Some Soulshine for the 800th rainy day in a row
The sun may never shine again in the Northeast, so you might as well focus on letting your soul shine. Bluesman Larry McCray, an old friend of Warren Haynes', was the first one to record this. This goes out to my brother Woodie Wu and to the…
Some new pictures by Kathryn Huang
I did a photo shoot with Kathryn Huang today because I needed some very specifically framed photos for a Beijing magazine. Here are a couple examples of what we did.I suggested this as sort of a joke after seeing versions of it in so many Guitar…
Big in China Excerpt: The Ecstasy of the evangelist. Preaching the blues in Changsha
"What a romp. After writing about music for years, Alan Paul walked the walk, preaching the blues in China. Anyone who doubts that music is bigger than words needs to read this great tale.”
-Gregg Allman, the Allman Brothers Band
—This…
Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba loves Big in China
Dashboard Confessional's Chris Carrabba on Big In China: "This book is great. I recommend it to any guitarist, traveler, or basketball fan!"
He sent this out as a tweet and also referred to me as "my friend..." That's all really nice. We…
“Alan Paul, A Southern Rock Champion”
There are times when I wish the 12-year-old could see me, and reading a headline calling me a "Southern Rock Champion" is one of them. It makes me think of being in my basement staring at the Skynyrd poster on the wood paneled wall, or laying…
RIP Tractor Traylor
Wow. Tractor Traylor dead at 34.
This is just very very sad. Tractor was starring for U-M when I was living in Ann Arbor in 96-98. I saw him play a lot and did a piece in Slam - one of the first things I wrote for the magazine. He made…
The sad demise of nicknames
There's a good, though overly academic, piece in the NYTimes today about the sad demise of sports nicknames. It's a topic we've ranted about in Slam and over at SlamOnline for years. Slam has made efforts to create nicknames for players…
Thank you to everyone popping in after hearing me on the radio
Please browse around, make yourself at home, and drop me a line if you have any questions.
Big in China Excerpt: Into the Great Wide Open. Guizhou, China with Kids
—This post is adapted from Chapter 8 of Big In China: My Unlikely Adventures Raising A Family, Playing The Blues and Becoming A Star in China (Harper). Click here to buy. Copyright 2011 by Alan Paul.
There are countless motivations for…
Warren Haynes on NPR
Here's a well-deserved, lengthy and insightful, interview with Warren on NPR's Weekend Edition.Man in Motion is a very strong album and I'm looking forward to seeing the new band at the Beacon this week.