IN THIS ISSUE OF COSMIK DEBRIS: It's our 10th anniversary! Yes, we set out on this adventure on June 5th, 1995, and here we still are... somehow. And what have we wrought? Er, brought you? How about a mega-version of our yearly Cosmik Conversations? Instead of highlights from a year's worth of interviews from our pages, we've selected clips from some of our favorite interviews from our first ten years. Also, an interview with the ever prolific Skip Heller, who released two albums on the same day last month; Hasil Adkins talked to John Sekerka shortly before Hasil's tragic and untimely passing; Holly Day's update on those crazy road warriors, Big Sandy & His Fly-Rite Boys; To mark the passing of bluegrass legend Jimmy Martin, we present an article by Skip Heller titled Walking Tall: Jimmy Martin's life in bluegrass -- the early years; Eric Steiner, our resident Guru of the Blues & Running Shoes, took a little trip to run in the 16th annual Marathon de Marrakech, and while in Casablanca he even stopped in at Rick's Cafe American. He wrote a little travelogue for your amusement. And, of course, the 13 O'Clock News is as rude as ever! All that, plus all kinds of reviews and plenty of columns, and a brand new edition of Cosmik Radio. That's all in the 10th anniversary issue of Cosmik Debris Magazine!

COSMIK RADIO!: The new season of Cosmik Radio has finally arrived, just in time for our 10th anniversary. It's short but sweet, and hour of the kind of eclectic fair you'd expect from a magazine like Cosmik Debris. We call it Genre Whiplash, and we offer no insurance. If you just can't take a metal-to-reggae segue, turn on your FM radio. But then again, you wouldn't be here if you didn't like the genre jolts, now would you? You just need a RealAudio Player to listen. If you don't have one, go pick one up. Cosmik Radio is just the kind of Net-Only audio that radio station program directors don't want you getting hooked on. So go ahead. Inhale!

A DECADE OF COSMIK CONVERSATIONS - Highlights from our first ten years of interviews! We've had quite a good time talking to people from all corners of music, comedy, politics and elsewhere, and though this is a rather massive chunch of text, it only scratches the surface. Stroll down memory lane with us as we remember our conversations with folks like Curtis Mayfield, Thomas Dolby, Pat Paulsen, Dr. Demento, King Sunny Ade and many more. And yes, even Space Ghost!

THE ORGANIC SKIP: Skip Heller Releases 2 CDs At Once - Mr. Heller has been rather prolific of late, releasing The Battle In Seattle, It's Like That, Fake Book, Couch 2.0 and now, simultaneously, Bear Flag and Out Of Time, all in the span of two years. Skip discusses these excellent jazz organ trio albums with DJ Johnson.

INSIDE THE MIND OF HASIL ADKINS - John Sekerka spoke to the legendary Hasil Adkins shortly before Adkins' untimely and tragic death. This is his look at the man they called The Haze.

JIMMY MARTIN'S LIFE IN BLUEGRASS - The Early Years: When Jimmy Martin sang bluegrass, for a moment, at least, it seemed as if no one else should even bother trying to sing bluegrass again. Why do something when you can't be the best, and heck, Jimmy already staked the top of that mountain out for himself. And yet his name isn't nearly as well known as it ought to be, despite the fact that he's been the subject of both a book and a documentary. Skip Heller met and interviewed Jimmy Martin in 1998, and he was kind enough to allow us to run this feature piece to mark Jimmy's recent passing.

BIG SANDY & HIS FLY-RITE BOYS - The tour and tour and tour, and then tour some more until all the roads blur into one, the road that takes them from town to town to play the music they love. They wouldn't have it any other way. Holly Day catches up to Big Sandy somewhere out there along the endless road.


TRAVELIN' TO MARRAKECH - When the multi-dimensional Eric Steiner isn't writing about and wrapping himself up in the blues, he can usually be found running, or writing about the last marathon for Northwest Runner Magazine. Sometimes, he finds himself running in faraway places, like Marrakech. During his trip he found his way into a marathon AND Rick's Cafe American in Casablanca. Yes, it's there. Well, being Bogart flick fanatics, we asked him to write about the whole experience.

TIME FOR THE THIRTEEN O'CLOCK NEWS - It's a sick world, and the 13 O'Clock News Team documents it from the inside, by being just as sick and twisted as the crooks and the killers and the politicians that they're covering. And Popes. Don't forget the popes.


CD & RECORD REVIEWS - Stacks of sounds described by the Cosmik Crew.

EVERYTHING ELSE IN REVIEW - Where we get all judgemental on things like DVDs, books, concerts and movies.



CLOSET PHILOSOPHY - Rusty Pipes discourses on Christianity, its true meaning of non-violence and charity, and the subverted meaning being propagated by the Right.

COSMIK BLUES - The Chicago Blues Festival is June 9 - 12, and Eric finishes warming up for it with details of the schedule he'll be following while there. This column is dedicated to the loving memory of his rock 'n roll mom.

PIGSHIT by GARY PIG GOLD - Gary Remembers the Cheepskates and their historically pioneering music in this month's Pigshit.

KEEPING IT REEL - This month in Keeping it Reel, Bill focuses on Mickey Rourke's career and recent apparent comeback in Sin City.

MOVING IN STEREO - Darrin serves up the best of spring-time in New York, from the Stage, from the Screen, and from Long Island.



CREDITS - The names and e-mail addresses of the people responsible for this thing.

COSMIK RADIO - Want an hour of music that fits the personality of Cosmik Debris Magazine? That's right, Sinatra segues into Megadeth into Peter Tosh into Man Or Astro-Man into... well, you get the picture. It's a little something we like to call Genre Whiplash. Or maybe you're in the mood for a trip into The Fog Machine, our mix of music of the ethereal variety. All you need is a RealAudio player. Come on in.

OUR OWN WEBSITES - Many of the Cosmik Debris writers have websites of their own. We have some links right here.



It's our 10th anniversary, and that just seems impossible. In more ways than one. On the one hand, it seems like it couldn't possibly be ten years yet. It seems like we've hardly started. But when we think back on individual events, on people we talked to in the early years, and when we look back at what was going on in the world when we started this thing, it seems like it couldn't possibly ONLY be ten years. Time is funny that way. Another ten years may be a lot to hope for, but we're optimistic, and we just started a vast pot of coffee, so you never know. It could happen. Thanks for sticking with us through ten years of uncertain schedules. We hope you continue to enjoy Cosmik Debris Magazine.

DJ Johnson
Editor

Did you miss an issue? We now have many of our back issues online, including sound clips and extras. Check out interviews with The Witches, Electric Frankenstein, the Vampire Beach Babes, Jeff Berlin, Curve, Michael Shermer, Steel Pulse, Transglobal Underground, Mark Helm, The Southern Rock All-Stars, Ottmar Liebert, Jason Noble of Shipping News, Phil Vassar, Joel Dorn, Mark Cline of Love Tractor, Texas Terri (of Texas Terri & The Stiff Ones), Mike Keneally, Chris Shinn of Unified Theory, Alley of Wise Monkey Orchestra, Mario Escovedo of The Dragons, The Clarks, Big Ass Truck, Richard Cheese, Paul Krassner, Tony Iommi, Ron Dante...