It just happened.
One frigid night in January 1988, a group of underemployed, undermotivated and underloved young artistes gathered around a pitcher of Killian’s Red at Obie’s Pizza, on Nashville’s Elliston Place, to cast aspersions on humanity. Several pitchers later, in an act of frothy passion, they conceived The Fireplace Whiskey Journal. Issue #1 hit the unsuspecting streets on January 29.
The FWJ was an utterly self-absorbed outpouring of creative energy that focused dimly on Nashville’s would-be rock scene. We had news and reviews on the likes of Jason & the Scorchers, Bill Lloyd, the Questionnaires and Rumble Circus. We had polemics about music, politics, sexual frustration, etc. We had Kath Hansen’s squiggly drawings of dazed homunculi and engorged impedimenta to fill any offending white space. We had the twisted cartoons of Lee Carr, giving voice to a beautiful and much-missed soul. And we had some of the earliest published writings of scribes like Jim Ridley, Alonso Duralde, Clark Parsons, Regina Gee, Nicki Pendleton, Tom Wood and Collin Wade Monk.
And we had fun.
To see a few FWJ highlights, or lowlights, as the case may be, click here.
To download a mongo 13-meg pdf with lots more FWJ, touch the Demon Burger.
“Mindless dreck and inane horseshit is no alternative to anything. Your wit and sophistication escape me. Unless you temper your attitude, you’ll remain a bunch of posturing drones.”
—another satisfied customer writes in, April 1988