Monthly Archives: June 2021

In Appreciation of the Fourth of July, the Greatest of the Cookout Holidays

There are a lot of positive, cool things about the Covid vaccine becoming widely available here in NYC, and one of them is the timing. If you’re a reasonably social person, losing a social summer is a gigantic bum-out. Two … Continue reading

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On the Three-Part Creative Cycle: A Suggestion

During the first few months of the Covid pandemic in 2020, there was a lot of chatter about how we all can “use this time.” The presumption was that “sheltering in place,” staying at or close to home, our social … Continue reading

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I Was a Teenaged Ska Kid: A Mostly Unapologetic Confession

In 2017, my former colleague Brian Slattery (author, Spaceman Blues, Lost Everything, and more) invited me to contribute a “long personal essay” to the journal the New Haven Review, where he’s a long-time editor. Because it is essentially unthinkable for … Continue reading

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ICYMI: The Band I’m In Is Called Shelter Dogs

I’m the primary singer, guitarist and songwriter in the garage rock/powerpop band Shelter Dogs, and that isn’t new. But in the time since this blog went on hiatus, Shelter Dogs came out of its own hiatus, and we’ve been up … Continue reading

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It’s Brian LaRue, the Blog: The Relaunch

All right, so I took a six-year break from this blog, but now I’m back.  Man, a lot can happen in six years. In mid-2015, I was living in a converted warehouse, throwing rock shows. I hadn’t met my partner … Continue reading

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