Radical Grammar

Book Excerpt

Raised on Radio by Paul Rees (Excerpt)

Excerpted from RAISED ON RADIO: Power Ballads, Cocaine & Payola—the AOR Glory Years 1976–1986 by Paul Rees, published on February 24, 2026. Copyright © 2026 by Paul Rees. Used by arrangement with Da Capo Publishing, an imprint of Grand Central Publishing and a division of Hachette Book Group. All

Personal

Remembering Ron Hicks

I don’t remember the first year my friend Tony invited me up to his house for the Fourth of July. I know what the plan was. It was the Fourth, it was his mom’s birthday, and we were going to grill out, eat some of his dad’s

Music

AGAIN

I saw this posted today on Facebook. And thought it would make a good song, considering the moment. Wake up, take a shower See a person get murdered Scroll past some bullshit Posted by your mother Pick up the laundry Drop off the kids Figure out where to grab lunch

Texas Jack

The End of the Gazette

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette newspaper, which has been in print for nearly 240 years since it was founded as the Pittsburgh Gazette in July of 1786, just announced it will cease operations in May. The Post-Gazette was one of the many papers I referenced when I was researching my Texas Jack

The Death of Isaac Cody

On the evening of September 18, 1854, a large group gathered at Major M.P. Rively’s store on Salt Creek, near Leavenworth, Kansas. Four months earlier, Congress had passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the Missouri Compromise and created two new territories, Kansas and Nebraska. The Act also stated

Ball Peen

The liner notes that follow originally accompanied the 1970 single release of “Ball Peen.” Written at the time of recording, they reflect the period’s prevailing habit of saying just enough—and no more—about a song’s meaning, leaving interpretation to the listener and rumor to do the rest.

The Battle for Rattlesnake Springs and the Valor of Sergeant Thomas Boyne

In 1879, the simmering tensions between the Ute people and the U.S. government finally boiled over in northwestern Colorado. At the center of the conflict was Nathan Meeker, an idealistic Indian Agent who believed he could force the Utes to abandon their nomadic culture for farming and fences. When

Texas Jack

"I Watched Him Ride Out of Sight"

On October 30, 1912, the Jacksonville Journal ran a small human-interest piece tied to a large piece of news: Buffalo Bill’s Wild West had broken up for the season. As it often did, the great traveling show was dispersing for the winter, its performers and employees scattering across the

15 Minutes of Shame

Ring light shining in the bedroom, Phone on a tripod on the floor. You never knew exactly what they wanted You only knew that they all wanted more Algorithms whispering “C’mon, and play the game…” You said it’s just content,” But now the comments know your name Mash

Buffalo Soldiers

Buffalo Soldier Henry Johnson & the Meeker Incident

In 1879, the simmering tensions between the Ute people and the U.S. government finally boiled over in northwestern Colorado. At the center of the conflict was Nathan Meeker, an idealistic Indian Agent who believed he could force the Utes to abandon their nomadic culture for farming and fences. When

Christmas

All I Want For Christmas

With everything going on in the world, it’s easy to forget the true meaning of this Christmas season. So this year, I wanted to write something to help remind myself what really matters. Hang the stockings Trim the tree I can't wait to see you I’ve

Buffalo Soldiers

Clinton Greaves, Buffalo Soldiers, and the Medal of Honor

Episode 2 of the Buffalo Soldiers series which I wrote for Legends of the Old West follows the 9th Cavalry into the unforgiving terrain of southern New Mexico, where small patrols of Black troopers were tasked with tracking fast-moving Apache bands through canyons, arroyos, and the jagged Florida Mountains. The

Coming Soon

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You (November 26, 2025)

Street dates December 2, 2025. All book descriptions provided by the publisher. Giant Steps: My Impossible Journey from Stage Lights to Executive Heights By Derek Shulman with Jon Wiederhorn Jawbone Press Beginning with a young Shulman confidently telling his schoolteacher that he would grow up to become a pop star,

Coming Soon

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You (November 18, 2025)

Street dates November 25, 2025. All book descriptions provided by the publisher. Finding Flannery: A Travel Memoir Exploring the Mystique of Flannery O’Connor and the Legacy She Has Left Us All By Christina Brajkovich, Karen Anne Mahoney, and Roxane B. Salonen En Route Books and Media Follow the journey…

Coming Soon

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You (November 11, 2025)

Street date November 18, 2025. All book descriptions provided by the publisher. Nightmare Obscura: A Dream Engineer’s Guide Through the Sleeping Mind By Michelle Carr Henry Holt and Co. To most, dreams are things that slip away when we reemerge into the waking world, their remnants jumbled up and

Texas Jack

Texas Jack Junior & the Mexican Joe Company

A Newly Discovered Photograph of Texas Jack Junior and the Mexican Joe Show Company Every so often, I open my email and find that history surprises me with something truly remarkable. Last week, I got an email from Don Arth, who shared this image with me and graciously allowed me

Author

Full Circle Moment

Back in August of 2017, I made the trip to Cody, Wyoming, for the Buffalo Bill Centennial Symposium at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. I had just finished the first draft of my book on Texas Jack Omohundro and was trying to find a publisher. That evening’s

Coming Soon

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You (November 4, 2025)

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You Street date November 11, 2025. All book descriptions provided by the publisher. Ingram By Louis C.K. BenBella Books When Ingram is forced by overwhelming poverty and spiritual exhaustion to walk away from his home, he leaves behind a neglectful childhood on a

Coming Soon

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You (October 28, 2025)

Street date November 4, 2025. All book descriptions provided by the publisher. Luigi: The Making and the Meaning By John H. Richardson Simon & Schuster The explosion of glee and sympathy for Luigi surprised everyone, but it was everywhere. Hours after the shooting of the United Healthcare executive, his company

Coming Soon

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You (October 21, 2025)

The Uncool: A Memoir By Cameron Crowe Avid Reader Press Available in Hardcover, ebook, and unabridged audio download Cameron Crowe was an unlikely rock and roll insider. Born in 1957 to parents who strictly banned the genre from their house, he dove headfirst into the world of music. By the

Coming Soon

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You (October 14, 2025)

Street date October 14, 2025. All book descriptions provided by the publisher. Only God Can Judge Me: The Many Lives of Tupac Shakur By Jeff Pearlman Mariner Books Available in Hardcover, ebook, or digital audiobook Scrutinized in life, mythologized in death, Tupac Shakur remains a subject of immense cultural significance

WonTone Records

Pipeliner Blues — Del Ray Hillian

By the time Del Ray Hillian recorded “Pipeliner Blues” in 1973, the song had already lived several lives. It began as a Moon Mullican number back in the forties—one of those rib-tickling, hip-swinging hillbilly boogies that Moon could toss off between gospel sets and beer-joint romps. Mullican sang it

Coming Soon

Coming Soon to a Bookstore Near You (October 7, 2025)

Street date October 14, 2025. All book descriptions provided by the publisher. A Wooded Shore and Other Stories By Thomas McGuane Knopf Available in Hardcover or ebook In these nine peerless stories, a family boating trip veers into emotional disaster while very narrowly avoiding the physical; a would-be cheater hands

Music Uncovered

Music Uncovered: Pink World

By 1983 the notion of a “concept/rock opera” album was pretty well played out. It had been done, for better, or, more often worse, by artists across the Rock genre. Usually some variation of a dystopian fantasy/sci-fi trope, mostly as a vanity project based on the artist’s

WonTone Records

Methamphetamine Codeine Murder – Del Ray Hillian

When Methamphetamine Codeine Murder first hit the turntables in mid-1970s, most Southern radio stations refused to play it. Too raw for country, too country for rock, and far too honest for gospel, the single from Sand Mountain native Del Ray Hillian quickly earned its reputation as the darkest cut ever