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  1. Hey Hillary,

    Long time no speak. I recently picked up the book about Jeff Buckley by his former manager, Dave Lory. It had been a while since I thought about the afternoon we spent in Atlanta with Buckley before his 1994 show at The Point.

    But the book made a lot of memories from that day come back to me, particularly some of the personal traits and quirks that Lory mentions in his book. Like Jeff having to be around music at just about all times — remember him going to the bar’s jukebox and playing “Fuckin Up,” from Ragged Glory, repeatedly? Or him bouncing from warmth and extroversion to being more guarded and touchy (he kept insisting we talk about the “band,” not just him, especially because his Danish bass player was there with us).

    A few other things I remember vividly:

    – After the interview, we had lunch upstairs and he just sorta hung around the bar for a while listening to yet more music on the jukebox. We offered him lunch, but he said he couldn’t eat before he sang. I still recall a funny gag reflex he mimicked when saying “thanks, but no thanks.”

    – We talked some about other bands and the one he mentioned with reverence was another tragically doomed outfit — Stereolab. I had just bought Mars Audiac Quintet, if memory serves, and was beginning to get into that band at the time, too. Was glad to hear he liked them.

    – I was taken aback by his size. I’m tallish, 6’1″, and at the time was rail-thin. He seemed short and even more thin, which surprised me because of the power and shocking range of the voice that body could produce! Of course, I was already highly aware of the effect he had on girls, so maybe I was just secretly looking to find flaws!

    But what gets me most about the book is how young he was at the time. I was 22 when we interviewed him. He might’ve been near 27. Jesus.

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