The gentlemen who authored the liner notes to our first two records have scored some impressive bylines this week. Their recent successes prove what I have long believed: that writing our liner notes is an essential step in the journey to a MacArthur Genius Grant.

Alexander Gelfand, Ph.D, author of the introduction to Just a Spoonful, had an article published in a scrappy East Coast daily called the ‘New York Times’. The ‘Times’, as it is known, has helped launch the careers of such heavyweights as Jayson Blair and Judith Miller.

Alex’s contribution to today’s Times is an article about forgoing the expensive resorts and cottage rentals for the simple pleasures of camping in the Hamptons:

Ordinarily, this scene would carry a hefty price tag: $15,000 a week for a three-bedroom house in nearby Hither Woods. I got my prime slice of beachfront real estate for just under $30 a night — plus the cost of our tent.

Read the full article here: http://travel.nytimes.com/2007/09/28/travel/escapes/28camp.html?ref=escapes

Aaron Cohen, author of the introduction to Where You Been So Long?, has scored a spot in the Oxford American’s annual music issue. Like the New York Times, the American has high standards for its writers. Their submission guidelines explicity state that the American “[does] not publish pornography, society gossip, or poems about cats.”

Aaron has spent a good deal of time studying the life and work of singer and composer Percy Mayfield. The American describes Cohen’s article thusly:

Split between religious devotion and doomed romance, Percy Mayfield’s songs explored the bleakness of lost love in the Nuclear Age. Aaron Cohen examines the soul singer’s dark, seductive demeanor: “Emotionally, Percy Mayfield was all over the map; balancing along the edge of despair, he never let go of his optimism or sense of cool. Even some harsh blows that could have prematurely ended his career—and his life—never totally cracked his confidence, or his faith.”

Order your copy here: OxfordAmerican.com