Corey Flegel runs the southern indie record label This Is American Music.
What was the food highlight of your year?
I ate some pretty amazing meals this year, but my staple of the summer was your basic bought-off-the-back-of-a-truck tomatoes with white bread, Duke's Mayonnaise, and a lot of pepper. I must have eaten about 300 of them. Sometimes I'd throw some bacon and Wickles Pickles on them just to get all fancy with it, but nothing beats a classic tomato sandwich.
Also, I have to extend an eternal hat tip to the outside meat Pulled Pork Sandwich and bag of Zapps lunch meal at the mighty Fox Brothers BBQ in Atlanta, GA. Always a favorite.
What was the music highlight of your year?
Getting to meet and see The Replacements at the Shaky Knees music festival in Atlanta last May. It was simply overwhelming to see them play, much less be in their presence for a good portion of the weekend. Tommy Stinson is indeed the coolest man in the universe. Also, Billie Joe Armstrong (who was playing with the Mats) told me that he's heard good things about our label that same weekend, and that was pretty mind blowing by itself.
Was there a moment when food and music came together in a memorable way?
Eating at Donanelle's in South Mississippi. My girlfriend and I were down in Wiggins, Mississippi that weekend celebrating my birthday and overindulging on God knows everything with some of my favorite friends in the world. It’s this total dive-y roadhouse steak joint in the middle of nowhere on Hwy 49 where the steaks are amazing and everything else is fried. Maybe the best thing about eating at this place is the super epic Classic Rock that gets blasted in there. All six of us place dollar bets on what artist will get played next; correct guesses take the pot and we keep drinking and listening until we basically fall out. It was and always is gloriously fun times. Lots and lots of .38 Special, Bad Company, Seger, with sprinkles of Steely Dan, Boz Skaggs, and Gerry Rafferty.