Showing results by author "Tom Maxwell" in All Categories

SHELVED explores the history and drama behind albums that were deemed too controversial, too far from the beaten path, or too ahead of their time for public consumption. Through interviews with musicians, producers, record executives, and journalists, as well as archival audio, key music and personal storytelling, each episode examines the “shelved” album’s place in musical history, and the spectacles behind each missed or nearly missed release.

In 2012, after sharing a number of sea stories with my only grandson, I was told I needed to write a life journal to include my years as a child in the Philippine Islands just following World War II. The journal, which addressed a time from June 7, 1935 to December 28, 2013, includes the important events of my life, including my 27 years in the US Navy. As could be expected, there are more reflections from my years as a naval aviator, flying combat missions in Vietnam and numerous secret missions against the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

A Really Strange and Wonderful Time features a representative cross-section of what was being created in and around Chapel Hill between 1989 and 1999. In addition to the aforementioned indie bands, it documents―through firsthand accounts―other local notables like Ben Folds Five, Dillon Fence, Flat Duo Jets, Small, Southern Culture on the Skids, Squirrel Nut Zippers, The Veldt, and Whiskeytown. At the same time, it describes the nurturing infrastructure which engendered and encouraged this marvelous diversity. In essence, A Really Strange and Wonderful Time is proof of the genius of community.