John Lingan
@johnlingan.bsky.social
Writer. "Homeplace," about Patsy Cline's hometown. "A Song for Everyone," about CCR. "BACKBEATS: A History of Rock and Roll in 15 Drummers" is out on 11/11/25.
johnlingan.com
johnlingan.com
Pinned
John Lingan
@johnlingan.bsky.social
· Oct 11
BACKBEATS is out one month from today and it’s a real book! One that Kirkus says is great! johnlingan.com to preorder.
Any paper that throws away this arts section is a disgrace. Scroll down to see Chris’s new newsletter, then subscribe like I just did. One of the best doing it.
I’ve been laid off by The Washington Post
Serving as this newspaper’s pop music critic for the past 16-plus years has been my privilege, my joy
Endless solidarity to my righteous colleagues, endless gratitude to our faithful readers
Serving as this newspaper’s pop music critic for the past 16-plus years has been my privilege, my joy
Endless solidarity to my righteous colleagues, endless gratitude to our faithful readers
February 4, 2026 at 6:58 PM
Any paper that throws away this arts section is a disgrace. Scroll down to see Chris’s new newsletter, then subscribe like I just did. One of the best doing it.
George Goddamn Will still, at age 428, gets to write weekly columns complaining that democrats are too committed to social equality. Marc Thiessen remains employed. Megan McArdle as well. These are the essential voices we need in 2026.
I have benefited my whole life from the Post book section. My first appearance in print was a letter to Michael Dirda that he published when I was 8. I’ve reviewed for them, and they listed my most recent book in a 2025 roundup. This is a huge loss to US literary culture. Fuck all billionaires.
WaPo also closing Books section and downsizing International and Metro sections
February 4, 2026 at 3:16 PM
George Goddamn Will still, at age 428, gets to write weekly columns complaining that democrats are too committed to social equality. Marc Thiessen remains employed. Megan McArdle as well. These are the essential voices we need in 2026.
I have benefited my whole life from the Post book section. My first appearance in print was a letter to Michael Dirda that he published when I was 8. I’ve reviewed for them, and they listed my most recent book in a 2025 roundup. This is a huge loss to US literary culture. Fuck all billionaires.
WaPo also closing Books section and downsizing International and Metro sections
February 4, 2026 at 3:06 PM
I have benefited my whole life from the Post book section. My first appearance in print was a letter to Michael Dirda that he published when I was 8. I’ve reviewed for them, and they listed my most recent book in a 2025 roundup. This is a huge loss to US literary culture. Fuck all billionaires.
Went back to Lot 49 to compare. It too is full of silly names and puns and an endless quest, but the language is often disorientingly poetic, rapturous. I still remember the feeling of this paragraph when I first read it in high school, and still barely know what he means. But this is music.
February 2, 2026 at 1:34 AM
Went back to Lot 49 to compare. It too is full of silly names and puns and an endless quest, but the language is often disorientingly poetic, rapturous. I still remember the feeling of this paragraph when I first read it in high school, and still barely know what he means. But this is music.
Reposted by John Lingan
Reposted by John Lingan
I’m honestly too sad about Catherine O’Hara to go through clips and find one to post so, since I’m a music writer anyway, here’s her sister’s perfect album from 1988 in case you don’t know about it. marymargaretohara.bandcamp.com/album/miss-a...
Miss America, by Mary Margaret O'Hara
11 track album
marymargaretohara.bandcamp.com
January 30, 2026 at 11:18 PM
I’m honestly too sad about Catherine O’Hara to go through clips and find one to post so, since I’m a music writer anyway, here’s her sister’s perfect album from 1988 in case you don’t know about it. marymargaretohara.bandcamp.com/album/miss-a...
Take this month and shove it.
Rest in peace to Catherine O’Hara, a true comic genius.
January 30, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Take this month and shove it.
Grateful to Nick for reading, and for this excellent prompt. Five off-the-cuff choices:
Rod Stewart, "Every Picture..." (Micky Waller)
Bill Withers, "Still Bill" (James Gadson)
Rainbow, "Rising" (Cozy Powell)
New Order, "Brotherhood" (Stephen Morris)
Deerhoof, "The Runners Four" (Greg Saunier)
Rod Stewart, "Every Picture..." (Micky Waller)
Bill Withers, "Still Bill" (James Gadson)
Rainbow, "Rising" (Cozy Powell)
New Order, "Brotherhood" (Stephen Morris)
Deerhoof, "The Runners Four" (Greg Saunier)
As I’m reading the chapter in here about Charlie Watts, what are some albums that aren’t immediately thought of as “drum albums” but you listen to and hear it that way? An album that in an under the radar way is carried by the drummer? My go-to answer is Twin Cinema.
January 30, 2026 at 2:57 PM
Grateful to Nick for reading, and for this excellent prompt. Five off-the-cuff choices:
Rod Stewart, "Every Picture..." (Micky Waller)
Bill Withers, "Still Bill" (James Gadson)
Rainbow, "Rising" (Cozy Powell)
New Order, "Brotherhood" (Stephen Morris)
Deerhoof, "The Runners Four" (Greg Saunier)
Rod Stewart, "Every Picture..." (Micky Waller)
Bill Withers, "Still Bill" (James Gadson)
Rainbow, "Rising" (Cozy Powell)
New Order, "Brotherhood" (Stephen Morris)
Deerhoof, "The Runners Four" (Greg Saunier)
Reposted by John Lingan
As I’m reading the chapter in here about Charlie Watts, what are some albums that aren’t immediately thought of as “drum albums” but you listen to and hear it that way? An album that in an under the radar way is carried by the drummer? My go-to answer is Twin Cinema.
January 30, 2026 at 1:51 AM
As I’m reading the chapter in here about Charlie Watts, what are some albums that aren’t immediately thought of as “drum albums” but you listen to and hear it that way? An album that in an under the radar way is carried by the drummer? My go-to answer is Twin Cinema.
Lord knows he’s earned it, and I hope I’m this imaginative when I’m 88, but this is even more pointless than his two previous hepcat-jive P.I. riffs. As in, I genuinely don’t know what the point is, and it lacks both the sf/surrealist and romantic strains in his best stuff. Hope he lives forever.
January 28, 2026 at 6:11 PM
Lord knows he’s earned it, and I hope I’m this imaginative when I’m 88, but this is even more pointless than his two previous hepcat-jive P.I. riffs. As in, I genuinely don’t know what the point is, and it lacks both the sf/surrealist and romantic strains in his best stuff. Hope he lives forever.
I thought “Balmorhea” is what happened the day after having a cream of crab soup and three Bohs at Dizzy Issie’s.
January 27, 2026 at 5:53 PM
I thought “Balmorhea” is what happened the day after having a cream of crab soup and three Bohs at Dizzy Issie’s.
Philip Kennicott using the tools of visual arts criticism to dissect ICE’s immorality. Incredible piece.
Column | The abhorrent power of the photograph of a 5-year-old held by ICE
An image like this could once change history. Can one still?
www.washingtonpost.com
January 23, 2026 at 10:52 PM
Philip Kennicott using the tools of visual arts criticism to dissect ICE’s immorality. Incredible piece.
Awards are baloney but if you're snowbound this weekend I recommend DA 5 BLOODS.
Delroy Lindo has finally received his first ever Oscar nomination for his performance in ‘SINNERS’
See the full nominees list: bit.ly/OscarNoms26
See the full nominees list: bit.ly/OscarNoms26
January 22, 2026 at 4:10 PM
Awards are baloney but if you're snowbound this weekend I recommend DA 5 BLOODS.
Condolences to my fellow ECM perverts, this man was a visionary. Between Towner and DeJohnette, two of the label's defining artists have died in the last few months.
Ralph Towner, Eclectic Guitarist With the Ensemble Oregon, Dies at 85
www.nytimes.com
January 19, 2026 at 3:36 PM
Condolences to my fellow ECM perverts, this man was a visionary. Between Towner and DeJohnette, two of the label's defining artists have died in the last few months.
This is a model of what the Sunday Review can be. What fun! What thoughtful writing!
I wrote many words about the greatest hits compilation Legend by Bob Marley
pitchfork.com/reviews/albu...
pitchfork.com/reviews/albu...
Bob Marley & the Wailers: Legend
Read Eric Harvey’s review of the album
pitchfork.com
January 18, 2026 at 9:38 PM
This is a model of what the Sunday Review can be. What fun! What thoughtful writing!
Are they the greatest American band? Close enough that I love anyone who says they are.
My essay on their 50th anniversary:
My essay on their 50th anniversary:
January 16, 2026 at 3:14 PM
Are they the greatest American band? Close enough that I love anyone who says they are.
My essay on their 50th anniversary:
My essay on their 50th anniversary:
Something to live for: just got tix to see NRBQ at Levon Helm Studios in May. 🚀
January 16, 2026 at 3:04 PM
Something to live for: just got tix to see NRBQ at Levon Helm Studios in May. 🚀
Hard to neatly summarize the career and impact of Miles Davis but @scheinman.bsky.social gets there. Restraint as a creative force, growth as a personal ethos, exploration as a life philosophy.
Miles Davis Emerged From Middle America to Become the ‘Picasso of Jazz’ and Taught Us All How to Be Cool
As we approach the 100th anniversary of the birth of a jazz legend, look back on the staggering impact of his work and its continued relevance
www.smithsonianmag.com
January 14, 2026 at 2:09 PM
Hard to neatly summarize the career and impact of Miles Davis but @scheinman.bsky.social gets there. Restraint as a creative force, growth as a personal ethos, exploration as a life philosophy.
Working on Bernard Purdie, “Soul Drums.”
January 13, 2026 at 6:20 PM
Working on Bernard Purdie, “Soul Drums.”
Reposted by John Lingan
born on this date 100 years ago: the great country musician Ray Price. His essential version of Willie Nelson's "Night Life," from 1963: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjvV...
Ray Price - Night Life
YouTube video by BaronVonPenguin
www.youtube.com
January 12, 2026 at 2:11 PM
born on this date 100 years ago: the great country musician Ray Price. His essential version of Willie Nelson's "Night Life," from 1963: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjvV...
The last few years my reading has been guided by a search for books that are unlike any others, and Gravity’s Rainbow has no peers. Word for word, sentence for sentence, scene by scene, up through its whole symbolic architecture, it’s completely unprecedented. An astounding imaginative creation.
January 10, 2026 at 10:49 PM
The last few years my reading has been guided by a search for books that are unlike any others, and Gravity’s Rainbow has no peers. Word for word, sentence for sentence, scene by scene, up through its whole symbolic architecture, it’s completely unprecedented. An astounding imaginative creation.
Some real DC/Dischord punk community building tonight at St Stephens in Columbia Heights. Messthetics headline a fundraiser and food drive and I intend to bring a big bag of nonperishables and rock a terrible week away for a few hours. Join!
Punk with Purpose | Transition House
Demonstrate your commitment to mental health, Transition House, and our community by attending our annual concert fundraiser on January 10. This year, local bands, artists and charities will gather to...
www.livingthroughchange.com
January 10, 2026 at 3:06 PM
Some real DC/Dischord punk community building tonight at St Stephens in Columbia Heights. Messthetics headline a fundraiser and food drive and I intend to bring a big bag of nonperishables and rock a terrible week away for a few hours. Join!
Reposted by John Lingan
On @rollingstone.com, the first excerpt of my biography of Justin Townes Earle.
This one's about the writing and recording of Harlem River Blues (the album AND the song!)
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
This one's about the writing and recording of Harlem River Blues (the album AND the song!)
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
How Justin Townes Earle Wrote His Biggest Hit and Became a Nashville Legend
An excerpt from the highly anticipated authorized biography of Justin Townes Earle shows how he wrote his biggest hit and became a Nashville legend.
www.rollingstone.com
January 9, 2026 at 4:37 PM
On @rollingstone.com, the first excerpt of my biography of Justin Townes Earle.
This one's about the writing and recording of Harlem River Blues (the album AND the song!)
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
This one's about the writing and recording of Harlem River Blues (the album AND the song!)
www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...
Today would’ve been Sandy Denny’s 79th birthday. She’s best known for Fairport Convention and “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” but to me this is one of the 10 most beautiful songs ever written.
Sandy Denny - By The Time It Gets Dark
YouTube video by gnossisdodge
youtu.be
January 6, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Today would’ve been Sandy Denny’s 79th birthday. She’s best known for Fairport Convention and “Who Knows Where the Time Goes” but to me this is one of the 10 most beautiful songs ever written.