Welcome to The Back Lounge
In 2025, I launched The Back Lounge as an outlet for the stories, sights and sounds I encounter in my role as a writer covering Red Dirt, Americana, Texas and Americana music. I’d describe all that time as a soft launch, while it rounded into shape over the course of 2025 and 2026. Today, though, The Back Lounge is ready for its close-up, and I’m returning with a hard launch this afternoon.
The essential is this: It’s a membership-based (on the Patreon platform) hub for my work. .
What is The Back Lounge?
Beyond the essentials, it’s a collection of stories, artist profiles, cutting-room clips from stories I’ve had in Rolling Stone or The New York Times. It’s where I share Hippies & Cowboys episodes, exclusive interviews or behind-the-scenes insight into stories I’ve written. When possible — and this is the case with all Rolling Stone stories I share there — I will give members free links to my stories that bypass paywalls, so you have the luxury of not paying twice for my writing.
How much does it cost?
Membership starts at $9 per month. Tiers go up from there, with increasing benefits and perks, but most people who are paying more than the entry-level price are doing so because they find my work valuable, entertaining, or worth supporting, and a higher tier is how they do it.
What do I get out of it?
At a minimum, you get more original journalism centered around music you love. But you also get access that I cannot replicate in Rolling Stone or even in my own books. I can share the raw interviews with artists that turned into major profiles. I can review concerts, festivals or albums that would not otherwise find their way into major media outlets. And all members get a discount on Back Lounge books, too.
What do you get out of it?
I get two very different benefits. First, the financial support allows me to operate as a journalist independently and without fear of losing the ability to tell these stories — sadly a very real fear in the world of corporate journalism. All of the books I write are funded by The Back Lounge, and I try to write them in a manner as prolific as the artists I’m covering. But I also get a connection with you that has not been possible on social media in about a decade. We can talk frankly about music, or the stories I write about it. We can have meetups, host video events or plan to attend shows or afterparties with ease. All of this is essential to the rest of my career covering music.
Can I have some examples?
Sure you can. Here goes. I have made all these free for you to peruse. If you like it, consider joining. There’s upwards of a hundred more waiting on you, and more in the works at all times.
Concert review: Cross Canadian Ragweed at Red Rocks, and Turnpike Troubadours’ Homecoming, July 2026.
Essay: The Greatest Living (Americana?) Songwriters
Original Writing: To (The People Who Ruined) A Band That I Loved (Or, Please Shut Up at The Tyler Childers Show)
Hippies & Cowboys: Reckless Kelly
Artist Interviews: Charles Wesley Godwin Talks About Christian Name
Alright, What’s the Latest Then?
That would be The Guide to Braun Brothers Reunion, which went up today.
Where Can I Join?
patreon.com/thebacklounge. That part is easy.
I hope you’ll at least peruse it all, even if you do not become a member. If I have my way, The Back Lounge will be my online home long after my stay in major media has passed. And I’ve shown dedication to it, even in busy weeks when there’s a book to write or news happening, I’ll always built in time for The Back Lounge.
Thank you, as always, for supporting the work I am doing.
Josh
