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On the Verge of Rock Stardom

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9 months ago

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On the Verge of Rock Stardom

The independence cost him. The initial response to “Heavy Metal” from important people in his life and from his label did not bode well. “I’d never faced that much pushback and I didn’t know how to handle it,” he recalled. “I was really scared.” Friends and confidants told Mr. Winter the album would flop. “I’d sunk so much time into this, I just felt like an idiot,” he said.

It was suggested that he release the songs as an EP, or shelve everything but the poppiest song on the album: the exquisite and sunny “Love Takes Miles.” In the end, he recorded a new final track — the heartfelt, mournful “Can’t Take Anything,” because he agreed that the record should end with “more of a jump shot” than the “7-minute-er” he had originally planned. After that, Mr. Winter dug his heels in and put out the record he wanted to make.

To everyone’s surprise, “Heavy Metal” has been received as a tour de force, the kind of offering that has people making comparisons to Bob Dylan and Tom Waits (see also: Stephen Malkmus, Jeff Mangum, Bill Callahan and the droller side of Lou Reed’s solo work). But it has also turned Mr. Winter into the kind of artist that has fans analyzing every detail of his impressionistic lyrics and telling him his work has kept them from suicide. In other words, “Heavy Metal” has received the kind of response that a record earns when the artist who made it is on their way to a certain kind of highly personal stardom. His debut solo tour is now sold out.

Mr. Winter started writing songs when he was about 10 years old. The first, “I-95,” was about a lonely trucker. “It was just sort of like an A.I., like spitting out sad stories,” he said. A decade or so after he began, his songwriting had advanced, but Mr. Winter still had a sense that he was following established conventions. When he told his Geese bandmates he was going to make a solo album, it was partly because he wanted to see if he could get out from under those strictures.

“I just listened to stuff that made it clear to me that I had been following rules that did not have to be followed,” Mr. Winter said over lunch at Tam O’Shanter, one of the great, old, dark and gnarled Los Angeles steakhouses. He listed Leonard Cohen, Federico García Lorca and William Carlos Williams as influences in opening up his own process. “They all have this feeling of, like, innocent nudity,” he said. “It’s so plain and so terrible — so aching.” He stared at his Caesar salad, pushing it around with his fork, adding, “I don’t know how they do that.”

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Lifestyle

Possible measles exposure detected in Ky. after unvaccinated traveler visits Ark Encounter

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26 minutes ago

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January 5, 2026

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Possible measles exposure detected in Ky. after unvaccinated traveler visits Ark Encounter

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Kentucky health officials are warning the public of possible measles exposures in northern Kentucky earlier this week. 

A post on the Kentucky Department for Public Health’s Facebook page said it “identified potential measles exposures in Grant County.” According to the post, the exposure was traced to “an unvaccinated, out-of-state traveler” who stayed at the Holiday Inn & Suites in Dry Ridge from Dec. 28-30.” That person also visited the Ark Encounter on Dec. 29.

Measles, a highly contagious respiratory virus, can cause serious health problems, especially in young children, according to the CDC’s website. The virus spreads through the air after someone infected coughs or sneezes. It can then linger for up to two hours after the infected person leaves. 

The virus can also be spread if someone touches surfaces that an infected person has touched. Symptoms include a cough, runny nose and red eyes, followed by white spots that appear on the face and down the body. Two doses of the MMR (measles, mumps and rubella) vaccine is the best protection against measles, according to health officials.

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Contact your healthcare provider if you think you or someone in your family may have been exposed.

More Local News:

Here’s a look at who’s running and what’s at stake in Kentucky’s 2026 elections

Woman critical after shooting at American Legion post in Parkland early Thursday

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Contract details reveal when Kentucky could seek repayment from BlueOval SK

Federal judge dismisses consent decree meant to spark police reform in Louisville

Dozens of vacancies raise safety concerns at Louisville Metro Corrections

Louisville doctors urge prevention as flu cases surge after the holidays

LMPD detective shared login to Flock camera system with DEA agent conducting immigration search

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Copyright 2026 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.

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Lifestyle

Sunday Puzzle: New newsmakers of 2025

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12 hours ago

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January 4, 2026

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Sunday Puzzle: New newsmakers of 2025

On-air challenge

Every year around this time I present a “new names in the news” quiz. I’m going to give you some names that you’d probably never heard before 2025 but that were prominent in the news during the past 12 months. You tell me who or what they are.

1. Zohran Mamdani

2. Karoline Leavitt

3. Mark Carney

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4. Robert Francis Prevost (hint: Chicago)

5. Jeffrey Goldberg (hint: The Atlantic)

6. Sanae Takaichi

7. Nameless raccoon, Hanover County, Virginia

Last week’s challenge

Last week’s challenge came from Joseph Young, of St. Cloud, Minn. Think of a two-syllable word in four letters. Add two letters in front and one letter behind to make a one-syllable word in seven letters. What words are these?

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Challenge answer

Ague –> Plagued / Plagues / Leagues

Winner

Calvin Siemer of Henderson, Nev.

This week’s challenge

This week’s challenge is a numerical one from Ed Pegg Jr., who runs the website mathpuzzle.com. Take the nine digits — 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. You can group some of them and add arithmetic operations to get 2011 like this: 1 + 23 ÷ 4 x 5 x 67 – 8 + 9. If you do these operations in order from left to right, you get 2011. Well, 2011 was 15 years ago.  Can you group some of the digits and add arithmetic symbols in a different way to make 2026? The digits from 1 to 9 need to stay in that order. I know of two different solutions, but you need to find only one of them.

If you know the answer to the challenge, submit it below by Thursday, January 8 at 3 p.m. ET. Listeners whose answers are selected win a chance to play the on-air puzzle.

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Daniel Tosh Sells Lake Tahoe Estate for $10.75 Million

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13 hours ago

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January 4, 2026

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Daniel Tosh Sells Lake Tahoe Estate for .75 Million

Daniel Tosh
Sells Lake Tahoe Home for Millions

Published

Daniel Tosh has officially sold his sprawling Lake Tahoe compound but the comedian isn’t leaving the area … TMZ has learned.

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Real estate sources tell us the 7-bedroom, 7-bath estate officially closed Friday for $10.75 million, and Tosh bought another property across the lake to be closer to friends, which is why he decided to sell.

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The gated estate, located on the pristine west shore between Tahoe City and Sunnyside, sprawls across 1.6 acres and features three distinct homes, each with its own character and charm.

The Upper House is the ultimate entertainer’s dream … 4 bedrooms, 3 baths, elevator, game room, industrial ice cream maker, 4-car garage, hot tub, fire pit, bocce and horseshoe pits, and sprawling lawns with breathtaking lake views.

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The Middle House keeps classic Tahoe charm alive with knotty pine interiors, 3 bedrooms, 3 baths, a stone fireplace, skylit kitchen, and steam shower — perfect for unwinding after a day on the lake.

The lakeside cabin is a serene retreat with a studio loft, retro kitchenette, modern bathroom, and French doors opening right onto the lake.

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Altogether, the property boasts 93 feet of lake frontage, two buoys, and multiple outdoor spaces for fun and relaxation.

Daniel may be moving, but one thing’s clear … he’s still very much a Lake Tahoe guy, just on the other side of the lake now.

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