The world is what it is but books continue! Agents + writers: looking for deeply researched and imaginative nonfiction manuscripts about the South, for publication in 2027/28. Literary nonfiction, personal/reportage & cultural criticism are highly welcomed. DMs open for pitches or [email protected].

Finished this over the weekend. Heartbreaking. Made me sad, angry, but most of all made me miss him. As a person and an artist. @jonbern.bsky.social did a remarkable job putting this story together. #justintownesearle #booksky📚 #altcountry #nashville

wrote about Ella Langley and "Choosin' Texas" making history today on the newsletter www.dontrocktheinbox.com/ella-langley...

In my feature debut for @nashvillescene.com, I chatted with Lilly Hiatt about chaos, grounding herself in guitar and exercise, and how scary it can be to play solo tours! www.nashvillescene.com/music/featur...

This is good stuff! The dive bar and Dragon Park stuff along with the top five JTE tracks is really illuminating Well worth a look👍🏻 You can catch up with the doomscrolling later as all the shit you hate will still be there😟 #Americana #MusicSky

I think one thing people outside Minnesota don't understand is that after Good and Pretti were killed by feds while observing, the most normal people you could imagine have made peace with the fact that they could be next, and they are still out there because they say it's the right thing to do.

"Alleging that you're a "dumb redneck" as a way to simultaneously confirm people's suspicions and evade any kind of accountability for, say, being photographed chummily with a very powerful Republican like Mike Johnson is cowardly, plain and simple."

This was a special chat: I chatted JTE while visiting some of the most important Nashville spots in his early life/career w/ my dear colleague @joeyblueclaw.bsky.social www.youtube.com/watch?v=xft_...

Lots of predictable dunking on this line-up in the replies, so let's provide some actual context here. None of these four are in their commercial prime-- collectively, none have hit #1 at country radio more recently than 2020-- but the three who aren't Kid Rock are not unknown acts. 1/x

Of Note 022 is out! Highlighting work from: @natechinen.bsky.social on Blackstar @elienis.bsky.social with M. Dubice @jonbern.bsky.social's JTE bio @stevenhyden.bsky.social on Pitchfork @ericdharvey.com on Bob Marley @tombreihan.bsky.social on The Greatest @marissarmoss.bsky.social asks a question

I visited hotels all over Minneapolis, went into back rooms & talked to the staff. They're afraid. One told me she resents how her undocumented coworkers spend their days cleaning the rooms of agents who are “hunting down their family members.” @notus.com: www.notus.org/immigration/...

would like to manifest a live band karaoke night where you can only sing warren zevon

Nice piece on Nur-D from @jonbern.bsky.social

Spoke with the Minnesota musician and rapper Nur-D about being violently arrested by masked Federal agents.

Today is my 53rd birthday: if you have yet to do so (+ can) please join me in donating to help families impacted by the ICE raids in MN who cannot pay rent.

Jonathan Bernstein’s biography of Justin Townes Earle, 'What Do You Do When You’re Lonesome', is rooted in the quiet devastation of 'Saint of Lost Causes'.

Over and above everything else HE PRONOUNCED NICOLLET AVENUE CORRECTLY my god this man

Bruce singing about Nicollet Ave www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWKS...

A Nurse Who Served Veterans Was Killed. Where You At, Country Music???

Alex Pretti Helped Veterans and Owned a Gun. Why Is Country Music Silent About His Death?

Grateful for this thoughtful piece about JTE (focusing on his later Portland years) from the @portlandmercury.com www.portlandmercury.com/books/2026/0...

One of the stranger scenes in ABC's Nashville, which I may or may not be rewatching: In Season 5, Rayna James watches the music video of "California" by Robert Ellis (great song!) and then decides her label can't afford the female model from the video. www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0ap...

Taco editor José R. Ralat's work for Texas Monthly demands hundreds of hours on the road each year. For him, being pulled over by immigration-enforcement officers has felt like an inevitability for months. https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/taco-editor-stopped-by-ice/

What an honor to go on the Nashville Banner podcast with @genuinehumandk.bsky.social (as a non-Nashvillian!) and talk about JTE and much more. Big thanks to @steveharuch.bsky.social

Alex Pretti was a colleague at the VA. We hired him to recruit for our trial. He became an ICU nurse- I lover working with him. He was a good kind person who lived to help and these fuckers executed him. White. Hot. Rage.

If you’re not from here, I need to explain this execution was on Eat Street, a commercial corridor of restaurants and coffee shops that literally everyone goes to. Normies, queermos, weirdos, neighborhood folks. Whatever that place is in your city, imagine ICE executing someone in cold blood there.

There’s video floating around. You don’t want to watch it. News feed will be updated continuously. No paywall. www.startribune.com/ice-raids-mi...

Candi Staton Is a Survivor. At 85, She’s Also a Grammy Nominee. The singer’s journey through gospel, soul, disco and Americana has been plagued by setbacks and struggles, but she has always found the path forward. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/23/a...

It’s -9 degrees. Downtown Minneapolis is packed for the anti-ICE rally and the crowd keeps growing

Total honor to talk JTE and much more w/ @jewlyhight.bsky.social on Nashville Public Radio: wpln.org/post/a-new-b...

www.dontrocktheinbox.com -woman owned mom owned worker owned writing about whatever we feel "country music" means that day bsky.app/profile/lizp...

like how are you going to complain this much about p*tchfork without telling people to subscribe to @hearingthingsco.bsky.social

up now at rolling stone: my report on the perilous state of the touring business for indie acts. "It was definitely much, much, much more doable just a few years ago. It’s not even about making a profit. It’s about actually being able to do it at all." www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

Lucinda Williams told me about co-writing with Big Thief, telling Bob Dylan she's been called "the female Bob Dylan," and imagining getting dragged offstage by the FBI due to her anti-Trump material. www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

Read this opus by my colleague Jon Blistein, who spent months reporting this story: www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

Just shared this one Facebook, because I had to get the words out. Sharing here in case its in any way useful to you.

Episode 206 with Justin Townes Earle biographer @jonbern.bsky.social is now available wherever you consume podcasts! www.marinadepodcast.com/listen-to-the-marinade/2026/1/19/jonathan-bernstein-the-marinade-episode-206

So grateful for this thoughtful Boston Globe piece on Justin and my book by @rygraham.bsky.social www.bostonglobe.com/2026/01/15/o...

Whether or not you live in the Twin Cities, I highly recommend everyone subscribing to Racket to follow what's actually happening in Minneapolis.

A new biography by @jonbern.bsky.social explores the interrupted life and immortal music of revered singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle. My latest OUTTAKES newsletter. Subscribe: globe.com/outtakes

pleased to share by review of an outstanding new bio of Justin Townes Earle. Curious what you think... @jonbern.bsky.social

Jonathan Bernstein’s authorized biography of Justin Townes Earle paints a vivid portrait of the late, great roots musician.

The @nashvillescene.com and its coverage of the city's arts is such an important part of my book. To have a writer I admire as much as Annie review my book so carefully in its pages is an enormous honor.

“Even when Justin Townes Earle was bullshitting, he was more than a little right.” —In the introduction to the authorized biography of Justin Townes Earle, @jonbern.bsky.social captures the origins of his storied name and his battle with “the myth.” 🔗: https://shorturl.at/TPMeP

Moved beyond words by @carynrose.bsky.social's review of my book. To feel so seen by a review is a feeling I won't forget: www.salon.com/2026/01/13/t...

for this week's Salon column, I wrote about a handful of new-ish music books: Mary Lucia's memoir, Jon Bernstein's astonishing Justin Townes Earle bio, Amy Rigby's most recent memoir & Cameron Crowe's "The Uncool" www.salon.com/2026/01/13/t...

Happy pub day to @jonbern.bsky.social ! This book is a knockout. I’ll be chatting with JB about it at Greenlight tonight, come hang! greenlightbookstore.com/event/2026-0...

Charles is one of my scholarly/writerly heroes so it was a huge honor to speak with his and @cantkill.bsky.social's (another music writing hero) No Fences about my Justin bio.

[DBT voice]: "It's publication day"

Andrew Summers is an important part of the story of the Black Country Music Association. Now he has stage four cancer. Please consider donating to this fundraiser: www.gofundme.com/f/standing-w...