The Flip Side

I'm used to being the interviewer, but when someone wanted to talk about Charles Brown, I was happy to oblige

Charles’ name listed among prominent Black musicians at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Life, when you least expect it, can take some unusual twists and turns.

Several years ago, I did a deep dive on my late friend Charles Brown, and wrote a couple of essays on his work and how his legacy lives on each year around the holidays. In 2021, I merged the two and published an edited version to my Substack page.

Crickets.

Earlier this month, I revisited the essay a second time and published it again, recognizing that I have more subscribers and am part of more music communities than I was two years ago. This time, a couple of my Substack colleagues commented on it and shared it with other music lovers on this platform. (@Substack, BTW, is a great place to read about all types of music.)

Then, on Dec. 10, after spending two days in a dark theater photographing four performances of “The Nutcracker,” I came home to an unexpected message: A DJ at a public radio station in San Francisco wanted to interview me about the essay.

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I did some Internet searching to see if the request was legit. Then, even though it was almost 11 p.m. EST, I picked up the phone and called the DJ, Charles Miller, who has worked for KPOO-FM since the mid 1970s. We talked for half an hour about Brown, my hometown, and music, and at the end I agreed to call in the next morning for a live 10-minute segment.

Normally, my job is to stay behind the camera and ask the questions, not the other way around. I’ve been told I have a face for radio, and I’ve never enjoyed hearing my speaking voice, no matter how much I may like to talk. But Mr. Miller was extremely kind, and we had a nice conversation on the air about Charles and my essay on Elvis Presley on my twins’ 26th birthday.

If you’re interested, give the interview a listen.

These photos were taken at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, which I spent four hours touring this week in Washington, D.C. Having been to all of the Smithsonian sites in our nation’s capital. this museum is by far the most thought provoking and visually striking. See it if you get the chance.

To read the Elvis essay referenced in the interview, go here:

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Happy holidays!