Last week I reached out to my good friend Mark to check in during these crazy times. All was good on his end but we started talking shop and a little history. Way back in olden times when I was just out of school I worked in a print shop during the day doing various tasks while pursuing on a freelance career at night. Mark was a vp of a small record company in Jersey near the print shop. As a first client out of the box it was a dream come true to work in the music industry. I told him that I still remembered one particular day he came into the shop to pick up work. He could hear what was playing on my discman. Of all the bands to come from Seattle I took a personal liking to Screaming Trees in 1993 at a small fairground in New York from which point forward I was hooked. When Mark stopped in to deal with business on that Saturday he blew my world by telling me about another Mark Lanegan, lead singer of Screaming Trees. He informed me of Lanegan’s solo work and his recent collaboration with Queens of the Stone Age. The friendship with Mark grew exponentially from that moment on. My obsession with the other Mark did as well. So as I listened to Straight Songs of Sorrow and texted my friend I was reminded how quickly a few decades goes by, but also how rich they can be with eh right friends and the right music to have on the journey.—Dominick
