welcome to check one two

a DIY as hell music zine

I read once that Charley Crockett travels with an amulet. I can’t stop thinking about it.

Ever since those words jumped off the page and invisibly tattooed me, I’ve been dreaming of a starting a series called “Bag Check: Five Things in Your Suitcase.” The idea is to interview musical artists about a selection of things they take with them on tour, from the mundane to the oddball. Just a brief Q&A about items of personal significance. Because objects have stories, and the stories from the road are fascinating.

It may come as no surprise that I’m an art historian. This is, after all, a feature about collections of curated objects. The stuff in your bag tells a story, and when that bag is packed for a concert, it’s a personal story, it’s a travel story, and it’s a music story. My three favorite kinds.

So I started this Substack. I’ve been an art historian for years but always wanted to write about music because I fundamentally believe that rock writing is the same thing as art history. It’s a hill I’ll happily die on, but hopefully I won’t have to. If all goes well, I’ll just get to wave that flag from the top of this hill every day.

what we are

check one two is a hub for storytelling, whether we’re delving rock history for little-known trivia (I’m a historian, after all), debating the merits of rock/pop-as-performance-art, doing a roundup of the most deliciously outlandish concert outfits, or profiling the next big artist. (Dream big, bitches.)

Subscribers to check one two can look forward to series like bag check (peeks inside the suitcase for fans and - fingers crossed - artists), sound check (current listens, new music, music news), mic check (interviews), and fit check (concert fashion stories).

what we’re not

I’ve never been into reviews. Even when I reviewed art exhibitions, I wasn’t giving a thumbs up or a thumbs down. That never made sense to me. What I think is puerile or vacant or great or moving is, in the end, a story about me, and that’s not what I’m here for. In my arts and culture writing, I only ever tried to explain what the artist was getting at - what the story was - and after a long conversation with them about it. Then it was up to the reader and the viewer to decide if the work had hit the mark or not.

So at check one two, you won’t find stars, up-down voting, or best-of lists.

You also won’t find a crystal ball.

I know enough about music to understand that producing good work isn’t a guarantee of success. Plenty of artists are out there right now, writing and recording astonishingly good music that may never crack through your algorithm, much less the mainstream (whatever that is now). Some of my favorite artists of the past few decades never experienced mainstream success even though I was sure they would, based on talent alone. There is so much more to the music industry than music, and I don’t pretend to be an expert on marketing rollouts, contract clauses, and management groups.

where we’re going

The dream is a Bag Check series that lets me sit down (or Zoom, whatever) with artists as they zip around on tour, or conclude one, or gear up to kick one off. We chat briefly - just 15 minutes - about the most bizarre things in their luggage, the most achingly mundane objects they carry, and items in between.

But in the meantime, fans have stories that are just as rich and fascinating. Maybe not as glamorous - although, shit, maybe more so, I don’t know - but stories worth telling.

One of these days I’d love to sit down with Charley and shoot the shit about that amulet. What the fuck is it? How did it come to be his? Does it change with every tour? How does he choose the amulet? Or does the amulet choose itself? What’s the story? If you’re reading this, Charley - hey, it could happen - the invitation for a fifteen-minute, amulet-focused sit-down remains open.