John Bell basks in the curving glow of a labyrinth that would soon be lined with food. We were either high up on the scaffold, or moving it around the hardwood floor like it was a medieval battle engine, hanging stage lights from the ceiling of a 1930s-era gymnasium that looked as if it couldContinue reading "Bruce Probably Knew All Along"

The fabulous Lilies of the Valley Eight years ago (almost to the day, as I write this) we brought our son Joe home from Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital after he’d spent about a month there battling a vicious infection that almost took him away from us. And his timing could not have been worse! WeContinue reading "Healing Gifts of Music"

Even though it's a pretty short book (the entire volume is around 200 pages), a whole lot of time and energy went into making The Music and Mythocracy of Col. Bruce Hampton: A Basically True Biography. About eight years' worth. So, I've got a ton or two of notes, way more than I was ableContinue reading "Making the Sausage"

Bruce at an IHOP lunch. That's Jim Basile's shoulder behind the Virgil Trucks baseball card. Jim is probably Bruce's equal when it comes to baseball trivia. A few days after Virgil Trucks, the old pitcher, died in Alabama, Ron Currens shared the sad news with Col. Bruce Hampton, who already knew, of course. We wereContinue reading "Bruce and Virgil ‘Fire’ Trucks"

I don’t worry about Johnny Knapp anymore. No need to. But I used to, and it kind of bothers me that I don’t, because it’s another reminder that he’s not free for lunch at the IHOP or supper at the Dan Thai or that little Chinese place next door to the gas station, where theContinue reading "Happy Birthday, Johnny Knapp"