Good story, but he need to change his haircut. :o
“In America, there was a generation of kids that were connected through us.”-Peter Buck
Very true. I discovered R.E.M. In 1983 when I was 14 and heard “Radio Free Europe” for the first
time. For a kid from a town of 600 people in rural Alabama, being an R.E.M. fan made me feel like I was a member of an exclusive club. They were always one of my favorite bands through high school, college and beyond. I saw them four times between 1986 and 2003 and each show was great. I actually shed a few tears when they announced their breakup. Listening to those old albums always takes me back to those days and reminds me what it felt like to be an R.E.M. fan back then. 
Thanks for that, nearwildheaven. I haven’t read the interview yet. I recall an interview with him around 1990, and he said they were half-jokingly thinking of planning to call it quits as a band on December 31, 1999. I wish they had followed through on that promise! (Unlike the previous poster, I think their creative juices simply stopped flowing after …Hi-Fi.)
Ok, I read it. Very nice. “Art happens everywhere,” “Culture is something you invent,” “Sense of place,” “I’m trying to improve my Spanish”…
Thanks for sharing. Smart guy, good band - seems to be doing what he wants to be doing - and isn’t that cool. He should write more about music - he’s done it in the past and has a thoughtful perspective.
My brother puts it this way: “The songwriter retired.”