, let's explore the kolache conundrum. It's a food with competing definitions and multiple migrant stories, but no matter what, it's delicious. Over at The Food Section, I'm investigating how the kolache conundrum plays out in Nashville. thefoodsection.com/kolaches-at-...

It’s a nice surprise to hear a song with “real world” instruments extolling those cherries that bounce all over the place. lostsongs.substack.com/p/pac-man-fe...

It's been almost 5 years since @tombreihan.bsky.social noted the lyrics to Dolly Parton's "9 to 5" could also work in a Rage Against the Machine song, and I still think about that at least once a week. www.stereogum.com/2081640/the-...

On Thursdays we talk about food: Today’s podcast features @markblankenship.bsky.social talking about how transplants are shaping Nashville’s culinary scene, and how it feels to come home to Southern cuisine both familiar and breathtakingly new. Listen here or wherever you prefer!

I'm honored to be the guest on today's episode of City Cast Nashville, discussing the "out of state cuisines" that are taking hold all across the city. nashville.citycast.fm/podcasts/how...

Really glad I got to review this!

Please enjoy my (slightly heated) argument that even though she doesn't write lyrics or compose music, Reba McEntire is still an author of her material. lostsongs.substack.com/p/you-lie-re...

To my fellow writers: Pray for me. I'm in a phase where every draft feels wrong, every sentence feels leaden, and every idea feels half-formed.

"It’s like Emily couldn’t wait for Amy. Her heart took over, singing about the bittersweet memory of young love, and she raced ahead." lostsongs.substack.com/p/least-comp...

This show was absolute trash, and it was a lot of fun to talk about it!