James D. McCallister

author of the Edgewater County series

Review (Live Music): PHISH in Alpharetta, GA (Part 2)

Here’s part two of my review of the recent Phish shows in Georgia. Click here for part one. PHISH Wednesday, 07/17/2013  Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, Alpharetta, GA Soundcheck: Energy -> Gimme Some Lovin’ Jam -> Energy Set 1: Runaway Jim > The Moma Dance, Funky Bitch, Divided Sky, Gumbo > Nellie Kane > Frost[1], Alaska, Guyute, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan > Suzy Greenberg Set 2: Punch You […]

Review (Live Music): PHISH in Alpharetta, GA

After a one year hiatus from Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, an acoustically pleasing, smallish shed (~12k) set amidst a pine forest in northern Georgia, Vermont’s prog-rock favorite sons returned this week to the American South to present a pair of shows that fairly crackled with energy, engagement, thoughtful song selection, and yes, rain […]

DIXIANA Update: Research Phase Underway

DIXIANA, otherwise known around these parts as Novel 2013, is still chugging along, and now stands at 166,000 words; hitting 170 today or tomorrow. What’s next? Three major ‘books’ within the overall structure of eight sub-books and an epilogue (already done and in place) remain to be written. What this means, I think, is that […]

Review (Live Music): PHISH in Bangor, ME

Travel to Phish shows. Whether hitchhiking, driving across country, or choosing more upmarket conveyances, it’s always a thrill, more so when it’s show day and you have planes and rental cars and rigmarole and miles to go, and the potential for delays and misadventure hanging over your head. And all that’s also why in getting […]

The Day FELLOW TRAVELER Was Born

The day and night of July 2, 1995 at the Deer Creek Music Center outside Indianapolis might have been eighteen years ago, but as with any intense experience, the memories of what a dedicated Deadhead expereiloom large and fresh and terrible. ‘Suffer’ is a matter of degree, I know. But to have your final Grateful […]

DIXIANA Update

It’s getting into that holiday-week feeling vibe, and with the end of month number two of the composition of DIXIANA upon us, time for an update regarding what we may also think of as Novel 2013. Click through to find out more about what this project’s all about, my approach to the writing, and my ambitions for […]

The DOGS of Rejection

UPDATE: I downgraded and toned down what had been a bit of a bitter rant toward the end. Eh. Blowing off steam. It’s all good, just a sensitive writer responding to the stresses of the path. Revised post follows. — A while back I made a commitment to keep readers informed about career events, both […]

Another Fine FELLOW TRAVELER Review

The gratifying journey of Fellow Traveler continues this morning with another positive review, this one from jambands.com, courtesy journalist Brian Robbins. Here’s an excerpt: Some books are murder mysteries; Fellow Traveler is a life mystery. Newly-divorced-and-somewhat-adrift Ashton Tobias “Z” Zemp is trying to make some sense of the life (and recent death) of his best friend – and […]

Review (Theatrical): MAN OF STEEL (2013)

Full of half-baked religious and political allegories, bizarrely inappropriate handheld ‘shaky cam,’ not terribly impressive CGI, plot holes, weak characterization, blatant product placement and a climatic hour’s worth of overwrought, overblown, nonsensically cartoonish action, Zack Snyder and David Goyer’s Man of Steel lands in the summer 2013 moviegoing seasion with a clangorous and incoherent thud. […]

DIXIANA Darlings

Now in the midst of Writing Retreat 2013 Redux, thanks to my benefactor we again find the Southern novelist secluded, sequestered, and in the midst of writing his most ambitious piece yet, DIXIANA. Here’s a report from the secure, undisclosed location designated as Hilltop North.