Category: music

Art and Creation

In “Going Empty,” Dessa writes about filming the music video for her song “Sound the Bells.” She talks about learning to control her breathing to dive underwater amidst Jason deCaires Taylor’s submerged sculptures off the coast of Mexico. She ruminates about her career, writing about the fears that time is rapidly running out on commercial success. She thinks, Yet all my life I’ve been … Read More Art and Creation

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Cathartic Destruction

For all of the music I produced, I only recorded in a studio once, during college. I was in a ska band, and we saved up enough money to book some time at a local studio. During one of the songs, it was my turn to track the guitar solo. I went into the booth, put the headphones on, and played what I normally … Read More Cathartic Destruction

Some of My Favorite “Emo” Albums and Songs

The other day while I was driving, Cursive’s “Some Red Handed Sleight of Hand” from The Ugly Organ (2003) started playing through my speakers. The musicality and themes of the album always drew me to it, especially the punk rock ethos and the cello. As I listened, I started to think back to all the bands I listened to from the mid-90s through the … Read More Some of My Favorite “Emo” Albums and Songs

Soundtrack Assignment in the Literature Classroom

Every semester I try something new in the classroom. Sometimes this may involve adding activities such as the fish bowl, working in the archives, or having students write on the board to generate ideas. I take these ideas and tweak them as I go along because, as we know, every class is not the same. What works in one class may not necessarily work … Read More Soundtrack Assignment in the Literature Classroom

The Blood Brothers’ “The Salesman, Denver Max” and Joyce Carol Oates

From the very beginning, Joyce Carol Oates brings music to the forefront of her widely anthologized short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” with the dedication that simply reads, “For Bob Dylan” (1003). Other people have written on the ways that Dylan’s “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” and “Mr. Tambourine Man” from Bringing It All Back Home (1965) work in … Read More The Blood Brothers’ “The Salesman, Denver Max” and Joyce Carol Oates