WELCOME TO SPINNING STORIES

I Wanna Be Your Dog, The Stooges, 1969 Oh Uncle Iggy, you know me so well. "I Wanna Be Your Dog's" sick heavy intro riff is reaching down deep in my soul shaking me awake from a long deep slumber. It's easy to figure why "I Wanna Be Your Dog" is obviously today's theme song. The universe's message is pretty cut and dry, right? I get it, it's time to admit ... Iggy's telling me I may be ready to love again, y'all. Hold up, hold up -- it's also entirely possible that I may not

Alive, Pearl Jam, 1991 Is something wrong? Well, of course it is, Eddie. My No. 1 problem right now is: It's way too early on a Saturday for me to be awake. Ugh. Such is my life. Yes, I'm alive but I'm not fully awake, yet. I'm in pre-dawn deep simmer mode. I'm pretty sure I was just set free from a weird "Alive" montage-like dreamland with my high school boyfriend. Now, Stone Gossard's opening guitar riff to "Alive" is stuck on mini repeat in my brain. I'm not mad at all --

Crossfire, Stevie Ray Vaughan & Double Trouble, 1989 Well, hello world! The universe is showing out this morning. "Crossfire?" Seriously? Is that really necessary? Wow. What in the world does the day have in store? I'm a little scared now. Mercy, I love Stevie Ray Vaughan. This song, though, has such a heavy message and carries an even heavier load. If I'm not mistaken, "Crossfire" was written about him and his addiction by someone he loved. It's from the album he made after

Awful, Hole, 1998 Clearly, it's going to be an awful day. "Swing low sweet cherry, make it awful." I welcome a day fueled by the subtle pop power of this song and the not-so-subtle goddess power of these Courtney Love lyrics. "I was punk. Now I'm just stupid. I'm so awful." "Awful" makes me sing and smile all the while destroying my soul. Yeah. I love this song ... I love Hole and Courtney Love, too. Melissa Auf Der Maur, Eric Erlandson, Patty Schemel ... Hole stealing the li

We're Going to Be Friends, White Stripes, 2002 Well, I didn't see this one coming. Really? Of all the great performances at this weekend's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony, one of my least favorite White Stripes tunes is the spaghetti that sticks to the wall? What? Ahhh. Wait. I hear you universe ... I know exactly what this means. You're saying fall is here, right? No, that can't be the message my psyche is sending because it's a ridiculous 28 degrees this morning

Venus as a Boy, Bjork, 1993 "Venus as a Boy" is playing at full volume inside my head right now. "He believes in beauty." Cool cool cool. Having Bjork and all her dramatic bigness with me this morning is a very good thing. It's nice to wake up in such a happy theatrical Bjork way. It's nice waking up with someone who taught me so much about living out loud, too. Funny, though, out loud is actually on pause for me. Yeah, my throat is literally on fire so Bjork style yell-singi

Perfect Pair, Beabadoobee, 2022 Well, hey there, Bea. Thank you for the cool, jazzy, shoegazey tune rousing me from my slumber. Perfect Pair is one of my favorite songs in recent memory. It's a dream sequence bedroom pop song with a harbinger's warning edge. Oh Bea, what a big Bossa Nova beat you have. To that quip, I swear I hear Bea answering in her sweet, soothing but dangerous tone, "all the better to rattle your core with, my dear." Absolutely. I love Beabadoobee. Watchi

Emmylou, First Aid Kit, 2012 Well, how about that? Thank you, universe, for waking me with the strength of Emmylou looping in my brain. Ahhh, Emmylou ... a song for the ages. Such a brilliant song filled with the power of hope needed to persevere the human condition. There are so many life lessons in this song's lyrics. It blows my mind that the Soderberg sisters wrote Emmylou when they were barely even teenagers. From first listen, Emmylou hooked me deep. Yes, it was my Firs

Today's Song of the Day Faster, Manic Street Preachers, 1994 I am ... an architect? I am a pioneer? I am stronger than Mensa, Miller, and Mailer? Whoa. Maybe I am ... I’m thinking I am not quite awake, yet, on this gloomy, cold Monday morning. Wait. Just realizing these are Manic lyrics and riffs in my head right now. Oh wow, I haven't thought about The Manic Street Preachers in a beat, y’all. Love love love James Dean Bradfield. Yes, please, to a literal Manic Monday. What a

I think I Love You, The Partridge Family, 1970 So, yeah, yeah, yeah. There's something knocking at my brain. "This morning I woke up with this feeling ... " Oh my goodness, earworm gods, what is happening right now? I never dreamed I would wake up thinking this thought much less commit it to the written word but: "I Think I Love You" by The Partridge Family is a really good song, y'all. It's true. Yep. I thought it, wrote it, and released it into the wild. So, that just happe

Finale: Welcome to the human race The final performance of the Muscle Shoals Meets the 70s Labor Day weekend stand – ELO’s “Mr. Blue Sky” – was the epitome of ending on a high note. What an uplifting song, friends, to close out an absolutely uplifting life experience. Those Fiddleworms and friends really get it, y’all. Russell Mefford, Mitch Mann, Clint Bailey, Scott Todd, Steve Vickery, Michael Dillon Curington, Alyssa Guin, Marie Lewey, Cindy Walker, Andrew Granlund – thank

Cold Gin, KISS, 1974 Brrrr. The chill in the house this morning forced me from under the covers long enough to sprint to the thermostat and turn on the heat for the first time this season. I'm so glad my heater's not broke. I need some fuel. Is it cold gin time? Good one, universe. I still can't believe Ace is gone. This one hurts so bad, y'all. Ace was a real-life superhero. I bet he was legit 7-feet-tall in his platform space boots. The thing is, he was also just a guy. He

Never Been to Spain, Three Dog Night, 1971 I woke up from a nightmare with this old song jockeying to be my new friend. Hmmm. How about that? "Never Been to Spain" is a bluesy odd sort of power ballad that's been stalking me this week. I'm not mad at all ... just surprised because it feels a little off brand for me. I admit, I'm kind of in love with this song right now. It makes me think of my bestie. He's a rare gem who makes my life better with zero work. He's seen a lot of

Part 20: I’ll try to love again Just when we thought it was safe to go back into the water, Angela Hacker's final performance of the Muscle Shoals Meets the 70s two-night stand absolutely devoured us. Oh, there's something in the water, y’all, that's for sure, and it's more dangerous than any ole shark. Yeah. It's this little thing called "three chords and the truth" at the hands of a master. Angela is one dangerous siren, friends, and I will never get enough of her song. Sur

Part 19: Sing all night long As the Muscle Shoals Meets the 70s two-night stand was drawing to a close, the world-famous Fiddleworms and friends had the audacity to ask all the thought-provoking questions, y’all. Thankfully, me and 700 of my closest friends had all the very simple answers. Yep, all the questions were asked and answered in Florence’s historic Shoals Theatre that night, friends. Wayne Chaney, Bob Wray, and Donny Carpenter joined the Fiddleworms and kicked off t

Part 18: Writing’s on the wall Muscle Shoals Meets the 70s highlighted so many of the spicy ingredients that went into making me who I am. Did the MSM the 70s two-night stand do that for you, too? Both nights were so very nostalgic, friends, but the experience was so much more than just a stroll down memory lane. Almost every performance had me recalling life-changing music moments in the history of me. For example, I held my breath as Earnest Davis, James Counts, those world

Part 17: Mother, mother Singing River Hey, friends. In case I didn’t tell you, it was really good hanging out with y'all Labor Day weekend. Thank you to Kelvin Holly and the Fiddleworms for giving us a truly profound celebration of Jimmy Buffett via his timeless anthem, “A Pirate Looks at 40.” How about we raise a glass to all of us pirates looking at 60 ... 70 ... and beyond? Give me rock bottom with just a few friends, y’all, and I’ll be just fine. When Kelvin, stood befor