Happy Opening Day!

I see great things in baseball.  It's our game - the American game.  It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism.  Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set.  Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.  

~Walt Whitman

RtBE is here to wish you a Happy Opening Day! If you want to read a great piece about baseball check out this excerpt from Roger Angell's The Summer Game

Opening Day should be a national holiday, plain and simple. Once winter is gone (at least officially), Baseball can never arrive soon enough. Here's hoping your favorite team wins, especially if you are a fellow Mets fan. Let's Go Mets!

2025 Recap: Favorite Albums, Shows etc.

With all the hectic happenings at the end of the year, things can be missed. This is a catch-up post to point out a few of our favorite things from 2025 that shouldn't go unnoticed.

What a year! Lots of reviews and live shows attended. Thanks for reading and following along on Instagram and Bluesky or wherever

Also thanks to Shane and the whole Glide team for allowing me to continue to write for them, working on a wide variety of reviews.

Now...in case you missed it here are our Best of 2025 series of posts:

Happy Opening Day!

I see great things in baseball.  It's our game - the American game.  It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism.  Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set.  Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.  

~Walt Whitman

RtBE is here to wish you a Happy Opening Day! If you want to read a great piece about baseball check out this excerpt from Roger Angell's The Summer Game

Opening Day should be a national holiday, plain and simple. Once winter is gone (at least officially), Baseball can never arrive soon enough. Here's hoping your favorite team wins, especially if you are a fellow Mets fan. Let's Go Mets!

We know the ghost of Steve Goodman and Eddie Vedder are both rooting for those Cubbies...

Here are some more baseball inspired tunes to start the magical day, when we are all in first place:

2024 Recap: Favorite Albums, Shows, etc.

With all the hectic happenings at the end of the year, things can be missed. This is a catch-up post to point out a few of our favorite things from 2024 that shouldn't go unnoticed.

What a year! Lots of reviews and live shows attended. Thanks for reading and following along on Instagram and Bluesky or wherever

Also thanks to Shane and the whole Glide team for allowing me to continue to write for them, working on a wide variety of reviews.

Now...in case you missed it here are our Best of 2024 series of posts:

• Our picks for favorite album art from the last calendar year.
• Our picks for our favorite archival releases and live albums released last year. 
• Our picks for favorite live shows of the year. 
• Finally our favorite albums of the year. The honorable mentions and top ten list are all lined up. 

If you are looking for more suggestions, we also have our list of the top fifty albums of the past decade which you can check out and yell at us about. 

Feel free to let us know your choices for all of the above in the comments and thanks as always for reading and exploring...as the patron saint of this site stated:

What are those of the known, but to ascend and enter the Unknown? 

Happy Opening Day!

I see great things in baseball.  It's our game - the American game.  It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism.  Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set.  Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.  

~Walt Whitman

RtBE is here to wish you a Happy Opening Day! If you want to read a great piece about baseball check out this excerpt from Roger Angell's The Summer Game

Opening Day should be a national holiday, plain and simple. Once winter is gone (at least officially), Baseball can never arrive soon enough. Here's hoping your favorite team wins, especially if you are a fellow Mets fan. Let's Go Mets!

We know the ghost of Steve Goodman and Eddie Vedder are both rooting for those Cubbies...

Here are some more baseball inspired tunes to start the magical day, when we are all in first place:

2023 Recap: Favorite Albums, Shows, etc.

With all the hectic happenings at the end of the year, things can be missed. This is a catch up post to point out a few of our favorite things from 2023 that shouldn't go unnoticed.

What a year! Lots of reviews and live shows attended as the world tries to spin again, resembling pre-Covid times. Thanks for reading and following along on Instagram

Also thanks to Shane and the whole Glide team for allowing me to continue to write for them, working on a wide variety of reviews.

Now...in case you missed it here are our Best of 2023 series of posts:

• Our picks for favorite album art of 2023, where we check out some creative album art from the last year.
• Our picks for our favorite archival releases and live albums of 2023. 
• Our picks for favorite live show of 2023. 
• Finally our favorite albums of the year. The honorable mentions and top ten list are all lined up. 

If you are looking for more suggestions, we also have our list of the top fifty albums of the past decade which you can check out and yell at us about. 

Feel free to let us know your choices for all of the above in the comments and thanks as always for reading and exploring...as the patron saint of this site stated:

What are those of the known, but to ascend and enter the Unknown? 

Happy Opening Day!

 I see great things in baseball.  It's our game - the American game.  It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism.  Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set.  Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.  

~Walt Whitman

RtBE is here to wish you a Happy Opening Day! If you want to read a great piece about baseball check out this excerpt from Roger Angell's The Summer Game

Opening Day should be a national holiday, plain and simple. Once winter is gone (at least officially), Baseball can never arrive soon enough. Here's hoping your favorite team wins, especially if you are a fellow Mets fan. Let's Go Mets!

We know the ghost of Steve Goodman is rooting for those Cubbies though...


Here are some more baseball inspired tunes to start the magical day, when we are all in first place:

2022 Recap: Favorite Albums, Shows, etc

With all the hectic happenings at the end of the year, things can be missed. This is a catch up post to point out a few of our favorite things from 2022 that shouldn't go unnoticed.

What a year! Lots of reviews, promotions and live shows attended as the world tries to spin again, semi-resembling pre-Covid times. Thanks for reading and following along on Twitter and Instagram. 

Also thanks to Shane and the whole Glide team for allowing me to continue to write for them, working on a wide variety of reviews.

Now...in case you missed it here are our Best of 2022 series of posts:

Our picks for favorite album art of 2022, where we check out some creative album art from the last year.

Our picks for our favorite archival releases of 2022. 

Our picks for favorite live show of 2022, it was a mix of live streams and live outings. 

Finally our favorite albums of the year. The honorable mentions and top ten list are all lined up. 

If you are looking for more suggestions, we also have our list of the top fifty albums of the past decade which you can check out and yell at us about. 

Feel free to let us know your choices for all of the above in the comments and thanks as always for reading and exploring...as the patron saint of this site stated:

What are those of the known, but to ascend and enter the Unknown? 

2021 Recap: Favorite Albums, Shows, etc

With all the hectic happenings at the end of the year, things can be missed. This is a catch up post to point out a few of our favorite things from 2021 that shouldn't go unnoticed.

What a year, of course the world is slowly trying to revive, and while RtBE didn't have as many posts as 2020, we still were very active in trying to review albums and (especially towards the end of the year), catch live shows. 

Also thanks to Shane and the whole Glide team for allowing me to continue to write for them, working  on a wide variety of reviews.

Now...in case you missed it here are our Best of 2021 series of posts:

Our picks for favorite album art of 2021, where we check out some creative album art from the last year.

Our picks for our favorite archival releases of 2021. 

Our picks for favorite live show of 2021, it was a mix of live streams and live outings. 

Finally our favorite albums of the year. The honorable mentions and top ten list are all lined up. 

If you are looking for more suggestions, we also have our list of the top fifty albums of the past decade which you can check out and yell at us about. 

Feel free to let us know your choices for all of the above in the comments and thanks as always for reading and exploring...as the patron saint of this site stated:

What are those of the known, but to ascend and enter the Unknown? 

2020 Recap: Favorite Albums, Shows, Etc

With all the hectic happenings at the end of the year, things can be missed. This is just a catch up post to point out a few of our favorite things from 2020 that shouldn't go unnoticed. There were many strong releases, not many great live shows but other interesting things in a crap year....good riddance.

What a year, of course the world ground to a halt, and RtBE went out of our collective brains, posting 515 times, with a focus on live streams trying to publicize the musicians who were performing remotely, unable to tour. 

I personally also submitted the most reviews I ever have to Glide Magazine (almost 50 in 2020) and will take a second to thank Shane and the whole Glide team for allowing me to continue working with them on a wide variety of reviews.

Now...in case you missed it here are our Best of 2020 series of posts...

Our picks for best album art of 2020, where we check out some creative album art from the last year.

Our picks for best live show of 2020, what an amazing year for live tunes...all of these were jaw dropping nights in their own ways.

Finally our favorite albums of the year. The honorable mentions and top ten list are all lined up. 

If you are looking for more suggestions, we also have our list of the top fifty albums of the past decade which you can check out and yell at us about. 

Feel free to let us know your choices for all of the above in the comments and thanks as always for reading and exploring...as the patron saint of this site stated:

What are those of the known, but to ascend and enter the Unknown? 

2019 Recap: Favorite Albums, Shows, Etc

With all the hectic happenings at the end of the year, things can be missed. This is just a catch up post to point out a few of our favorite things from 2019 that shouldn't go unnoticed. There were many strong releases, great live shows, amazing musical moments....2020 has a lot to live up to.

Before we jump into what was hot from last year (and last decade) we should point out we went back in time even further during 2019 and did a monthly focus on our Masters Series. Each month we discussed an artist/group we respected and who formed RtBE tastes (as an example June was for Jimi). Feel free to check each of those out as well. 

Now...in case you missed it here are our Best of 2019 series of posts...

Our picks for best album art of 2019, where we check out some creative album art from the last year.

Our picks for best live show of 2019, what an amazing year for live tunes...all of these were jaw dropping nights in their own ways.

Finally our three part series for albums of the year. Part one, our just misses and letdowns, part two our picks for 10-5, part three our top 5, picks for best albums of 2019.  Again all of these are fantastic and worth your time and attention.

Also as an added bonus we have our list of the top fifty albums of the past decade which you can check out and yell at us about. The top live albums from the last decade get a little bit of love as well.

Feel free to let us know your choices for all of the above in the comments and thanks as always for reading and exploring...as the patron saint of this site stated:

What are those of the known, but to ascend and enter the Unknown? 

RIP Robert Hunter

Robert Hunter recently passed away, he was 78 years old.

Obviously Hunter came into RtBE's world through the music of the Grateful Dead as Hunter wrote some of the bands most iconic lyrics. As a person who writes words, writes lyrics and loves poetry Hunter was extremely influential. His fantastical tales, poetic twist, western themes, loners, lovers and scoundrels all have roots in Americana, Irish/Scottish/English Folk and beyond.

It may sound strange but "Dark Star" first appealed to RtBE on a written level, "transitive night fall of darkness" just rings so poetic. Hunter and Jerry Garcia made an amazing partnership, their "Terrapin Station" story alone is so symbiotic, and the pair created such lasting tunes Hunters words will never die.

RtBE had the pleasure of seeing Hunter perform solo in between amazing sets from The Other Ones up in Albany back in 2002 and it was fun as he sung Dead songs like "Loser" and his own "Boys in the Barroom".

Hunter didn't only write for the Dead and himself, he wrote with Bob Dylan, Little Feat and Bruce Hornsby. He is the only non performer inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when the Grateful Dead were as he was a band member and a crucial part of their legacy. RIP

Happy 200th Birthday Walt Whitman

One of the patron saints of RtBE would have turned 200 today if he was some sort of magical wizard or a vampire. Walt Whitman inspired the name of the site and it's spirit. We celebrate him every Opening Day but today is a special occasion. 

The poetry of Whitman has thrived over the years and he continues to be taught, loved and read 200 years after his birth.

The Good Gray Poet will live on, so let's celebrate with James Earl Jones (Darth Vader himself) reading Whitman, some video celebrating the man and if you are feeling REALLY ambitious (it is 19 hours) there is the full audio book of his masterpiece Leaves of Grass below:

I sing the body electric,

The armies of those I love engirth me and I engirth them,

They will not let me off till I go with them, respond to them,

And discorrupt them, and charge them full with the charge of the soul.



Was it doubted that those who corrupt their own bodies conceal themselves?

And if those who defile the living are as bad as they who defile the dead?

And if the body does not do fully as much as the soul?

And if the body were not the soul, what is the soul?

Happy Opening Day!

I see great things in baseball.  It's our game - the American game.  It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism.  Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set.  Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.  

~Walt Whitman

RtBE is here to wish you a Happy Opening Day! If you want to read a great piece about baseball check out this excerpt from Roger Angell's The Summer Game

Opening Day should be a national holiday, plain and simple. The Mets kick off on the road today against the Nationals. Winter is gone (at least officially) and  Baseball can never arrive soon enough. Here's hoping your favorite team wins, especially if you are a fellow Mets fan. Let's go Mets!

If RtBE were gamblers we may put some dollars on those stacked Cubs...We know the ghost of Steve Goodman is rooting for them to win it again.


Here are some more baseball inspired tunes to start the magical day, when we are all in first place:

Happy Opening Day!

I see great things in baseball.  It's our game - the American game.  It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism.  Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set.  Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.  

~Walt Whitman

RtBE is here to wish you a Happy Opening Day!

Opening Day should be a national holiday, plain and simple. The Mets kick off at home today against the Cardinals. Winter is gone (at least officially) and  Baseball can never arrive soon enough. Here's hoping your favorite team wins, especially if you are a fellow Mets fan. Let's go Mets!

If RtBE were gamblers we may put some dollars on those stacked Cubs...We know the ghost of Steve Goodman is rooting for them to win it again.


Here are some more baseball inspired tunes to start the magical day, when we are all in first place:

Happy Opening Day!

I see great things in baseball.  It's our game - the American game.  It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism.  Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set.  Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.  

~Walt Whitman

Like last year, the year, the year before, the year before that, the year before, the year before that we wish you a Happy Opening Day!

Opening Day should be a national holiday, plain and simple. The Mets kick off today and it is the real opening day (even though some teams played yesterday). Winter is gone (at least officially) and  Baseball can not come soon enough. Here's hoping your favorite team wins, unless you're a Nats fan, let's go Mets!

Last year was the Cubbies year. We know the ghost of Steve Goodman is still rooting for them.  

Here are some more baseball inspired tunes to start the magical day, when we are all in first place:

2016 Recap: Favorite Albums, Shows, Etc

With all the hectic happenings at the end of the year, things can be missed. This is just a catch up post to point out a few of our favorite things from 2016 that shouldn't go unnoticed. There were many strong releases, great live shows, amazing musical moments....2017 has a lot to live up to.

 In case you missed it here are our Best of 2016 series of posts...

Our picks for best album art of 2016, where we check out some creative album art from the last year.

Our picks for best live show of 2016, what an amazing year for live tunes...all of these were jaw dropping nights in their own ways.

Finally our one, two, three, part picks for best albums of 2016.  Again all of these are fantastic and worth your time and attention.

Feel free to let us know your choices in the comments and thanks as always for reading and exploring...as the patron saint of this blog stated:

What are those of the known, but to ascend and enter the Unknown? 

Happy Opening Day!

I see great things in baseball.  It's our game - the American game.  It will take our people out-of-doors, fill them with oxygen, give them a larger physical stoicism.  Tend to relieve us from being a nervous, dyspeptic set.  Repair these losses, and be a blessing to us.  

~Walt Whitman

(Somehow this post got lost, but here it is) Like last year, the year before, the year before that, the year before, the year before that we wish you a Happy Opening Day!

Opening Day should be a national holiday, plain and simple. The Mets kick off on Sunday, but tomorrow is the real opening day. Winter is gone (at least officially) and  Baseball can not come soon enough. Here's hoping your favorite team wins, unless you're a Nats fan, let's go Mets!

Who knows, maybe it is the Cubbies year. We know the ghost of Steve Goodman is rooting for them. 

Here are some more baseball inspired tunes to start the magical day, when we are all in first place:

2015 Recap: Favorite Albums, Shows, Etc

With all the hectic happenings at the end of the year, things can be missed. This is just a catch up post to point out a few of our favorite things from 2015 that shouldn't go unnoticed. There were many strong releases, great live shows, amazing musical moments....2016 has a lot to live up to.

 In case you missed it here are our Best of 2015 series of posts...

Our picks for best album art of 2015, where we check out some creative album art from the last year.

Our picks for best live show of 2015, what an amazing year for live tunes...all of these were jaw dropping nights in their own ways.

Finally our one, two, three, part picks for best albums of 2015.  Again all of these are fantastic and worth your time and attention.

Feel free to let us know your choices in the comments and thanks as always for reading and exploring...as the patron saint of this blog stated:

What are those of the known, but to ascend and enter the Unknown? 

Lee Ranaldo Touring Solo and Beating it with Kerouac

Thanks to our friends over at Brooklyn Vegan we know that Lee Ranaldo will be playing live again and doing some fun stuff.

Ranaldo Band Live 2012

The coolest thing mentioned is the special Kerouac Project show at Joe's Pub Ranaldo will be participating in on 10/30. more info here:

Legendary composer David Amram and his Quintet perform Beat-era classics, and accompany actor John Ventimiglia (The Sopranos), poets Bob Holman and Frank Messina, and guitarist Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth) as they read the works of Jack Kerouac. Guest speaker: author and biographer Joyce Johnson. Musical guest: Tyrone Cotton. Proceeds support the Jack Kerouac Writer-in-Residence Project of Orlando, Florida, home to more than 50 writers since 2000

This sounds like a show we may need to hit. We have named this site as a homage to Whitman but if we had to choose we would probably say Kerouac's On The Road is our favorite book. That's a cool lineup while Ranaldo's other dates are all solo acoustic shows. Dates and venues listed below a this great video of live acoustic Ranaldo.

Lee Ranaldo -- 2015 Tour Dates
9/26 TBA location Sao Paulo, Brasil (Lee and the Dust)
10/30 Joe's Pub New York, NY (Kerouac Project)
11/6 Swedish American Hall San Francisco, CA (solo acoustic)
11/7 Getty Center Los Angeles, CA (solo acoustic)
11/8 The Echo Los Angeles, CA (solo acoustic)
11/13 Trans-Pecos Ridgewood, NY (solo acoustic)