Really interesting. Thank you for that. I'm a huge Kozelek fan, but I'm an old-timer. I caught the RHP's at the Birchmere in 1993, and I know y'all are probably tired of hearing this, but it was one of those performances I'll never, ever forget. The tension in that band was electric. And though I love his solo acoustic stuff, what stands out in my mind is how penetrating his vocals were at that time. He's far more understated now, it's almost a smoky drawl. Back then, his voice was like a bullet. It went right through you, gave you chills, and it haunted you like few other voices could. And Gorden Mack was a guitar god. When just Mark and Gorden came out to start off the show, Gorden sat in a chair and they started "Japanese to English". Mark gave Gorden a verbal smackdown at one point and hissed "play it SLOWER" and Gorden just sat there, obediently letting Mark do his thing. I just sort of knew I'd never get to see them on that level again. It's a shame there are no live recordings or video from that era. If there are, I've never come across them. Anthony Koutsos sold me a t-shirt for 10 bucks because that's all I had on me. I told him it was one of the greatest things I'd ever seen and he just winced. It was true though.
