About dave brandt • author
From Colorado, I am the youngest of six. I have also lived in California, Michigan, Texas, Tennessee, and Virginia—which is home now. There was always interesting music around the house, and I was encouraged to spend time reading.
As a kid, I would listen to music and read along with the lyrics, study them. I actually enjoyed diagraming sentences and I always preferred essay questions. At VCU in Richmond, I majored in English.
In the nineties, I became involved in zine culture. I cut my teeth as a writer with my publication, 'The Crisp Fabric.' I have formed meaningful friendships with writers and artists I have never met.
My favorite novelists are Kurt Vonnegut, Hermann Hesse, Italo Calvino, and Franz Kafka.
The nonfiction writers I like are Buckminster Fuller, Hunter S. Thompson, and Frank Zappa.
Sylvia Plath and Emily Dickinson are my favorite poets.
When I turned twenty-one, I was living in a third-story apartment on Belmont Avenue in the Fan district of Richmond, Virginia. It was the second apartment I had all to myself. It was my home for about a year. For … Continue reading →
These are the greatest albums in the history of recording technology. I don’t care what Rolling Stone or their cohorts think. Abbey Road is just too obvious. There are several pieces not featured that exemplify quality music making. It wasn’t … Continue reading →
Posted in Best Albums, Interactive, Music
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Tagged Elvis Costello, Roger Waters, Talking Heads, Music, Cocteau Twins, Suzanne Vega, Best Albums, Philip Glass, Greatest Albums, Interactive
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All the years I lived in Richmond, one constant was Plan 9, in Carytown. Their literature shelf and bulletin board were a hub for the anti-establishment college crowd and art school dropout scene. They carried some issues of Babelogue, my … Continue reading →
Posted in LP Records, Music, Vinyl Records
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Tagged Bargaining, CDs, Cheating, Frank Zappa, Haggling, Maximumrocknroll, Plan 9, Punk Rock, Record Exchange, Records, Stealing, Virginia
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What I have could be called basic basic cable: the major networks, C-Span, and a bunch of channels that show sitcoms from the seventies. I get YouTube on the wi-fi via my Blu-ray player. I watch the Democracy Now! podcast. The morning … Continue reading →
Posted in News, News Media
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Tagged Fox News, Liberal Media Bias, Inside Edition, PBS Newshour, BBC News, Banter, Network News, American News, You Tube, C-Span, Democracy Now!
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It began with an injury, in sixth grade. I was bicycling to school, and there was a small piece of asphalt ahead of me. I thought I could jump it, but I hit it and was knocked off my bike. … Continue reading →
Posted in Dentures, Pain, Teeth
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Tagged Affordable Dentures, Broken Teeth, Dental Insurance, Dentures, Dietary Restrictions, Extreme Pain, Free Clinic, Pain, Pierced Septum, Smile, Teeth, Vanity
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The first time I saw it, I was driving home from the mall. It was so out of character with the surrounding energy that it seemed a mirage. The LU in the logo stands for Liberty University, a private religious … Continue reading →
Posted in Falwell, Religion
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Tagged Candler’s Mountian, Falwell, Free Society, Liberty Mountain, Liberty University, LU, Lynchburg, Mad Magazine, Mountain, Protestants, Religion, Religious Freedom
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“Anyone who wears their religion on their sleeve is not to be trusted.” Jon GraysonRadio Personality Everybody knows that the words “Separation of Church and State” are not in the Constitution. But the concept clearly is. This beautiful 45-word sentence … Continue reading →
Posted in Government, Religion
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Tagged Alcoholics Anonymous, Christianity, Donald Trump, Falwell, First Amendment, Government, Jonestown, Liberty University, Mike Johnson, Politics, Religion, Salvation Army, Speaker of the House
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My belief is that life begins at conception. Half of Americans disagree. I am in no position to impose my system of values on anybody. I believe that abortion up to the point of viability should be safe, legal, and … Continue reading →
Posted in Abortion, Politics, Religion
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Tagged Abortion, Adoption, Choice, Contraception, Legal, Life of Child, Life of Mother, Politics, Religion
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The year began in Virginia and ended in Tennessee. My friend Brian, who was born there, summed it up: Harrisonburg is a rest stop on the road of life, it’s a nice place to stop and take a leak, but … Continue reading →
Posted in 1996, Interactive, Music
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Tagged 1996, Butthole Surfers, Cocteau Twins, David Byrne, Electric Larryland, Elvis Costello, Harrisonburg, Major Labels, Nashville, Popular Music, Punk Rock Ideology, R.E.M., Selling Out, Suzanne Vega
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I did a lot of temp work in Nashville, some of my fellow temps were failed musicians who were “between gigs.” A theme running through their chatter was how difficult it is to play with feeling; as if that’s some … Continue reading →
Posted in Music, Nashville
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Tagged 12-Bar Blues, Creativity, Emotions, Failed Musicians, Free-Form Improvisation, Improvisation, Mix Tape, Music, Music City, Nashville, Temp, Temporay Work
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Dustin and my friends in Harrisonburg respected me as a songwriter. I followed Dustin to Nashville, under the pretense of recording my music in a friend’s studio. We had made serious headway on a couple of songs, but Dustin moved … Continue reading →
Posted in Nashville, Recording Studios
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Tagged Clay Keith, Commercial, DIY, Harrisonburg, Ideals, Ludwigs, Music City, Punk Mentality, Recording, Songwriting, Stratocaster, Studio Magic, Tennessee
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My Dad liked to travel. He and I took two vacations down the East Coast several years ago. I was sleep deprived, so I didn’t drive much. I wish I had done more driving with all the trouble we had … Continue reading →
Posted in East Coast, Travel
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Tagged Atlanta, Charleston South Carolina, Clay Keith, Dad, Fort Sumpter, GBT, Georgia Aquarium, Green Bank Observatory, Haunting, Southeastern Coast, St. Augustine, St. Augustine Lighthouse, St. John, Vacations
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On a mild Wednesday evening in August of 1970, I was born. My first home was a ranch house with a full basement in Greely, Colorado. I was the youngest of six. My only sister had three older brothers and … Continue reading →
Posted in Cartoons, Childhood
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Tagged 1970's, Augie Doggie and Doggie Daddy, Ballooning, Captian Kangaroo, Cartoons, Colorado, Ear Pain, Grasshoppers, Greeley, Jot, Lil Slugger, Monopoly Record, Oppisite of Hawaii, Television
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