Playlist: Smoke City by Keith Rosson

I wrote the vast majority of Smoke City, or at least what would become the general story arc and plot of the novel, while living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. I handled shipping at a parts manufacturer that was staffed almost entirely by blind and visually impaired people, one of the few such operations in the country. The bus ride was an hour each way, and I made constant notes on the way to work about plot and storyline while listening to music. I had an office in a spare bedroom and at night would listen to the drunk UWM students scream and fight with each other on Oakland Avenue below my window. Later, I moved back to Portland and finished the book and began the arduous process of getting an agent and then landing a publisher. It took a while, but all told, these were some songs that definitely stood out as mainstays in the entire process. I suggest tempering these songs with the occasional listen to some Gregorian chants, which I did regularly in the writing of Smoke City. Hope you enjoy.

SPOTIFY PLAYLIST LINK: https://open.spotify.com/user/xmevn0eg51v8x5at7ln4hgqop/playlist/5g9oSXbnEK0hKfIKLB3pHq

JOE PUG, “Hymn #101”
CONCRETE BLONDE, “Little Conversations”
PROPAGANDHI, “Failed Imagineer”
ARMS ALOFT, “Skinny Love”
LAURA STEVENSON, “A Shine To It”
BANNER PILOT, “Skeleton Key”
DEAD TO ME, “Little Brother”
RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS, “Catastrophe”
J CHURCH, “Quickstep”
RVIVR, “Wrong Way/One Way”
THE MOUNTAIN GOATS, “This Year”
DAN WEBB & THE SPIDERS, “I Was A Mess”
TRANZMITORS, “Bigger Houses, Broken Homes”
P.O.S., “Optimist”
THE HAVE NOTS, “Used To Be”