The Love Language’s Ruby Red (Merge) was supposed to be finished more than a year ago. “I can definitely overthink stuff,” says Stuart McLamb, the band’s singer, songwriter, guitarist, bassist and only full-time member. Over the next year, McLamb wound up throwing away some old songs, writing some new ones and recording the whole album all over again, bouncing between 21 musicians and four cities before he and co-producer B.J. Burton decided they were done. It was one of those times when recording was harder than writing, but now that it’s all in the past, McLamb describes himself as “genuinely happy.” McLamb will be guest editing magnetmagazine.com all week. Read our brand-new feature on the band.
McLamb: This should be required reading in high-school/college history courses. Its a thorough account of American history but presented through the eyes of the people rather than the political and economic powers that usually get to have the last word. It was written by political scientist Howard Zinn and originally published in 1980. I’m about halfway through, and you’ll quickly realize that it’s not all “land of the free” and some pretty fucked up things went down. I love this country, but there’s a lot that wasn’t accounted for in the history books you read in school. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in digging deeper into American history.
Video after the jump.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwq_jiTjAuY&list=PL66E9E8ED0E72A904&index=1
