The Blogger Lowdown is a feature where we ask the good people who run our favorite, essential blogs to give some insight on themselves and their sites. There are some great resources for discovering all kinds of music on the interwebs and our hope is to introduce you to a few of these outlets and the people behind them.
Largehearted Boy is the apex of what every blog should aspire to be. David has built an efficient, meaningful, interactive website that is truly essential to the music and literary worlds. Between a comprehensive daily list of free music downloads, constant updates of interesting links, commentaries on literature, and regular contributions from authors, Largehearted Boy is truly one-stop shopping. So visit daily, add it to your Reader, and follow David on Twitter to support his hard work.
How about a little backstory on yourself to start things off.
I grew up in Philadelphia, but now live in Birmingham, Alabama. At the end of the year my wife, two cats, our dog, and I are moving to Brooklyn.
When and how did Largehearted Boy come to be?
Back in 2000, I started a Guided By Voices internet radio stream, and needed an online portal. I picked up the domain name after finding out that "kickerofelves.com" was already taken. At first I blogged about all kinds of things, but after a couple of months the site's focus began tapering to my two true loves, music and books.
Do you have a day job/alter ego?
A couple of years ago I quit my full-time job to dedicate more time to the blog and my fiction writing. Plus, I take occasional freelance opportunities and public speaking gigs to pay the bills.
What kind of music did you grow up with? Did this contribute to your tastes now?
My family had all kinds of music around the house, from classical to country to pop to rock to jazz. I think that helped develop my respect for all genres. Just the other day I received an e-mail about mixing songs from Acid Mothers Temple with the Hold Steady and Justin Townes Earle on the same blog post, and I responded that's exactly my listening pattern. I just queue up what sounds good to me.
Any embarrassing musical tastes or purchases early on? Any guilty pleasures now?
I'm not a believer in being embarrassed by what you enjoy, but others in my position might blush a little at my extensive Christmas music and showtunes collections.
What’s the one album that you have the greatest emotional connection with?
It sounds like a pat answer, but Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane Over the Sea probably means the most to me. I spent a lot of time in Athens, Georgia in the mid-90s, and saw Jeff Mangum and/or NMH play numerous shows (many of them impromptu house parties). Seeing these songs coalesce long before they were put on record remains one of my favorite musical memories.
Any stellar shows or purchases recently?
Just last week I caught the first show of Shearwater's winter tour, they always amaze me with their musicianship.
How else does the Largehearted Boy spend his time? Any interesting hobbies outside of music, books, and blogging?
I'm a big foodie, so I'm constantly cooking. Plus, I run and play hockey, and take long breaks every day by walking my dog. And I'm always working on a short story or a novel in progress.
Best comic book movie ever?
I was pretty impressed with Scott Pilgrim vs. the Universe. I have been reading Bryan Lee O'Malley's comics for years, and didn't thing Edgar Wright could pull it off, but the movie stayed surprisingly true to the spirit of the books while still remaining entertaining.
Nerdy subquestion : Favorite current on-going comic?
The two current comics I make a point to read weekly are Air and The Unwritten. Both tend to emphasize narrative over action. I don't read many superhero comics, and actually prefer nonfiction, autobiographical graphic novels.
Did you secretly create an army of cyborgs to crawl the internet for you and find all of your links, songs, and articles?
I wish I had that technology, a robot or two would come in handy. What I do have is an understanding wife and a host of authors and musicians willing to write feature posts for the blog. Finding the links and music is relatively easy. I was scouring the internet for music for years before I started the blog, and have always been a bit of a news junkie. I just share on the blog what I normally would read and pass along to my like-minded friends.