Living in Stereo is the web home of David Cantwell and Charles Hughes. 

David Cantwell teaches English in the Kansas City area and writes for No Depression magazine among other places. He is, along with Bill Friskics-Warren, the co-author of Heartaches by the Number: Country Music’s 500 Greatest Singles.

Charles Hughes is a writer, teacher, musician and historian, currently completing his PhD in the History Department at the University of Wisconsin. His primary research interest is the relationship between country music and soul music in Memphis, Nashville and Muscle Shoals, Alabama.  Over the years, he’s written for a variety of print and digital outlets, and has spoken on topics relating to race, music and American history in venues ranging from national conferences to pre-school classrooms.  He also writes, performs and records music.  He likes to go dancing.

Living in Stereo will feature essays and other musings on music, books, and popular culture. Originally, David planned to focus on country music, particularly the country music of the Nashville Sound era, but Charles has broadened that scope considerably. We write about whatever interests us, whether that turns out to be soul music, hip hop or situation comedies; the dangers of fundamentalism or the nature of human freedom. Some postings will have been previously published elsewhere; others will be original to Living in Stereo. There should sometimes be MP3s available for downloading, too.

Living in Stereo is a blog…we guess. At any rate, we strongly resist the term as it’s typically used. We won’t be writing about the minutae of our daily lives here, and as much as possible, write we write here will be fairly polished criticism rather than off-the-cuff reviewing. 

Similarly, we don’t feel any requirement to write every day, or to write instantly about events, even the ones most important to us; we want to respond to the world, not just react to it. Living in Stereo will be a place for us to work out ideas and to share them with others, but it won’t be a place to brainstorm ideas in the first place. We can do that over bourbon flights at Harry’s Country Club (see the “Greatest Hits” link on the home page).

We’ll write when I have something to say and when we’re ready to say it. It’ll likely be longer than most internet posting, too, and more earnest than glib.

The above paragraphs stand as the house rules around here. We will follow them diligently. Except when we don’t.

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