Jeff Elder Isn't Real is a Substack by writer and musician Jeff Elder, a place where the curtain is half open. Part memoir, part creative process, part cultural observation. Warm, honest, and a little strange. Just like life.

In this episode, Jeff reads his latest post, "Turning Thirty in Arkansas" — episode 30 of his ongoing memoir. Jeff picks up the move to Fort Smith, Arkansas: a "guaranteed placement" business school scam, tech support at the local ISP, an unlikely friendship with a coworker named Alex, and the Frustrated Housewives release Deconstructing Dreamland, all leading into the Friday night ritual that would shape the next couple of decades. The episode closes with a tribute to Dolly Parton and Tim Curry.

Audio credits: Intro - Midtown Matinee by Frustrated Housewives, Outro - Dreamland by Frustrated Housewives.

Listen to the "What Was That Song?" playlist, featuring music mentioned on the show: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27yv0JrQRs2FhUfmfutxw3?si=e117d429bc37407e

Subscribe to Jeff Elder Isn't Real on Substack for new posts every week, including audio versions of most every essay.

Jeff Elder Isn't Real is a Substack by writer and musician Jeff Elder, a place where the curtain is half open. Part memoir, part creative process, part cultural observation. Warm, honest, and a little strange. Just like life.

In this episode, Jeff reads his latest post, "Enter La Baumba" — episode 29 of his ongoing memoir. Jeff picks up the Frustrated Housewives story in the late 90s: a rough-sounding demo CD sold for beer money, teaching himself web design to build the band's first website, a scrappy live lineup full of stage schtick, and the reinvention that brought stage names like Adam Baum into the fold right before a move to Arkansas changed everything.

Audio credits: Intro - La Bamba by Los Lobos, Outro - You Dropped a Bomb on Me by The Gap Band.

Listen to the "What Was That Song?" playlist, featuring music mentioned on the show: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27yv0JrQRs2FhUfmfutxw3?si=e117d429bc37407e

Subscribe to Jeff Elder Isn't Real on Substack for new posts every week, including audio versions of most every essay.

Jeff Elder Isn't Real is a Substack by writer and musician Jeff Elder, a place where the curtain is half open. Part memoir, part creative process, part cultural observation. Warm, honest, and a little strange. Just like life.

In this episode, Jeff reads his latest post, "The Dream" — episode 28 of his ongoing memoir. Jeff walks through a brutal stretch of loss in the mid-90s — an uncle, a grandmother, his father — and the wrongful death lawsuit, the home studio, and the song that broke his dying father down every time he heard it.

Audio credits: Intro/Outro music: "The Dream" by Frustrated Housewives.

Listen to the "What Was That Song?" playlist, featuring music mentioned on the show: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27yv0JrQRs2FhUfmfutxw3?si=e117d429bc37407e

Subscribe to Jeff Elder Isn't Real on Substack for new posts every week, including audio versions of most every essay.

Jeff Elder Isn't Real is a Substack by writer and musician Jeff Elder, a place where the curtain is half open. Part memoir, part creative process, part cultural observation. Warm, honest, and a little strange. Just like life.

In this episode, Jeff reads his latest post, "Frustrated" — episode 27 of his ongoing memoir. Jeff traces the accidental birth of his band Frustrated Housewives, from a party he almost skipped to the phrase that gave the band its name, to the moment both bandmates left and he decided to keep going alone.

Audio credits: Intro/Outro music: Intro - Perfect Day by Duran Duran, Outro - Broken Glass by Frustrated Housewives.

Listen to the "What Was That Song?" playlist, featuring music mentioned on the show: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27yv0JrQRs2FhUfmfutxw3?si=e117d429bc37407e

Subscribe to Jeff Elder Isn't Real on Substack for new posts every week, including audio versions of most every essay.

Jeff Elder Isn't Real is a Substack by writer and musician Jeff Elder, a place where the curtain is half open. Part memoir, part creative process, part cultural observation. Warm, honest, and a little strange. Just like life.

In this episode, Jeff reads his latest post, "Who's That?" — episode 26 of his ongoing memoir. A few months after John's death, Jeff meets the man he's still with today, thanks to a friend who wasn't afraid to walk across a bar. He also revisits the party where he met his next bandmate, Devin, and the start of what became Frustrated Housewives.

Audio credits: Intro/Outro music: Intro: Emotional Rescue by The Rolling Stones, Outro: Success by Duran Duran.

Listen to the "What Was That Song?" playlist, featuring music mentioned on the show: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/27yv0JrQRs2FhUfmfutxw3?si=e117d429bc37407e

Subscribe to Jeff Elder Isn't Real on Substack for new posts every week, including audio versions of most every essay.

Jeff Elder Isn't Real is a Substack by writer and musician Jeff Elder, a place where the curtain is half open. Part memoir, part creative process, part cultural observation. Warm, honest, and a little strange. Just like life.

In this episode, Jeff reads his latest post, "A Little Salt Air Never Hurt Anybody" — episode 25 of his ongoing memoir. Jeff heads back to Rhode Island for the first time in fifteen years for a friend's celebration of life, and finds himself unexpectedly homesick for a place he hasn't let himself miss. Between a pub gig on the Newport docks and a real Dunkin' Donuts run, he starts asking himself a question he never expected to ask: what if he moved back?

Audio credits: Intro/Outro music: Intro: Dirty Water by The Standells, Outro: Southern Cross (live) by Jimmy Buffett.

Subscribe to Jeff Elder Isn't Real on Substack for new posts every week, including audio versions of most every essay.

Jeff Elder Isn't Real is a Substack by writer and musician Jeff Elder, a place where the curtain is half open. Part memoir, part creative process, part cultural observation. Warm, honest, and a little strange. Just like life.

In this episode, Jeff takes a quick pit stop before diving back into the memoir. Two new Spotify playlists go live, A Night at The Max and What Was That Song?, along with news that the long-lost Trust masters are finally being remastered and released after more than thirty years. Plus, a heads up that there won't be a new episode next week, and a look ahead at what's coming when the story picks back up in Tulsa.

Audio credits:Intro/Outro music: Old Cape Cod by Patti Page

Subscribe to Jeff Elder Isn't Real on Substack for new posts every week, including audio versions of most every essay.

Jeff Elder Isn't Real is a Substack by writer and musician Jeff Elder, a place where the curtain is half open. Part memoir, part creative process, part cultural observation. Warm, honest, and a little strange. Just like life.

In this episode, Jeff reads his latest post, "Goodbye, Old Friend" — episode 23 of his ongoing Substack. Today marks the release of I'm A Star: The Remixes and the completion of the Starr Love audiobook, which also means saying goodbye to a story Jeff has carried around for over thirty years. Plus, a look at what's coming this fall, including a synth vocal project, a licensing album, an animated series about a dog named Sipsey, and the next book already taking shape.

Audio credits:Intro/Outro music: Seasons in the Sun by Terry Jacks

Subscribe to Jeff Elder Isn't Real on Substack for new posts every week, including audio versions of most every essay.