Ken Bigger is a writer based in the Midwest. He co-founded Murder Ballad Monday in 2012.
Music & Friends The pleasure of thinking and talking about music goes way back for me. Maybe it began when I was eight or nine, when my sister and I listened to 45 rpm singles: Paper Laceâs âThe Night Chicago … Continue reading →
This is the twelfth installment in our “Conversations with Death” sub-series. Introduction My spouse had cancer 14 years ago. She’s fully recovered. I’m still not sure I am. When I think back over the complex set of interests and experiences … Continue reading →
We break at times from our regular fare of murder ballads for songs that confront mortality in other ways. Todayâs discussion is the next installment in our âConversations with Deathâ series. Special thanks to David Travis for his pictures in … Continue reading →
“The man is dead, the man is dead” This week marks the 40th anniversary of the death of South African anti-apartheid activist Bantu Stephen Biko. Biko, a leader in the Black Consciousness Movement, died in the custody of South African … Continue reading →
âI am here when the cities are gone. I am here before the cities come. I nourished the lonely men on horses. I will keep the laughing men who ride iron. I am dust of men.â — from âPrairieâ by … Continue reading →
In our first post on Titanic songs, we listened to songs that emerged in the years soon after the disaster. They reflected on the events of the tragedy itself, and the lessons we might draw from it. Moving closer to the … Continue reading →
âThe way the band kept playing was a noble thing. I heard them first while still we were working wireless, when there was a ragtime tune for us, and the last I saw of the band, when I was floating … Continue reading →
âWhen he was on, no one could auto-desecrate better. âHe who is not busy being born is busy dying,â he famously intoned in âItâs Alright Ma (Iâm Only Bleeding),â and way before the aphorism became worthy of inclusion in Bartlettâs … Continue reading →
âI would think that a movement without music would crumble. Music picks up peopleâs spirits. Anytime you can get something that lifts your spirits and also speaks to the reality of your life, even the reality of oppression, and at … Continue reading →
“A stunningly beautiful autumn morning” Bob Boilenâs âTiny Desk Concertâ series introduced me to the Drive-By Truckers song âGuns of Umpqua.â The song grabbed me right away with the warm bounce of the acoustic guitar before the âlights came upâ on … Continue reading →
