Killer Crackles, by Tim Phillips: A cautionary tale with a happy ending

Life always seems to choose college exam time to present it’s most unfortunate health and personal emergencies. Here is the true story of such a situation, which arose during finals time in 2010. The story is told by Tim Phillips in the form of a song, which he wrote and submitted as his final exam project just after the described events unfolded.

The assignment he was fulfilling was to write a song for Joni Mitchell guitar styles/skills lab, ILGT 119, using tunings and compositional/lyrical elements we had heard in Joni’s songs during the semester. After exams, I, the teacher, asked Tim to play the song on this showcase concert. Both students in the story, Tim and his friend Pete, are performing the song in the video, and both Tim’s and Pete’s moms were in the audience. Tim’s mom brought a plate of crackles….with no nuts…. for everyone to enjoy in the green room.