This essay first appeared in the NPR Music newsletter. Sign up for early access to articles like this one, listening recommendations and more.

I wanna talk about the people who live on the edge. The edge of town, the edge of disaster, the edge of most people's awareness. I'm not talking about some glamorous vampire in a Hollywood art movie. I'm talking about the messed-up homies and the freaks. The football champion who started drinking at the bars that don't card at 16 and didn't make it to 21. The punk pal who always goes too hard in the pit and makes it dangerous. That girl in high school who always went for the really risky losers. The local character who always just seemed kind of wacky until she ended up on a poster stapled to a telephone pole. Your coolest cousin, alwa

See Full Page