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January 2015

January 02, 2015

This Dark World is Precious to Me: 14 Songs for 2014

Guest post by Joel Heng Hartse This is my seventh yearly playlist for Good Letters....

March 2014

March 24, 2014

When the Matches Go Out

When Marie-Henri Beyle visited Florence, that city named for its place among waters, he thought...

February 2014

February 27, 2014

Blaze: David Wilcox Opens the Heart, Part 1

David Wilcox describes himself as a “father, a husband, a citizen and a songwriter…a traveler—an...

January 2014

January 02, 2014

Look at the Light: Thirteen Songs for 2013

Guest Post by Joel Heng Hartse I’m writing my dissertation right now and for once...

November 2013

November 07, 2013

Daniel Amos’s “Dig Here Said the Angel”

Dedicated to Billy Corgan, who challenged Christians to “make better music” and branch out beyond...

October 2013

October 10, 2013

Leaving the Edges Wild: An Interview with Over the Rhine, Part 1

Guest Post By Meredith Holladay September 3 marked the release of Over the Rhine’s newest...

October 03, 2013

Sarah Masen: The Trying Mark, Part 1

Guest Post By Angela Doll Carlson The first time I heard Sarah Masen sing was...

September 2013

September 18, 2013

The Choir: Children of Krakatoa

On August 26, 1883, the people of Perth, Western Australia, paused to register what historians...

September 17, 2013

Over the Rhine’s Sound of Place

Guest Post Brian Volck “Somewhere is better than anywhere.” —Flannery O’Connor Early in...

September 06, 2013

From Luci Shaw to Brother K: My Life with IMAGE

Guest post by Lucas Kwong “Art, Faith, Mystery.” These watchwords have formed the center...

August 2013

August 14, 2013

Becoming Baroque

“Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” Oscar Wilde’s mischievously challenging line appears...

July 2013

July 30, 2013

A Feast for Hungry Eyes: An Interview with Sam Phillips, Part 2

Continued from yesterday. Chad Thomas Johnston: The website for The Long Play shut down on...

July 29, 2013

A Feast for Hungry Eyes: An Interview with Sam Phillips, Part 1

Many songsmiths have struggled to navigate the commercial wilderness that arose in the aftermath of...

May 2013

May 27, 2013

Sunday Morning Coming Down

There’s something in a Sunday that makes a body feel alone. I sat in my...

May 17, 2013

The Glass Coffin

For Hella Winston “To be full of things is to be empty of God. To...

May 15, 2013

An Orchestra Against Ignorance

The alumni magazine of Brown University, my alma mater, begins its article on a unique orchestra...

April 2013

April 12, 2013

Wild-Eyed Youth Pastor

I recently found an unexpected e-mail in my in-box. It was from Joe, my youth...

March 2013

March 14, 2013

It Ain’t All Bluegrass, Blues, and Ribs

I know my limits. Though often I go on saying yes to this, yes to...

February 2013

February 21, 2013

Becoming Uncool in the Pursuit of Truth

This morning, prepping for a class I’m teaching called Writing about Film and Music, I...

December 2012

December 31, 2012

Home is the Place: Twelve Songs for 2012

Guest Post by Joel Heng Hartse Robert Frost wrote, “Home is the place where, when...

December 04, 2012

Constructive Disruption: On Derek Webb’s Mind Ctrl Part Two

Continued from yesterday. McDonald’s employees allegedly assaulted human cyborg Steve Mann in Paris, France on...

December 03, 2012

Constructive Disruption: On Derek Webb’s Mind Ctrl Part One

On his 2009 album, Stockholm Syndrome, in a song titled “Freddie Please,” singer-songwriter Derek Webb...

September 2012

September 26, 2012

My Mother’s Lullabies

My mother used to sing us to sleep. Her lullabies weren’t choruses of “Twinkle, Twinkle...

September 04, 2012

John Mayer’s Born and Raised

Close your eyes and clone yourself Build your heart an army To defend your innocence...

August 2012

August 03, 2012

Shouting “Meaningless!” at the Devil: On Mötley Crüe and Ecclesiastes

This blog post is adapted from my manuscript, The Stained-Glass Kaleidoscope: Essays at Play in...

July 2012

July 16, 2012

Living Fossils: Discovering Undercover’s Branded

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found...

June 2012

June 14, 2012

Half Man, Half Alley Cat

Upon hearing Sun Kil Moon's newest record, Among the Leaves, I pictured Mark Kozelek as...