Finding Your Tribe On Substack

It’s a love fest, people. Go ahead and hug your friends.

The Substack Tribe

Not everyone loves to be hugged. I get it. I wasn’t a hugger for most of my life. Now, hell, I’ll hug a complete stranger. “Hey Chuck! Dude! Where is this going?” you may be thinking, and we are only a few short sentences into what I’m calling my Substack Love Fest!

Back on Sept 22, 2023, we dove into Substack based solely on the online advice of Seth Werkheiser. You know the Social Media Escape Club guy, the one with the fabulous frames. Yep, that guy. Seth was, and remains today, committed to the idea that there are people out there who dig what you create and that speaking directly to them is your best bet to sharing what you’ve made. In the process, you are building out a community and quite possibly making a new friend or two.

This is in contrast to shouting into the gale force winds of social media algorithms or trying to navigate King Minos’s labyrinth, also known as search engine optimization. Nothing good comes from it but a frustrating mess. As the great quote by George Bernard Shaw goes, “I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.”

Taking Seth’s advice and avoiding wrestling with a pig, we struck out on our newsletter adventure. We dared to share the thoughts and stories from a couple of people who call Michigan home. I mentioned a few months ago that I was blown away when a complete stranger said to us that they loved what we do at Life In Michigan. However, what I failed to expound was that I’m equally blown away by the fact that what we found was not only an audience—we found friends.

The other day, out of the clear, blue, blue sky, I received a package on our doorstep. The package was in the shape of a record, causing some head scratching. I buy a lot of music, but typically on a record store run. Yet there are times when I just have to do the pre-order of, say, the new Claypool-Lennon Delirium. I sifted through my mental catalog, searching for what I’d ordered and forgotten about.

I opened the package to find a 50th anniversary edition of Robin Trower LIVE! on vinyl. I’m like, “I didn’t order this!” I turned to Brenda, who smiled and said, “Nuno.”

The source of this unexpected gift was my wonderful friend Nuno Babo. We struck up a friendship via Substack over our shared love of music. Nuno is a living encyclopedia of music knowledge, particularly in rock, progressive rock, and metal. If you really want to go deep on an album or artist, definitely check out Nuno’s Needle in a Substack.

Over time, Nuno and I have become great friends. We’ve even joined forces, sharing our thoughts on heavy music via Fans With Bands and Nuno’s YouTube channel. Hell, we just did an interview together with Shannon Larkin. Who knows, we may become the Siskel and Ebert of metal music.

This recent gift from my brother across the Atlantic prompted an idea that Brenda shared with me in the bathroom as we prepared for our morning toothbrushing ritual. She said, “You should write a Sunday Sip about all the friends you’ve made on Substack.” My immediate thought was Hell yes! We have made the acquaintance of a lot of great people here on Substack. Why not share that?

The beauty of Substack for me, and I’m sure Brenda would agree, is that it has given us a whole set of virtual friends. Some of these folks have been with us since the beginning, and we continue to grow together and share with each other here in this ecosystem. At the risk of leaving some friends out, I do want to share my thanks and give a shout-out to a few friends who make Substack special to me.

One of the very first people to like one of our posts was Jenn Woltjen. She doesn’t even live in Michigan! Although I suppose New York and Michigan do have some great outdoors to explore. Since that first reaction to our post, Jenn has shared comments, and we’ve come to love her writing on Outdoors With Jenn.

Then there is Shital Morjaria. All the way from India, she tuned into our little newsletter in its infancy and has been following along ever since. She imparts a great sense of wonder in the world around her through her photography and words. In particular, I’m a big fan of her Living Pictures.

Speaking of photographers, I’ve cultivated a nice “online” friendship with some very talented people, including Jenn and Shital (mentioned above), Perfectlight, Aminus Photography, David Concannon, Jon Pinter, and Jason Odell. Each of them has been kind enough to like, restack, and comment on my stuff. They also share not only enthusiasm for photography but actively seek to elevate other photographers. I was floored and very honored when Jason Odell invited me to talk with him on Substack Live and his Let’s Click show. See what I mean, sharing is caring.

As many of you are well aware, I love music. I love listening to, and sometimes playing, music. I’ve also been lucky enough to photograph both local and national acts. My passion for music has brought me a circle of music nerds (and I say that in the most loving way). The top nerd has to be my buddy Nuno. Other music enthusiasts who have kindly shared their thoughts on shows and bands include my friends Carl Schell, Jeff (The Feisty Dog), Chad Wakefield, Gene, Blackcatspecial, Tamara Casey, Marty Slagter, and Thea Wood. It should be noted that Tamara is a fantastic music artist in her own right, and Thea is a maverick in championing women in music through her Herizon podcast and newsletter.

Let me wrap up my love fest with some folks whose writing and ideas always intrigue me. Our friend Bree Stillwell actually lives here in Ann Arbor, and we’ve had the pleasure of meeting in-person. Her writing in her newsletter, Caravan, is thoughtful and reflective. We just missed meeting up with James Dalman and his wife, Donetta, who chronicle their lives on the road in their Road Life Adventure.

Last, but not least, is our friend Charlie Finch. He is one hell of a writer and has kindly shared comments with us. Both Brenda and I aspire to write as well as Charlie. His writing is insightful and honest. I imagine that he’s talking to me. Creating that sense of connection in your writing is a hell of a tool to have in your writer’s tool chest.

All of these wonderful connections on Substack and my observations on how so many people are seeking to lift others up brought to mind a recent open letter to Chris Best (CEO and co-founder of Substack). The letter laments the social media functions, such as Notes, and the lack of discoverability for emerging writers. While I support a feature to aid discoverability, I also felt the letter was a bit “Old Man Yells At Cloud.” I mean, take or leave the social media aspects of Substack as you like, but it remains, to me, a fantastic opportunity to share my creations and those of others I find rewarding. Side note: I hate calling what I do “work” and FUCK the word “content.”

What makes all of these friendships on Substack work is that we each are sharing our creations and lifting up the work of others we enjoy. We are looking to share what we love, and right now, befriending each other in this way allows that to happen. It may not be the panacea that I think the open letter to Chris Best would want in terms of breaking through the high-profile and high-volume works, but who cares? Seeking to break into the big time reminds me of the Sturgill Simpson lyrics in “You Can Have The Crown”, where he belts out, “Well, they call me King Turd up here on Shit Mountain. If you want it, you can have the crown.”

There will be those who say, “Substack is social media, and now it sucks.” God forbid the Substack team takes the hard turn toward the slop-heap of bullshit attention-whoring that is Facebook and Instagram. If that happens, then fuck it, you still have your subscriber list. Should you feel Substack isn’t meeting your needs, you have the option of going old school by writing an email and dashing it off to your subscribers. You can go “new-old” school and set up a Zoom meeting and see who pops up to say hello and share a beer from across the matrix. If your pen pals are game, you could even call them up and meet them in the real world!

Upcoming Events You Won’t Want to Miss

Our events calendar on Life In Michigan is a treasure trove of events we’ve scoured the interwebs to bring to you. There are a ton of great events coming up. From that list, here are a few highlights:

Get heavy with Stone Nomads, Solar Monolith, and Cleen at the Outer Limits Lounge in Detroit on June 24.

A Weekend packed with Improv at the first ever Yes, Ann Festival on June 24-27

Pride Brunch at Full Measure Brewing in Detroit on June 28.

Mic Drop - The Improvised Singing Competition Show at Hear.Say Brewing and Theater in Ann Arbor on June 28.

Laith Al-Saadi with Chris Buhalis at Sonic Lunch in Ann Arbor on July 2.

Kozy Single Release Show with Sonic Smut, Saber Tooth Gary, and Thee Evils at Smalls in Hamtramck on July 3.

In Other News

My photo in the new Chelsea Art Alley (located between 105 and 107 S. Main St., Chelsea) is currently in the top 5! Help me stay in the running with a vote (you can vote daily). Voting ends on July 23!!

We had an amazing afternoon at the Michigan Brewers Guild Summer Beer Fest in Ypsilanti that included not only awesome Michigan beer, but big time wrestling as well.

The kickoff of Chelsea Sounds & Sights on Thursday Nights was marvelous especially given that our psych rock friends in Sonic Smut were on hand.

Over at the Sun Times News, they have the story on the ribbon cutting for the new Chelsea Art Alley.

A cool story about Oak Park and its Rooted In Community quilting program.

Life In Michigan Podcast

It was a real honor to meet and talk with Kate Milligan of 1 Girl Revolution. She is a phenomenal storyteller, and her work to share the voices of others is very inspiring.

Substack Restack Attack

Substack is where it’s at. Check out these other superb publications:

Don’t lose your sense of wonder. Thanks, Yasumi Toyoda !

feed it to your children

Jessica Holmes nailed it with some great tips geared toward travel writing, but it can apply to any story

I can usually tell within 3 sentences if a travel story will work - what to do and what to avoid as a writer

Justin Allen- Photographer shares a dandy reflection on the Thumb of Michigan during a recent wander through the landscape with his camera.

A Million Acres of Ash

Adventures Yet To Print

Yesterday we were in Dowagiac for the Sisters Lake Brewing 10th Anniversary festival. Be on the lookout for a review and photos coming soon. This week, Brenda is taking a rug hooking class in Manistee, and I’m tagging along to do some hiking and birdwatching. I’m sure we’ll have some stories to share from that adventure.

Sunday Sip Flashback

Now that we have a couple of years of Sunday Sips under our belt, I thought it was time to dip into the archives for a Sunday Sip Flashback.

What Are You Reading?

I just wrapped up Ghost Rider by Neil Peart. I cannot fathom trying to cope with the loss he endured, losing both his daughter and his wife in less than a year. Neil’s answer was to take to the road on his motorcycle. The places he visits and the experiences are interesting. I can’t imagine being on the road for that long and that many miles. Neil shares his feelings about working through the loss while on the road in open and reflective writing. You get a real sense that he was a fairly private and reserved person, yet he was willing to share all that through his writing. I suppose I’m the same way in that I’m not much of a conversationalist, but I’ll spill it all on the page.

Quite a bit of the book is taken from letters to his friend and riding partner, Brutus, who got busted for drugs not long after Neil takes to the road. Part of what Neil shares in the letters and journals are also observations about the people he meets. Many of these are entertaining and insightful. I was particularly interested in his trip to Waterton Lake National Park in Canada. So much so that we are planning a road trip out that way for 2027.

Overall, I enjoyed this book, but I must admit it did become a bit dull. The letters have a fair amount of repetition at points, which slows the whole book down. There is also a bit of monotony to the entire journey. But I guess, riding for 55,000 miles on a motorcycle could be a bit boring, no matter how much beautiful scenery you pass.

What Are You Spinning?

As mentioned earlier, my brother Nuno hooked me up with the 50th anniversary edition of Robin Trower LIVE!. I have the original 1976 release and had no idea what I was missing until I received this gift. The album sleeve of the 50th anniversary edition provides the story. Evidently, Chrysalis cut down the original 12-song set, played at the Stockholm Concert Hall in Sweden, to 7 in order to jam it all into a single disc. During the cutting process, they also rearranged the order of the music. The disjointed nature of the original becomes evident when listening to this new and complete edition.

You get to experience this superb performance in its entirety in the order it was played. This includes brief song introductions and thank yous to the crowd. The sound is excellent with Trower’s guitar soaring throughout. Let’s not forget James Dewar’s incredible soulful vocals and Bill Lordan’s freight train drums. As with the original version, the tempo on many of these tunes is quick. Makes you wonder how much coke these dudes were doing back in the day.

If you love the guitar greatness of Robin Trower, I highly recommend picking up this 50th anniversary edition. It is Trower at his best live, and the packaging and liner notes are a real treat. Thank you so much, Nuno, for this awesome gift.

That’s A Wrap

As my buddy Sturgill once said:

“Keep your head out of the clouds

And remember to be kind

And just stay in school

Stay off the drugs

And keep between the lines.”

Thank you for reading. Seriously, thank you! I hope your week is excellent! Don’t forget to kick out the jams!

Now, here is your moment of zen: