author of The Cellist of Sarajevo, has a soft spot for William Shatner and Neil Diamond
stevengalloway.com
by Erica Gehrke
What’s on your iPod? Reunion Tour by The Weakerthans.
Cutting-edge or cacophony? It’s cutting-edge in a lot of ways, in terms of the subjects the songs cover. But in terms of arrangement the music is straightforward in a comforting way. The album has great range as well in terms of style, with some songs rich with instrumentation and others very minimal.
Fill in the blanks: People who are tired of being yelled at should listen to this album because the lyrics in Weakerthans songs are some of the best writing around. Poets and prose writers could learn a thing or two from John Samson.
If we jacked into your shuffle, we’d be surprised to hear the audiobook of Alexander McCall Smith’s The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs as read by Hugh Laurie.
Guilty pleasure time: what kind of ear candy do you sometimes listen to? A whole lot of Neil Diamond. Also, William Shatner’s song “Common People” makes me laugh every single time.
Your favourite song of all time is... These things change constantly. At one time I remember thinking Platinum Blonde’s “Situation Critical” was quite possibly the greatest song ever written. Twenty years later, not so much. Currently the song that iTunes says I listen to most is The Weakerthans tune “Virtue the Cat Explains Her Disappearance.” Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah” also never fails to elicit a response. At the diner I eat at a lot, the song I’m most likely to spend my first quarter on is Starship’s “We Built This City (on Rock and Roll),” but I’m not sure anymore whether I really like it or if I’m being ironic. It’s a problem with the times we live in. I think Paul Simon’s Graceland is one of, if not the best, albums ever.
You wouldn’t be caught dead listening to Nickelback. Also, if I hear Raffi’s “Baby Beluga” one more time...
If you could hang out with any musician—living or dead—who would it be? Mozart. Despite, or perhaps because of, the syphilis, he seems like he’d be a lot of fun.
Singing in the shower or only in your dreams? Both. Sometimes I even have dreams where I’m singing in the shower. And I sound awesome.
—Erica Gehrke
