British author Nick Hornby has thought a lot about pop music.
The best-selling novelist served as music critic for The New Yorker earlier in his career. In 2003, he put out “Songbook,” a volume of essays based on a collection of his favorite tunes.
For his 1995 novel “High Fidelity,” Hornby cooked up a batch of record store geeks who viewed the world and all of its inhabitants through the prism of their musical tastes.
But if Hornby ever shared that snobbery–and he probably did–he has changed his tune.
“I’m at a stage in my life where whatever music you like is fine with me,” he says.
And so these days, Hornby is free to do what most critics could never do: act as an all-out cheerleader, booster, even support act for a band he loves.
In this case, it’s the little-known Philly combo called Marah. With its sweaty, soaring, Springsteen-esque live shows, this quintet led by the Bielanko brothers has come to embody what Hornby loves best about live music–engaging, momentum-driven rock shows that on some level simply make “us glad we’re alive.”
Hornby will present a reading/concert with Marah at 10 p.m. Saturday at Schubas, 773-525-2508.
———-
Edited by Curt Wagner (cwwagner@tribune.com) and Kris Karnopp (kkarnopp@tribune.com)
