Hi Everyone,

I would be a damn fool if I did not use this message today to remember Steve Albini.

At some point, I guess you finally start to get used to losing your heroes. However, some hurt more than others, and this is definitely one of those. When I got the text from a friend with the news, it hit me like an actual punch to the gut.

To say Steve Albini was an essential figure to my musical development is still an understatement. In his eternal coveralls, he was more like a brick mason, helping to build my musical foundation one brick at a time.

From the first time hearing Big Black’s album Atomizer- no song spoke more clearly to the heart of a bored and often angst-filled teen growing up in Birmingham in the ’90s than "Kerosene". I felt like the lyrics could have been a page ripped from my journal. From there, I became a disciple of all things Touch and Go and I felt like a whole other world was opened.

From the music of Shellac, Slint’s Tweeze, Superchunk’s No Pocky for Kitty, The Pixies' Surfer Rosa, Nirvana’s In Utero, PJ Harvey’s Rid of Me, Palace Music's Viva Last Blues , My Disco's Paradise, Dirty Three's Ocean Songs, the music of Low, Dirty Three, Man or Astro Man?, Don Cab, Joanna Newsome (the list could go on), this man was a part of making so many of the albums that are close to my heart.

Steve Albini you were a force. Thank you for all your amazing work. Thank you for being a part of so many albums (like for many of us) that played a huge part in helping me survive a world where I felt I didn’t fit in, and also helping me find one where I did.

I will be in Nashville for Music Biz next week. Looking forward to seeing many of you there.

Andrea

Andrea Paschal
Executive Director
Coalition of Independent Music Stores
ThinkIndie Distribution
3738 4th Terrace North
Birmingham, AL 35222
Phone: 205.595.1932 x.208
Fax: 205.595.1938
Email : andrea@cimsmusic.com
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