Mia Zapata’s Killer Has Died

Rolling Stone published my story breaking the news on Sunday. It marks an end to one of the darkest and most tragic episodes in the history of rock music. To put Mia Zapata’s life and legacy into perspective, I interviewed Gits drummer Steve Moriarty, Gits friend and Evil Stig collaborator Joan Jett, and NPR music…

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Sirius XM Radio Interview on December 4

Mark your calendars…  I will be on the Sirius XM Volume show “Feedback” on Tuesday, December 4 talking about Alice in Chains: The Untold Story. Turn on Sirius XM channel 106 at around 9:20 a.m. Eastern time to listen.

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The Origin of Layne Staley's Middle Name

Nancy McCallum – Layne Staley’s mother – did an interview with Northwest Music Scene recently.  This particular exchange caught my attention: Early bands: “In 5th grade, he borrowed his Uncle Bob’s trumpet, so that was his first instrument. Then, our family friend Fred loaned him a drum set, and he loved the drums. He wasn’t…

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Jim Elmer Remembered

Jim Elmer, Layne Staley’s stepfather, passed away in his home in Long Beach, Washington last week from heart failure, according to his son Ken. He was 72 years old. He was born in Spokane, Washington on March 28th, 1945 at home, but spent most of his life in the Seattle area. Jim had Bachelor’s and…

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Chris Cornell Remembered

I was shocked and devastated when I received a news alert from a friend late last night informing me Soundgarden singer/guitarist Chris Cornell had passed away a few hours after performing a show at a Detroit theater.  It was even more shocking and devastating to find out today that the coroner concluded Cornell had committed…

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Dispatches from Kansas

On the road again… A post shared by David de Sola (@daviddesola) on Apr 9, 2017 at 2:39pm PDT I was in Wichita the past few days covering the final stretch of the special election to fill Mike Pompeo’s former seat in the House of Representatives.  Here’s all my reporting on the subject: Ron Estes…

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