I Like People That Can’t Sing offers two long-lost interviews with two of the greatest pop singers of the modern era, by one of the greatest rock journalists and interviewers, compiled by author Kevin Avery.

In 1991, legendary but down-and-out rock critic Paul Nelson landed his dream assignment: fly from New York to Los Angeles and separately interview two of the most distinguished popular music artists: Leonard Cohen and Lucinda Williams. He encounters them at a time in their careers when both are wrestling with their respective record companies to be better taken seriously—in some cases just to be heard. Previously unpublished, these landmark interviews provide the opportunity to compare, among other things (upbringing, education, influences, loves and losses), the thought processes behind Cohen and his music (“I’ve always admired the people who could write great songs in the back of taxicabs like Hank Williams. I was never one of those guys”) to Williams and hers (“See, I’m trying to dispel the myth … that you have to be miserable and suffering and so on and so forth to be able to write”).

I Like People That Can’t Sing allows us to read the minds, so to speak, of these nonpareil singer-songwriters over three decades after the fact. Whether it’s the sometimes prickly Williams, protecting her time and privacy, or the ever-elegant Cohen, openly discussing his bouts with depression, the book sometimes reads like an intimate conversation (Williams discussing her estranged brother), other times as a late-night confession (Cohen on the breakup of his marriage). Includes a heartfelt foreword recounting her relationships with Cohen and Nelson by Suzanne Vega.

Available from Fantagraphics

Kevin Avery has published over 300 articles and short stories. His books books include the bio-anthology Everything Is an Afterthought: The Life and Writings of Paul Nelson (which The New York Times selected as “Editors’ Choice”) and two books based on previously unpublished interviews by Paul Nelson. He lives in Brooklyn, NY.

About the Author

Bryen Dunn is a freelance journalist based in Toronto with a focus on tourism, lifestyle, entertainment and community issues. He has written several travel articles and has an extensive portfolio of celebrity interviews with musicians, actors and other public personalities. He’s willing to take on any assignments of interest, attend parties with free booze, listen to rants, and travel the world in search of the great unknown. He’s eager to discover the new, remember the past, and look into the future.