Original art for In My Headache commissioned by Bill Brownlee and Aaron Rhodes by Andres Hedrick.
When I arrived at the Blue Room for a Roy Ayers performance in 2016, a member of the venue’s staff informed me my assistant already was inside. I didn’t have an assistant. The aspiring music journalist Aaron Rhodes used whatever limited cachet my name possessed to weasel his way into the show.
Of all the nerve! Rhodes’ impudence didn’t end there. Knowing Tyler, the Creator was in town, he invited the nonconformist rapper to Ayers’ show. I was consequently distracted from my work by the surreal sight of Tyler’s animated reactions to Ayers’ set.
Five years later, I teamed up with the jackanapes for the In My Headache music podcast. The premise- an old head spars with a young punk- is exemplified by an emotional argument about the merits of the new album by ILoveMakonnen in the latest episode.
In My Headache isn’t my first collaboration with Rhodes. I was featured in his vlog in 2017. I’ve since watched him forge a miniature media empire under the Shuttlecock Music umbrella. His initiatives include a print publication, an active blog and performance bookings.
I once told Rhodes’ father that I might someday find myself working for his ambitious son. The prediction will be fulfilled only if Rhodes leaves town or if Kansas City’s music scene manages to snap out of the doldrums. Until then, I’ll gladly continue to allow Rhodes to infuriate me on In My Headache.