Time to Connect Episode #71 - Sam Stephenson - September 16, 2024

Many thanks to the fascinating writer Sam Stephenson. Sam’s resume of published works is pretty amazing. Paris Review, Oxford American, Smithsonian, many more. Subjects as far ranging as Lucinda Williams, Bill Evans, Jane’s Addiction, Thelonious Monk, Eugene Smith, Jason Molina. Poets, photographers, musicians, writers. I encourage you all to take a deep dive into his beautiful and varied work.
Sam has been the recipient of many notable grants and awards. Guggenheim Fellow (2019). ASCAP-Deems Taylor Award (2010). Innovative Use of Archives Award from the Archivists Roundtable of Metropolitan New York (2010). ASCAP Deems Taylor / Virgil Thomson Prize (2015). National Endowment for the Humanities fellowship (2001). On and on and on. What an honor and a pleasure to speak with Sam.
In this conversation we talk about Sam’s youth, his upcoming book on the jazz pianist Bill Evans (my favorite jazz musician), his exhaustive research on the photographer Eugene Smith, Lucinda Williams, Jane’s Addiction, his research and writing styles, music formats (CD, vinyl, streaming), advice for young writers, and much, much more. Again, many thanks to Sam Stephenson.
Check out Sam here: samstephenson....
Time to Connect theme music (“So Long”) by Krajicek & Shafer, from the album Blue Midwestern Dream (Borderline Social Club).