What’s a lyric that resonates deeply with you and why?

Oh my mouth ain't fed
My lips ain't cherry red
And my grin might show my bad teeth
And all the people I pass
Give me a glance
As if I'm some lower class freak

Growing up, I always was self-conscious about my appearance. Still am, to some degree. There's a whole thing about teeth and class status that I recognize and feel deeply every time I smile for a photo.

If your life were a movie, what would its theme song be?

Oof, I kind of hate this prompt. If life were a movie, I would definitely want it scored by Hermanos Gutierrez. I suppose there’d be a lot of footage of my character driving a car through a dusty desert landscape.

How do you discover new music, and what’s the latest gem you’ve found?

These days I follow several listener accounts and record labels on Record Club and Bandcamp, and I subscribe to a few record label email lists too. I like Hearing Things, the music review site launched by former Pitchfork staffers. And of course, there's Crucial Tracks, my new favorite music blog to follow.

There is so much great stuff to discover. It feels like there's much, much more new music now than there was when I was on dial-up and kazaa in the early 2000s. I've long made peace with the fact that I won't be on top of every new release and I trust that my ears will eventually pick up the good stuff.

What is a song that feels like home to you?

I’ve crossed the Mississippi a couple times and currently live a few miles from Historic Route 66. There are so many versions of this song, but I like this unlikely darkwave cover.

What’s the first song you’d play at a party?

As the host you want something to get you in the mood for a party, before guests start trickling in. This song is that, but it has to make its way back into the rotation later in the night.

What song do you associate with the current season?

Not to be too on the nose…

What’s your favorite love song, and why?

I remember listening to this at age 11 on a discman and headphones and thinking “wow that is a good song.”

After meeting someone and falling in love and after almost 15 years of marriage, I still think this is a good song. It rings true to those early moments in a relationship.

I did always gravitate to the George Harrison-penned Beatles songs. There are fewer of them, but he was a consistent hitter.

Ray Charles did a really good version of this one, but it is George’s guitar solo in the original that makes it the definitive version for me.

What’s a hidden gem or underrated song you love?

This is my favorite track off of Yonder is the Clock and it features a lot of baseball references of course. There are some rich phrases in the lyrics: “game like a war machine”; “face like a magazine”… the humming of an electric scoreboard on a humid summer night conjures up some images and activates the senses.

What’s a guilty pleasure song?

What’s a song you’ve had on repeat recently?