Agricultural Digest – County Highway

Essay

A Rock and Roll Suicide?

The Elliott Smith Death Spectrum

Stabbed himself through the heart, or did he?

Accepting narrative indeterminacy is part of life

By Susannah Samuels

On October 21, 2003, Elliott Smith, who was known for writing depressing songs, allegedly killed himself. This would seem completely plausible, especially considering the fact that Smith was a heroin addict. Except, the case is still open 20 years later, and has yet to be solved. The first real friend I ever made was because of Elliott Smith. I spent the beginning of my music listening career completely in the dark. I didn't know anybody else who knew about him, other than me and my dad. Middle school was tough, so finding somebody with similar sensibilities was a huge revelation for me. My friend was in the grade above me, and graduated before me. Going to an Elliott Smith tribute show together helped secure our friendship. It is rare to meet a genuine Elliott fan, but when you do, it's a deep connection. I stumbled upon the controversy surrounding Smith’s death only about a year ago. I immediately dove in and adopted the theory that his girlfriend had murdered him. I became an …

Essay

Alabama Weekend

Miss Nelle’s Secret Revealed

Intensely Private Woman Loves Po’ Boys

‘It ain't gonna fight being et.’

By Brandon Meeks

In the summer of 2009, I was hired by a studio out of Mobile, Alabama to play piano on a couple country albums for these two brothers, Micky and Dickie as I recall. Though the booking was originally only supposed to be for one day, it ended up taking three due to those fellas’ odd dietary habits. Apparently, they were prone to taking a little bourbon with their breakfast before a liquid lunch, supplementing that with steady pulls from matching LSU flasks they kept in their ostrich skin boots. The brothers’ habits meant that we basically had to knock off around 11 each morning and find some other way to occupy our time. So I spent that first afternoon on the bay, eating fresh gulf shrimp and touring the USS Alabama. By the time I had finished taking stock of this illustrious naval monument, it was time for supper. My self-imposed rule when traveling is to steer clear of any food I can get at home. Since the Gulf Coast is a great source of seafood, I drove the short distance over to …