Kevin Devine plays solo, with The Goddamn Band, and in Bad Books (with Manchester Orchestra).
What was the food highlight of your year?
I went all over the place & ate a lot of delicious stuff, but I have a comparatively pedestrian answer: There's an Italian spot in Bay Ridge, where I live, called Peppino's. They've got an eggplant parm roll that is a legit treat, comfort food I associate with home, and something I look forward to and let myself have a handful of times a year. It's layered, melted cheese, the dough is plump, the sauce is well-balanced - sweet but not over the top. It's awesome and a bit indulgent. Most recently had it and loved it close to my birthday.
What was the music highlight of your year?
I toured a lot this year, criss-crossed the US fully once and partially a handful of other times, three different UK & Europe trips, and Australia. It kind of blurs together into one extended highlight. It's hard to pick one. That said, we had a really memorable set at Bonnaroo. Blazing heat, on two hours sleep, really wonderful, generous and fun crowd, cool seeing people collect and get weird and excitable that way. As a fan, the Angel Olsen record was a big deal to me this year. Haunting, gothic, hypnotic, wry, killer voice, well-made, stuck with me.
Was there a moment when food and music came together in a memorable way?
We make an effort on tour to find good coffee and eat as local as possible. You're in a place for a day and I learned a few years back that to maintain sanity and balance I can't live like a tourist 200 days a year. Finding someplace that's specific to where you are ensures at least a small cultural experience where you can kinda sample the place through its people and what they're eating and drinking. For whatever reason, a specific memory this year is the Westmoreland services in Northern England, en route to and from Scotland, set on a farm, fresh food from the grounds, always different, delicious, abundant, and you eat looking out at rolling hills, a pond, big sky, beautiful place I'd never have seen if I wasn't playing and touring there.