thank you to Everyone who's recently added someone to the email list. There's a lot of new people receiving this today... so, welcome.I was kinda feeling the pressure this week... Sharon Jones is a tough act to follow. I got a lot of great feedback on her - so I'm hoping I have someone this week you'll enjoy just as much. And that's Elliott Smith. A lot of you have probably heard his music before... although never a 'mainstream' musician, he was nominated for a Grammy for Miss Misery - which appeared in Good Will Hunting (losing to 'My Heart Will Go On,' from Titanic), and he quietly made a name for himself over the years.His sudden death at age 34 was just terrible, and 'spooky' if you ask me. The basic story is that he was in an argument with his girlfriend... who consequently locked herself in the bathroom. She heard him scream, opened the bathroom door, and saw him standing with a steak knife in his chest. So she pulled it out and he fell to the ground and died. Smith had battled drug and alcohol abuse his whole life, although the coroner's report indicated that at the time of his death there weren't any traces of illegal substances or alcohol. Nobody really knows if it was suicide... although there was a possible suicide note on a post-it that said, 'I'm so sorry -- love, Elliott. God forgive me.'Now, he did in fact suffer from severe depression throughout his life... which makes it no surprise that his music can sometimes 'sound' depressing (as songs are often a reflection of one's life). But I think there's a lot more to it than that if you dig a bit deeper... His attention to detail is impeccable, his lyrics are creative, sincere and thought provoking, and above all (in my opinion), you can tell that he absolutely loved making music. So in essence I don't find his music to be that depressing... but rather, to me it sounds like an 'escape.'I basically think his passion and enthusiasm for what he was doing shine through far more than anything else... and the end result is really good music. But -- that's not to say you'll agree...