Compared to most people who love music, English Department member Bill Rosenbeck is in the minority. He can play the guitar and carry a tune. He's been the front man for a band, performing at times weekly into the late hours of the evening to people cheering his musical ability and chanting his name.
Then, by chance, and later by talent, Mr. Rosenbeck found his way into the magical world of music in a completely different fashion.
While attending graduate school at Wesleyan University, a professor assigned Mr. Rosenbeck's class an outside-the-box project – writing a music review.
"I emailed this band I liked," Mr. Rosenbeck explained. "They were playing around me a couple times and we had to do a project. I emailed this bluegrass band and hung out with them a little while, and then I turned that project into an article. That was my first one. From there, one has led to another, where I talk to a record label and they had me write a story on the band Lake Street Dive, who has been on 'Colbert Report,' 'Conan,' 'Ellen' . . . all these big shows."
Since that assignment for grad school, Mr. Rosenbeck has written 10 music reviews over the last 14 months, typically connecting with bands in Northampton and Boston. He's been published by the Elmore Magazine and No Depression websites, including twice in December of 2015.
"I'm rolling into the next one, bringing back rock journalism. It's cool," Mr. Rosenbeck laughed. "I've met, at least for who I like, some critically acclaimed people and people I've been a fan of long before I started thinking about writing: Stephen Kellogg, Whiskey Treaty Roadshow . . . a lot of cool people along the way. There are a lot of cool people in music."
And Mr. Rosenbeck blends in with that cool musical crowd. After writing a story on Stephen Kellogg, the musician found Mr. Rosenbeck on Twitter and tweeted: "Billy U write well, seem 2understand what I'm trying to do & make me more interested in me than I otherwise would be."