Hello 2026!

Happy New Year!

The year 2026 arrives on the heels of a tumultuous 12 months marked by political violence, wildfires, chaos in Washington, and far more. Let’s hope this year is a reset to better things.

I am about to turn in my second book to the University of Wisconsin Press. Look for more news about that project here. In the meantime, I’ve been working on interviews and research for my third book, and will likely begin writing this summer.

A year ago today I was in New Orleans as part of a team for ABC News covering the horrible mass killing on Bourbon Street. Since then, I’ve written about subjects as varied as the demise of the Pitchfork Music Festival, the risks of AI chatbots on young people, the security threats at the Super Bowl, Jeff Tweedy’s triple album, the new Chicago-born Pope, the strange discovery of Koko Taylor’s personal belongings at a flea market, and the untimely death of the legendary Chicago artist Tony Fitzpatrick.

I knew Tony and his loss is significant to this city. Alongside his work he was a connector, a mentor, and an advocate for new artists, the city of Chicago, and its people, and his word carried a lot of weight. There’s no way a loss like that for a city’s artist community can be replaced. He will be greatly missed.

I also had the honor of serving as an onstage interviewer at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival where I sat down with country music great Marty Stuart. Marty unexpectedly dropped me a note in December telling me how much Country and Midwestern meant to him. No better end to the year than that.

See you in 2026!