Will Hermes

From alum Will Hermes, author of Lou Reed: The King of New York!

Writing a Life Story - Five Things I've Learned Join me in this live two-hour class and discover the Five Things I’ve Learned about telling someone else’s story – in ways that both preserve and pay tribute to their personal history. When I was wri...

I'm teaching another writing class — live + interactive via Zoom — on Sunday Oct 12 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT.

The last one (which focused on writing about music) was great fun. I'm stoked for this one. You can register below.

SUPER excited to do an event upstate NY at The Golden Notebook @thegoldennotebooks.bsky.social with my friend and esteemed author of the Lou Reed biography, @willhermes.bsky.social for the Paperback release!!! Please come!! Tell your friends!!

Can’t wait to get into with you, Tricia. Such an outstanding book — congratulations!

60+ songs for October A 4-hour new music playlist. Freak Slug. Norah Jones w/ El Michels Affair. Banks. Wednesday. Meklit. Cécile McLorin Salvant. A sweet shoegaze Coldplay cover.

A lot of new music for your weekend. Norah Jones w/ El Michels Affair. A shoegaze Coldplay cover. Meklit. Jay Som. Wednesday. Cécile McLorin Salvant. Nick Drake en Français.

Weekend links: Geese, Juana Molina... Joan Shelley, Charlotte Gainsbourg, and other notable jams.

I’m still wrapping my head around the new Geese album, and still loving the new Juana Molina single. Some new music to fuel your weekend.

Writing a Life Story - Five Things I've Learned Join me in this live two-hour class and discover the Five Things I’ve Learned about telling someone else’s story – in ways that both preserve and pay tribute to their personal history. When I was wri...

I'm teaching another writing class — live + interactive via Zoom — on Sunday Oct 12 at 8pm ET/ 5pm PT.

The last one (which focused on writing about music) was great fun. I'm stoked for this one. You can register below.

Nice one, Bill, thx for the shout! Haynes’ love letter to ‘60s NYC art film as much as to the Velvets, really, & he leaned hard in to the aesthetics. Kinda brilliant.

Lucky man! Raw power x2.

Musician op-eds. AI country. Rocky Horror. Patti Smith. Maxwell's. Belle & Sebastian. Bagpipes. Documentaries on "The Rocky Horror Show" and the Hoboken indie-rock mecca Maxwell's. Patti Smith's "Horses" turns 50. New music from Scotland and Ireland. Dirty AI country. Musician op-eds.

Lots to read, listen to, and scream at the heavens about in my latest Substack. Remember to just breathe.

I was proud of this one. #Afrobeats #Juju

Last week, I had the pleasure of sharing space with so many lovely humans at Reykjavik Pride. It was affirming to be in a place where basically the entire city turned up to celebrate queer joy. Let’s keep creating more spaces like this where LGBTQ+ people can flourish with love instead of hostility.

NYC summer, 50 years ago Summer '75. Discos. Quaaludes. The "CBGB Rock Festival." Bob Marley at Central Park. Springsteen's "Born to Run." Joe Bataan's "Afrofilipino." Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians."

Flashback Friday… ‘twas also the summer The Isley Brothers landed a hit with “Fight The Power.”

NYC summer, 50 years ago Summer '75. Discos. Quaaludes. The "CBGB Rock Festival." Bob Marley at Central Park. Springsteen's "Born to Run." Joe Bataan's "Afrofilipino." Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians."

Flashback Friday… ‘twas also the summer The Isley Brothers landed a hit with “Fight The Power.”

Um século de música brasileira: as 100 canções fundamentais segundo O Globo Na esteira das comemorações pelos seus 100 anos, o jornal O Globo reuniu especialistas, músicos, pesquisadores e jornalistas para uma

A century of Brazilian music: 100 fundamental songs, by O Globo

Top 5:

1. Asa Branca – Luiz Gonzaga e Humberto Teixeira

2. Carinhoso – Pixinguinha e João de Barro

3. Águas de Março – Tom Jobim

4. Construção – Chico Buarque

5. O Mundo é um Moinho – Cartola

paraibaon.com.br/2025/08/01/u...

100 new songs: an August mixtape Legit rock'n'roll. Wistful club jams. Singer-songwriters who really write. Deep cuts reborn on "The Bear."

A new music streaming playlist, w/ notes. Sweet escapism, but not entirely. New songs, but not entirely (ie, those deep cuts from s4 of The Bear)

thanks Rod!

Nick Drake, Long a Folk Mystery, Is (Partly) Revealed

I wrote about this new collection, full of newly-discovered tapes, mapping the making of one of my most beloved albums. (Gift link, yr welcome :)

Yes, yes, yes & yes.

Nick Drake, Long a Folk Mystery, Is (Partly) Revealed

I wrote about this new collection, full of newly-discovered tapes, mapping the making of one of my most beloved albums. (Gift link, yr welcome :)

Fair… I’m thinking “Meeting Across the River,” the Gaslight audition, the early Max’s Kansas City & Bottom Line gigs, the Lou Reed and Patti Smith collabs — arguably aspirational too, but very baked into his early persona.

Ozzy Osbourne, Black Sabbath frontman and icon of British heavy metal, dies aged 76 The singer, who later became famous on reality TV show The Osbournes, dies less than three weeks after retirement concert

RIP the Prince of Darkness. Glad he got his last licks in earlier this month.

lol the internet never forgets. I stand by it, exceptions notwithstanding — an aesthetic worldview w/ some NYC vs. LI class resentment baked in. (Bruce was more NYC even being from NJ)

Lena. Kim. Cate. Weekend Links Two A+ covers. Kim Deal. Lena Dunham. Cate Le Bon. Margo Price. Jesse Welles. ANONHI. Rogê. (The Notorious) Wet Leg.

The music supervision on Lena Dunham’s new series is brilliant (Cate Le Bon, Funkadelic etc.) Some thoughts, plus new music by Kim Deal, Jesse Welles, ANOHNI + a couple tasty covers on my Substack this week.

The Statue of Liberty w/ tabula ansata, symbol of law and justice; photo taken from below the statue June 2025. Photo by Will Hermes.

Photo by @willhermes.bsky.social.
The Statue of Liberty is a fascinating thing, still.

The last time he played it was in the White House to honor the Civil Rights struggle

"Come senators congressmen/ Please heed the call/ Don't stand in the doorway/ Don't block up the hall..."

A Walk on the Wild Side Music journalist and U of M alum Will Hermes literally wrote the book on iconic musician Lou Reed.

Hey thanks, homies 🥰

Smart writing. Good music. Weekend links. Sound and vision: David Byrne, Hotline TNT, Air/Charli XCX. Also: the importance of cowbells. RIP Brian Wilson. RIP Sly Stone.

A new David Byrne single. A new Margo Price single. That excellent Hotline TNT album. The science of cowbells. And other worthwhile distractions.