Nick's Rave:

So You Wanna Be a Rock & Roll Star:  How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer's Life, by Jacob Slichter

(click on the photo to buy the book at Amazon.com)

So, playing in a signed band is all glamour, right?  Nothing but endless piles of money, private jets, limos, red carpets, adoring fans and expensive cars/clothes/food/wine, yes?

Read this book.

I can't remember the last time I laughed out loud while reading a book.  Perhaps it's because that, like Jake, I'm a drummer who has suffered some of the same onstage bloopers ("The sticks soared ten rows and hit an unsuspecting woman in the face, hastening my exit").  Perhaps it's because I've dealt with some of the record label drama that Jake writes about.  Perhaps it's the fact that I understand just as well as Jake that it's really difficult to take a good band photo ("Smile?  Click.  Like this?  Click -- I'll bet that looked like I was saying, "Let's ride bikes!").  Or perhaps it's just because I recognize a great writer when I see one.