Podcast appearances and mentions of Franz Nicolay

Kelefa Sanneh was born in England, and lived in Ghana and Scotland before moving with his parents to the United States in the early 1980s. He was a pop music critic at the New York Times from 2000-2008, and has been a staff writer at the New Yorker since then. His first book, just released on Penguin, is called Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres. The book refracts the entire history of popular music over the past fifty years through the big genres that have defined and dominated it—rock, R&B, country, punk, hip-hop, dance music, and pop—as an art form (actually, a bunch of art forms), as a cultural and economic force, and as a tool that we use to build our identities. Sanneh shows how these genres have been defined by the tension between mainstream and outsider, between authenticity and phoniness, between good and bad, right and wrong. Throughout, race is a powerful touchstone: just as there have always been Black audiences and white audiences, with more or less overlap depending on the moment, there has been Black music and white music, constantly mixing and separating. Sanneh debunks cherished myths, reappraises beloved heroes, and upends familiar ideas of musical greatness, arguing that sometimes, the best popular music isn't transcendent. Songs express our grudges as well as our hopes, and they are motivated by greed as well as idealism; music is a powerful tool for human connection, but also for human antagonism. This is a book about the music everyone loves, the music everyone hates, and the decades-long argument over which is which. Franz Nicolay is a musician and writer living in New York's Hudson Valley. His first book, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar, was named a "Season's Best Travel Book" by The New York Times. Buzzfeed called his second book, Someone Should Pay for Your Pain, "a knockout fiction debut." He teaches at Bard College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

Kelefa Sanneh was born in England, and lived in Ghana and Scotland before moving with his parents to the United States in the early 1980s. He was a pop music critic at the New York Times from 2000-2008, and has been a staff writer at the New Yorker since then. His first book, just released on Penguin, is called Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres. The book refracts the entire history of popular music over the past fifty years through the big genres that have defined and dominated it—rock, R&B, country, punk, hip-hop, dance music, and pop—as an art form (actually, a bunch of art forms), as a cultural and economic force, and as a tool that we use to build our identities. Sanneh shows how these genres have been defined by the tension between mainstream and outsider, between authenticity and phoniness, between good and bad, right and wrong. Throughout, race is a powerful touchstone: just as there have always been Black audiences and white audiences, with more or less overlap depending on the moment, there has been Black music and white music, constantly mixing and separating. Sanneh debunks cherished myths, reappraises beloved heroes, and upends familiar ideas of musical greatness, arguing that sometimes, the best popular music isn't transcendent. Songs express our grudges as well as our hopes, and they are motivated by greed as well as idealism; music is a powerful tool for human connection, but also for human antagonism. This is a book about the music everyone loves, the music everyone hates, and the decades-long argument over which is which. Franz Nicolay is a musician and writer living in New York's Hudson Valley. His first book, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar, was named a "Season's Best Travel Book" by The New York Times. Buzzfeed called his second book, Someone Should Pay for Your Pain, "a knockout fiction debut." He teaches at Bard College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Kelefa Sanneh was born in England, and lived in Ghana and Scotland before moving with his parents to the United States in the early 1980s. He was a pop music critic at the New York Times from 2000-2008, and has been a staff writer at the New Yorker since then. His first book, just released on Penguin, is called Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres. The book refracts the entire history of popular music over the past fifty years through the big genres that have defined and dominated it—rock, R&B, country, punk, hip-hop, dance music, and pop—as an art form (actually, a bunch of art forms), as a cultural and economic force, and as a tool that we use to build our identities. Sanneh shows how these genres have been defined by the tension between mainstream and outsider, between authenticity and phoniness, between good and bad, right and wrong. Throughout, race is a powerful touchstone: just as there have always been Black audiences and white audiences, with more or less overlap depending on the moment, there has been Black music and white music, constantly mixing and separating. Sanneh debunks cherished myths, reappraises beloved heroes, and upends familiar ideas of musical greatness, arguing that sometimes, the best popular music isn't transcendent. Songs express our grudges as well as our hopes, and they are motivated by greed as well as idealism; music is a powerful tool for human connection, but also for human antagonism. This is a book about the music everyone loves, the music everyone hates, and the decades-long argument over which is which. Franz Nicolay is a musician and writer living in New York's Hudson Valley. His first book, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar, was named a "Season's Best Travel Book" by The New York Times. Buzzfeed called his second book, Someone Should Pay for Your Pain, "a knockout fiction debut." He teaches at Bard College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

Kelefa Sanneh was born in England, and lived in Ghana and Scotland before moving with his parents to the United States in the early 1980s. He was a pop music critic at the New York Times from 2000-2008, and has been a staff writer at the New Yorker since then. His first book, just released on Penguin, is called Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres. The book refracts the entire history of popular music over the past fifty years through the big genres that have defined and dominated it—rock, R&B, country, punk, hip-hop, dance music, and pop—as an art form (actually, a bunch of art forms), as a cultural and economic force, and as a tool that we use to build our identities. Sanneh shows how these genres have been defined by the tension between mainstream and outsider, between authenticity and phoniness, between good and bad, right and wrong. Throughout, race is a powerful touchstone: just as there have always been Black audiences and white audiences, with more or less overlap depending on the moment, there has been Black music and white music, constantly mixing and separating. Sanneh debunks cherished myths, reappraises beloved heroes, and upends familiar ideas of musical greatness, arguing that sometimes, the best popular music isn't transcendent. Songs express our grudges as well as our hopes, and they are motivated by greed as well as idealism; music is a powerful tool for human connection, but also for human antagonism. This is a book about the music everyone loves, the music everyone hates, and the decades-long argument over which is which. Franz Nicolay is a musician and writer living in New York's Hudson Valley. His first book, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar, was named a "Season's Best Travel Book" by The New York Times. Buzzfeed called his second book, Someone Should Pay for Your Pain, "a knockout fiction debut." He teaches at Bard College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

Kelefa Sanneh was born in England, and lived in Ghana and Scotland before moving with his parents to the United States in the early 1980s. He was a pop music critic at the New York Times from 2000-2008, and has been a staff writer at the New Yorker since then. His first book, just released on Penguin, is called Major Labels: A History of Popular Music in Seven Genres. The book refracts the entire history of popular music over the past fifty years through the big genres that have defined and dominated it—rock, R&B, country, punk, hip-hop, dance music, and pop—as an art form (actually, a bunch of art forms), as a cultural and economic force, and as a tool that we use to build our identities. Sanneh shows how these genres have been defined by the tension between mainstream and outsider, between authenticity and phoniness, between good and bad, right and wrong. Throughout, race is a powerful touchstone: just as there have always been Black audiences and white audiences, with more or less overlap depending on the moment, there has been Black music and white music, constantly mixing and separating. Sanneh debunks cherished myths, reappraises beloved heroes, and upends familiar ideas of musical greatness, arguing that sometimes, the best popular music isn't transcendent. Songs express our grudges as well as our hopes, and they are motivated by greed as well as idealism; music is a powerful tool for human connection, but also for human antagonism. This is a book about the music everyone loves, the music everyone hates, and the decades-long argument over which is which. Franz Nicolay is a musician and writer living in New York's Hudson Valley. His first book, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar, was named a "Season's Best Travel Book" by The New York Times. Buzzfeed called his second book, Someone Should Pay for Your Pain, "a knockout fiction debut." He teaches at Bard College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/popular-culture

Ritorna la nostra rubrica #libri per segnalare Band People di Franz Nicolay: potete ascoltare una lunga intervista all'autore nell'ultimo episodio di Money 4 Nothing. Due album usciti questo venerdì: Black Country, New Road e Momma. Un recupero da venerdì scorso con i Great Grandpa. Nuovi singoli per Wavves, Wet Leg e Aesop Rock. A Torino c'è un nuovo festival e si aggiungono nuovi nomi al C2C. Il Coachella Festival quest'anno ha una app per guardarlo da casa.

Craig Finn AND Franz Nicolay join us ahead of their London Weekender, on their resonable community, taking The War On Drugs on their first tour and making tracks with Sam Fender. Support 101 Part Time Jobs from £2 per month: Patreon.com/101parttimejobs Get yourself some top class Shure microphone gear: https://shu.re/3YhV7p2 DistroKid makes music distribution fun and easy with unlimited uploads and artists keeping the ENTIRETY of their revenue. Get 30% off the first year of their service by signing up at https://distrokid.com/vip/101pod Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Musician, producer, author, college professor, keyboard/accordion player for The Hold Steady, World/Inferno Friendship Society, Against Me!, Guignol... Franz Nicolay has so much under his belt that it's almost impossible to go off track with him. But we do. From growing up in the sticks to health hacks like waiting until your German tour to get your teeth fixed, this one is all information that you need to know. Fun journey, come along.Franz's website Support the show via Patreon! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EVERY OTHER KREATIVE KONTROL EPISODE IS ONLY ACCESSIBLE TO MONTHLY $6 USD PATREON SUPPORTERS. Enjoy this excerpt and please subscribe now via this link to hear this full episode. Thanks!Franz Nicolay from the Hold Steady is here to discuss his new book, Band People: Life and Work in Popular Music, once living in Toronto and how couples in the creative arts and humanities support each other, balancing passion and pragmatism in the music business, how musicians tend to communicate and miscommunicate, getting credit and valuing cultural labour, whether musicians can truly jam remotely, what's next for his writing and music work, other future plans, and much more.Support vish on Patreon! Thanks to the Bookshelf, Planet Bean Coffee, and Grandad's Donuts. Support Y.E.S.S., Pride Centre of Edmonton, and Letters to Santa. Follow vish online.Related episodes/links:Ep. #929: Bill Stevenson from Descendents, ALLEp. #928: VerbötenEp. #880: Guided By VoicesEp. #872: Mike Watt and Papa MEp. #866: Jim White and Marisa AndersonEp. #845: The Messthetics and James Brandon LewisEp. #756: QuasiEp. #616: tune-yardsEp. #579: Nels ClineEp. #25: Jon WursterSupport this show http://supporter.acast.com/kreative-kontrol. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Franz Nicolay is an American author and musician, a member of many different bands, including rock band Hold Steady, and punk band World/Inferno Friendship Society. His most recent book is called BAND PEOPLE: Life and Work in Popular Music, detailing life as a touring musician and delving into the less glamorous parts of the music industry.

Franz Nicolay is a musician and author. He performs as a solo artist, he was a member of World Inferno/Friendship Society, he plays keyboards for The Hold Steady, and that's barely a fraction of his music resume. As a writer, Franz has published a collection of tour essays, "The Humorless Ladies of Border Control", a novel, "Someone Should Pay For Your Pain", and his newest book is called "Band People", an extensive peak under the hood of the lives of session and touring musicians.

Whatever happened to selling out? The defining concern of Generation X has become a relic from another era. How that happened is best illustrated by one of the idea's last gasps, when in 2001, Oprah Winfrey invited author Jonathan Franzen to come on her show to discuss his new novel The Corrections. A month later, she withdrew the invitation, kicking off a media firestorm. The Oprah-Franzen Book Club Dust-Up of 2001 was a moment when two ways of thinking about selling out smashed into each other, and one of them—the one that was on its way out already—crashed and burned in public, seldom to be seen again. Some of the voices you'll hear in this episode include screenwriter Helen Childress; writer and musician Franz Nicolay; New York Times critic Wesley Morris, Oprah producer Alice McGee; Boris Kachka, author of Hothouse: The Art of Survival and the Survival of Art at America's Most Celebrated Publishing House, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; Bethany Klein, author of Selling Out: Culture, Commerce and Popular Music; and Laura Miller, Slate's book critic. This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Benjamin Frisch. It was edited by Benjamin Frisch and Gabriel Roth. Cleo Levin was our research assistant. Decoder Ring is produced by Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman, with help from Sofie Kodner. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you're a fan of the show, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate's website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today.  Disclosure: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond's yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond's YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whatever happened to selling out? The defining concern of Generation X has become a relic from another era. How that happened is best illustrated by one of the idea's last gasps, when in 2001, Oprah Winfrey invited author Jonathan Franzen to come on her show to discuss his new novel The Corrections. A month later, she withdrew the invitation, kicking off a media firestorm.The Oprah-Franzen Book Club Dust-Up of 2001 was a moment when two ways of thinking about selling out smashed into each other, and one of them—the one that was on its way out already—crashed and burned in public, seldom to be seen again.Some of the voices you'll hear in this episode include screenwriter Helen Childress; writer and musician Franz Nicolay; New York Times critic Wesley Morris, Oprah producer Alice McGee; Boris Kachka, author of Hothouse: The Art of Survival and the Survival of Art at America's Most Celebrated Publishing House, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; Bethany Klein, author of Selling Out: Culture, Commerce and Popular Music; and Laura Miller, Slate's book critic.This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Benjamin Frisch. It was edited by Benjamin Frisch and Gabriel Roth. Cleo Levin was our research assistant.Decoder Ring is produced by Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman, with help from Sofie Kodner. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends.If you're a fan of the show, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate's website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Disclosure: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond's yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond's YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whatever happened to selling out? The defining concern of Generation X has become a relic from another era. How that happened is best illustrated by one of the idea's last gasps, when in 2001, Oprah Winfrey invited author Jonathan Franzen to come on her show to discuss his new novel The Corrections. A month later, she withdrew the invitation, kicking off a media firestorm.The Oprah-Franzen Book Club Dust-Up of 2001 was a moment when two ways of thinking about selling out smashed into each other, and one of them—the one that was on its way out already—crashed and burned in public, seldom to be seen again.Some of the voices you'll hear in this episode include screenwriter Helen Childress; writer and musician Franz Nicolay; New York Times critic Wesley Morris, Oprah producer Alice McGee; Boris Kachka, author of Hothouse: The Art of Survival and the Survival of Art at America's Most Celebrated Publishing House, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; Bethany Klein, author of Selling Out: Culture, Commerce and Popular Music; and Laura Miller, Slate's book critic.This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Benjamin Frisch. It was edited by Benjamin Frisch and Gabriel Roth. Cleo Levin was our research assistant.Decoder Ring is produced by Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman, with help from Sofie Kodner. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends.If you're a fan of the show, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate's website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Disclosure: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond's yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond's YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today's episode is on "Listening to Kenny G", a 2021 film about the saxophone colossus, directed by Penny Lane. Our guest today is Franz Nicolay, multi-instrumentalist and composer, who records his own music and also is known from bands such as The Hold Steady. Franz' fascinating new book, Band People, features interviews with musicians who have made a career in the music industry, often outside of the spotlight. Listening to Kenny G was released under HBO's "Music Box" series, which may no longer be a thing? The G man himself sat for extensive interviews and the film dispassionately explores what makes his music both appealing and controversial to audiences and music fans around the world. It's a rich text, and one could view Kenny as either the hero or villain of the movie. Plus: Is Kenny G like Phish? Co-host Andy Keatts was unavailable for this episode, so he didn't get a chance to weigh in on this important topic, but we bat it around a bit anyway. Rock Docs is a Treble Media Podcast hosted by David Lizerbram & Andrew Keatts Twitter: @RockDocsPod   Instagram: @RockDocsPod   Cover Art by N.C. Winters - check him out on Instagram at @NCWintersArt  

You see them on stage every night – the musicians whose names are buried in the liner notes and driven by passion rather than by rockstar-dom. Franz Nicolay calls them “band people,” and for his new book, he interviewed over 60 of these session musicians, backup singers, and instrumentalists. They share stories about the realities of band life and what Nicolay considers a unique collaboration that exists somewhere between a family, a romance, a small business and a gang. His book is called “Band People: Life and Work In Popular Music.” Who are some of your favorite unsung musicians? Guests: Franz Nicolay, musician and writer Jason Narducy, musician; has performed in Bob Mould Band, Superchunk, Sunny Day Real Estate, Split Single, and Verböten

In this episode, the ultra-talented, multi artistic Franz Nicolay joins us to talk about his latest book, Band People. Franz dives into how the book might feel therapeutic for seasoned supporting band members, though maybe not the best handbook for new recruits. We also break down the brand-new cover of Jesse Malin's “Death Star.” Join us as we explore the meaning behind the track and, as we like to say, “That's no moon…” Check out Franz's new book at :https://franznicolay.com/ How was the Atlanta show?  Do you have parody lyrics for a THS song? What's the best show you've ever been too? Please send us a voicemail at:https://www.speakpipe.com/TheHoodratRecapEmail or message us at:https://linktr.ee/thehoodratrecap

Writer and musician Franz Nicolay's new book, Band People: Life and Work In Popular Music, highlights the people you might not think of when you think of your favorite bands —the people who comprise the rhythm and horns sections, side-of-stagers, backup singers, and others like them whose stories rarely get told. Publisher's Weekly calls it "a captivating look at what it means to occupy the complicated space 'between a career and a calling.'” Franz Nicolay joins us to discuss.

Whatever happened to selling out? The defining concern of Generation X has become a relic from another era. How that happened is best illustrated by one of the idea's last gasps, when in 2001, Oprah Winfrey invited author Jonathan Franzen to come on her show to discuss his new novel The Corrections. A month later, she withdrew the invitation, kicking off a media firestorm. The Oprah-Franzen Book Club Dust-Up of 2001 was a moment when two ways of thinking about selling out smashed into each other, and one of them—the one that was on its way out already—crashed and burned in public, seldom to be seen again. Some of the voices you'll hear in this episode include screenwriter Helen Childress; writer and musician Franz Nicolay; New York Times critic Wesley Morris, Oprah producer Alice McGee; Boris Kachka, author of Hothouse: The Art of Survival and the Survival of Art at America's Most Celebrated Publishing House, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; Bethany Klein, author of Selling Out: Culture, Commerce and Popular Music; and Laura Miller, Slate's book critic. This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Benjamin Frisch. It was edited by Benjamin Frisch and Gabriel Roth. Cleo Levin was our research assistant. Decoder Ring is produced by Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman, with help from Sofie Kodner. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you're a fan of the show, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate's website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today.  Disclosure: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond's yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond's YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whatever happened to selling out? The defining concern of Generation X has become a relic from another era. How that happened is best illustrated by one of the idea's last gasps, when in 2001, Oprah Winfrey invited author Jonathan Franzen to come on her show to discuss his new novel The Corrections. A month later, she withdrew the invitation, kicking off a media firestorm.The Oprah-Franzen Book Club Dust-Up of 2001 was a moment when two ways of thinking about selling out smashed into each other, and one of them—the one that was on its way out already—crashed and burned in public, seldom to be seen again.Some of the voices you'll hear in this episode include screenwriter Helen Childress; writer and musician Franz Nicolay; New York Times critic Wesley Morris, Oprah producer Alice McGee; Boris Kachka, author of Hothouse: The Art of Survival and the Survival of Art at America's Most Celebrated Publishing House, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; Bethany Klein, author of Selling Out: Culture, Commerce and Popular Music; and Laura Miller, Slate's book critic.This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Benjamin Frisch. It was edited by Benjamin Frisch and Gabriel Roth. Cleo Levin was our research assistant.Decoder Ring is produced by Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman, with help from Sofie Kodner. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends.If you're a fan of the show, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate's website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Disclosure: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond's yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond's YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whatever happened to selling out? The defining concern of Generation X has become a relic from another era. How that happened is best illustrated by one of the idea's last gasps, when in 2001, Oprah Winfrey invited author Jonathan Franzen to come on her show to discuss his new novel The Corrections. A month later, she withdrew the invitation, kicking off a media firestorm.The Oprah-Franzen Book Club Dust-Up of 2001 was a moment when two ways of thinking about selling out smashed into each other, and one of them—the one that was on its way out already—crashed and burned in public, seldom to be seen again.Some of the voices you'll hear in this episode include screenwriter Helen Childress; writer and musician Franz Nicolay; New York Times critic Wesley Morris, Oprah producer Alice McGee; Boris Kachka, author of Hothouse: The Art of Survival and the Survival of Art at America's Most Celebrated Publishing House, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; Bethany Klein, author of Selling Out: Culture, Commerce and Popular Music; and Laura Miller, Slate's book critic.This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Benjamin Frisch. It was edited by Benjamin Frisch and Gabriel Roth. Cleo Levin was our research assistant.Decoder Ring is produced by Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman, with help from Sofie Kodner. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends.If you're a fan of the show, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate's website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Disclosure: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond's yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond's YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whatever happened to selling out? The defining concern of Generation X has become a relic from another era. How that happened is best illustrated by one of the idea's last gasps, when in 2001, Oprah Winfrey invited author Jonathan Franzen to come on her show to discuss his new novel The Corrections. A month later, she withdrew the invitation, kicking off a media firestorm. The Oprah-Franzen Book Club Dust-Up of 2001 was a moment when two ways of thinking about selling out smashed into each other, and one of them—the one that was on its way out already—crashed and burned in public, seldom to be seen again. Some of the voices you'll hear in this episode include screenwriter Helen Childress; writer and musician Franz Nicolay; New York Times critic Wesley Morris, Oprah producer Alice McGee; Boris Kachka, author of Hothouse: The Art of Survival and the Survival of Art at America's Most Celebrated Publishing House, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; Bethany Klein, author of Selling Out: Culture, Commerce and Popular Music; and Laura Miller, Slate's book critic. This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Benjamin Frisch. It was edited by Benjamin Frisch and Gabriel Roth. Cleo Levin was our research assistant. Decoder Ring is produced by Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman, with help from Sofie Kodner. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you're a fan of the show, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate's website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today.  Disclosure: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond's yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond's YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whatever happened to selling out? The defining concern of Generation X has become a relic from another era. How that happened is best illustrated by one of the idea's last gasps, when in 2001, Oprah Winfrey invited author Jonathan Franzen to come on her show to discuss his new novel The Corrections. A month later, she withdrew the invitation, kicking off a media firestorm.The Oprah-Franzen Book Club Dust-Up of 2001 was a moment when two ways of thinking about selling out smashed into each other, and one of them—the one that was on its way out already—crashed and burned in public, seldom to be seen again.Some of the voices you'll hear in this episode include screenwriter Helen Childress; writer and musician Franz Nicolay; New York Times critic Wesley Morris, Oprah producer Alice McGee; Boris Kachka, author of Hothouse: The Art of Survival and the Survival of Art at America's Most Celebrated Publishing House, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; Bethany Klein, author of Selling Out: Culture, Commerce and Popular Music; and Laura Miller, Slate's book critic.This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Benjamin Frisch. It was edited by Benjamin Frisch and Gabriel Roth. Cleo Levin was our research assistant.Decoder Ring is produced by Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman, with help from Sofie Kodner. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director.If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends.If you're a fan of the show, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate's website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today. Disclosure: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond's yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond's YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Whatever happened to selling out? The defining concern of Generation X has become a relic from another era. How that happened is best illustrated by one of the idea's last gasps, when in 2001, Oprah Winfrey invited author Jonathan Franzen to come on her show to discuss his new novel The Corrections. A month later, she withdrew the invitation, kicking off a media firestorm. The Oprah-Franzen Book Club Dust-Up of 2001 was a moment when two ways of thinking about selling out smashed into each other, and one of them—the one that was on its way out already—crashed and burned in public, seldom to be seen again. Some of the voices you'll hear in this episode include screenwriter Helen Childress; writer and musician Franz Nicolay; New York Times critic Wesley Morris, Oprah producer Alice McGee; Boris Kachka, author of Hothouse: The Art of Survival and the Survival of Art at America's Most Celebrated Publishing House, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; Bethany Klein, author of Selling Out: Culture, Commerce and Popular Music; and Laura Miller, Slate's book critic. This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Benjamin Frisch. It was edited by Benjamin Frisch and Gabriel Roth. Cleo Levin was our research assistant. Decoder Ring is produced by Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman, with help from Sofie Kodner. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you're a fan of the show, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate's website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today.  Disclosure: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond's yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond's YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Whatever happened to selling out? The defining concern of Generation X has become a relic from another era. How that happened is best illustrated by one of the idea's last gasps, when in 2001, Oprah Winfrey invited author Jonathan Franzen to come on her show to discuss his new novel The Corrections. A month later, she withdrew the invitation, kicking off a media firestorm. The Oprah-Franzen Book Club Dust-Up of 2001 was a moment when two ways of thinking about selling out smashed into each other, and one of them—the one that was on its way out already—crashed and burned in public, seldom to be seen again. Some of the voices you'll hear in this episode include screenwriter Helen Childress; writer and musician Franz Nicolay; New York Times critic Wesley Morris, Oprah producer Alice McGee; Boris Kachka, author of Hothouse: The Art of Survival and the Survival of Art at America's Most Celebrated Publishing House, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux; Bethany Klein, author of Selling Out: Culture, Commerce and Popular Music; and Laura Miller, Slate's book critic. This episode was written by Willa Paskin and produced by Benjamin Frisch. It was edited by Benjamin Frisch and Gabriel Roth. Cleo Levin was our research assistant. Decoder Ring is produced by Evan Chung, Katie Shepherd, and Max Freedman, with help from Sofie Kodner. Derek John is Executive Producer. Merritt Jacob is Senior Technical Director. If you haven't yet, please subscribe and rate our feed in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. And even better, tell your friends. If you're a fan of the show, please sign up for Slate Plus. Members get to listen to Decoder Ring and all other Slate podcasts without any ads and have total access to Slate's website. Your support is also crucial to our work. Go to slate.com/decoderplus to join Slate Plus today.  Disclosure: A Bond Account is a self-directed brokerage account with Public Investing, member FINRA/SIPC. Deposits into this account are used to purchase 10 investment-grade and high-yield bonds. As of 9/26/24, the average, annualized yield to worst (YTW) across the Bond Account is greater than 6%. A bond's yield is a function of its market price, which can fluctuate; therefore, a bond's YTW is not “locked in” until the bond is purchased, and your yield at time of purchase may be different from the yield shown here. The “locked in” YTW is not guaranteed; you may receive less than the YTW of the bonds in the Bond Account if you sell any of the bonds before maturity or if the issuer defaults on the bond. Public Investing charges a markup on each bond trade. See our Fee Schedule. Bond Accounts are not recommendations of individual bonds or default allocations. The bonds in the Bond Account have not been selected based on your needs or risk profile. See https://public.com/disclosures/bond-account to learn more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Steven begins today's episode by apologizing to Ian and the Sum 41 fan community for his recent disrespectful comments on the pod -- new information has come to light that made him rethink his snarkiness (0:58). Then there is a short Sportscast about the new NFL season (4:25), and more despair from Steven about the state of his fantasy albums draft team (12:08).The guys then pivot to the new MJ Lenderman album out today, Manning Fireworks. It's Steven's favorite record of the year, and Ian likes it, too, though not as much (15:06). Steven also recounts seeing King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard live for the first time this week, which made clear just how huge that band is (28:02).In the mailbag, they address emails about the worst contracts in music history (38:29) and whether they "yay or nay" the band Girls (47:42).In Recommendation Corner, Ian talks about the emo band Floral Tattoo while Steven stumps for a new book by The Hold Steady's Franz Nicolay (56:23).New episodes of Indiecast drop every Friday. Listen to Episode 205 here and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. You can submit questions for Steve and Ian at indiecastmailbag@gmail.com, and make sure to follow us on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for all the latest news. We also recently launched a visualizer for our favorite Indiecast moments. Check those out here.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Ian speaks to Franz Nicolay of The Hold Steady about his new book Band People: Life and Work in Popular Music and the concepts explored therein: building a life as a working musician, the rise and fall of the session player, the rock band as an aristocracy, the nature of touring, parenting as a musician, and money—the root of all evil. PRE-ORDER "BAND PEOPLE" SUBSCRIBE TO FRANZ'S NEWSLETTER "PIANO FIGHTER"

A close look at the lives of working musicians who aren't the center of their stage. Secret (and not-so-secret) weapons, side-of-the-stagers, rhythm and horn sections, backup singers, accompanists—these and other “band people" are the anonymous but irreplaceable character actors of popular music. Through interviews and incisive cultural critique, writer and musician Franz Nicolay provides a portrait of the musical middle class. Artists talk frankly about their careers and attitudes toward their craft, work environment, and group dynamics, and shed light on how support musicians make sense of the weird combination of friend group, gang, small business consortium, long-term creative collaboration, and chosen family that constitutes a band. Is it more important to be a good hang or a virtuoso player? Do bands work best as democracies or autocracies? How do musicians with children balance their personal and professional lives? How much money is too little? And how does it feel to play on hundreds of records, with none released under your name? In exploring these and other questions, Band People: Life and Work in Popular Music (U Texas Press, 2024) gives voice to those who collaborate to create and dissects what it means to be a laborer in the culture industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

A close look at the lives of working musicians who aren't the center of their stage. Secret (and not-so-secret) weapons, side-of-the-stagers, rhythm and horn sections, backup singers, accompanists—these and other “band people" are the anonymous but irreplaceable character actors of popular music. Through interviews and incisive cultural critique, writer and musician Franz Nicolay provides a portrait of the musical middle class. Artists talk frankly about their careers and attitudes toward their craft, work environment, and group dynamics, and shed light on how support musicians make sense of the weird combination of friend group, gang, small business consortium, long-term creative collaboration, and chosen family that constitutes a band. Is it more important to be a good hang or a virtuoso player? Do bands work best as democracies or autocracies? How do musicians with children balance their personal and professional lives? How much money is too little? And how does it feel to play on hundreds of records, with none released under your name? In exploring these and other questions, Band People: Life and Work in Popular Music (U Texas Press, 2024) gives voice to those who collaborate to create and dissects what it means to be a laborer in the culture industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

A close look at the lives of working musicians who aren't the center of their stage. Secret (and not-so-secret) weapons, side-of-the-stagers, rhythm and horn sections, backup singers, accompanists—these and other “band people" are the anonymous but irreplaceable character actors of popular music. Through interviews and incisive cultural critique, writer and musician Franz Nicolay provides a portrait of the musical middle class. Artists talk frankly about their careers and attitudes toward their craft, work environment, and group dynamics, and shed light on how support musicians make sense of the weird combination of friend group, gang, small business consortium, long-term creative collaboration, and chosen family that constitutes a band. Is it more important to be a good hang or a virtuoso player? Do bands work best as democracies or autocracies? How do musicians with children balance their personal and professional lives? How much money is too little? And how does it feel to play on hundreds of records, with none released under your name? In exploring these and other questions, Band People: Life and Work in Popular Music (U Texas Press, 2024) gives voice to those who collaborate to create and dissects what it means to be a laborer in the culture industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

A close look at the lives of working musicians who aren't the center of their stage. Secret (and not-so-secret) weapons, side-of-the-stagers, rhythm and horn sections, backup singers, accompanists—these and other “band people" are the anonymous but irreplaceable character actors of popular music. Through interviews and incisive cultural critique, writer and musician Franz Nicolay provides a portrait of the musical middle class. Artists talk frankly about their careers and attitudes toward their craft, work environment, and group dynamics, and shed light on how support musicians make sense of the weird combination of friend group, gang, small business consortium, long-term creative collaboration, and chosen family that constitutes a band. Is it more important to be a good hang or a virtuoso player? Do bands work best as democracies or autocracies? How do musicians with children balance their personal and professional lives? How much money is too little? And how does it feel to play on hundreds of records, with none released under your name? In exploring these and other questions, Band People: Life and Work in Popular Music (U Texas Press, 2024) gives voice to those who collaborate to create and dissects what it means to be a laborer in the culture industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/music

A close look at the lives of working musicians who aren't the center of their stage. Secret (and not-so-secret) weapons, side-of-the-stagers, rhythm and horn sections, backup singers, accompanists—these and other “band people" are the anonymous but irreplaceable character actors of popular music. Through interviews and incisive cultural critique, writer and musician Franz Nicolay provides a portrait of the musical middle class. Artists talk frankly about their careers and attitudes toward their craft, work environment, and group dynamics, and shed light on how support musicians make sense of the weird combination of friend group, gang, small business consortium, long-term creative collaboration, and chosen family that constitutes a band. Is it more important to be a good hang or a virtuoso player? Do bands work best as democracies or autocracies? How do musicians with children balance their personal and professional lives? How much money is too little? And how does it feel to play on hundreds of records, with none released under your name? In exploring these and other questions, Band People: Life and Work in Popular Music (U Texas Press, 2024) gives voice to those who collaborate to create and dissects what it means to be a laborer in the culture industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/popular-culture

Franz Nicolay plays piano, accordion and pretty much anything with keys for a wide range of projects including The Hold Steady and cabaret-punk orchestra World/Inferno Friendship Society as well as his own burgeoning solo career. We talk on all that in addition to his output as an author (see links below).  This is one wide... The post Franz Nicolay, The Hold Steady appeared first on The Keyboard Chronicles.

Well, this is it: the Season 2 finale! What could be better than having a great novelist AND musician as my last guest for the summer. Enter Franz Nicolay. Franz is here to talk about his rock novel ‘Someone Should Pay For Your Pain', a story that follows singer-songwriter Rudy, his conflicted relationship with a successful former protégé named Ryan, and Rudy's young niece, Lily, who wants to travel with him and whose surprise appearance forces a reckoning with himself and his past. ‘Buzzfeed' named it one of its “42 Great Books To Read” for spring 2021, stating, “Starting at the midlife crisis of an early-aughts indie rock never-was, Franz Nicolay delivers a tight-fisted gut punch of a novel, weaving a road-weary world with a lyricist's skill for evocation, emotion, and economy. . . . A knockout fiction debut from a longtime troubadour.”  In addition to records under his own name, Franz Nicolay was a member of cabaret-punk orchestra World Inferno Friendship Society and is still a member of The Hold Steady, which ‘Rolling Stone' magazine called “one of the all-time great New York bands.” Franz has also recorded or performed with dozens of other acts. His first book, the nonfiction ‘The Humorless Ladies of Border Control', was named a “Season's Best Travel Book” by ‘The New York Times'. His second book, the novel ‘Someone Should Pay For Your Pain', was named one of ‘Rolling Stone's “Best Music Books of 2021.” His writing has appeared in ‘The New York Times', ‘Slate', ‘The Paris Review Daily', ‘The Kenyon Review Online', ‘Ploughshares', the ‘Los Angeles Review of Books', ‘Threepenny Review', and elsewhere. He has taught at UC–Berkeley and is currently a faculty member in music and written arts at Bard College and in Columbia University's MFA fiction program.   MUSIC IN THE EPISODE IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE: Punk Rock Instrumental No Copyright “Always Something In My Blindspot Waiting” by Vic Ruggiero “Sideways Skull” by The Hold Steady “Perdido” by The Hold Steady Clip from the beginning of documentary on World Inferno Friendship Society “This Is Not a Pipe” by Franz Nicolay “So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star” by Patti Smith “Gainesville Rock City” by Less than Jake “Someone Will Pay” by Justin Townes Earle “I Was a Teenage Anarchist” by Against Me! “Good Day” by The Dresden Dolls “When You Get to Asheville” by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell “New River, Spring For Me” by Franz Nicolay     LINKS: Leave a rating and comment for Rock is Lit on Goodpods: https://goodpods.com/podcasts/rock-is-lit-212451 Leave a rating and comment for Rock is Lit on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rock-is-lit/id1642987350 Franz Nicolay's website: https://franznicolay.com/ Franz Nicolay on Twitter, Instagram: @FranzNicolay The Hold Steady's website: https://theholdsteady.net/ The World Inferno Friendship Society's website: https://www.worldinferno.com/ Documentary on World Inferno Friendship Society (Infernite version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iADNLE7H5qE Book trailer for Salman Rushdie's novel ‘Luka and the Fire of Life' (Franz is in the trailer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1IpnC4bImo Christy Alexander Hallberg's website: https://www.christyalexanderhallberg.com/ Christy Alexander Hallberg on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube: @ChristyHallberg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Well, this is it: the Season 2 finale! What could be better than having a great novelist AND musician as my last guest for the summer. Enter Franz Nicolay. Franz is here to talk about his rock novel ‘Someone Should Pay For Your Pain', a story that follows singer-songwriter Rudy, his conflicted relationship with a successful former protégé named Ryan, and Rudy's young niece, Lily, who wants to travel with him and whose surprise appearance forces a reckoning with himself and his past. ‘Buzzfeed' named it one of its “42 Great Books To Read” for spring 2021, stating, “Starting at the midlife crisis of an early-aughts indie rock never-was, Franz Nicolay delivers a tight-fisted gut punch of a novel, weaving a road-weary world with a lyricist's skill for evocation, emotion, and economy. . . . A knockout fiction debut from a longtime troubadour.”  In addition to records under his own name, Franz Nicolay was a member of cabaret-punk orchestra World Inferno Friendship Society and is still a member of The Hold Steady, which ‘Rolling Stone' magazine called “one of the all-time great New York bands.” Franz has also recorded or performed with dozens of other acts. His first book, the nonfiction ‘The Humorless Ladies of Border Control', was named a “Season's Best Travel Book” by ‘The New York Times'. His second book, the novel ‘Someone Should Pay For Your Pain', was named one of ‘Rolling Stone's “Best Music Books of 2021.” His writing has appeared in ‘The New York Times', ‘Slate', ‘The Paris Review Daily', ‘The Kenyon Review Online', ‘Ploughshares', the ‘Los Angeles Review of Books', ‘Threepenny Review', and elsewhere. He has taught at UC–Berkeley and is currently a faculty member in music and written arts at Bard College and in Columbia University's MFA fiction program.   MUSIC IN THE EPISODE IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE: Punk Rock Instrumental No Copyright “Always Something In My Blindspot Waiting” by Vic Ruggiero “Sideways Skull” by The Hold Steady “Perdido” by The Hold Steady Clip from the beginning of documentary on World Inferno Friendship Society “This Is Not a Pipe” by Franz Nicolay “So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star” by Patti Smith “Gainesville Rock City” by Less than Jake “Someone Will Pay” by Justin Townes Earle “I Was a Teenage Anarchist” by Against Me! “Good Day” by The Dresden Dolls “When You Get to Asheville” by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell “New River, Spring For Me” by Franz Nicolay     LINKS: Leave a rating and comment for Rock is Lit on Goodpods: https://goodpods.com/podcasts/rock-is-lit-212451 Leave a rating and comment for Rock is Lit on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rock-is-lit/id1642987350 Franz Nicolay's website: https://franznicolay.com/ Franz Nicolay on Twitter, Instagram: @FranzNicolay The Hold Steady's website: https://theholdsteady.net/ The World Inferno Friendship Society's website: https://www.worldinferno.com/ Documentary on World Inferno Friendship Society (Infernite version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iADNLE7H5qE Book trailer for Salman Rushdie's novel ‘Luka and the Fire of Life' (Franz is in the trailer): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1IpnC4bImo Christy Alexander Hallberg's website: https://www.christyalexanderhallberg.com/ Christy Alexander Hallberg on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube: @ChristyHallberg Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Hold Steady celebrates its 20th anniversary with the release of their ninth studio album 'The Price of Progress.' Singer, songwriter and frontman Craig Finn said that recording these songs together felt like a homecoming for him and his bandmates Bobby Drake, Tad Kubler, Franz Nicolay, Galen Polivka and Steve Selvidge. After swapping song stems and lyrics remotely, the six-piece got together in Rhinebeck, New York to make a joyful noise in-studio. There, they rejoined Heavy Covenant collaborators engineer D. James (Dan) Goodwin and producer Josh Kaufman to bring these 10 new, rich storytelling tunes to life. Webpost

We talked to Franz! He has a stellar new album out now on Don Giovanni Records called New River. We also had a landmark So Much Joy segment... you'll see what we mean. Franz Nicolay - New River - Bandcamp Jimmy Montague Maxwell Stern Franz's solo tour dates The Debutante Hour - "Parking" ‘The Hold Steady is for Women' is hosted by Desi, Heidi and Kayleigh. Get in touch at steadyladies@gmail.com or on Twitter @steadyladies www.thebrokerdealer.net Our intro and outro music is "You Can Make Him Like You," written by The Hold Steady and performed by Early Riser.

When we started working on our 2022 Year End lists, Andrea quickly realized that she could have done an entire episode based on bands from Jersey who put out music last year. So that's what this is. Here's a non-exhaustive list of some of the great music that came outta the Garden State last year. Jersey seriously showed up in 2022. This episode could have been twice as long.Slime - PollyannaBandcamp | Twitter | InstagramSoft Animal – Long NeckBandcamp | Twitter | InstagramLove at Leeds – Mikey ErgBandcamp | Twitter | InstagramHell Is in Your Head – Senses FailBandcamp | Twitter | InstagramThe Rain Museum – Armor for SleepShop | Twitter | InstagramPast Lives – L.S. DunesBandcamp | Twitter | InstagramWaiting for God to Turn on the Lights - The Lower AetnaBandcamp | Twitter | InstagramBecoming - Hit Like a GirlBandcamp | Twitter | Instagram | No More DysphoriaTickets to Franz Nicolay, Timeshares and The Tisburys at Kung Fu Necktie – 02.16Follow us:Left of the Dial on Twitter and Instagram.Andrea on Twitter and Instagram.Kitzy on Twitter and

World/Inferno Friendship Society was not a ska band. However, their punk cabaret sound was similar in spirit and they played with a fair amount of ska bands. They even toured with Blue Meanies and The Independents. Accordion/Keyboardist Franz Nicolay WAS a ska fan. When he moved to New York in the 90s, he saw many brilliant ska shows at The Wetlands. Later when joined indie rock group The Hold Steady, and continued to love the music wholeheartedly. Today, we talk to punk rock's number-one accordionist, Franz Nicolay. He explains why he once sent In Defense of Ska a message to inform us that he NEVER renounced ska. He tells us about discovering ska in the 90s and seeing many Moon Ska bands perform in New York. He also tells us many unhinged World/Inferno stories from the road. And he tells us what the other members of The Hold Steady REALLY think about ska! We also discuss Franz's excellent novel, Someone Should Pay For Your Pain, and he tells us why he often thinks about the unglamorous side of being a touring musician.  Support the show

Our resident Grinch spins his fave Christmas tunes from Foxcunt & The Creamers, fave F-U tunes from Finnegan's Hell & Fear, new tracks from Dangereens, Death By Horse, Oversize, Franz Nicolay, Tukatukas, Grade 2, Rokets, North Sea Fever, Thunder Riot, Die Ghost, Monsters, Girls In Synthesis, classics from Turbonegro, L7, Rubella Ballet, Toys That Kill, Vertical Noise, Linda Lindas, Dash Rip Rock, Toy Dolls, Misfits, Rancid, World Inferno Friendship Society, Jawbreaker, Eastfield, Pussycat & the Dirty Johnsons, Voodoo Glow Skulls, Stooges, & the Luscious Listener's Choice! Girls In Synthesis- Total Control Vertical Noise- Nice Stuff Finnegan's Hell- One Finger Salute Fear- I Don't Care About You Death By Horse- I Got Erection Turbonegro- Denim Demon Linda Lindas- Missing You Toy Dolls- Stay Mellow Monsters- Fromd Vo Mir Dash Rip Rock- Pot 2005 Die Ghost- The Change Misfits- Die, Die My Darling North Sea Fever- Waiting Thunder Riot- More Corrupt Lies Rokets- Cherry Kiss Toys That Kill- The White Lies Grade 2- Under The Streetlight Rancid- Killing Zone Foxcunt- Merry Christmas, Fuck The Patriarchy! Creamers- Father Christmas Tukatukas- Madness Voodoo Glow Skulls- Dirty Rats Franz Nicolay- Your Ode Played By French Horns World Inferno Friendship Society- Only Anarchists Are Pretty Oversize- Wasted Soul Jawbreaker- Condition Oakland Dangereens- Streets Of Doom Stooges- Search And Destroy Eastfield- Colours of the Weym Pussycat And The Dirty Johnsons- Abuser L7- Shove Rubella Ballet- 'T' (Emotional Blackmail) 1982

Franz Nicolay has maybe the longest and most varied resume of any Left of the Dial guest. You likely know him best from his work with The Hold Steady and World/Inferno Friendship Society, and of course, his own solo work. He's also a novelist, travel writer, journalist, professor, and just an all around brilliant and thoughtful person. This week, he joins Andrea and our on-call substitute co-host Doug Keller to talk about so many things, including the long and winding process of making an album, writing fake songs for books, the art of the bridge, the necessity of revision, crying over Randy Newman, and, of course, Stephen Sondheim. He's also here to talk about his beautiful new album, New River, out today, (Nov 11th) on Don Giovanni Records (digital or vinyl).Catch Franz live this month:Nov 18 - Bar Freda, Queens NYNov 19 - Quarry House Tavern, Silver Spring MDNov 30 - Brooklyn Bowl, NYCFollow Franz Nicolay on Twitter and InstagramMentioned in this episode:"Where Is My Wandering Boy Tonight"Endless Possibility: A Tribute to Jack TerriclothFollow us on Twitter and Instagram.photo: Tim Davis

It's been a minute since Andrea and Kitzy sat down to share some new music, so that's what we're doing this week. Andrea picked eight songs that were released this summer and told Kitzy next to nothing before hitting record, so you're getting Kitzy's first impressions of a bunch of songs. Will they all be hits? You'll have to listen to find out!* *No you won't. They're all hits. These are all great songs. Go support all these artists by picking up their music, favoriting them on your preferred streaming platform, and following them on Twitter and/or Instagram. Links to all of the above, below. Franz Nicolay - "New River, Spring for Me" https://dongiovannirecords.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=df6fc86c1831abaa57cee6fed&id=b57d9d9535&e=cbd2f721ca (Pre-order and pre-save) New River, out November 11th via Don Giovanni Records Watch the delightfully charming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fov_sKF2N0I (video). https://franznicolay.bandcamp.com/album/new-river (Bandcamp) https://twitter.com/franznicolay (Twitter) https://www.instagram.com/franznicolay/?hl=en (Instagram) Boon - "Candle" https://boonmusic.bandcamp.com/music (Bandcamp) https://twitter.com/boon_philly (Twitter) https://www.instagram.com/boon.boon.boon/ (Instagram) Honey Revenge - "Ride" Watch the sunny, feel-good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLHlstCwm9k (video). https://orcd.co/hrride (Listen) https://twitter.com/honeyrevengeca (Twitter) https://www.instagram.com/honeyrevengeca/ (Instagram) Future Teens - "Team Sports"  https://triplecrown.ffm.to/byob (Pre-order Self Help), out September 23rd on Triple Crown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPj6HIPGJnY (Video) https://futureteens.bandcamp.com/ (Bandcamp) https://twitter.com/futureteensusa (Twitter) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPj6HIPGJnY (Instagram) Razor Braids - "Megachurch" https://razorbraids.bandcamp.com/ (Bandcamp) https://twitter.com/RazorBraids (Twitter) https://www.instagram.com/razorbraids/ (Instagram) Lemondrop - "Saturday Night" https://lemondropband.bandcamp.com/ (Bandcamp) https://twitter.com/lemondropband (Twitter) https://www.instagram.com/iamlemondrop (Instagram) LOBSTERBOMB - "Starting Over" Watch the ridiculously fun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIe6lUaUdEE (video). https://lobsterbomb.bandcamp.com/ (Bandcamp) https://twitter.com/lobsterbombband (Twitter) https://www.instagram.com/lobsterbombband/ (Instagram) Pollyanna - "Smile" https://pollyannaband.bandcamp.com/album/slime (Bandcamp) https://twitter.com/pollyannanj (Twitter) https://www.instagram.com/thisispollyanna/ (Instagram) Follow us on https://twitter.com/leftofthedialpc (Twitter) and https://instagram.com/leftofthedialfm (Instagram). https://www.instagram.com/reel/CiDIK7DjPqC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link (Pacey sing song)?

Funny music is often dismissed as light and irrelevant, but Weird Al Yankovic's fourteen successful studio albums prove there is more going on than comedic music's reputation suggests. In this book, for the first time, the parodies, original compositions, and polka medleys of the Weird Al universe finally receive their due respect. In Weird Al, Seriously, musicologist Lily Hirsch weaves together original interviews with the prince of parody himself, creating a fresh take on comedy and music's complicated romance. She reveals that Yankovic's jests have always had a deeper meaning, addressing such topics as bullying, celebrity, and racial and gender stereotypes. Weird Al is undeterred by those who say funny music is nothing but a low-brow pastime. And thank goodness. With his good-guy grace still intact, Yankovic remains unapologetically and unmistakably himself. Reveling in the mischief and wisdom of Yankovic's forty-year career, this book is an Al-expense-paid tour of a true comedic and musical genius. Franz Nicolay is a musician and writer living in New York's Hudson Valley. His first book, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar, was named a "Season's Best Travel Book" by The New York Times. Buzzfeed called his second book, the novel Someone Should Pay for Your Pain," a knockout fiction debut;" and Rolling Stone named it one of the best music books of 2021. He teaches at Bard College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Funny music is often dismissed as light and irrelevant, but Weird Al Yankovic's fourteen successful studio albums prove there is more going on than comedic music's reputation suggests. In this book, for the first time, the parodies, original compositions, and polka medleys of the Weird Al universe finally receive their due respect. In Weird Al, Seriously, musicologist Lily Hirsch weaves together original interviews with the prince of parody himself, creating a fresh take on comedy and music's complicated romance. She reveals that Yankovic's jests have always had a deeper meaning, addressing such topics as bullying, celebrity, and racial and gender stereotypes. Weird Al is undeterred by those who say funny music is nothing but a low-brow pastime. And thank goodness. With his good-guy grace still intact, Yankovic remains unapologetically and unmistakably himself. Reveling in the mischief and wisdom of Yankovic's forty-year career, this book is an Al-expense-paid tour of a true comedic and musical genius. Franz Nicolay is a musician and writer living in New York's Hudson Valley. His first book, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar, was named a "Season's Best Travel Book" by The New York Times. Buzzfeed called his second book, the novel Someone Should Pay for Your Pain," a knockout fiction debut;" and Rolling Stone named it one of the best music books of 2021. He teaches at Bard College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/performing-arts

Funny music is often dismissed as light and irrelevant, but Weird Al Yankovic's fourteen successful studio albums prove there is more going on than comedic music's reputation suggests. In this book, for the first time, the parodies, original compositions, and polka medleys of the Weird Al universe finally receive their due respect. In Weird Al, Seriously, musicologist Lily Hirsch weaves together original interviews with the prince of parody himself, creating a fresh take on comedy and music's complicated romance. She reveals that Yankovic's jests have always had a deeper meaning, addressing such topics as bullying, celebrity, and racial and gender stereotypes. Weird Al is undeterred by those who say funny music is nothing but a low-brow pastime. And thank goodness. With his good-guy grace still intact, Yankovic remains unapologetically and unmistakably himself. Reveling in the mischief and wisdom of Yankovic's forty-year career, this book is an Al-expense-paid tour of a true comedic and musical genius. Franz Nicolay is a musician and writer living in New York's Hudson Valley. His first book, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar, was named a "Season's Best Travel Book" by The New York Times. Buzzfeed called his second book, the novel Someone Should Pay for Your Pain," a knockout fiction debut;" and Rolling Stone named it one of the best music books of 2021. He teaches at Bard College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biography

Funny music is often dismissed as light and irrelevant, but Weird Al Yankovic's fourteen successful studio albums prove there is more going on than comedic music's reputation suggests. In this book, for the first time, the parodies, original compositions, and polka medleys of the Weird Al universe finally receive their due respect. In Weird Al, Seriously, musicologist Lily Hirsch weaves together original interviews with the prince of parody himself, creating a fresh take on comedy and music's complicated romance. She reveals that Yankovic's jests have always had a deeper meaning, addressing such topics as bullying, celebrity, and racial and gender stereotypes. Weird Al is undeterred by those who say funny music is nothing but a low-brow pastime. And thank goodness. With his good-guy grace still intact, Yankovic remains unapologetically and unmistakably himself. Reveling in the mischief and wisdom of Yankovic's forty-year career, this book is an Al-expense-paid tour of a true comedic and musical genius. Franz Nicolay is a musician and writer living in New York's Hudson Valley. His first book, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar, was named a "Season's Best Travel Book" by The New York Times. Buzzfeed called his second book, the novel Someone Should Pay for Your Pain," a knockout fiction debut;" and Rolling Stone named it one of the best music books of 2021. He teaches at Bard College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/american-studies

Funny music is often dismissed as light and irrelevant, but Weird Al Yankovic's fourteen successful studio albums prove there is more going on than comedic music's reputation suggests. In this book, for the first time, the parodies, original compositions, and polka medleys of the Weird Al universe finally receive their due respect. In Weird Al, Seriously, musicologist Lily Hirsch weaves together original interviews with the prince of parody himself, creating a fresh take on comedy and music's complicated romance. She reveals that Yankovic's jests have always had a deeper meaning, addressing such topics as bullying, celebrity, and racial and gender stereotypes. Weird Al is undeterred by those who say funny music is nothing but a low-brow pastime. And thank goodness. With his good-guy grace still intact, Yankovic remains unapologetically and unmistakably himself. Reveling in the mischief and wisdom of Yankovic's forty-year career, this book is an Al-expense-paid tour of a true comedic and musical genius. Franz Nicolay is a musician and writer living in New York's Hudson Valley. His first book, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar, was named a "Season's Best Travel Book" by The New York Times. Buzzfeed called his second book, the novel Someone Should Pay for Your Pain," a knockout fiction debut;" and Rolling Stone named it one of the best music books of 2021. He teaches at Bard College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/music

Funny music is often dismissed as light and irrelevant, but Weird Al Yankovic's fourteen successful studio albums prove there is more going on than comedic music's reputation suggests. In this book, for the first time, the parodies, original compositions, and polka medleys of the Weird Al universe finally receive their due respect. In Weird Al, Seriously, musicologist Lily Hirsch weaves together original interviews with the prince of parody himself, creating a fresh take on comedy and music's complicated romance. She reveals that Yankovic's jests have always had a deeper meaning, addressing such topics as bullying, celebrity, and racial and gender stereotypes. Weird Al is undeterred by those who say funny music is nothing but a low-brow pastime. And thank goodness. With his good-guy grace still intact, Yankovic remains unapologetically and unmistakably himself. Reveling in the mischief and wisdom of Yankovic's forty-year career, this book is an Al-expense-paid tour of a true comedic and musical genius. Franz Nicolay is a musician and writer living in New York's Hudson Valley. His first book, The Humorless Ladies of Border Control: Touring the Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar, was named a "Season's Best Travel Book" by The New York Times. Buzzfeed called his second book, the novel Someone Should Pay for Your Pain," a knockout fiction debut;" and Rolling Stone named it one of the best music books of 2021. He teaches at Bard College. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/art

In this episode, David Harris, Holly Hazelwood and Eric Mellor are joined by special guest, Franz Nicolay, to discuss his new book and fiction about music.Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/bePatron?u=35658686)

Franz Nicolay has had a long and winding and frankly vaudevillian journey through the music industry over the two-plus decades since he left our shared home state of New Hampshire. Dying Scene readers from the days of yore no doubt are familiar with the #1 accordion player in punk rock (it's true, Connor checked: https://dyingscene.com/heroes-of-the-punk-accordion-a-tribute-to-squeezebox-rockers/) through solo work or his stints in The Hold Steady and The World/Inferno Friendship Society and Against Me! and perhaps Anti-Social Music and maybe Guignol and probably from collaborations with countless beloved acts like Jeff Rosenstock and The Loved Ones and Frank Turner and Junior Battles and more. A few years ago, he published a fascinating nonfiction book, "The Humourless Laties of Border Control: Touring The Punk Underground from Belgrade to Ulaanbaatar." It's an incredibly detailed and dense look at DIY touring through large chucks of the former Soviet Union and Mongolia and the like. At long last, Nicolay is set to release his debut novel. It's called "Someone Should Pay For Your Pain," and it's finally due out next week (August 24th) through Gibson Press, and let me tell you: it's wonderful. It centers around a character named Rudy Pauver. Originally from Wisconsin, Pauver finds his way to the DIY punk mecca that was late 90s Gainesville and joins a band and, when they goes belly up for a variety of reasons, he continues to ply his wares as a solo artist/troubadour for the better part of the next two decades. There is a cast of characters that includes former bandmates and former proteges-turned-megastars and crotchedy bartenders and condescending soundguys and a next-generation punk rock niece. If you've been in a band or been even loosely tied to a scene, you know these people and these places and these roads and these dive bar floor tiles and these mattresses in the corner at the local flophouse. It's real and it's relatable and it's a sort of book about what happens after the "coming of age" stuff gets old. For a musician who dabbles in writing - Franz can craft a hell of a novel. Purchase "Someone Should Pay For Your Pain" here: https://bookshop.org/books/someone-should-pay-for-your-pain/9781948721134 Visit Franz' website here: https://franznicolay.com/