It's Been Awhile - by Steven Hyden
Hey everybody! I am sorry that I have not sent out a newsletter, like, at all in 2023 before now. And I’m doubly sorry that I’m making my return by making a Staind joke! A true “adding insult to injury” situation!
Anyway … the reason I started this Substack last fall is because I wanted another avenue for reaching my readers in light of Twitter’s apparent slow-motion collapse. And here we are in the spring and that collapse is still happening, with slightly increasing rapidity. So, why haven’t I been posting more? Well, I’ve been busy! I am gratefully still employed as a culture critic over at Uproxx, and in spite of some recent turbulence at the company it remains the best and most supportive place I have ever worked. I love the people there, and I feel more gratitude than I can express for the situation I’m in, where I can do the work I adore and regularly engage with a fantastic audience I’m very fortunate to have. This month I have written some columns I’m proud of, including a very deep dive on Metallica, a new interview with America’s next great jam band, a discussion about my ballot for the 2023 Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall Of Fame class (go Warren Zevon!), and a review of the latest album by The National.
And then there are my podcasts about the weekly state of indie rock and the historical greatness of Bob Dylan’s Never Ending Tour. And then there are the two very big projects in my work life at the moment. The first is There Was Nothing You Could Do, my forthcoming book about Bruce Springsteen and his 1984 album Born In The U.S.A. and the ways that rock music and America have changed in the past 40 years. Which is to say, the book is also about Paul Schrader, Ron Kovic, Elvis Presley, CCR, Appetite For Destruction, the ABC sitcom Growing Pains, Huey Lewis & The News, the 1981 neo noir True Confessions, Robert John “Mutt” Lange, Brothers In Arms, Hootie & The Blowfish, and much more.
I am happy to report that I am about 90 percent done with the book. Which means that I have all of the chapters in some state of completion. Of course, the final 10 percent is the most important part. It’s when you interrogate what you have written, (hopefully) find all of the sentences and paragraphs and adjectives and theories that don’t work, and improve upon them. It’s the final step that can make a good book great, or a mediocre one passable. (I am confident that the former applies here, though some days I fear that it’s the latter. These peaks and valleys of self-confidence and self-doubt are also part of the process.)
Either way, the book is due in two months, and will be out around the time that Born In The U.S.A. turns 40 in June of 2024. I will, of course, let you all know when pre-order information is available.
The other big project … I can’t talk about yet. But it will probably be out at around the same time next year.
In the past several months when this Substack has been fallow, some readers have generously reached out and offered to pay for a subscription. All I can say is: Please hold that thought! I can envision a time when I put more time into Evil Speakers, and make it something worth paying for. But that time is not now. Stay tuned, though! I will try to serve up semi-interesting thoughts and updates here on a more regular basis. And for free even!
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