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MICHAEL ATCHISON

Latest Articles

Beck on Beck

A conversation about recording the old-fashioned way, the enduring power of the album, the folk music in his DNA, and never taking success for granted
"Every song has its own kind of life, its own gestation, its own way of working itself out."

By: MICHAEL ATCHISON | July 16, 2014

Staying positive

The Hold Steady's Craig Finn on putting down his guitar, the characters that boxed him in, touring with Deer Tick, and his rock and roll 'Teeth Dreams'
"When we started this band, we wanted to build something that was very inclusive."

By: MICHAEL ATCHISON | April 09, 2014

XL

Excerpted from the novel by Michael Atchison
American Gothic was a subterranean shithole bar known for its existentially tortured clientele and extreme indifference to the minimum drinking age.

By: MICHAEL ATCHISON | August 15, 2012

'People wanted something honest'

The Gaslight Anthem are pouring it all out
In a world that's changing at the speed of light, the Gaslight Anthem reaches into the past to forge classic elements into a timeless rock and roll sound.

By: MICHAEL ATCHISON | July 28, 2010

Flanagan’s empire

Native son Bill Flanagan — novelist and MTV executive — discusses big books, musical longevity, Irish Catholicism, and Behind the Music .
Once a staple of the pages of The NewPaper (original incarnation of The Providence Phoenix ), Warwick-born Bill Flanagan went on to become a prominent rock journalist whose credits include U2: At the End of the World , the definitive portrait of one of the world's biggest bands.

By: MICHAEL ATCHISON | February 05, 2010

Sarah and the shipmates

Vowell on the Puritans and the founding of Rhode Island
Humorist, historian, superhero. Sarah Vowell is a woman of letters and voices.

By: MICHAEL ATCHISON | October 22, 2009

Lowe life

Nick Lowe on growing up and growing old in the music business
Nick Lowe is a rare creature, a punk rock founding father who has endured and evolved gracefully.

By: MICHAEL ATCHISON | October 07, 2009

Guilty pleasure

A.C. [Carl] Newman talks pop and the making of his new album
A.C. Newman is on fire. One of indie rock's most prolific songwriters and performers, Newman has six albums to his credit this decade...

By: MICHAEL ATCHISON | March 10, 2009

Same as he ever was

David Byrne on working with Brian Eno, the new music industry, and his time in Providence
Thirty-four years after forming the legendary band Talking Heads with fellow Rhode Island School of Design students Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz, David Byrne returns to the area to perform “The Songs of David Byrne and Brian Eno.”

By: MICHAEL ATCHISON | November 26, 2008

Vital overtones

Five essential Byrne-Eno collaborations

By: MICHAEL ATCHISON | November 25, 2008

Towns on the edge of darkness

The Hold Steady explore the shadows on Stay Positive
If 2006’s Boys and Girls in America was the Hold Steady’s Born to Run, Stay Positive is their Darkness On the Edge of Town , where the cocksure auteur grows older and less certain of his place in the world.

By: MICHAEL ATCHISON | July 14, 2008

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