The Daily Vault Review Panel

The qualifications to become a member of The Daily Vault's reviewing staff are simple: love music, write well, keep your commitments, don't expect to earn a dime. If you're interested in being part of a team that writes about music purely for the love of it, e-mail us at editor@dailyvault.com.  

David Bowling Staff Writer sdbowling83@earthlink.net	BORN: The Truman Administration JOINED THE DV STAFF: May 2007 HOMETOWN: Woonsocket, R.I. NOW LIVING IN: Whispering Pines, N.C. SPOUSE / KIDS?: Susan/ Amy, Stacey and two grandchildren FAVORITE ARTIST: The Beach Boys OTHER ARTISTS I LIKE: Roy Orbison, Lou Reed, the Jefferson Airplane, Dire Straits, Dusty Springfield, Etta James, Pat Benatar, Mary Chapin Carpenter, early Santana, Bob Dylan. BEER: All OTHER HOBBIES: Reading and traveling PERSONAL MOTTO: Relationships are temporary. Vinyl is forever. I WRITE MUSIC REVIEWS BECAUSE: ...it is a way to express publicly the interaction between myself and the music.
Duke Egbert Staff Writer xgrundy@gmail.com	BORN: “Love Is Blue” by Paul Mauriat was number one. JOINED THE DV STAFF: September 1998 (the first time...) HOMETOWN: Ottawa, Illinois NOW LIVING IN: Noblesville, Indiana SPOUSE / KIDS?: Some of each FAVORITE ARTIST: Alan Parsons, solo or Projected. OTHER ARTISTS I LIKE: Duncan Sheik, Vertical Horizon, Spock’s Beard (Neal Morse era only), Peter Gabriel, Carrie Newcomer, Heather Dale, The Smithereens, Rush, Amanda Marshall, James McMurtry, Vienna Teng, Eva Cassidy, Marillion, Kansas, Kacey Musgraves, Icon For Hire, Jim Croce, Susan Werner. BEER: Odell 90 Shilling, Save The World Lux Mundi, Strange Land Entire Porter. OTHER HOBBIES: Reading, writing, gaming. PERSONAL MOTTO: "Our life is what our thoughts make it." – Marcus Aurelius I WRITE MUSIC REVIEWS BECAUSE: …Rolling Stone pissed me off at an early age.
Tom Haugen Staff Writer tomstevenh@yahoo.com	BORN: June '76 JOINED THE DV STAFF: March 2012 HOMETOWN: Minneapolis, MN NOW LIVING IN: Dallas, Texas SPOUSE / KIDS?: Amanda / Moz - cat, Lucky - dog, Ringo - ferret FAVORITE ARTIST: The Smiths OTHER ARTISTS I LIKE:Chuck Ragan, Unbroken, Banner Pilot, Rival Schools, Radiohead, Heroin, Maritime, Face To Face, Chain of Strength, Snapcase, Bad Religion, Fugazi, Seaweed, Superchunk, Jimmy Eat World, Green Day, The Cold Beat, Jawbox, Jets To Brazil... BEER: that doesn't go too well with my straight edge tattoo... OTHER HOBBIES: Bmx riding, fitness. PERSONAL MOTTO: “Never Is All Ways Around" - The Hated I WRITE MUSIC REVIEWS BECAUSE: ...I feel it's necessary to let people know there is so much great music out there beyond the heaps of garbage littering the FM dial...
Max Kaplan Staff Writer mkappy33@gmail.com	BORN: 1997 JOINED THE DV STAFF: March 2021 HOMETOWN: NYC NOW LIVING IN: Memphis, TN SPOUSE / KIDS?: Not yet FAVORITE ARTIST: James Brown, Hendrix, B.B. King OTHER ARTISTS I LIKE: Bill Withers, Al Green, Ann Peebles, Otis Redding, Albert King, Freddie King, Otis Rush, Johnnie Taylor, etc. BEER: Yes OTHER HOBBIES: Guitar, bass, piano, basketball, chess, bicycling PERSONAL MOTTO: Create with soul I WRITE MUSIC REVIEWS BECAUSE: Because I’m always annoying my friends with all my music opinions so I’m using this an outlet to stop annoying them.
Melanie Love Assistant Editor melanienlove@gmail.com	BORN: 1990 JOINED THE DV STAFF: December 2005 HOMETOWN: Los Angeles NOW LIVING IN: New York City SPOUSE / KIDS?: Nope FAVORITE ARTIST: Queen OTHER ARTISTS I LIKE: Okkervil River, Bon Iver, Elliott Smith, Neutral Milk Hotel, The Mountain Goats, Death Cab For Cutie, Red Hot Chili Peppers, U2, Band Of Horses, Coldplay, Arcade Fire, Sparklehorse, Bob Dylan, Guns N' Roses, George Michael, Jeff Buckley BEER: Nah. I'll pull a Freddie Mercury instead and request champagne. OTHER HOBBIES: Reading, writing, and other general mayhem PERSONAL MOTTO: "Art is not a mirror to reflect reality, but a hammer with which to shape it." - Berthold Brecht I WRITE MUSIC REVIEWS BECAUSE: ...I like to think it justifies all the money I spend on CDs.
Peter Piatkowski Staff Writer ppiatkowski@mail.roosevelt.edu	BORN: 1981 JOINED THE DV STAFF: December 2020 HOMETOWN: Chicago, IL NOW LIVING IN: London, United Kingdom SPOUSE / KIDS?: Partnered, no children FAVORITE ARTIST: Dolly Parton OTHER ARTISTS I LIKE: Janet Jackson, Diana Ross, Sylvester, Wynonna, Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Barbra Streisand, Sheila E., Bette Midler, Wendy & Lisa, Madonna, Prince, Hole, Bikini Kill, Klaus Nomi, Rachael Portman, Linda Ronstadt, Yoko Ono, Marianne Faithfull, RuPaul (early stuff only), Sandra Bernhard, Deee-Lite, Donna Summer, Lil' Kim, Karen Carpenter, Crystal Waters, Lily Tomlin. BEER: Teetotaler, so Pepsi OTHER HOBBIES: Writing, reading, collecting music, collecting weird celebrity cookbooks PERSONAL MOTTO: "Maybe we should stop trying to figure out the meaning of life and sit back and enjoy the mystery of life." - Jane Wagner I WRITE MUSIC REVIEWS BECAUSE: I love writing and I love music and I like having fellow music geeks read my musings.
Gus Rocha Staff Writer gus@gusrocha.com	BORN: 1988 JOINED THE DV STAFF: January 2021 HOMETOWN: Wilmington, Delaware NOW LIVING IN: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania SPOUSE / KIDS?: None FAVORITE ARTIST: Of all time: Coltrane, Beatles, Led Zeppelin. Currently: HAIM. OTHER ARTISTS I LIKE: Bruce Springsteen, Phoebe Bridgers, Lester Young, Rolling Stones, Adrianne Lenker, D'Angelo, Kendrick Lamar, Sam Cooke, White Stripes. BEER: Dogfish Head Festina Peche OTHER HOBBIES: Reading, playing music, writing, traveling PERSONAL MOTTO: Memory is an exercise in dreaming I WRITE MUSIC REVIEWS BECAUSE: ...I want to share and relate the insights I come across when listening to music.
Jason Warburg Editor editor@dailyvault.com	BORN: when Pete Best was still a Beatle JOINED THE DV STAFF: October 1997 (Editor since January 2003) HOMETOWN: Ross, CA NOW LIVING IN: Seaside, CA SPOUSE / KIDS?: Karen / Josh, Sarah & Eric BLOG:  jasonwarburg.com FAVORITE ARTIST: Bruce Springsteen OTHER ARTISTS I LIKE: Montrose, Yes, the Beatles, Big Big Train, Switchfoot, Tom Petty, Fountains Of Wayne, Jason Isbell, Gin Blossoms, Al Green, Ben Folds, Ian Hunter, Semisonic, Shawn Mullins, the Who, Marvin Gaye, Pretenders, James Taylor, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, John Hiatt, Jimi Hendrix, the Jayhawks, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Counting Crows, U2, and and and and and... BEER: Occasionally. OTHER HOBBIES: Writing, reading and the San Francisco Giants. PERSONAL MOTTO: "I don't know.  I'm making this up as I go!" -- Indiana Jones I WRITE MUSIC REVIEWS BECAUSE: ...Rock'n'Roll Jeopardy said no.
Conrad Warre Staff Writer conradw@gmail.com	BORN: Third stone from the sun JOINED THE DV STAFF: May 2021 HOMETOWN: London, England NOW LIVING IN: Jamaica Plain, MA SPOUSE / KIDS?: Yes FAVORITE ARTIST: Walter Becker OTHER ARTISTS I LIKE: Björk, Wayne Krantz, Freddie King, Yma Sumac, Igor Stravinsky, Roomful of Teeth, Paul Desmond, Trilok Gurtu, Meshell Ndegeocello, Vince Gill, Laura Chavez, Léo Ferré, John Martyn, Evelyn Glennie, Sun Ra, Donny Hathaway, Steve Reich, Terje Rypdal, Poogie Bell, Roland Kirk, Duffy Power, Albert King, Glenn Gould, Soulive, Shuggie Otis, Mongo Santamaria, J.B. Lenoir, Brad Paisley, Joe Zawinul, Prince Buster, Eric Krasno, James Brown. BEER: Black or transparent OTHER HOBBIES: Driving at the exact allowable speed in the fast lane. Coffee.  PERSONAL MOTTO: Less is more. I WRITE MUSIC REVIEWS BECAUSE: ...the process teaches me to understand music.

Contributing Writers: Jeff Clutterbuck, Pete Crigler, Vish Iyer, Mark Kadzielawa, Ben McVicker, Benjamin Ray

Alumni: Luke Adams, George Agnos, Josh Allen, Eric Atwell, Benny Balneg, Alison Bellach, Brian Birnbaum, Michael Broyles, Greg Calhoun, Andrea Callahan, Daniel Camp, Tammy Childs, Mike Cirelli, Steve Cooper, Elizabeth Crowder, Sarah Curristan, Ken DiTomaso, Graham Drennan, Eric E5S16, Corwin Egbert, Ben Ehrenreich, Michael Ehret, Laura Elise, Mark Feldman, Scott Floman, Roland Fratzl, Richard Fulco, Cory Galliher, Gordon T. Gekko, Sandra Gilraine, Kent Glenzer, Paul Hanson, Chris Harlow, Denise Henderson, Herb Hill, Allen Hunter, JB, Tommy Johnson, Curtis Jones, Phil Jones, Paul King, Emily Kinsella, Tom Lancing, Shane M. Liebler, Loznik, Sean McCarthy, Riley McDonald, Kenny S. McGuane, Adam Mico, Mark Millan, Alfredo Narvaez, Giselle Nguyen, Candy North, Casey O, Hansen Olson, Darren Paltrowitz, Mark Phillips, Jedediah Pressgrove, Bruce Rusk, Sam Rusk, Jono Russell, Julia Skochko, Dan Smith, Michael R. Smith, Jon Southwood, Alicia St. Rose, Marshall Terrill, Christopher Thelen, Jason Thornberry, Matthew Turk, Peter Vissers, Eric Warburg, David Welsh, Larry (Duke) Williams, Ludwik Wodka, Bill Ziemer