April Lindner

Jesse Malin at Drew's While I was writing my novel Catherine , I listened obsessively to the music of Jesse Malin.  At first, my interest in the guy was casual; I'd seen him play a couple of times at Light of Day, a yearly concert that benefits research against Parkinson's Disease.  Also, he had recorded a song--"Broken Radio"--with Bruce Springsteen, and as a huge Springsteen fan, I always pay at least passing attention to musicians who interest Bruce. But over time, my appreciation of Jesse became more intense.  For one thing, he's a vibrant performer.  For another, he writes the kind of song that's all too rare these days--rock and roll that manages to be smart and edgy yet unironically, full-heartedly romantic. And then there were the parallels between Jesse's life and that of Hence, one of the key characters in Catherine --Heathcliff in my retelling of Wuthering Heights.  Like Hence, Jesse Malin had a first act as...

Jake Clemons had some big shoes to fill when Bruce Springsteen tapped him to play sax in the E Street Band after the 2011 death of Clarence Clemons (Jake's uncle).  Fans can be a cranky bunch, and some of Springsteen's longtime followers were skeptical that anyone could come close to taking Clarence's place as Springsteen's tenor sax player and onstage foil. But it didn't take long before the skeptics came around.  For one thing, Jake can really do justice to songs like Thunder Road, Spirit in the Night, and even Jungleland, a song some fans thought should be retired after Clarence's death.  For another, Jake has a pleasing onstage presence, bringing out a warm and avuncular side of Bruce's personality.  Nobody will ever take the place of Clarence Clemons.  But Jake has quickly become a beloved member of the E Street Band in his own right. So when my friend and fellow Bruce enthusiast Diane told me that Jake Clemons would be headlining at the ...

In 1988, my husband Andre and I were living in Yonkers, N.Y. in an attic apartment that got hotter than hell in the summer.  We were newly married; I was in grad school, and we were dead broke.  We didn't have money back then to buy music, but we listened to the radio--a lot.  One day I stumbled onto something unusual; the deejay on a college station was so crazy about a new song he'd just heard that he couldn't stop playing it.  He played it at least ten times running--which might have sent me running for the dial.  But the song was captivating--the tune memorable, the lyrics biting and smart, the guitar solo blazing--and ten times running wasn't enough.  I called Andre into the the room so he could hear it too. That song was "Judas Kiss" by a band I'd never heard of before, New York's own Del-Lords. Like I said, we didn't buy CDs back then; we didn't go to concerts either.  Not long after that we had two kids, and signed on for mo...