Taste in Music: Eating on Tour with Indie Musicians

In these colorful if predictable essays gathered by Real Estate bassist Bleeker and journalist Pyenson (formerly the drummer for Frankie Cosmos), musicians share memories of what they ate and drank on tour. Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz recalls a night when the band opened for the Ramones in Paris and sampled escargots. Meg Duffy writes of a strapped-for-cash evening she spent in Reykjavik in 2016 as the guitarist in Kevin Morby’s touring band, when the comically spare gourmet tasting menu paid for by Morby’s manager had to be supplemented by “the familiar comfort of a grayish hot dog” (“There were probably as many bites in the hot dog as there had been courses in that hypercurated, high-class meal.... I enjoyed every one of them”). Chantal Masson, who hosts and feeds musicians in Dijon, France, paints food as a source of comfort and continuity amid bands’ busy touring schedules. Fans of the artists included here will find plenty of interest, but the repetitive nature of the essays, which are full of nostalgia for the contributors’ early touring days, gives the collection a one-note feel. Despite a few appetizing moments, this fails to satisfy. Photos. (Sept.)