These days The Trace is primarily about movies but I do like to mix it up ocassionaly with a focus on music. In this case it's an episode devoted to "The Father of Christian Rock" Larry Norman. This guy lived a strange life and remains an iconoclast after his death in 2008. Here is your chance to get an overview of the life, times, and music of this wild character.

This episode is goes out to my parents who played me Norman's music since birth and also to my friend Bob Enslow who I've been trying to convert to Larry's work for years.

Let's go back in time to the late-60's and trace the myth of the one of a kind Larry Norman.

This episode goes out to my dear friend Arielle Heighton! She requested "Twin Peaks Fire Walk With Me" which is certainly an intimidating film to talk about but also one of my very favorites.

I re-watched both the movie plus "The Return" in prep for the episode. The other title here could be "The Passion of Laura". Let's get into it.

And The Trace is back!

This episode goes out to my teenage son Dylan. He specifically requested on episode on the 2013 apocalyptic comedy "This is the End". Los Angeles, movie stars, weed, demon possession, and non-sensical attempts at understanding eschatology. The movie is a blast.

It's a pleasure to watch a raunchy comedy like this when looking into the ideology behind the jokes. And this movie actually does have a perspective about morality, friendship, and the temptation towards egoism in Hollywood.

To quote Craig Robinson, "Welcome to heaven motherfuckers".

*the episode begins and ends with tracks by Larry Norman. The songs are "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" and "Nightmare #71".

Jeff Bettger (AKA Jeff Suffering) is a musical artist who has played in Ninety Pound Wuss, Raft of Dead Monkeys, Suffering and the Hideous Thieves, and DRYBNZ. Ninety Pound Wuss will be doing some shows this summer so it felt like a great time to have him on The Trace.

We talk about punk/hardcore, the 90's, getting older, religion, and the inclusivity of the current music scene.

Ninety Pound Wuss is playing in the Seattle area this summer plus at Furnace Fest so make sure and see them if you get the chance!

The tables are turned on this episode of The Trace as Andrew is interviewed by therapist and artist Josh Horvath. Josh talks with Andrew about his new book “Sayulita : Stories” which comes out on October 13th.

Josh and Andrew have been friends and music collaborators for nearly 25 years. In this conversation they explore the writing process and the themes of the book. This leads to talks about identity, religion, friendship, sex, violence, and Seattle in the 1990’s.

You can pre-order “Sayulita : Stories” at leftofage.com now. If you live in the Seattle area you are invited to the book launch which will take place on Thursday, October 13th at Hazlewood in Ballard at 7PM. There is no cover. Hazlewood is 21 and over.

Alright…let’s get to the conversation.

I felt like reaching out to y'all out there so I recorded a solo episode just for fun. I live streamed the recording on Instagram which I've never done before so this is all in one take.

Stand up comedy has been calling to me so I recently gave it a shot at an open mic. It was nervewracking but also kind of exciting. To be honest, these are as much rants as they are jokes. But it's fun to talk about some serious stuff with the intent to also get a laugh or two. I tell a few of my jokes to start the episode.

After that I go through with my current top 10 movie list. My kid is 15 and re-watching a lot of films I have shown him. He is on Letterboxd and everything. That gave me an excuse to share my top films with him which was cool. I go over those top 10 on here.

Hope you are well as Summer is getting going!

I talk with Scout Tafoya about our mutual loathing of "elavated horror", the new film "Men", and then get into his book on the films of Tobe Hooper ("Texas Chainsaw Massacre", "Poltergeist", "Lifeforce".)

Scout Tafoya is a film critic, video essayist, filmmaker, and author of Cinemaphagy: On The Psychedelic Classical Form of Tobe Hooper, the first book-length critical study of the director of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre." Originally from from Doylestown, PA, he is the creator of RogerEbert.com's The Unloved, the longest running video essay series on the web, about movies in need of a second look.

His writing has appeared in the Village Voice, Film Comment, Nylon Magazine, the Los Angeles Review of Books, and The Film Stage among others.

His features and his extensive video essay work can be found at Patreon.com/honorszombie.

I will be releasing these in parts here on The Trace Podcast and also at andrewhackett.bandcamp.com. I would love to hear your thoughts and feelings on the story so please reach out via email or on Instagram if you want to discuss. Thank you for listening.

Many thank you’s to Casey Broadwater for allowing me to use his wonderful music throughout. Also thank you to Josh Horvath, Camilla Walter, and Bob Enslow for talking with me about this story throughout the entire process. Thank you to Josh for the beautiful cover art as well! I hope the story transports you to another place.