Maggie Stein had panic attacks the way some people have weather. They showed up. The temperature of her inside world changed. Then wandered off, no note. She was a musician. […]

Eli Strater sang old-time tunes. He never bothered thinking about the words, too busy moving his fingers up and down the strings. “Lyrics?” he laughed. “Just decorations. Like wallpaper.” But […]

Clara Rowe lived in a cramped apartment above a bar that played loud music until three in the morning. Most nights the floor vibrated like a dying animal. She sat […]

Barry Blume had been in the music business long enough to turn hope into profit and talent into something you could skim. He cut corners the way some people bite […]

In a small, sunlit room there lived a guitar named Maple. It was modest, warm in tone and slender in form, carved from a tree that had once stood alone […]

DAUGHTER:Did you see this? Another festival lineup. Twenty bands. Two women. MOTHER:That’s progress. When I started, we were zero women. DAUGHTER:It’s ridiculous. They say, “We booked whoever fit the vibe.” […]

SON:You keep telling me to practice the modes. What even is a mode? FATHER:It’s a scale that’s had a couple of drinks. SON:So… a scale in a good mood? FATHER:Exactly. […]

Long ago, in a wind-washed city by the river of Mook, there lived a musician named Everulska. He played both the silver flute and the hollow drum. In the marketplace […]

Fred found it in the attic of a shuttered opera house, its case covered in dust. The mandolin looked ordinary, cherry wood body, ivory inlay, strings dulled with rust. But […]