Episode 178 - Steve Lamos

Third Gear Scratch

U of I in Champaign / Urbana in the 90's was typical of many satelite college towns to big cities with a happening urban center, dive bars and house parties for the indie scene to procreate within. Drummer Steve Lamos' band American Football was one of the bands within that scene that made a record for Polyvinyl Records, played a few shows then broke up -- except the lore and legend of that special debut album grew like crazy for the next 15 years. Reunion tours in 2014 and reissues all sold like wildfire. An appearance on NPR Tiny Desk Concerts puts the bands success into stark relief. Throughout it all Steve's drumming has added a jazz-influenced mathy component to the jangle and chime of their guitar lines, also punctuating many songs with his trumpet lines throughout their catalog. But even more impressive is his career as Professor of English and Writing at UC Boulder for the past 20 years. He's written extensively on something he calls Resonant Literacy as a way of listeners of music describing what they're hearing in esoteric and abstract ways. As American Football embarks this summer on tours of the US and Europe in celebration of the 25th anniversary of LP 1, Steve's living his best artistic life with more to come!